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Title: Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. 1. No 1, June 1850
Author: Various
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. 1. No 1, June 1850" ***
HARPER'S
NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.
VOLUME I.
JUNE TO NOVEMBER, 1850.
NEW YORK:
HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,
329 & 331 PEARL STREET,
FRANKLIN SQUARE.
MDCCCL
ADVERTISEMENT.
The Publishers take great pleasure in presenting herewith the first
volume of the NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. It was projected and commenced in
the belief, that it might be made the means of bringing within the reach
of the great mass of the American people, an immense amount of useful
and entertaining reading matter, to which, on account of the great
number and expense of the books and periodicals in which it originally
appears, they have hitherto had no access. The popularity of the work
has outstripped their most sanguine expectations. Although but six
months have elapsed since it was first announced, it has already
attained a regular monthly issue of more than FIFTY THOUSAND COPIES, and
the rate of its increase is still unchecked. Under these circumstances,
the Publishers would consider themselves failing in duty, as well as in
gratitude, to the public, if they omitted any exertion within their
power to increase its substantial value and its attractiveness. It will
be their aim to present, in a style of typography unsurpassed by any
similar publication in the world, every thing of general interest and
usefulness which the current literature of the times may contain. They
will seek, in every article, to combine entertainment with instruction,
and to enforce, through channels which attract rather than repel
attention and favor, the best and most important lessons of morality and
of practical life. They will spare neither labor nor expense in any
department of the work; freely lavishing both upon the editorial aid,
the pictorial embellishments, the typography, and the general literary
resources by which they hope to give the Magazine a popular circulation,
unequaled by that of any similar periodical ever published in the world.
And they are satisfied that they may appeal with confidence to the
present volume, for evidence of the earnestness and fidelity with which
they will enter upon the fulfillment of these promises for the future.
CONTENTS OF VOLUME I.
A Bachelor's Reverie. By IK. MARVEL 620
A Child's Dream of a Star 73
A Chip from a Sailor's Log 478
Adventure in a Turkish Harem 321
Adventure with a Snake 415
Aerial voyage of Barral and Bixio 499
A few words on Corals 251
A Five Days' Tour in the Odenwald. By WILLIAM HOWITT 448
A Giraffe Chase 329
Alchemy and Gunpowder 195
American Literature 37
American Vanity 274
A Midnight Drive 820
Amusements of the Court of Louis XV 97
Andrew Carson's Money: A Story of Gold 503
Anecdote of a Singer 779
Anecdotes of Dr. Chalmers 696
Anecdote of Lord Clive 554
A Night in the Bell Inn. A Ghost Story. 252
A Paris Newspaper 181
A Pilgrimage to the Cradle of Liberty 721
Archibald Alison (with Portrait) 134
A Shilling's Worth of Science 597
Assyrian Sects 454
A Tale of the good Old Times 52
Atlantic Waves 786
A True Ghost Story 801
A Tuscan Vintage 600
A Word at the Start 1
Bathing--Its Utility. By Dr. MOORE 215
Battle with Life (Poetry) 731
Benjamin West. By LEIGH HUNT 194
Biographical Sketch of Zachary Taylor 298
Borax Lagoons of Tuscany 397
Burke and the Painter Barry 807
Charlotte Corday 262
Chemical Contradictions 736
Christ-hospital Worthies. By LEIGH HUNT 200
Conflict with an Elephant 352
Death of Cromwell (Poetry) 257
Descent into the Crater of a Volcano 838
Diplomacy--Lord Chesterfield 246
Doing (Poetry) 268
Dr. Johnson: his Religious Life and Death 71
Early History of the Use of Coal 656
Early Rising 52
Earth's Harvests (Poetry) 297
Ebenezer Elliott 349
Education in America 209
Elephant Shooting in South Africa 393
Encounter with a Lioness 303
Eruptions of Mount Etna 35
Fashions for Early Summer 142
Fashions for July 287
Fashions for August 431
Fashions for early Autumn 575
Fashions for Autumn 719
Fashions for November 863
Fate Days, and other Superstitions 729
Father and Son 243
Fearful Tragedy--A Man-eating Lion 471
Fifty Years ago. By LEIGH HUNT 180
Fortunes of the Gardener's Daughter 832
Francis Jeffrey 66
Galileo and his Daughter 347
Genius 65
Ghost Stories: Mademoiselle Clairon 83
Glimpses of the East. By ALBERT SMITH 198
Globes, and how they are Made 165
Greenwich Weather-wisdom 265
Habits of the African Lion 480
Have great Poets become impossible? 340
History of Bank Note Forgeries 745
How to kill Clever Children 789
How to make Home unhealthy. By HARRIET MARTINEAU 601
How We Went Whaling 844
Hydrophobia 846
Ignorance of the English 205
Illustrations of Cheapness. Lucifer Matches 75
Industry of the Blind 848
Jenny Lind. By FREDRIKA BREMER 657
Jewish Veneration 119
Lack of Poetry in America 403
Lady Alice Daventry; or, the Night of Crime 642
Ledru Rollin 476
Leigh Hunt Drowning 202
Lettice Arnold. By Mrs. MARSH 13, 168, 353
Lines. By ROBERT SOUTHEY 206
Literary and Scientific Miscellany 556
Lord Jeffrey's Account of the Origin of the Edinburgh
Review--Character of Sir Robert Peel--The Ownership of Land--A
Self-Taught Artist--Conversation of Literary Men--Rewards of
Literature--Schamyl the Prophet of the Caucasus--The Colossal
Statue--Wordsworth's Prose-Writings--Anecdotes of Beranger--The
Paris Academy of Inscriptions.
LITERARY NOTICES.
Bryant's Letters of a Traveler; Bayard Taylor's Eldorado, 140.
Standish the Puritan; Talbot and Vernon, 141. Smyth's Unity of
the Human Races, 284. Talvi's Literature of the Slavic Nations;
Greeley's Hints toward Reforms, 288. Antonina Martinet's Solution
of Great Problems; Lossing's Field Book, 286, 427, 837.
Lamartine's Past Present and Future of the French Republic;
Lardner's Railway Economy; The Lone Dove; Mezzofanti's Method
applied to the Study of the French Language; The Ojibway
Conquest; Buffum's Six Months in the Gold Mines; The World as it
is and as it appears; Drake's Diseases of the Interior Valley of
North America, 286. Campbell's Life and Letters, 425. Life and
Correspondence of Andrew Combe, 426. Dr. Johnson's Religious Life
and Death; Sydney Smith's Sketches of Moral Philosophy; The
Plough, the Loom, and the Anvil, 427. Mrs. Child's Rebels;
Davies's Logic and Utility of Mathematics; The Gallery of
Illustrious Americans; The Phantom World; Christopher under
Canvas; Byrne's Dictionary of Mechanics; Griffith's Marine and
Naval Architecture, 428. Duggin's Specimens of Bridges, etc. on
the U.S. Railroads; M'Clintock's Second Book in Greek; Baird's
Impressions of the West Indies, and North America; Fleetwood's
Life of Christ; The Shoulder Knot; Supplement to Forester's Fish
and Fishing; The Morning Watch; Debates in the Convention of
California; The Mothers of the Wise and Good, 429. Carlyle's
Latter-Day Pamphlets, 430, 571. The Illustrated Domestic Bible;
Earnestness; Amy Harrington; The Vale of Cedars; Chronicles and
Characters of the Stock Exchange; Wah-to-yah, and the Taos Trail;
Poems by H. Ladd Spencer; Talvi's Heloise; The Initials; The
Lorgnette, 430. Tennyson's In Memoriam, 570. Abbott's History of
Darius; Fowler's English Language in its Elements and forms;
Julia Howard; Cumming's Five Years of a Hunter's Life; Moore's
Health, Disease, and Remedy; Wright's Perforations of the
Latter-day Pamphlets; Lanman's Haw-Ho-Noo, 571. Leigh Hunt's
Autobiography; U.S. Railroad Guide and Steamboat Journal; Ware's
Hints to Young Men; The Iris; Irving's Conquest of Granada, 572.
Life and Times of Gen. John Lamb, Progress of the Northwest;
Everett's Bunker Hill Oration; Walker's Phi Beta Kappa Oration;
Bayard Taylor's American Legend; Ungewitter's Europe, Past and
Present; Downing's Architecture of Country Houses, 573. Jarvis's
Don Quixote; Halliwell's Shakspeare; Meyer's Universum; The Night
Side of Nature; Giles's Thoughts on Life; Hill's Lectures on
Surgery; The National Temperance Offering, 574. Rural Hours;
Robinson's Greek and English Lexicon; The Berber, 713. Works of
Joseph Bellamy; Adelaide Lindsay; Mayhew's Popular Education;
Poems by Elizabeth Barrett Browning; After Dinner Table Talk;
Cooper's Deer Slayer; Stockton's Sermon on the Death of Zachary
Taylor; Raymond's Relations of the American Scholar to his
Country and his Times, 714. Loomis's Recent Progress of
Astronomy; Loomis's Mathematical Course; Autobiography of Goethe;
Braithwaite's Retrospect; Mrs. Ellett's Domestic History of the
Revolution; Lives of Eminent Literary and Scientific Men;
Johnson's Cicero; Lady Willoughby's Diary; The Young Woman's Book
of Health, 715. Whittier's Songs of Labor; Nicholson's Poems of
the Heart; The Mariner's Vision; Collins's edition of Æsop's
Fables; Seba Smith's New Elements of Geometry, 716. Buckingham's
Specimens of Newspaper Literature; Edward Everett's Orations and
Speeches, 717. Echoes of the Universe; Memoir of Anne Boleyn; The
Lily and the Totem; Reminiscences of Congress; Mental Hygiene,
718. Williams's Religious Progress; Poetry of Science; Footprints
of the Creator; Pre-Adamite Earth, 857. Household Surgery; Gray's
Poetical Works; Memoirs of Chalmers; History of Propellers and
Steam Navigation; The Country Year-Book; Success in Life; Alton
Locke, 858. The Builder's, and the Cabinet-maker and Upholster's
Companion; Lessons from the History of Medical Delusions; Lexicon
of Terms used in Natural History; Lamartine's Additional Memoirs,
and Genevieve; Rose's Chemical Tables; Pendennis; Stockhardt's
Principles of Chemistry; Petticoat Government; Etchings to the
Bridge of Sighs, 859. Bartlett's Natural Philosophy; Church's
Calculus; Lonz Powers; Abbott's History of Xerxes; Alexander's
Dictionary of Weights and Measures; America Discovered; Dwight's
Christianity Revived in the East; Grahame, 860. George Castriot;
The Last of the Mohicans; Johnston's Relations of Science and
Agriculture; Descriptive Geography of Palestine; Life of
Commodore Talbot; American Biblical Repository; North American
Review, 861. Methodist Quarterly Review; Christian Review;
Brownson's Quarterly, 862.
Little Mary--A tale of the Irish Famine 518
Lizzie Leigh. By CHARLES DICKENS 38
Longfellow 74
Lord Byron, Wordsworth, and Lamb 293
Lord Coke and Lord Bacon 239
Madame Grandin 135
Married Men 106
Maurice Tiernay. By CHARLES LEVER 2, 219, 329, 487, 627, 790
Memoirs of the First Duchess of Orleans 56
Memories of Miss Jane Porter. By Mrs. S.C. HALL 433
Men and Women 89
Metal in Sea Water 71
Milking in Australia 37
Mirabeau. Anecdote of his Private Life. 648
MONTHLY RECORD OF CURRENT EVENTS.
DOMESTIC.
GENERAL INTELLIGENCE.--The invasion of Cuba, 275. Mr. Webster's
letter on the delivery of fugitive slaves; Reply of Hon. Horace
Mann, 275. Prof. Stuart's pamphlet, 275. The Nashville
Convention, 275. New Southern Paper at Washington, 275.
Connecticut resolutions in favor of the Compromise Bill, 275.
Dinner to Senator Dickenson, 275. Dinner to Hon. Edward Gilbert,
of California, 276. Constitutional conventions in Ohio and
Michigan; Governors Crittenden and Wright, 276. Anniversary of
the Battle of Bunker Hill, 276. Seizure of a vessel for violation
of the neutrality act, 276. Death of President Taylor; succession
of Mr. Fillmore, and the new Cabinet, 416. Release of the Contoy
prisoners, 417. Incorrect rumor of an insult to the U.S. Minister
to Spain, 417, 703. Fire in Philadelphia, 417. Will saltpetre
explode, 417. Cholera at the West, 417. Professor Webster's
confession, 418. The Collins steamers, 418. Mr. Squier's
researches in Central America, 418. Measures for a direct trade
from the South to Liverpool, 418. Free School System in New York,
418. Medal to Colonel Fremont, 418. U.S. Boundary Commission,
418. State Convention in New Mexico, 419. Fourth of July
Addresses at various places, 420. Celebration of the Capture of
Stony Point, 420. Affairs at Liberia, 420. American claims on
Portugal, 424. Courtesies between the Corporations of Buffalo and
Toronto, 563. Suffering the growth of the Canada thistle made
penal in Wisconsin, 563. Report of the West Point Board of
Visitors, 563. Project for shortening the passage of the
Atlantic, 563. Gen. Quitman's letter, 702. Re-election of Mr.
Rusk as Senator from Texas, indicating a disposition to accept
the U.S. proposals, 702. Arrival of a Turkish Commissioner, 702.
Changes in the Cabinet, 702. Mr. Conrad's letter to his
constituents on the slavery question, 702. Execution of Prof.
Webster, 703. Arrival of Jenny Lind, 703. Opening of the Gallery
of the Art Union, 704. Passage of the Pacific from Liverpool, the
shortest ever made, 707. Whig State Convention at Syracuse;
Convention of the seceders at Utica; Letter of Washington Hunt,
849. Anti-Renters' convention at Albany, 849. Feeling at the
South in relation to the admission of California, 850. Hon. C.J.
Jenkins on disunion, 850. New Collins steamers, Arctic and
Baltic, 850. Property in N.Y. City, 850. Swedish colony in
Illinois, 850. Working of the Fugitive Slave Bill, 850. Jenny
Lind's concerts, 850. New York a Catholic Archepiscopal See, 850.
The Boundary Bill in Texas; Mr. Kaufman's letter, 851. Policy of
Government in relation to the transit of the Isthmus, 851.
Earthquake at Cleveland, 851.
CONGRESSIONAL.--The Compromise Bill in the Senate, 275. Webster's
speech on the Bill, 416. The Galphin Claim, 416. Final action of
the Senate on the Compromise Bill, 561. Protest of Southern
Senators against the admission of California, 561. Proposals to
Texas, in relation to the boundary, 562. Discussion in the House
on the Appropriation Bill, 562. President's Message on Texas and
New Mexico, with Webster's letter to Gov. Bell, of Texas, 562.
Nominations to the Cabinet, 563. Passage of the Texas Bill, and
analysis of the votes, 700. Passage of the California Bill; of
the Fugitive Slave Bill; of Bill abolishing the Slave-trade in
the District, 701. Passage of the Appropriation Bills, with
provisions for abolishing flogging in the navy, and granting
bounties to soldiers; Adjournment of Congress, 849.
ELECTIONS.--In Virginia for members of constitutional convention;
contest between the eastern and western sections, 463. In
Missouri, partial success of the Whigs, 463. In North Carolina,
success of the Democrats, 463. In Indiana, giving the Democrats
the control of the legislature and constitutional convention,
463. In Vermont, success of the Whigs, 703. Election of Hon.
Solomon Foot as Senator, 850.
CALIFORNIA, NEW MEXICO, AND OREGON.--Tax on foreigners, 276.
Excitement at the delay of admission to the Union, 276. Riot at
Panama, 276. Fires at San Francisco, 419. Gold, 419. Indian
hostilities, 419. Bill for the admission of California as a state
into the Union, passed the Senate, and protest of Southern
Senators, 561. Line of stages between Independence, Mo., and
Santa Fé, 563. Continued discoveries of gold, 566. Disturbances
with Foreigners and Indians, 566. Steam communication between San
Francisco and China, 566. Rumors of gold in Oregon, 566.
Resignation of Gov. Lane, 566. News from the Boundary Commission,
702. Disturbances on account of Sutter's claims, 705. Cholera on
board steamers, 706. New rumors of gold in Oregon, 706. Arrival
of Senators from New Mexico; conflict of authorities; Indian
outrages, 706. State of affairs in California, up to Sept. 15,
851. In Oregon to Sept. 2, 852.
MEXICO AND SOUTH AMERICA.--Presidential Election in Mexico,
Cholera; Right of Way across the Isthmus, 418. Ravages of the
Indians in Mexico, 566. Transit of the Isthmus; Opening of the
Port of San Juan, 851. Steamers proposed between Valparaiso and
Panama, 851.
LITERARY.--Agassiz and Smyth on the Unity of the Human Race;
Address of Professor Lewis; Bishop Hughes on Socialism. Walter
Colton's book on California; Professor Davies's Logic and Utility
of Mathematics, 276. Bartlett's Natural Philosophy; Mansfield on
American Education, 277. De Quincey's writings: Poems by
Longfellow, Whittier, and Lowell; Giles's Christian Thoughts on
Life; Bristed's Reply to Mann; Gould's Comedy, The Very Age, 277.
Historical Society in Trinity College, Hartford, 420. March's
Reminiscences of Congress, 564. Torrey's translation of Neander,
564. Life of Randolph, 565. Kendall's work on the Mexican War,
565. Commencement Exercises at various Colleges, 565. G.P.R.
James's Lectures, 704. Andrews's Latin Lexicon, 704. Hildreth's
new volume of American History, 705. Dr. Wainwright's Our Saviour
with Prophets and Apostles; Miss McIntosh's Evenings at Donaldson
Manor, 853.
SCIENTIFIC.--Paine's Water-gas, 277, 564. Forshey's Essay on the
deepening of the channel of the Mississippi, 563. Professor
Page's experiments in electro-magnetism, 564. Mathiot's
experiment's at illuminating with hydrogen, 564. Meeting of the
American Scientific Association at New Haven, 564. Astronomical
Expedition under Lieutenant Gillis; Humboldt's Notice of American
Science, 705.
PERSONAL.--Arrival of G.P.R. James, 419. Arrival of Gen.
Dembinski, 419. Emerson, Prescott, Hudson, Garibaldi, 420. Hon.
D.D. Barnard, 563. Henry Clay at Newport, 563. Intelligence from
the Franklin Expedition, 564. Messrs. Lawrence and Rives at the
Royal Agricultural Society, 567. Messrs. Duer, Spaulding, and
Ashmun, decline re-election to Congress, 702. Ammin Bey, 702.
Jenny Lind, 703. Nomination of George N. Briggs for re-election
as Governor of Mass., 850. Hamlet the fugitive Slave, 850.
Archbishop Hughes, 851. Bishop Onderdonk, 851. G.P.R. James and
the Whig Review, 853.
DEATHS.--Adam Ramage; S. Margaret Fuller, 420. Commodore Jacob
Jones, 563. Mr. Nes; Professor Webster; Dr. Judson; Bishop H.B.
Bascom; John Inman, 703. Gen. Herard, ex-President of Haiti, 706.
FOREIGN.
ENGLAND.--Birth of Prince Arthur, 123. Mr. Gibson's motion in
Parliament to abolish all taxes on knowledge; bearing of these
taxes; motion negatived; evasion of the excise on paper by the
publisher of the "Greenock Newscloth," 124. Education Bill
introduced, discussed, and postponed, 124. Defeat of ministers on
unimportant measures, 124. Preparations for Industrial
Exhibition, 125, 280, 852, 853. Expeditions in search of Sir John
Franklin, 125, 855. The Greek quarrel, 277. Consequent action of
Russia and Austria in relation to British subjects, 278.
University reform, 278. Imprisonment of British colored seamen at
Charleston, 278. Sinecures in the ecclesiastical courts, 278.
Motion in Parliament to give the Australian colonies the full
management of their own affairs, lost, 278. Bill passed reducing
the parliamentary franchise in Ireland, and speech of Sir James
Graham in its favor, 279. Various bills for Sanitary and Social
reform, 279. Bill to abolish the Viceroyalty in Ireland, 280.
Commission of inquiry into the state of the Universities, 280.
Death of Sir Robert Peel, 420. Discussions on the Greek question;
remarkable speeches of Lord Palmerston and Lord John Russell,
421. Sunday labor in the Post-office, 421. Bill lost for
protecting free sugar; Intra-mural interments Bill passed, 422.
Assault on the Queen, 422. Wrecks in the Northern Atlantic; wreck
of the Orion, 422. The Rothschild case, 566. Foreign policy of
ministers sustained, 566. Sundry Bills for social and political
reform lost, 567. Grants to the Duke of Cambridge and the
Princess Mary, 567. Explosion of a coal-mine, 567. Gen. Haynau
mobbed, 706. Prorogation of Parliament, 706. Lord Brougham's
vagaries, 706. Extent of railways in Great Britain, 707. The
Times and Gen. Haynau, 852. The Arctic Expedition, 852. Cotton in
Siberia, 852. Lord Clarendon in Ireland, 852. Queen's University
and the bishops, 852, 855. Shipwrecks, 853. The Sea Serpent in
Ireland, 853. Punishment of naval officers for carelessness, 853.
Amount of Irish crop, 855. Cunard steamers, 855.
FRANCE.--Contest in Paris for election of Member of Assembly;
election of Eugene Sue, 122. Mutiny in the 11th Infantry, 122.
Destruction of the suspension-bridge at Angers, and terrible loss
of life, 122. Arrest of M. Proudhon, 123. Capture of Louis Pellet, a
notorious murderer, 123. Bill for restricting the suffrage, 283.
Stringent proceedings against the Press, 283. Recall of the
French embassador to England, 283. Increase voted to the salary
of the President, 424. New laws for the restriction of the Press,
424. Walker's attempt to assassinate Louis Napoleon, 424. M.
Thiers's visit to Louis Philippe, 424. Tax on feuilletons, 569.
The President's tour, 707. Death of Louis Philippe, and notice of
his life, 708. Decision of a majority of the departments in favor
of a revision of the constitution, 709. Duel between MM. Chavoix
and Dupont, 711. Death of Balzac, and notice of his life and
works, 711. The President's plans; revision of the Constitution,
856.
GERMANY.--Convocations at Frankfort and Berlin, 284. Attempt on
the life of the King of Prussia, 284. Dissolution of the Saxon
Chambers, and of the Wurtemberg Diet, 424. Peace Convention at
Frankfort, 424, 712. Restrictions on the Press in Prussia, 424.
Fresh hostilities in Schleswig-Holstein, Battle of Idstedt, 570.
Proceedings of Austria, respecting the Act of Confederation, 712.
Inundations in Belgium, 712. General Krogh rewarded by the
Emperor of Russia for his bravery at the battle of Idstedt, 712.
Extension of telegraphs, 855. Hungarian musicians expelled from
Vienna, 855. Colossal statue completed, 855. Revolutions in Hesse
Cassel and Mecklenburg-Schwerin, 856.
ITALY, SPAIN, PORTUGAL.--The Pope's return, and adhesion to the
Absolutists, 128. State of affairs in Italy, 284. Intrigues in
Spain, 284. Rain after a five years' drought, 284. Explosion of a
powder-mill, 284. Claims of the United States on Portugal, and
consequent difficulties, 424, 569. Birth and death of an heir to
the Spanish Crown, 569. Disturbances in Piedmont, 712. Disquiets
in Rome, 712. Inundation in Lombardy, 855. Prisons at Naples,
855.
INDIA, AND THE EAST.--Disturbances among the Affredies; their
villages destroyed by Sir Charles Napier, 128. Arrangements of
the Pasha of Egypt for shortening the passage across the desert,
128. Establishment of a new journal in China, 129. Permission
granted the Jews for building a temple on Mount Zion, 129.
University in New South Wales, 129. Terrible explosion at
Benares, 570. Sickness at Canton, 570. The great diamond, 570.
Revolt at Bantam, 570. Sulphur mines in Egypt, 856.
LITERARY.--Postponement of the French Exhibition of Paintings,
129. Goethe's Manuscripts, 423. Mr. Hartley's bequests set aside,
423. History of Spain, by St. Hilaire, 568. Sir Robert Peel's
MSS., 568, 712. Miss Strickland's forthcoming Lives of the Queens
of Scotland, 569. Bulwer's new novel, 710. Copyright of
foreigners, 710. Sale of the Paintings of the King of Holland,
710. Lamartine's Confidences, 710. Notice of Ticknor's Spanish
Literature in the Morning Chronicle, 710. The North British
Review, 711. Sale of the Barbarigo Gallery at Venice, 711. A new
singer, 711. New edition of Owen's Works, 853. Copyrights paid to
American Authors, 854. Theological Faculties in Germany, 854.
Translation of Dante and Ovid into Hebrew, 854. Books issued,
126, 282, 422, 564, 710.
SCIENTIFIC.--Papers read by Murchison and Lepsius before the
Geological Society, 125. Before the Royal Society, by O'Brien,
Faraday, and Mantell, 125. The _Pelorosaurus_, 125. Lead for
statues, 126. Operations of Mr. Layard, 126, 280, 854. Discovery
of ancient Roman coins in the Duchy of Oldenburg, 128. Opening of
the submarine telegraph between Dover and Calais, 129.
Experimental slips dropped from balloons, 129. Box Tunnel,
London, 129. Transplantation of a full grown tree, 129. Glass
pipes for gas, 129. International railway commission, 129.
Russian expedition for exploring the Northern Ural, 129.
Invention for extinguishing tires, 280. Experiments on light and
heat, 281. Discovery of a new comet, 281. Unswathing a mummy,
423. Society for investigating epidemics; for observations in
Meteorology, 423. Depredations on Assyrian and Egyptian
antiquities, 568. Apparatus to render sea-water drinkable, 568.
Improved mode of producing iron, 569. Prof. Johnston on American
Agriculture, 569. Telegraphic wire between Dover and Calais, 711.
Iron unsuitable for vessels of war, 853. New submarine telegraph,
853. The atmopyre, 854. A new star, 854. The Britannia bridge,
855. Ascent of Mount Blanc, 855.
SOCIAL.--Great project for agricultural emigration, 129. English
criminal cases, 129. Building for the Industrial exhibition, 567.
Lord Campbell on the Sunday Letter Bill, 707. Extension of the
Franchise in Ireland, 707. Introduction of laborers into the West
Indies, 707. Tenant-right conference in Dublin, 707. Peace
Congress at Frankfort, 424, 712.
PERSONAL.--Monument to Jeffrey, 125. Absence of mind of Bowles,
133. Degree of Doctor of Music conferred upon Meyerbeer, 422.
Gutzlaff, Corbould, Gibson, 422. Baptism of the infant prince,
422. Accident to Rogers, 423. Monument to Wordsworth, 423. Sir
Robert Peel's injunction to his family not to accept titles or
pensions, 567. Barral and Bixio's balloon ascent, and Poitevin's
horseback ascent, 568. Poverty of Guizot, 568. Meinhold fined for
libel, 569. Guizot's refusal to accept a seat in the Council of
Public Instruction, 569. Bulwer a candidate for the House of
Commons; his new play, 569. Ovation to Leibnitz and Humboldt,
569. Haynau mobbed, 706. Movements of the Queen, 707. Duel
between MM. Chavoix and Dupont, 711. Viscount Fielding embraces
Catholicism, 855. Prospective liberation of Kossuth, 855.
DEATHS.--Wordsworth, Bowles, 125; Sir James Bathurst, Madame
Dulcken, Sir Archibald Galloway, Admiral Hills, Dr. Prout, Madame
Tussaud, 127; Dr. Potts, inventor of the hydraulic pile-driver,
129. Gay Lussac, 282; M.P. Souyet, the Emperor of China, Earl of
Roscommon, Sir James Sutherland, Mrs. Jeffrey, 283; Sir Robert
Peel, 420; Duke of Cambridge, 422; Dr. Burns, Dr. Gray, Rev. W.
Kirby, B. Simmons, 568; Neander, 569; Louis Philippe, 708;
Balzac, 711; Sir Martin Archer Shee, 711. Gale the aeronaut, 854.
Moorish Domestic Life 161
Morning in Spring 87
Moscow after the Conflagration 137
Mrs. Hemans 116
My Novel; or Varieties in English Life. By SIR EDWARD
BULWER LYTTON 659, 761
My Wonderful Adventures in Skitzland 258
Neander. A Biographical Sketch 510
Obstructions to the use of the Telescope 699
Ode to the Sun. By HUNT 189
Papers on Water, No. 1 50
Physical Education 106
Peace (Poetry). By CHAS. DRYDEN. 194
Pilgrimage to the Home of Sir Thomas More. By Mrs. S.C. HALL 289
Portrait of Charles I. By VANDYCK 137
Poverty of the English Bar 218
Presence of Mind. By DE QUINCEY 467
Rapid Growth of America 237
Recollections of Dr. Chalmers 383
Recollections of Eminent Men. By LEIGH HUNT 184
Recollections of Thomas Campbell 345
Scenery on the Erie Railroad 213
Scenes in Egypt 210
Shooting Stars and Meteoric Showers 439
Short Cuts Across the Globe 79
Singular Proceedings of the Sand Wasp. By WILLIAM HOWITT 592
Sir Robert Peel. A Biographical Sketch 405
Sketches of English Character--The Old Squire--The Young
Squire. By WILLIAM HOWITT 460
Sketches of Life. By a Radical 803
Snakes and Serpent Charmers 680
Sonnet on the Death of Wordsworth 218
Sonetto 72
Sonnets from the Italian 114
Sophistry of Anglers. By LEIGH HUNT 164
Sorrows and Joys (Poetry) 627
Spider's Silk 824
Sponges 406
Steam 50
Steam Bridge of the Atlantic 411
Story of a Kite 750
Summer Pastime (Poetry) 524
Sydney Smith 584
Sydney Smith on Moral Philosophy 107
Terrestrial Magnetism 651
The American Revolution. By GUIZOT 178
The Appetite for News 249
The Approach of Christmas (Poetry) 454
The Australian Colonies 118
The Blind Sister 826
The Brothers Cheeryble 551
The Chapel by the Shore 74
The Character of Burns. By ELLIOTT 114
The Chemistry of a Candle 524
The Circassian Priest Warrior and his White Horse (Poetry) 98
The Communist Sparrow--An Anecdote of Cuvier 317
The Corn Law Rhymer 135
The Countess 816
The Death of an Infant (Poetry) 183
The Disasters of a Man who wouldn't trust his Wife. By WILLIAM
HOWITT 512
The Doom of the Slaver 846
The Enchanted Baths 139
The Enchanted Rock 639
The English Peasant. By HOWITT 483
The Every-Day Married Lady 777
The Every-Day Young Lady 742
The Flower Gatherer 78
The Force of Fear 640
The Genius of George Sand. The Comedy of François le Champi 95
The Gentleman Beggar. An Attorney's Story 588
The German Meistersingers 81
The Haunted House in Charnwood Forest 472
The Household Jewels (Poetry) 692
The Imprisoned Lady 551
The Iron Ring 808
The Laboratory in the Chest 673
The Light of Home 842
The Literary Profession--Authors and Publishers 548
The Little Hero of Haarlem 414
The Magic Maze 684
The Mania for Tulips in Holland 758
The Miner's Daughters. A Tale of the Peak 150
The Modern Argonauts (Poetry) 120
The Mother's First Duty 105
The Mysterious Preacher 452
The Old Church-yard Tree--A Prose-poem 483
The Old Man's Bequest. A Story of Gold 387
The Old Well in Languedoc 521
The Oldest Inhabitant of the Place de Grève 749
The Orphan's Voyage Home (Poetry) 272
The Paris Election 116
The Planet-Watchers of Greenwich 233
The Pleasures of Illness 697
The Pope at Home again 117
The Power of Mercy 395
The Prodigal's Return 836
The Quakers during the American War. By HOWITT 595
The Railway (Poetry) 826
The Railway Station (Poetry) 163
The Railway Works at Crewe 408
The Return of Pope Pius IX. to Rome 90
The Rev. William Lisle Bowles 86
The Salt Mines of Europe 759
The Schoolmaster of Coleridge and Lamb. By LEIGH HUNT 207
The Snowy Mountains in New Zealand 65
The State of the World before Adam 754
The Steel Pen. Illustration of Cheapness 677
The Sun 689
The Tea Plant 693
The Two Guides of the Child 672
The Two Thompsons 479
The Young Advocate 304
The Uses of Sorrow (Poetry) 193
The Wahr-Wolf 797
The Wife of Kong Tolv. A Fairy Tale 324
Thomas Babington Macaulay 136
Thomas Carlyle. By GEORGE GILFILLAN 586
Thomas de Quincey, the "English Opium Eater" 145
Thomas Moore 248
Trial and Execution of Mad. Roland 732
Truth 137
Tunnel of the Alps 77
Two-handed Dick, the Stockman. A Tale of Adventure in Australia 190
Ugliness Redeemed--A Tale of a London Dust-Heap 455
Unsectarian Education in England 100
Villainy Outwitted 781
Wallace and Fawdon (Poetry). By LEIGH HUNT 400
What becomes of all the clever Children? 402
What Horses Think of Men. From the Raven in the Happy Family 593
When the Summer Comes 780
William H. Prescott 138
William Pitt. By S.T. COLERIDGE 202
William Wordsworth 103
Women in the East 10
Work! An Anecdote 88
Wordsworth--His Character and Genius. By GEORGE GILFILLAN 577
Wordsworth's Posthumous Poem 546
Writing for Periodicals 553
Young Poet's Plaint. By ELLIOTT 113
Young Russia--State of Society in the Russian Empire 269
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PORTRAIT OF ARCHIBALD ALISON 134
PORTRAIT OF THOMAS BABINGTON MACAULAY 136
PORTRAIT OF WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT 138
THE PYRAMIDS 210
SECTION OF THE GREAT PYRAMID 211
THE GREAT HALL AT KARNAK 212
VIEW FROM PIERMONT (ERIE RAILROAD) 213
VALLEY OF THE NEVERSINK (FROM THE ERIE RAILROAD) 214
STARUCCA VIADUCT (ERIE RAILROAD) 215
PORTRAIT OF SIR THOMAS MORE 289
BOX CONTAINING THE SKULL OF MORE 289
CLOCK HOUSE AT CHELSEA 290
HOUSE OF SIR THOMAS MORE 292
CHELSEA CHURCH 293
TOMB OF SIR THOMAS MORE 294
HOUSE OF ROPER, MORE'S SON-IN-LAW 295
SIR THOMAS MORE AND HIS DAUGHTER 296
PORTRAIT OF ZACHARY TAYLOR 298
PORTRAIT OF JANE PORTER 433
JANE PORTER'S COTTAGE AT ESHER 437
TOMB OF JANE PORTER'S MOTHER 438
SHOOTING STARS (SIX ILLUSTRATIONS) 439
INITIAL LETTER. METEORIC SHOWERS IN GREENLAND. METEORS AT THE
FALLS OF NIAGARA. FALLING STARS AMONG THE CORDILLERAS. THE
NOVEMBER METEORS. DIAGRAM.
NEANDER IN THE LECTURE ROOM 510
PORTRAIT OF WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 577
WORDSWORTH'S HOME AT RYDAL MOUNT 581
PORTRAIT OF SYDNEY SMITH 584
PORTRAIT OF THOMAS CARLYLE 586
REVOLUTIONARY MEMORIALS (FIFTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS) 721
INITIAL LETTER. MONUMENT AT CONCORD. MONUMENT AT LEXINGTON. NEAR
VIEW OF LEXINGTON MONUMENT. PORTRAIT OF JONATHAN HARRINGTON.
WASHINGTON'S HEAD-QUARTERS AT CAMBRIDGE. THE RIEDESEL HOUSE AT
CAMBRIDGE. AUTOGRAPH OF THE BARONESS RIEDESEL. BUNKER HILL
MONUMENT. CHANTREY'S STATUE OF WASHINGTON. MATHER'S VAULT.
HANDWRITING OF COTTON MATHER. SPEAKER'S DESK AND WINTHROP'S
CHAIR. PHILIP'S SAMP-PAN. CHURCH'S SWORD.
PORTRAIT OF MADAME ROLAND 732
FASHIONS FOR EARLY SUMMER (SIX ILLUSTRATIONS) 143
BALL AND VISITING DRESSES. STRAW HATS FOR PROMENADE. STRAW
BONNET. TULIP BONNET. LACE JACQUETTE.
FASHIONS FOR SUMMER (THREE ILLUSTRATIONS) 287
CARRIAGE COSTUME. BRIDAL DRESS. RIDING DRESS.
FASHIONS FOR LATER SUMMER (FIVE ILLUSTRATIONS) 435
PROMENADE DRESS. PELERINES. LITTLE GIRL'S COSTUME. HOME DRESS.
BALL DRESS.
FASHIONS FOR EARLY AUTUMN (FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS) 573
PROMENADE DRESS. COSTUME FOR A YOUNG LADY. MORNING CAPS. MORNING
COSTUME.
FASHIONS FOR AUTUMN (THREE ILLUSTRATIONS) 718
EVENING COSTUME. MORNING COSTUME. PROMENADE DRESS.
FASHIONS FOR NOVEMBER (THREE ILLUSTRATIONS) 863
PROMENADE AND CARRIAGE COSTUME. MORNING COSTUME. OPERA COSTUME.
HARPER'S
NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.
NO. I--JUNE, 1850--VOL. I.
A WORD AT THE START.
HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE, of which this is the initial number, will
be published every month, at the rate of three dollars per annum. Each
number will contain as great an amount and variety of reading matter,
and at least as many pictorial illustrations, and will be published in
the same general style, as the present.
The design of the Publishers, in issuing this work, is to place within
the reach of the great mass of the American people the unbounded
treasures of the Periodical Literature of the present day. Periodicals
enlist and absorb much of the literary talent, the creative genius, the
scholarly accomplishment of the present age. The best writers, in all
departments and in every nation, devote themselves mainly to the
Reviews, Magazines, or Newspapers of the day. And it is through their
pages that the most powerful historical Essays, the most elaborate
critical Disquisitions, the most eloquent delineations of Manners and of
Nature, the highest Poetry and the most brilliant Wit, have, within the
last ten years, found their way to the public eye and the public heart.
This devotion to Periodical writing is rapidly increasing. The leading
authors of Great Britain and of France, as well as of the United States,
are regular and constant contributors to the Periodicals of their
several countries. The leading statesmen of France have been for years
the leading writers in her journals. LAMARTINE has just become the
editor of a newspaper. DICKENS has just established a weekly journal of
his own, through which he is giving to the world some of the most
exquisite and delightful creations that ever came from his magic pen.
ALISON writes constantly for Blackwood. LEVER is enlisted in the Dublin
University Magazine. BULWER and CROLY publish their greatest and most
brilliant novels first in the pages of the Monthly Magazines of England
and of Scotland. MACAULAY, the greatest of living Essayists and
Historians, has enriched the Edinburgh Review with volumes of the most
magnificent productions of English Literature. And so it is with all the
living authors of England. The ablest and the best of their productions
are to be found in Magazines. The wealth and freshness of the Literature
of the Nineteenth Century are embodied in the pages of its Periodicals.
The Weekly and Daily Journals of England, France, and America, moreover,
abound in the most brilliant contributions in every department of
intellectual effort. The current of Political Events, in an age of
unexampled political activity, can be traced only through their columns.
Scientific discovery, Mechanical inventions, the creations of Fine Art,
the Orations of Statesmen, all the varied intellectual movements of this
most stirring and productive age, find their only record upon these
multiplied and ephemeral pages.
It is obviously impossible that all these sources of instruction and of
interest should be accessible to any considerable number even of the
reading public, much less that the great mass of the people of this
country should have any opportunity of becoming familiar with them. They
are scattered through scores and hundreds of magazines and journals,
intermingled with much that is of merely local and transient interest,
and are thus hopelessly excluded from the knowledge and the reach of
readers at large.
The Publishers of the NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE intend to remedy this evil,
and to place every thing of the Periodical Literature of the day, which
has permanent value and commanding interest, in the hands of all who
have the slightest desire to become acquainted with it. Each number will
contain 144 octavo pages, in double columns: the volumes of a single
year, therefore, will present nearly two thousand pages of the choicest
and most attractive of the Miscellaneous Literature of the Age. The
MAGAZINE will transfer to its pages as rapidly as they may be issued all
the continuous tales of DICKENS, BULWER, CROLY, LEVER, WARREN, and other
distinguished contributors to British Periodicals: articles of
commanding interest from all the leading Quarterly Reviews of both Great
Britain and the United States: Critical Notices of the current
publications of the day: Speeches and Addresses of distinguished men
upon topics of universal interest and importance: Notices of Scientific
discoveries, of the progress and fruits of antiquarian research, of
mechanical inventions, of incidents of travel and exploration, and
generally of all the events in Science, Literature, and Art in which the
people at large have any interest. Constant and special regard will be
had to such articles as relate to the Economy of Social and Domestic
Life, or tend to promote in any way the education, advancement, and
well-being of those who are engaged in any department of productive
activity. A carefully prepared Fashion Plate, and other pictorial
illustrations, will also accompany each number.
The MAGAZINE is not intended exclusively for any class of readers, or
for any kind of reading. The Publishers have at their command the
exhaustless resources of current Periodical Literature in all its
departments. They have the aid of Editors in whom both they and the
public have long since learned to repose full and implicit confidence.
They have no doubt that, by a careful, industrious, and intelligent use
of these appliances, they can present a Monthly Compendium of the
periodical productions of the day which no one who has the slightest
relish for miscellaneous reading, or the slightest desire to keep
himself informed of the progress and results of the literary genius of
his own age, would willingly be without. And they intend to publish it
at so low a rate, and to give to it a value so much beyond its price,
that it shall make its way into the hands or the family circle of every
intelligent citizen of the United States.
[From the Dublin University Magazine.]
MAURICE TIERNAY, THE SOLDIER OF FORTUNE.
CHAPTER I. "THE DAYS OF THE GUILLOTINE."
Neither the tastes nor the temper of the age we live in are such as to
induce any man to boast of his family nobility. We see too many
preparations around us for laying down new foundations, to think it a
suitable occasion for alluding to the ancient edifice. I will,
therefore, confine myself to saying, that I am not to be regarded as a
mere Pretender because my name is not chronicled by Burke or Debrett. My
great-grandfather, after whom I am called, served on the personal staff
of King James at the Battle of the Boyne, and was one of the few who
accompanied the monarch on his flight from the field, for which act of
devotion he was created a peer of Ireland, by the style and title of
Timmahoo--Lord Tiernay of Timmahoo the family called it--and a very
rich-sounding and pleasant designation has it always seemed to me.
The events of the time--the scanty intervals of leisure enjoyed by the
king, and other matters, prevented a due registry of my ancestors'
claims; and, in fact, when more peaceable days succeeded it, it was
judged prudent to say nothing about a matter which might revive unhappy
recollections, and open old scores, seeing that there was now another
king on the throne "who knew not Joseph;" and so, for this reason and
many others, my great-grandfather went back to his old appellation of
Maurice Tiernay, and was only a lord among his intimate friends and
cronies of the neighborhood.
That I am simply recording a matter of fact, the patent of my ancestors'
nobility now in my possession will sufficiently attest: nor is its
existence the less conclusive, that it is inscribed on the back of his
commission as a captain in the Shanabogue Fencibles--the well-known
"Clear-the-way-boys"--a proud title, it is said, to which they imparted
a new reading at the memorable battle afore-mentioned.
The document bears the address of a small public house called the Nest,
on the Kells Road, and contains in one corner a somewhat lengthy score
for potables, suggesting the notion that his majesty sympathized with
vulgar infirmities, and found, as the old song says, "that grief and
sorrow are dry."
The prudence which for some years sealed my grandfather's lips, lapsed,
after a time, into a careless and even boastful spirit, in which he
would allude to his rank in the peerage, the place he ought to be
holding, and so on; till at last some of the government people,
doubtless taking a liking to the snug house and demesne of Timmahoo,
denounced him as a rebel, on which he was arrested and thrown into jail,
where he lingered for many years, and only came out at last to find his
estate confiscated and himself a beggar.
There was a small gathering of Jacobites in one of the towns of
Flanders, and thither he repaired; but how he lived, or how he died, I
never learned. I only know that his son wandered away to the east of
Europe, and took service in what was called Trenck's Pandours--as jolly
a set of robbers as ever stalked the map of Europe, from one side to
the other. This was my grandfather, whose name is mentioned in various
chronicles of that estimable corps, and who was hanged at Prague
afterward for an attempt to carry off an archduchess of the empire, to
whom, by the way, there is good reason to believe he was privately
married. This suspicion was strengthened by the fact that his infant
child, Joseph, was at once adopted by the imperial family, and placed as
a pupil in the great military school of Vienna. From thence he obtained
a commission in the Maria Theresa Hussars, and subsequently, being sent
on a private mission to France, entered the service of Louis XVI., where
he married a lady of the queen's household--a Mademoiselle de la
Lasterie--of high rank and some fortune; and with whom he lived happily
till the dreadful events of 17--, when she lost her life, beside my
father, then fighting as a Garde du Corps, on the stair-case at
Versailles. How he himself escaped on that day, and what were the next
features in his history, I never knew; but when again we heard of him,
he was married to the widow of a celebrated orator of the Mountain, and
he himself an intimate friend of St. Just and Marat, and all the most
violent of the Republicans.
My father's history about this period is involved in such obscurity, and
his second marriage followed so rapidly on the death of his first wife,
that, strange as it may seem, I never knew who was my mother--the lineal
descendant of a house, noble before the Crusades, or the humble
"bourgeoise" of the Quartier St. Denis. What peculiar line of political
action my father followed I am unable to say, nor whether he was
suspected with or without due cause: but suspected he certainly was, and
at a time when suspicion was all-sufficient for conviction. He was
arrested, and thrown into the Temple, where I remember I used to visit
him every week; and whence I accompanied him one morning, as he was led
forth with a string of others to the Place de la Grève, to be
guillotined. I believe he was accused of royalism; and I know that a
white cockade was found among his effects, and in mockery was fastened
on his shoulder on the day of his execution. This emblem, deep dyed with
blood, and still dripping, was taken up by a bystander, and pinned on my
cap, with the savage observation, "Voila, it is the proper color; see
that you profit by the way it became so." As with a bursting heart, and
a head wild with terror, I turned to find my way homeward, I felt my
hand grasped by another--I looked up, and saw an old man, whose
threadbare black clothes and emaciated appearance bespoke the priest in
the times of the Convention.
"You have no home now, my poor boy," said he to me; "come and share
mine."
I did not ask him why. I seemed to have suddenly become reckless as to
every thing present or future. The terrible scene I had witnessed had
dried up all the springs of my youthful heart; and, infant as I was, I
was already a skeptic as to every thing good or generous in human
nature. I followed him, therefore, without a word, and we walked on,
leaving the thoroughfares and seeking the less frequented streets, till
we arrived in what seemed a suburban part of Paris--at least the houses
were surrounded with trees and shrubs; and at a distance I could see the
hill of Montmartre and its wind-mills--objects well known to me by many
a Sunday visit.
Even after my own home, the poverty of the Père Michel's household was
most remarkable: he had but one small room, of which a miserable
settle-bed, two chairs, and a table constituted all the furniture; there
was no fire-place, a little pan for charcoal supplying the only means
for warmth or cookery; a crucifix and a few colored prints of saints
decorated the whitewashed walls; and, with a string of wooden beads, a
cloth skull-cap, and a bracket with two or three books, made up the
whole inventory of his possessions; and yet, as he closed the door
behind him, and drew me toward him to kiss my cheek, the tears glistened
in his eyes with gratitude as he said,
"Now, my dear Maurice, you are at home."
"How do you know that I am called Maurice?" said I, in astonishment.
"Because I was an old friend of your poor father, my child; we came from
the same country--we held the same faith, had the same hopes, and may
one day yet, perhaps, have the same fate."
He told me that the closest friendship had bound them together for years
past, and in proof of it showed me a variety of papers which my father
had intrusted to his keeping, well aware, as it would seem, of the
insecurity of his own life.
"He charged me to take you home with me, Maurice, should the day come
when this might come to pass. You will now live with me, and I will be
your father, so far at least as humble means will suffer me."
I was too young to know how deep my debt of gratitude ought to be. I had
not tasted the sorrows of utter desertion; nor did I know from what a
hurricane of blood and anarchy fortune had rescued me; still I accepted
the Père's benevolent offer with a thankful heart, and turned to him at
once as to all that was left to me in the world.
All this time, it may be wondered how I neither spoke nor thought of my
mother, if she were indeed such; but for several weeks before my
father's death I had never seen her, nor did he ever once allude to her.
The reserve thus imposed upon me remained still, and I felt as though it
would have been like a treachery to his memory were I now to speak of
her whom, in his life-time I had not dared to mention.
The Père lost no time in diverting my mind from the dreadful events I
had so lately witnessed. The next morning, soon after daybreak, I was
summoned to attend him to the little church of St. Blois, where he said
mass. It was a very humble little edifice, which once had been the
private chapel of a chateau, and stood in a weed-grown, neglected
garden, where broken statues and smashed fountains bore evidence of the
visits of the destroyer. A rude effigy of St. Blois, upon whom some
profane hand had stuck a Phrygian cap of liberty, and which none were
bold enough to displace, stood over the doorway; besides, not a vestige
of ornament or decoration existed. The altar, covered with a white
cloth, displayed none of the accustomed emblems; and a rude crucifix of
oak was the only symbol of the faith remaining. Small as was the
building, it was even too spacious for the few who came to worship. The
terror which prevailed on every side--the dread that devotion to
religion should be construed into an adherence to the monarchy, that
submission to God should be interpreted as an act of rebellion against
the sovereignty of human will, had gradually thinned the numbers, till
at last the few who came were only those whose afflictions had steeled
them against any reverses, and who were ready martyrs to whatever might
betide them. These were almost exclusively women--the mothers and wives
of those who had sealed their faith with their blood in the terrible
Place de la Grève. Among them was one whose dress and appearance,
although not different from the rest, always created a movement of
respect as she passed in or out of the chapel. She was a very old lady,
with hair white as snow, and who led by the hand a little girl of about
my own age; her large dark eyes and brilliant complexion giving her a
look of unearthly beauty in that assemblage of furrowed cheeks, and eyes
long dimmed by weeping. It was not alone that her features were
beautifully regular, or that their lines were fashioned in the very
perfection of symmetry, but there was a certain character in the
expression of the face so different from all around it, as to be almost
electrical in effect. Untouched by the terrible calamities that weighed
on every heart, she seemed, in the glad buoyancy of her youth, to be at
once above the very reach of sorrow, like one who bore a charmed fate,
and whom Fortune had exempted from all the trials of this life. So at
least did I read those features, as they beamed upon me in such a
contract to the almost stern character of the sad and sorrow-struck
faces of the rest.
It was a part of my duty to place a foot-stool each morning for the
"Marquise," as she was distinctively called, and on these occasions it
was that I used to gaze upon that little girl's face with a kind of
admiring wonder that lingered in my heart for hours after. The bold look
with which she met mine, if it at first half abashed, at length
encouraged me; and as I stole noiselessly away, I used to feel as though
I carried with me some portion of that high hope which bounded within
her own heart. Strange magnetism! it seemed as though her spirit
whispered to me not to be down-hearted or depressed--that the sorrows
of life came and went as shadows pass over the earth--that the season of
mourning was fast passing, and that for us the world would wear a
brighter and more glorious aspect.
Such were the thoughts her dark eyes revealed to me, and such the hopes
I caught up from her proud features.
It is easy to color a life of monotony; any hue may soon tinge the outer
surface, and thus mine speedily assumed a hopeful cast; not the less
decided, that the distance was lost in vague uncertainty. The nature of
my studies--and the Père kept me rigidly to the desk--offered little to
the discursiveness of fancy. The rudiments of Greek and Latin, the lives
of saints and martyrs, the litanies of the church, the invocations
peculiar to certain holy days, chiefly filled up my time, when not
sharing those menial offices which our poverty exacted from our own
hands.
Our life was of the very simplest; except a cup of coffee each morning
at daybreak, we took but one meal; our drink was always water. By what
means even the humble fare we enjoyed was procured, I never knew, for I
never saw money in the Père's possession, nor did he ever appear to buy
any thing.
For about two hours in the week I used to enjoy entire liberty, as the
Père was accustomed every Saturday to visit certain persons of his flock
who were too infirm to go abroad. On these occasions he would leave me
with some thoughtful injunction about reflection or pious meditation,
perhaps suggesting, for my amusement, the life of St. Vincent de Paul,
or some other of those adventurous spirits whose missions among the
Indians are so replete with heroic struggles; but still with free
permission for me to walk out at large and enjoy myself as I liked best.
We lived so near the outer Boulevard that I could already see the open
country from our windows; but fair and enticing as seemed the sunny
slopes of Montmartre--bright as glanced the young leaves of spring in
the gardens at its foot--I ever turned my steps into the crowded city,
and sought the thoroughfares where the great human tide rolled fullest.
There were certain spots which held a kind of supernatural influence
over me--one of these was the Temple, another was the Place de la Grève.
The window at which my father used to sit, from which, as a kind of
signal, I have so often seen his red kerchief floating, I never could
pass now, without stopping to gaze at; now, thinking of him who had been
its inmate, now, wondering who might be its present occupant. It needed
not the onward current of population that each Saturday bore along, to
carry me to the Place de la Grève. It was the great day of the
guillotine, and as many as two hundred were often led out to execution.
Although the spectacle had now lost every charm of excitement to the
population, from its frequency, it had become a kind of necessity to
their existence, and the sight of blood alone seemed to slake that
feverish thirst for vengeance which no sufferings appeared capable of
satiating. It was rare, however, when some great and distinguished
criminal did not absorb all the interest of the scene. It was at that
period when the fierce tyrants of the Convention had turned upon each
other, and sought, by denouncing those who had been their bosom friends,
to seal their new allegiance to the people. There was something
demoniacal in the exultation with which the mob witnessed the fate of
those whom, but a few weeks back, they had acknowledged as their guides
and teachers. The uncertainty of human greatness appeared the most
glorious recompense to those whose station debarred them from all the
enjoyments of power, and they stood by the death-agonies of their former
friends with a fiendish joy that all the sufferings of their enemies had
never yielded.
To me the spectacles had all the fascination that scenes of horror
exercise over the mind of youth. I knew nothing of the terrible
conflict, nothing of the fierce passions enlisted in the struggle,
nothing of the sacred names so basely polluted, nothing of that
remorseless vengeance with which the low-born and degraded were still
hounded on to slaughter. It was a solemn and a fearful sight, but it was
no more; and I gazed upon every detail of the scene with an interest
that never wandered from the spot whereon it was enacted. If the parade
of soldiers, of horse, foot, and artillery, gave these scenes a
character of public justice, the horrible mobs, who chanted ribald
songs, and danced around the guillotine, suggested the notion of popular
vengeance; so that I was lost in all my attempts to reconcile the
reasons of these executions with the circumstances that accompanied
them.
Not daring to inform the Père Michel of where I had been, I could not
ask him for any explanation; and thus was I left to pick up from the
scattered phrases of the crowd what was the guilt alleged against the
criminals. In many cases the simple word "Chouan," of which I knew not
the import, was all I heard; in others jeering allusions to former rank
and station would be uttered; while against some the taunt would imply
that they had shed tears over others who fell as enemies of the people,
and that such sympathy was a costly pleasure to be paid for but with a
life's-blood. Such entire possession of me had these awful sights taken,
that I lived in a continual dream of them. The sound of every cart-wheel
recalled the dull rumble of the hurdle--every distant sound seemed like
the far-off hum of the coming multitude--every sudden noise suggested
the clanking drop of the guillotine! My sleep had no other images, and I
wandered about my little round of duties pondering over this terrible
theme.
Had I been less occupied with my own thoughts, I must have seen that
Père Michel was suffering under some great calamity. The poor priest
became wasted to a shadow; for entire days long he would taste of
nothing; sometimes he would be absent from early morning to late at
night, and when he did return, instead of betaking himself to rest, he
would drop down before the crucifix in an agony of prayer, and thus
spend more than half the night. Often and often have I, when feigning
sleep, followed him as he recited the litanies of the breviary, adding
my own unuttered prayers to his, and beseeching for a mercy whose object
I knew not.
For some time his little chapel had been closed by the authorities; a
heavy padlock and two massive seals being placed upon the door, and a
notice, in a vulgar handwriting, appended, to the effect, that it was by
the order of the Commissary of the Department. Could this be the source
of the Père's sorrow? or did not his affliction seem too great for such
a cause? were questions I asked myself again and again.
In this state were matters, when one morning, it was a Saturday, the
Père enjoined me to spend the day in prayer, reciting particularly the
liturgies for the dead, and all those sacred offices for those who have
just departed this life.
"Pray unceasingly, my dear child--pray with your whole heart, as though
it were for one you loved best in the world. I shall not return,
perhaps, till late to-night; but I will kiss you then, and to-morrow we
shall go into the woods together."
The tears fell from his cheek to mine as he said this, and his damp hand
trembled as he pressed my fingers. My heart was full to bursting at his
emotion, and I resolved faithfully to do his bidding. To watch him, as
he went, I opened the sash, and as I did so, the sound of a distant
drum, the well-known muffled roll, floated on the air, and I remembered
it was the day of the guillotine--that day in which my feverish spirit
turned, as it were in relief, to the reality of blood. Remote as was
the part of the city we lived in, to escape from the hideous imaginings
of my overwrought brain, I could still mark the hastening steps of the
foot-passengers, as they listened to the far-off summons, and see the
tide was setting toward the fatal Place de Grève. It was a lowering,
heavy morning, overcast with clouds, and on its loaded atmosphere sounds
moved slowly and indistinctly; yet I could trace through all the din of
the great city, the incessant roll of the drums, and the loud shouts
that burst forth, from time to time, from some great multitude.
Forgetting every thing, save my intense passion for scenes of terror, I
hastened down the stairs into the street, and at the top of my speed
hurried to the place of execution. As I went along, the crowded streets
and thronged avenues told of some event of more than common interest;
and in the words which fell from those around me I could trace that some
deep Royalist plot had just been discovered, and that the conspirators
would all on that day be executed. Whether it was that the frequent
sight of blood was beginning to pall upon the popular appetite, or that
these wholesale massacres interested less than the sight of individual
suffering, I know not; but certainly there was less of exultation, less
of triumphant scorn in the tone of the speakers. They talked of the
coming event, as of a common occurrence, which, from mere repetition,
was gradually losing interest.
"I thought we had done with these Chouans," said a man in a blouse, with
a paper cap on his head. "Pardie! they must have been more numerous than
we ever suspected."
"That they were, citoyen," said a haggard-looking fellow, whose features
showed the signs of recent strife; "they were the millions who gorged
and fed upon us for centuries--who sipped the red grape of Bourdeaux,
while you and I drank the water of the Seine."
"Well, their time is come now," cried a third.
"And when will ours come?" asked a fresh-looking, dark-eyed girl, whose
dress bespoke her trade of _bouquetiere_--"Do you call this our time, my
masters, when Paris has no more pleasant sight than blood, nor any music
save the 'ça ira' that drowns the cries at the guillotine? Is this our
time, when we have lost those who gave us bread, and got in their place
only those who would feed us with carnage?"
"Down with her! down with the Chouan! à bas la Royaliste!" cried the
pale-faced fellow; and he struck the girl with his fist upon the face,
and left it covered with blood.
"To the lantern with her!--to the Seine!" shouted several voices; and
now, rudely seizing her by the shoulders, the mob seemed bent upon
sudden vengeance; while the poor girl, letting fall her basket, begged,
with clasped hands, for mercy.
"See here, see here, comrades," cried a fellow, stooping down among the
flowers, "she is a Royalist: here are lilies hid beneath the rest."
What sad consequences this discovery might have led to, there is no
knowing; when, suddenly, a violent rush of the crowd turned every
thought into a different direction. It was caused by a movement of the
Gendarmerie à cheval, who were clearing the way for the approaching
procession. I had just time to place the poor girl's basket in her
hands, as the onward impulse of the dense mob carried me forward. I saw
her no more. A flower--I know not how it came there--was in my bosom,
and seeing that it was a lily, I placed it in my cap for concealment.
The hoarse clangor of the bassoons--the only instruments which played
during the march--now told that the procession was approaching; and then
I could see, above the heads of the multitude, the leopard-skin helmets
of the dragoons, who led the way. Save this I could see nothing, as I
was borne along in the vast torrent toward the place of execution.
Slowly as we moved, our progress was far more rapid than that of the
procession, which was often obliged to halt from the density of the mob
in front. We arrived, therefore, at the Place a considerable time
before it; and now I found myself beside the massive wooden railing
placed to keep off the crowd from the space around the guillotine.
It was the first time I had ever stood so close to the fatal spot, and
my eyes devoured every detail with the most searching intensity. The
colossal guillotine itself, painted red, and with its massive ax
suspended aloft--the terrible basket, half filled with sawdust,
beneath--the coarse table, on which a rude jar and a cap were
placed--and, more disgusting than all, the lounging group, who, with
their newspapers in hand, seemed from time to time to watch if the
procession were approaching. They sat beneath a misshapen statue of
wood, painted red like the guillotine. This was the goddess of Liberty.
I climbed one of the pillars of the paling, and could now see the great
cart, which, like a boat upon wheels, came slowly along, dragged by six
horses. It was crowded with people, so closely packed that they could
not move their bodies, and only waved their hands, which they did
incessantly. They seemed, too, as if they were singing; but the deep
growl of the bassoons, and the fierce howlings of the mob, drowned all
other sounds. As the cart came nearer, I could distinguish the faces,
amid which were those of age and youth--men and women--bold-visaged boys
and fair girls--some, whose air bespoke the very highest station, and
beside them, the hardy peasant, apparently more amazed than terrified at
all he saw around him. On they came, the great cart surging heavily,
like a bark in a stormy sea; and now it cleft the dense ocean that
filled the Place, and I could descry the lineaments wherein the
stiffened lines of death were already marked. Had any touch of pity
still lingered in that dense crowd, there might well have been some show
of compassion for the sad convoy, whose faces grew ghastly with terror
as they drew near the horrible engine.
Down the furrowed cheek of age the heavy tears coursed freely, and sobs
and broken prayers burst forth from hearts that until now had beat high
and proudly.
"There is the Duc d'Angeaç," cried a fellow, pointing to a venerable old
man, who was seated at the corner of the cart, with an air of calm
dignity; "I know him well, for I was his perruquier."
"His hair must be content with sawdust this morning, instead of powder,"
said another; and a rude laugh followed the ruffian jest.
"See! mark that woman with the long dark hair--that is La Bretonville,
the actress of the St. Martin."
"I have often seen her represent terror far more naturally," cried a
fashionably-dressed man, as he stared at the victim through his
opera-glass.
"Bah!" replied his friend, "she despises her audience, _voila tout_.
Look, Henri, if that little girl beside her be not Lucille of the
Pantheon."
"Parbleu! so it is. Why, they'll not leave a pirouette in the Grand
Opera. Pauvre petite, what had you to do with politics?"
"Her little feet ought to have saved her head any day."
"See how grim that old lady beside her looks: I'd swear she is more
shocked at the company she's thrown into, than the fate that awaits her.
I never saw a glance of prouder disdain than she has just bestowed on
poor Lucille."
"That's the old Marquise d'Estelles, the very essence of our old
nobility. They used to talk of their mesalliance with the Bourbons as
the first misfortune of their house."
"Pardie! they have lived to learn deeper sorrows."
I had by this time discovered her they were speaking of, whom I
recognized at once as the old marquise of the chapel of St. Blois. My
hands nearly gave up their grasp as I gazed on those features, which so
often I had seen fixed in prayer, and which now--a thought paler,
perhaps--wore the self-same calm expression. With what intense agony I
peered into the mass, to see if the little girl, her grand-daughter,
were with her; and, oh! the deep relief I felt as I saw nothing but
strange faces on every side. It was terrible to feel, as my eyes ranged
over that vast mass, where grief and despair, and heart-sinking terror
were depicted, that I should experience a spirit of joy and
thankfulness; and yet I did so, and with my lips I uttered my gratitude
that she was spared! But I had not time for many reflections like this;
already the terrible business of the day had begun, and the prisoners
were now descending from the cart, ranging themselves, as their names
were called, in a line below the scaffold. With a few exception, they
took their places in all the calm of seeming indifference. Death had
long familiarized itself to their minds in a thousand shapes. Day by day
they had seen the vacant places left by those led out to die, and if
their sorrows had not rendered them careless of life, the world itself
had grown distasteful to them. In some cases a spirit of proud scorn was
manifested to the very last; and, strange inconsistency of human nature!
the very men whose licentiousness and frivolity first evoked the
terrible storm of popular fury, were the first to display the most
chivalrous courage in the terrible face of the guillotine. Beautiful
women, too, in all the pride of their loveliness, met the inhuman stare
of that mob undismayed. Nor were these traits without their fruits. This
noble spirit--this triumphant victory of the well-born and the
great--was a continual insult to the populace, who saw themselves
defrauded of half their promised vengeance, and they learned that they
might kill, but they could never humiliate them. In vain they dipped
their hands in the red life-blood, and, holding up their dripping
fingers, asked, "How did it differ from that of the canaille?" Their
hearts gave the lie to the taunt for they witnessed instances of
heroism from gray hairs and tender womanhood, that would have shamed
the proudest deeds of their new-born chivalry!
"Charles Gregoire Courcelles!" shouted out a deep voice from the
scaffold.
"That is my name," said a venerable-looking old gentleman, as he arose
from his seat, adding, with a placid smile, "but, for half a century my
friends have called me the Duc de Riancourt."
"We have no dukes nor marquises; we know of no titles in France,"
replied the functionary. "All men are equal before the law."
"If it were so, my friend, you and I might change places; for you were
my steward, and plundered my chateau."
"Down with the royalist--away with the aristocrat!" shouted a number of
voices from the crowd.
"Be a little patient, good people," said the old man, as he ascended the
steps with some difficulty; "I was wounded in Canada, and have never yet
recovered. I shall probably be better a few minutes hence."
There was something of half simplicity in the careless way the words
were uttered that hushed the multitude, and already some expressions of
sympathy were heard; but as quickly the ribald insults of the hired
ruffians of the Convention drowned these sounds, and "Down with the
royalist" resounded on every side, while two officials assisted him to
remove his stock and bare his throat. The commissary, advancing to the
edge of the platform, and, as it were, addressing the people, read in a
hurried, slurring kind of voice, something that purported to be the
ground of the condemnation. But of this not a word could be heard. None
cared to hear the ten-thousand-time told tale of suspected royalism, nor
would listen to the high-sounding declamation that proclaimed the
virtuous zeal of the government--their untiring energy--their glorious
persistence in the cause of the people. The last words were, as usual,
responded to with an echoing shout, and the cry of "Vive la Republique"
rose from the great multitude.
"Vive le Roi!" cried the old man, with a voice heard high above the
clamor; but the words were scarce out when the lips that muttered them
were closed in death; so sudden was the act, that a cry burst forth from
the mob, but whether in reprobation or in ecstasy I knew not.
I will not follow the sad catalogue, wherein nobles and peasants,
priests, soldiers, actors, men of obscure fortune, and women of lofty
station succeeded each other, occupying for a brief minute every eye,
and passing away for ever. Many ascended the platform without a word;
some waved a farewell toward a distant quarter, where they suspected a
friend to be--others spent their last moments in prayer, and died in the
very act of supplication. All bore themselves with a noble and proud
courage; and now some five or six alone remained, of whose fate none
seemed to guess the issue, since they had been taken from the Temple by
some mistake, and were not included in the list of the commissary. There
they sat, at the foot of the scaffold, speechless and stupefied--they
looked as though it were matter of indifference to which side their
steps should turn--to the jail or the guillotine. Among these was the
marquise, who alone preserved her proud self-possession, and sat in all
her accustomed dignity; while close beside her an angry controversy was
maintained as to their future destiny--the commissary firmly refusing to
receive them for execution, and the delegate of the Temple, as he was
styled, as flatly asserting that he would not re-conduct them to prison.
The populace soon grew interested in the dispute, and the most violent
altercations arose among the partisans of each side of the question.
Meanwhile, the commissary and his assistants prepared to depart. Already
the massive drapery of red cloth was drawn over the guillotine, and
every preparation made for withdrawing, when the mob, doubtless
dissatisfied that they should be defrauded of any portion of the
entertainment, began to climb over the wooden barricades, and, with
furious cries and shouts, threatened vengeance upon any who would screen
the enemies of the people.
The troops resisted the movement, but rather with the air of men
entreating calmness, than with the spirit of soldiery. It was plain to
see on which side the true force lay.
"If you will not do it, the people will do it for you," whispered the
delegate to the commissary; "and who is to say where they will stop when
their hands once learn the trick!"
The commissary grew lividly pale, and made no reply.
"See there!" rejoined the other; "they are carrying a fellow on their
shoulders yonder; they mean him to be executioner."
"But I dare not--I can not--without my orders."
"Are not the people sovereign?--whose will have we sworn to obey, but
theirs?"
"My own head would be the penalty if I yielded."
"It will be, if you resist--even now it is too late."
And as he spoke he sprang from the scaffold, and disappeared in the
dense crowd that already thronged the space within the rails.
By this time, the populace were not only masters of the area around, but
had also gained the scaffold itself, from which many of them seemed
endeavoring to harangue the mob; others contenting themselves with
imitating the gestures of the commissary and his functionaries. It was a
scene of the wildest uproar and confusion--frantic cries and screams,
ribald songs and fiendish yellings on every side. The guillotine was
again uncovered, and the great crimson drapery, torn into fragments, was
waved about like flags, or twisted into uncouth head-dresses. The
commissary failing in every attempt to restore order peaceably, and
either not possessing a sufficient force, or distrusting the temper of
the soldiers, descended from the scaffold, and gave the order to march.
This act of submission was hailed by the mob with the most furious yell
of triumph. Up to that very moment, they had never credited the bare
possibility of a victory; and now they saw themselves suddenly masters
of the field--the troops, in all the array of horse and foot, retiring
in discomfiture. Their exultation knew no bounds; and, doubtless, had
there been among them those with skill and daring to profit by the
enthusiasm, the torrent had rushed a longer and more terrific course
than through the blood-steeped clay of the Place de la Grève.
"Here is the man we want," shouted a deep voice. "St. Just told us,
t'other day, that the occasion never failed to produce one; and see,
here is 'Jean Gougon;' and though he's but two feet high, his fingers
can reach the pin of the guillotine."
And he held aloft on his shoulders a misshapen dwarf, who was well known
on the Pont Neuf, where he gained his living by singing infamous songs,
and performing mockeries of the service of the mass. A cheer of welcome
acknowledged this speech, to which the dwarf responded by a mock
benediction, which he bestowed with all the ceremonious observance of an
archbishop. Shouts of the wildest laughter followed this ribaldry, and
in a kind of triumph they carried him up the steps, and deposited him on
the scaffold.
Ascending one of the chairs, the little wretch proceeded to address the
mob, which he did with all the ease and composure of a practiced public
speaker. Not a murmur was heard in that tumultuous assemblage, as he,
with a most admirable imitation of Hebert, then the popular idol,
assured them that France was, at that instant, the envy of surrounding
nations; and that, bating certain little weaknesses on the score of
humanity--certain traits of softness and over-mercy--her citizens
realized all that ever had been said of angels. From thence he passed on
to a mimicry of Marat, of Danton, and of Robespierre--tearing off his
cravat, baring his breast, and performing all the oft-exhibited antics
of the latter, as he vociferated, in a wild scream, the well-known
peroration of a speech he had lately made--"If we look to a glorious
morrow of freedom, the sun of our slavery must set in blood!"
However amused by the dwarf's exhibition, a feeling of impatience began
to manifest itself among the mob, who felt that, by any longer delay, it
was possible time would be given for fresh troops to arrive, and the
glorious opportunity of popular sovereignty be lost in the very hour of
victory.
"To work--to work, Master Gougon!" shouted hundreds of rude voices; "we
can not spend our day in listening to oratory."
"You forget, my dear friends," said he blandly, "that this is to me a
new walk in life I have much to learn, ere I can acquit myself worthily
to the republic."
"We have no leisure for preparatory studies, Gougon," cried a fellow
below the scaffold.
"Let me, then, just begin with monsieur," said the dwarf, pointing to
the last speaker; and a shout of laughter closed the sentence.
A brief and angry dispute now arose as to what was to be done, and it is
more than doubtful how the debate might have ended, when Gougon, with a
readiness all his own, concluded the discussion by saying,
"I have it, messieurs, I have it. There is a lady here, who, however
respectable her family and connections, will leave few to mourn her
loss. She is, in a manner, public property, and if not born on the soil,
at least a naturalized Frenchwoman. We have done a great deal for her,
and in her name, for some time back, and I am not aware of any singular
benefit she has rendered us. With your permission, then, I'll begin with
_her_."
"Name, name--name her," was cried by thousands.
"_La voila_," said he, archly, as he pointed with his thumb to the
wooden effigy of Liberty above his head.
The absurdity of the suggestion was more than enough for its success. A
dozen hands were speedily at work, and down came the Goddess of Liberty!
The other details of an execution were hurried over with all the speed
of practiced address, and the figure was placed beneath the drop. Down
fell the ax, and Gougon, lifting up the wooden head, paraded it about
the scaffold, crying,
"Behold! an enemy of France. Long live the republic, one and
'indivisible.'"
Loud and wild were the shouts of laughter from this brutal mockery; and
for a time it almost seemed as if the ribaldry had turned the mob from
the sterner passions of their vengeance. This hope, if one there ever
cherished it, was short-lived; and again the cry arose for blood. It was
too plain, that no momentary diversion, no passing distraction, could
withdraw them from that lust for cruelty, that had now grown into a
passion.
And now a bustle and movement of those around the stairs showed that
something was in preparation; and in the next moment the old marquise
was led forward between two men.
"Where is the order for this woman's execution?" asked the dwarf,
mimicking the style and air of the commissary.
"We give it: it is from us," shouted the mob, with one savage roar.
Gougon removed his cap, and bowed a token of obedience.
"Let us proceed in order, messieurs," said he, gravely; "I see no priest
here."
"Shrive her yourself, Gougon; few know the mummeries better!" cried a
voice.
"Is there not one here can remember a prayer, or even a verse of the
offices," said Gougon, with a well-affected horror in his voice.
"Yes, yes, I do," cried I, my zeal overcoming all sense of the mockery
in which the words were spoken; "I know them all by heart, and can
repeat them from 'lux beatissima' down to 'hora mortis;'" and as if to
gain credence for my self-laudation, I began at once to recite in the
sing-song tone of the seminary,
"Salve, mater salvatoris,
Fons salutis, vas honoris:
Scala coeli porta et via
Salve semper, O, Maria!"
It is possible I should have gone on to the very end, if the uproarious
laughter which rung around had not stopped me.
"There's a brave youth!" cried Gougon, pointing toward me, with mock
admiration. "If it ever come to pass--as what may not in these strange
times?--that we turn to priest-craft again, thou shalt be the first
archbishop of Paris. Who taught thee that famous canticle?"
"The Père Michel," replied I, in no way conscious of the ridicule
bestowed upon me; "the Père Michel of St. Blois."
The old lady lifted up her head at these words, and her dark eyes rested
steadily upon me; and then, with a sign of her hand, she motioned to me
to come over to her.
"Yes; let him come," said Gougon, as if answering the half-reluctant
glances of the crowd. And now I was assisted to descend, and passed
along over the heads of the people till I was placed upon the scaffold.
Never can I forget the terror of that moment, as I stood within a few
feet of the terrible guillotine, and saw beside me the horrid basket,
splashed with recent blood.
"Look not at these things, child," said the old lady, as she took my
hand and drew me toward her, "but listen to me, and mark my words well."
"I will, I will," cried I, as the hot tears rolled down my cheeks.
"Tell the Père--you will see him to-night--tell him that I have changed
my mind, and resolved upon another course, and that he is not to leave
Paris. Let them remain. The torrent runs too rapidly to last. This can
not endure much longer. We shall be among the last victims! You hear me,
child?"
"I do, I do," cried I, sobbing. "Why is not the Père Michel with you
now?"
"Because he is suing for my pardon; asking for mercy, where its very
name is a derision. Kneel down beside me, and repeat the 'angelus.'"
I took off my cap, and knelt down at her feet, reciting, in a voice
broken by emotion, the words of the prayer. She repeated each syllable
after me, in a tone full and unshaken, and then stooping, she took up
the lily which lay in my cap. She pressed it passionately to her lips;
two or three times passionately. "Give it to her; tell her I kissed it
at my last moment. Tell her--"
"This 'shrift' is beyond endurance. Away, holy father," cried Gougon,
as he pushed me rudely back, and seized the marquise by the wrist. A
faint cry escaped her. I heard no more; for, jostled and pushed about by
the crowd, I was driven to the very rails of the scaffold. Stepping
beneath these, I mingled with the mob beneath; and burning with
eagerness to escape a scene, to have witnessed which would almost have
made my heart break, I forced my way into the dense mass, and, by
squeezing and creeping, succeeded at last in penetrating to the verge of
the Place. A terrible shout, and a rocking motion of the mob, like the
heavy surging of the sea, told me that all was over; but I never looked
back to the fatal spot, but having gained the open streets, ran at the
top of my speed toward home.
(_To be continued._)
[From Bender's Monthly Miscellany.]
WOMEN IN THE EAST.
BY AN ORIENTAL TRAVELER.
Within the gay kiosk reclined,
Above the scent of lemon groves,
Where bubbling fountains kiss the wind,
And birds make music to their loves,
She lives a kind of faery life,
In sisterhood of fruits and flowers,
Unconscious of the outer strife
That wears the palpitating hours.
_The Hareem._ R.M. MILNES.
There is a gentle, calm repose breathing through the whole of this poem,
which comes soothingly to the imagination wearied with the strife and
hollowness of modern civilization. Woman in it is the inferior being;
but it is the inferiority of the beautiful flower, or of the fairy birds
of gorgeous plumage, who wing their flight amid the gardens and bubbling
streams of the Eastern palace. Life is represented for the Eastern women
as a long dream of affection; the only emotions she is to know are those
of ardent love and tender maternity. She is not represented as the
companion to man in his life battle, as the sharer of his triumph and
his defeats: the storms of life are hushed at the entrance of the
hareem; _there_ the lord and master deposits the frown of unlimited
power, or the cringing reverence of the slave, and appears as the
watchful guardian of the loved one's happiness. Such a picture is
poetical, and would lead one to say, alas for human progress, if the
Eastern female slave is thus on earth to pass one long golden
summer--her heart only tied by those feelings which keep it young--while
her Christian sister has these emotions but as sun-gleams to lighten and
make dark by contrast, the frequent gloom of her winter life.
But although the conception is poetical, to one who has lived many years
in the East, it appears a conception, not a description of the real
hareem life, even among the noble and wealthy of those lands. The
following anecdote may be given us the other side of the picture. The
writer was a witness of the scene, and he offers it as a consolation to
those of his fair sisters, who, in the midst of the troubles of
common-place life, might be disposed to compare their lot with that of
the inmate of the mysterious and happy home drawn by the poet.
It was in a large and fruitful district of the south of India that I
passed a few years of my life. In this district lived, immured in his
fort, one of the native rajahs, who, with questionable justice, have
gradually been shorn of their regal state and authority, to become
pensioners of the East India Company. The inevitable consequence of such
an existence, the forced life of inactivity with the traditions of the
bold exploits of his royal ancestors, brilliant Mahratta chieftains, may
be imagined. The rajah sunk into a state of slothful dissipation, varied
by the occasional intemperate exercise of the power left him within the
limits of the fortress, his residence. This fort is not the place which
the word would suggest to the reader, but was rather a small native town
surrounded by fortifications. This town was peopled by the descendants
of the Mahrattas, and by the artisans and dependents of the rajah and
his court. Twice a year the English resident and his assistants were
accustomed to pay visits of ceremony to the rajah, and had to encounter
the fatiguing sights of dancing-girls, beast-fights, and _music_, if the
extraordinary assemblage of sounds, which in the East assume the place
of harmony, can be so called.
We had just returned from one of these visits, and were grumbling over
our headaches, the dust, and the heat, when, to our surprise, the
rajah's vabul or confidential representative was announced. As it was
nine o'clock in the evening this somewhat surprised us. He was, however,
admitted, and after a short, hurried obeisance, he announced "that he
must die! that there had been a sudden revolt of the hareem, and that
when the rajah knew it, he would listen to no explanations, but be sure
to imprison and ruin all round him; and that foremost in the general
destruction would be himself, Veneat-Rao, who had always been the child
of the English Sahibs, who were his fathers--that they were wise above
all natives, and that he had come to them for help!" All this was
pronounced with indescribable volubility, and the appearance of the
speaker announced the most abject fear. He was a little wizened Brahmin,
with the thin blue lines of his caste carefully painted on his wrinkled
forehead. His dark black eyes gleamed with suppressed impotent rage, and
in his agitation he had lost all that staid, placid decorum which we had
been accustomed to observe in him when transacting business. When urged
to explain the domestic disaster which had befallen his master, he
exclaimed with ludicrous pathos, "By Rama! women are devils; by them all
misfortunes come upon men! But, sahibs, hasten with me; they have
broken through the guard kept on the hareem door by two old sentries;
they ran through the fort and besieged my house; they are now there, and
refuse to go back to the hareem. The rajah returns to-morrow from his
hunting--what can I say? I must die! my children, who will care for
them? what crime did my father commit that I should thus be disgraced?"
Yielding to these entreaties, and amused at the prospect of a novel
scene, we mounted our horses and cantered to the fort. The lights were
burning brightly in the bazaars as we rode through them, and except a
few groups gathered to discuss the price of rice and the want of rain,
we perceived no agitation till we reached the Vakeel's house. Arrived
here we dismounted, and on entering the square court-yard a scene of
indescribable confusion presented itself. The first impression it
produced on me was that of entering a large aviary in which the birds,
stricken with terror, fly madly to and fro against the bars. Such was
the first effect of our entrance. Women and girls of all ages, grouped
about the court, in most picturesque attitudes, started up and fled to
its extreme end; only a few of the more matronly ladies stood their
ground, and with terribly screeching voices, declaimed against some one
or something, but for a long time we could, in this Babel of female
tongues, distinguish nothing. At last we managed to distinguish the
rajah's name, coupled with epithets most disrespectful to royalty. This,
and that they, the women, begged instantly to be put to death, was all
that the clamor would permit us to understand. We looked appealingly at
Veneat Rao, who stood by, wringing his hands. However, he made a
vigorous effort, and raising his shrill voice, told them that the sahibs
had come purposely to listen to, and redress their grievances, and that
they would hold durbar (audience) then and there.
This announcement produced a lull, and enabled us to look round us at
the strange scene. Scattered in various parts of the court were these
poor prisoners, who now for the first time for many years tasted
liberty. Scattered about were some hideous old women, partly guardians
of the younger, partly remains, we were told, of the rajah's father's
seraglio. Young children moved among them looking very much frightened.
But the group which attracted our attention and admiration consisted of
about twenty really beautiful girls, from fourteen to eighteen years of
age, of every country and caste, in the various costume and ornament of
their races; these were clustering round a fair and very graceful
Mahratta girl, whose tall figure was seen to great advantage in the
blaze of torchlight. Her muslin vail had half fallen from her face,
allowing us to see her large, soft, dark eyes, from which the tears were
fast falling, as in a low voice she addressed her fellow-sufferers.
There was on her face a peculiar expression of patient endurance of
ill, inexpressibly touching. This is not an unfrequent character in the
beauty of Asiatic women; the natural result of habits of fear, and the
entire submission to the will of others.
Her features were classically regular, with the short rounded chin, the
long graceful neck, and that easy port of head so seldom seen except in
the women of the East. Her arms were covered with rich bracelets, and
were of the most perfect form; her hands long and tapering, the palms
and nails dyed with the "henna." No barbarously-civilized restraint
rendered her waist a contradiction of natural beauty; a small, dark
satin bodice, richly embroidered, covered a bosom which had hardly
attained womanly perfection; a zone of gold held together the full
muslin folds of the lower portion of her dress, below which the white
satin trowsers reached, without concealing a faultless ankle and foot,
uncovered, except by the heavy anklet and rings which tinkled at every
step she took. After the disturbance that our entrance had caused, had
in a measure subsided, the children, who were richly dressed and loaded
with every kind of fantastic ornament, came sidling timidly round us,
peering curiously with their large black eyes, at the unusual sight of
white men.
Considerably embarrassed at the very new arbitration which we were about
to undertake, B. and I consulted for a little while, after which,
gravely taking our seats, and Veneat Rao having begged them to listen
with respectful attention, I, at B.'s desire, proceeded to address them,
telling them,
"That we supposed some grave cause must have arisen for them to desert
the palace of the rajah, their protector, during his absence, and by
violently overpowering the guard, incur his serious anger (here my eye
caught a sight of the said guard, consisting of two blear-eyed,
shriveled old men, and I nearly lost all solemnity of demeanor) that if
they complained of injustice, we supposed that it must have been
committed without his highness's knowledge, but that if they would
quietly return to the hareem we would endeavor to represent to their
master their case, and entreat him to redress their grievance."
I spoke this in Hindusthani, which, as the _lingua franca_ of the
greater part of India, I thought was most likely to be understood by the
majority of my female audience. I succeeded perfectly in making myself
understood, but was not quite so successful in convincing them that it
was better that they should return to the rajah's palace. After rather a
stormy discussion, the Mahratta girl, whom we had so much admired on our
entrance, stepped forward, and, bowing lowly before us, and crossing her
arms, in a very sweet tone of voice proceeded to tell her story, which,
she said, was very much the history of them all. The simple, and at
times picturesque expressions lose much by translation.
"Sir, much shame comes over me, that I, a woman, should speak before
men who are not our fathers, husbands, nor brothers, who are strangers,
of another country and religion; but they tell us that you English
sahibs love truth and justice, and protect the poor.
"I was born of Gentoo parents--rich, for I can remember the bright,
beautiful jewels which, as a child, I wore on my head, arms, and feet,
the large house and gardens where I played, and the numerous servants
who attended me.
"When I had reached my eighth or ninth year I heard them talk of my
betrothal,[1] and of the journey which we were, previous to the
ceremony, to take to some shrine in a distant country. My father, who
was advancing in years, and in bad health, being anxious to bathe in the
holy waters, which should give him prolonged life and health.
[1] The usual age for the ceremony among the wealthy India.
"The journey had lasted for many days, and one evening after we had
halted for the day I accompanied my mother when she went to bathe in a
tank near to our encampment. As I played along the bank and picked a few
wild flowers that grew under the trees I observed an old woman advancing
toward me. She spoke to me in a kind voice, asked me my name? who were
my parents? where we were going? and when I had answered her these
questions she told me that if I would accompany her a little way she
would give me some prettier flowers than those I was gathering, and that
her servant should take me back to my people.
"I had no sooner gone far enough to be out of sight and hearing of my
mother than the old woman threw a cloth over my head, and taking me up
in her arms, hurried on for a short distance. There I could distinguish
men's voices, and was sensible of being placed in a carriage, which was
driven off at a rapid pace. No answer was returned to my cries and
entreaties to be restored to my parents, and at sunrise I found myself
near hills which I had never before seen, and among a people whose
language was new to me.
"I remained with these people, who were not unkind to me, three or four
years; and I found out that the old woman who had carried me off from my
parents, was an emissary sent from the rajah's hareem to kidnap, when
they could not be purchased, young female children whose looks promised
that they would grow up with the beauty necessary for the gratification
of the prince's passions.
"Sahibs! I have been two years an inmate of the rajah's hareem--would to
God I had died a child in my own country with those I loved, than that I
should have been exposed to the miseries we suffer. The splendor which
surrounds us is only a mockery. The rajah, wearied and worn out by a
life of debauchery, takes no longer any pleasure in our society, and is
only roused from his lethargy to inflict disgrace and cruelties upon
us. We, who are of Brahmin caste, for his amusement, are forced to learn
the work of men--are made to carry in the gardens of the hareem a
palanquin, to work as goldsmiths--and, may our gods pardon us, to mingle
with the dancing-girls of the bazaar. His attendants deprive us even of
our food, and we sit in the beautiful palace loaded with jewels, and
suffer from the hunger not felt even by the poor Pariah.
"Sahibs! you who have in your country mothers and sisters, save us from
this cruel fate, and cause us to be restored to our parents; do not send
us back to such degradation, but rather let us die by your orders."
As with a voice tremulous with emotion, she said these words, she threw
herself at our feet, and burst into an agony of weeping.
Deeply moved by the simple expression of such undeserved misfortune, we
soothed her as well as we were able, and promising her and her
companions to make every effort with the rajah for their deliverance, we
persuaded Rosambhi, the Mahratta girl (their eloquent pleader), to
induce them to return for the night to the palace. Upon a repetition of
our promise they consented, to the infinite relief of Veneat Rao, who
alternately showered blessings on us, and curses on all womankind, as he
accompanied us back to the Residency.
And now we had to set about the deliverance of these poor women. This
was a work of considerable difficulty.
It was a delicate matter interfering with the rajah's domestic concerns,
and we could only commission Veneat Rao to communicate to his highness
the manner in which we had become implicated with so unusual an
occurrence as a revolt of his seraglio; we told him to express to his
highness our conviction that his generosity had been deceived by his
subordinates. In this we only imitated the profound maxim of European
diplomacy, and concealed our real ideas by our expressions. This to the
rajah. On his confidential servant we enforced the disapprobation the
resident felt at the system of kidnapping, of which his highness was the
instigator, and hinted at that which these princes most dread--an
investigation.
This succeeded beyond our expectation, and the next morning a message
was sent from the palace, intimating that the charges were so completely
unfounded, that the rajah was prepared to offer to his revolted women,
the choice of remaining in the hareem, or being sent back to their
homes.
Again they were assembled in Veneat Rao's house, but this time in much
more orderly fashion, for their vails were down, and except occasionally
when a coquettish movement showed a portion of some face, we were
unrewarded by any of the bright eyes we had admired on the previous
visit. The question was put to them one by one, and all with the
exception of a few old women, expressed an eager wish not to re-enter
the hareem.
After much troublesome inquiry, we discovered their parents, and were
rewarded by their happy and grateful faces, as we sent them off under
escort to their homes. It was painful to reflect what their fate would
be; they left us rejoicing at what they thought would be a happy change,
but we well knew that no one would marry them, knowing that they had
been in the rajah's hareem, and that they would either lead a life of
neglect, or sink into vice, of which the liberty would be the only
change from that, which by our means they had escaped.
In the inquiries we made into the circumstances of this curious case, we
found that their statements were true.
Large sums were paid by the rajah to his creatures, who traveled to
distant parts of the country, and wherever they could meet with parents
poor enough, bought their female children from them, or when they met
with remarkable beauty such as Rosambhi's, did not hesitate to carry the
child off, and by making rapid marches, elude any vigilance of pursuit
on the part of the parents.
The cruelties and degradations suffered by these poor girls are hardly
to be described. We well know how degraded, even in civilized countries
the pursuit of sensual pleasures renders men, to whom education and the
respect they pay the opinion of society, are checks; let us imagine the
conduct of the eastern prince, safe in the retirement of his court,
surrounded by those dependents to whom the gratification of their
master's worst passions was the sure road to favor and fortune.
Besides the sufferings they had to endure from him, the women of the
hareem were exposed to the rapacities of those who had charge of them,
and Rosambhi did not exaggerate, when she described herself and her
companions as suffering the pangs of want amid the splendors of a
palace.
This is the reverse of the pleasing picture drawn by the poet of the
Eastern woman's existence--but, though less pleasing, it is true--nor
need we describe her in the lower ranks of life in those countries,
where, her beauty faded, she has to pass a wearisome existence, the
servant of a rival, whose youthful charms have supplanted her in her
master's affections. The calm happiness of advancing age is seldom
hers--she is the toy while young--the slave, or the neglected servant,
at best, when, her only merit in the eyes of her master, physical
beauty, is gone.
Let her sister in the western world, in the midst of her joys, think
with pity on these sufferings, and when sorrow's cloud seems darkest,
let her not repine, but learn resignation to her lot, as she compares it
with the condition of the women of the East; let her be grateful that
she lives in an age and land where woman is regarded as the helpmate and
consolation of man, by whom her love is justly deemed the prize of his
life.
[From The Ladies' Companion.]
LETTICE ARNOLD.
By the Author of "TWO OLD MEN'S TALES," "EMILIA WYNDHAM," &c.
CHAPTER I.
"It is the generous spirit, who when brought
Unto the task of common life, hath wrought
Even upon the plan which pleased the childish thought
* * * * *
Who doomed to go in company with pain,
And fear, and ruin--miserable train!--
Makes that necessity a glorious gain,
By actions that would force the soul to abate
Her feeling, rendered more compassionate.
* * * * *
More gifted with self-knowledge--even more pure
As tempted more--more able to endure,
As more exposed to suffering and distress;
Thence, also, more alive to tenderness."
WORDSWORTH. _Happy Warrior._
"No, dearest mother, no! I can not. What! after all the tenderness,
care, and love I have received from you, for now one-and-twenty years,
to leave you and my father, in your old age, to yourselves! Oh, no! Oh,
no!"
"Nay, my child," said the pale, delicate, nervous woman, thus addressed
by a blooming girl whose face beamed with every promise for future
happiness, which health and cheerfulness, and eyes filled with warm
affections could give, "Nay, my child, don't talk so. You must not talk
so. It is not to be thought of." And, as she said these words with
effort, her poor heart was dying within her, not only from sorrow at the
thought of the parting from her darling, but with all sorts of dreary,
undefined terrors at the idea of the forlorn, deserted life before her.
Abandoned to herself and to servants, so fearful, so weak as she was,
and with the poor, invalided, and crippled veteran, her husband, a
martyr to that long train of sufferings which honorable wounds, received
in the service of country, too often leave behind them, a man at all
times so difficult to sooth, so impossible to entertain--and old age
creeping upon them both; the little strength she ever had, diminishing;
the little spirit she ever possessed, failing; what should she do
without this dear, animated, this loving, clever being, who was, in one
word, every thing to her?
But she held to her resolution--no martyr ever more courageously than
this trembling, timid woman. A prey to ten thousand imaginary fears,
and, let alone the imaginary terrors, placed in a position where the
help she was now depriving herself of was really so greatly needed.
"No, my dear," she repeated, "don't think of it; don't speak of it. You
distress me very much. Pray don't, my dearest Catherine."
"But I should be a shocking creature, mamma, to forsake you; and, I am
sure, Edgar would despise me as much as I should myself, if I could
think of it. I can not--I ought not to leave you."
The gentle blue eye of the mother was fixed upon the daughter's
generous, glowing face. She smothered a sigh. She waited a while to
steady her faltering voice. She wished to hide, if possible, from her
daughter the extent of the sacrifice she was making.
At last she recovered herself sufficiently to speak with composure, and
then she said:
"To accept such a sacrifice from a child, I have always thought the most
monstrous piece of selfishness of which a parent could be guilty. My
love, this does not come upon me unexpectedly. I have, of course,
anticipated it. I knew my sweet girl could not be long known and seen
without inspiring and returning the attachment of some valuable man. I
have resolved--and God strengthen me in this resolve," she cast up a
silent appeal to the fountain of strength and courage--"that nothing
should tempt me to what I consider so base. A parent accept the
sacrifice of a life in exchange for the poor remnant of her own! A
parent, who has had her own portion of the joys of youth in her day,
deprive a child of a share in her turn! No, my dearest love,
never--never! I would die, and I will die first."
But it was not death she feared. The idea of death did not appall her.
What she dreaded was melancholy. She knew the unsoundness of her own
nerves; she had often felt herself, as it were, trembling upon the
fearful verge of reason, when the mind, unable to support itself, is
forced to rest upon another. She had known a feeling, common to many
very nervous people, I believe, as though the mind would be overset when
pressed far, if not helped, strengthened, and cheered by some more
wholesome mind; and she shrank appalled from the prospect.
But even this could not make her waver in her resolution. She was a
generous, just, disinterested woman; though the exigencies of a most
delicate constitution, and most susceptible nervous system, had too
often thrown upon her--from those who did not understand such things,
and whose iron nerves and vigorous health rendered sympathy at such
times impossible--the reproach of being a tedious, whimsical, selfish
hypochondriac.
Poor thing, she knew this well. It was the difficulty of making herself
understood; the want of sympathy, the impossibility of rendering needs,
most urgent in her case, comprehensible by her friends, which had added
so greatly to the timorous cowardice, the fear of circumstances, of
changes, which had been the bane of her existence.
And, therefore, this kind, animated, affectionate daughter, whose
tenderness seemed never to weary in the task of cheering her; whose
activity was never exhausted in the endeavor to assist and serve her;
whose good sense and spirit kept every thing right at home, and more
especially kept those terrible things, the servants, in order--of whom
the poor mother, like many other feeble and languid people, was so
foolishly afraid; therefore, this kind daughter was as the very spring
of her existence; and the idea of parting with her was really dreadful.
Yet she hesitated not. So did that man behave, who stood firm upon the
rampart till he had finished his observation, though his hair turned
white with fear. Mrs. Melwyn was an heroic coward of this kind.
She had prayed ardently, fervently, that day, for courage, for
resolution, to complete the dreaded sacrifice, and she had found it.
"Oh, Lord! I am thy servant. Do with me what thou wilt. Trembling in
spirit, the victim of my infirmity--a poor, selfish, cowardly being, I
fall down before Thee. Thou hast showed me what is right--the sacrifice
I ought to make. Oh, give me strength in my weakness to _be_ faithful to
complete it!"
Thus had she prayed. And now resolved in heart, the poor sinking spirit
failing her within but, as I said, steadying her voice with an almost
heroic constancy, she resisted her grateful and pious child's
representation: "I have told Edgar--dear as he is to me--strong as are
the claims his generous affection gives him over me--that I will not--I
can not forsake you."
"You must not call it forsake," said the mother, gently. "My love, the
Lord of life himself has spoken it: 'Therefore shall a man leave his
father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife.'"
"And so he is ready to do," cried Catherine, eagerly. "Yes, mother, he
desires nothing better--he respects my scruples--he has offered, dear
Edgar! to abandon his profession and come and live here, and help me to
take care of you and my father. Was not that beautiful?" and the tears
stood in her speaking eyes.
"Beautiful! generous! devoted! My Catherine will be a happy woman;" and
the mother smiled. A ray of genuine pleasure warmed her beating heart.
This respect in the gay, handsome young officer for the filial scruples
of her he loved was indeed beautiful! But the mother knew his spirit too
well to listen to this proposal for a moment.
"And abandon his profession? No, my sweet child, that would never, never
do."
"But he says he is independent of his profession--that his private
fortune, though not large, is enough for such simple, moderate people as
he and I are. In short, that he shall be miserable without me, and all
that charming stuff, mamma; and that he loves me better, for what he
calls, dear fellow, my piety to you. And so, dear mother, he says if you
and my father will but consent to take him in, he will do his very best
in helping me to make you comfortable; and he is so sweet-tempered, so
reasonable, so good, so amiable, I am quite sure he would keep his
promise, mamma." And she looked anxiously into her mother's face waiting
for an answer. The temptation was very, very strong.
Again those domestic spectres which had so appalled her poor timorous
spirit rose before her. A desolate, dull fireside--her own tendency to
melancholy--her poor maimed suffering, and, alas, too often peevish
partner--encroaching, unmanageable servants. The cook, with her
careless, saucy ways--the butler so indifferent and negligent--and her
own maid, that Randall, who in secret tyrannized over her, exercising
the empire of fear to an extent which Catherine, alive as she was to
these evils, did not suspect. And again she asked herself, if these
things were disagreeable now, when Catherine was here to take care of
her, what would they be when she was left alone?
And then such a sweet picture of happiness presented itself to tempt
her--Catherine settled there--settled there forever. That handsome,
lively young man, with his sweet, cordial ways and polite observance of
every one, sitting by their hearth, and talking, as he did, to the
general of old days and military matters, the only subject in which this
aged military man took any interest, reading the newspaper to him, and
making such lively, pleasant comments as he read! How should _she_ ever
get through the debates, with her breath so short, and her voice so
indistinct and low? The general would lose all patience--he hated to
hear her attempt to read such things, and always got Catherine or the
young lieutenant-colonel to do it.
Oh! it was a sore temptation. But this poor, dear, good creature
resisted it.
"My love," she said, after a little pause, daring which this noble
victory was achieved--laugh if you will at the expression, but it _was_
a noble victory over self--"my love," she said, "don't tempt your poor
mother beyond her strength. Gladly, gladly, as far as we are concerned,
would we enter into this arrangement; but it must not be. No, Catherine;
Edgar must not quit his profession. It would not only be a very great
sacrifice I am sure now, but it would lay the foundation of endless
regrets in future. No, my darling girl, neither his happiness nor your
happiness shall be ever sacrificed to mine. A life against a few
uncertain years! No--no."
The mother was inflexible. The more these good children offered to give
up for her sake, the more she resolved to suffer no such sacrifice to be
made.
Edgar could not but rejoice. He was an excellent young fellow, and
excessively in love with the charming Catherine, you may be sure, or he
never would have thought of offering to abandon a profession for her
sake in which he had distinguished himself highly--which opened to him
the fairest prospects, and of which he was especially fond--but he was
not sorry to be excused. He had resolved upon this sacrifice, for there
is something in those who truly love, and whose love is elevated almost
to adoration by the moral worth they have observed in the chosen one,
which revolts at the idea of lowering the tone of that enthusiastic
goodness and self-immolation to principle which has so enchanted them.
Edgar could not do it. He could not attempt to persuade this tender,
generous daughter, to consider her own welfare and his, in preference
to that of her parents. He could only offer, on his own part, to make
the greatest sacrifice which could have been demanded from him. Rather
than part from her what would he not do? Every thing was possible but
that.
However, when the mother positively refused to accept of this act of
self-abnegation, I can not say that he regretted it. No: he thought Mrs.
Melwyn quite right in what she said; and he loved and respected both her
character and understanding very much more than he had done before.
* * * * *
That night Mrs. Melwyn was very, very low indeed. And when she went up
into her dressing-room, and Catherine, having kissed her tenderly, with
a heart quite divided between anxiety for her, and a sense of happiness
that would make itself felt in spite of all, had retired to her room,
the mother sat down, poor thing, in the most comfortable arm-chair that
ever was invented, but which imparted no comfort to her; and placing
herself by a merry blazing fire, which was reflected from all sorts of
cheerful pretty things with which the dressing-room was adorned, her
feet upon a warm, soft footstool of Catherine's own working, her elbow
resting upon her knee, and her head upon her hand, she, with her eyes
bent mournfully upon the fire, began crying very much. And so she sat a
long time, thinking and crying, very sorrowful, but not in the least
repenting. Meditating upon all sorts of dismal things, filled with all
kinds of melancholy forebodings, as to how it would, and must be, when
Catherine was really gone, she sank at last into a sorrowful reverie,
and sate quite absorbed in her own thoughts, till she--who was extremely
punctual in her hour of going to bed--for reasons best known to herself,
though never confided to any human being, namely, that her maid disliked
very much sitting up for her--started as the clock in the hall sounded
eleven and two quarters, and almost with the trepidation of a chidden
child, rose and rang the bell. Nobody came. This made her still more
uneasy. It was Randall's custom not to answer her mistress's bell the
first time, when she was cross. And poor Mrs. Melwyn dreaded few things
in this world more than cross looks in those about her, especially in
Randall; and that Randall knew perfectly well.
"She must be fallen asleep in her chair, poor thing. It was very
thoughtless of me," Mrs. Melwyn did not say, but would have said, if
people ever did speak to themselves aloud.
Even in this sort of mute soliloquy she did not venture to say, "Randall
will be very ill-tempered and unreasonable." She rang again; and then,
after a proper time yielded to the claims of offended dignity, it
pleased Mrs. Randall to appear.
"I am very sorry, Randall. Really I had no idea how late it was. I was
thinking about Miss Catherine, and I missed it when it struck ten. I
had not the least idea it was so late," began the mistress in an
apologizing tone, to which Randall vouchsafed not an answer, but looked
like a thunder cloud--as she went banging up and down the room, opening
and shutting drawers with a loud noise, and treading with a rough heavy
step; two things particularly annoying, as she very well knew, to the
sensitive nerves of her mistress. But Randall settled it with
herself--that as her mistress had kept her out of bed an hour and a half
longer than usual, for no reason at all but just to please herself, she
should find she was none the better for it.
The poor mistress bore all this with patience for some time. She would
have gone on bearing the roughness and the noise, however disagreeable,
as long as Randall liked; but her soft heart could not bear those glum,
cross looks, and this alarming silence.
"I was thinking of Miss Catherine's marriage, Randall. That was what
made me forget the hour. What shall I do without her?"
"Yes, that's just like it," said the insolent abigail; "nothing ever can
content some people. Most ladies would be glad to settle their daughters
so well; but some folk make a crying matter of every thing. It would be
well for poor servants, when they're sitting over the fire, their bones
aching to death for very weariness, if _they'd_ something pleasant to
think about. They wouldn't be crying for nothing, and keeping all the
world out of their beds, like those who care for naught but how to
please themselves."
Part of this was said, part muttered, part thought; and the poor timid
mistress--one of whose domestic occupations it seemed to be to study the
humors of her servants--heard a part and divined the rest.
"Well, Randall, I don't quite hear all you are saying; and perhaps it is
as well I do not; but I wish you would give me my things and make haste,
for I'm really very tired, and I want to go to bed."
"People can't make more haste than they can."
And so it went on. The maid-servant never relaxing an atom of her
offended dignity--continuing to look as ill-humored, and to do every
thing as disagreeably as she possibly could--and her poor victim, by
speaking from time to time in an anxious, most gentle, and almost
flattering manner, hoping to mollify her dependent; but all in vain.
"I'll teach her to keep me up again for nothing at all," thought
Randall.
And so the poor lady, very miserable in the midst of all her luxuries,
at last gained her bed, and lay there not able to sleep for very
discomfort. And the abigail retired to her own warm apartment, where she
was greeted with a pleasant fire, by which stood a little nice chocolate
simmering, to refresh her before she went to bed--not much less
miserable than her mistress, for she was dreadfully out of humor--and
thought no hardship upon earth could equal that she endured--forced to
sit up in consequence of another's whim when she wanted so sadly to go
to bed.
* * * * *
While, thus, all that the most abundant possession of the world's goods
could bestow, was marred by the weakness of the mistress and the
ill-temper of the maid--the plentiful gifts of fortune rendered
valueless by the erroneous facility upon one side, and insolent love of
domination on the other; how many in the large metropolis, only a few
miles distant, and of which the innumerable lights might be seen
brightening, like an Aurora, the southern sky; how many laid down their
heads supperless that night! Stretched upon miserable pallets, and
ignorant where food was to be found on the morrow to satisfy the
cravings of hunger; yet, in the midst of their misery, more miserable,
also, because they were not exempt from those pests of existence--our
own faults and infirmities.
And even, as it was, how many poor creatures _did_ actually lay down
their heads that night, far less miserable than poor Mrs. Melwyn. The
tyranny of a servant is noticed by the wise man, if I recollect right,
as one of the most irritating and insupportable of mortal miseries.
* * * * *
Two young women inhabited one small room of about ten feet by eight, in
the upper story of a set of houses somewhere near Mary-le-bone street.
These houses appear to have been once intended for rather substantial
persons, but have gradually sunk into lodging-houses for the very poor.
The premises look upon an old grave-yard; a dreary prospect enough, but
perhaps preferable to a close street, and are filled, with decent but
very poor people. Every room appears to serve a whole family, and few of
the rooms are much larger than the one I have described.
It was now half-past twelve o'clock, and still the miserable dip tallow
candle burned in a dilapidated tin candlestick. The wind whistled with
that peculiar wintry sound which betokens that snow is falling; it was
very, very cold; the fire was out; and the girl who sat plying her
needle by the hearth, which was still a little warmer than the rest of
the room, had wrapped up her feet in an old worn-out piece of flannel,
and had an old black silk wadded cloak thrown over her to keep her from
being almost perished. The room was scantily furnished, and bore an air
of extreme poverty, amounting almost to absolute destitution. One by one
the little articles of property possessed by its inmates had disappeared
to supply the calls of urgent want. An old four-post bedstead, with
curtains of worn-out serge, stood in one corner; one mattress, with two
small thin pillows, and a bolster that was almost flat; three old
blankets, cotton sheets of the coarsest description upon it: three
rush-bottomed chairs, an old claw-table, very ancient dilapidated chest
of drawers--at the top of which were a few battered band-boxes--a
miserable bit of carpet before the fire-place; a wooden box for coals; a
little low tin fender, a poker, or rather half a poker; a shovel and
tongs, much the worse for wear, and a very few kitchen utensils, was all
the furniture in the room. What there was, however, was kept clean; the
floor was clean, the yellow paint was clean; and, I forgot to say, there
was a washing-tub set aside in one corner.
The wind blew shrill, and shook the window, and the snow was heard
beating against the panes; the clock went another quarter, but still the
indefatigable toiler sewed on. Now and then she lifted up her head, as a
sigh came from that corner of the room where the bed stood, and some one
might be heard turning and tossing uneasily upon the mattress--then she
returned to her occupation and plied her needle with increased
assiduity.
The workwoman was a girl of from eighteen to twenty, rather below the
middle size, and of a face and form little adapted to figure in a story.
One whose life, in all probability, would never be diversified by those
romantic adventures which _real_ life in general reserves to the
beautiful and the highly-gifted. Her features were rather homely, her
hair of a light brown, _without_ golden threads through it, her hands
and arms rough and red with cold and labor; her dress ordinary to a
degree--her clothes being of the cheapest materials--but then, these
clothes were so neat, so carefully mended where they had given way; the
hair was so smooth, and so closely and neatly drawn round the face; and
the face itself had such a sweet expression, that all the defects of
line and color were redeemed to the lover of expression, rather than
beauty.
She did not look patient, she did not look resigned; she _could_ not
look cheerful exactly. She looked earnest, composed, busy, and
exceedingly kind. She had not, it would seem, thought enough of self in
the midst of her privations, to require the exercise of the virtues of
patience and resignation; she was so occupied with the sufferings of
others that she never seemed to think of her own.
She was naturally of the most cheerful, hopeful temper in the
world--those people without selfishness usually are. And, though sorrow
had a little lowered the tone of her spirits to composure, and work and
disappointment had faded the bright colors of hope; still hope was not
entirely gone, nor cheerfulness exhausted. But, the predominant
expression of every word, and look, and tone, and gesture, was
kindness--inexhaustible kindness.
I said she lifted up her head from time to time, as a sigh proceeded
from the bed, and its suffering inhabitant tossed and tossed: and at
last she broke silence and said,
"Poor Myra, can't you get to sleep?"
"It is so fearfully cold," was the reply; "and when _will_ you have
done, and come to bed?"
"One quarter of an hour more, and I shall have finished it. Poor Myra,
you are so nervous, you never can get to sleep till all is shut up--but
have patience, dear, one little quarter of an hour, and then I will
throw my clothes over your feet, and I hope you will be a little
warmer."
A sigh for all answer; and then the _true_ heroine--for she was
extremely beautiful, or rather had been, poor thing, for she was too wan
and wasted to be beautiful now--lifted up her head, from which fell a
profusion of the fairest hair in the world, and leaning her head upon
her arm, watched in a sort of impatient patience the progress of the
indefatigable needle-woman.
"One o'clock striking, and you hav'n't done yet, Lettice? how slowly you
_do_ get on."
"I can not work fast and neatly too, dear Myra. I can not get through as
some do--I wish I could. But my hands are not so delicate and nimble as
yours, such swelled clumsy things," she said, laughing a little, as she
looked at them--swelled, indeed, and all mottled over with the cold! "I
can not get over the ground nimbly and well at the same time. You are a
fine race-horse, I am a poor little drudging pony--but I will make as
much haste as I possibly can."
Myra once more uttered an impatient, fretful sigh, and sank down again,
saying, "My feet are so dreadfully cold!"
"Take this bit of flannel then, and let me wrap them up."
"Nay, but you will want it."
"Oh, I have only five minutes more to stay, and I can wrap the carpet
round my feet."
And she laid down her work and went to the bed, and wrapped her sister's
delicate, but now icy feet, in the flannel; and then she sat down; and
at last the task was finished. And oh, how glad she was to creep to that
mattress, and to lay her aching limbs down upon it! Hard it might be,
and wretched the pillows, and scanty the covering, but little felt she
such inconveniences. She fell asleep almost immediately, while her
sister still tossed and murmered. Presently Lettice, for Lettice it was,
awakened a little, and said, "What is it, love? Poor, poor Myra! Oh,
that you could but sleep as I do."
And then she drew her own little pillow from under her head, and put it
under her sister's, and tried to make her more comfortable; and she
partly succeeded, and at last the poor delicate suffering creature fell
asleep, and then Lettice slumbered like a baby.
CHAPTER II.
"Oh, blest with temper whose unclouded ray
Can make to-morrow cheerful as to-day:
* * * * And can hear
Sighs for a sister with unwounded ear."
POPE.--_Characters of Women._
Early in the morning, before it was light, while the wintry twilight
gleamed through the curtainless window, Lettice was up, dressing
herself by the scanty gleam cast from the street lamps into the room,
for she could not afford the extravagance of a candle.
She combed and did up her hair with modest neatness; put on her brown
stuff only gown, and then going to the chest of drawers--opening one
with great precaution, lest she should make a noise, and disturb Myra,
who still slumbered --drew out a shawl, and began to fold it as if to
put it on.
Alas! poor thing, as she opened it, she became first aware that the
threadbare, time-worn fabric had given way in two places. Had it been in
one, she might have contrived to conceal the injuries of age: but it was
in two.
She turned it; she folded and unfolded: it would not do. The miserable
shawl seemed to give way under her hands. It was already so excessively
shabby that she was ashamed to go out in it; and it seemed as if it was
ready to fall to pieces in sundry other places, this dingy, thin, brown,
red, and green old shawl. Mend it would not: besides, she was pressed
for time; so, with the appearance of considerable reluctance, she put
her hand into the drawer, and took out another shawl.
This was a different affair. It was a warm, and not very old, plaid
shawl, of various colors, well preserved and clean looking, and, this
cold morning, _so_ tempting.
Should she borrow it? Myra was still asleep, but she would be horridly
cold when she got up, and she would want her shawl, perhaps; but then
Lettice must go out, and must be decent, and there seemed no help for
it.
But if she took the shawl, had she not better light the fire before she
went out? Myra would be so chilly. But then, Myra seldom got up till
half-past eight or nine, and it was now not seven.
An hour and a half's, perhaps two hour's, useless fire would never do.
So after a little deliberation, Lettice contented herself with "laying
it," as the housemaids say; that is, preparing the fire to be lighted
with a match: and as she took out coal by coal to do this, she perceived
with terror how very, very low the little store of fuel was.
"We must have a bushel in to-day," she said. "Better without meat and
drink than fire, in such weather as this."
However, she was cheered with the reflection that she should get a
little more than usual by the work that she had finished. It had been
ordered by a considerate and benevolent lady, who, instead of going to
the ready-made linen warehouses for what she wanted, gave herself a good
deal of trouble to get at the poor workwomen themselves who supplied
these houses, so that they should receive the full price for their
needle-work, which otherwise must of necessity be divided.
What she should get she did not quite know, for she had never worked for
this lady before; and some ladies, though she always got more from
private customers than from the shops, would beat her down to the last
penny, and give her as little as they possibly could.
Much more than the usual price of such matters people can not, I
suppose, habitually give; they should, however, beware of driving hard
bargains with the very poor.
* * * * *
Her bonnet looked dreadfully shabby, as poor little Lettice took it out
from one of the dilapidated band-boxes that stood upon the chest of
drawers; yet it had been carefully covered with a sheet of paper, to
guard it from the injuries of the dust and the smoke-loaded air.
The young girl held it upon her hand, turning it round, and looking at
it, and she could not help sighing when she thought of the miserably
shabby appearance she should make; and she going to a private house,
too: and the errand!--linen for the trousseau of a young lady who was
going to be married.
What a contrast did the busy imagination draw between all the fine
things that young lady was to have and her own destitution! She must
needs be what she was--a simple-hearted, God-fearing, generous girl, to
whom envious comparisons of others with herself were as impossible as
any other faults of the selfish--not to feel as if the difference was,
to use the common word upon such occasions, "very hard."
She did not take it so. She did not think that it was very _hard_ that
others should be happy and have plenty, because she was poor and had
nothing. They had not robbed _her_. What they had was not taken from
_her_. Nay, at this moment their wealth was overflowing toward her. She
should gain in her little way by the general prosperity. The thought of
the increased pay came into her mind at this moment in aid of her good
and simple-hearted feelings, and she brightened up, and shook her
bonnet, and pulled out the ribbons, and made it look as tidy as she
could; bethinking herself that if it possibly could be done, she would
buy a bit of black ribbon, and make it a little more spruce when she got
her money.
And now the bonnet is on, and she does not think it looks so _very_ bad,
and Myra's shawl, as reflected in the little threepenny glass, looks
quite neat. Now she steals to the bed in order to make her apologies to
Myra about the shawl and fire, but Myra still slumbers. It is half-past
seven and more, and she must be gone.
The young lady for whom she made the linen lived about twenty miles from
town, but she had come up about her things, and was to set off home at
nine o'clock that very morning. The linen was to have been sent in the
night before, but Lettice had found it impossible to get it done. It
must _per force_ wait till morning to be carried home. The object was to
get to the house as soon as the servants should be stirring, so that
there would be time for the things to be packed up and accompany the
young lady upon her return home.
Now, Lettice is in the street. Oh, what a morning it was! The wind was
intensely cold the snow was blown in buffets against her face; the
street was slippery: all the mud and mire turned into inky-looking ice.
She could scarcely stand; her face was blue with the cold; her hands, in
a pair of cotton gloves, so numbed that she could hardly hold the parcel
she carried.
She had no umbrella. The snow beat upon her undefended head, and
completed the demolition of the poor bonnet; but she comforted herself
with the thought that its appearance would now be attributed to the bad
weather having spoiled it. Nay (and she smiled as the idea presented
itself), was it not possible that she might be supposed to have a better
bonnet at home?
So she cheerfully made her way; and at last she entered
Grosvenor-square, where lamps were just dying away before the splendid
houses, and the wintry twilight discovered the garden, with its trees
plastered with dirty snow, while the wind rushed down from the Park
colder and bitterer than ever. She could hardly get along at all. A few
ragged, good-for-nothing boys were almost the only people yet to be seen
about; and they laughed and mocked at her, as, holding her bonnet down
with one hand, to prevent its absolutely giving way before the wind, she
endeavored to carry her parcel, and keep her shawl from flying up with
the other.
The jeers and the laughter were very uncomfortable to her. The things
she found it the most difficult to reconcile herself to in her fallen
state were the scoffs, and the scorns, and the coarse jests of those
once so far, far beneath her; so far, that their very existence, as a
class, was once almost unknown, and who were now little, if at all,
worse off than herself.
The rude brutality of the coarse, uneducated, and unimproved Saxon, is a
terrible grievance to those forced to come into close quarters with
such.
At last, however, she entered Green-street, and raised the knocker, and
gave one timid, humble knock at the door of a moderate-sized house, upon
the right hand side as you go up to the Park.
Here lived the benevolent lady of whom I have spoken, who took so much
trouble to break through the barriers which in London separate the
employers and the employed, and to assist the poor stitchers of her own
sex, by doing away with the necessity of that hand, or those many hands,
through which their ware has usually to pass, and in each of which
something of the recompense thereof must of necessity be detained.
She had never been at the house before; but she had sometimes had to go
to other genteel houses, and she had too often found the insolence of
the pampered domestics harder to bear than even the rude incivility of
the streets.
So she stood feeling very uncomfortable; still more afraid of the effect
her bonnet might produce upon the man that should open the door, than
upon his superiors.
But "like master, like man," is a stale old proverb, which, like many
other old saws of our now despised as _childish_ ancestors, is full of
pith and truth.
The servant who appeared was a grave, gray-haired man, of somewhat above
fifty. He stooped a little in his gait, and had _not_ a very fashionable
air; but his countenance was full of kind meaning, and his manner so
gentle, that it seemed respectful even to a poor girl like this.
Before hearing her errand, observing how cold she looked, he bade her
come in and warm herself at the hall stove; and shutting the door in the
face of the chill blast, that came rushing forward as if to force its
way into the house, he then returned to her, and asked her errand.
"I come with the young lady's work. I was so sorry that I could not
possibly get it done in time to send it in last night; but I hope I have
not put her to any inconvenience. I hope her trunks are not made up. I
started almost before it was light this morning."
"Well, my dear, I hope not; but it was a pity you could not get it done
last night. Mrs. Danvers likes people to be exact to the moment and
punctual in performing promises, you must know. However, I'll take it up
without loss of time, and I dare say it will be all right."
"Is it come at last?" asked a sweet, low voice, as Reynolds entered the
drawing-room. "My love, I really began to be frightened for your pretty
things, the speaker went on, turning to a young lady who was making an
early breakfast before a noble blazing fire, and who was no other a
person than Catherine Melwyn.
"Oh, madam! I was not in the least uneasy about them, I was quite sure
they would come at last."
"I wish, my love," said Mrs. Danvers, sitting down by the fire, "I could
have shared in your security. Poor creatures! the temptation is
sometimes so awfully great. The pawnbroker is dangerously near. So easy
to evade all inquiry by changing one miserably obscure lodging for
another, into which it is almost impossible to be traced. And, to tell
the truth, I had not used you quite well, my dear; for I happened to
know nothing of the previous character of these poor girls, but that
they were certainly very neat workwomen; and they were so out of all
measure poor, that I yielded to temptation. And that you see, my love,
had its usual effect of making me suspicious of the power of temptation
over others."
Mrs. Danvers had once been one of the loveliest women that had ever been
seen: the face of an angel, the form of the goddess of beauty herself;
manners the softest, the most delightful. A dress that by its exquisite
good taste and elegance enhanced every other charm, and a voice so sweet
and harmonious that it made its way to every heart.
Of all this loveliness the sweet, harmonious voice alone remained. Yet
had the sad eclipse of so much beauty been succeeded by a something so
holy, so saint-like, so tender, that the being who stood now shorn by
sorrow and suffering of all her earthly charms, seemed only to have
progressed nearer to heaven by the exchange.
Her life had, indeed, been one shipwreck, in which all she prized had
gone down. Husband, children, parents, sister, brother--all!--every one
gone. It had been a fearful ruin. That she could not survive this wreck
of every earthly joy was expected by all her friends: but she had lived
on. She stood there, an example of the triumph of those three: faith,
hope, and charity, but the greatest of these was charity.
In faith she rested upon the "unseen," and the world of things "seen"
around her shrunk into insignificance. In hope she looked forward to
that day when tears should be wiped from all eyes, and the lost and
severed meet to part never again. In charity--in other words, love--she
filled that aching, desolate heart with fresh affections, warm and
tender, if not possessing the joyous gladness of earlier days.
Every sorrowing human being, every poor sufferer, be they who they
might, or whence they might, found a place in that compassionate heart.
No wonder it was filled to overflowing: there are so many sorrowing
sufferers in this world.
She went about doing good. Her whole life was one act of pity.
Her house was plainly furnished. The "mutton chops with a few greens and
potatoes"--laughed at in a recent trial, as if indifference to one's own
dinner were a crime--might have served her. She often was no better
served. Her dress was conventual in its simplicity. Every farthing she
could save upon herself was saved for her poor.
You must please to recollect that she stood perfectly alone in the
world, and that there was not a human creature that could suffer by this
exercise of a sublime and universal charity. Such peculiar devotion to
one object is only permitted to those whom God has severed from their
kind, and marked out, as it were, for the generous career.
Her days were passed in visiting all those dismal places in this great
city, where lowly want "repairs to die," or where degradation and
depravity, the children of want, hide themselves. She sat by the bed of
the inmate of the hospital, pouring the soft balm of her consolations
upon the suffering and lowly heart. In such places her presence was
hailed as the first and greatest of blessings. Every one was melted, or
was awed into good behavior by her presence. The most hardened of
brandy-drinking nurses was softened and amended by her example.
The situation of the young women who have to gain their livelihood by
their needle had peculiarly excited her compassion, and to their welfare
she more especially devoted herself. Her rank and position in society
gave her a ready access to many fine ladies who had an immensity to be
done for them: and to many fine dress-makers who had this immensity to
do.
She was indefatigable in her exertions to diminish the evils to which
the young ladies--"improvers," I believe, is the technical term--are in
too many of these establishments exposed. She it was who got the
work-rooms properly ventilated, and properly warmed. She it was who
insisted upon the cruelty and the wretchedness of keeping up these poor
girls hour after hour from their natural rest, till their strength was
exhausted; the very means by which they were to earn their bread taken
away; and they were sent into decline and starvation. She made fine
ladies learn to allow more time for the preparation of their dresses;
and fine ladies' dress makers to learn to say, "No."
One of the great objects of her exertions was to save the poor
plain-sewers from the necessary loss occasioned by the middlemen. She
did not say whether the shops exacted too much labor, or not, for their
pay; with so great a competition for work, and so much always lying
unsold upon their boards, it was difficult to decide. But she spared no
trouble to get these poor women employed direct by those who wanted
sewing done; and she taught to feel ashamed of themselves those indolent
fine ladies who, rather than give themselves a little trouble to
increase a poor creature's gains, preferred going to the ready-made
shops, "because the other was such a bore."
In one of her visits among the poor of Mary-lebone, she had accidentally
met with these two sisters, Lettice Arnold and Myra. There was something
in them both above the common stamp, which might be discerned in spite
of their squalid dress and miserable chamber; but she had not had time
to inquire into their previous history--which, indeed, they seemed
unwilling to tell. Catherine, preparing her wedding clothes, and well
knowing how anxious Mrs. Danvers was to obtain work, had reserved a good
deal for her; and Mrs. Danvers had entrusted some of it to Lettice, who
was too wretchedly destitute to be able to give any thing in the form of
a deposit. Hence her uneasiness when the promised things did not appear
to the time.
And hence the rather grave looks of Reynolds, who could not endure to
see his mistress vexed.
"Has the workwoman brought her bill with her, Reynolds?" asked Mrs.
Danvers.
"I will go and ask."
"Stay, ask her to come up; I should like to inquire how she is going on,
and whether she has any other work in prospect."
Reynolds obeyed; and soon the door opened, and Lettice, poor thing, a
good deal ashamed of her own appearance, was introduced into this warm
and comfortable breakfast-room, where, however, as I have said, there
was no appearance of luxury, except the pretty, neat breakfast, and the
blazing fire.
"Good morning, my dear," said Mrs. Danvers, kindly; "I am sorry you have
had such a wretched walk this morning. Why did you not come last night?
Punctuality, my dear, is the soul of business, and if you desire to form
a private connection for yourself, you will find it of the utmost
importance to attend to it. This young lady is just going off, and there
is barely time to put up the things."
Catherine had her back turned to the door, and was quietly continuing
her breakfast. She did not even look round as Mrs. Danvers spoke, but
when a gentle voice replied:
"Indeed, madam, I beg your pardon. Indeed, I did my very best, but--"
She started, looked up, and rose hastily from her chair. Lettice
started, too, on her side, as she did so; and, advancing a few steps,
exclaimed, "Catherine!"
"It must--it is--it is you!" cried Catherine hastily, coming forward and
taking her by the hand. She gazed with astonishment at the worn and
weather-beaten face, the miserable attire, the picture of utter
wretchedness before her. "You!" she kept repeating, "Lettice! Lettice
Arnold! Good Heavens! where are they all? Where is your father? Your
mother? Your sister?"
"Gone!" said the poor girl. "Gone--every one gone but poor Myra!"
"And she--where is _she_? The beautiful creature, that used to be the
pride of poor Mrs. Price's heart. How lovely she was! And you, dear,
dear Lettice, how can you, how have you come to this?"
Mrs. Danvers stood like one petrified with astonishment while this
little scene was going on. She kept looking at the two girls, but said
nothing.
"Poor, dear Lettice!" Catherine went on in a tone of the most
affectionate kindness, "have you come all through the streets and alone
this most miserable morning? And working--working for me! Good Heavens!
how has all this come about?"
"But come to the fire first," she continued, taking hold of the almost
frozen hand.
Mrs. Danvers now came forward.
"You seem to have met with an old acquaintance, Catherine. Pray come to
the fire, and sit down and warm yourself; and have you breakfasted?"
Lettice hesitated. She had become so accustomed to her fallen condition,
that it seemed to her that she could no longer with propriety sit down
to the same table with Catherine.
Catherine perceived this, and it shocked and grieved her excessively.
"Do come and sit down," she said, encouraged by Mrs. Danvers's
invitation, "and tell us, have you breakfasted? But though you have, a
warm cup of tea this cold morning must be comfortable."
And she pressed her forward, and seated her, half reluctant, in an
arm-chair that stood by the fire: then she poured out a cup of tea, and
carried it to her, repeating,
"Won't you eat? Have you breakfasted?"
The plate of bread-and-butter looked delicious to the half-starved girl:
the warm cup of tea seemed to bring life into her. She had been silent
from surprise, and a sort of humiliated embarrassment; but now her
spirits began to revive, and she said, "I never expected to have seen
you again, Miss Melwyn!"
"_Miss Melwyn!_ What does that mean? Dear Lettice, how has all this come
about?"
"My father was ill the last time you were in Nottinghamshire, do you not
recollect, Miss Melwyn? He never recovered of that illness; but it
lasted nearly two years. During that time, your aunt, Mrs. Montague,
died; and her house was sold, and new people came; and you never were at
Castle Rising afterward."
"No--indeed--and from that day to this have never chanced to hear any
thing of its inhabitants. But Mrs. Price, your aunt, who was so fond of
Myra, what is become of her?"
"She died before my poor father."
"Well; but she was rich. Did she do nothing?"
"Every body thought her rich, because she spent a good deal of money;
but hers was only income. Our poor aunt was no great economist--she made
no savings."
"Well; and your mother? I can not understand it. No; I can not
understand it," Catherine kept repeating. "So horrible! dear, dear
Lettice--and your shawl is quite wet, and so is your bonnet, poor, dear
girl. Why did you not put up your umbrella?"
"For a very good reason, dear Miss Melwyn; because I do not possess
one."
"Call me Catherine, won't you? or I will not speak to you again." But
Mrs. Danvers's inquiring looks seemed now to deserve a little attention.
She seemed impatient to have the enigma of this strange scene solved.
Catherine caught her eye, and, turning from her friend, with whom she
had been so much absorbed as to forget every thing else, she said:
"Lettice Arnold is a clergyman's daughter, ma'am."
"I began to think something of that sort," said Mrs. Danvers; "but, my
dear young lady, what can have brought you to this terrible state of
destitution?"
"Misfortune upon misfortune, madam. My father was, indeed, a clergyman,
and held the little vicarage of Castle Rising. There Catherine," looking
affectionately up at her, "met me upon her visits to her aunt, Mrs.
Montague."
"We have known each other from children," put in Catherine.
The door opened, and Reynolds appeared--
"The cab is waiting, if you please, Miss Melwyn."
"Oh, dear! oh, dear! I can't go just this moment. Bid the man wait."
"It is late already," said Reynolds, taking out his watch. "The train
starts in twenty minutes."
"Oh, dear! oh, dear! and when does the next go? I can't go by this. Can
I, dear Mrs. Danvers? It is impossible."
"Another starts in an hour afterward."
"Oh! that will do--tell Sarah to be ready for that. Well, my dear, go
on, go on--dear Lettice, you were about to tell us how all this
happened--but just another cup of tea. Do you like it strong?"
"I like it any way," said Lettice, who was beginning to recover her
spirits, "I have not tasted any thing so comfortable for a very long
time."
"Dear me! dear me!"
"You must have suffered very much, I fear, my dear young lady," said
Mrs. Danvers, in a kind voice of interest, "before you could have sunk
to the level of that miserable home where I found you."
"Yes," said Lettice. "Every one suffers very much, be the descent slow
or rapid, when he has to fall so far. But what were my sufferings to
poor Myra's!"
"And why were your sufferings as nothing in comparison with poor
Myra's?"
"Ah, madam, there are some in this world not particularly favored by
nature or fortune, who were born to be denied; who are used to it from
their childhood--it becomes a sort of second nature to them, as it were.
They scarcely feel it. But a beautiful girl, adored by an old relation,
accustomed to every sort of indulgence and luxury! They doated upon the
very ground she trod on. Oh! to be cast down to such misery, that _is_
dreadful."
"I don't see--I don't know," said Catherine, who, like the world in
general, however much they might admire, and however much too many might
flatter Myra, greatly preferred Lettice to her sister.
"I don't know," said she, doubtingly.
"Ah! but you would know if you could see!" said the generous girl. "If
you could see what she suffers from every thing--from things that I do
not even feel, far less care for--you would be so sorry for her."
Mrs. Danvers looked with increasing interest upon the speaker. She
seemed to wish to go on with the conversation about this sister, so much
pitied; so she said, "I believe what you say is very true. Very true,
Catherine, in spite of your skeptical looks. Some people really do
suffer very much more than others under the same circumstances of
privation."
"Yes, selfish people like Myra," thought Catherine, but she said
nothing.
"Indeed, madam, it is so. They seem to feel every thing so much more.
Poor Myra--I can sleep like a top in our bed, and she very often can not
close her eyes--and the close room, and the poor food. I can get
along--I was made to rough it, my poor aunt always said--but Myra!"
"Well but," rejoined Catherine, "do pray tell us how you came to this
cruel pass? Your poor father--"
"His illness was very lingering and very painful--and several times a
surgical operation was required. My mother could not bear--could any of
us?--to have it done by the poor blundering operator of that remote
village. To have a surgeon from Nottingham was very expensive; and then
the medicines; and the necessary food and attendance. The kindest and
most provident father can not save much out of one hundred and ten
pounds a year, and what was saved was soon all gone."
"Well, well," repeated Catherine, her eyes fixed with intense interest
upon the speaker.
"His deathbed was a painful scene," Lettice went on, her face displaying
her emotion, while she with great effort restrained her tears: "he
trusted in God; but there was a fearful prospect before us, and he could
not help trembling for his children. Dear, dear father! he reproached
himself for his want of faith, and would try to strengthen us, 'but the
flesh,' he said, 'was weak.' He could not look forward without anguish.
It was a fearful struggle to be composed and confiding--he could not
help being anxious. It was for us, you know, not for himself."
"Frightful!" cried Catherine, indignantly; "frightful! that a man of
education, a scholar, a gentleman, a man of so much activity in doing
good, and so much power in preaching it, should be brought to this. One
hundred and ten pounds a year, was that all? How could you exist?"
"We had the house and the garden besides, you know, and my mother was
such an excellent manager; and my father! No religious of the severest
order was ever more self-denying, and there was only me. My aunt Price,
you know, took Myra--Myra had been delicate from a child, and was so
beautiful, and she was never made to rough it, my mother and my aunt
said. Now I seemed made expressly for the purpose," she added, smiling
with perfect simplicity.
"And his illness, so long! and so expensive!" exclaimed Catherine, with
a sort of cry.
"Yes, it was--and to see the pains he took that it should not be
expensive. He would be quite annoyed if my mother got any thing nicer
than usual for his dinner. She used to be obliged to make a mystery of
it; and we were forced almost to go down upon our knees to get him to
have the surgeon from Nottingham. Nothing but the idea that his life
would be more secure in such hands could have persuaded him into it. He
knew how important that was to us. As for the pain which the bungling
old doctor hard by would have given him, he would have borne that rather
than have spent money. Oh, Catherine! there have been times upon times
when I have envied the poor. They have hospitals to go to; they are not
ashamed to ask for a little wine from those who have it; they can beg
when they are in want of a morsel of bread. It is natural. It is
right--they feel it to be right. But oh! for those, as they call it,
better born, and educated to habits of thought like those of my poor
father!... Want is, indeed, like an armed man, when he comes into
_their_ dwellings."
"Too true, my dear young lady," said Mrs. Danvers, whose eyes were by
this time moist; "but go on, if it does not pain you too much, your
story is excessively interesting. There is yet a wide step between where
your relation leaves us, and where I found you."
"We closed his eyes at last in deep sorrow. Excellent man, he deserved a
better lot! So, at least, it seems to me--but who knows? Nay, he would
have reproved me for saying so. He used to say of _himself_, so
cheerfully, 'It's a rough road, but it leads to a good place.' Why could
he not feel this for his wife and children? He found that so very
difficult!"
"He was an excellent and a delightful man," said Catherine. "Well?"...
"Well, my dear, when he had closed his eyes, there was his funeral. We
_could_ not have a parish funeral. The veriest pauper has a piety toward
the dead which revolts at that. We did it as simply as we possibly
could, consistently with common decency; but they charge so enormously
for such things: and my poor mother would not contest it. When I
remonstrated a little, and said I thought it was right to prevent others
being treated in the same way, who could no better afford it than we
could, I shall never forget my mother's face: 'I dare say--yes, you are
right, Lettice; quite right--but not this--not _his_. I can not debate
that matter. Forgive me, dear girl; it is weak--but I can not.'
"This expense exhausted all that was left of our little money: only a
few pounds remained when our furniture had been sold, and we were
obliged to give up possession of that dear, dear, little parsonage, and
we were without a roof to shelter us. You remember it, Catherine!"
"Remember it! to be sure I do. That sweet little place. The tiny house,
all covered over with honey-suckles and jasmines. How sweet they _did_
smell. And your flower-garden, Lettice, how you used to work in it. It
was that which made you so hale and strong, aunt Montague said. She
admired your industry so, you can't think. She used to say you were
worth a whole bundle of fine ladies."
"Did she?" and Lettice smiled again. She was beginning to look cheerful,
in spite of her dismal story. There was something so inveterately
cheerful in that temper, that nothing could entirely subdue it. The
warmth of her generous nature it was that kept the blood and spirits
flowing.
"It was a sad day when we parted from it. My poor mother! How she kept
looking back--looking back--striving not to cry; and Myra was drowned in
tears."
"And what did you do?"
"I am sure I don't know; I was so sorry for them both; I quite forget
all the rest."
"But how came you to London?" asked Mrs. Danvers. "Every body, without
other resource, seem to come to London. The worst place, especially for
women, they can possibly come to. People are so completely lost in
London. Nobody dies of want, nobody is utterly and entirely destitute
of help or friends, except in London."
"A person we knew in the village, and to whom my father had been very
kind, had a son who was employed in one of the great linen-warehouses,
and he promised to endeavor to get us needle-work; and we flattered
ourselves, with industry, we should, all three together, do pretty well.
So we came to London, and took a small lodging, and furnished it with
the remnant of our furniture. We had our clothes, which, though plain
enough, were a sort of little property, you know. But when we came to
learn the prices they actually paid for work, it was really frightful!
Work fourteen hours a day apiece, and we could only gain between three
and four shillings a week each--sometimes hardly that. There was our
lodging to pay, three shillings a week, and six shillings left for
firing and food for three people; this was in the weeks of _plenty_. Oh!
it was frightful!"
"Horrible!" echoed Catherine.
"We could not bring ourselves down to it at once. We hoped and flattered
ourselves that by-and-by we should get some work that would pay better;
and when we wanted a little more food, or in very cold days a little
more fire, we were tempted to sell or pawn one article after another. At
last my mother fell sick, and then all went; she died, and she _had_ a
pauper's funeral," concluded Lettice, turning very pale.
They were all three silent. At last Mrs. Danvers began again.
"That was not the lodging I found you in?"
"No, madam, that was too expensive. We left it, and we only pay
one-and-sixpence a week for this, the furniture being our own."
"The cab is at the door, Miss Melwyn," again interrupted Reynolds.
"Oh, dear! oh, dear! I can't go, indeed, Mrs. Danvers, I can't go;" with
a pleading look, "may I stay one day longer?"
"Most gladly would I keep you, my dearest love; but your father and
mother.... And they will have sent to meet you."
"And suppose they have, John must go back, but stay, stay, Sarah shall
go and take all my boxes, and say I am coming to-morrow; that will do."
"And you travel alone by railway? Your mother will never like that."
"I am ashamed," cried Catherine, with energy, "to think of such mere
conventional difficulties, when here I stand in the presence of real
misery. Indeed, my dear Mrs. Danvers, my mother will be quite satisfied
when she hears why I staid. I must be an insensible creature if I could
go away without seeing more of dear Lettice."
Lettice looked up so pleased, so grateful, so happy.
"Well, my love, I think your mother will not be uneasy, as Sarah goes;
and I just remember Mrs. Sands travels your way to-morrow, so she will
take care of you; for taken care of you must be, my pretty Catherine,
till you are a little less young, and somewhat less handsome."
And she patted the sweet, fall, rosy cheek.
Catherine was very pretty indeed, if you care to know that, and so it
was settled.
And now, Lettice having enjoyed a happier hour than she had known for
many a long day, began to recollect herself, and to think of poor Myra.
She rose from her chair, and taking up her bonnet and shawl, which
Catherine had hung before the fire to dry, seemed preparing to depart.
Then both Catherine and Mrs. Danvers began to think of her little bill,
which had not been settled yet. Catherine felt excessively awkward and
uncomfortable at the idea of offering her old friend and companion
money; but Mrs. Danvers was too well acquainted with real misery, had
too much approbation for that spirit which is not above _earning_, but
is above begging, to have any embarrassment in such a case.
"Catherine, my dear," she said, "you owe Miss Arnold some money. Had you
not better settle it before she leaves?"
Both the girls blushed.
"Nay, my dears," said Mrs. Danvers, kindly; "why this? I am sure,"
coming up to them, and taking Lettice's hand, "I hold an honest hand
here, which is not ashamed to labor, when it has been the will of God
that it shall be by her own exertions that she obtains her bread, and
part of the bread of another, if I mistake not. What you have nobly
earned as nobly receive. Humiliation belongs to the idle and the
dependent, not to one who maintains herself."
The eyes of Lettice glistened, and she could not help gently pressing
the hand which held hers.
Such sentiments were congenial to her heart. She had never been able to
comprehend the conventional distinctions between what is honorable or
degrading, under the fetters of which so many lose the higher principles
of independence--true honesty and true honor. To work for her living had
never lessened her in her own eyes; and she had found, with a sort of
astonishment, that it was to sink her in the eyes of others. To deny
herself every thing in food, furniture, clothing, in order to escape
debt, and add in her little way to the comforts of those she loved, had
ever appeared to her noble and praiseworthy. She was as astonished, as
many such a heart has been before her, with the course of this world's
esteem, too often measured by what people _spend_ upon themselves,
rather than by what they spare. I can not get that story in the
newspaper--the contempt expressed for the dinner of one mutton chop,
potatoes, and a few greens--out of my head.
Catherine's confusion had, in a moment of weakness, extended to Lettice.
She had felt ashamed to be paid as a workwoman by one once her friend,
and in social rank her equal; but now she raised her head, with a noble
frankness and spirit.
"I am very much obliged to you for recollecting it, madam, for in truth
the money is very much wanted; and if--" turning to her old friend, "my
dear Catherine can find me a little more work, I should be very greatly
obliged to her."
Catherine again changed color. Work! she was longing to offer her money.
She had twenty pounds in her pocket, a present from her godmother, to
buy something pretty for her wedding. She was burning with desire to put
it into Lettice's hand.
She stammered--she hesitated.
"Perhaps you _have_ no more work just now," said Lettice. "Never mind,
then; I am sure when there is an opportunity, you will remember what a
pleasure it will be to me to work for you; and that a poor needlewoman
is very much benefited by having private customers."
"My dear, dear Lettice!" and Catherine's arms were round her neck. She
could not help shedding a few tears.
"But to return to business," said Mrs. Danvers, "for I see Miss Arnold
is impatient to be gone. What is your charge, my dear? These slips are
tucked and beautifully stitched and done."
"I should not get more than threepence, at most fourpence, at the shops
for them. Should you think ninepence an unreasonable charge? I believe
it is what you would pay if you had them done at the schools."
"Threepence, fourpence, ninepence! Good Heavens!" cried Catherine; "so
beautifully done as these are; and then your needles and thread, you
have made no charge for them."
"We pay for those ourselves," said Lettice.
"But my dear," said Mrs. Danvers, "what Catherine would have to pay for
this work, if bought from a linen warehouse, would at least be fifteen
pence, and not nearly so well done, for these are beautiful. Come, you
must ask eighteen pence; there are six of them; nine shillings, my
dear."
The eyes of poor Lettice quite glistened. She could not refuse. She felt
that to seem over delicate upon this little enhancement of price would
be really great moral indelicacy. "Thank you," said she, "you are very
liberal; but it must only be for this once. If I am to be your
needlewoman in ordinary, Catherine, I must only be paid what you would
pay to others."
She smiled pleasantly as she said this; but Catherine could not answer
the smile. She felt very sad as she drew the nine shillings from her
purse, longing to make them nine sovereigns. But she laid the money at
last before Lettice upon the table.
Lettice took it up, and bringing out an old dirty leathern purse, was
going to put it in.
"At least, let me give you a better purse," said Catherine, eagerly,
offering her own handsome one, yet of a strong texture, for it was her
business purse.
"They would think I had stolen it," said Lettice, putting it aside. "No,
thank you, dear, kind Catherine. Consistency in all things; and my old
leather convenience seems to me much more consistent with my bonnet than
your beautiful one. Not but that I shall get myself a decent bonnet
_now_, for really this is a shame to be seen. And so, good-by; and
farewell, madam. When you _have_ work, you won't forget me, will you,
dear?"
"Oh, Catherine has plenty of work," put in Mrs. Danvers, "but somehow
she is not quite herself this morning"--again looking at her very
kindly. "You can not wonder, Miss Arnold, that she is much more agitated
by this meeting than you can be. My dear, there are those
pocket-handkerchiefs to be marked, which we durst not trust to an
unknown person. That will be a profitable job. My dear, you would have
to pay five shillings apiece at Mr. Morris's for having them embroidered
according to that pattern you fixed upon, and which I doubt not your
friend and her sister can execute. There are six of them to be done."
"May I look at the pattern? Oh, yes! I think I can do it. I will take
the greatest possible pains. Six at five shillings each! Oh! madam!--Oh,
Catherine!--what a benefit this will be."
Again Catherine felt it impossible to speak. She could only stoop down,
take the poor hand, so roughened with hardships, and raise it to her
lips.
The beautiful handkerchiefs were brought.
"I will only take one at a time, if you please. These are too valuable
to be risked at our lodgings. When I have done this, I will fetch
another, and so on. I shall not lose time in getting them done, depend
upon it," said Lettice, cheerfully.
"Take two, at all events, and then Myra can help you."
"No, only one at present, at least, thank you."
She did not say what she knew to be very true, that Myra could not help
her. Myra's fingers were twice as delicate as her own; and Myra, before
their misfortunes, had mostly spent her time in ornamental work--her
aunt holding plain sewing to be an occupation rather beneath so
beautiful and distinguished a creature. Nevertheless, when work became
of so much importance to them all, and fine work especially, as gaining
so much better a recompense in proportion to the time employed, Myra's
accomplishments in this way proved very useless. She had not been
accustomed to that strenuous, and, to the indolent, painful effort,
which is necessary to do any thing _well_. To exercise self-denial,
self-government, persevering industry, virtuous resistance against
weariness, disgust, aching fingers and heavy eyes--temptations which
haunt the indefatigable laborer in such callings, she was incapable of:
the consequence was, that she worked in a very inferior manner. While
Lettice, as soon as she became aware of the importance of this
accomplishment as to the means of increasing her power of adding to her
mother's comforts, had been indefatigable in her endeavors to accomplish
herself in the art, and was become a very excellent workwoman.
CHAPTER III.
"Umbriel, a dusky, melancholy sprite,
As ever sullied the fair face of light."--POPE.
And now she is upon her way home. And oh! how lightly beats that honest
simple heart in her bosom: and oh! how cheerily sits her spirit upon its
throne. How happily, too, she looks about at the shops, and thinks of
what she shall buy; not what she can possibly do without; not of the
very cheapest and poorest that is to be had for money, but upon what she
shall _choose_!
Then she remembers the fable of the Maid and the Milk-pail, and grows
prudent and prosaic; and resolves that she will not spend her money till
she has got it. She begins to limit her desires, and to determine that
she will only lay out six shillings this morning, and keep three in her
purse, as a resource for contingencies. Nay, she begins to grow a little
Martha-like and careful, and to dream about savings-banks; and putting
half-a-crown in, out of the way of temptation, when she is paid for her
first pocket-handkerchief.
Six shillings, however, she means to expend for the more urgent wants.
Two shillings coals; one shilling a very, very coarse straw bonnet;
fourpence ribbon to trim it with; one shilling bread, and sixpence
potatoes, a half-pennyworth of milk, and then, what is left?--one
shilling and a penny-half-penny. Myra shall have a cup of tea, with
sugar in it; and a muffin, that she loves so, and a bit of butter.
Four-pennyworth of tea, three-pennyworth of sugar, two-pennyworth of
butter, one penny muffin; and threepence-halfpenny remains in the good
little manager's hands.
She came up the dark stairs of her lodgings so cheerfully, followed by a
boy lugging up her coals, she carrying the other purchases herself--so
happy! quite radiant with joy--and opened the door of the miserable
little apartment.
It was a bleak wintry morning. Not a single ray of the sun could
penetrate the gray fleecy covering in which the houses were wrapped; yet
the warmth of the smoke and fires was sufficient so far to assist the
temperature of the atmosphere as to melt the dirty snow; which now kept
dripping from the roofs in dreary cadence, and splashing upon the
pavement below.
The room looked so dark, so dreary, so dismal! Such a contrast to the
one she had just left! Myra was up, and was dressed in her miserable,
half-worn, cotton gown, which was thrown round her in the most untidy,
comfortless manner. She could not think it worth while to care how
_such_ a gown was put on. Her hair was dingy and disordered; to be sure
there was but a broken comb to straighten it with, and who could do any
thing with _such_ a comb? She was cowering over the fire, which was now
nearly extinguished, and, from time to time, picking up bit by bit of
the cinders, as they fell upon the little hearth, putting them on
again--endeavoring to keep the fire alive. Wretchedness in the extreme
was visible in her dress, her attitude, her aspect.
She turned round as Lettice entered, and saying pettishly, "I thought
you never _would_ come back, and I do _so_ want my shawl," returned to
her former attitude, with her elbows resting upon her knees, and her
chin upon the palms of her hands.
"I have been a sad long time, indeed," said Lettice, good-humoredly;
"you must have been tired to death of waiting for me, and wondering what
I _could_ be about. But I've brought something back which will make you
amends. And, in the first place, here's your shawl," putting it over
her, "and thank you for the use of it--though I would not ask your
leave, because I could not bear to waken you. But I was _sure_ you would
lend it me--and now for the fire. For once in a way we _will_ have a
good one. There, Sim, bring in the coals, put them in that wooden box
there. Now for a good lump or two." And on they went; and the expiring
fire began to crackle and sparkle, and make a pleased noise, and a blaze
soon caused even that room to look a little cheerful.
"Oh dear! I am so glad we may for _once_ be allowed to have coal enough
to put a spark of life into us," said Myra.
Lettice had by this time filled the little old tin kettle, and was
putting it upon the fire, and then she fetched an old tea-pot with a
broken spout, a saucer without a cup, and a cup without a saucer; and
putting the two together, for they were usually divided between the
sisters, said:
"I have got something for you which I know you will like still better
than a blaze, a cup of tea. And to warm your poor fingers, see if you
can't toast yourself this muffin," handing it to her upon what was now a
two-pronged, but had once been a three-pronged fork.
"But what have you got for yourself?" Myra had, at least, the grace to
say.
"Oh! I have had _such_ a breakfast. And such a thing has happened! but I
can not and will not tell you till you have had your own breakfast,
poor, dear girl. You must be ravenous--at least, I should be in your
place--but you never seem so hungry as I am, poor Myra. However, I was
sure you could eat a muffin."
"That was very good-natured of you, Lettice, to think of it. It _will_
be a treat. But oh! to think that we should be brought to this--to think
a muffin--_one_ muffin--a treat!" she added dismally.
"Let us be thankful when we get it, however," said her sister: "upon my
word. Mrs. Bull has given us some very good coals. Oh, how the kettle
does enjoy them! It must be quite a treat to our kettle to feel
_hot_--poor thing! Lukewarm is the best it mostly attains to. Hear how
it buzzes and hums, like a pleased child."
And so she prattled, and put a couple of spoonfuls of tea into the
cracked tea-pot. There were but about six in the paper, but Myra liked
her tea strong, and she should have it as she pleased this once. Then
she poured out a cup, put in some milk and sugar, and, with a smile of
ineffable affection, presented it, with the muffin she had buttered, to
her sister. Myra _did_ enjoy it. To the poor, weedy, delicate thing, a
cup of good tea, with something to eat that she could relish, _was_ a
real blessing. Mrs. Danvers was right so far: things did really go much
harder with her than with Lettice; but then she made them six times
worse by her discontent and murmuring spirit, and Lettice made them six
times better by her cheerfulness and generous disregard of self.
While the one sister was enjoying her breakfast, the other, who really
began to feel tired, was very glad to sit down and enjoy the fire. So
she took the other chair, and, putting herself upon the opposite side of
the little table, began to stretch out her feet to the fender, and feel
herself quite comfortable. Three shillings in her purse, and three-pence
halfpenny to do just what she liked with! perhaps buy Myra a roll for
tea: there would be butter enough left.
Then she began her story. But the effect it produced was not exactly
what she had expected. Instead of sharing in her sister's thankful joy
for this unexpected deliverance from the most abject want, through the
discovery of a friend--able and willing to furnish employment herself,
and to recommend them, as, in her hopeful view of things, Lettice
anticipated, to others, and promising them work of a description that
would pay well, and make them quite comfortable--Myra began to draw a
repining contrast between Catherine's situation and her own.
The poor beauty had been educated by her silly and romantic old aunt to
look forward to making some capital match. "She had such a sweet pretty
face, and so many accomplishments of mind and manner," for such was the
way the old woman loved to talk. Accomplishments of mind and manner, by
the way, are indefinite things; any body may put in a claim for them on
the part of any one. As for the more positive acquirements which are to
be seen, handled, or heard and appreciated--such as dancing, music,
languages, and so forth, Myra had as slender a portion of those as
usually falls to the lot of indulged, idle, nervous girls. The poor
beauty felt all the bitterness of the deepest mortification at what she
considered this cruel contrast of her fate as compared to Catherine's.
She had been indulged in that pernicious habit of the mind--the making
claims. "With claims no better than her own" was her expression for
though Catherine had more money, every body said Catherine was _only_
pretty, which last sentence implied that there was another person of
Catherine's acquaintance, who was positively and extremely beautiful.
Lettice, happily for herself, had never been accustomed to make
"claims." She had, indeed, never distinctly understood whom such claims
were to be made upon. She could not quite see why it was very _hard_
that other people should be happier than herself. I am sure she would
have been very sorry if she had thought that every body was as
uncomfortable.
She was always sorry when she heard her sister talking in this manner,
partly because she felt it could not be quite right, and partly because
she was sure it did no good, but made matters a great deal worse; but
she said nothing. Exhortation, indeed, only made matters worse: nothing
offended Myra so much as an attempt to make her feel more comfortable,
and to reconcile her to the fate she complained of as so _hard_.
Even when let alone, it would often be some time before she recovered
her good humor; and this was the case now. I am afraid she was a little
vexed that Lettice and not herself had met with the good luck first to
stumble upon Catherine, and also a little envious of the pleasing
impression it was plain her sister had made. So she began to fall foul
of Lettice's new bonnet, and to say, in a captious tone,
"You got money enough to buy yourself a new bonnet, I see."
"Indeed, I did," Lettice answered with simplicity. "It was the very
first thing I thought of. Mine was such a wretched thing, and wetted
with the snow--the very boys hooted at it. Poor old friend!" said she,
turning it upon her hand, "you have lost even the shape and pretension
to be a bonnet. What must I do with thee? The back of the fire? Sad
fate! No, generous companion of my cares and labors, that shall _not_ be
thy destiny. Useful to the last, thou shalt _light_ to-morrow's fire;
and that will be the best satisfaction to thy generous manes."
"_My_ bonnet is not so _very_ much better," said Myra, rather sulkily.
"_Not_ so _very_ much, alas! but better, far better than mine. And,
besides, confess, please, my dear, that you had the last bonnet. Two
years ago, it's true; but mine had seen three; and then, remember, I am
going into grand company again to-morrow, and _must_ be decent."
This last remark did not sweeten Myra's temper.
"Oh! I forgot. Of course you'll keep your good company to yourself. I
am, indeed, not fit to be seen in it. But you'll want a new gown and a
new shawl, my dear, though, indeed, you can always take mine, as you did
this morning."
"Now, Myra!" said Lettice, "can you really be so naughty? Nay, you are
cross; I see it in your face, though you won't look at me. Now don't be
so foolish. Is it not all the same to us both? Are we not in one box? If
you wish for the new bonnet, take it, and I'll take yours: I don't care,
my dear. You were always used to be more handsomely dressed than me--it
must seem quite odd for you not to be so. I only want to be decent when
I go about the work, which I shall have to do often, as I told you,
because I dare not have two of these expensive handkerchiefs in my
possession at once. Dear me, girl! Have we not troubles enough? For
goodness' sake don't let us _make_ them. There, dear, take the bonnet,
and I'll take yours; but I declare, when I look at the two, this is so
horridly coarse, yours, old as it is looks the genteeler to my mind,"
laughing.
So thought Myra, and kept her own bonnet, Lettice putting upon it the
piece of new ribbon she had bought, and after smoothing and rubbing the
faded one upon her sister's, trimming with it her own.
* * * * *
The two friends in Green-street sat silently for a short time after the
door had closed upon Lettice; and then Catherine began.
"More astonishing things happen in the real world than one ever finds in
a book. I am sure if such a reverse of fortune as this had been
described to me in a story, I should at once have declared it to be
impossible. I could not have believed it credible that, in a society
such as ours--full of all sorts of kind, good-natured people, who are
daily doing so much for the poor--an amiable girl like this, the
daughter of a clergyman of the Church of England, could be suffered to
sink into such abject poverty."
"Ah! my dear Catherine, that shows you have only seen life upon one
side, and that its fairest side--as it presents itself in the country.
You can not imagine what a dreadful thing it may prove in large cities.
It can not enter into the head of man to conceive the horrible contrasts
of large cities--the dreadful destitution of large cities--the awful
solitude of a crowd. In the country, I think, such a thing hardly could
have happened, however great the difficulty is of helping those who
still preserve the delicacy and dignity with regard to money matters,
which distinguishes finer minds--but in London what _can_ be done? Like
lead in the mighty waters, the moneyless and friendless sink to the
bottom, Society in all its countless degrees closes over them: they are
lost in its immensity, hidden from every eye, and they perish as an
insect might perish; amid the myriads of its kind, unheeded by every
other living creature. Ah, my love! if your walks lay where mine have
done, your heart would bleed for these destitute women, born to better
hopes, and utterly shipwrecked."
"She was such a dear, amiable girl," Catherine went on, "so cheerful, so
sweet-tempered--so clever in all that one likes to see people clever
about! Her mother was a silly woman."
"So she showed, I fear, by coming to London," said Mrs. Danvers.
"She was so proud of Myra's beauty, and she seemed to think so little of
Lettice. She was always prophesying that Myra would make a great match;
and so did her aunt, Mrs. Price, who was no wiser than Mrs. Arnold; and
they brought up the poor girl to such a conceit of herself--to 'not to
do this,' and 'it was beneath her to do that'--and referring every
individual thing to her comfort and advancement, till, poor girl, she
could hardly escape growing, what she certainly did grow into, a very
spoiled, selfish creature. While dear Lettice in her simplicity--that
simplicity 'which thinketh no evil'--took it so naturally, that so it
was, and so it ought to be; that sometimes one laughed, and sometimes
one felt provoked, but one loved her above all things. I never saw such
a temper."
"I dare say," said Mrs. Danvers, "that your intention in staying in town
to-day was to pay them a visit, which, indeed, we had better do. I had
only a glance into their apartment the other day, but it occurred to me
that they wanted common necessaries. Ignorant as I was of who they were,
I was thinking to get them put upon Lady A----'s coal and blanket list,
but that can not very well be done now. However, presents are always
permitted under certain conditions, and the most delicate receive them;
and, really, this is a case to waive a feeling of that sort in some
measure. As you are an old friend and acquaintance, there can be no harm
in a few presents before you leave town."
"So I was thinking, ma'am, and I am very impatient to go and see them,
and find out what they may be most in want of."
"Well, my dear, I do not see why we should lose time, and I will order a
cab to take us, for it is rather too far to walk this terrible day."
They soon arrived at the place I have described, and, descending from
their cab, walked along in front of this row of lofty houses looking
upon the grave-yard, and inhabited by so much human misery. The doors of
most of the houses stood open, for they were all let in rooms, and the
entrance and staircase were common as the street. What forms of human
misery and degradation presented themselves during one short walk which
I once took there with a friend employed upon a mission of mercy!
Disease in its most frightful form, panting to inhale a little fresh
air. Squalid misery, the result of the gin-shop--decent misery ready to
starve. Women shut up in one room with great heartless, brutal,
disobedient boys--sickness resting untended upon its solitary bed.
Wailing infants--scolding mothers--human nature under its most abject
and degraded forms. No thrift, no economy, no attempt at cleanliness and
order. Idleness, recklessness, dirt, and wretchedness. Perhaps the very
atmosphere of towns; perhaps these close, ill-ventilated rooms; most
certainly the poisonous gin-shop, engender a relaxed state of nerves and
muscles, which deprives people of the spirits ever to attempt to make
themselves a little decent. Then water is so dear, and dirt so pervading
the very atmosphere. Poor things, they give it up; and acquiesce in,
and become accustomed to it, and "_avec un mal heur sourd dont l'on ne
se rend pas compte_," gradually sink and sink into the lowest abyss of
habitual degradation.
It is difficult to express the painful sensations which Catherine
experienced when she entered the room of the two sisters. To her the
dirty paper, the carpetless floor, the miserable bed, the worm-eaten and
scanty furniture, the aspect of extreme poverty which pervaded every
thing, were so shocking, that she could hardly restrain her tears. Not
so Mrs. Danvers.
Greater poverty, even she, could rarely have seen; but it was too often
accompanied with what grieved her more, reckless indifference, and moral
degradation. Dirt and disorder, those agents of the powers of darkness,
were almost sure to be found where there was extreme want; but here the
case was different. As her experienced eye glanced round the room, she
could perceive that, poor as was the best, the best _was_ made of it;
that a cheerful, active spirit--the "How to make the best of it"--that
spirit which is like the guardian angel of the poor, had been busy here.
The floor, though bare, was clean; the bed, though so mean, neatly
arranged and made; the grate was bright; the chairs were dusted; the
poor little plenishing neatly put in order. No dirty garments hanging
about the room; all carefully folded and put away they were; though she
could not, of course, see that, for there were no half-open drawers of
the sloven, admitting dust and dirt, and offending the eye. Lettice
herself, with hair neatly braided, her poor worn gown carefully put on,
was sitting by the little table, busy at her work, looking the very
picture of modest industry. Only one figure offended the nice moral
sense of Mrs. Danvers: that of Myra, who sat there with her fine hair
hanging round her face, in long, dirty, disheveled ringlets, her feet
stretched out and pushed slip-shod into her shoes. With her dress half
put on, and hanging over her, as the maids say, "no how," she was
leaning back in the chair, and sewing very languidly at a very dirty
piece of work which she held in her hand.
Both sisters started up when the door opened. Lettice's cheeks flushed
with joy, and her eye sparkled with pleasure as she rose to receive her
guests, brought forward her other only chair, stirred the fire, and sent
the light of a pleasant blaze through the room. Myra colored also, but
her first action was to stoop down hastily to pull up the heels of her
shoes; she then east a hurried glance upon her dress, and arranged it a
little--occupied as usual with herself, her own appearance was the first
thought--and never in her life more disagreeably.
Catherine shook hands heartily with Lettice, saying, "We are soon met
again, you see;" and then went up to Myra, and extended her hand to her.
The other took it, but was evidently so excessively ashamed of her
poverty, and her present appearance, before one who had seen her in
better days, that she could not speak, or make any other reply to a kind
speech of Catherine's, but by a few unintelligible murmurs.
"I was impatient to come," said Catherine--she and Mrs. Danvers having
seated themselves upon the two smaller chairs, while the sisters sat
together upon the larger one--"because, you know, I must go out of town
so very soon, and I wanted to call upon you, and have a little chat and
talk of old times--and, really--really--" she hesitated. Dear, good
thing, she was so dreadfully afraid of mortifying either of the two in
their present fallen state.
"And, really--really," said Mrs. Danvers, smiling, "out with it, my
love--really--really, Lettice, Catherine feels as I am sure you would
feel if the cases were reversed. She can not bear the thoughts of her
own prosperity, and at the same time think of your misfortunes. I told
her I was quite sure you would not be hurt if she did for you, what I
was certain you would have done in such a case for her, and would let
her make you a little more comfortable before she went. The poor thing's
wedding-day will be quite spoiled by thinking about you, if you won't,
Lettice."
Lettice stretched out her hand to Catherine by way of answer; and
received in return the most warm and affectionate squeeze. Myra was very
glad to be made more comfortable--there was no doubt of that; but half
offended, and determined to be as little obliged as possible. And then,
Catherine going to be married too. How hard!--every kind of good luck to
be heaped upon _her_, and she herself so unfortunate in every way.
But nobody cared for her ungracious looks. Catherine knew her of old,
and Mrs. Danvers understood the sort of thing she was in a minute. Her
walk had lain too long amid the victims of false views and imperfect
moral training, to be surprised at this instance of their effects. The
person who surprised her was Lettice.
"Well, then," said Catherine, now quite relieved, and looking round the
room, "where shall we begin? What will you have? What do you want most?
I shall make you wedding presents, you see, instead of you making them
to me. When your turn comes you shall have your revenge."
"Well," Lettice said, "what must be must be, and it's nonsense playing
at being proud. I am very much obliged to you, indeed, Catherine, for
thinking of us at this time; and if I must tell you what I should be
excessively obliged to you for, it is a pair of blankets. Poor Myra can
hardly sleep for the cold."
"It's not the cold--it's the wretched, hard, lumpy bed," muttered Myra.
This hint sent Catherine to the bed-side.
"Oh, dear! oh, dear!" cried she, piteously, "poor dear things, how could
you sleep at all? Do they call this a bed? and such blankets! Poor
Myra!" her compassion quite overcoming her dislike. "No wonder. My
goodness! my goodness! it's very shocking indeed." And the good young
thing could not help crying.
"Blankets, dear girls! and a mattress, and a feather bed, and two
pillows. How have you lived through it? And you, poor Myra, used to be
made so much of. Poor girl! I am so sorry for you."
And oh! how her heart smote her for all she had said and thought to
Myra's disadvantage. And oh! how the generous eyes of Lettice beamed
with pleasure as these compassionate words were addressed to her sister.
Myra was softened and affected. She could almost forgive Catherine for
being so fortunate.
"You are very kind, indeed, Catherine," she said.
Catherine, now quite at her ease, began to examine into their other
wants; and without asking many questions, merely by peeping about, and
forming her own conclusions, was soon pretty well aware of what was of
the most urgent necessity. She was now quite upon the fidget to be gone,
that she might order and send in the things; and ten of the twenty
pounds given her for wedding lace was spent before she and Mrs. Danvers
reached home; that lady laughing, and lamenting over the wedding gown,
which would certainly not be flounced with Honiton, as Catherine's good
god-mother had intended, and looking so pleased, contented, and happy,
that it did Catherine's heart good to see her.
CHAPTER IV.
"The swain in barren deserts with surprise
Sees lilies spring, and sudden verdure rise:
And starts amid the thirsty wilds to hear
New falls of water murm'ring in his ear."--POPE.
In the evening Mrs. Danvers seemed rather tired, and the two sat over
the fire a long time, without a single word being uttered; but, at last,
when tea was finished, and they had both taken their work, Catherine,
who had been in profound meditation all this time, began:
"My dear Mrs. Danvers, are you rested? I have a great deal to talk to
you about, if you will let me."
"I must be very much tired, indeed, Catherine, when I do not like to
hear _you_ talk," was the kind reply.
Mrs. Danvers reposed very comfortably in her arm-chair, with her feet
upon a footstool before the cheerful blazing fire; and now Catherine
drew her chair closer, rested her feet upon the fender, and seemed to
prepare herself for a regular confidential talk with her beloved old
friend.
"My dear Mrs. Danvers, you are such a friend both of my dear mother's
and mine, that I think I may, without scruple, open my whole heart to
you upon a matter in which more than myself are concerned. If you think
me wrong stop me," said she, laying her hand affectionately upon that
of her friend, and fixing those honest, earnest eyes of hers upon her
face.
Mrs. Danvers pressed the hand, and said:
"My love, whatever you confide to me you know is sacred; and if I can be
of any assistance to you, dear girl, I think you need not scruple
opening your mind; for you know I am a sort of general mother-confessor
to all my acquaintance, and am as secret as such a profession demands."
Catherine lifted up the hand; she held it, pressed it, and continued to
hold it; then she looked at the fire a little while, and at last spoke.
"Did you never in your walk in life observe one evil under the sun,
which appears to me to be a most crying one in many families, the undue
influence exercised by, and the power allowed to servants?"
"Yes, my dear, there are few of the minor evils--if minor it can be
called--that I have thought productive of more daily discomforts than
that. At times the evils assume a much greater magnitude, and are very
serious indeed. Alienated hearts--divided families--property to a large
amount unjustly and unrighteously diverted from its natural channel--and
misery, not to be told, about old age and a dying bed."
Catherine slightly shuddered, and said:
"I have not had an opportunity of seeing much of the world, you know;
what you say is rather what I feared it might be, than what I have
actually observed; but I have had a sort of divination of what might in
future arise. It is inexplicable to me the power a servant may gain, and
the tyrannical way in which she will dare to exercise it. The
unaccountable way in which those who have every title to command, may be
brought to obey is scarcely to be believed, and to me inexplicable."
"Fear and indolence, my dear. Weak spirits and a weak body, upon the one
side; on the other, that species of force which want of feeling, want of
delicacy, want of a nice conscience, want even of an enlarged
understanding--which rough habits and coarse perceptions bestow. Believe
me, dear girl, almost as much power is obtained in this foolish world by
the absence of certain qualities as by the possession of others. Silly
people think it so nice and easy to govern, and so hard to obey. It
requires many higher qualities, and much more rule over the spirit to
command obedience than to pay it."
"Yes, no doubt one does not think enough of that. Jeremy Taylor, in his
fine prayers, has one for a new married wife just about to enter a
family: he teaches her to pray for 'a right judgment in all things; not
to be annoyed at trifles; nor discomposed by contrariety of accidents;'
a spirit 'to overcome all my infirmities, and comply with and bear with
the infirmities of others; giving offense to none, but doing good to all
I can, but I think he should have added a petition for strength to rule
and guide that portion of the household which falls under her immediate
care with a firm and righteous hand, not yielding feebly to the undue
encroachment of others, not suffering, through indolence or a mistaken
love of peace, evil habits to creep over those who look up to us and
depend upon us, to their own infinite injury as well as to our own.' Ah!
that is the part of a woman's duty hardest to fulfill; and I almost
tremble," said the young bride elect, "when I think how heavy the
responsibility; and how hard I shall find it to acquit myself as I
desire."
"In this as in other things," answered Mrs. Danvers, affectionately
passing her hand over her young favorite's smooth and shining hair, "I
have ever observed there is but one portion of real strength; one force
alone by which we can move mountains. But, in that strength we assuredly
are able to move mountains. Was this all that you had to say, my dear?"
"Oh, no--but--it is so disagreeable--yet I think. Did you ever notice
how things went on at home, my dear friend?"
"Yes--a little I have. One can not help, you know, if one stays long in
a house, seeing the relation in which the different members of a family
stand to each other."
"I thought you must have done so; that makes it easier for me--well,
then, _that_ was one great reason which made me so unwilling to leave
mamma."
"I understand."
"There is a vast deal of that sort of tyranny exercised in our family
already. Ever since I have grown up I have done all in my power to check
it, by encouraging my poor, dear mamma, to exert a little spirit; but
she is so gentle, so soft, so indulgent, and so affectionate--for even
_that_ comes in her way.... She gets attached to every thing around her.
She can not bear new faces, she says, and this I think the servants
know, and take advantage of. They venture to do as they like, because
they think it will be too painful an exertion for her to change them."
"Yes, my dear, that is exactly as things go on; not in your family
alone, but in numbers that I could name if I chose. It is a very serious
evil. It amounts to a sin in many households. The waste, the almost
vicious luxury, the idleness that is allowed! The positive loss of what
might be so much better bestowed upon those who really want it, to the
positive injury of those who enjoy it! The demoralizing effect of
pampered habits--the sins which are committed through the temptation of
having nothing to do, will make, I fear, a dark catalogue against the
masters and mistresses of families; who, because they have money in
abundance, and hate trouble, allow all this misrule, and its attendant
ill consequences upon their dependents. Neglecting 'to rule with
diligence,' as the Apostle commands us, and satisfied, provided they
themselves escape suffering from the ill consequences, except as far as
an overflowing plentiful purse is concerned. Few people seem to reflect
upon the mischief they may be doing to these their half-educated fellow
creatures by such negligence."
Catherine looked very grave, almost sorrowful, at this speech--she said:
"Poor mamma--but she _can not_ help it--indeed she can not. She is all
love, and is gentleness itself. The blessed one 'who thinketh no evil.'
How can that Randall find the heart to tease her! as I am sure she
does--though mamma never complains. And then, I am afraid, indeed, I
feel certain, when I am gone the evil will very greatly increase. You,
perhaps, have observed," added she, lowering her voice, "that poor papa
makes it particularly difficult in our family--doubly difficult. His old
wounds, his injured arm, his age and infirmities, make all sorts of
little comforts indispensable to him. He suffers so much bodily, and he
suffers, too, so much from little inconveniences, that he can not bear
to have any thing done for him in an unaccustomed way. Randall and
Williams have lived with us ever since I was five years old--when poor
papa came back from Waterloo almost cut to pieces. And he is so fond of
them he will not hear a complaint against them--not even from mamma. Oh!
it is not her fault--poor, dear mamma!"
"No, my love, such a dreadful sufferer as the poor general too often is,
makes things very difficult at times. I understand all that quite well;
but we are still only on the preamble of your discourse, my Catherine;
something more than vain lamentation is to come of it, I feel sure."
"Yes, indeed. Dear generous mamma! She would not hear of my staying with
her and giving up Edgar; nor would she listen to what he was noble
enough to propose, that he should abandon his profession and come and
live at the Hazels, rather than that I should feel I was tampering with
my duty, for his sake, dear fellow!"
And the tears stood in Catherine's eyes.
"Nothing I could say would make her listen to it. I could hardly be
sorry for Edgar's sake. I knew what a sacrifice it would be upon his
part--more than a woman ought to accept from a _lover_, I think--a man
in his dotage, as one may say. Don't you think so, too, ma'am?"
"Yes, my dear, indeed I do. Well, go on."
"I have been so perplexed, so unhappy, so undecided what to do--so sorry
to leave this dear, generous mother to the mercy of those servants of
hers--whose influence, when she is alone, and with nobody to hearten her
up a little, will be so terribly upon the increase--that I have not
known what to do. But to-day, while I was dressing for dinner, a sudden,
blessed thought came into my mind--really, just like a flash of light
that seemed to put every thing clear at once--and it is about that I
want to consult you, if you will let me. That dear Lettice Arnold!--I
knew her from a child. You can not think what a creature she is. So
sensible, so cheerful, so sweet-tempered, so self-sacrificing, yet so
clever, and firm, and steady, when necessary. Mamma wants a daughter,
and papa wants a reader and a backgammon prayer. Lettice Arnold is the
very thing."
Mrs. Danvers made no answer.
"Don't you think so? Are you not sure? Don't you see it?" asked poor
Catherine, anxiously.
"Alas! my dear, there is one thing I can scarcely ever persuade myself
to do; and that is--advise any one to undertake the part of humble
friend."
"Oh, dear! oh, dear! I know it's a terrible part in general; and I can't
think why."
"Because neither party in general understands the nature of the
relation, nor the exchange of duties it implies. For want of proper
attention to this, the post of governess is often rendered so
unsatisfactory to one side, and so very uncomfortable to the other, but
in that case at least _something_ is defined. In the part of the humble
friend there is really nothing--every thing depends upon the equity and
good-nature of the first party, and the candor and good-will of the
second. Equity not to exact too much--good-nature to consult the comfort
and happiness of the dependent. On that dependent's side, candor in
judging of what _is_ exacted; and good-will cheerfully to do the best in
her power to be amiable and agreeable."
"I am not afraid of mamma. She will never be exacting _much_. She will
study the happiness of all who depend upon her; she only does it almost
too much, I sometimes think, to the sacrifice of her own comfort, and to
the spoiling of them--and though papa is sometimes so suffering that he
can't help being a little impatient, yet he is a perfect gentleman, you
know. As for Lettice Arnold, if ever there was a person who knew 'how to
make the best of it,' and sup cheerfully upon fried onions when she had
lost her piece of roast kid, it is she. Besides, she is so uniformly
good-natured, that it is quite a pleasure to her to oblige. The only
danger between dearest mamma and Lettice will be--of their quarreling
which shall give up most to the other. But, joking apart, she is a vast
deal more than I have said--she is a remarkably clever, spirited girl,
and shows it when she is called upon. You can not think how discreet,
how patient, yet how firm, she can be. Her parents, poor people, were
very difficult to live with, and were always running wrong. If it had
not been for Lettice, affairs would have got into dreadful confusion.
There is that in her so _right_, such an inherent downright sense of
propriety and justice--somehow or other I am confident she will not let
Randall tyrannize over mamma when I am gone."
"Really," said Mrs. Danvers, "what you say seems very reasonable. There
are exceptions to every rule. It certainly is one of mine to have as
little as possible to do in recommending young women to the situation of
humble friends. Yet in some cases I have seen all the comfort you
anticipate arise to both parties from such a connection; and I own I
never saw a fairer chance presented than the present; provided Randall
is not too strong for you all; which may be feared."
"Well, then, you do not _dis_advise me to talk to mamma about it, and I
will write to you as soon as I possibly can; and you will be kind enough
to negotiate with Lettice, if you approve of the terms. As for Randall,
she shall _not_ be too hard for me. Now is my hour; I am in the
ascendant, and I will win this battle or perish; that is, I will tell
mamma I _won't_ be married upon any other terms; and to have 'Miss'
married is quite as great a matter of pride to Mrs. Randall as to that
dearest of mothers."
* * * * *
The contest with Mrs. Randall was as fierce as Catherine, in her worst
anticipations, could have expected. She set herself most doggedly
against the plan. It, indeed, militated against all her schemes. She had
intended to have every thing far more than ever her own way when "Miss
Catherine was gone;" and though she had no doubt but that she should
"keep the creature in her place," and "teach her there was only one
mistress here" (which phrase usually means the maid, though it implies
the lady), yet she had a sort of a misgiving about it. There would be
one at her (Mrs. Melwyn's) ear as well as herself, and at, possibly, her
master's, too, which was of still more importance. And then "those sort
of people are so artful and cantankerous. Oh! she'd seen enough of them
in her day! Poor servants couldn't have a moment's peace with a creature
like that in the house, spying about and telling every thing in the
parlor. One can't take a walk, or see a poor friend, or have a bit of
comfort, but all goes up there. Well, those may put up with it who like.
Here's one as won't, and that's me myself; and so I shall make bold to
tell Miss Catherine. General and Mrs. Melwyn must choose between me and
the new-comer."
Poor Catherine! Mrs. Melwyn cried, and said her daughter was very right;
but she was sure Randall never _would_ bear it. And the general, with
whom Randall had daily opportunity for private converse while she bound
up his shattered arm, and dressed the old wound, which was perpetually
breaking out afresh, and discharging splinters of bone, easily talked
her master into the most decided dislike to the scheme.
But Catherine stood firm. She had the support of her own heart and
judgment; and the greater the difficulty, the more strongly she felt the
necessity of the measure. Edgar backed her, too, with all his might. He
could hardly keep down his vexation at this weakness on one side, and
indignation at the attempted tyranny on the other, and he said every
thing he could think of to encourage Catherine to persevere.
She talked the matter well over with her father. The general was the
most testy, cross, and unreasonable of old men; always out of humor,
because always suffering, and always jealous of every body's influence
and authority, because he was now too weak and helpless to rule his
family with a rod of iron, such as he, the greatest of martinets, had
wielded in better days in his regiment and in his household alike. He
suffered himself to be governed by Randall, and by nobody else; because
in yielding to Randall, there was a sort of consciousness of the
exercise of free will. He _ought_ to be influenced by his gentle wife,
and clever, sensible daughter; but there was no reason on earth, but
because he _chose_ to do it, that he should mind what Randall said.
"I hate the whole pack of them! I know well enough what sort of a
creature you'll bring among us, Catherine. A whining, methodistical old
maid, with a face like a hatchet, and a figure as if it had been pressed
between two boards, dressed in a flimsy cheap silk, of a dingy brown
color, with a cap like a grenadier's. Your mother and she will be
sitting moistening their eyes all day long over the sins of mankind;
and, I'll be bound, my own sins won't be forgotten among them. Oh! I
know the pious creatures, of old. Nothing they hate like a poor old
veteran, with a naughty word or two in his mouth now and then. Never
talk to me, Catherine, I can't abide such cattle."
"Dearest papa, what a picture you _do_ draw! just to frighten yourself.
Why, Lettice Arnold is only about nineteen, I believe; and though she's
not particularly pretty, she's the pleasantest-looking creature you ever
saw. And as for bemoaning herself over her neighbors' sins, I'll be
bound she's not half such a Methodist as Randall."
"Randall is a very pious, good woman, I'd have you to know, Miss
Catherine."
"I'm sure I hope she is, papa; but you must own she makes a great fuss
about it. And I really believe, the habit she has of whispering and
turning up the whites of her eyes, when she hears of a neighbor's
peccadillos, is one thing which sets you so against the righteous,
dearest papa; now, you know it is."
"You're a saucy baggage. How old is this thing you're trying to put upon
us, did you say?"
"Why, about nineteen, or, perhaps, twenty. And then, who's to read to
you, papa, when I am gone, and play backgammon? You know mamma must
_not_ read, on account of her chest, and she plays so badly, you say, at
backgammon; and it's so dull, husband and wife playing, you know." (Poor
Mrs. Melwyn dreaded, of all things, backgammon; she invariably got
ridiculed if she played ill, and put her husband into a passion if she
beat him. Catherine had long taken this business upon herself.)
"Does she play backgammon tolerably? and can she read without drawling
or galloping?"
"Just at your own pace, papa, whatever that may be. Besides, you can
only try her; she's easily sent away if you and mamma don't like her.
And then think, she is a poor clergyman's daughter; and it would be
quite a kind action."
"A poor parson's! It would have been more to the purpose if you had said
a poor officer's. I pay tithes enough to the black coated gentlemen,
without being bothered with their children, and who ever pays tithes to
us, I wonder? I don't see what right parsons have to marry at all; and
then, forsooth, come and ask other people to take care of their brats!"
"Ah! but she's not to be taken care of for nothing; only think what a
comfort she'll be."
"To your mamma, perhaps, but not to me. And _she's_ always the first
person to be considered in this house, I know very well; and I know very
well who it is that dresses the poor old soldier's wounds, and studies
his comforts--and he'll study hers; and I won't have her vexed to please
any of you."
"But why should she be vexed? It's nothing to _her_. _She's_ not to live
with Lettice. And I must say, if Randall sets herself against this
measure, she behaves in a very unreasonable and unworthy manner, in my
opinion."
"Hoity toity! _To_ be sure; and who's behaving in an unreasonable and
unworthy manner now, I wonder, abusing her behind her back, a worthy,
attached creature, whose sole object it is to study the welfare of us
all? She's told me so a thousand times."
"I daresay. Well, now, papa, listen to me. I'm going away from you for
good--your little Catherine. Just for once grant me this as a favor.
Only try Lettice. I'm sure you'll like her; and if, after she's been
here a quarter of a year, you don't wish to keep her, why part with her,
and I'll promise not to say a word about it. Randall has her good
qualities, I suppose, like the rest of the world; but Randall must be
taught to keep her place, and that's not in this drawing-room. And it's
_here_ you want Lettice, not in your dressing-room. Randall shall have
it all her own way _there_, and that _ought_ to content her. And
besides, papa, do you know, I can't marry Edgar till you have consented,
because I can not leave mamma and you with nobody to keep you company."
"Edgar and you be d----d! Well, do as you like. The sooner you're out of
the house the better. I shan't have my own way till you're gone. You're
a sad coaxing baggage, but you _have_ a pretty face of your own, Miss
Catherine."
* * * * *
If the debate upon the subject ran high at the Hazels, so did it in the
little humble apartment which the two sisters occupied.
"A humble friend! No," cried Myra, "that I would never, never be; rather
die of hunger first."
"Dying of hunger is a very horrible thing," said Lettice, quietly, "and
much more easily said than done. We have not, God be thanked for it,
ever been quite so badly off as that; but I have stood near enough to
the dreadful gulf to look down, and to sound its depth and its darkness.
I am very thankful, deeply thankful, for this offer, which I should
gladly accept, only what is to become of you?"
"Oh! never mind me. It's the fashion now, I see, for every body to think
of _you_, and nobody to think of me. I'm not worth caring for, now those
who cared for me are gone. Oh! pray, if you like to be a domestic slave
yourself, let _me_ be no hindrance."
"A domestic slave! why should I be a domestic slave? I see no slavery in
the case."
"_I_ call it slavery, whatever you may do, to have nothing to do all day
but play toad-eater and flatterer to a good-for-nothing old woman; to
bear all her ill-humors, and be the butt for all her caprices. That's
what humble friends are expected to do, I believe; what else are they
hired for?"
"I should neither toady nor flatter, I hope," said Lettice; "and as for
bearing people's ill-humors, and being now and then the sport of their
caprices, why that, as you say, is very disagreeable, yet, perhaps, it
is what we must rather expect. But Mrs. Melwyn, I have always heard, is
the gentlest of human beings. And if she is like Catherine, she must be
free from caprice, and nobody could help quite loving her."
"Stuff!--love! love! A humble friend love her _un_humble friend; for I
suppose one must not venture to call one's mistress a tyrant. Oh, no, a
friend! a dear friend!" in a taunting, ironical voice.
"Whomever it might be my fate to live with, I should _try_ to love; for
I believe if one tries to love people, one soon finds something lovable
about them, and Mrs. Melwyn, I feel sure, I should soon love very much."
"So like you! ready to love any thing and every thing. I verily believe
if there was nothing else to love but the little chimney-sweeper boy,
you'd fall to loving him, rather than love nobody."
"I am sure that's true enough," said Lettice, laughing; "I have more
than once felt very much inclined to love the little boy who carries the
soot-bag for the man who sweeps these chimneys--such a saucy-looking,
little sooty rogue."
"As if a person's love _could_ be worth having," continued the sister,
"who is so ready to love any body."
"No, that I deny. Some few people I _do_ find it hard to love."
"Me for one."
"Oh, Myra!"
"Well, I beg your pardon. You're very kind to me. But I'll tell you who
it will be impossible for you to love--if such a thing can be: that's
that testy, cross, old general."
"I don't suppose I shall have much to do with the old general, if I go."
"_If_ you go. Oh, you're sure to go. You're so sanguine; every new
prospect is so promising. But pardon me, you seem quite to have
forgotten that reading to the old general, and playing backgammon with
him, are among your specified employments."
"Well, I don't see much harm in it if they are. A man can't be very
cross with one when one's reading to him--and as for the backgammon, I
mean to lose every game, if that will please him."
"Oh, a man can't be cross with a reader? I wish you knew as much of the
world as I do, and had heard people read. Why, nothing on earth puts one
in such a fidget. I'm sure I've been put into such a worry by people's
way of reading, that I could have pinched them. Really, Lettice, your
simplicity would shame a child of five years old."
"Well, I shall do my best, and besides I shall take care to set my chair
so far off that I can't get pinched, at least; and as for a poor,
ailing, suffering old man being a little impatient and cross, why one
can't expect to get fifty pounds a year for just doing nothing.--I do
suppose it is expected that I should bear a few of these things in place
of Mrs. Melwyn; and I don't see why I should not."
"Oh, dear! Well, my love, you're quite made for the place, I see; you
always had something of the spaniel in you, or the walnut-tree, or any
of those things which are the better for being ill-used. It was quite a
proverb with our poor mother, 'a worm will turn, but not Lettice.'"
Lettice felt very much inclined to turn now. But the mention of her
mother--that mother whose mismanagement and foolish indulgence had
contributed so much to poor Myra's faults--faults for which she now paid
so heavy a penalty--silenced the generous girl, and she made no answer.
No answer, let it proceed from never so good a motive, makes cross
people often more cross; though perhaps upon the whole it is the best
plan.
So Myra in a still more querulous voice went on:
"This room will be rather dismal all by one's self, and I don't know how
I'm to go about, up and down, fetch and carry, and work as you are able
to do.... I was never used to it. It comes very hard upon me." And she
began to cry.
"Poor Myra! dear Myra! don't cry: I never intended to leave you. Though
I talked as if I did, it was only in the way of argument, because I
thought more might be said for the kind of life than you thought; and I
felt sure if people were tolerably kind and candid, I could get along
very well and make myself quite comfortable. Dear me! after such
hardships as we have gone through, a little would do that. But do you
think, poor dear girl, I could have a moment's peace, and know you were
here alone? No, no."
And so when she went in the evening to carry her answer to Mrs. Danvers,
who had conveyed to her Catherine's proposal, Lettice said, "that she
should have liked exceedingly to accept Catherine's offer, and was sure
she should have been very happy herself, and would have done every thing
in her power to make Mrs. Melwyn happy, but that it was impossible to
leave her sister."
"If that is your only difficulty, my dear, don't make yourself uneasy
about that. I have found a place for your sister which I think she will
like very well. It is with Mrs. Fisher, the great milliner in
Dover-street, where she will be taken care of, and may be very
comfortable. Mrs. Fisher is a most excellent person, and very anxious,
not only about the health and comfort of those she employs, but about
their good behavior and their security from evil temptation. Such a
beautiful girl as your sister is, lives in perpetual danger, exposed as
she is without protection in this great town."
"But Myra has such an abhorrence of servitude, as she calls it--such an
independent high spirit--I fear she will never like it."
"It will be very good for her, whether she likes it or not. Indeed, my
dear, to speak sincerely, the placing your sister out of danger in the
house of Mrs. Fisher ought to be a decisive reason with you for
accepting Catherine's proposal--even did you dislike it much more than
you seem to do."
"Oh! to tell the truth, I should like the plan very much indeed--much
more than I have wished to say, on account of Myra: but she never, never
will submit to be ruled, I fear, and make herself happy where, of
course, she must obey orders and follow regulations, whether she likes
them or not. Unfortunately, poor dear, she has been so little accustomed
to be contradicted."
"Well, then, it is high time she should begin; for contradicted, sooner
or later, we all of us are certain to be. Seriously, again, my dear,
good Lettice--I must call you Lettice--your innocence of heart prevents
you from knowing what snares surround a beautiful young woman like your
sister. I like you best, I own; but I have thought much more of her fate
than yours, upon that account. Such a situation as is offered to you she
evidently is quite unfit to fill: but I went--the very day Catherine and
I came to your lodgings and saw you both--to my good friend Mrs. Fisher,
and, with great difficulty, have persuaded her at last to take your
sister. She disliked the idea very much; but she's an excellent woman:
and when I represented to her the peculiar circumstances of the case,
she promised she would consider the matter. She took a week to consider
of it--for she is a very cautious person is Mrs. Fisher; and some people
call her very cold and severe. However, she has decided in our favor, as
I expected she would. Her compassion always gets the better of her
prudence, when the two are at issue. And so you would not dislike to go
to Mrs. Melwyn's?"
"How could I? Why, after what we have suffered, it must be like going
into Paradise."
"Nay, nay--a little too fast. No dependent situation is ever exactly a
Paradise. I should be sorry you saw things in a false light, and should
be disappointed."
"Oh, no, I do not wish to do that--I don't think--thank you for the
great kindness and interest you are so kind as to show by this last
remark--but I think I never in my life enjoyed one day of unmixed
happiness since I was quite a little child; and I have got so entirely
into the habit of thinking that every thing in the world goes so--that
when I say Paradise, or quite happy, or so on, it is always in a certain
sense--a comparative sense."
"I am glad to see you so reasonable--that is one sure way to be happy;
but you will find your crosses at the Hazels. The general is not very
sweet-tempered; and even dear mild Mrs. Melwyn is not perfect."
"Why, madam, what am I to expect? If I can not bear a few disagreeable
things, what do I go there for? Not to be fed, and housed, and paid at
other people's expense, just that I may please my own humors all the
time. That _would_ be rather an unfair bargain, I think. No: I own there
are some things I could not and would not bear for any consideration;
but there are a great many others that I can, and I shall, and I
will--and do my best, too, to make happy, and be happy; and, in short, I
don't feel the least afraid."
"No more you need--you right-spirited creature," said Mrs. Danvers,
cordially.
* * * * *
Many were the difficulties, endless the objections raised by Myra
against the proposed plan of going to Mrs. Fisher. Such people's
objections and difficulties are indeed endless. In their weakness and
their selfishness, they _like_ to be objects of pity--they take a
comfort in bothering and wearying people with their interminable
complaints. Theirs is not the sacred outbreak of the overloaded
heart--casting itself upon another heart for support and consolation
under suffering that is too strong and too bitter to be endured alone.
Sacred call for sympathy and consolation, and rarely made in vain! It is
the wearying and futile attempt to cast the burden of sorrow and
suffering upon others, instead of seeking their assistance in enduring
it one's self. Vain and useless endeavor, and which often bears hard
upon the sympathy even of the kindest and truest hearts!
Ineffectually did Lettice endeavor to represent matters under a cheerful
aspect. Nothing was of any avail. Myra would persist in lamenting, and
grieving, and tormenting herself and her sister; bewailing the cruel
fate of both--would persist in recapitulating every objection which
could be made to the plan, and every evil consequence which could
possibly ensue. Not that she had the slightest intention in the world of
refusing her share in it, if she would have suffered herself to say so.
She rather liked the idea of going to that fashionable _modiste_, Mrs.
Fisher: she had the "_âme de dentelle_" with which Napoleon reproached
poor Josephine. There was something positively delightful to her
imagination in the idea of dwelling among rich silks, Brussels laces,
ribbons, and feathers; it was to her what woods, and birds, and trees
were to her sister. She fancied herself elegantly dressed, walking about
a show-room, filled with all sorts of beautiful things; herself,
perhaps, the most beautiful thing in it, and the object of a sort of
flattering interest, through the melancholy cloud "upon her fine
features." Nay, her romantic imagination traveled still
farther--gentlemen sometimes come up with ladies to show-rooms,--who
could tell? Love at first sight was not altogether a dream. Such things
_had_ happened.... Myra had read plenty of old, rubbishy novels when she
was a girl.
Such were the comfortable thoughts she kept to herself; but it was, as I
said, one endless complaining externally.
Catherine insisted upon being allowed to advance the money for the
necessary clothes, which, to satisfy the delicacy of the one and the
pride of the other, she agreed should be repaid by installments as their
salaries became due. The sale of their few possessions put a sovereign
or so into the pocket of each, and thus the sisters parted; the lovely
Myra to Mrs. Fisher's, and Lettice, by railway, to the Hazels.
(_To be continued._)
ERUPTION OF MOUNT ETNA IN 1669.
"For many days previous the sky had been overcast, and the weather,
notwithstanding the season, oppressively hot. The thunder and lightning
were incessant, and the eruption was at length ushered in by a violent
shock of an earthquake, which leveled most of the houses at Nicolosi.
Two great chasms then opened near that village, from whence ashes were
thrown out in such quantities, that, in a few weeks, a double hill,
called Monte Rosso, 450 feet high, was formed, and the surrounding
country covered to such a depth, that, nothing but the tops of the trees
could be seen. The lava ran in a stream fifty feet deep, and four miles
wide, overwhelming in its course fourteen towns and villages; and had it
not separated before reaching Catania, that city would have been
virtually annihilated as were Herculaneum and Pompeii. The walls had
been purposely raised to a height of sixty feet, to repel the danger if
possible, but the torrent accumulated behind them, and poured down in a
cascade of fire upon the town. It still continued to advance, and, after
a course of fifteen miles, ran into the sea, where it formed a mole 600
yards long. The walls were neither thrown down nor fused by contact with
the ignited matter, and have since been discovered by Prince Biscari,
when excavating in search of a well known to have existed in a certain
spot, and from the steps of which the lava may now be seen curling over
like a monstrous billow in the very act of falling.
"The great crater fell in during this eruption, and a fissure, six feet
wide and twelve miles long, opened in the plain of S. Leo. In the space
of six weeks, the habitations of 27,000 persons were destroyed, a vast
extent of the most fertile land rendered desolate for ages, the
course of rivers changed, and the whole face of the district
transformed."--_Marquis of Ormonde's Autumn in Sicily._
VOLCANIC ERUPTION--MOUNT ETNA IN 1849.
"The mass extended for a breadth of about 1000 paces, advancing
gradually, more or less rapidly according to the nature of the ground
over which it moved, but making steady progress. It had formed two
branches, one going in a northerly, and the other in a westerly
direction. No danger beyond loss of trees or crops was apprehended from
the former, but the second was moving in a direct line for the town of
Bronte, and to it we confined our attention. The townspeople, on their
part, had not been idle. I have before mentioned the clearance which
they made of their goods, but precautions had also been taken outside
the town, with a view, if possible, to arrest the progress of the lava;
and a very massive wall of coarse loose work was in the course of
erection across a valley down which the stream must flow. We heard
afterward, that the impelling power was spent before the strength of
this work was put to the test, but had it failed, Bronte had been lost.
It is not easy to convey by words any very accurate idea. The lava
appeared to be from thirty to forty feet in depth, and some notion of
its aspect and progress may be formed by imagining a hill of loose
stones of all sizes, the summit or brow of which is continually falling
to the base, and as constantly renewed by unseen pressure from behind.
Down it came in large masses, each leaving behind it a fiery track, as
the red-hot interior was for a moment or two exposed. The impression
most strongly left on my mind was that of its irresistible force. It did
not advance rapidly; there was no difficulty in approaching it, as I
did, closely, and taking out pieces of red-hot stone; the rattling of
the blocks overhead gave ample notice of their descent down the inclined
face of the stream, and a few paces to the rear, or aside, were quite
enough to take me quite clear of them; but still onward, onward it came,
foot by foot it encroached on the ground at its base, changing the whole
face of the country, leaving hills where formerly valleys had been,
overwhelming every work of man that it encountered in its progress, and
leaving all behind one black, rough, and monotonous mass of hard and
barren lava. It had advanced considerably during the night. On the
previous evening I had measured the distance from the base of the moving
hill to the walls of a deserted house which stood, surrounded by trees,
at about fifty yards off, and, though separated from it by a road,
evidently exposed to the full power of the stream. Not a trace of it was
now left, and it was difficult to make a guess at where it had been. The
owners of the adjacent lands were busied in all directions felling the
timber that stood in the line of the advancing fire, but they could not
in many instances do it fast enough to save their property from
destruction; and it was not a little interesting to watch the effect
produced on many a goodly tree, first thoroughly dried by the heat of
the mass, and, in a few minutes after it had been reached by the lava,
bursting into flames at the base, and soon prostrate and destroyed. It
being Sunday, all the population had turned out to see what progress the
enemy was making, and prayers and invocations to a variety of saints
were every where heard around. 'Chiamate Sant' Antonio, Signor,' said
one woman eagerly to me, 'per l'amor di Dio, chiamate la Santa Maria.'
Many females knelt around, absorbed in their anxiety and devotion, while
the men generally stood in silence gazing in dismay at the scene before
them. Our guide was a poor fiddler thrown out of employment by the
strict penance enjoined with a view to avert the impending calamity,
dancing and music being especially forbidden, even had any one under
such circumstances been inclined to indulge in them."
* * * * *
The Marquis of Ormonde was adventurous enough, despite the fate of
Empedocles and of Pliny, to ascend in the evening to see the Bocca di
Fuoco, which is at an elevation of about 6000 feet. The sight which met
his eyes was, he tells us, and we may well believe it, one of the
grandest and most awful it had ever been his fortune to witness:
"The evening had completely closed in, and it was perfectly dark,
so that there was nothing which could in any way injure or weaken
the effect. The only thing to which I can compare it is, as far
as can be judged from representations of such scenes, the blowing
up of some enormous vessel of war, the effect being permanent
instead of momentary only. Directly facing us was the chasm in
the mountain's side from which the lava flowed in a broad stream
of liquid fire; masses of it had been forced up on each side,
forming, as it got comparatively cool, black, uneven banks, the
whole realizing the poetic description of Phlegethon in the most
vivid manner. The flames ascended to a considerable height from
the abyss, and high above them the air was constantly filled with
large fiery masses, projected to a great height, and meeting on
their descent a fresh supply, the roar of the flames and crash of
the falling blocks being incessant. Advancing across a valley
which intervened, we ascended another hill, and here commanded a
view of the ground on which many of the ejected stones fell, and,
though well to windward, the small ashes fell thickly around us.
The light was sufficient, even at the distance we stood, to
enable us to read small print, and to write with the greatest
ease. The thermometer stood at about 40°, but, cold though it
was, it was some time before we could resolve to take our last
look at this extraordinary sight, and our progress, after we had
done so, was retarded by the constant stoppages made by us to
watch the beautiful effect of the light, as seen through the
_Bosco_, which we had entered on our return."--_Marquis of
Ormonde's Autumn in Sicily._
AMERICAN LITERATURE.
We believe it was M. l'Abbé Raynal who said that America had not yet
produced a single man of genius. The productions now under our notice
will do more to relieve her from this imputation than the reply of
President Jefferson:
"When we have existed," said that gentleman, "so long as the
Greeks did before they produced Homer, the Romans Virgil, the
French a Racine and a Voltaire, the English a Shakspeare and a
Milton, we shall inquire from what unfriendly causes it has
proceeded that the other countries of Europe, and quarters of the
earth, shall not have inscribed any poet of ours on the roll of
fame."
The ingenuity of this defense is more apparent than its truth; for
although the existence of America, as a separate nation, is
comparatively recent, it must not be forgotten that the origin of her
people is identical with that of our own. Their language is the same;
they have always had advantages in regard of literature precisely
similar to those which we now enjoy; they have free trade, and a little
more, in all our best standard authors. There is, therefore, no analogy
whatever between their condition and that of the other nations with whom
the attempt has been made to contrast them. With a literature
ready-made, as it were, to their hand, America had never to contend
against any difficulties such as they encountered. Beyond the ballads of
the Troubadours and Trouveres, France had no stock either of literature
or of traditions to begin upon; the language of Rome was foreign to its
people; Greece had but the sixteen letters of Cadmus; the literature of
England struggled through the rude chaos of Anglo-Saxon, Norman, French,
and monkish Latin. If these difficulties in pursuit of knowledge be
compared with the advantages of America, we think it must be admitted
that the president had the worst of the argument.
But although America enjoys all these advantages, it can not be denied
that her social condition presents impediments of a formidable character
toward the cultivation of the higher and more refined branches of
literature. Liberty, equality, and fraternity are not quite so favorable
to the cultivation of elegant tastes as might be imagined; where every
kind of social rank is obliterated, the field of observation, which is
the province of fiction, becomes proportionately narrow; and although
human nature must be the same under every form of government, the
liberty of a thorough democracy by no means compensates for its
vulgarity. It might be supposed that the very obliteration of all grades
of rank, and the consequent impossibility of acquiring social
distinction, would have a direct tendency to turn the efforts of genius
in directions where the acquisition of fame might be supposed to
compensate for more substantial rewards; and when men could no longer
win their way to a coronet, they would redouble their exertions to
obtain the wreath. The history of literature, however, teaches us the
reverse: its most brilliant lights have shone in dark and uncongenial
times. Amid the clouds of bigotry and oppression, in the darkest days of
tyranny and demoralization, their lustre has been the most brilliant.
Under the luxurious tyranny of the empire, Virgil and Horace sang their
immortal strains; the profligacy of Louis the Fourteenth produced a
Voltaire and a Rosseau; amid the oppression of his country grew and
flourished the gigantic intellect of Milton; Ireland, in the darkest
times of her gloomy history, gave birth to the imperishable genius of
Swift; it was less the liberty of Athens than the tyranny of Philip,
which made Demosthenes an orator; and of the times which produced our
great dramatists it is scarcely necessary to speak. The proofs, in
short, are numberless. Be this, however, as it may, the character of
American literature which has fallen under our notice must demonstrate
to every intelligent mind, what immense advantages she has derived from
those sources which the advocates of her claims would endeavor to
repudiate. There is scarcely a page which does not contain evidence how
largely she has availed herself of the learning and labors of others.
We do not blame her for this; far from it. We only say that, having
reaped the benefit, it is unjust to deny the obligation; and that in
discussing her literary pretensions, the plea which has been put forward
in her behalf is untenable.--_Dublin University Magazine._
MILKING IN AUSTRALIA.
This is a very serious operation. First, say at four o'clock in the
morning, you drive the cows into the stock-yard, where the calves have
been penned up all the previous night in a hutch in one corner. Then you
have to commence a chase after the first cow, who, with a perversity
common to Australian females, expects to be pursued two or three times
round the yard, ankle deep in dust or mud, according to the season, with
loud halloas and a thick stick. This done, she generally proceeds up to
the _fail_, a kind of pillory, and permits her neck to be made fast. The
cow safe in the fail, her near hind leg is stretched out to its full
length, and tied to a convenient post with the universal cordage of
Australia, a piece of green hide. At this stage, in ordinary cases, the
milking commences; but it was one of the hobbies of Mr. Jumsorew, a
practice I have never seen followed in any other part of the colony,
that the cow's tail should be held tight during the operation. This
arduous duty I conscientiously performed for some weeks, until it
happened one day that a young heifer slipped her head out of an
ill-fastened fail, upset milkman and milkpail, charged the
head-stockman, who was unloosing the calves, to the serious damage of a
new pair of fustians, and ended, in spite of all my efforts, in clearing
the top rail of the stock-yard, leaving me flat and flabbergasted at the
foot of the fence.--_From "Scenes in the Life of a Bushman"
(Unpublished.)_
[From Household Words.]
LIZZIE LEIGH.
IN FOUR CHAPTERS.--CHAPTER I
When Death is present in a household on a Christmas Day, the very
contrast between the time as it now is, and the day as it has often
been, gives a poignancy to sorrow--a more utter blankness to the
desolation. James Leigh died just as the far-away bells of Rochdale
church were ringing for morning service on Christmas Day, 1836. A few
minutes before his death, he opened his already glazing eyes, and made a
sign to his wife, by the faint motion of his lips, that he had yet
something to say. She stooped close down, and caught the broken whisper,
"I forgive her, Anne! May God forgive me."
"Oh my love, my dear! only get well, and I will never cease showing my
thanks for those words. May God in heaven bless thee for saying them.
Thou'rt not so restless, my lad! may be--Oh God!"
For even while she spoke, he died.
They had been two-and-twenty years man and wife; for nineteen of those
years their life had been as calm and happy, as the most perfect
uprightness on the one side, and the most complete confidence and loving
submission on the other, could make it. Milton's famous line might have
been framed and hung up as the rule of their married life, for he was
truly the interpreter, who stood between God and her; she would have
considered herself wicked if she had ever dared even to think him
austere, though as certainly as he was an upright man, so surely was he
hard, stern, and inflexible. But for three years the moan and the murmur
had never been out of her heart; she had rebelled against her husband as
against a tyrant with a hidden, sullen rebellion, which tore up the old
landmarks of wifely duty and affection, and poisoned the fountains
whence gentlest love and reverence had once been forever springing.
But those last blessed words replaced him on his throne in her heart,
and called out penitent anguish for all the bitter estrangement of later
years. It was this which made her refuse all the entreaties of her sons,
that she would see the kind-hearted neighbors, who called on their way
from church, to sympathize and condole. No! she would stay with the dead
husband that had spoken tenderly at last, if for three years he had kept
silence; who knew but what, if she had only been more gentle and less
angrily reserved he might have relented earlier--and in time!
She sat rocking herself to and fro by the side of the bed, while the
footsteps below went in and out; she had been in sorrow too long to have
any violent burst of deep grief now; the furrows were well worn in her
cheeks, and the tears flowed quietly, if incessantly, all the day long.
But when the winter's night drew on, and the neighbors had gone away to
their homes, she stole to the window, and gazed out, long and
wistfully, over the dark, gray moors. She did not hear her son's voice,
as he spoke to her from the door, nor his footstep, as he drew nearer.
She started when he touched her.
"Mother! come down to us. There's no one but Will and me. Dearest
mother, we do so want you." The poor lad's voice trembled, and he began
to cry. It appeared to require an effort on Mrs. Leigh's part to tear
herself away from the window, but with a sigh she complied with his
request.
The two boys (for though Will was nearly twenty-one, she still thought
of him as a lad) had done every thing in their power to make the
house-place comfortable for her. She herself, in the old days before her
sorrow, had never made a brighter fire or a cleaner hearth, ready for
her husband's return home, than now awaited her. The tea-things were all
put out, and the kettle was boiling; and the boys had calmed their grief
down into a kind of sober cheerfulness. They paid her every attention
they could think of, but received little notice on her part; she did not
resist--she rather submitted to all their arrangements; but they did not
seem to touch her heart.
When tea was ended--it was merely the form of tea that had been gone
through--Will moved the things away to the dresser. His mother leant
back languidly in her chair.
"Mother, shall Tom read you a chapter? He's a better scholar than I."
"Ay, lad!" said she, almost eagerly. "That's it. Read me the Prodigal
Son. Ay, ay, lad. Thank thee."
Tom found the chapter, and read it in the high-pitched voice which is
customary in village-schools. His mother bent forward, her lips parted,
her eyes dilated; her whole body instinct with eager attention. Will sat
with his head depressed, and hung down. He knew why that chapter had
been chosen; and to him it recalled the family's disgrace. When the
reading was ended, he still hung down his head in gloomy silence. But
her face was brighter than it had been before for the day. Her eyes
looked dreamy, as if she saw a vision; and by and by she pulled the
Bible toward her, and putting her finger underneath each word, began to
read them aloud in a low voice to herself; she read again the words of
bitter sorrow and deep humiliation; but most of all she paused and
brightened over the father's tender reception of the repentant prodigal.
So passed the Christmas evening in the Upclose Farm.
The snow had fallen heavily over the dark waving moorland, before the
day of the funeral. The black, storm-laden dome of heaven lay very still
and close upon the white earth, as they carried the body forth out of
the house which had known his presence so long as its ruling power. Two
and two the mourners followed, making a black procession in their
winding march over the unbeaten snow, to Milne-row church--now lost in
some hollow of the bleak moors, now slowly climbing the heaving
ascents. There was no long tarrying after the funeral, for many of the
neighbors who accompanied the body to the grave had far to go, and the
great white flakes which came slowly down, were the boding forerunners
of a heavy storm. One old friend alone accompanied the widow and her
sons to their home.
The Upclose Farm had belonged for generations to the Leighs; and yet its
possession hardly raised them above the rank of laborers. There was the
house and outbuildings, all of an old-fashioned kind, and about seven
acres of barren, unproductive land, which they had never possessed
capital enough to improve; indeed, they could hardly rely upon it for
subsistence; and it had been customary to bring up the sons to some
trade--such as a wheelwright's, or blacksmith's.
James Leigh had left a will, in the possession of the old man who
accompanied them home. He read it aloud. James had bequeathed the farm
to his faithful wife, Anne Leigh, for her life-time; and afterward, to
his son William. The hundred and odd pounds in the savings'-bank was to
accumulate for Thomas.
After the reading was ended, Anne Leigh sat silent for a time; and then
she asked to speak to Samuel Orme alone. The sons went into the
back-kitchen, and thence strolled out into the fields, regardless of the
driving snow. The brothers were dearly fond of each other, although they
were very different in character. Will, the elder, was like his father,
stern, reserved, and scrupulously upright. Tom (who was ten years
younger) was gentle and delicate as a girl, both in appearance and
character. He had always clung to his mother and dreaded his father.
They did not speak as they walked, for they were only in the habit of
talking about facts, and hardly knew the more sophisticated language
applied to the description of feelings.
Meanwhile their mother had taken hold of Samuel Orme's arm with her
trembling hand.
"Samuel, I must let the farm--I must."
"Let the farm! What's come o'er the woman?"
"Oh, Samuel!" said she, her eyes swimming in tears, "I'm just fain to go
and live in Manchester. I mun let the farm."
Samuel looked and pondered, but did not speak for some time. At last he
said,
"If thou hast made up thy mind, there's no speaking again it; and thou
must e'en go. Thou'lt be sadly pottered wi' Manchester ways; but that's
not my look-out. Why, thou'lt have to buy potatoes, a thing thou hast
never done afore in all thy born life. Well! it's not my look-out. It's
rather for me than again me. Our Jenny is going to be married to Tom
Higginbotham, and he was speaking of wanting a bit of land to begin
upon. His father will be dying sometime, I reckon, and then he'll step
into the Croft Farm. But meanwhile--"
"Then, thou'lt let the farm," said she, still as eagerly as ever.
"Ay, ay, he'll take it fast enough, I've a notion. But I'll not drive a
bargain with thee just now; it would not be right; we'll wait a bit."
"No; I can not wait, settle it out at once."
"Well, well; I'll speak to Will about it. I see him out yonder. I'll
step to him, and talk it over."
Accordingly he went and joined the two lads, and without more ado, began
the subject to them.
"Will, thy mother is fain to go live in Manchester, and covets to let
the farm. Now, I'm willing to take it for Tom Higginbotham; but I like
to drive a keen bargain, and there would be no fun chaffering with thy
mother just now. Let thee and me buckle to, my lad! and try and cheat
each other; it will warm us this cold day."
"Let the farm!" said both the lads at once, with infinite surprise. "Go
live in Manchester!"
When Samuel Orme found that the plan had never before been named to
either Will or Tom, he would have nothing to do with it, he said, until
they had spoken to their mother; likely she was "dazed" by her husband's
death; he would wait a day or two, and not name it to any one; not to
Tom Higginbotham himself, or may be he would set his heart upon it. The
lads had better go in and talk it over with their mother. He bade them
good day, and left them.
Will looked very gloomy, but he did not speak till they got near the
house. Then he said,
"Tom, go to th' shippon, and supper the cows. I want to speak to mother
alone."
When he entered the house-place, she was sitting before the fire,
looking into its embers. She did not hear him come in; for some time she
had lost her quick perception of outward things.
"Mother! what's this about going to Manchester?" asked he.
"Oh, lad!" said she, turning round and speaking in a beseeching tone, "I
must go and seek our Lizzie. I can not rest here for thinking on her.
Many's the time I've left thy father sleeping in bed, and stole to th'
window, and looked and looked my heart out toward Manchester, till I
thought I must just set out and tramp over moor and moss straight away
till I got there, and then lift up every downcast face till I came to
our Lizzie. And often, when the south wind was blowing soft among the
hollows, I've fancied (it could but be fancy, thou knowest) I heard her
crying upon me; and I've thought the voice came closer and closer, till
it last it was sobbing out "Mother" close to the door; and I've stolen
down, and undone the latch before now, and looked out into the still,
black night, thinking to see her, and turned sick and sorrowful when I
heard no living sound but the sough of the wind dying away. Oh! speak
not to me of stopping here, when she may be perishing for hunger, like
the poor lad in the parable." And now she lifted up her voice and wept
aloud.
Will was deeply grieved. He had been old enough to be told the family
shame when, more than two years before, his father had had his letter to
his daughter returned by her mistress in Manchester, telling him that
Lizzie had left her service some time--and why. He had sympathized with
his father's stern anger; though he had thought him something hard, it
is true, when he had forbidden his weeping, heart-broken wife to go and
try to find her poor sinning child, and declared that henceforth they
would have no daughter; that she should be as one dead; and her name
never more be named at market or at meal-time, in blessing or in prayer.
He had held his peace, with compressed lips and contracted brow, when
the neighbors had noticed to him how poor Lizzie's death had aged both
his father and his mother; and how they thought the bereaved couple
would never hold up their heads again. He himself had felt as if that
one event had made him old before his time; and had envied Tom the tears
he had shed over poor, pretty, innocent, dead Lizzie. He thought about
her sometimes, till he ground his teeth together, and could have struck
her down in her shame. His mother had never named her to him until now.
"Mother!" said he at last. "She may be dead. Most likely she is."
"No, Will; she is not dead," said Mrs. Leigh. "God will not let her die
till I've seen her once again. Thou dost not know how I've prayed and
prayed just once again to see her sweet face, and tell her I've forgiven
her, though she's broken my heart--she has, Will." She could not go on
for a minute or two for the choking sobs. "Thou dost not know that, or
thou wouldst not say she could be dead--for God is very merciful, Will;
He is--He is much more pitiful than man--I could never ha' spoken to thy
father as I did to Him--and yet thy father forgave her at last. The last
words he said were that he forgave her. Thou'lt not be harder than thy
father, Will? Do not try and hinder me going to seek her, for it's no
use."
Will sat very still for a long time before he spoke. At last he said,
"I'll not hinder you. I think she's dead, but that's no matter."
"She is not dead," said her mother, with low earnestness. Will took no
notice of the interruption.
"We will all go to Manchester for a twelvemonth, and let the farm to Tom
Higginbotham. I'll get blacksmith's work; and Tom can have good
schooling for awhile, which he's always craving for. At the end of the
year you'll come back, mother, and give over fretting for Lizzie and
think with me that she is dead--and to my mind, that would be more
comfort than to think of her living;" he dropped his voice as he spoke
these last words. She shook her head, but made no answer. He asked
again,
"Will you, mother, agree to this?"
"I'll agree to it a-this-ons," said she. "If I hear and see naught of
her for a twelvemonth me being in Manchester looking out, I'll just ha'
broken my heart fairly before the year's ended, and then I shall know
neither love nor sorrow for her any more, when I'm at rest in the
grave--I'll agree to that, Will."
"Well, I suppose it must be so. I shall not tell Tom, mother, why we're
flitting to Manchester. Best spare him."
"As thou wilt," said she, sadly, "so that we go, that's all."
Before the wild daffodils were in flower in the sheltered copses round
Upclose Farm, the Leighs were settled in their Manchester home; if they
could ever grow to consider that place as a home, where there was no
garden, or outbuilding, no fresh breezy outlet, no far-stretching view,
over moor and hollow--no dumb animals to be tended, and, what more than
all they missed, no old haunting memories, even though those
remembrances told of sorrow, and the dead and gone.
Mrs. Leigh heeded the loss of all these things less than her sons. She
had more spirit in her countenance than she had had for months, because
now she had hope; of a sad enough kind, to be sure, but still it was
hope. She performed all her household duties, strange and complicated as
they were, and bewildered as she was with all the town-necessities of
her new manner of life; but when her house was "sided," and the boys
come home from their work, in the evening, she would put on her things
and steal out, unnoticed, as she thought, but not without many a heavy
sigh from Will, after she had closed the house-door and departed. It was
often past midnight before she came back, pale and weary, with almost a
guilty look upon her face; but that face so full of disappointment and
hope deferred, that Will had never the heart to say what he thought of
the folly and hopelessness of the search. Night after night it was
renewed, till days grew to weeks, and weeks to months. All this time
Will did his duty toward her as well as he could, without having
sympathy with her. He staid at home in the evenings for Tom's sake, and
often wished he had Tom's pleasure in reading, for the time hung heavy
on his hands, as he sat up for his mother.
I need not tell you how the mother spent the weary hours. And yet I will
tell you something. She used to wander out, at first as if without a
purpose, till she rallied her thoughts, and brought all her energies to
bear on the one point; then she went with earnest patience along the
least known ways to some new part of the town, looking wistfully with
dumb entreaty into people's faces; sometimes catching a glimpse of a
figure which had a kind of momentary likeness to her child's, and
following that figure with never wearying perseverance, till some light
from shop or lamp showed the cold, strange face which was not her
daughter's. Once or twice a kind-hearted passer-by, struck by her look
of yearning woe, turned back and offered help, or asked her what she
wanted. When so spoken to, she answered only, "You don't know a poor
girl they call Lizzie Leigh, do you?" and when they denied all
knowledge, she shook her head and went on again. I think they believed
her to be crazy. But she never spoke first to any one. She sometimes
took a few minutes' rest on the door-steps, and sometimes (very seldom)
covered her face and cried; but she could not afford to lose time and
chances in this way; while her eyes were blinded with tears, the lost
one might pass by unseen.
One evening, in the rich time of shortening autumn-days, Will saw an old
man, who, without being absolutely drunk, could not guide himself
rightly along the foot-path, and was mocked for his unsteadiness of gait
by the idle boys of the neighborhood. For his father's sake, Will
regarded old age with tenderness, even when most degraded and removed
from the stern virtues which dignified that father; so he took the old
man home, and seemed to believe his often-repeated assertions that he
drank nothing but water. The stranger tried to stiffen himself up into
steadiness as he drew nearer home, as if there were some one there, for
whose respect he cared even in his half-intoxicated state, or whose
feelings he feared to grieve. His home was exquisitely clean and neat
even in outside appearance; threshold, window, and window-sill, were
outward signs of some spirit of purity within. Will was rewarded for his
attention by a bright glance of thanks, succeeded by a blush of shame,
from a young woman of twenty or thereabouts. She did not speak, or
second her father's hospitable invitation to him to be seated. She
seemed unwilling that a stranger should witness her father's attempts at
stately sobriety, and Will could not bear to stay and see her distress.
But when the old man, with many a flabby shake of the hand, kept asking
him to come again some other evening and see them, Will sought her
downcast eyes, and, though he could not read their vailed meaning, he
answered, timidly, "If it's agreeable to every body, I'll come--and
thank ye." But there was no answer from the girl to whom this speech was
in reality addressed; and Will left the house, liking her all the better
for never speaking.
He thought about her a great deal for the next day or two; he scolded
himself for being so foolish as to think of her, and then fell to with
fresh vigor, and thought of her more than ever. He tried to depreciate
her; he told himself she was not pretty, and then made indignant answer
that he liked her looks much better than any beauty of them all. He
wished he was not so country-looking, so red-faced, so broad-shouldered;
while she was like a lady, with her smooth, colorless complexion, her
bright dark hair, and her spotless dress. Pretty, or not pretty, she
drew his footsteps toward her; he could not resist the impulse that made
him wish to see her once more, and find out some fault which should
unloose his heart from her unconscious keeping. But there she was, pure
and maidenly as before. He sat and looked, answering her father at
cross-purposes, while she drew more and more into the shadow of the
chimney-corner out of sight. Then the spirit that possessed him (it was
not he himself, sure, that did so impudent a thing!) made him get up and
carry the candle to a different place, under the pretence of giving her
more light at her sewing, but, in reality, to be able to see her better;
she could not stand this much longer, but jumped up, and said she must
put her little niece to bed; and surely, there never was, before or
since, so troublesome a child of two years old; for, though Will staid
an hour and a half longer, she never came down again. He won the
father's heart, though, by his capacity as a listener, for some people
are not at all particular, and, so that they themselves may talk on
undisturbed, are not so unreasonable as to expect attention to what they
say.
Will did gather this much, however, from the old man's talk. He had once
been quite in a genteel line of business, but had failed for more money
than any greengrocer he had heard of: at least, any who did not mix up
fish and game with greengrocery proper. This grand failure seemed to
have been the event of his life, and one on which he dwelt with a
strange kind of pride. It appeared as if at present he rested from his
past exertions (in the bankrupt line), and depended on his daughter, who
kept a small school for very young children. But all these particulars
Will only remembered and understood, when he had left the house; at the
time he heard them, he was thinking of Susan. After he had made good his
footing at Mr. Palmer's, he was not long, you may be sure, without
finding some reason for returning again and again. He listened to her
father, he talked to the little niece, but he looked at Susan, both
while he listened and while he talked. Her father kept on insisting upon
his former gentility, the details of which would have appeared very
questionable to Will's mind, if the sweet, delicate, modest Susan had
not thrown an inexplicable air of refinement over all she came near. She
never spoke much: she was generally diligently at work; but when she
moved, it was so noiselessly, and when she did speak, it was in so low
and soft a voice, that silence, speech, motion, and stillness, alike
seemed to remove her high above Will's reach, into some saintly and
inaccessible air of glory--high above his reach, even as she knew him!
And, if she were made acquainted with the dark secret behind, of his
sister's shame, which was kept ever present to his mind by his mother's
nightly search among the outcast and forsaken, would not Susan shrink
away from him with loathing, as if he were tainted by the involuntary
relationship? This was his dread; and thereupon followed a resolution
that he would withdraw from her sweet company before it was too late. So
he resisted internal temptation, and staid at home, and suffered and
sighed. He became angry with his mother for her untiring patience in
seeking for one who, he could not help hoping, was dead rather than
alive. He spoke sharply to her, and received only such sad, deprecatory
answers as made him reproach himself, and still more lose sight of peace
of mind. This struggle could not last long without affecting his health;
and Tom, his sole companion through the long evenings, noticed his
increasing languor, his restless irritability, with perplexed anxiety,
and at last resolved to call his mother's attention to his brother's
haggard, care-worn looks. She listened with a startled recollection of
Will's claims upon her love. She noticed his decreasing appetite, and
half-checked sighs.
"Will, lad! what's come o'er thee?" said she to him, as he sat
listlessly gazing into the fire.
"There's naught the matter with me," said he, as if annoyed at her
remark.
"Nay, lad, but there is." He did not speak again to contradict her;
indeed she did not know if he had heard her, so unmoved did he look.
"Would'st like to go back to Upclose Farm?" asked she, sorrowfully.
"It's just blackberrying time," said Tom.
Will shook his head. She looked at him a while, as if trying to read
that expression of despondency and trace it back to its source.
"Will and Tom could go," said she; "I must stay here till I've found
her, thou know'st," continued she, dropping her voice.
He turned quickly round, and with the authority he at all times
exercised over Tom, bade him begone to bed.
When Tom had left the room he prepared to speak.
CHAPTER II.
"Mother," then said Will, "why will you keep on thinking she's alive? If
she were but dead, we need never name her name again. We've never heard
naught on her since father wrote her that letter; we never knew whether
she got it or not. She'd left her place before then. Many a one dies
is--"
"Oh, my lad! dunnot speak so to me, or my heart will break outright,"
said his mother, with a sort of cry. Then she calmed herself, for she
yearned to persuade him to her own belief. "Thou never asked, and
thou'rt too like thy father for me to tell without asking--but it were
all to be near Lizzie's old place that I settled down on this side o'
Manchester; and the very day after we came, I went to her old missus,
and asked to speak a word wi' her. I had a strong mind to cast it up to
her, that she should ha' sent my poor lass away without telling on it to
us first; but she were in black, and looked so sad I could na' find in
my heart to threep it up. But I did ask her a bit about our Lizzie. The
master would have her turned away at a day's warning (he's gone to
t'other place; I hope he'll meet wi' more mercy there than he showed
our Lizzie--I do); and when the missus asked her should she write to us,
she says Lizzie shook her head; and when she speered at her again, the
poor lass went down on her knees, and begged her not, for she said it
would break my heart (as it has done, Will--God knows it has)," said the
poor mother, choking with her struggle to keep down her hard,
overmastering grief, "and her father would curse her--Oh, God, teach me
to be patient." She could not speak for a few minutes. "And the lass
threatened, and said she'd go drown herself in the canal, if the missus
wrote home--and so--
"Well! I'd got a trace of my child--the missus thought she'd gone to th'
workhouse to be nursed; and there I went--and there, sure enough, she
had been--and they'd turned her out as soon as she were strong, and told
her she were young enough to work--but whatten kind o' work would be
open to her, lad, and her baby to keep?"
Will listened to his mother's tale with deep sympathy, not unmixed with
the old bitter shame. But the opening of her heart had unlocked his, and
after a while he spoke.
"Mother! I think I'd e'en better go home. Tom can stay wi' thee. I know
I should stay too, but I can not stay in peace so near--her--without
craving to see her--Susan Palmer, I mean."
"Has the old Mr. Palmer thou telled me on a daughter?" asked Mrs. Leigh.
"Ay, he has. And I love her above a bit. And it's because I love her I
want to leave Manchester. That's all."
Mrs. Leigh tried to understand this speech for some time, but found it
difficult of interpretation.
"Why should'st thou not tell her thou lov's her? Thou'rt a likely lad,
and sure o' work. Thou'lt have Upclose at my death; and as for that I
could let thee have it now, and keep mysel' by doing a bit of charring.
It seems to me a very backward sort o' way of winning her to think of
leaving Manchester."
"Oh, mother, she's so gentle and so good--she's downright holy. She's
never known a touch of sin; and can I ask her to marry me, knowing what
we do about Lizzie, and fearing worse! I doubt if one like her could
ever care for me; but if she knew about my sister, it would put a gulf
between us, and she'd shudder up at the thought of crossing it. You
don't know how good she is, mother!"
"Will, Will! if she's so good as thou say'st, she'll have pity on such
as my Lizzie. If she has no pity for such, she's a cruel Pharisee, and
thou'rt best without her."
But he only shook his head, and sighed; and for the time the
conversation dropped.
But a new idea sprang up in Mrs. Leigh's head. She thought that she
would go and see Susan Palmer, and speak up for Will, and tell her the
truth about Lizzie; and according to her pity for the poor sinner, would
she be worthy or unworthy of him. She resolved to go the very next
afternoon, but without telling any one of her plan. Accordingly she
looked out the Sunday clothes she had never before had the heart to
unpack since she came to Manchester, but which she now desired to appear
in, in order to do credit to Will. She put on her old-fashioned black
mode bonnet, trimmed with real lace; her scarlet cloth cloak, which she
had had ever since she was married; and always spotlessly clean, she set
forth on her unauthorized embassy. She knew the Palmers lived in
Crown-street, though where she had heard it she could not tell; and
modestly asking her way, she arrived in the street about a quarter to
four o'clock. She stopped to inquire the exact number, and the woman
whom she addressed told her that Susan Palmer's school would not be
loosed till four, and asked her to step in and wait until then at her
house.
"For," said she, smiling, "them that wants Susan Palmer wants a kind
friend of ours; so we, in a manner, call cousins. Sit down, missus, sit
down. I'll wipe the chair, so that it shanna dirty your cloak. My mother
used to wear them bright cloaks, and they're right gradely things again'
a green field."
"Han ye known Susan Palmer long?" asked Mrs. Leigh, pleased with the
admiration of her cloak.
"Ever since they comed to live in our street. Our Sally goes to her
school."
"Whatten sort of a lass is she, for I ha' never seen her?"
"Well, as for looks, I can not say. It's so long since I first knowed
her, that I've clean forgotten what I thought of her then. My master
says he never saw such a smile for gladdening the heart. But may be it's
not looks you're asking about. The best thing I can say of her looks is,
that she's just one a stranger would stop in the street to ask help from
if he needed it. All the little childer creeps as close as they can to
her; she'll have as many as three or four hanging to her apron all at
once."
"Is she cocket at all?"
"Cocket, bless you! you never saw a creature less set up in all your
life. Her father's cocket enough. No! she's not cocket any way. You've
not heard much of Susan Palmer, I reckon, if you think she's cocket.
She's just one to come quietly in, and do the very thing most wanted;
little things, maybe, that any one could do, but that few would think
on, for another. She'll bring her thimble wi' her, and mend up after the
childer o' nights--and she writes all Betty Harker's letters to her
grandchild out at service--and she's in nobody's way, and that's a great
matter, I take it. Here's the childer running past! School is loosed.
You'll find her now, missus, ready to hear and to help. But we none on
us frab her by going near her in schooltime."
Poor Mrs. Leigh's heart began to beat, and she could almost have turned
round and gone home again. Her country breeding had made her shy of
strangers, and this Susan Palmer appeared to her like a real born lady
by all accounts. So she knocked with a timid feeling at the indicated
door, and when it was opened, dropped a simple curtsey without speaking.
Susan had her little niece in her arms, curled up with fond endearment
against her breast, but she put her gently down to the ground, and
instantly placed a chair in the best corner of the room for Mrs. Leigh,
when she told her who she was.
"It's not Will as has asked me to come," said the mother,
apologetically, "I'd a wish just to speak to you myself!"
Susan colored up to her temples, and stooped to pick up the little
toddling girl. In a minute or two Mrs. Leigh began again.
"Will thinks you would na respect us if you knew all; but I think you
could na help feeling for us in the sorrow God has put upon us; so I
just put on my bonnet, and came off unknownst to the lads. Every one
says you're very good, and that the Lord has keeped you from falling
from His ways; but maybe you've never yet been tried and tempted as some
is. I'm perhaps speaking too plain, but my heart's welly broken, and I
can't be choice in my words as them who are happy can. Well, now! I'll
tell you the truth. Will dreads you to hear it, but I'll just tell it
you. You mun know"--but here the poor woman's words failed her, and she
could do nothing but sit rocking herself backward and forward, with sad
eyes, straight-gazing into Susan's face, as if they tried to tell the
tale of agony which the quivering lips refused to utter. Those wretched
stony eyes forced the tears down Susan's cheeks, and, as if this
sympathy gave the mother strength, she went on in a low voice, "I had a
daughter once, my heart's darling. Her father thought I made too much on
her, and that she'd grow marred staying at home; so he said she mun go
among strangers, and learn to rough it. She were young, and liked the
thought of seeing a bit of the world; and her father heard on a place in
Manchester. Well! I'll not weary you. That poor girl were led astray;
and first thing we heard on it, was when a letter of her father's was
sent back by her missus, saying she'd left her place, or, to speak
right, the master had turned her into the street soon as he had heard of
her condition--and she not seventeen!"
She now cried aloud; and Susan wept too. The little child looked up into
their faces, and, catching their sorrow, began to whimper and wail.
Susan took it softly up, and hiding her face in its little neck, tried
to restrain her tears, and think of comfort for the mother. At last she
said:
"Where is she now?"
"Lass! I dunnot know," said Mrs. Leigh, checking her sobs to communicate
this addition to her distress. "Mrs. Lomax telled me she went--"
"Mrs. Lomax--what Mrs. Lomax?"
"Her as lives in Brabazon-street. She telled me my poor wench went to
the workhouse fra there. I'll not speak again' the dead; but if her
father would but ha' letten me--but he were one who had no notion--no,
I'll not say that; best say naught. He forgave her on his death-bed. I
dare say I did na go th' right way to work."
"Will you hold the child for me one instant?" said Susan.
"Ay, if it will come to me. Childer used to be fond on me till I got the
sad look on my face that scares them, I think."
But the little girl clung to Susan; so she carried it up-stairs with
her. Mrs. Leigh sat by herself--how long she did not know.
Susan came down with a bundle of far-worn baby-clothes.
"You must listen to me a bit, and not think too much about what I'm
going to tell you. Nanny is not my niece, nor any kin to me that I know
of. I used to go out working by the day. One night, as I came home, I
thought some woman was following me; I turned to look. The woman, before
I could see her face (for she turned it to one side), offered me
something. I held out my arms by instinct: she dropped a bundle into
them with a bursting sob that went straight to my heart. It was a baby.
I looked round again; but the woman was gone. She had run away as quick
as lightning. There was a little packet of clothes--very few--and as if
they were made out of its mother's gowns, for they were large patterns
to buy for a baby. I was always fond of babies; and I had not my wits
about me, father says; for it was very cold, and when I'd seen as well
as I could (for it was past ten) that there was no one in the street, I
brought it in and warmed it. Father was very angry when he came, and
said he'd take it to the workhouse the next morning, and flyted me sadly
about it. But when morning came I could not bear to part with it; it had
slept in my arms all night; and I've heard what workhouse bringing is.
So I told father I'd give up going out working, and stay at home and
keep school, if I might only keep the baby; and after a while, he said
if I earned enough for him to have his comforts, he'd let me; but he's
never taken to her. Now, don't tremble so--I've but a little more to
tell--and may be I'm wrong in telling it; but I used to work next door
to Mrs. Lomax's, in Brabazon-street, and the servants were all thick
together; and I heard about Bessy (they called her) being sent away. I
don't know that ever I saw her; but the time would be about fitting to
this child's age, and I've sometimes fancied it was hers. And now, will
you look at the little clothes that came with her--bless her!"
But Mrs. Leigh had fainted. The strange joy and shame, and gushing love
for the little child had overpowered her; it was some time before Susan
could bring her round. There she was all trembling, sick impatience to
look at the little frocks. Among them was a slip of paper which Susan
had forgotten to name, that had been pinned to the bundle. On it was
scrawled in a round stiff hand:
"Call her Anne. She does not cry much, and takes a deal of notice. God
bless you and forgive me."
The writing was no clew at all; the name "Anne," common though it was,
seemed something to build upon. But Mrs. Leigh recognized one of the
frocks instantly, as being made out of part of a gown that she and her
daughter had bought together in Rochdale.
She stood up, and stretched out her hands in the attitude of blessing
over Susan's bent head.
"God bless you, and show you his mercy in your need, as you have shown
it to this little child."
She took the little creature in her arms, and smoothed away her sad
looks to a smile, and kissed it fondly, saying over and over again,
"Nanny, Nanny, my little Nanny." At last the child was soothed, and
looked in her face and smiled back again.
"It has her eyes," said she to Susan.
"I never saw her to the best of my knowledge I think it must be hers by
the frock. But where can she be?"
"God knows," said Mrs. Leigh; "I dare not think she's dead. I'm sure she
isn't."
"No! she's not dead. Every now and then a little packet is thrust in
under our door, with may be two half-crowns in it; once it was
half-a-sovereign. Altogether I've got seven-and-thirty shillings wrapped
up for Nanny. I never touch it, but I've often thought the poor mother
feels near to God when she brings this money. Father wanted to set the
policeman to watch, but I said, No, for I was afraid if she was watched
she might not come, and it seemed such a holy thing to be checking her
in, I could not find in my heart to do it."
"Oh, if we could but find her! I'd take her in my arms, and we'd just
lie down and die together."
"Nay, don't speak so!" said Susan gently, "for all that's come and gone,
she may turn right at last. Mary Magdalen did, you know."
"Eh! but I were nearer right about thee than Will. He thought you would
never look on him again, if you knew about Lizzie. But thou'rt not a
Pharisee."
"I'm sorry he thought I could be so hard," said Susan in a low voice,
and coloring up. Then Mrs. Leigh was alarmed, and in her motherly
anxiety, she began to fear lest she had injured Will in Susan's
estimation.
"You see Will thinks so much of you--gold would not be good enough for
you to walk on, in his eye. He said you'd never look at him as he was,
let alone his being brother to my poor wench. He loves you so, it makes
him think meanly on every thing belonging to himself, as not fit to come
near ye--but he's a good lad, and a good son--thou'lt be a happy woman
if thou'lt have him--so don't let my words go against him; don't!"
But Susan hung her head and made no answer. She had not known until now,
that Will thought so earnestly and seriously about her; and even now she
felt afraid that Mrs. Leigh's words promised her too much happiness, and
that they could not be true. At any rate the instinct of modesty made
her shrink from saying any thing which might seem like a confession of
her own feelings to a third person. Accordingly she turned the
conversation on the child.
"I'm sure he could not help loving Nanny," said she. "There never was
such a good little darling; don't you think she'd win his heart if he
knew she was his niece, and perhaps bring him to think kindly on his
sister?"
"I dunnot know," said Mrs. Leigh, shaking her head. "He has a turn in
his eye like his father, that makes me--. He's right down good though.
But you see I've never been a good one at managing folk; one severe look
turns me sick, and then I say just the wrong thing, I'm so fluttered.
Now I should like nothing better than to take Nancy home with me, but
Tom knows nothing but that his sister is dead, and I've not the knack of
speaking rightly to Will. I dare not do it, and that's the truth. But
you mun not think badly of Will. He's so good hissel, that he can't
understand how any one can do wrong; and, above all, I'm sure he loves
you dearly."
"I don't think I could part with Nancy," said Susan, anxious to stop
this revelation of Will's attachment to herself. "He'll come round to
her soon; he can't fail; and I'll keep a sharp look-out after the poor
mother, and try and catch her the next time she comes with her little
parcels of money."
"Ay, lass! we mun get hold of her; my Lizzie. I love thee dearly for thy
kindness to her child; but, if thou can'st catch her for me, I'll pray
for thee when I'm too near my death to speak words; and while I live,
I'll serve thee next to her--she mun come first, thou know'st. God bless
thee, lass. My heart is lighter by a deal than it was when I comed in.
Them lads will be looking for me home, and I mun go, and leave this
little sweet one," kissing it. "If I can take courage, I'll tell Will
all that has come and gone between us two. He may come and see thee,
mayn't he?"
"Father will be very glad to see him, I'm sure," replied Susan. The way
in which this was spoken satisfied Mrs. Leigh's anxious heart that she
had done Will no harm by what she had said; and with many a kiss to the
little one, and one more fervent tearful blessing on Susan, she went
homeward.
CHAPTER III.
That night Mrs. Leigh stopped at home; that only night for many months.
Even Tom, the scholar, looked up from his books in amazement; but then
he remembered that Will had not been well, and that his mother's
attention having been called to the circumstance, it was only natural
she should stay to watch him. And no watching could be more tender, or
more complete. Her loving eyes seemed never averted from his face; his
grave, sad, care-worn face. When Tom went to bed the mother left her
seat, and going up to Will where he sat looking at the fire, but not
seeing it, she kissed his forehead, and said,
"Will! lad, I've been to see Susan Palmer!"
She felt the start under her hand which was placed on his shoulder, but
he was silent for a minute or two. Then he said,
"What took you there, mother?"
"Why, my lad, it was likely I should wish to see one you cared for; I
did not put myself forward. I put on my Sunday clothes, and tried to
behave as yo'd ha liked me. At least I remember trying at first; but
after, I forgot all."
She rather wished that he would question her as to what made her forget
all. But he only said,
"How was she looking, mother?"
"Will, thou seest I never set eyes on her before; but she's a good,
gentle-looking creature; and I love her dearly as I have reason to."
Will looked up with momentary surprise; for his mother was too shy to be
usually taken with strangers. But after all it was natural in this case,
for who could look at Susan without loving her? So still he did not ask
any questions, and his poor mother had to take courage, and try again to
introduce the subject near to her heart. But how?
"Will!" said she (jerking it out, in sudden despair of her own powers to
lead to what she wanted to say), "I've telled her all."
"Mother! you've ruined me," said he, standing up, and standing opposite
to her with a stern, white look of affright on his face.
"No! my own dear lad; dunnot look so scared, I have not ruined you!" she
exclaimed, placing her two hands on his shoulders and looking fondly
into his face. "She's not one to harden her heart against a mother's
sorrow. My own lad, she's too good for that. She's not one to judge and
scorn the sinner. She's too deep read in her New Testament for that.
Take courage, Will; and thou mayst, for I watched her well, though it is
not for one woman to let out another's secret. Sit thee down, lad, for
thou look'st very white."
He sat down. His mother drew a stool toward him, and sat at his feet.
"Did you tell her about Lizzie, then?" asked he, hoarse and low.
"I did, I telled her all; and she fell a crying over my deep sorrow, and
the poor wench's sin. And then a light comed into her face, trembling
and quivering with some new, glad thought; and what dost thou think it
was, Will, lad? Nay, I'll not misdoubt but that thy heart will give
thanks as mine did, afore God and His angels, for her great goodness.
That little Nanny is not her niece, she's our Lizzie's own child, my
little grandchild." She could no longer restrain her tears, and they
fell hot and fast, but still she looked into his face.
"Did she know it was Lizzie's child? I do not comprehend," said he,
flushing red.
"She knows now: she did not at first, but took the little helpless
creature in, out of her own pitiful, loving heart, guessing only that
it was the child of shame, and she's worked for it, and kept it, and
tended it ever sin' it were a mere baby, and loves it fondly. Will!
won't you love it?" asked she, beseechingly.
He was silent for an instant; then he said, "Mother, I'll try. Give me
time, for all these things startle me. To think of Susan having to do
with such a child!"
"Ay, Will! and to think (as may be yet) of Susan having to do with the
child's mother! For she is tender and pitiful, and speaks hopefully of
my lost one, and will try and find her for me, when she comes, as she
does sometimes, to thrust money under the door for her baby. Think of
that Will. Here's Susan, good and pure as the angels in heaven, yet,
like them, full of hope and mercy, and one who, like them, will rejoice
over her as repents. Will, my lad, I'm not afeared of you now, and I
must speak, and you must listen. I am your mother, and I dare to command
you, because I know I am in the right and that God is on my side. If He
should lead the poor wandering lassie to Susan's door, and she comes
back crying and sorrowful, led by that good angel to us once more, thou
shalt never say a casting-up word to her about her sin, but be tender
and helpful toward one 'who was lost and is found,' so may God's
blessing rest on thee, and so mayst thou lead Susan home as thy wife."
She stood, no longer as the meek, imploring, gentle mother, but firm and
dignified, as if the interpreter of God's will. Her manner was so
unusual and solemn, that it overcame all Will's pride and stubbornness.
He rose softly while she was speaking, and bent his head as if in
reverence at her words, and the solemn injunction which they conveyed.
When she had spoken, he said in so subdued a voice that she was almost
surprised at the sound, "Mother, I will."
"I may be dead and gone--but all the same--thou wilt take home the
wandering sinner, and heal up her sorrows, and lead her to her Father's
house. My lad! I can speak no more; I'm turned very faint."
He placed her in a chair; he ran for water. She opened her eyes and
smiled.
"God bless you, Will. Oh! I am so happy. It seems as if she were found;
my heart is so filled with gladness."
That night, Mr. Palmer staid out late and long. Susan was afraid that he
was at his old haunts and habits--getting tipsy at some public-house;
and this thought oppressed her, even though she had so much to make her
happy, in the consciousness that Will loved her. She sat up long, and
then she went to bed, leaving all arranged as well as she could for her
father's return. She looked at the little, rosy sleeping girl who was
her bed-fellow, with redoubled tenderness, and with many a prayerful
thought. The little arms entwined her neck as she lay down, for Nanny
was a light sleeper, and was conscious that she, who was loved with all
the power of that sweet childish heart, was near her, and by her,
although she was too sleepy to utter any of her half-formed words.
And by-and-by she heard her father come home, stumbling uncertain,
trying first the windows, and next the door-fastenings, with many a
loud, incoherent murmur. The little innocent twined around her seemed
all the sweeter and more lovely, when she thought sadly of her erring
father; And presently he called aloud for a light; she had left matches
and all arranged as usual on the dresser, but, fearful of some accident
from fire, in his unusually intoxicated state, she now got up softly,
and putting on a cloak, went down to his assistance.
Alas! the little arms that were unclosed from her soft neck belonged to
a light, easily awakened sleeper. Nanny missed her darling Susy, and
terrified at being left alone in the vast, mysterious darkness, which
had no bounds, and seemed infinite, she slipped out of bed, and tottered
in her little night-gown toward the door. There was a light below, and
there was Susy and safety! So she went onward two steps toward the
steep, abrupt stairs; and then dazzled with sleepiness, she stood, she
wavered, she fell! Down on her head, on the stone floor she fell! Susan
flew to her, and spoke all soft, entreating, loving words; but her white
lids covered, up the blue violets of eyes, and there was no murmur came
out of the pale lips. The warm tears that rained down, did not awaken
her; she lay stiff, and weary with her short life, on Susan's knee.
Susan went sick with terror. She carried her up-stairs, and laid her
tenderly in bed; she dressed herself most hastily, with her trembling
fingers. Her father was asleep on the settle down stairs; and useless,
and worse than useless if awake. But Susan flew out of the door, and
down the quiet, resounding street, toward the nearest doctor's house.
Quickly she went; but as quickly a shadow followed, as if impelled by
some sudden terror. Susan rung wildly at the night-bell--the shadow
crouched near. The doctor looked out from an up-stairs window.
"A little child has fallen down stairs at No. 9, Crown-street, and is
very ill--dying I'm afraid. Please, for God's sake, sir, come directly.
No. 9, Crown-street."
"I'll be there directly," said he, and shut the window.
"For that God you have just spoken about--for His sake--tell me are you
Susan Palmer? Is it my child that lies a-dying?" said the shadow,
springing forward, and clutching poor Susan's arm.
"It is a little child of two years old--I do not know whose it is; I
love it as my own. Come with me, whoever you are; come with me."
The two sped along the silent streets--as silent as the night were they.
They entered the house; Susan snatched up the light, and carried it
up-stairs. The other followed.
She stood with wild glaring eyes by the bed side, never looking at
Susan, but hungrily gazing at the little, white, still child. She
stooped down, and put her hand tight on her own heart, as if to still
its beating, and bent her ear to the pale lips. Whatever the result was,
she did not speak; but threw off the bed-clothes wherewith Susan had
tenderly covered up the little creature, and felt its left side.
Then she threw up her arms with a cry of wild despair.
"She is dead! she is dead!"
She looked so fierce, so mad, so haggard, that for an instant Susan was
terrified--the next, the holy God had put courage into her heart, and
her pure arms were round that guilty, wretched creature, and her tears
were falling fast and warm upon her breast. But she was thrown off with
violence.
"You killed her--you slighted her--you let her fall down those stairs!
you killed her!"
Susan cleared off the thick mist before her, and gazing at the mother
with her clear, sweet, angel-eyes, said, mournfully,
"I would have laid down my life for her."
"Oh, the murder is on my soul!" exclaimed the wild, bereaved mother,
with the fierce impetuosity of one who has none to love her and to be
beloved, regard to whom might teach self-restraint.
"Hush!" said Susan, her finger on her lips. "Here is the doctor. God may
suffer her to live."
The poor mother turned sharp round. The doctor mounted the stair. Ah!
that mother was right; the little child was really dead and gone.
And when he confirmed her judgment, the mother fell down in a fit.
Susan, with her deep grief had to forget herself, and forget her darling
(her charge for years), and question the doctor what she must do with
the poor wretch, who lay on the floor in such extreme of misery.
"She is the mother!" said she.
"Why did not she take better care of her child?" asked he, almost
angrily.
But Susan only said, "The little child slept with me; and it was I that
left her."
"I will go back and make up a composing draught; and while I am away you
must get her to bed."
Susan took out some of her own clothes, and softly undressed the stiff,
powerless, form. There was no other bed in the house but the one in
which her father slept. So she tenderly lifted the body of her darling;
and was going to take it down stairs, but the mother opened her eyes,
and seeing what she was about, she said,
"I am not worthy to touch her, I am so wicked; I have spoken to you as I
never should have spoken; but I think you are very good; may I have my
own child to lie in my arms for a little while?"
Her voice was so strange a contrast to what it had been before she had
gone into the fit that Susan hardly recognized it; it was now so
unspeakably soft, so irresistibly pleading, the features too had lost
their fierce expression, and were almost as placid as death. Susan
could not speak, but she carried the little child; and laid it in its
mother's arms; then as she looked at them, something overpowered her,
and she knelt down, crying aloud:
"Oh, my God, my God, have mercy on her, and forgive and comfort her."
But the mother kept smiling, and stroking the little face, murmuring
soft, tender words, as if it were alive; she was going mad, Susan
thought; but she prayed on, and on, and ever still she prayed with
streaming eyes.
The doctor came with the draught. The mother took it, with docile
unconsciousness of its nature as medicine. The doctor sat by her; and
soon she fell asleep. Then he rose softly, and beckoning Susan to the
door, he spoke to her there.
"You must take the corpse out of her arms. She will not awake. That
draught will make her sleep for many hours. I will call before noon
again. It is now daylight. Good-by."
Susan shut him out; and then gently extricating the dead child from its
mother's arms, she could not resist making her own quiet moan over her
darling. She tried to learn off its little placid face, dumb and pale
before her.
"Not all the scalding tears of care
Shall wash away that vision fair
Not all the thousand thoughts that rise,
Not all the sights that dim her eyes.
Shall e'er usurp the place
Of that little angel-face."
And then she remembered what remained to be done. She saw that all was
right in the house; her father was still dead asleep on the settle, in
spite of all the noise of the night. She went out through the quiet
streets, deserted still, although it was broad daylight, and to where
the Leighs lived. Mrs. Leigh, who kept her country hours, was opening
her window-shutters. Susan took her by the arm, and, without speaking,
went into the house-place. There she knelt down before the astonished
Mrs. Leigh, and cried as she had never done before; but the miserable
night had overpowered her, and she who had gone through so much calmly,
now that the pressure seemed removed, could not find the power to speak.
"My poor dear! What has made thy heart so sore as to come and cry
a-this-ons? Speak and tell me. Nay, cry on, poor wench, if thou canst
not speak yet. It will ease the heart, and then thou canst tell me."
"Nanny is dead!" said Susan. "I left her to go to father, and she fell
down stairs, and never breathed again. Oh, that's my sorrow but I've
more to tell. Her mother is come--is in our house. Come and see if it's
your Lizzie." Mrs. Leigh could not speak, but, trembling, put on her
things, and went with Susan in dizzy haste back to Crown-street.
CHAPTER IV.
As they entered the house in Crown-street, they perceived that the door
would not open freely on its hinges, and Susan instinctively looked
behind to see the cause of the obstruction. She immediately recognized
the appearance of a little parcel, wrapped in a scrap of newspaper, and
evidently containing money. She stooped and picked it up. "Look!" said
she, sorrowfully, "the mother was bringing this for her child last
night."
But Mrs. Leigh did not answer. So near to the ascertaining if it were
her lost child or no, she could not be arrested, but pressed onward with
trembling steps and a beating, fluttering heart. She entered the
bedroom, dark and still. She took no heed of the little corpse, over
which Susan paused, but she went straight to the bed, and withdrawing
the curtain, saw Lizzie--but not the former Lizzie, bright, gay,
buoyant, and undimmed. This Lizzie was old before her time; her beauty
was gone; deep lines of care, and alas! of want (or thus the mother
imagined) were printed on the cheek, so round, and fair, and smooth,
when last she gladdened her mother's eyes. Even in her sleep she bore
the look of woe and despair which was the prevalent expression of her
face by day; even in her sleep she had forgotten how to smile. But all
these marks of the sin and sorrow she had passed through only made her
mother love her the more. She stood looking at her with greedy eyes,
which seemed as though no gazing could satisfy their longing; and at
last she stooped down and kissed the pale, worn hand that lay outside
the bed-clothes. No touch disturbed the sleeper; the mother need not
have laid the hand so gently down upon the counterpane. There was no
sign of life, save only now and then a deep, sob-like sigh. Mrs. Leigh
sat down beside the bed, and, still holding back the curtain, looked on
and on, as if she could never be satisfied.
Susan would fain have staid by her darling one; but she had many calls
upon her time and thoughts, and her will had now, as ever, to be given
up to that of others. All seemed to devolve the burden of their cares on
her. Her father, ill-humored from his last night's intemperance, did not
scruple to reproach her with being the cause of little Nanny's death;
and when, after bearing his upbraiding meekly for some time, she could
no longer restrain herself, but began to cry, he wounded her even more
by his injudicious attempts at comfort: for he said it was as well the
child was dead; it was none of theirs, and why should they be troubled
with it? Susan wrung her hands at this, and came and stood before her
father, and implored him to forbear. Then she had to take all requisite
steps for the coroner's inquest; she had to arrange for the dismissal of
her school; she had to summon a little neighbor, and send his willing
feet on a message to William Leigh, who, she felt, ought to be informed
of his mother's whereabouts, and of the whole state of affairs. She
asked her messenger to tell him to come and speak to her--that his
mother was at her house. She was thankful that her father sauntered out
to have a gossip at the nearest coach-stand, and to relate as many of
the night's adventures as he knew; for as yet he was in ignorance of the
watcher and the watched, who silently passed away the hours up-stairs.
At dinner-time Will came. He looked red, glad, impatient, excited. Susan
stood calm and white before him, her soft, loving eyes gazing straight
into his.
"Will," said she, in a low, quiet voice, "your sister is up-stairs."
"My sister!" said he, as if affrighted at the idea, and losing his glad
look in one of gloom. Susan saw it, and her heart sank a little, but she
went on as calm to all appearance as ever.
"She was little Nanny's mother, as perhaps you know. Poor little Nanny
was killed last night by a fall down stairs." All the calmness was gone;
all the suppressed feeling was displayed in spite of every effort. She
sat down, and hid her face from him, and cried bitterly. He forgot every
thing but the wish, the longing to comfort her. He put his arm round her
waist, and bent over her. But all he could say was, "Oh, Susan, how can
I comfort you? Don't take on so--pray, don't!" He never changed the
words, but the tone varied every time he spoke. At last she seemed to
regain her power over herself, and she wiped her eyes, and once more
looked upon him with her own quiet, earnest, unfearing gaze.
"Your sister was near the house. She came in on hearing my words to the
doctor. She is asleep now, and your mother is watching her. I wanted to
tell you all myself. Would you like to see your mother?"
"No!" said he. "I would rather see none but thee. Mother told me thou
knew'st all." His eyes were downcast in their shame.
But the holy and pure did not lower or vail her eyes.
She said, "Yes, I know all--all but her sufferings. Think what they must
have been!"
He made answer low and stern, "She deserved them all--every jot."
"In the eye of God, perhaps she does. He is the judge: we are not."
"Oh," she said, with a sudden burst, "Will Leigh, I have thought so well
of you; don't go and make me think you cruel and hard. Goodness is not
goodness unless there is mercy and tenderness with it. There is your
mother who has been nearly heart-broken, now full of rejoicing over her
child--think of your mother."
"I do think of her," said he. "I remember the promise I gave her last
night. Thou should'st give me time. I would do right in time. I never
think it o'er in quiet. But I will do what is right and fitting, never
fear. Thou hast spoken out very plain to me, and misdoubted me, Susan; I
love thee so, that thy words cut me. If I did hang back a bit from
making sudden promises, it was because, not even for love of thee, would
I say what I was not feeling; and at first I could not feel all at once
as thou would'st have me. But I'm not cruel and hard; for if I had
been, I should na' have grieved as I have done."
He made as if he were going away; and indeed he did feel he would rather
think it over in quiet. But Susan, grieved at her incautious words,
which had all the appearance of harshness, went a step or two
nearer--paused--and then, all over blushes, said in a low, soft whisper,
"Oh, Will! I beg your pardon. I am very sorry--won't you forgive me?"
She who had always drawn back, and been so reserved, said this in the
very softest manner; with eyes now uplifted beseechingly, now dropped to
the ground. Her sweet confusion told more than words could do; and Will
turned back, all joyous in his certainty of being beloved, and took her
in his arms and kissed her.
"My own Susan!" he said.
Meanwhile the mother watched her child in the room above.
It was late in the afternoon before she awoke, for the sleeping draught
had been very powerful. The instant she awoke, her eyes were fixed on
her mother's face with a gaze as unflinching as if she were fascinated.
Mrs. Leigh did not turn away, nor move. For it seemed as if motion would
unlock the stony command over herself which, while so perfectly still,
she was enabled to preserve. But by-and-by Lizzie cried out, in a
piercing voice of agony,
"Mother, don't look at me! I have been so wicked!" and instantly she hid
her face, and groveled among the bed-clothes, and lay like one dead--so
motionless was she.
Mrs. Leigh knelt down by the bed, and spoke in the most soothing tones.
"Lizzie, dear, don't speak so. I'm thy mother, darling; don't be afeard
of me. I never left off loving thee, Lizzie. I was always a-thinking of
thee. Thy father forgave thee afore he died." (There was a little start
here, but no sound was heard). "Lizzie, lass, I'll do aught for thee;
I'll live for thee; only don't be afeard of me. Whate'er thou art or
hast been, we'll ne'er speak on't. We'll leave th' oud times behind us,
and go back to the Upclose Farm. I but left it to find thee, my lass;
and God has led me to thee. Blessed be His name. And God is good, too,
Lizzie. Thou hast not forgot thy Bible, I'll be bound, for thou wert
always a scholar. I'm no reader, but I learnt off them texts to comfort
me a bit, and I've said them many a time a day to myself. Lizzie, lass,
don't hide thy head so, it's thy mother as is speaking to thee. Thy
little child clung to me only yesterday; and if it's gone to be an
angel, it will speak to God for thee. Nay, don't sob a that 'as; thou
shalt have it again in heaven; I know thou'lt strive to get there, for
thy little Nancy's sake--and listen! I'll tell thee God's promises to
them that are penitent; only don't be afeard."
Mrs. Leigh folded her hands, and strove to speak very clearly, while she
repeated every tender and merciful text she could remember. She could
tell from the breathing that her daughter was listening; but she was so
dizzy and sick herself when she had ended, that she could not go on
speaking. It was all she could do to keep from crying aloud.
At last she heard her daughter's voice.
"Where have they taken her to?" she asked.
"She is down stairs. So quiet, and peaceful, and happy she looks."
"Could she speak? Oh, if God--if I might but have heard her little
voice! Mother, I used to dream of it. May I see her once again--Oh,
mother, if I strive very hard, and God is very merciful, and I go to
Heaven, I shall not know her--I shall not know my own again--she will
shun me as a stranger, and cling to Susan Palmer and to you. Oh woe! Oh
woe!" She shook with exceeding sorrow.
In her earnestness of speech she had uncovered her face, and tried to
read Mrs. Leigh's thoughts through her looks. And when she saw those
aged eyes brimming full of tears, and marked the quivering lips, she
threw her arms round the faithful mother's neck, and wept there as she
had done in many a childish sorrow, but with a deeper, a more wretched
grief. Her mother hushed her on her breast; and lulled her as if she
were a baby; and she grew still and quiet.
They sat thus for a long, long time. At last Susan Palmer came up with
some tea and bread and butter for Mrs. Leigh. She watched the mother
feed her sick, unwilling child, with every fond inducement to eat which
she could devise; they neither of them took notice of Susan's presence.
That night they lay in each other's arms; but Susan slept on the ground
beside them.
They took the little corpse (the little unconscious sacrifice, whose
early calling-home had reclaimed her poor, wandering mother), to the
hills, which in her life-time she had never seen. They dared not lay her
by the stern grandfather in Milne-row church-yard, but they bore her to
a lone moorland grave-yard, where long ago the Quakers used to bury
their dead. They laid her there on the sunny slope, where the earliest
spring-flowers blow.
Will and Susan live at the Upclose Farm. Mrs. Leigh and Lizzie dwell in
a cottage so secluded that, until you drop into the very hollow where it
is placed, you do not see it. Tom is a schoolmaster in Rochdale, and he
and Will help to support their mother. I only know that, if the cottage
be hidden in a green hollow of the hills, every sound of sorrow in the
whole upland is heard there--every call of suffering or of sickness for
help, is listened to by a sad, gentle-looking woman, who rarely smiles
(and when she does, her smile is more sad than other people's tears),
but who comes out of her seclusion whenever there's a shadow in any
household. Many hearts bless Lizzie Leigh, but she--she prays always and
ever for forgiveness--such forgiveness as may enable her to see her
child once more. Mrs. Leigh is quiet and happy. Lizzie is to her eyes
something precious--as the lost piece of silver--found once more. Susan
is the bright one who brings sunshine to all. Children grow around her
and call her blessed. One is called Nanny. Her, Lizzie often takes to
the sunny grave-yard in the up-lands, and while the little creature
gathers the daisies, and makes chains, Lizzie sits by a little grave,
and weeps bitterly.
STEAM.
How wonderful are the revolutions which steam has wrought in the world!
The diamond, we are told, is but pure carbon; and the dream of the
alchymist has long been to disentomb the gem in its translucent purity
from the sooty mass dug up from the coal-field. But if the visionary has
failed to extricate the fair spirit from its earthly cerements, the
practical philosopher has produced from the grimy lump a gem, in
comparison to which the diamond is valueless--has evoked a Titanic
power, before which the gods of ancient fable could not hold their
heaven for an hour; a power wielding the thunderbolt of Jove, the sledge
of Vulcan, the club of Hercules; which takes to itself the talaria of
Mercury, the speed of Iris, and the hundred arms of Briareus. Ay, the
carbon gives us, indeed, the diamond after all; the white and feathery
vapor that hisses from the panting tube, is the priceless pearl of the
modern utilitarian. Without STEAM man is nothing--a mere zoological
specimen--Lord Monboddo's ape, without the caudal elongation of the
vertebræ. With steam, man is every thing. A creature that unites in
himself the nature and the power of every animal; more wonderful than
the ornithorhynchus--he is fish, flesh, and fowl. He can traverse the
illimitable ocean with the gambolings of the porpoise, and the snort of
the whale; rove through the regions of the earth with the speed of the
antelope, and the patient strength of the camel; he essays to fly
through the air with the steam-wing of the aeronauticon, though as yet
his pinions are not well fledged, and his efforts have been somewhat
Icarian. And, albeit our own steam aeronavigation is chiefly confined to
those involuntary gambols (as Sterne happily called Sancho's blanket
tossing), which we now and then take at the instance of an exploding
boiler, yet may we have good hope that our grandchildren will be able to
"take the wings of the morning," and sip their cup of tea genuine at
Pekin. He is more than human, and little less than Divinity. Were
Aristotle alive, he would define the genus "homo"--neither as "animal
ridens," nor yet "animal sentiens," but "Animal VAPORANS." True it is,
doubtless, that man alone can enjoy his joke. He hath his laugh, when
the monkey can but grin and the ape jabber--his thinking he shares with
the dog and the elephant; but who is there that can "get up the steam"
but man? "Man," say we, "is an animal that VAPORETH!" and we will wager
one of Stephenson's patent high-pressure engines again our cook's
potato-steamer, that Dr. Whately will affirm our definition.--_Dublin
University Magazine._
[From The Ladies' Companion.]
PAPERS ON WATER.--No. 1.
WHY IS HARD WATER UNFIT FOR DOMESTIC PURPOSES?
Few subjects have attracted more attention among sanitary reformers,
than the necessity of obtaining a copious supply of water to the
dwellers in large cities. Experience has shown that the supply should be
at least twenty gallons daily for each inhabitant, although forty
gallons are necessary to carry out to the full extent all the sanitary
improvements deemed desirable for the well-being of a population. But in
looking to quantity of supply, quality has been thought of less
importance; there could not be a more gross error, or one more fatal to
civic economy and domestic comfort. As we are anxious to instruct the
readers of this Journal in the science of every-day life, we propose to
consider the subject of water-supply in some detail, and in the present
article to explain the serious inconveniences which result from an
injudicious selection of hard water for domestic purposes.
The water found in springs, brooks, and rivers, has its primary origin
in the rain of the district, unless there should happen to be some
accidental infiltration from the sea or other great natural reservoirs.
This rain, falling on the upper soil, either runs off in streams, or,
percolating through it and the porous beds beneath, gushes out in the
form of springs wherever it meets with an impervious bed which refuses
it a passage; pits sunk down to the latter detect it there, and these
form the ordinary wells. In its passage through the pervious rocks, it
takes up soluble impurities, varying in their amount and character with
the nature of the geological formations, these impurities being either
mineral, vegetable, or animal matter. The mineral ingredients may be
chalk, gypsum, common salt, and different other compounds but it is the
earthy salts generally which impress peculiar qualities on the water.
The salts of lime and magnesia communicate to water the quality termed
_hardness_, a property which every one understands, but which it would
be very difficult to describe. By far the most common giver of hardness
is chalk, or, as chemists term it, carbonate of lime; a substance not
soluble in pure water, but readily so in water containing carbonic acid.
Rain water always contains this acid, and is, therefore, a solvent for
the chalk disseminated in the different geological formations through
which it percolates. Gypsum, familiarly known as plaster of Paris, and
termed sulphate of lime by chemists, is also extensively diffused in
rocks, and being itself soluble in water, becomes a very common
hardening ingredient, though not of such frequent occurrence as chalk.
Any earthy salt, such as chalk or gypsum, decomposes soap, and prevents
its action as a detergent. Soap consists of an oily acid combined
generally with soda. Now, when this is added to water containing lime,
that earth unites with the oily acid, forming an insoluble soap, of no
use as a detergent; this insoluble lime-soap is the curd which appears
in hard water during washing with soap. Hard water is of no use as a
cleanser, until all the lime has been removed by uniting with the oily
acid of the soap. Every hundred gallons of Thames water destroy in this
way thirty ounces of soap before becoming a detergent. But as this is an
enormous waste, the dwellers in towns, supplied with hard water, resort
to other methods of washing, so as to economize soap. If our readers in
London observe their habits in washing, they will perceive that the
principal quantity of the water is used by them not as a cleanser, but
merely for the purposes of rinsing off the very sparing amount employed
for detergent purposes. In London, we do not wash ourselves _in_ but
_out_ of the basin. A small quantity of water is taken on the hands and
saturated with soap so as to form a lather; the ablution is now made
with this quantity, and the water in the basin is only used to rinse it
off. The process of washing with soft water is entirely different, the
whole quantity being applied as a detergent. To illustrate this
difference an experiment may be made, by washing the hands alternately
in rain and then in hard water, such as that supplied to London; and the
value of the soft water for the purposes of washing will be at once
recognized. Even without soap, the soft water moistens the hand, while
hard water flows off, just as if the skin had been smeared with oil.
Now, although the soap may be economized in personal ablution by the
uncomfortable method here described, it is impossible to obtain this
economy in the washing of linen. In this case, the whole of the water
must be saturated with soap before it is available. Soda is, to a
certain extent, substituted with a view to economy, as much as £30,000
worth of soda being annually used in the metropolis to compensate for
the hard quality of the water; and, perhaps, as an approximative
calculation, £200,000 worth of soap is annually wasted without being
useful as a detergent. This enormous tax on the community results from
the hardness both of the well and river water; the former being
generally much harder than the latter. But this expense, large as it may
seem, is not the only consequence of a bad water supply. The labor
required to wash with hard water is very much greater than that
necessary when it is soft, this labor being represented in the excessive
charges for washing. In fact, extraordinary as it may appear, it has
recently been shown in evidence before the General Board of Health, that
the washerwoman's interest in the community is actually greater than
that of the cotton-spinner, with all his enormous capital. An instance
of this will suffice to show our meaning: a gentleman buys one dozen
shirts at a cost of £4, three of these are washed every week, the charge
being fourpence each, making an annual account of £2 12_s._ The set of
shirts, with careful management, lasts for three years, and has cost in
washing £7 16_s._ The cotton-spinner's interest in the shirts and that
of the shirt-maker's combined, did not exceed £4, while the
washerwoman's interest is nearly double. A considerable portion of this
amount is unavoidable; but a very large part is due to the excessive
charges for washing rendered necessary by the waste of soap and
increased labor required for cleansing. A family in London, with an
annual income of £600, spends about one-twelfth of the amount, or £50,
in the expenses of the laundry. On an average, every person in London,
rich and poor, spends one shilling per week, or fifty-two shillings a
year for washing. Hence, at least five million two hundred thousand
pounds is the annual amount expended in the metropolis alone for this
purpose. Yet, large as this amount is--and it matters not whether it be
represented in the labors of household washing or that of the professed
laundress--it is obvious that the greatest part of it is expended in
actual labor, for the washerwoman is rarely a rich or even a thriving
person. Hence, it follows that this labor, barely remunerative as it is,
must be made excessive from some extraneous cause; for it is found by
experience that one-half the charge is ample compensation in a country
district supplied with soft water. The tear and wear of clothes by the
system necessary for washing in hard water, is very important in the
economical consideration of the question. The difference in this
respect, between hard and soft water, is very striking. It has been
calculated that the extra cost to ladies in London in the one article of
collars, by the unnecessary tear and wear, as compared with country
districts, is not less than, but probably much exceeds, £20,000.
We now proceed to draw attention to the inconvenience of hard water in
cooking. It is well known that greens, peas, French beans, and other
green vegetables, lose much of their delicate color by being boiled in
hard water. They not only become yellow, but assume a shriveled and
disagreeable appearance, losing much of their delicacy to the taste. For
making tea the evil is still more obvious. It is extremely difficult to
obtain a good infusion of tea with hard water, however much may be
wasted in the attempt. We endeavor to overcome the difficulty by the
addition of soda, but the tea thus made is always inferior. One reason
of this is, that it is difficult to adjust the quantity of the soda. Tea
contains nearly 16 per cent. of cheese or casein, and this dissolves in
water rendered alkaline by soda; and although the nutritious qualities
are increased by this solution, the delicacy of the flavor is impaired.
The water commonly used in London requires, at the very least, one-fifth
more tea to produce an infusion of the same strength as that obtained by
soft water. This, calculated on the whole amount of tea consumed in
London, resolves itself into a pecuniary consideration of great
magnitude.
The effect of hard water upon the health of the lower animals is very
obvious. Horses, sheep, and pigeons, refuse it whenever they can obtain
a supply of soft water. They prefer the muddiest pool of the latter to
the most brilliant and sparkling spring of the former. In all of them it
produces colic, and sometimes more serious diseases. The coats of horses
drinking hard water soon become rough, and stare, and they quickly fall
out of condition. It is not, however, known that it exerts similar
influences upon the health of man, although analogy would lead us to
expect that a beverage unsuited to the lower animals can not be
favorable to the human constitution. Persons with tender skins can not
wash in hard water, because the insoluble salts left by evaporation
produce an intolerable irritation.
In order to simplify the explanation of the action of hard water,
attention has been confined to that possessing lime. But hard waters
frequently contain magnesia, and in that case a very remarkable
phenomenon attends their use. At a certain strength the magnesian salt
does not decompose the soap, or retard the formation of a lather, but
the addition of soft water developes this latent hardness. With such
waters, the extraordinary anomaly appears, that the more soft water is
added to them, up to a certain point, the harder do they become. Some of
the wells at Doncaster are very remarkable in this respect, for when
their hard water is diluted with eight times the quantity of pure soft
distilled water, the resulting mixture is as hard--that is, it
decomposes as much soap--as the undiluted water. Thus the dilution of
such water with four or five times its bulk of soft rain water actually
makes it harder. The cause of this anomaly has not yet been
satisfactorily made out, but it only occurs in waters abounding in
magnesia.
Having now explained the inconveniences of the hardening ingredients of
water, we propose to show in the next article the action of other
deteriorating constituents; and after having done so, it will become our
duty to point out the various modes by which the evils thus exposed may
best be counteracted or remedied.
L.P.
EARLY RISING.
Did you but know, when bathed in dew,
How sweet the little violet grew,
Amidst the thorny brake;
How fragrant blew the ambient air,
O'er beds of primroses so fair,
Your pillow you'd forsake.
Paler than the autumnal leaf,
Or the wan hue of pining grief,
The cheek of sloth shall grow;
Nor can cosmetic, wash, or ball,
Nature's own favorite tints recall,
If once you let them go.
HERRICK.
[From Household Words.]
A TALE OF THE GOOD OLD TIMES.
An alderman of the ancient borough of Beetlebury, and churchwarden of
the parish of St. Wulfstan's, in the said borough, Mr. Blenkinsop might
have been called, in the language of the sixteenth century, a man of
worship. This title would probably have pleased him very much, it being
an obsolete one, and he entertaining an extraordinary regard for all
things obsolete, or thoroughly deserving to be so. He looked up with
profound veneration to the griffins which formed the waterspouts of St.
Wulfstan's church, and he almost worshiped an old boot under the name of
a black jack, which on the affidavit of a foresworn broker, he had
bought for a drinking-vessel of the sixteenth century. Mr. Blenkinsop
even more admired the wisdom of our ancestors than he did their
furniture and fashions. He believed that none of their statutes and
ordinances could possibly be improved on, and in this persuasion had
petitioned parliament against every just or merciful change, which,
since he had arrived at man's estate, had been in the laws. He had
successively opposed all the Beetlebury improvements, gas, water-works,
infant schools, mechanics' institute, and library. He had been active in
an agitation against any measure for the improvement of the public
health, and being a strong advocate of intra-mural interment, was
instrumental in defeating an attempt to establish a pretty cemetery
outside Beetlebury. He had successfully resisted a project for removing
the pig-market from the middle of High-street. Through his influence the
shambles, which were corporation property, had been allowed to remain
where they were, namely, close to the Town-hall, and immediately under
his own and his brethren's noses. In short, he had regularly,
consistently, and nobly done his best to frustrate every scheme that was
proposed for the comfort and advantage of his fellow creatures. For this
conduct he was highly esteemed and respected, and, indeed, his hostility
to any interference with disease, had procured him the honor of a public
testimonial; shortly after the presentation of which, with several neat
speeches, the cholera broke out in Beetlebury.
The truth is, that Mr. Blenkinsop's views on the subject of public
health and popular institutions were supposed to be economical (though
they were, in truth, desperately costly), and so pleased some of the
rate-payers. Besides, he withstood ameliorations, and defended nuisances
and abuses with all the heartiness of an actual philanthropist.
Moreover, he was a jovial fellow--a boon companion; and his love of
antiquity leant particularly toward old ale and old port wine. Of both
of these beverages he had been partaking rather largely at a
visitation-dinner, where, after the retirement of the bishop and his
clergy, festivities were kept up till late, under the presidency of the
deputy-registrar. One of the last to quit the Crown and Mitre was Mr.
Blenkinsop.
He lived in a remote part of the town, whither, as he did not walk
exactly in a right line, it may be allowable perhaps, to say that he
bent his course. Many of the dwellers in Beetlebury High-street,
awakened at half-past twelve on that night, by somebody passing below,
singing, not very distinctly,
"With a jolly full bottle let each man be armed,"
were indebted, little as they may have suspected it, to Alderman
Blenkinsop, for their serenade.
In his homeward way stood the Market Cross; a fine medieval structure,
supported on a series of circular steps by a groined arch, which served
as a canopy to the stone figure of an ancient burgess. This was the
effigies of Wynkyn de Vokes, once mayor of Beetlebury, and a great
benefactor to the town; in which he had founded almhouses and a
grammar-school, A.D. 1440. The post was formerly occupied by St.
Wulfstan; but De Vokes had been removed from the Town Hall in Cromwell's
time, and promoted to the vacant pedestal, _vice_ Wulfstan, demolished.
Mr. Blenkinsop highly revered this work of art, and he now stopped to
take a view of it by moonlight. In that doubtful glimmer, it seemed
almost life-like. Mr. Blenkinsop had not much imagination, yet he could
well nigh fancy he was looking upon the veritable Wynkyn, with his
bonnet, beard, furred gown, and staff, and his great book under his arm.
So vivid was this impression, that it impelled him to apostrophize the
statue.
"Fine old fellow!" said Mr. Blenkinsop. "Rare old buck! We shall never
look upon your like again. Ah! the good old times--the jolly good old
times! No times like the good old times, my ancient worthy. No such
times as the good old times!"
"And pray, sir, what times do you call the good old times?" in distinct
and deliberate accents, answered--according to the positive affirmation
of Mr. Blenkinsop, subsequently made before divers witnesses--the
Statue.
Mr. Blenkinsop is sure that he was in the perfect possession of his
senses. He is certain that he was not the dupe of ventriloquism, or any
other illusion. The value of these convictions must be a question
between him and the world, to whose perusal the facts of his tale,
simply as stated by himself, are here submitted.
When first he heard the Statue speak, Mr. Blenkinsop says, he certainly
experienced a kind of sudden shock, a momentary feeling of
consternation. But this soon abated in a wonderful manner. The Statue's
voice was quite mild and gentle--not in the least grim--had no funereal
twang in it, and was quite different from the tone a statue might be
expected to take by any body who had derived his notions on that subject
from having heard the representative of the class in "Don Giovanni."
"Well, what times do you mean by the good old times?" repeated the
Statue, quite familiarly. The churchwarden was able to reply with some
composure, that such a question coming from such a quarter had taken him
a little by surprise.
"Come, come, Mr. Blenkinsop," said the Statue, "don't be astonished.
'Tis half-past twelve, and a moonlight night, as your favorite police,
the sleepy and infirm old watchman, says. Don't you know that we statues
are apt to speak when spoken to, at these hours? Collect yourself. I
will help you to answer my own question. Let us go back step by step;
and allow me to lead you. To begin. By the good old times, do you mean
the reign of George the Third?"
"The last of them, sir," replied Mr. Blenkinsop, very respectfully, "I
am inclined to think, were seen by the people who lived in those days."
"I should hope so," the Statue replied. "Those the good old old times?
What! Mr. Blenkinsop, when men were hanged by dozens, almost weekly, for
paltry thefts. When a nursing woman was dragged to the gallows with a
child at her breast, for shop-lifting, to the value of a shilling. When
you lost your American colonies, and plunged into war with France,
which, to say nothing of the useless bloodshed it cost, has left you
saddled with the national debt. Surely you will not call these the good
old times, will you, Mr. Blenkinsop?"
"Not exactly, sir; no, on reflection I don't know that I can," answered
Mr. Blenkinsop. He had now--it was such a civil, well-spoken
statue--lost all sense of the preternatural horror of his situation, and
scratched his head, just as if he had been posed in argument by an
ordinary mortal.
"Well then," resumed the Statue, "my dear sir, shall we take the two or
three reigns preceding? What think you of the then existing state of
prisons and prison discipline? Unfortunate debtors confined
indiscriminately with felons, in the midst of filth, vice, and misery
unspeakable. Criminals under sentence of death tippling in the condemned
cell, with the Ordinary for their pot-companion. Flogging, a common
punishment of women convicted of larceny. What say you of the times when
London streets were absolutely dangerous, and the passenger ran the risk
of being hustled and robbed even in the daytime? When not only Hounslow
and Bagshot Heath, but the public roads swarmed with robbers, and a
stage-coach was as frequently plundered as a hen-roost. When, indeed,
'the road' was esteemed the legitimate resource of a gentleman in
difficulties, and a highwayman was commonly called 'Captain'--if not
respected accordingly. When cock-fighting, bear-baiting, and
bull-baiting were popular, nay, fashionable amusements. When the bulk of
the landed gentry could barely read and write, and divided their time
between fox-hunting and guzzling. When duelist was a hero, and it was an
honor to have 'killed your man.' When a gentleman could hardly open his
mouth without uttering a profane or filthy oath. When the country was
continually in peril of civil war; through a disputed succession; and
two murderous insurrections, followed by more murderous executions,
actually took place. This era of inhumanity, shamelessness, brigandage,
brutality, and personal and political insecurity, what say you of it,
Mr. Blenkinsop? Do you regard this wig and pigtail period as
constituting the good old times, respected friend?"
"There was Queen Anne's golden reign, sir," deferentially suggested Mr.
Blenkinsop.
"A golden reign!" exclaimed the Statue. "A reign of favoritism and court
trickery at home, and profitless war abroad. The time of Bolingbroke's,
and Harley's, and Churchill's intrigues. The reign of Sarah, Duchess of
Marlborough and of Mrs. Masham. A golden fiddlestick! I imagine you must
go farther back yet for your good old times, Mr. Blenkinsop."
"Well," answered the churchwarden, "I suppose I must, sir, after what
you say."
"Take William the Third's rule," pursued the Statue. "War, war again;
nothing but war. I don't think you'll particularly call these the good
old times. Then what will you say to those of James the Second? Were
they the good old times when Judge Jefferies sat on the bench? When
Monmouth's rebellion was followed by the Bloody Assize. When the king
tried to set himself above the law, and lost his crown in consequence.
Does your worship fancy these were the good old times?"
Mr. Blenkinsop admitted that he could not very well imagine that they
were.
"Were Charles the Second's the good old times?" demanded the Statue.
"With a court full of riot and debauchery; a palace much less decent
than any modern casino; while Scotch Covenanters were having their legs
crushed in the 'Boots,' under the auspices and personal superintendence
of His Royal Highness the Duke of York. The time of Titus Oates, Bedloe,
and Dangerfield, and their sham plots, with the hangings, drawings, and
quarterings, on perjured evidence, that followed them. When Russell and
Sidney were judicially murdered. The time of the great plague and fire
of London. The public money wasted by roguery and embezzlement, while
sailors lay starving in the streets for want of their just pay; the
Dutch about the same time burning our ships in the Medway. My friend, I
think you will hardly call the scandalous monarchy of the 'Merry
Monarch' the good old times."
"I feel the difficulty which you suggest, sir," owned Mr. Blenkinsop.
"Now, that a man of your loyalty," pursued the Statue, "should identify
the good old times with Cromwell's Protectorate, is, of course, out of
the question."
"Decidedly, sir!" exclaimed Mr. Blenkinsop. "_He_ shall not have a
statue, though you enjoy that honor," bowing.
"And yet," said the Statue, "with all its faults, this era was perhaps
no worse than any we have discussed yet. Never mind! It was a dreary,
cant-ridden one, and if you don't think those England's palmy days,
neither do I. There's the previous reign, then. During the first part of
it, there was the king endeavoring to assert arbitrary power. During the
latter, the Parliament were fighting against him in the open field. What
ultimately became of him I need not say. At what stage of King Charles
the First's career did the good old times exist, Mr. Alderman? I need
barely mention the Star Chamber and poor Prynne; and I merely allude to
the fate of Strafford and of Laud. On consideration, should you fix the
good old times any where thereabouts?"
"I am afraid not, indeed, sir," Mr. Blenkinsop responded, tapping his
forehead.
"What is your opinion of James the First's reign? Are you enamored of
the good old times of the Gunpowder Plot? or when Sir Walter Raleigh was
beheaded? or when hundreds of poor, miserable old women were burnt alive
for witchcraft, and the royal wiseacre on the throne wrote as wise a
book, in defense of the execrable superstition through which they
suffered?"
Mr. Blenkinsop confessed himself obliged to give up the times of James
the First.
"Now, then," continued the Statue, "we come to Elizabeth."
"There I've got you!" interrupted Mr Blenkinsop, exultingly. "I beg your
pardon, sir," he added, with a sense of the freedom he had taken; "but
everybody talks of the times of Good Queen Bess, you know."
"Ha, ha!" laughed the Statue, not at all like Zamiel, or Don Guzman, or
a pavior's rammer, but really with unaffected gayety. "Everybody
sometimes says very foolish things. Suppose Everybody's lot had been
cast under Elizabeth! How would Everybody have relished being subject to
the jurisdiction of the Ecclesiastical Commission, with its power of
imprisonment, rack, and torture? How would Everybody have liked to see
his Roman Catholic and Dissenting fellow-subjects butchered, fined, and
imprisoned for their opinions; and charitable ladies butchered, too, for
giving them shelter in the sweet compassion of their hearts? What would
Everybody have thought of the murder of Mary Queen of Scots? Would
Everybody, would Anybody, would _you_, wish to have lived in these days,
whose emblems are cropped ears, pillory, stocks, thumb-screws, gibbet,
ax, chopping-block, and scavenger's daughter? Will you take your stand
upon this stage of history for the good old times, Mr. Blenkinsop?"
"I should rather prefer firmer and safer ground, to be sure, upon the
whole," answered the worshiper of antiquity, dubiously.
"Well, now," said the Statue, "'tis getting late, and, unaccustomed as I
am to conversational speaking, I must be brief. Were those the good old
times when Sanguinary Mary roasted bishops, and lighted the fires of
Smithfield? When Henry the Eighth, the British Bluebeard, cut his wives
heads off, and burnt Catholic and Protestant at the same stake? When
Richard the Third smothered his nephews in the Tower? When the Wars of
the Roses deluged the land with blood? When Jack Cade marched upon
London? When we were disgracefully driven out of France under Henry the
Sixth, or, as disgracefully, went marauding there, under Henry the
Fifth? Were the good old times those of Northumberland's rebellion? Of
Richard the Second's assassination? Of the battles, burnings, massacres,
cruel tormentings, and atrocities, which form the sum of the Plantagenet
reigns? Of John's declaring himself the Pope's vassal, and performing
dental operations on the Jews? Of the Forest Laws and Curfew under the
Norman kings? At what point of this series of bloody and cruel annals
will you place the times which you praise? Or do your good old times
extend over all that period when somebody or other was constantly
committing high treason, and there was a perpetual exhibition of heads
on London Bridge and Temple Bar?"
It was allowed by Mr. Blenkinsop that either alternative presented
considerable difficulty.
"Was it in the good old times that Harold fell at Hastings, and William
the Conqueror enslaved England? Were those blissful years the ages of
monkery; of Odo and Dunstan, bearding monarchs and branding queens? Of
Danish ravage and slaughter? Or were they those of the Saxon Heptarchy,
and the worship of Thor and Odin? Of the advent of Hengist and Horsa? Of
British subjugation by the Romans? Or, lastly, must we go back to the
ancient Britons, Druidism, and human sacrifices, and say that those were
the real, unadulterated, genuine, good old times, when the true-blue
natives of this island went naked, painted with woad?"
"Upon my word, sir," said Mr. Blenkinsop, "after the observations that I
have heard from you this night, I acknowledge that I _do_ feel myself
rather at a loss to assign a precise period to the times in question."
"Shall I do it for you?" asked the Statue.
"If you please, sir. I should be very much obliged if you would,"
replied the bewildered Blenkinsop, greatly relieved.
"The best times, Mr. Blenkinsop," said the Statue, "are the oldest. They
are the wisest; for the older the world grows, the more experience it
acquires. It is older now than ever it was. The oldest and best times
the world has yet seen are the present. These, so far as we have yet
gone, are the genuine good old times, sir."
"Indeed, sir!" ejaculated the astonished alderman.
"Yes, my good friend. These are the best times that we know of--bad as
the best may be. But in proportion to their defects, they afford room
for amendment. Mind that, sir, in the future exercise of your municipal
and political wisdom. Don't continue to stand in the light which is
gradually illuminating human darkness. The Future is the date of that
happy period which your imagination has fixed in the Past. It will
arrive when all shall do what in right; hence none shall suffer what is
wrong. The true good old times are yet to come."
"Have you any idea when, sir?" Mr. Blenkinsop inquired, modestly.
"That is a little beyond me," the Statue answered. "I can not say how
long it will take to convert the Blenkinsops. I devoutly wish you may
live to see them. And with that, I wish you good-night, Mr. Blenkinsop."
"Sir," returned Mr. Blenkinsop, with a profound bow, "I have the honor
to wish you the same."
Mr. Blenkinsop returned home an altered man. This was soon manifest. In
a few days he astonished the Corporation by proposing the appointment of
an Officer of Health to preside over the sanitary affairs of Beetlebury.
It had already transpired that he had consented to the introduction of
lucifer-matches into his domestic establishment, in which, previously,
he had insisted on sticking to the old tinder-box. Next, to the wonder
of all Beetlebury, he was the first to propose a great, new school, and
to sign a requisition that a county penitentiary might be established
for the reformation of juvenile offenders. The last account of him is,
that he has not only become a subscriber to the mechanics' institute,
but that he actually presided there at, lately, on the occasion of a
lecture on Geology.
The remarkable change which has occurred in Mr. Blenkinsop's views and
principles, he himself refers to his conversation with the Statue, as
above related. That narrative, however, his fellow-townsmen receive with
incredulous expressions, accompanied by gestures and grimaces of like
import. They hint, that Mr. Blenkinsop had been thinking for himself a
little, and only wanted a plausible excuse for recanting his errors.
Most of his fellow-aldermen believe him mad; not less on account of his
new moral and political sentiments, so very different from their own,
than of his Statue story. When it has been suggested to them that he has
only had his spectacles cleaned, and has been looking about him, they
shake their heads, and say that he had better have left his spectacles
alone, and that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, and a good deal
of dirt quite the contrary. _Their_ spectacles have never been cleaned,
they say, and any one may see they don't want cleaning.
The truth seems to be, that Mr. Blenkinsop has found an altogether new
pair of spectacles, which enable him to see in the right direction.
Formerly, he could only look backward; he now looks forward to the grand
object that all human eyes should have in view--progressive improvement.
He who can not live well to-day, will be less qualified to live well
to-morrow.--MARTIAL.
Men are harassed, not by things themselves but by opinions respecting
them.--EPICTETUS.
[From the Dublin University Magazine.]
MEMOIRS OF THE FIRST DUCHESS OF ORLEANS.
While the fortunes of the last Duchess of Orleans are still in
uncertainty, it may not be unpleasing to read something of the family
and character of the first princess who bore that title. The retrospect
will carry us back to stirring times, and make us acquainted with the
virtues and sufferings, as well as the crimes, which mark the family
history of the great European houses. The story of Valentina Visconti
links the history of Milan with that of Paris, and imparts an Italian
grace and tenderness to the French annals. Yet although herself one of
the gentlest of women, she was sprung from the fiercest of men. The
history of the rise and progress of the family of Visconti is, in truth,
one of the most characteristic that the Lombardic annalists have
preserved.
The Sforzias, called Visconti from their hereditary office of
_Vicecomes_, or temporal vicar of the Emperor, were a marked and
peculiar race. With the most ferocious qualities, they combined high
intellectual refinement, and an elegant and cultivated taste, in all
that was excellent in art, architecture, poetry, and classical learning.
The founder of the family was Otho, Archbishop of Milan at the close of
the 13th century. He extended his vicarial authority into a virtual
sovereignty of the Lombard towns, acknowledging only the German Emperor
as his feudal lord. This self-constituted authority he transmitted to
his nephew Matteo, "Il grande." In the powerful hands of Matteo the
Magnificent, Milan became the capital of a virtual Lombardic kingdom.
Three of the sons of Matteo were successively "tyrants" of Milan, the
designation being probably used in its classical, rather than its modern
sense. Galeazzo, the eldest, was succeeded by his son Azzo, the only one
of the male representatives of the Visconti who exhibited any of the
milder characteristics befitting the character of a virtuous prince.
Luchino, his uncle and successor, was, however, a patron of learning,
and has had the good fortune to transmit his name to us in illustrious
company. At his court, in other respects contaminated by vice, and made
infamous by cruelty, the poet Petrarch found a home and a munificent
patron. Luchino cultivated his friendship. The poet was not above
repaying attentions so acceptable by a no less acceptable flattery.
Petrarch's epistle, eulogizing the virtues and recounting the glory of
the tyrant, remains a humiliating record of the power of wealth and
greatness, and the pliability of genius.
Luchino's fate was characteristic. His wife, Isabella of Fieschi, had
frequently suffered from his caprice and jealousy; at length she learned
that he had resolved on putting her to death. Forced to anticipate his
cruel intent, she poisoned him with the very drugs he had designed for
her destruction.
Luchino was succeeded by his brother Giovanni, Archbishop of Milan, the
ablest of the sons of Matteo. Under his unscrupulous administration the
Milanese territory was extended, until almost the whole of Lombardy was
brought under the yoke of the vigorous and subtle tyrant. Although an
ecclesiastic, he was as prompt to use the temporal as the spiritual
sword. On his accession to power, Pope Clement the Sixth, then resident
at Avignon, summoned him to appear at his tribunal to answer certain
charges of heresy and schism. The papal legate sent with this commission
had a further demand to make on behalf of the Pontiff--the restitution
of Bologna, a fief of the church, which had been seized by the Milanese
prelate, Giovanni Visconti, as well as the cession, by the latter, of
either his temporal or spiritual authority, which the legate declared
could not be lawfully united in the person of an archbishop. Giovanni
insisted that the legate should repeat the propositions with which he
was charged at church on the following Sunday: as prince and bishop he
could only receive such a message in the presence of his subjects and
the clergy of his province. On the appointed day, the archbishop having
celebrated high-mass with unusual splendor, the legate announced the
message with which he was charged by his Holiness. The people listened
in silence, expecting a great discussion. But their astonishment was not
greater than that of the legate, when Archbishop Giovanni stepped forth,
with his crucifix in one hand, while with the other he drew from beneath
his sacerdotal robes a naked sword, and exclaimed, "Behold the spiritual
and temporal arms of Giovanni Visconti! By the help of God, with the one
I will defend the other."
The legate could obtain no other answer save that the archbishop
declared that he had no intention of disobeying the pontiff's citation
to appear at Avignon. He accordingly prepared, indeed, to enter such an
appearance as would prevent citations of that kind in future.
He sent, as his precursor, a confidential secretary, with orders to make
suitable preparations for his reception. Thus commissioned, the
secretary proceeded to hire every vacant house in the city and
surrounding neighborhood, within a circuit of several miles; and made
enormous contracts for the supply of furniture and provisions for the
use of the archbishop and his suite. These astounding preparations soon
reached the ears of Clement. He sent for the secretary, and demanded the
meaning of these extraordinary proceedings. The secretary replied, that
he had instructions from his master, the Archbishop of Milan, to provide
for the reception of 12,000 knights and 6,000 foot soldiers, exclusive
of the Milanese gentlemen who would accompany their lord when he
appeared at Avignon, in compliance with his Holiness's summons. Clement,
quite unprepared for such a visit, only thought how he should extricate
himself from so great a dilemma. He wrote to the haughty Visconti,
begging that he would not put himself to the inconvenience of such a
journey: and, lest this should not be sufficient to deter him, proposed
to grant him the investiture of Bologna--the matter in dispute between
them--for a sum of money: a proposal readily assented to by the wealthy
archbishop.
Giovanni Visconti bequeathed to the three sons of his brother Stephano a
well-consolidated power; and, for that age, an enormous accumulation of
wealth. The Visconti were the most skillful of financiers. Without
overburthening their subjects, they had ever a well-filled
treasury--frequently recruited, it is true, by the plunder of their
enemies, or replenished by the contributions they levied on neighboring
cities. The uniform success which attended their negotiations in these
respects, encouraged them in that intermeddling policy they so often
pursued. We can scarcely read without a smile the proclamations of their
generals to the inoffensive cities, of whose affairs they so kindly
undertook the unsolicited management.
"It is no unworthy design which has brought us hither," the general
would say to the citizens of the towns selected for these disinterested
interventions; "we are here to re-establish order, to destroy the
dissensions and secret animosities which divide the people (say) of
Tuscany. We have formed the unalterable resolution to reform the abuses
which abound in all the Tuscan cities. If we can not attain our object
by mild persuasions, we will succeed by the strong hand of power. Our
chief has commanded us to conduct his armies to the gates of your city,
to attack you at our swords' point, and to deliver over your property to
be pillaged, unless (solely for your own advantage) you show yourselves
pliant in conforming to his benevolent advice."
Giovanni Visconti, as we have intimated, was succeeded by his nephews.
The two younger evinced the daring military talent which distinguished
their race. Matteo, the eldest, on the contrary, abandoned himself to
effeminate indulgences. His brothers, Bernabos and Galeazzo, would have
been well pleased that he should remain a mere cipher, leaving the
management of affairs in their hands; but they soon found that his
unrestrained licentiousness endangered the sovereignty of all. On one
occasion a complaint was carried to the younger brothers by an
influential citizen. Matteo Visconti, having heard that this citizen's
wife was possessed of great personal attractions, sent for her husband,
and informed him that he designed her for an inmate of his palace,
commanding him, upon pain of death, to fetch her immediately. The
indignant burgher, in his perplexity, claimed the protection of Bernabos
and Galeazzo. The brothers perceived that inconvenient consequences were
likely to ensue. A dose of poison, that very day, terminated the brief
career of Matteo the voluptuous.
Of the three brothers, Bernabos was the most warlike and the most cruel;
Galeazzo the most subtle and politic. Laboring to cement his power by
foreign alliances, he purchased from John, king of France, his
daughter, Isabelle de Valois, as the bride of his young son and heir;
and procured the hand of Lionel, Duke of Clarence, son of Edward III. of
England, for his daughter Violante. While Galeazzo pursued these
peaceful modes of aggrandizement, Bernabos waged successful war on his
neighbors, subjecting to the most refined cruelties all who questioned
his authority. It was he who first reduced the practice of the torture
to a perfect system, extending over a period of forty-one days. During
this period, every alternate day, the miserable victim suffered the loss
of some of his members--an eye, a finger, an ear--until at last his
torments ended on the fatal wheel. Pope after pope struggled in vain
against these powerful tyrants. They laughed at excommunication, or only
marked the fulmination of a papal bull by some fresh act of oppression
on the clergy subject to their authority. On one occasion Urban the
Fifth sent Bernabos his bull of excommunication, by two legates.
Bernabos received the pontifical message unmoved. He manifested no
irritation--no resentment; but courteously escorted the legates, on
their return, as far as one of the principal bridges in Milan. Here he
paused, about to take leave of them. "It would be inhospitable to permit
you to depart," he said, addressing the legates, "without some
refreshment; choose--will you eat or drink?" The legates, terrified at
the tone in which the compliment was conveyed, declined his proffered
civility. "Not so," he exclaimed, with a terrible oath; "you shall not
leave my city without some remembrance of me; say, will you eat or
drink?" The affrighted legates, perceiving themselves surrounded by the
guards of the tyrant, and in immediate proximity to the river, felt no
taste for drinking. "We had rather eat," said they; "the _sight_ of so
much water is sufficient to quench our thirst." "Well, then," rejoined
Bernabos, "here are the bulls of excommunication which you have brought
to me; you shall not pass this bridge until you have eaten, in my
presence, the parchments on which they are written, the leaden seals
affixed to them, and the silken cords by which they are attached." The
legates urged in vain the sacred character of their offices of
embassador and priest: Bernabos kept his word; and they were left to
digest the insult as best they might. Bernabos and his brother, after
having disposed of Matteo, became, as companions in crime usually do,
suspicious of one another. In particular, each feared that the other
would poison him. Those banquets and entertainments to which they
treated one another must have been scenes of magnificent discomfort.
Galeazzo died first. His son, Giovanni-Galeazzo, succeeded, and matched
the unscrupulous ambition of his uncle with a subtlety equal to his own.
Not satisfied with a divided sway, he maneuvered unceasingly until he
made himself master of the persons of Bernabos and his two sons. The
former he kept a close prisoner for seven months, and afterward put to
death by poison. The cruelty and pride of Bernabos had rendered him so
odious to his subjects, that they made no effort on his behalf, but
submitted without opposition to the milder government of
Giovanni-Galeazzo. He was no less successful in obtaining another object
of his ambition. He received from the Emperor Wenceslaus the investiture
and dukedom of Milan, for which he paid the sum of 100,000 florins, and
now saw himself undisputed master of Lombardy.
The court of Milan, during such a period, seems a strange theatre for
the display of graceful and feminine virtues. Yet it was here, and under
the immediate eye of her father, this very Giovanni-Galeazzo, that
Valentina Visconti, one of the most amiable female characters of
history, passed the early days of her eventful life. As the naturalist
culls a wild flower from the brink of the volcano, the historian of the
dynasty of Milan pauses to contemplate her pure and graceful character,
presenting itself among the tyrants, poisoners, murderers, and infidels
who founded the power and amassed the wealth of her family. It would be
sad to think that the families of the wicked men of history partook of
the crimes of their parents. But we must remember that virtue has little
charm for the annalist; he records what is most calculated to excite
surprise or awake horror, but takes no notice of the unobtrusive
ongoings of those who live and die in peace and quietness. We may be
sure that among the patrons of Petrarch there was no want of refinement,
or of the domestic amenities with which a youthful princess, and only
child, ought to be surrounded. In fact, we have been left the most
permanent and practical evidences of the capacity of these tyrants for
the enjoyment of the beautiful. The majestic cathedral of Milan is a
monument of the noble architectural taste of Valentina's father. In the
midst of donjons and fortress-palaces it rose, an embodiment of the
refining influence of religion; bearing in many respects a likeness to
the fair and innocent being whose fortunes we are about to narrate, and
who assisted at its foundation. The progress of the building was slow;
it was not till a more magnificent usurper than any of the Visconti
assumed the iron-crown of Lombardy, in our own generation, that the
general design of the Duomo of Milan was completed. Many of the details
still remain unfinished; many statues to be placed on their pinnacles;
some to be replaced on the marble stands from which they were overthrown
by the cannon of Radetski. Of the old castle of the Visconti two
circular towers and a curtain wall alone remain: its court-yard is
converted into a barrack, its moats filled up, its terraced gardens laid
down as an esplanade for the troops of the Austrian garrison. The family
of the Visconti have perished. Milan, so long the scene of their glory,
and afterward the battle-ground of contending claimants, whose title was
derived through them, has ceased to be the capital of a free and
powerful Italian state: but the Cathedral, after a growth of nearly
four centuries, is still growing; and the name of the gentle Valentina,
so early associated with the majestic Gothic edifice, "smells sweet, and
blossoms in the dust."
The year after the foundation of the Duomo, Valentina Visconti became
the bride of Louis Duke of Orleans, only brother to the reigning monarch
of France, Charles VI. Their politic father, the wise King Charles, had
repaired the disasters occasioned by the successful English invasion,
and the long captivity of John the Second. The marriage of Valentina and
Louis was considered highly desirable by all parties. The important town
of Asti, with an immense marriage portion in money, was bestowed by
Giovanni-Galeazzo on his daughter. A brilliant escort of the Lombard
chivalry accompanied the "promessa sposa" to the French frontier.
Charles VI. made the most magnificent preparations for the reception of
his destined sister-in-law. The weak but amiable monarch, ever
delighting in fêtes and entertainments, could gratify his childish
taste, while displaying a delicate consideration and brotherly regard
for Louis of Orleans. The marriage was to be celebrated at Mélun.
Fountains of milk and choice wine played to the astonishment and delight
of the bourgeois. There were jousts and tournaments, masks, and
banquets, welcoming the richly-dowered daughter of Milan. All promised a
life of secured happiness; she was wedded to the brave and chivalrous
Louis of Orleans, the pride and darling of France. He was eminently
handsome; and his gay, graceful, and affable manners gained for him the
strong personal attachment of all who surrounded him. But, alas! for
Valentina and her dream of happiness, Louis was a profligate; she found
herself, from the first moment of her marriage, a neglected wife: her
modest charms and gentle deportment had no attractions for her volatile
husband. The early years of her wedded life were passed in solitude and
uncomplaining sorrow. She bore her wrongs in dignified silence. Her
quiet endurance, her pensive gentleness, never for a moment yielded; nor
was she ever heard to express an angry or bitter sentiment. Still she
was not without some consolation; she became the mother of promising
children, on whom she could bestow the treasures of love and tenderness,
of the value of which the dissolute Louis was insensible. Affliction now
began to visit the French palace. Charles VI. had long shown evidences
of a weak intellect. The events of his youth had shaken a mind never
robust: indeed they were such as one can not read of even now without
emotion.
During his long minority the country, which, under the prudent
administration of his father, had well nigh recovered the defeats of
Cressy and Poietiers, had been torn by intestine commotions. The regency
was in the hands of the young king's uncles, the dukes of Anjou and
Burgundy. The latter inheriting by his wife, who was heiress of
Flanders, the rich provinces bordering France on the northeast, in
addition to his province of Burgundy, found himself, in some respects,
more powerful than his sovereign. The commercial prosperity of the Low
Countries filled his coffers with money, and the hardy Burgundian
population gave him, at command, a bold and intrepid soldiery.
From his earliest years, Charles had manifested a passion for the chase.
When about twelve years old, in the forest of Senlis, he had encountered
a stag, bearing a collar with the inscription, "_Cæsar hoc mihi
donavit_." This wonderful stag appeared to him in a dream a few years
afterward, as he lay in his tent before Roosebeke in Flanders, whither
he had been led by his uncle of Burgundy to quell an insurrection of the
citizens of Ghent, headed by the famous Philip van Artevelde. Great had
been the preparations of the turbulent burghers. Protected by their
massive armor, they formed themselves into a solid square bristling with
pikes. The French cavalry, armed with lances, eagerly waited for the
signal of attack. The signal was to be the unfurling of the oriflamme,
the sacred banner of France, which had never before been displayed but
when battling against infidels. It had been determined, on this
occasion, to use it against the Flemings because they rejected the
authority of Pope Clement, calling themselves Urbanists, and were
consequently looked on by the French as excluded from the pale of the
church. As the young king unfurled this formidable banner, the sun,
which had for days been obscured by a lurid fog, suddenly shone forth
with unwonted brilliancy. A dove, which had long hovered over the king's
battalion, at the same time settled on the flag-staff.
"Now, by the lips of those you love, fair gentlemen of France,
Charge for the golden lilies--upon them with the lance!"
The French chivalry did indeed execute a memorable charge on these
burghers of Ghent. Their lance points reached a yard beyond the heads of
the Flemish pikes. The Flemings, unable to return or parry their
thrusts, fell back on all sides. The immense central mass of human
beings thus forcibly compressed, shrieked and struggled in vain. Gasping
for breath, they perished, _en masse_, suffocated by the compression,
and crushed under the weight of their heavy armor. A reward had been
offered for the body of Philip van Artevelde: it was found amid a heap
of slain, and brought to the king's pavilion. The young monarch gazed on
the mortal remains of his foe, but no wound could be discovered on the
body of the Flemish leader--he had perished from suffocation. The corpse
was afterward hanged on the nearest tree. When the king surveyed this
horrible yet bloodless field, the appalling spectacle of this mass of
dead, amounting, it is said, to 34,000 corpses, was more than his mind
could bear. From this period unmistakable evidences of his malady became
apparent. The marvelous stag took possession of his fancy; it seemed to
him the emblem of victory, and he caused it to be introduced among the
heraldic insignia of the kingdom.
In his sixteenth year, the king selected, as the partner of his throne,
the beautiful Isabeau of Bavaria. She also was a Visconti by the
mother's side, her father having wedded one of the daughters of
Bernabos. In her honor various costly fêtes had been given. On one of
these occasions the royal bridegroom displayed his eccentricity in a
characteristic manner. The chroniclers of the time have given us very
detailed accounts of these entertainments. The costumes were
extravagantly fantastic: ladies carried on their head an enormous
_hennin_, a very cumbrous kind of head-dress, surmounted by horns of
such dimensions, that their exit or entrance into an apartment was a
work of considerable difficulty. The shoes were equally absurd and
inconvenient; their pointed extremities, half a yard in length, were
turned up and fastened to the knees in various grotesque forms. The
robes, the long open sleeves of which swept the ground, were emblazoned
with strange devices. Among the personal effects of one of the royal
princes we find an inventory of about a thousand pearls used in
embroidering on a robe the words and music of a popular song.
The chronicle of the _Religieux de St. Denis_ describes one of these
masked balls, which was held in the court-yard of that venerable abbey,
temporarily roofed over with tapestries for the occasion. The sons of
the Duke of Anjou, cousins of the king, were prepared to invade Naples,
in right of their father, to whom Joanna of Naples had devised that
inheritance. Previous to their departure, their royal cousin resolved to
confer on them the order of knighthood. An immense concourse of guests
were invited to witness the splendid ceremonial, and take part in the
jousts and tournaments which were to follow. The king had selected a
strange scene for these gay doings. The Abbey of St. Denis was the last
resting-place of the kings of France. Here mouldered the mortal remains
of his predecessors, and here were to repose his bones when he, too,
should be "gathered to his fathers." The celebrated "Captain of the
Companies," the famous du Guesclin, the saviour of France in the reign
of his father, had paid the debt of nature many years before, and
reposed there among the mortal remains of those whose throne he had
guarded so well. The astonishment of the guests was extreme, when it
appeared that the exhumation and reinterment of du Guesclin formed part
of the programme of the revels. The old warrior was taken up, the
funeral rites solemnly gone through, three hundred livres appropriated
to the pious use of masses for his soul, and the revelers dismissed to
meditate on the royal eccentricities.
The murder of the Constable of France, Oliver de Clisson, followed soon
after, and quite completed the break down of poor Charles's mind. This
powerful officer of the crown had long been feared and hated by the
great feudal lords especially by the Duke of Brittany, who entertained
an absurd jealousy of the one-eyed hero. Although Clisson, by his
decisive victory at Auray, had secured to him the contested dukedom of
Brittany, the jealous duke treacherously arrested his benefactor and
guest, whom he kept prisoner in the dungeons of his castle of La Motte.
In the first transports of his fury the duke had given orders that de
Clisson should be put to death; but his servants, fearing the
consequences of so audacious an act, left his commands unexecuted.
Eventually, the Constable was permitted by his captor to purchase his
freedom, a condition which was no sooner complied with, than the duke
repented having allowed his foe to escape from his hands. He now
suborned Pierre de Craon, a personal enemy of de Clisson, to be the
executioner of his vengeance. The Constable was returning to his hotel,
having spent a festive evening with his sovereign, when he was set on by
his assassins. He fell, covered with wounds, and was left for dead. To
increase his torments, the murderer announced to him, as he fell, his
name and motives. But, though severely injured, Clisson was yet alive.
The noise of the conflict reached the king, who was just retiring to
rest. He hastened to the spot. His bleeding minister clung to his robe,
and implored him to swear that he should be avenged.
"My fidelity to your majesty has raised up for me powerful enemies: this
is my only crime. Whether I recover or perish from my wounds, swear to
me that I shall not be unavenged."
"I shall never rest, so help me God," replied the excited monarch,
"until the authors of this audacious crime shall be brought to justice."
Charles kept his word. Although suffering from fever, the result of this
night's alarm and exposure, he collected a considerable army, and
marched for Brittany. His impatient eagerness knew no bounds. Through
the sultry, noonday heat, over the arid plains and dense forests of
Brittany, he pursued the assassin of his Constable. He rode the foremost
of his host; often silently and alone. One day, having undergone great
personal fatigue, he had closed his eyes, still riding forward, when he
was aroused by the violent curveting of his steed, whose bridle had been
seized by a wild-looking man, singularly clad.
"Turn back, turn back, noble king," cried he; "to proceed further is
certain death, you are betrayed!" Having uttered these words, the
stranger disappeared in the recesses of the forest before any one could
advance to arrest him.
The army now traversed a sandy plain, which reflected the intensity of
the solar rays. The king wore a black velvet jerkin, and a cap of
crimson velvet, ornamented with a chaplet of pearls. This ill-selected
costume rendered the heat insufferable. While musing on the strange
occurrence in the forest, he was aroused by the clashing of steel around
him. The page, who bore his lance, had yielded to the drowsy influences
of the oppressive noonday heat, and as he slumbered his lance had fallen
with a ringing sound on the casque of the page before him. The
succession of these alarms quite damaged Charles's intellect. He turned,
in a paroxysm of madness, crying, "Down with the traitors!" and attacked
his own body-guard. All made way, as the mad king assailed them. Several
fell victims to his wildly-aimed thrusts, before he sunk at length,
exhausted by his efforts, a fit of total insensibility followed. His
brother of Orleans and kinsman of Burgundy had him conveyed by slow
stages to Paris.
Charles's recovery was very tedious. Many remedies were tried--charms
and incantations, as well as medicines; but to the great joy of the
people, who had always loved him, his reason was at length pronounced to
be restored, and his physicians recommended him to seek amusement and
diversion in festive entertainments.
Another shock, and Charles VI. became confirmed lunatic. This tragical
termination of an absurd frolic occurred as follows:
On a gala occasion the monarch and five knights of his household
conceived the design of disguising themselves as satyrs. Close-fitting
linen dresses, covered with some bituminous substance, to which was
attached fine flax resembling hair, were stitched on their persons.
Their grotesque figures excited much merriment. The dukes of Orleans and
Bar, who had been supping elsewhere, entered the hall somewhat affected
by their night's dissipation. With inconceivable folly, one of these
tipsy noblemen applied a torch to the covering of one of the satyrs. The
miserable wretch, burning frightfully and hopelessly, rushed through the
hall in horrible torments, shrieking in the agonies of despair. The fire
was rapidly communicated. To those of the satyrs, whose hairy garments
were thus ignited, escape was hopeless. To detach the flaming pitch was
impossible; they writhed and rolled about, but in vain: their tortures
only ended with their lives. One alone beside the king escaped.
Recollecting that the buttery was near, he ran and plunged himself in
the large tub of water provided for washing the plates and dishes. Even
so, he did not escape without serious injuries. The king had been
conversing in his disguise with the young bride of the duke of Berri.
She had recognized him, and with admirable presence of mind and
devotion, she held him fast, covering him with her robe lest a spark
should descend on him. To her care and energy he owed his preservation
from so horrible a fate; but, alas! only to linger for years a miserable
maniac. The terrible spectacle of his companions in harmless frolic
perishing in this dreadful manner before his eyes, completed the wreck
of his already broken intellect. His reason returned but partially. Even
these slight amendments were at rare intervals. He became a squalid and
pitiable object; his person utterly neglected, for his garments could
only be changed by force. His heartless and faithless wife deserted
him--indeed, in his insane fits his detestation of her was
excessive--and neglected their children. One human being only could
soothe and soften him, his sister-in-law, Valentina Visconti.
Charles had always manifested the truest friendship for the neglected
wife of his brother. They were alike unhappy in their domestic
relations; for the gallantries of the beautiful queen were scarcely less
notorious than those of Louis of Orleans; and if scandal spoke truly,
Louis himself was one of the queen's lovers. The brilliant and beautiful
Isabeau was distinguished by the dazzlingly clear and fair complexion of
her German fatherland, and the large lustrous eyes of the Italian. But
Charles detested her, and delighted in the society of Valentina. He was
never happy but when near her. In the violent paroxysms of his malady,
she only could venture to approach him--she alone had influence over the
poor maniac. He yielded to her wishes without opposition; and in his
occasional glimpses of reason, touchingly thanked his "dear sister" for
her watchful care and forbearance.
It must have been a dismal change, even from the barbaric court of
Milan; but Valentina was not a stranger to the consolations which are
ever the reward of those who prove themselves self-sacrificing in the
performance of duty. She was eminently happy in her children. Charles,
her eldest son, early evinced a delicate enthusiasm of mind--the
sensitive organization of genius. He was afterward to become, _par
excellence_, the poet of France. In his childhood he was distinguished
for his amiable disposition and handsome person. Possibly at the time of
which we now write, was laid the foundation of that sincere affection
for his cousin Isabella, eldest daughter of the king, which many years
afterward resulted in their happy union. One of the most touching poems
of Charles of Orleans has been charmingly rendered into English by Mr.
Carey. It is addressed to his deceased wife, who died in child-bed at
the early age of twenty-two.
"To make my lady's obsequies,
My love a minster wrought,
And in the chantry, service there
Was sung by doleful thought.
The tapers were of burning sighs,
That light and odor gave,
And grief, illumined by tears,
Irradiated her grave;
And round about in quaintest guise
Was carved, 'Within this tomb there lies
The fairest thing to mortal eyes.'
"Above her lieth spread a tomb,
Of gold and sapphires blue;
The gold doth mark her blessedness,
The sapphires mark her true;
For blessedness and truth in her
Were livelily portray'd,
When gracious God with both his hands
Her wondrous beauty made;
She was, to speak without disguise,
The fairest thing to mortal eyes.
"No more, no more; my heart doth faint,
When I the life recall
Of her who lived so free from taint,
So virtuous deemed by all;
Who in herself was so complete,
I think that she was ta'en
By God to deck his Paradise,
And with his saints to reign;
For well she doth become the skies,
Whom, while on earth, each one did prize,
The fairest thing to mortal eyes!"
The same delicate taste and sweet sensibility which are here apparent,
break forth in another charming poem by Charles, composed while a
prisoner in England, and descriptive of the same delightful season that
surrounds us with light and harmony, while we write, "le premier
printemps:"
"The Time hath laid his mantle by
Of wind, and rain, and icy chill,
And dons a rich embroidery
Of sunlight pour'd on lake and hill.
"No beast or bird in earth or sky,
Whose voice doth not with gladness thrill;
For Time hath laid his mantle by
Of wind, and rain, and icy dull.
"River and fountain, brook and rill,
Bespangled o'er with livery gay
Of silver droplets, wind their way.
All in their new apparel vie,
For Time hath laid his mantle by."
We have said little of Louis of Orleans, the unfaithful husband of
Valentina. This young prince had many redeeming traits of character. He
was generous, liberal, and gracious; adored by the French people; fondly
loved, even by his neglected wife. His tragical death, assassinated in
cold blood by his cousin, Jean-sans-peur of Burgundy, excited in his
behalf universal pity. Let us review the causes which aroused the
vindictive hostility of the Duke of Burgundy, only to be appeased by the
death of his gay and unsuspicious kinsman.
Among the vain follies of Louis of Orleans, his picture-gallery may be
reckoned the most offensive. Here were suspended the portraits of his
various mistresses; among others he had the audacity to place there the
likeness of the Bavarian princess, wife of Jean-sans-peur. The
resentment of the injured husband may readily be conceived. In addition
to this very natural cause of dislike, these dukes had been rivals for
that political power which the imbecility of Charles the Sixth placed
within their grasp.
The unamiable elements in the character of the Duke of Burgundy had been
called into active exercise in very early life. While Duke de Nevers, he
was defeated at Nicopolis, and made prisoner by Bajazet, surnamed
"Ilderim," or the Thunderer. What rendered this defeat the more
mortifying was, the boastful expectation of success proclaimed by the
Christian army. "If the sky should fall, we could uphold it on our
lances," they exclaimed, but a few hours before their host was
scattered, and its leaders prisoners to the Moslem. Jean-sans-peur was
detained in captivity until an enormous ransom was paid for his
deliverance. Giovanni-Galeazzo was suspected of connivance with Bajazet,
both in bringing the Christians to fight at a disadvantage, and in
putting the Turks on the way of obtaining the heaviest ransoms. The
splenetic irritation of this disaster seems to have clung long after to
the Duke of Burgundy. His character was quite the reverse of that of his
confiding kinsman of Orleans. He was subtle, ambitious, designing,
crafty--dishonorably resorting to guile, where he dared not venture on
overt acts of hostility. For the various reasons we have mentioned, he
bore a secret but intense hatred to his cousin Louis.
In the early winter of 1407, the Duke of Orleans, finding his health
impaired, bade a temporary adieu to the capital, and secluded himself in
his favorite chateau of Beauté. He seems to have been previously
awakened to serious reflections. He had passed much of his time at the
convent of the Celestines, who, among their most precious relics, still
reckon the illuminated manuscript of the Holy Scriptures presented to
them by Louis of Orleans, and bearing his autograph. To this order of
monks he peculiarly attached himself, spending most of the time his
approaching death accorded to him. A spectre, in the solitude of the
cloisters, appeared to him, and bade him prepare to stand in the
presence of his Maker. His friends in the convent, to whom he narrated
the occurrence, contributed by their exhortations to deepen the serious
convictions pressing on his mind. There now seemed a reasonable
expectation that Louis of Orleans would return from his voluntary
solitude at his chateau on the Marne, a wiser and a better man, cured,
by timely reflection, of the only blemish which tarnished the lustre of
his many virtues.
The aged Duke of Berri had long lamented the ill-feeling and hostility
which had separated his nephews of Orleans and Burgundy. It was his
earnest desire to see these discords, so injurious to their true
interests and the well-being of the kingdom, ended by a cordial
reconciliation. He addressed himself to Jean-sans-peur, and met with
unhoped-for success. The Duke of Burgundy professed his willingness to
be reconciled, and acceded with alacrity to his uncle's proposition of a
visit to the invalided Louis. The latter, ever trusting and
warm-hearted, cordially embraced his former enemy. They received the
sacrament together, in token of peace and good-will: the Duke of
Burgundy, accepting the proffered hospitality of his kinsman, promised
to partake of a banquet to be given on this happy occasion by Louis of
Orleans, a few days later.
During the interval the young duke returned to Paris. His sister-in-law,
Queen Isabeau, was then residing at the Hotel Barbette--a noble palace
in a retired neighborhood, with fine gardens, almost completely
secluded. Louis of Orleans, almost unattended, visited the queen, to
condole with her on the loss of her infant, who had survived its birth
but a few days. While they were supping together, Sas de Courteheuze,
valet-de-chambre to Charles VI., arrived with a message to the duke: "My
lord, the king sends for you, and you must instantly hasten to him, for
he has business of great importance to you and to him, which he must
communicate to you this night." Louis of Orleans, never doubting that
this message came from his brother, hastened to obey the summons. His
inconsiderable escort rendered him an easy prey to the ruffians who lay
in wait for him. He was cruelly murdered; his skull cleft open, the
brains scattered on the pavement; his hand so violently severed from the
body, that it was thrown to a considerable distance; the other arm
shattered in two places; and the body frightfully mangled. About
eighteen were concerned in the murder: Raoul d'Oquetonville and Scas de
Courteheuze acted as leaders. They had long waited for an opportunity,
and lodged at an hotel "having for sign the image of Our Lady," near the
Porte Barbette, where, it was afterward discovered, they had waited for
several days for their victim. Thus perished, in the prime of life, the
gay and handsome Louis of Orleans. The mutilated remains were collected,
and removed to the Church of the Guillemins, the nearest place where
they might be deposited. This confraternity were an order of hermits,
who had succeeded to the church convent of the Blanc Manteax, instituted
by St. Louis.
The church of the Guillemins was soon crowded by the friends and
relatives of the murdered prince. All concurred in execrating the author
or authors of this horrid deed. Suspicion at first fell upon Sir Aubert
de Canny, who had good reason for hating the deceased duke. Louis of
Orleans, some years previously, had carried off his wife, Marietta
D'Enghein, and kept her openly until she had borne him a son, afterward
the celebrated Dunois. Immediate orders were issued by the king for the
arrest of the Knight of Canny. Great sympathy was felt for the widowed
Valentina, and her young and fatherless children. No one expressed
himself more strongly than the Duke of Burgundy. He sent a kind message
to Valentina, begging her to look on him as a friend and protector.
While contemplating the body of his victim, he said, "Never has there
been committed in the realm of France a fouler murder." His show of
regret did not end here: with the other immediate relatives of the
deceased prince, he bore the pall at the funeral procession. When the
body was removed to the church of the Celestines, there to be interred
in a beautiful chapel Louis of Orleans had himself founded and built,
Burgundy was observed by the spectators to shed tears. But he was
destined soon to assume quite another character, by an almost
involuntary act. The provost of Paris, having traced the flight of the
assassins, had ascertained beyond doubt that they had taken refuge at
the hotel of this very Duke of Burgundy. He presented himself at the
council, and undertook to produce the criminals, if permitted to search
the residences of the princes. Seized with a sudden panic, the Duke of
Burgundy, to the astonishment of all present, became his own accuser:
Pale and trembling, he avowed his guilt: "It was I!" he faltered; "the
devil tempted me!" The other members of the council shrunk back in
undisguised horror. Jean-sans-peur, having made this astounding
confession, left the council-chamber, and started, without a moment's
delay, for the Flemish frontier. He was hotly pursued by the friends of
the murdered Louis; but his measures had been taken with too much prompt
resolution to permit of a successful issue to his Orleanist pursuers.
Once among his subjects of the Low Countries, he might dare the utmost
malice of his opponents.
In the mean time, the will of the deceased duke was made public. His
character, like Cæsar's, rose greatly in the estimation of the citizens,
when the provisions of his last testament were made known. He desired
that he should be buried without pomp in the church of the Celestines,
arrayed in the garb of that order. He was not unmindful of the interests
of literature and science; nor did he forget to make the poor and
suffering the recipients of his bounty. Lastly, he confided his children
to the guardianship of the Duke of Burgundy: thus evincing a spirit
unmindful of injuries, generous, and confiding. This document also
proved, that even in his wild career, Louis of Orleans was at times
visited by better and holier aspirations.
Valentina mourned over her husband long and deeply; she did not long
survive him; she sunk under her bereavement, and followed him to the
grave ere her year of widowhood expired. At first the intelligence of
his barbarous murder excited in her breast unwonted indignation. She
exerted herself actively to have his death avenged. A few days after the
murder, she entered Paris in "a litter covered with white cloth, and
drawn by four white horses." All her retinue wore deep mourning. She had
assumed for her device the despairing motto:
"Rien ne m'est plus,
Plus ne m'est rien."
Proceeding to the Hôtel St. Pôl, accompanied by her children and the
Princess Isabella, the affianced bride of Charles of Orleans, she threw
herself at the king's knees, and, in a passion of tears, prayed for
justice on the murderer of his brother, her lamented lord. Charles was
deeply moved: he also wept aloud. He would gladly have granted her that
justice which she demanded, had it been in his power to do so; but
Burgundy was too powerful. The feeble monarch dared not offend his
overgrown vassal. A process at law was all the remedy the king could
offer.
Law was then, as now, a tedious and uncertain remedy, and a rich and
powerful traverser could weary out his prosecutor with delays and
quibbles equal to our own. Jean-sans-peur returned in defiance to Paris
to conduct the proceedings in his own defense. He had erected a strong
tower of solid masonry in his hôtel; here he was secure in the midst of
his formidable guards and soldiery. For his defense, he procured the
services of Jean Petit, a distinguished member of the University of
Paris, and a popular orator. The oration of Petit (which has rendered
him infamous), was rather a philippic against Louis of Orleans, than a
defense of Jean-sans-peur. He labors to prove that the prince deserved
to die, having conspired against the king and kingdom. One of the
charges--that of having, by incantations, endeavored to destroy the
monarch--gives us a singular idea of the credulity of the times, when we
reflect that these absurd allegations were seriously made and believed
by a learned doctor, himself a distinguished member of the most learned
body in France, the University of Paris. The Duke of Orleans conspired
"to cause the king, our lord, to die of a disorder, so languishing and
so slow, that no one should divine the cause of it; he, by dint of
money, bribed four persons, an apostate monk, a knight, an esquire, and
a varlet, to whom he gave his own sword, his dagger, and a ring, for
them to consecrate to, or more properly speaking, to make use of, in the
name of the devil," &c. "The monk made several incantations.... And one
grand invocation on a Sunday, very early, and before sunrise on a
mountain near to the tower of Mont-joy.... The monk performed many
superstitious acts near a bush, with invocations to the devil; and while
so doing he stripped himself naked to his shirt and kneeled down: he
then struck the points of the sword and dagger into the ground, and
placed the ring near them. Having uttered many invocations to the
devils, two of them appeared to him in the shape of two men, clothed in
brownish-green, one of whom was called Hermias, and the other Estramain.
He paid them such honors and reverence as were due to God our
Saviour--after which he retired behind the bush. The devil who had come
for the ring took it and vanished, but he who was come for the sword and
dagger remained--but afterward, having seized them, he also vanished.
The monk, shortly after, came to where the devils had been, and found
the sword and dagger lying flat on the ground, the sword having the
point broken--but he saw the point among some powder where the devil had
laid it. Having waited half-an-hour, the other devil returned and gave
him the ring; which to the sight was of the color of red, nearly
scarlet, and said to him: 'Thou wilt put it into the mouth of a dead man
in the manner thou knowest,' and then he vanished."
To this oration the advocate of the Duchess of Orleans replied at great
length. Valentina's answer to the accusation we have quoted, was concise
and simple. "The late duke, Louis of Orleans, was a prince of too great
piety and virtue to tamper with sorceries and witchcraft." The legal
proceedings against Jean-sans-peur seemed likely to last for an
interminable period. Even should they be decided in favor of the family
of Orleans, the feeble sovereign dared not carry the sentence of the law
into execution against so powerful an offender as the Duke of Burgundy.
Valentina knew this; she knew also that she could not find elsewhere one
who could enforce her claims for justice--justice on the murderer of her
husband--the slayer of the father of her defenseless children. Milan,
the home of her girlhood, was a slaughter-house, reeking with the blood
of her kindred. Five years previously her father, Giovanni-Galeazzo
Visconti, had died of the plague which then desolated Italy. To avoid
this terrible disorder he shut himself up in the town of Marignano, and
amused himself during his seclusion by the study of judicial astrology,
in which science he was an adept. A comet appeared in the sky. The
haughty Visconti doubted not that this phenomenon was an announcement to
him of his approaching death. "I thank God," he cried, "that this
intimation of my dissolution will be evident to all men: my glorious
life will be not ingloriously terminated." The event justified the omen.
By his second marriage with Katharina Visconti, daughter of his uncle
Bernabos, Giovanni Galeazzo left two sons, still very young,
Giovanni-Maria and Philippo-Maria, among whom his dominions were
divided, their mother acting as guardian and regent.
All the ferocious characteristics of the Visconti seemed to be centred
in the stepmother of Valentina. The Duchess of Milan delighted in
executions; she beheaded, on the slightest suspicions, the highest
nobles of Lombardy. At length she provoked reprisals, and died the
victim of poison. Giovanni-Maria, nurtured in blood, was the worthy son
of such a mother. His thirst for blood was unquenchable; his favorite
pursuit was to witness the torments of criminals delivered over to
bloodhounds, trained for the purpose, and fed only on human flesh. His
huntsman and favorite, Squarcia Giramo, on one occasion, for the
amusement of his master, threw to them a young boy only twelve years of
age. The innocent child clung to the knees of the duke, and entreated
that he might be preserved from so terrible a fate. The bloodhounds hung
back. Squarcia Giramo seizing the child, with his hunting-knife cut his
throat, and then flung him to the dogs. More merciful than these human
monsters, they refused to touch the innocent victim.
Facino Cane, one of the ablest generals of the late duke, compelled the
young princes to admit him to their council, and submit to his
management of their affairs; as he was childless himself, he permitted
them to live, stripped of power, and in great penury. To the sorrow and
dismay of the Milanese, they saw this salutary check on the ferocious
Visconti about to be removed by the death of Facino Cane. Determined to
prevent the return to power of the young tyrant, they attacked and
massacred Giovanni-Maria in the streets of Milan. While this tragedy was
enacting, Facino Cane breathed his last.
Philippo-Maria lost not a moment in causing himself to be proclaimed
duke. To secure the fidelity of the soldiery, he married, without delay,
the widow of their loved commander. Beatrice di Tenda, wife of Facino
Cane, was an old woman, while her young bridegroom was scarcely twenty
years of age: so ill-assorted a union could scarcely be a happy one.
Philippo-Maria, the moment his power was firmly secured, resolved to
free himself from a wife whose many virtues could not compensate for her
want of youth and beauty. The means to which he resorted were atrocious:
he accused the poor old duchess of having violated her marriage vow, and
compelled, by fear of the torture, a young courtier, Michel Orombelli,
to become her accuser. The duke, therefore, doomed them both to be
beheaded. Before the fatal blow of the executioner made her his victim,
Beatrice di Tenda eloquently defended herself from the calumnies of her
husband and the base and trembling Orombelli. "I do not repine," she
said, "for I am justly punished for having violated, by my second
marriage, the respect due to the memory of my deceased husband; I submit
to the chastisement of heaven; I only pray that my innocence may be made
evident to all; and that my name may be transmitted to posterity pure
and spotless."
Such were the sons of Giovanni-Galeazzo Visconti, the half-brothers of
the gentle Valentina of Orleans. When she sank broken-hearted into an
early grave--her husband unavenged, her children unprotected--she felt
how hopeless it would be to look for succor or sympathy to her father's
house; yet her last moments were passed in peace. Her maternal
solicitude for her defenseless orphans was soothed by the conviction
that they would be guarded and protected by one true and faithful
friend. Their magnanimous and high-minded mother had attached to them,
by ties of affection and gratitude more strong, more enduring than those
of blood, one well fitted by his chivalrous nature and heroic bravery to
defend and shelter the children of his protectress. Dunois--"the young
and brave Dunois"--the bastard of Orleans, as he is generally styled,
was the illegitimate son of her husband. Valentina, far from slighting
the neglected boy, brought him home to her, nurtured and educated him
with her children, cherishing him as if he had indeed, been the son of
her bosom. If the chronicles of the time are to be believed, she loved
him more fondly than her own offspring. "My noble and gallant boy," she
would say to him, "I have been robbed of thee; it is thou that art
destined to be thy father's avenger; wilt thou not, for my sake, who
have loved thee so well, protect and cherish these helpless little
ones?"
Long years after the death of Valentina the vengeance of heaven did
overtake Jean-sans-peur of Burgundy: he fell the victim of treachery
such as he had inflicted on Louis of Orleans; but the cruel retaliation
was not accomplished through the instrumentality or connivance of the
Orleanists: Dunois was destined to play a far nobler part. The able
seconder of Joan of Arc--the brave defender of Orleans against the
besieging English host--he may rank next to his illustrious
countrywoman, "La Pucelle," as the deliverer of his country from foreign
foes. His bravery in war was not greater than his disinterested devotion
to his half-brothers. Well and nobly did he repay to Valentina, by his
unceasing devotion to her children, her tender care of his early years.
Charles of Orleans, taken prisoner by the English at the fatal battle of
Agincourt, was detained for the greater part of his life in captivity:
his infant children were unable to maintain their rights. Dunois
reconquered for them their hereditary rights, the extensive appanages of
the house of Orleans. They owed every thing to his sincere and watchful
affection.
Valentina's short life was one of suffering and trial; but she seems to
have issued from the furnace of affliction "purified seven times." In
the midst of a licentious court and age, she shines forth a "pale pure
star." Her spotless fame has never been assailed. Piety, purity, and
goodness, were her distinguishing characteristics. She was ever a
self-sacrificing friend, a tender mother, a loving and faithful wife.
Her gentle endurance of her domestic trials recalls to mind the
character of one who may almost be styled her contemporary, the "patient
Griselda," so immortalized by Chaucer and Boccacio. Valentina adds
another example to the many which history presents for our
contemplation, to show that suffering virtue, sooner or later, meets
with its recompense, even in this life. The broken-hearted Duchess of
Orleans became the ancestress of two lines of French sovereigns, and
through her the kings of France founded their claims to the Duchy of
Milan. Her grandson, Louis the Twelfth, the "father of his people," was
the son of the poet Duke of Orleans. On the extinction of male heirs to
this elder branch, the descendant of her younger son, the Duke of
Angoulême, ascended the throne as Francis the First. Her
great-grand-daughter was the mother of Alphonso, Duke of Ferrara, the
"magnanimo Alfonso" of the poet Tasso. His younger sister, Leonora, will
ever be remembered as the beloved one of the great epic poet of
Italy--the ill-starred Torquato Tasso.
The mortal remains of Valentina repose at Blois; her heart is buried
with her husband, in the church of the Celestines at Paris. Over the
tomb was placed the following inscription:
'Cy gist Loys Duc D'Orleans.
Lequel sur tons duez terriens,
Fut le plus noble en son vivant
Mais ung qui voult aller devant,
Par envye le feist mourir.'
M.N.
THE SNOWY MOUNTAINS IN NEW ZEALAND.
The "Wellington Independent" gives the following account of a recent
expedition made by the Lieutenant-Governor to the Middle Island: After
leaving the Wairau, having traversed the Kaparatehau district, his
Excellency and his attendants reached the snowy mountains to the
southward, about four short days' journey from the Wairau, and encamped
at the foot of the Tapuenuko mountain, which they ascended. Previously
to starting into the pass which is supposed to exist between the Wairau
and Port Cooper plains, his Excellency ascended the great snowy mountain
which forms the principal peak of the Kaikoras, and which attains an
elevation of at least 9000 feet, the upper part being heavily covered
with snow to a great depth. He succeeded in reaching the top of the
mountain, but so late as to be unable to push on to the southern edge of
the summit, when an extensive view southwards would have been obtained.
In returning, a steep face of the hill (little less than perpendicular),
down which hung a bed of frozen snow, had to be crossed for a
considerable distance. Mr. Eyre, who had led the party up the dangerous
ascent, was in advance with one native, the others being 200 feet before
and behind him, on the same perpendicular of the snow. He heard a cry,
and looking round, saw Wiremu Hoeta falling down the precipice, pitching
from ledge to ledge, and rolling over and over in the intervals, till he
fell dead, and no doubt smashed to pieces at a depth below of about 1500
feet, where his body could be seen in a sort of ravine, but where it was
impossible to get at it. His Excellency narrowly escaped from similar
destruction, having lost both feet from under him, and only saving
himself by the use of an iron-shod pole which he carried. Another of the
natives had a still narrower escape, having actually fallen about
fifteen yards, when he succeeded in clutching a rock and saving himself.
The gloom which this unfortunate event caused, and the uncertainty of
crossing the rivers while the snows are melting, induced his Excellency
to return.
GENIUS.
Self-communion and solitude are its daily bread; for what is genius but
a great and strongly-marked individuality--but an original creative
being, standing forth alone amidst the undistinguishable throng of our
everyday world? Genius is a lonely power; it is not communicative; it is
not the gift of a crowd; it is not a reflection cast from without upon
the soul. It is essentially an inward light, diffusing its clear and
glorious radiance over the external world. It is a broad flood, pouring
freely forth its deep waters; but with its source forever hidden from
human ken. It is the creator, not the creature it calls forth glorious
and immortal shapes; but it is called into being by none--save
GOD.--_Women in France during the Eighteenth Century._
[From Household Words.]
FRANCIS JEFFREY.
Jeffrey was a year younger than Scott, whom he outlived eighteen years,
and with whose career his own had some points of resemblance. They came
of the same middle-class stock, and had played together as lads in the
High School "yard" before they met as advocates in the Court of Session.
The fathers of both were connected with that court; and from childhood,
both were devoted to the law. But Scott's boyish infirmity imprisoned
him in Edinburgh, while Jeffrey was let loose to Glasgow University, and
afterward passed up to Queen's College, Oxford. The boys, thus
separated, had no remembrance of having previously met, when they saw
each other at the Speculative Society in 1791.
The Oxford of that day suited Jeffrey ill. It suited few people well who
cared for any thing but cards and claret. Southey, who came just after
him, tells us that the Greek he took there he left there, nor ever
passed such unprofitable months; and Lord Malmesbury, who had been there
but a little time before him, wonders how it was that so many men should
make their way in the world creditably, after leaving a place that
taught nothing but idleness and drunkenness. But Jeffrey was not long
exposed to its temptations. He left after the brief residence of a
single term; and what in after life he remembered most vividly in
connection with it, seems to have been the twelve days' hard traveling
between Edinburgh and London, which preceded his entrance at Queen's.
Some seventy years before, another Scotch lad, on his way to become yet
more famous in literature and law, had taken nearly as many weeks to
perform the same journey; but, between the schooldays of Mansfield and
of Jeffrey, the world had not been resting.
It was enacting its greatest modern incident, the first French
Revolution, when the young Scotch student returned to Edinburgh and
changed his College gown for that of the advocate. Scott had the start
of him in the Court of Session by two years, and had become rather
active and distinguished in the Speculative Society before Jeffrey
joined it. When the latter, then a lad of nineteen, was introduced (one
evening in 1791), he observed a heavy-looking young man officiating as
secretary, who sat solemnly at the bottom of the table in a huge woolen
night-cap, and who, before the business of the night began, rose from
his chair, and, with imperturbable gravity seated on as much of his face
as was discernible from the wrappings of the "portentous machine" that
enveloped it, apologized for having left home with a bad toothache. This
was his quondam schoolfellow Scott. Perhaps Jeffrey was pleased with the
mingled enthusiasm for the speculative, and regard for the practical,
implied in the woolen nightcap; or perhaps he was interested by the
Essay on Ballads which the hero of the nightcap read in the course of
the evening: but before he left the meeting he sought an introduction to
Mr. Walter Scott, and they were very intimate for many years afterward.
The Speculative Society dealt with the usual subjects of elocution and
debate prevalent in similar places then and since; such as, whether
there ought to be an Established Religion, and whether the Execution of
Charles I. was justifiable, and if Ossian's poems were authentic? It was
not a fraternity of speculators by any means of an alarming or dangerous
sort. John Allen and his friends, at this very time, were spouting forth
active sympathy for French Republicanism at Fortune's Tavern under
immediate and watchful superintendence of the Police; James Mackintosh
was parading the streets with Horne Tooke's colors in his hat; James
Montgomery was expiating in York jail his exulting ballad on the fall of
the Bastile; and Southey and Coleridge, in despair of old England, had
completed the arrangements of their youthful colony for a community of
property, and proscription of every thing selfish, on the banks of the
Susquehanna; but the speculative orators rarely probed the sores of the
body politic deeper than an inquiry into the practical advantages of
belief in a future state? and whether it was for the interest of Britain
to maintain the balance of Europe? or if knowledge could be too much
disseminated among the lower ranks of the people?
In short, nothing of the extravagance of the time, on either side, is
associable with the outset of Jeffrey's career. As little does he seem
to have been influenced, on the one hand, by the democratic foray of
some two hundred convention delegates into Edinburgh in 1792, as, on the
other, by the prominence of his father's name to a protest of frantic
high-tory defiance; and he was justified, not many years since, in
referring with pride to the fact that, at the opening of his public
life, his view of the character of the first French revolution, and of
its probable influence on other countries, had been such as to require
little modification during the whole of his subsequent career. The
precision and accuracy of his judgment had begun to show itself thus
early. At the crude young Jacobins, so soon to ripen into Quarterly
Reviewers, who were just now coquetting with Mary Woolstonecraft, or
making love to the ghost of Madame Roland, or branding as worthy of the
bowstring the tyrannical enormities of Mr. Pitt, he could afford to
laugh from the first. From the very first he had the strongest liberal
tendencies, but restrained them so wisely that he could cultivate them
well.
He joined the band of youths who then sat at the feet of Dugald Stewart,
and whose first incentive to distinction in the more difficult paths of
knowledge, as well as their almost universal adoption of the liberal
school of politics, are in some degree attributable to the teaching of
that distinguished man. Among them were Brougham and Homer, who had
played together from boyhood in Edinburgh streets, had joined the
Speculative on the same evening six years after Jeffrey (who in Brougham
soon found a sharp opponent on colonial and other matters), and were
still fast friends. Jeffrey's father, raised to a deputy clerk of
session, now lived on a third or fourth flat in Buchanan's Court in the
Lawn Market, where the worthy old gentleman kept two women servants and
a man at livery; but where the furniture does not seem to have been of
the soundest. This fact his son used to illustrate by an anecdote of the
old gentleman eagerly setting to at a favorite dinner one day, with the
two corners of the table cloth tied round his neck to protect his
immense professional frills, when the leg of his chair gave way, and he
tumbled back on the floor with all the dishes, sauces, and viands a-top
of him. Father and son lived here together, till the latter took for his
first wife the daughter of the Professor of Hebrew in the University of
St. Andrew, and moved to an upper story in another part of town. He had
been called to the bar in 1794, and was married eight years afterward.
He had not meanwhile obtained much practice, and the elevation implied
in removal to an upper flat is not of the kind that a young Benedict
covets. But distinction of another kind was at length at hand.
One day early in 1802, "in the eighth or ninth story or flat in
Buccleugh Place, the elevated residence of the then Mr. Jeffrey," Mr.
Jeffrey had received a visit from Horner and Sydney Smith, when Sydney,
at this time a young English curate temporarily resident in Edinburgh,
preaching, teaching, and joking with a flow of wit, humanity, and sense
that fascinated every body, started the notion of the Edinburgh Review.
The two Scotchmen at once voted the Englishman its editor, and the
notion was communicated to John Archibald Murray (Lord Advocate after
Jeffrey, long years afterward), John Allen (then lecturing on medical
subjects at the University, but who went abroad before he could render
any essential service), and Alexander Hamilton (afterward Sanscrit
professor at Haileybury). This was the first council; but it was
extended, after a few days, till the two Thomsons (John and Thomas, the
physician and the advocate), Thomas Brown (who succeeded to Dugald
Stewart's chair), and Henry Brougham, were admitted to the
deliberations. Horner's quondam playfellow was an ally too potent to be
obtained without trouble; and, even thus early, had not a few
characteristics in common with the Roman statesman and orator whom it
was his greatest ambition in after life to resemble, and of whom
Shakspeare has told us that he never followed any thing that other men
began.
"You remember how cheerfully Brougham approved of our plan at first,"
wrote Jeffrey to Horner, in April, in the thick of anxious preparations
for the start, "and agreed to give us an article or two without
hesitation. Three or four days ago I proposed two or three books that I
thought would suit him; when he answered with perfect good humor, that
he had changed his view of our plan a little, and rather thought now
that he should decline to have any connection with it." This little
coquetry was nevertheless overcome; and before the next six months were
over, Brougham had become an efficient and zealous member of the band.
It is curious to see how the project hung fire at first. Jeffrey had
nearly finished four articles, Horner had partly written four, and more
than half the number was printed; and yet well-nigh the other half had
still to be written. The memorable fasciculus at last appeared in
November, after a somewhat tedious gestation of nearly ten months;
having been subject to what Jeffrey calls so "miserable a state of
backwardness" and so many "symptoms of despondency," that Constable had
to delay the publication some weeks beyond the day first fixed. Yet as
early as April had Sydney Smith completed more than half of what he
contributed, while nobody else had put pen to paper; and shortly after
the number appeared, he was probably not sorry to be summoned, with his
easy pen and his cheerful wit, to London, and to abandon the cares of
editorship to Jeffrey.
No other choice could have been made. The first number settled the
point. It is easy to discover that Jeffrey's estimation in Edinburgh had
not, up to this time, been in any just proportion to his powers; and
that, even with those who knew him best, his playful and sportive fancy
sparkled too much to the surface of his talk to let them see the grave,
deep currents that ran underneath. Every one now read with surprise the
articles attributed to him. Sydney had yielded him the place of honor,
and he had vindicated his right to it. He had thrown out a new and
forcible style of criticism, with a fearless, unmisgiving, and
unhesitating courage. Objectors might doubt or cavil at the opinions
expressed; but the various and comprehensive knowledge, the subtle,
argumentative genius the brilliant and definite expression, there was no
disputing or denying. A fresh, and startling power was about to make
itself felt in literature.
"Jeffrey," said his most generous fellow laborer, a few days after the
Review appeared, "is the person who will derive most honor from this
publication, as his articles in this number are generally known, and are
incomparably the best; I have received the greater pleasure from this
circumstance, because the genius of that little man has remained almost
unknown to all but his most intimate acquaintances. His manner is not at
first pleasing; what is worse, it is of that cast which almost
irresistibly impresses upon strangers the idea of levity and superficial
talents. Yet there is not any man, whose real character is so much the
reverse; he has, indeed, a very sportive and playful fancy, but it is
accompanied with an extensive and varied information, with a readiness
of apprehension almost intuitive, with judicious and calm discernment,
with a profound and penetrating understanding." This confident passage
from a private journal of the 20th November, 1802 may stand as a
remarkable monument of the prescience of Francis Horner.
Yet it was also the opinion of this candid and sagacious man that he and
his fellows had not gained much character by that first number of the
Review. As a set-off to the talents exhibited, he spoke of the
severity--of what, in some of the papers, might be called the
scurrility--as having given general dissatisfaction; and he predicted
that they would have to soften their tone, and be more indulgent to
folly and bad taste. Perhaps it is hardly thus that the objection should
have been expressed. It is now, after the lapse of nearly half a
century, admitted on all hands that the tone adopted by these young
Edinburgh reviewers was in some respects extremely indiscreet; and that
it was not simply folly and bad taste, but originality and genius, that
had the right to more indulgence at their hands. When Lord Jeffrey
lately collected Mr. Jeffrey's critical articles, he silently dropped
those very specimens of his power which by their boldness of view,
severity of remark, and vivacity of expression, would still as of old
have attracted the greatest notice; and preferred to connect with his
name, in the regard of such as might hereafter take interest in his
writings, only those papers which, by enforcing what appeared to him
just principles and useful opinions, he hoped might have a tendency to
make men happier and better. Somebody said by way of compliment of the
early days of the Scotch Review, that it made reviewing more respectable
than authorship; and the remark, though essentially the reverse of a
compliment, exhibits with tolerable accuracy the general design of the
work at its outset. Its ardent young reviewers took a somewhat too
ambitious stand above the literature they criticised. "To all of us,"
Horner ingenuously confessed, "it is only matter of temporary amusement
and subordinate occupation."
Something of the same notion was in Scott's thoughts when, smarting from
a severe but not unjust or ungenerous review of Marmion, he said that
Jeffrey loved to see imagination best when it is bitted and managed, and
ridden upon the _grand pas_. He did not make sufficient allowance for
starts and sallies and bounds, when Pegasus was beautiful to behold,
though sometimes perilous to his rider. He would have had control of
horse as well as rider, Scott complained, and made himself master of the
ménage to both. But on the other hand this was often very possible; and
nothing could then be conceived more charming than the earnest, playful,
delightful way in which his comments adorned and enriched the poets he
admired. Hogarth is not happier in Charles Lamb's company, than is the
homely vigor and genius of Crabbe under Jeffrey's friendly leading; he
returned fancy for fancy to Moore's exuberance, and sparkled with a wit
as keen; he "tamed his wild heart" to the loving thoughtfulness of
Rogers, his scholarly enthusiasm, his pure and vivid pictures; with the
fiery energy and passionate exuberance of Byron, his bright, courageous
spirit broke into earnest sympathy; for the clear and stirring strains
of Campbell he had an ever lively and liberal response; and Scott, in
the midst of many temptations to the exercise of severity never ceased
to awaken the romance and generosity of his nature.
His own idea of the more grave critical claims put forth by him in his
early days, found expression in later life. He had constantly
endeavored, he said, to combine ethical precepts with literary
criticism. He had earnestly sought to impress his readers with a sense,
both of the close connection between sound intellectual attainments, and
the higher elements of duty and enjoyment; and of the just and ultimate
subordination of the former to the latter. Nor without good reason did
he take this praise to himself. The taste which Dugald Stewart had
implanted in him, governed him more than any other at the outset of his
career; and may often have contributed not a little, though quite
unconsciously, to lift the aspiring young metaphysician somewhat too
ambitiously above the level of the luckless author summoned to his
judgment seat. Before the third year of the review had opened, he had
broken a spear in the lists of metaphysical philosophy even with his old
tutor, and with Jeremy Bentham, both in the maturity of their fame; he
had assailed, with equal gallantry, the opposite errors of Priestley and
Reid; and, not many years later, he invited his friend Alison to a
friendly contest, from which the fancies of that amiable man came out
dulled by a superior brightness, by more lively, varied, and animated
conceptions of beauty, and by a style which recommended a more than
Scotch soberness of doctrine with a more than French vivacity of
expression.
For it is to be said of Jeffrey, that when he opposed himself to
enthusiasm, he did so in the spirit of an enthusiast; and that this had
a tendency to correct such critical mistakes as he may occasionally have
committed. And as of him, so of his Review. In professing to go deeply
into the _principles_ on which its judgments were to be rested, as well
as to take large and original views of all the important question to
which those works might relate--it substantially succeeded, as Jeffrey
presumed to think it had done, in familiarizing the public mind with
higher speculations, and sounder and larger views of the great objects
of human pursuit; as well as in permanently raising the standard, and
increasing the influence, of all such occasional writings far beyond the
limits of Great Britain.
Nor let it be forgotten that the system on which Jeffrey established
relations between his writers and publishers has been of the highest
value as a precedent in such matters, and has protected the independence
and dignity of a later race of reviewers. He would never receive an
unpaid-for contribution. He declined to make it the interest of the
proprietors to prefer a certain class of contributors. The payment was
ten guineas a sheet at first, and rose gradually to double that sum,
with increase on special occasions; and even when rank or other
circumstances made remuneration a matter of perfect indifference,
Jeffrey insisted that it should nevertheless be received. The Czar
Peter, when working in the trenches, he was wont to say, received pay as
a common soldier. Another principle which he rigidly carried out, was
that of a thorough independence of publishing interests. The Edinburgh
Review was never made in any manner tributary to particular bookselling
schemes. It assailed or supported with equal vehemence or heartiness the
productions of Albemarle-street and Paternoster-row. "I never asked such
a thing of him but once," said the late Mr. Constable, describing an
attempt to obtain a favorable notice from his obdurate editor, "and I
assure you the result was no encouragement to repeat such petitions."
The book was Scott's edition of Swift; and the result one of the
bitterest attacks on the popularity of Swift, in one of Jeffrey's most
masterly criticisms.
He was the better able thus to carry his point, because against more
potent influences he had already taken a decisive stand. It was not till
six years after the Review was started that Scott remonstrated with
Jeffrey on the virulence of its party politics. But much earlier even
than this, the principal proprietors had made the same complaint; had
pushed their objections to the contemplation of Jeffrey's surrender of
the editorship; and had opened negotiations with writers known to be
bitterly opposed to him. To his honor, Southey declined these overtures,
and advised a compromise of the dispute. Some of the leading Whigs
themselves were discontented, and Horner had appealed to him from the
library of Holland House. Nevertheless, Jeffrey stood firm. He carried
the day against Paternoster-row, and unassailably established the
all-important principle of a perfect independence of his publishers'
control. He stood as resolute against his friend Scott; protesting that
on one leg, and the weakest, the Review could not and should not stand,
for that its _right leg_ he knew to be politics. To Horner he replied,
by carrying the war into the Holland House country with inimitable
spirit and cogency. "Do, for Heaven's sake, let your Whigs do something
popular and effective this session. Don't you see the nation is now
divided into two, and only two parties; and that _between_ these stand
the Whigs, utterly inefficient, and incapable of ever becoming
efficient, if they will still maintain themselves at an equal distance
from both. You must lay aside a great part of your aristocratic
feelings, and side with the most respectable and sane of the democrats."
The vigorous wisdom of the advice was amply proved by subsequent events,
and its courage nobody will doubt who knows any thing of what Scotland
was at the time. In office, if not in intellect, the Tories were
supreme. A single one of the Dundases named the sixteen Scots peers, and
forty-three of the Scots commoners; nor was it an impossible farce, that
the sheriff of a county should be the only freeholder present at the
election of a member to represent it in Parliament, should as freeholder
vote himself chairman, should as chairman receive the oaths and the writ
for himself as sheriff, should as chairman and sheriff sign them, should
propose himself as candidate, declare himself elected, dictate and sign
the minutes of election, make the necessary indenture between the
various parties represented solely by himself, transmit it to the
Crown-office, and take his seat by the same night's mail to vote with
Mr. Addington! We must recollect such things, when we would really
understand the services of such men as Jeffrey. We must remember the
evil and injustice he so strenuously labored to remove, and the cost at
which his labor was given. We must bear in mind that he had to face day
by day, in the exercise of his profession, the very men most interested
in the abuses actively assailed, and keenly resolved, as far as
possible, to disturb and discredit their assailant. "Oh, Mr. Smith,"
said Lord Stowell to Sydney, "you would have been a much richer man if
you had come over to us!" This was in effect the sort of thing said to
Jeffrey daily in the Court of Session, and disregarded with generous
scorn. What it is to an advocate to be on the deaf side of "the ear of
the Court," none but an advocate can know; and this, with Jeffrey, was
the twenty-five years' penalty imposed upon him for desiring to see the
Catholics emancipated, the consciences of dissenters relieved, the
barbarism of jurisprudence mitigated, and the trade in human souls
abolished.
The Scotch Tories died hard. Worsted in fair fight they resorted to
foul; and among the publications avowedly established for personal
slander of their adversaries, a pre-eminence so infamous was obtained by
the Beacon, that it disgraced the cause irretrievably. Against this
malignant libeler Jeffrey rose in the Court of Session again and again,
and the result of its last prosecution showed the power of the party
represented by it thoroughly broken. The successful advocate, at length
triumphant even in that Court over the memory of his talents and virtues
elsewhere, had now forced himself into the front rank of his profession;
and they who listened to his advocacy found it even more marvelous than
his criticism, for power, versatility, and variety. Such rapidity yet
precision of thought, such volubility yet clearness of utterance, left
all competitors behind. Hardly any subject could be so indifferent or
uninviting, that this teeming and fertile intellect did not surround it
with a thousand graces of allusion, illustration, and fanciful
expression. He might have suggested Butler's hero,
"--who could not ope
His mouth but out there flew a trope,"
with the difference that each trope flew to its proper mark, each fancy
found its place in the dazzling profusion, and he could at all times,
with a charming and instinctive ease, put the nicest restraints and
checks on his glowing velocity of declamation. A worthy Glasgow
baillie, smarting under an adverse verdict obtained by these facilities
of speech, could find nothing so bitter to advance against the speaker
as a calculation made with the help of Johnson's Dictionary, to the
effect that Mr. Jeffrey, in the course of a few hours, had spoken the
whole English language twice over!
But the Glasgow baillie made little impression on his fellow citizens;
and from Glasgow came the first public tribute to Jeffrey's now achieved
position, and legal as well as literary fame. He was elected Lord Rector
of the University in 1821 and 1822. Some seven or eight years previously
he had married the accomplished lady who survives him, a grand-niece of
the celebrated Wilkes; and had purchased the lease of the villa near
Edinburgh which he occupied to the time of his death, and whose romantic
woods and grounds will long be associated with his name. At each step of
his career a new distinction now awaited him, and with every new
occasion his unflagging energies seemed to rise and expand. He never
wrote with such masterly success for his Review as when his whole time
appeared to be occupied with criminal prosecutions, with contested
elections, with journeyings from place to place, with examinings and
cross-examinings, with speeches, addresses, exhortations, denunciations.
In all conditions and on all occasions, a very atmosphere of activity
was around him. Even as he sat, apparently still, waiting to address a
jury or amaze a witness, it made a slow man nervous to look at him. Such
a flush of energy vibrated through that delicate frame, such rapid and
never ceasing thought played on those thin lips, such restless flashes
of light broke from those kindling eyes. You continued to look at him,
till his very silence acted as a spell; and it ceased to be difficult to
associate with his small but well-knit figure even the giant-like labors
and exertions of this part of his astonishing career.
At length, in 1829, he was elected Dean of the Faculty of Advocates; and
thinking it unbecoming that the official head of a great law corporation
should continue the editing of a party organ, he surrendered the
management of the Edinburgh Review. In the year following, he took
office with the Whigs as Lord Advocate, and replaced Sir James Scarlett
in Lord Fitzwilliam's borough of Malton. In the next memorable year he
contested his native city against a Dundas; not succeeding in his
election, but dealing the last heavy blow to his opponent's sinking
dynasty. Subsequently he took his seat as Member for Perth, introduced
and carried the Scotch Reform bill, and in the December of 1832 was
declared member for Edinburgh. He had some great sorrows at this time to
check and alloy his triumphs. Probably no man had gone through a life of
eager conflict and active antagonism with a heart so sensitive to the
gentler emotions, and the deaths of Mackintosh and Scott affected him
deeply. He had had occasion, during the illness of the latter, to
allude to him in the House of Commons; and he did this with so much
beauty and delicacy, with such manly admiration of the genius and modest
deference to the opinions of his great Tory friend, that Sir Robert Peel
made a journey across the floor of the house to thank him cordially for
it.
The House of Commons nevertheless was not his natural element, and when,
in 1834, a vacancy in the Court of Session invited him to his due
promotion, he gladly accepted the dignified and honorable office so
nobly earned by his labors and services. He was in his sixty-second year
at the time of his appointment, and he continued for nearly sixteen
years the chief ornament of the Court in which he sat. In former days
the judgment-seats in Scotland had not been unused to the graces of
literature; but in Jeffrey these were combined with an acute and
profound knowledge of law less usual in that connection; and also with
such a charm of demeanor, such a play of fancy and wit sobered to the
kindliest courtesies, such clear sagacity, perfect freedom from bias,
consideration for all differences of opinion; and integrity,
independence, and broad comprehensiveness of view in maintaining his
own; that there has never been but one feeling as to his judicial
career. Universal veneration and respect attended it. The speculative
studies of his youth had done much to soften all the asperities of his
varied and vigorous life, and now, at its close, they gave to his
judgments a large reflectiveness of tone, a moral beauty of feeling, and
a philosophy of charity and good taste, which have left to his
successors in that Court of Session no nobler models for imitation and
example. Impatience of dullness _would_ break from him, now and then;
and the still busy activity of his mind might be seen as he rose often
suddenly from his seat, and paced up and down before it; but in his
charges or decisions nothing of this feeling was perceptible, except
that lightness and grace of expression in which his youth seemed to
linger to the last, and a quick sensibility to emotion and enjoyment
which half concealed the ravages of time.
If such was the public estimation of this great and amiable man, to the
very termination of his useful life, what language should describe the
charm of his influence in his private and domestic circle? The
affectionate pride with which every citizen of Edinburgh regarded him
rose here to a kind of idolatry. For here the whole man was known--his
kind heart, his open hand, his genial talk, his ready sympathy, his
generous encouragement and assistance to all that needed it. The first
passion of his life was its last, and never was the love of literature
so bright within him as at the brink of the grave. What dims and deadens
the impressibility of most men, had rendered his not only more acute and
fresh, but more tributary to calm satisfaction, and pure enjoyment. He
did not live merely in the past as age is wont to do, but drew delight
from every present manifestation of worth, or genius, from whatever
quarter it addressed him. His vivid pleasure where his interest was
awakened, his alacrity and eagerness of appreciation, the fervor of his
encouragement and praise, have animated the hopes and relieved the toil
alike of the successful and the unsuccessful, who can not hope, through
whatever checkered future may await them, to find a more, generous
critic, a more profound adviser, a more indulgent friend.
The present year opened upon Francis Jeffrey with all hopeful promise.
He had mastered a severe illness, and resumed his duties with his
accustomed cheerfulness; private circumstances had more than ordinarily
interested him in his old Review; and the memory of past friends, giving
yet greater strength to the affection that surrounded him, was busy at
his heart. "God bless you!" he wrote to Sydney Smith's widow on the
night of the 18th of January; "I am very old, and have many infirmities;
but I am tenacious of old friendships, and find much of my present
enjoyments in the recollections of the past." He sat in Court the next
day, and on the Monday and Tuesday of the following week, with his
faculties and attention unimpaired. On the Wednesday he had a slight
attack of bronchitis; on Friday, symptoms of danger appeared; and on
Saturday he died, peacefully and without pain. Few men had completed
with such consummate success the work appointed them in this world; few
men had passed away to a better with more assured hopes of their reward.
The recollection of his virtues sanctifies his fame; and his genius will
never cease to awaken the gratitude, respect, and pride of his
countrymen.
HAIL AND FAREWELL!
METAL IN SEA-WATER.
The French _savans_, MM. Malaguti, Derocher, and Sarzeaud, announce that
they have detected in the waters of the ocean the presence of copper,
lead, and silver. The water examined appears to have been taken some
leagues off the coast of St. Malo, and the fucoidal plants of that
district are also found to contain silver. The _F. serratus_ and the _F.
ceramoides_ yielded ashes containing 1-100,000th, while the water of the
sea contained but little more than 1-100,000,000th. They state also that
they find silver in sea-salt, in ordinary muriatic acid, and in the soda
of commerce; and that they have examined the rock-salt of Lorraine, in
which also they discover this metal. Beyond this, pursuing their
researches on terrestrial plants, they have obtained such indications as
leave no doubt of the existence of silver in vegetable tissues. Lead is
said to be always found in the ashes of marine plants, usually about an
18-100,000th part, and invariably a trace of copper. Should these
results be confirmed by further examination, we shall have advanced
considerably toward a knowledge of the phenomena of the formation of
mineral veins.--_Athenæum._
[From Bentley's Miscellany.]
DR. JOHNSON: HIS RELIGIOUS LIFE, AND HIS DEATH.
The title is a captivating one, and will allure many, but it very feebly
expresses the contents of the volume, which brings under our observation
the religious opinions of scores upon scores of other men, and is
enriched with numerous anecdotes of the contemporaries of the great
lexicographer. The book, indeed, may be considered as a condensation of
all that was known and recorded of Dr. Johnson's practice and experience
of religion from his youth to his death; of its powerful influence over
him through many years of his life--of the nature of his faith, and of
its fruits in his works; but there is added to this so much that is
excellent of other people--the life of the soul is seen in so many other
characters--so many subjects are introduced that are more or less
intimately connected with that to which the title refers, and all are so
admirably blended together, and interwoven with the excellent remarks of
the author, as to justify us in saying of the book, that it is one of
the most edifying and really useful we have for years past met with.
It has often been our lot to see the sneers of beardless boys at the
mention of religion, and to hear the titter of the empty-headed when
piety was spoken of, and we always then thought of the profound awe with
which the mighty mind of Dr. Johnson was impressed by such subjects--of
his deep humiliation of soul when he reflected upon his duties and
responsibilities--and of his solemn and reverential manner when religion
became the topic of discourse, or the subject of his thoughts. His
intellect, one of the grandest that was ever given to man, humbled
itself to the very dust before the Giver; the very superiority of his
mental powers over those of other men, made him but feel himself the
less in his own sight, when he reflected from whom he had his being, and
to whom he must render an account of the use he made of the vast
intellectual powers he possessed.
But the religion of Dr. Johnson consisted not in deep feeling only, nor
in much talking nor professing, but was especially distinguished by its
practical benevolence; when he possessed but two-pence, one penny was
always at the service of any one who had nothing at all; his poor house
was an asylum for the poor, a home for the destitute; there, for months
and years together, he sheltered and supported the needy and the blind,
at a time when his utmost efforts could do no more than provide bare
support for them and himself. Those whom he loved not he would
serve--those whom he esteemed not he would give to, and labor for, and
devote the best powers of his pen to help and to benefit.
The cry of distress, the appeal of the afflicted, was irresistible with
him--no matter whatever else pressed upon him--whatever literary calls
were urging him--or however great the need of the daily toil for the
daily bread--all was abandoned till the houseless were sheltered, till
the hungry were fed, and the defenseless were protected; and it would be
difficult to name any of all Dr. Johnson's contemporaries--he in all his
poverty, and they in all their abundance--in whose lives such proofs
could be found of the most enlarged charity and unwearied benevolence.
But the book treats of so many subjects, of so much that is connected
with religion in general, and with the Church of England in particular,
that we can really do no more than refer our readers to the volume
itself; with the assurance that they will find in it much useful and
agreeable information on all those many matters which are connected in
these times with Church interests, and which are more or less
influencing all classes of the religious public.
The author writes freely, and with great power; he argues ably, and
discusses liberally all the points of religious controversy, and a very
delightful volume is the result of his labors. It must do good, it must
please and improve the mind, as well as delight the heart of all who
read it. Indeed, no one not equal to the work could have ventured upon
it without lasting disgrace had he failed in it; a dissertation upon the
faith and morals of a man whose fame has so long filled the world, and
in whose writings so much of his religious feelings are displayed, and
so much of his spiritual life is unvailed, must be admirably written to
receive any favor from the public; and we think that the author has so
ably done what he undertook to do, that that full measure of praise will
be awarded to him, which in our judgment he deserves.
A perusal of this excellent work reminds us of the recent sale of some
letters and documents of Dr. Johnson from Mr. Linnecar's collection. The
edifying example of this good and great man, so well set forth in the
present volume, is fully borne out in an admirable prayer composed by
Dr. Johnson, a few months before his death, the original copy of which
was here disposed of. For the gratification of the reader, we may be
allowed to give the following brief abstract of the contents of these
papers:
"To DAVID GARRICK.
"Streatham, December 13, 1771.
"I have thought upon your epitaph, but without much effect; an
epitaph is no easy thing. Of your three stanzas, the third is
utterly unworthy of you. The first and third together give no
discriminative character. If the first alone were to stand,
Hogarth would not be distinguished from any other man of
intellectual eminence. Suppose you worked upon something like
this:
"The hand of Art here torpid lies,
That traced th' essential form of grace,
Here death has clos'd the curious eyes
That saw the manners in the face.
If genius warm thee, Reader, stay,
If merit touch thee, shed a tear,
Be Vice and Dullness far away,
Great Hogarth's honor'd dust is here."
"To DR. FARMER.
"Bolt Court, July 22d, 1777.
"The booksellers of London have undertaken a kind of body of
English Poetry, excluding generally the dramas, and I have
undertaken to put before each author's works a sketch of his
life, and a character of his writings. Of some, however, I know
very little, and am afraid I shall not easily supply my
deficiencies. Be pleased to inform me whether among Mr. Burke's
manuscripts, or any where else at Cambridge any materials are to
be found."
"To OZIAS HUMPHREY.
"May 31st, 1784.
"I am very much obliged by your civilities to my godson, and must
beg of you to add to them the favor of permitting him to see you
paint, that he may know how a picture is begun, advanced and
completed. If he may attend you in a few of your operations, I
hope he will show that the benefit has been properly conferred,
both by his proficiency and his gratitude."
The following beautiful prayer is dated Ashbourne, Sept. 18, 1784:
"Make me truly thankful for the call by which Thou hast awakened
my conscience and summoned me to repentance. Let not Thy call, O
Lord, be forgotten, or Thy summons neglected, but let the residue
of my life, whatever it shall be, be passed in true contrition,
and diligent obedience. Let me repent of the sins of my past
life, and so keep Thy laws for the time to come, that when it
shall be Thy good pleasure to call me to another state, I may
find mercy in Thy sight. Let Thy Holy Spirit support me in the
hour of death, and, O Lord, grant me pardon in the day of
Judgment."
Besides the above, Dr. Johnson's celebrated letter to the author of
"Ossian's Poems," in which he says, "I will not be deterred from
detecting what I think to be a cheat by the menaces of a ruffian," was
sold at this sale for twelve guineas.
SONETTO.
FROM THE ITALIAN OF BENEDETTO MENZINI.
I planted once a laurel tree,
And breathed to heaven an humble vow
That Phoebus' favorite it might be,
And shade and deck a poet's brow!
I prayed to Zephyr that his wing,
Descending through the April sky,
Might wave the boughs in early spring
And brush rude Boreas frowning by.
And slowly Phoebus heard the prayer,
And slowly, slowly, grew the tree,
And others sprang more fast and fair,
Yet marvel not that this should be;
For tardier still the growth of Fame--
And who is _he_ the crown may claim?
ETA
[From Household Words.]
A CHILD'S DREAM OF A STAR.
There was once a child, and he strolled about a good deal, and thought
of a number of things. He had a sister, who was a child too, and his
constant companion. These two used to wonder all day long. They wondered
at the beauty of the flowers; they wondered at the height and blueness
of the sky; they wondered at the depth of the bright water; they
wondered at the goodness and the power of God who made the lovely world.
They used to say to one another, sometimes, Supposing all the children
upon earth were to die, would the flowers, and the water, and the sky be
sorry? They believed they would be sorry. For, said they, the buds are
the children of the flowers, and the little playful streams that gambol
down the hill-sides are the children of the water; and the smallest
bright specks, playing at hide and seek in the sky all night, must
surely be the children of the stars; and they would all be grieved to
see their playmates, the children of men, no more.
There was one clear, shining star that used to come out in the sky
before the rest, near the church spire, above the graves. It was larger
and more beautiful, they thought, than all the others, and every night
they watched for it, standing hand in hand at a window. Whoever saw it
first, cried out, "I see the star!" And often they cried out both
together, knowing so well when it would rise, and where. So they grew to
be such friends with it, that, before lying down in their beds, they
always looked out once again, to bid it good night; and when they were
turning round to sleep, they used to say, "God bless the star!"
But while she was still very young, oh very, very young, the sister
drooped, and came to be so weak that she could no longer stand in the
window at night; and then the child looked sadly out by himself, and
when he saw the star, turned round and said to the patient, pale face on
the bed, "I see the star!" and then a smile would come upon the face,
and a little, weak voice used to say, "God bless my brother and the
star!"
And so the time came, all too soon! when the child looked out alone, and
when there was no face on the bed; and when there was a little grave
among the graves, not there before; and when the star made long rays
down toward him, as he saw it through his tears.
Now, these rays were so bright, and they seemed to make such a shining
way from earth to heaven, that when the child went to his solitary bed,
he dreamed about the star; and dreamed that, lying where he was, he saw
a train of people taken up that sparkling road by angels. And the star,
opening, showed him a great world of light, where many more such angels
waited to receive them.
All these angels, who were waiting, turned their beaming eyes upon the
people who were carried up into the star; and some came out from the
long rows in which they stood, and fell upon the people's necks, and
kissed them tenderly, and went away with them down avenues of light, and
were so happy in their company, that lying in his bed he wept for joy.
But there were many angels who did not go with them, and among them one
he knew. The patient face that once had lain upon the bed was glorified
and radiant, but his heart found out his sister among all the host.
His sister's angel lingered near the entrance of the star, and said to
the leader among those who had brought the people thither:
"Is my brother come?"
And he said "No."
She was turning hopefully away, when the child stretched out his arms,
and cried, "O, sister, I am here! Take me!" and then she turned her
beaming eyes upon him, and it was night; and the star was shining into
the room, making long rays down toward him as he saw it through his
tears.
From that hour forth, the child looked out upon the star as on the Home
he was to go to, when his time should come; and he thought that he did
not belong to the earth alone, but to the star too, because of his
sister's angel gone before.
There was a baby born to be a brother to the child; and while he was so
little that he never yet had spoken word, he stretched his tiny form
out on his bed, and died.
Again the child dreamed of the opened star, and of the company of
angels, and the train of people, and the rows of angels with their
beaming eyes all turned upon those people's faces.
Said his sister's angel to the leader:
"Is my brother come?"
And he said, "Not that one, but another."
As the child beheld his brother's angel in her arms, he cried, "O,
sister, I am here! Take me!" And she turned and smiled upon him, and the
star was shining.
He grew to be a young man, and was busy at his books, when an old
servant came to him, and said,
"Thy mother is no more. I bring her blessing on her darling son!"
Again at night he saw the star, and all that former company. Said his
sister's angel to the leader:
"Is my brother come?"
And he said, "Thy mother!"
A mighty cry of joy went forth through all the star, because the mother
was reunited to her two children. And he stretched out his arms and
cried, "O, mother, sister, and brother, I am here! Take me!" And they
answered him, "Not yet," and the star was shining.
He grew to be a man, whose hair was turning gray, and he was sitting in
his chair by the fireside, heavy with grief, and with his face bedewed
with tears, when the star opened once again.
Said his sister's angel to the leader, "Is my brother come?"
And he said, "Nay, but his maiden daughter."
And the man who had been the child saw his daughter, newly lost to him,
a celestial creature among those three, and he said, "My daughter's head
is on my sister's bosom, and her arm is round my mother's neck, and at
her feet there is the baby of old time, and I can bear the parting from
her, God be praised!"
And the star was shining.
Thus the child came to be an old man, and his once smooth face was
wrinkled, and his steps were slow and feeble, and his back was bent. And
one night as he lay upon his bed, his children standing round, he cried,
as he had cried so long ago,
"I see the star!"
They whispered one another, "He is dying."
And he said, "I am. My age is falling from me like a garment, and I move
toward the star as a child. And O, my Father, now I thank thee that it
has so often opened, to receive those dear ones who await me!"
And the star was shining; and it shines upon his grave.
LONGFELLOW.
The muse of Mr. Longfellow owes little or none of her success to those
great national sources of inspiration which are most likely to influence
an ardent poetic temperament. The grand old woods--the magnificent
mountain and forest scenery--the mighty rivers--the trackless
savannahs--all those stupendous and varied features of that great
country, with which, from his boyhood, he must have been familiar, it
might be thought would have stamped some of these characteristics upon
his poetry. Such, however, has not been the case. Of lofty images and
grand conceptions we meet with few, if any, traces. But brimful of life,
of love, and of truth, the stream of his song flows on with a tender and
touching simplicity, and a gentle music, which we have not met with
since the days of our own Moore. Like him, too, the genius of Mr.
Longfellow is essentially lyric; and if he has failed to derive
inspiration from the grand features of his own country, he has been no
unsuccessful student of the great works of the German masters of song.
We could almost fancy, while reading his exquisite ballad of the
"Beleaguered City," that Goethe, Schiller, or Uhland was before us; and
yet, we must by no means be understood to insinuate that he is a mere
copyist--quite the contrary. He has become so thoroughly imbued with the
spirit of these exquisite models, that he has contrived to produce
pieces marked with an individuality of their own, and noways behind them
in point of poetical merit. In this regard he affords another
illustration of the truth of the proposition, that the legendary lore
and traditions of other countries have been very serviceable toward the
formation of American literature.
About the year 1837, Longfellow, being engaged in making the tour of
Europe, selected Heidelberg for a permanent winter residence. There his
wife was attacked with an illness, which ultimately proved fatal. It so
happened, however, that some time afterward there came to the same
romantic place a young lady of considerable personal attractions. The
poet's heart was touched--he became attached to her; but the beauty of
sixteen did not sympathize with the poet of six-and-thirty, and
Longfellow returned to America, having lost his heart as well as his
wife. The young lady, also an American, returned home shortly afterward.
Their residences, it turned out, were contiguous, and the poet availed
himself of the opportunity of prosecuting his addresses, which he did
for a considerable time with no better success than at first. Thus
foiled, he set himself resolutely down, and instead, like Petrarch, of
laying siege to the heart of his mistress through the medium of sonnets,
he resolved to write a whole book; a book which would achieve the double
object of gaining her affections, and of establishing his own fame.
"Hyperion" was the result. His labor and his constancy were not thrown
away: they met their due reward. The lady gave him her hand as well as
her heart; and they now reside together at Cambridge, in the same house
which Washington made his head-quarters when he was first appointed to
the command of the American armies. These interesting facts were
communicated to us by a very intelligent American gentleman whom we had
the pleasure of meeting in the same place which was the scene of the
poet's early disappointment and sorrow.--_Dublin University Magazine._
THE CHAPEL BY THE SHORE.
By the shore, a plot of ground
Clips a ruined chapel round,
Buttressed with a grassy mound;
Where Day, and Night, and Day go by
And bring no touch of human sound.
Washing of the lonely seas--
Shaking of the guardian trees--
Piping of the salted breeze--
Day, and Night, and Day go by,
To the endless tune of these.
Or when, as winds and waters keep
A hush more dead than any sleep,
Still morns to stiller evenings creep,
And Day, and Night, and Day go by
Here the stillness is most deep.
And the ruins, lapsed again
Into Nature's wide domain,
Sow themselves with seed and grain,
As Day, and Night, and Day go by,
And hoard June's sun and April's rain.
Here fresh funeral tears were shed;
And now the graves are also dead:
And suckers from the ash-tree spread,
As Day, and Night, and Day go by
And stars move calmly overhead.
[From Household Words.]
ILLUSTRATIONS OF CHEAPNESS.
THE LUCIFER MATCH.
Some twenty years ago the process of obtaining fire, in every house in
England, with few exceptions, was as rude, as laborious, and as
uncertain, as the effort of the Indian to produce a flame by the
friction of two dry sticks.
The nightlamp and the rushlight were for the comparatively luxurious. In
the bedrooms of the cottager, the artisan, and the small tradesman, the
infant at its mother's side too often awoke, like Milton's nightingale,
"darkling"--but that "nocturnal note" was something different from
"harmonious numbers." The mother was soon on her feet; the friendly
tinder-box was duly sought. Click, click, click; not a spark tells upon
the sullen blackness. More rapidly does the flint ply the sympathetic
steel. The room is bright with the radiant shower. But the child,
familiar enough with the operation, is impatient at its tediousness, and
shouts till the mother is frantic. At length one lucky spark does its
office--the tinder is alight. Now for the match. It will not burn. A
gentle breath is wafted into the murky box; the face that leans over the
tinder is in a glow. Another match, and another, and another. They are
all damp. The toil-worn father "swears a prayer or two," the baby is
inexorable; and the misery is only ended when the goodman has gone to
the street door, and after long shivering has obtained a light from the
watchman.
In this, the beginning of our series of Illustrations of Cheapness, let
us trace this antique machinery through the various stages of its
production.
The tinder-box and the steel had nothing peculiar. The tinman made the
one as he made the saucepan, with hammer and shears; the other was
forged at the great metal factories of Sheffield and Birmingham; and
happy was it for the purchaser if it were something better than a rude
piece of iron, very uncomfortable to grasp. The nearest chalk quarry
supplied the flint. The domestic manufacture of the tinder was a serious
affair. At due seasons, and very often if the premises were damp, a
stifling smell rose from the kitchen, which, to those who were not
intimate with the process, suggested doubts whether the house were not
on fire. The best linen rag was periodically burnt, and its ashes
deposited in the tinman's box, pressed down with a close fitting lid,
upon which the flint and steel reposed. The match was chiefly an article
of itinerant traffic. The chandler's shop was almost ashamed of it. The
mendicant was the universal match-seller. The girl who led the blind
beggar had invariably a basket of matches. In the day they were vendors
of matches--in the evening manufacturers. On the floor of the hovel sit
two or three squalid children, splitting deal with a common knife. The
matron is watching a pipkin upon a slow fire. The fumes which it gives
forth are blinding as the brimstone's liquifying. Little bundles of
split deal are ready to be dipped, three or four at a time. When the
pennyworth of brimstone is used up, when the capital is exhausted, the
night's labor is over. In the summer, the manufacture is suspended, or
conducted upon fraudulent principles. Fire is then needless; so delusive
matches must be produced--wet splints dipped in powdered sulphur. They
will never burn, but they will do to sell to the unwary
maid-of-all-work.
About twenty years ago Chemistry discovered that the tinder-box might be
abolished. But Chemistry set about its function with especial reference
to the wants and the means of the rich few. In the same way the first
printed books were designed to have a great resemblance to manuscripts,
and those of the wealthy class were alone looked to as the purchasers of
the skillful imitations. The first chemical light producer was a complex
and ornamental casket, sold at a guinea. In a year or so, there were
pretty portable cases of a phial and matches, which enthusiastic young
housekeepers regarded as the cheapest of all treasures at five
shillings. By-and-by the light-box was sold as low as a shilling. The
fire revolution was slowly approaching. The old dynasty of the
tinder-box maintained its predominance for a short while in kitchen and
garret, in farm-house and cottage. At length some bold adventurer saw
that the new chemical discovery might be employed for the production of
a large article of trade--that matches, in themselves the vehicles of
fire without aid of spark and tinder, might be manufactured upon the
factory system--that the humblest in the land might have a new and
indispensable comfort at the very lowest rate of cheapness. When
Chemistry saw that phosphorus, having an affinity for oxygen at the
lowest temperature, would ignite upon slight friction, and so ignited
would ignite sulphur, which required a much higher temperature to become
inflammable, thus making the phosphorus do the work of the old tinder
with far greater certainty; or when Chemistry found that chlorate of
potash by slight friction might be exploded so as to produce combustion,
and might be safely used in the same combination--a blessing was
bestowed upon society that can scarcely be measured by those who have
had no former knowledge of the miseries and privations of the
tinder-box. The Penny Box of Lucifers, or Congreves, or by whatever name
called, is a real triumph of Science, and an advance in civilization.
Let us now look somewhat closely and practically into the manufacture of
a Lucifer Match.
The combustible materials used in the manufacture render the process an
unsafe one. It can not be carried on in the heart of towns without being
regarded as a common nuisance. We must therefore go somewhere in the
suburbs of London to find such a trade. In the neighborhood of Bethnal
Green there is a large open space called Wisker's Gardens. This is not a
place of courts and alleys, but a considerable area, literally divided
into small gardens, where just now the crocus and the snowdrop are
telling hopefully of the springtime. Each garden has the smallest of
cottages--for the most part wooden--which have been converted from
summer-houses into dwellings. The whole place reminds one of numberless
passages in the old dramatists, in which the citizens' wives are
described in their garden-houses of Finsbury or Hogsden, sipping
syllabub and talking fine on summer holidays. In one of these
garden-houses, not far from the public road, is the little factory of
"Henry Lester, Patentee of the Domestic Safety Match-box," as his label
proclaims. He is very ready to show his processes, which in many
respects are curious and interesting.
Adam Smith has instructed us that the business of making a pin is
divided into about eighteen distinct operations; and further, that ten
persons could make upward of forty-eight thousand pins a day with the
division of labor; while if they had all wrought independently and
separately, and without any of them having been educated to this
peculiar business, they certainly could not each of them have made
twenty. The Lucifer Match is a similar example of division of labor, and
the skill of long, practice. At a separate factory, where there is a
steam-engine, not the refuse of the carpenter's shop, but the best
Norway deals are cut into splints by machinery, and are supplied to the
match-maker. These little pieces, beautifully accurate in their minute
squareness, and in their precise length of five inches, are made up into
bundles, each of which contains eighteen hundred. They are daily brought
on a truck to the dipping-house, as it is called--the average number of
matches finished off daily requiring two hundred of these bundles. Up to
this point we have had several hands employed in the preparation of the
match, in connection with the machinery that cuts the wood. Let us
follow one of these bundles through the subsequent processes. Without
being separated, each end of the bundle is first dipped into sulphur.
When dry, the splints, adhering to each other by means of the sulphur,
must be parted by what is called dusting. A boy sitting on the floor,
with a bundle before him, strikes the matches with a sort of a mallet on
the dipped ends till they become thoroughly loosened. In the best
matches the process of sulphur-dipping and dusting is repeated. They
have now to be plunged into a preparation of phosphorus or chlorate of
potash, according to the quality of the match. The phosphorus produces
the pale, noiseless fire; the chlorate of potash the sharp, crackling
illumination. After this application of the more inflammable substance,
the matches are separated, and dried in racks. Thoroughly dried, they
are gathered up again into bundles of the same quantity; and are taken
to the boys who cut them; for the reader will have observed that the
bundles have been dipped at each end. There are few things more
remarkable in manufactures than the extraordinary rapidity of this
cutting process, and that which is connected with it. The boy stands
before a bench, the bundle on his right hand, a pile of half opened
empty boxes on his left, which have been manufactured at another
division of this establishment. These boxes are formed of scale-board,
that is, thin slices of wood, planed or scaled off a plank. The box
itself is a marvel of neatness and cheapness. It consists of an inner
box, without a top, in which the matches are placed, and of an outer
case, open at each end, into which the first box slides. The matches,
then, are to be cut, and the empty boxes filled, by one boy. A bundle is
opened; he seizes a portion, knowing, by long habit, the required number
with sufficient exactness; puts them rapidly into a sort of frame,
knocks the ends evenly together, confines them with a strap which he
tightens with his foot, and cuts them in two parts with a knife on a
hinge, which he brings down with a strong leverage: the halves lie
projecting over each end of the frame; he grasps the left portion and
thrusts it into a half open box, which he instantly closes, and repeats
the process with the matches on his right hand. This series of movements
is performed with a rapidity almost unexampled; for in this way, two
hundred thousand matches are cut, and two thousand boxes filled in a
day, by one boy, at the wages of three halfpence per gross of boxes.
Each dozen boxes is then papered up, and they are ready for the
retailer. The number of boxes daily filled at this factory is from fifty
to sixty gross.
The _wholesale_ price per dozen boxes of the best matches is FOURPENCE,
of the second quality, THREEPENCE.
There are about ten Lucifer Match manufactories in London. There are
others in large provincial towns. The wholesale business is chiefly
confined to the supply of the metropolis and immediate neighborhood by
the London makers; for the railroad carriers refuse to receive the
article, which is considered dangerous in transit. But we must not
therefore assume that the metropolitan populations consume the
metropolitan matches. Taking the population at upward of two millions,
and the inhabited houses at about three hundred thousand, let us
endeavor to estimate the distribution of these little articles of
domestic comfort.
At the manufactory at Wisker's Gardens there are fifty gross, or seven
thousand two hundred boxes, turned out daily, made from two hundred
bundles, which will produce seven hundred and twenty thousand matches.
Taking three hundred working days in the year, this will give for one
factory, two hundred and sixteen millions of matches annually, or two
millions one hundred and sixty thousand boxes, being a box of one
hundred matches for every individual of the London population. But there
are ten other Lucifer manufactories, which are estimated to produce
about four or five times as many more. London certainly can not absorb
ten millions of Lucifer boxes annually, which would be at the rate of
thirty-three boxes to each inhabited house. London, perhaps, demands a
third of the supply for its own consumption; and at this rate the annual
retail cost for each house is eightpence, averaging those boxes sold at
a halfpenny, and those at a penny. The manufacturer sells this article,
produced with such care as we have described, at one farthing and a
fraction per box.
And thus, for the retail expenditure of three farthings per month, every
house in London, from the highest to the lowest, may secure the
inestimable blessing of constant fire at all seasons, and at all hours.
London buys this for ten thousand pounds annually.
The excessive cheapness is produced by the extension of the demand,
enforcing the factory division of labor, and the most exact saving of
material. The scientific discovery was the foundation of the cheapness.
But connected with this general principle of cheapness, there are one or
two remarkable points, which deserve attention.
It is a law of this manufacture that the demand is greater in the summer
than in the winter. The old match maker, as we have mentioned, was idle
in the summer--without fire for heating the brimstone--or engaged in
more profitable field-work. A worthy woman, who once kept a chandler's
shop in a village, informs us, that in summer she could buy no matches
for retail, but was obliged to make them for her customers. The
increased summer demand for the Lucifer Matches shows that the great
consumption is among the masses--the laboring population--those who
make up the vast majority of the contributors to duties of customs and
excise. In the houses of the wealthy there is always fire; in the houses
of the poor, fire in summer is a needless hourly expense. Then comes the
Lucifer Match to supply the want; to light the candle to look in the
dark cupboard--to light the afternoon fire to boil the kettle. It is now
unnecessary to run to the neighbor for a light, or, as a desperate
resource, to work at the tinder-box. The Lucifer Matches sometimes fail,
but they cost little, and so they are freely used, even by the poorest.
And this involves another great principle. The demand for the Lucifer
Match is always continuous, for it is a perishable article. The demand
never ceases. Every match burnt demands a new match to supply its place.
This continuity of demand renders the supply always equal to the demand.
The peculiar nature of the commodity prevents any accumulation of stock;
its combustible character--requiring the simple agency of friction to
ignite it--renders it dangerous for large quantities of the article to
be kept in one place. Therefore no one makes for store, but all for
immediate sale. The average price, therefore, must always yield a
profit, or the production would altogether cease. But these essential
qualities limit the profit. The manufacturers can not be rich without
secret processes or monopoly. The contest is to obtain the largest
profit by economical management. The amount of skill required in the
laborers, and the facility of habit, which makes fingers act with the
precision of machines, limit the number of laborers, and prevent their
impoverishment. Every condition of this cheapness is a natural and
beneficial result of the laws that govern production.
TUNNEL OF THE ALPS.
The Sardinian Government is about to execute a grand engineering
project; it is going to pierce the summit-ridge of the Alps with a
tunnel twice as long as any existing tunnel in the world. A
correspondent of the _Times_ announces the fact. From London as far as
Chambery, by the Lyons railroad, all is at present smooth enough; and
the Lyons road is indeed about to be pushed up the ascents of Mont
Meillaud and St. Maurienne, even as far as Modane at the foot of the
Northern crest of the Graian and Cottian Alps: but there all further
progress is arrested; you can not hope to carry a train to Susa and
Turin unless you pierce the snow capped barrier itself: this is the very
step which the Chevalier Henry Maus projects. The Chevalier is Honorary
Inspector of the Génie Civil; it was he who projected and executed the
great works on the Liége railroad. After five years of incessant study,
many practical experiments, and the invention of new machinery for
boring the mountain, he made his final report to the Government on the
8th of February, 1849. A commission of distinguished civil engineers,
artillery officers, geologists, senators, and statesmen, have reported
unanimously in favor of the project; and the Government has resolved to
carry it out forthwith. The "Railroad of the Alps," connecting the
tunnel with the Chambery railway on the one side and with that of Susa
on the other side, will be 36,565 metres or 20-3/4 English miles in
length, and will cost 21,000,000 francs. The connecting tunnel is thus
described:
"It will measure 12,290 metres, or nearly seven English miles in length;
its greatest height will be 19 feet, and its width 25 feet, admitting,
of course, of a double line of rail. Its northern entrance is to be at
Modane, and the southern entrance at Bardonneche, on the river
Mardovine. This latter entrance, being the highest point of the intended
line of rail, will be 4,092 feet above the level of the sea, and yet
2,400 feet below the highest or culminating point of the great road or
pass over the Mont Cenis. It is intended to divide the connecting lines
of rail leading to either entrance of the tunnel into eight inclined
planes of about 5,000 metres or 2-1/2 English miles each, worked like
those at Liége, by endless cables and stationary engines, but in the
present case moved by water-power derived from the torrents."
THE FLOWER GATHERER.
[FROM THE GERMAN OF KRUMMACHER.]
"God sends upon the wings of Spring,
Fresh thoughts into the breasts of flowers."
MISS BREMER.
The young and innocent Theresa had passed the most beautiful part of the
spring upon a bed of sickness; and as soon as ever she began to regain
her strength, she spoke of flowers, asking continually if her favorites
were again as lovely as they had been the year before, when she had been
able to seek for and admire them herself. Erick, the sick girl's little
brother, took a basket, and showing it to his mamma, said, in a whisper,
"Mamma, I will run out and get poor Theresa the prettiest I can find in
the fields." So out he ran, for the first time for many a long day, and
he thought that spring had never been so beautiful before; for he looked
upon it with a gentle and loving heart, and enjoyed a run in the fresh
air, after having been a prisoner by his sister's couch, whom he had
never left during her illness. The happy child rambled about, up hill
and down hill. Nightingales sang, bees hummed, and butterflies flitted
round him, and the most lovely flowers were blowing at his feet. He
jumped about, he danced, he sang, and wandered from hedge to hedge, and
from flower to flower, with a soul as pure as the blue sky above him,
and eyes that sparkled like a little brook bubbling from a rock. At last
he had filled his basket quite full of the prettiest flowers; and, to
crown all, he had made a wreath of field-strawberry flowers, which he
laid on the top of it, neatly arranged on some grass, and one might
fancy them a string of pearls, they looked so pure and fresh. The happy
boy looked with delight at his full basket, and putting it down by his
side, rested himself in the shade of an oak, on a carpet of soft green
moss. Here he sat, looking at the beautiful prospect that lay spread out
before him in all the freshness of spring, and listening to the
ever-changing songs of the birds. But he had really tired himself out
with joy; and the merry sounds of the fields, the buzzing of the
insects, and the birds' songs, all helped to send him to sleep. And
peacefully the fair child slumbered, his rosy cheek resting on the hands
that still held his treasured basket.
But while he slept a sudden change came on. A storm arose in the
heavens, but a few moments before so blue and beautiful. Heavy masses of
clouds gathered darkly and ominously together; the lightning flashed,
and the thunder rolled louder and nearer. Suddenly a gust of wind roared
in the boughs of the oak, and startled the boy out of his quiet sleep.
He saw the whole heavens vailed by black clouds; not a sunbeam gleamed
over the fields, and a heavy clap of thunder followed his waking. The
poor child stood up, bewildered at the sudden change; and now the rain
began to patter through the leaves of the oak, so he snatched up his
basket, and ran toward home as fast as his legs could carry him. The
storm seemed to burst over his head. Rain, hail, and thunder, striving
for the mastery, almost deafened him, and made him more bewildered every
minute. Water streamed from his poor soaked curls down his shoulders,
and he could scarcely see to find his way homeward. All on a sudden a
more violent gust of wind than usual caught the treasured basket, and
scattered all his carefully-collected flowers far away over the field.
His patience could endure no longer, for his face grew distorted with
rage, and he flung the empty basket from him, with a burst of anger.
Crying bitterly, and thoroughly wet, he reached at last his parents'
house in a pitiful plight.
But soon another change appeared; the storm passed away, and the sky
grew clear again. The birds began their songs anew, the countryman his
labor. The air had become cooler and purer, and a bright calm seemed to
lie lovingly in every valley and on every hill. What a delicious odor
rose from the freshened fields! and their cultivators looked with
grateful joy at the departing clouds, which had poured the fertilizing
rain upon them. The sight of the blue sky soon tempted the frightened
boy out again, and being by this time ashamed of his ill-temper, he went
very quietly to look for his discarded basket, and to try and fill it
again. He seemed to feel a new life within him. The cool breath of the
air--the smell of the fields--the leafy trees--the warbling birds, all
appeared doubly beautiful after the storm, and the humiliating
consciousness of his foolish and unjust ill-temper softened and
chastened his joy. After a long search he spied the basket lying on the
slope of a hill, for a bramble bush had caught it, and sheltered it from
the violence of the wind. The child felt quite thankful to the
ugly-looking bush as he disentangled the basket.
But how great was his delight on looking around him, to see the fields
spangled with flowers, as numerous as the stars of heaven! for the rain
had nourished into blossom thousands of daisies, opened thousands of
buds, and scattered pearly drops on every leaf. Erick flitted about like
a busy bee, and gathered away to his heart's content. The sun was now
near his setting, and the happy child hastened home with his basket full
once more. How delighted he was with his flowery treasure, and with the
pearly garland of fresh strawberry-flowers! The rays of the sinking sun
played over his fair face as he wandered on, and gave his pretty
features a placid and contented expression. But his eyes sparkled much
more joyously when he received the kisses and thanks of his gentle
sister. "Is it not true, dear," said his mother, "that the pleasures we
prepare for others are the best of all?"
ROYAL ROAD TO KNOWLEDGE.--A Mr. Jules Aleix, of Paris, states that he
has discovered a new method of education, by which a child can be taught
to read in fifteen lessons, and has petitioned the Assembly to expend
50,000 francs on a model school to demonstrate the fact.
[From Household Words.]
SHORT CUTS ACROSS THE GLOBE.
To a person who wishes to sail for California an inspection of the map
of the world reveals a provoking peculiarity. The Atlantic Ocean--the
highway of the globe--being separated from the Pacific by the great
western continent, it is impossible to sail to the opposite coasts
without going thousands of miles out of his way; for he must double Cape
Horn. Yet a closer inspection of the map will discover that but for one
little barrier of land, which is in size but as a grain of sand to the
bed of an ocean, the passage would be direct. Were it not for that small
neck of land, the Isthmus of Panama (which narrows in one place to
twenty-eight miles) he might save a voyage of from six to eight thousand
miles, and pass at once into the Pacific Ocean. Again, if his desires
tend toward the East, he perceives that but for the Isthmus of Suez, he
would not be obliged to double the Cape of Good Hope. The eastern
difficulty has been partially obviated by the overland route opened up
by the ill-rewarded Waghorn. The western barrier has yet to be broken
through.
Now that we can shake hands with Brother Jonathan in twelve days by
means of weekly steamers; travel from one end of Great Britain to
another, or from the Hudson to the Ohio, as fast as the wind, and make
our words dance to distant friends upon the magic tight wire a great
deal faster--now that the European and Columbian Saxon is spreading his
children more or less over all the known habitable world: it seems
extraordinary that the simple expedient of opening a twenty-eight mile
passage between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, to save a dangerous
voyage of some eight thousand miles, has not been already achieved. In
this age of enterprise that so simple a remedy for so great an evil
should not have been applied appears astonishing. Nay, we ought to feel
some shame when we reflect that evidences in the neighborhood of both
isthmuses exist of such junction having existed, in what we are pleased
to designate "barbarous" ages.
Does nature present insurmountable engineering difficulties to the
Panama scheme? By no means: for after the Croton aqueduct, our own
railway tunneling, and the Britannia tubular bridge, engineering
difficulties have become obsolete. Are the levels of the Pacific and the
Gulf of Mexico, which should be joined, so different, that if one were
admitted the fall would inundate the surrounding country? Not at all.
Hear Humboldt on these points.
Forty years ago he declared it to be his firm opinion that "the Isthmus
of Panama is suited to the formation of an oceanic canal--one with fewer
sluices than the Caledonian Canal--capable of affording an unimpeded
passage, at all seasons of the year, to vessels of that class which sail
between New York and Liverpool, and between Chili and California." In
the recent edition of his "Views of Nature," he "sees no reason to
alter the views he has always entertained on this subject." Engineers,
both British and American, have confirmed this opinion by actual survey.
As, then, combination of British skill, capital, and energy, with that
of the most "go-ahead" people upon earth, have been dormant, whence the
secret of the delay? The answer at once allays astonishment: Till the
present time, the speculation would not have "paid."
Large works of this nature, while they create an inconceivable
development of commerce, must have a certain amount of a trading
population to begin upon. A gold-beater can cover the effigy of a man on
horseback with a sovereign; but he must have the sovereign first. It was
not merely because the full power of the iron rail to facilitate the
transition of heavy burdens had not been estimated, and because no
Stephenson had constructed a "Rocket engine," that a railway with steam
locomotives was not made from London to Liverpool before 1836. Until the
intermediate traffic between these termini had swelled to a sufficient
amount in quantity and value to bear reimbursement for establishing such
a mode of conveyance, its execution would have been impossible, even
though men had known how to set about it.
What has been the condition of the countries under consideration? In
1839, the entire population of the tropical American isthmus, in the
states of central America and New Grenada did not exceed three millions.
The number of the inhabitants of pure European descent did not exceed
one hundred thousand. It was only among this inconsiderable fraction
that any thing like wealth, intelligence, and enterprise, akin to that
of Europe, was to be found; the rest were poor and ignorant aboriginals
and mixed races, in a state of scarcely demi-civilization. Throughout
this thinly-peopled and poverty-stricken region, there was neither law
nor government. In Stephens's "Central America," may be found an amusing
account of a hunt after a government, by a luckless American
diplomatist, who had been sent to seek for one in central America. A
night wanderer running through bog and brake after a will-o'-the-wisp,
could not have encountered more perils, or in search of a more
impalpable phantom. In short, there was nobody to trade with. To the
south of the isthmus, along the Pacific coast of America, there was only
one station to which merchants could resort with any fair prospect of
gain--Valparaiso. Except Chili, all the Pacific states of South America
were retrograding from a very imperfect civilization, under a succession
of petty and aimless revolutions. To the north of the isthmus matters
were little, if any thing better. Mexico had gone backward from the time
of its revolution; and, at the best, its commerce in the Pacific had
been confined to a yearly ship between Acapulco and the Philippines.
Throughout California and Oregon, with the exception of a few European
and half-breed members, there were none but savage aboriginal tribes.
The Russian settlements in the far north had nothing but a paltry trade
in furs with Kamschatka, that barely defrayed its own expenses. Neither
was there any encouragement to make a short cut to the innumerable
islands of the Pacific. The whole of Polynesia lay outside of the pale
of civilization. In Tahiti, the Sandwich group, and the northern
peninsula of New Zealand, missionaries had barely sowed the first seeds
of morals and enlightenment. The limited commerce of China and the
Eastern Archipelago was engrossed by Europe, and took the route of the
Cape of Good Hope, with the exception of a few annual vessels that
traded from the sea-board states of the North American Union to
Valparaiso and Canton. The wool of New South Wales was but coming into
notice, and found its way to England alone round the Cape of Good Hope.
An American fleet of whalers scoured the Pacific, and adventurers of the
same nation carried on a desultory and inconsiderable traffic in hides
with California, in tortoise-shell and mother of pearl with the
Polynesian Islands.
What, then, would have been the use of cutting a canal, through which
there would not have passed five ships in a twelvemonth? But twenty
years have worked a wondrous revolution in the state and prospects of
these regions.
The traffic of Chili has received a large development, and the stability
of its institutions has been fairly tried. The resources of Costa Rica,
the population of which is mainly of European race, is steadily
advancing. American citizens have founded a state in Oregon. The
Sandwich Islands have become for all practical purposes an American
colony. The trade with China--to which the proposed canal would open a
convenient avenue by a western instead of the present eastern route--is
no longer restricted to the Canton river, but is open to all nations as
far north as the Yang-tse-Kiang. The navigation of the Amur has been
opened to the Russians by a treaty, and can not long remain closed
against the English and American settlers between Mexico and the Russian
settlements in America. Tahiti has become a kind of commercial emporium.
The English settlements in Australia and New Zealand have opened a
direct trade with the Indian Archipelago and China. The permanent
settlements of intelligent and enterprising Anglo-Americans and English
in Polynesia, and on the eastern and western shores of the Pacific, have
proved so many _dépôts_ for the adventurous traders with its innumerable
islands, and for the spermaceti whalers. Then the last, but greatest
addition of all, is California: a name in the world of commerce and
enterprise to conjure with. There gold is to be had for fetching. Gold,
the main-spring of commercial activity, the reward of toil--for which
men are ready to risk life, to endure every sort of privation;
sometimes, alas! to sacrifice every virtue; one most especially, and
that is patience. They will away with her now.
Till the discovery of the new gold country how contentedly they dawdled
round Cape Horn; creeping down one coast, and up another: but now such
delay is not to be thought of. Already, indeed, Panama has become the
seat of a great, increasing, and perennial transit trade. This can not
fail to augment the settled population of the region, its wealth and
intelligence. Upon these facts we rest the conviction that the time has
arrived for realizing the project of a ship canal there or in the near
neighborhood.
That a ship canal, and not a railway, is what is first wanted (for very
soon there will be both), must be obvious to all acquainted with the
practical details of commerce. The delay and expense to which merchants
are subjected, when obliged to "break bulk" repeatedly between the port
whence they sail and that of their destination, is extreme. The waste
and spoiling of goods, the cost of the operation, are also heavy
drawbacks, and to these they are subject by the stormy passage round
Cape Horn.
Two points present themselves offering great facilities for the
execution of a ship canal. The one is in the immediate vicinity of
Panama, where the many imperfect observations which have hitherto been
made, are yet sufficient to leave no doubt that, as the distance is
comparatively short, the summit levels are inconsiderable, and the
supply of water ample. The other is some distance to the northward. The
isthmus is there broader, but is in part occupied by the large and deep
fresh-water lakes of Nicaragua and Naragua. The lake of Nicaragua
communicates with the Atlantic by a copious river, which may either be
rendered navigable, or be made the source of supply for a side canal.
The space between the two lakes is of inconsiderable extent, and
presents no great engineering difficulties. The elevation of the lake of
Naragua above the Pacific is inconsiderable; there is no hill range
between it and the gulf of Canchagua; and Captain Sir Edward Belcher
carried his surveying ship _Sulphur_ sixty miles up the Estero Real,
which rises near the lake, and falls into the gulf. The line of the
Panama canal presents, as Humboldt remarks, facilities equal to those of
the line of the Caledonian canal. The Nicaragua line is not more
difficult than that of the canal of Languedoc, a work executed between
1660 and 1682, at a time when the commerce to be expedited by it did not
exceed--it is equaled--that which will find its way across the Isthmus;
when great part of the maritime country was as thinly inhabited by as
poor a population as the Isthmus now is; and when the last subsiding
storms of civil war, and the dragonnades of Louis XIV., unsettled men's
minds, and made person and property insecure.
The cosmopolitan effects of such an undertaking, if prosecuted to a
successful close, it is impossible even approximately to estimate. The
acceleration it will communicate to the already rapid progress of
civilization in the Pacific is obvious. And no less obvious are the
beneficial effects it will have upon the mutual relations of civilized
states, seeing that the recognition of the independence and neutrality
in times of general war of the canal and the region through which it
passes, is indispensable to its establishment.
We have dwelt principally on the commercial, the economical
considerations of the enterprise, for they are what must render it
possible. But the friends of Christian missions, and the advocates of
universal peace among nations, have yet a deeper interest in it. In the
words used by Prince Albert at the dinner at the Mansion House
respecting the forthcoming great exhibition of arts and industry,
"Nobody who has paid any attention to the particular features of our
present era, will doubt for a moment that we are living at a period of
most wonderful transition, which tends rapidly to accomplish that great
end--to which, indeed, all history points--the realization of the unity
of mankind. Not a unity which breaks down the limits and levels the
peculiar characteristics of the different nations of the earth, but
rather a unity the result and product of those very national varieties
and antagonistic qualities. The distances which separated the different
nations and parts of the globe are gradually vanishing before the
achievements of modern invention, and we can traverse them with
incredible speed; the languages of all nations are known, and their
acquirements placed within the reach of every body; thought is
communicated with the rapidity, and even by the power of lightning."
Every short cut across the globe brings man in closer communion with his
distant brotherhood, and results in concord, prosperity, and peace.
TRUTH IN PLEASURE.--Men have been said to be sincere in their pleasures,
but this is only that the tastes and habits of men are more easily
discernible in pleasure than in business; the want of truth is as great
a hindrance to the one as to the other. Indeed, there is so much
insincerity and formality in the pleasurable department of human life,
especially in social pleasures, that instead of a bloom there is a slime
upon it, which deadens and corrupts the thing. One of the most comical
sights to superior beings must be to see two human creatures with
elaborate speech and gestures making each other exquisitely
uncomfortable from civility; the one pressing what he is most anxious
that the other should not accept, and the other accepting only from the
fear of giving offense by refusal. There is an element of charity in all
this too; and it will be the business of a just and refined nature to be
sincere and considerate at the same time. This will be better done by
enlarging our sympathy, so that more things and people are pleasant to
us, than by increasing the civil and conventional part of our nature, so
that we are able to do more seeming with greater skill and
endurance.--_Friends in Council._
[From the Dublin University Magazine.]
THE GERMAN MEISTERSINGERS--HANS SACHS.
We once chanced to meet with a rare old German book which contains an
accurate history of the foundation of the Meistersingers, a body which
exercised so important an influence upon the literary history, not only
of Germany, but of the whole European Continent, that the circumstances
connected with its origin can not prove uninteresting to our readers.
The burghers of the provincial towns in Germany had gradually formed
themselves into guilds or corporations, the members of which, when the
business of the day was discussed, would amuse themselves by reading
some of the ancient traditions of their own country, as related in the
old Nordic poems. This stock of literature was soon exhausted, and the
worthy burghers began to try their hands at original composition. From
these rude snatches of song sprung to life the fire of poetic genius,
and at Mentz was first established that celebrated guild, branches of
which soon after extended themselves to most of the provincial towns.
The fame of these social meetings soon became widely spread. It reached
the ears of the emperor, Otho I., and, about the middle of the ninth
century, the guild received a royal summons to attend at Pavia, then the
emperor's residence. The history of this famous meeting remained for
upward of six hundred years upon record among the archives of Mentz, but
is supposed to have been taken away, among other plunder, about the
period of the Smalkaldic war. From other sources of information we can,
however, gratify the curiosity of the antiquarian, by giving the names
of the twelve original members of this guild:
Walter, Lord of Vogelweid,
Wolfgang Eschenbach, Knight,
Conrad Mesmer, Knight,
Franenlob of Mentz, Theologian,
Mergliny of Ment, Theologian,
Klingsher,
Starke Papp,
Bartholomew Regenboger, a blacksmith,
The Chancellor, a fisherman,
Conrad of Wurtzburg,
Stall Seniors,
The Roman of Zgwickau.
These gentlemen, having attended the royal summons in due form, were
subjected to a severe public examination before the court by the wisest
men of their times, and were pronounced masters of their art;
enthusiastic encomiums were lavished upon them by the delighted
audience, and they departed, having received from the emperor's hands a
crown of pure gold, to be presented annually to him who should be
selected by the voice of his fellows as laureate for the year.
Admission to these guilds became, in process of time, the highest
literary distinction; it was eagerly sought for by numberless aspirants,
but the ordeal through which the candidate had to pass became so
difficult that very few were found qualified for the honor. The
compositions of the candidates were measured with a degree of critical
accuracy of which candidates for literary fame in these days can form
but little idea. The ordeal must have been more damping to the fire of
young genius than the most slashing article ever penned by the most
caustic reviewer. Every composition had of necessity to belong to a
certain class; each class was distinguished by a limited amount of
rhymes and syllables, and the candidate had to count each stanza, as he
read it, upon his fingers. The redundancy or the deficiency of a single
syllable was fatal to his claims, and was visited in addition by a
pecuniary fine, which went to the support of the corporation.
Of that branch of this learned body which held its meetings at
Nuremberg, Hans Sachs became, in due time, a distinguished member. His
origin was obscure--the son of a tailor, and a shoemaker by trade. The
occupations of his early life afforded but little scope for the
cultivation of those refined pursuits which afterward made him
remarkable. The years of his boyhood were spent in the industrious
pursuit of his lowly calling; but when he had arrived at the age of
eighteen, a famous minstrel, Numenbach by name, chancing to pass his
dwelling, the young cobbler was attracted by his dulcet strains, and
followed him. Numenbach gave him gratuitous instruction in his tuneful
art, and Hans Sachs forthwith entered upon the course of probationary
wandering, which was an essential qualification for his degree. The
principal towns of Germany by turns received the itinerant minstrel, who
supported himself by the alternate manufacture of verses and of shoes.
After a protracted pilgrimage of several years, he returned to
Nuremberg, his native city, where, having taken unto himself a wife, he
spent the remainder of his existence; not unprofitably, indeed, as his
voluminous works still extant can testify. We had once the pleasure of
seeing an edition of them in the library at Nuremberg, containing two
hundred and twelve pieces of poetry, one hundred and sixteen sacred
allegories, and one hundred and ninety-seven dramas--a fertility of
production truly wonderful, and almost incredible, if we reflect that
the author had to support a numerous family by the exercise of his lowly
trade.
The writings of this humble artisan proved an era, however, in the
literary history of Germany. To him may be ascribed the honor of being
the founder of her school of tragedy as well as comedy; and the
illustrious Goethe has, upon more than one occasion, in his works,
expressed how deeply he is indebted to this poet of the people for the
outline of his immortal tragedy of "Faust." Indeed, if we recollect
aright, there are in his works several pieces which he states are after
the manner of Hans Sachs.
The Lord of Vogelweid, whose name we find occupying so conspicuous a
position in the roll of the original Meistersingers, made rather a
curious will--a circumstance which we find charmingly narrated in the
following exquisite ballad:
"WALTER VON DER VOGELWEID."
"Vogelweid, the Minnesinger,
When he left this world of ours,
Laid his body in the cloister,
Under Wurtzburg's minster towers.
"And he gave the monks his treasure,
Gave them all with this bequest--
They should feed the birds at noontide,
Daily, on his place of rest.
"Saying, 'From these wandering minstrels
I have learned the art of song;
Let me now repay the lessons
They have taught so well and long.
"Thus the bard of lore departed,
And, fulfilling his desire,
On his tomb the birds were feasted,
By the children of the choir.
"Day by day, o'er tower and turret,
In foul weather and in fair--
Day by day, in vaster numbers,
Flocked the poets of the air.
"On the tree whose heavy branches
Overshadowed all the place--
On the pavement; on the tomb-stone,
On the poet's sculptured face:
"There they sang their merry carols,
Sang their lauds on every side;
And the name their voices uttered,
Was the name of Vogelweid.
"'Till at length the portly abbot
Murmured, 'Why this waste of food,
Be it changed to loaves henceforward.
For our fasting brotherhood.'
"Then in vain o'er tower and turret,
From the walls and woodland nests.
When the minster bell rang noontide,
Gathered the unwelcome guests.
"Then in vain, with cries discordant,
Clamorous round the gothic spire.
Screamed the feathered Minnesingers
For the children of the choir.
"Time has long effaced the inscription
On the cloister's funeral stones;
And tradition only tells us
Where repose the poet's bones.
"But around the vast cathedral,
By sweet echoes multiplied,
Still the birds repeat the legend,
And the name of Vogelweid."
EDUCATION.--The striving of modern fashionable education is to make the
character impressive; while the result of good education, though not the
aim, would be to make it expressive.
There is a tendency in modern education to cover the fingers with rings,
and at the same time to cut the sinews at the wrist.
The worst education, which teaches self denial, is better than the best
which teaches every thing else, and not that.--_Tales and Essays by John
Sterling._
[From Household Words.]
GHOST STORIES--AN INCIDENT IN THE LIFE OF MAD^{LLE} CLAIRON.
The occurrence related in the letter which we are about to quote, is a
remarkable instance of those apparently supernatural visitations which
it has been found so difficult (if not impossible) to explain and
account for. It does not appear to have been known to Scott, Brewster,
or any other English writer who has collected and endeavored to expound
those ghostly phenomena.
Clairon was the greatest tragedian that ever appeared on the French
stage; holding on it a supremacy similar to that of Siddons on our own.
She was a woman of powerful intellect, and had the merit of affecting a
complete revolution in the French school of tragic acting; substituted
an easy, varied and natural delivery for the stilted and monotonous
declamation which had till then prevailed, and being the first to
consult classic taste and propriety of costume. Her mind was cultivated
by habits of intimacy with the most distinguished men of her day; and
she was one of the most brilliant ornaments of those literary circles
which the contemporary memoir writers describe in such glowing colors.
In an age of corruption, unparalleled in modern times, Mademoiselle
Clairon was not proof against the temptations to which her position
exposed her. But a lofty spirit, and some religious principles, which
she retained amidst a generation of infidels and scoffers, saved her
from degrading vices, and enabled her to spend an old age protracted
beyond the usual period of human life, in respectability and honor.
She died in 1803, at the age of eighty. She was nearly seventy when the
following letter was written. It was addressed to M. Henri Meister, a
man of some eminence among the literati of that period; the associate of
Diderot, Grimm, D'Holbach, M. and Madame Necker, &c., and the
_collaborateur_ of Grimm in his famous "Correspondence." This gentleman
was Clairon's "literary executor;" having been intrusted with her
memoirs, written by herself, and published after her death.
With this preface we give Mademoiselle Clairon's narrative, written in
her old age, of an occurrence which had taken place half a century
before.
"In 1743, my youth, and my success on the stage, had drawn round
me a good many admirers. M. de S----, the son of a merchant in
Brittany, about thirty years old, handsome, and possessed of
considerable talent, was one of those who were most strongly
attached to me. His conversation and manners were those of a man
of education and good society, and the reserve and timidity which
distinguished his attention made a favorable impression on me.
After a green-room acquaintance of some time I permitted him to
visit me at my house, but a better knowledge of his situation and
character was not to his advantage. Ashamed of being only a
_bourgeois_, he was squandering his fortune at Paris under an
assumed title. His temper was severe and gloomy: he knew mankind
too well, he said, not to despise and avoid them. He wished to
see no one but me, and desired from me, in return, a similar
sacrifice of the world. I saw, from this time, the necessity, for
his own sake as well as mine, of destroying his hopes by reducing
our intercourse to terms of less intimacy. My behavior brought
upon him a violent illness, during which I showed him every mark
of friendly interest, but firmly refused to deviate from the
course I had adopted. My steadiness only deepened his wound; and
unhappily, at this time, a treacherous relative, to whom he had
intrusted the management of his affairs, took advantage of his
helpless condition by robbing him, and leaving him so destitute
that he was obliged to accept the little money I had, for his
subsistence, and the attendance which his condition required. You
must feel, my dear friend, the importance of never revealing this
secret. I respect his memory, and I would not expose him to the
insulting pity of the world. Preserve, then, the religious
silence which after many years I now break for the first time.
"At length he recovered his property, but never his health; and
thinking I was doing him a service by keeping him at a distance
from me, I constantly refused to receive either his letters or
his visits.
"Two years and a half elapsed between this period and that of his
death. He sent to beg me to see him once more in his last
moments, but I thought it necessary not to comply with his wish.
He died, having with him only his domestics, and an old lady, his
sole companion for a long time. He lodged at that time on the
Rempart, near the Chaussée d'Antin; I resided in the Rue de
Bussy, near the Abbaye St. Germain. My mother lived with me; and
that night we had a little party to supper. We were very gay, and
I was singing a lively air, when the clock struck eleven, and the
sound was succeeded by a long and piercing cry of unearthly
horror. The company looked aghast; I fainted, and remained for a
quarter of an hour totally insensible. We then began to reason
about the nature of so frightful a sound, and it was agreed to
set a watch in the street in case it were repeated.
"It was repeated very often. All our servants, my friends, my
neighbors, even the police, heard the same cry, always at the
same hour, always proceeding from under my windows, and appearing
to come from the empty air. I could not doubt that it was meant
entirely for me. I rarely supped abroad; but the nights I did so,
nothing was heard; and several times, when I came home, and was
asking my mother and servants if they had heard any thing, it
suddenly burst forth, as if in the midst of us. One night, the
President de B----, at whose house I had supped, desired to see
me safe home. While he was bidding me 'good night' at my door,
the cry broke out seemingly from something between him and me.
He, like all Paris, was aware of the story; but he was so
horrified, that his servants lifted him into his carriage more
dead than alive.
"Another time, I asked my comrade Rosely to accompany me to the
Rue St. Honoré to choose some stuffs, and then to pay a visit to
Mademoiselle de St. P----, who lived near the Porte Saint-Denis.
My ghost story (as it was called) was the subject of our whole
conversation. This intelligent young man was struck by my
adventure, though he did not believe there was any thing
supernatural in it. He pressed me to evoke the phantom, promising
to believe if it answered my call. With weak audacity I complied,
and suddenly the cry was heard three times with fearful loudness
and rapidity. When we arrived at our friend's door both of us
were found senseless in the carriage.
"After this scene, I remained for some months without hearing any
thing. I thought it was all over; but I was mistaken.
"All the public performances had been transferred to Versailles
on account of the marriage of the Dauphin. We were to pass three
days there, but sufficient lodgings were not provided for us.
Madame Grandval had no apartment; and I offered to share with her
the room with two beds which had been assigned to me in the
avenue of St. Cloud. I gave her one of the beds and took the
other. While my maid was undressing to lie down beside me, I said
to her, 'We are at the world's end here, and it is dreadful
weather; the cry would be somewhat puzzled to get at us.' In a
moment it rang through the room. Madame Grandval ran in her
night-dress from top to bottom of the house, in which nobody
closed an eye for the rest of the night. This, however, was the
last time the cry was heard.
"Seven or eight days afterward, while I was chatting with my
usual evening circle, the sound of the clock striking eleven was
followed by the report of a gun fired at one of the windows. We
all heard the noise, we all saw the fire, yet the window was
undamaged. We concluded that some one sought my life, and that it
was necessary to take precautions again another attempt. The
Intendant des Menus Plaisirs, who was present, flew to the house
of his friend, M. de Marville, the Lieutenant of Police. The
houses opposite mine were instantly searched, and for several
days were guarded from top to bottom. My house was closely
examined; the street was filled with spies in all possible
disguises. But, notwithstanding all this vigilance, the same
explosion was heard and seen for three whole months always at the
same hour, and at the same window-pane, without any one being
able to discover from whence it proceeded. This fact stands
recorded in the registers of the police.
"Nothing was heard for some days; but having been invited by
Mademoiselle Dumesnil[2] to join a little evening party at her
house near the _Barrière blanche_, I got into a hackney-coach at
eleven o'clock with my maid. It was clear moonlight as we passed
along the Boulevards, which were then beginning to be studded
with houses. While we were looking at the half-finished
buildings, my maid said, 'Was it not in this neighborhood that M.
de S---- died?' 'From what I have heard,' I answered, 'I think it
should be there'--pointing with my finger to a house before us.
From that house came the same gun-shot that I had heard before.
It seemed to traverse our carriage, and the coachman set off at
full speed, thinking we were attacked by robbers. We arrived at
Mademoiselle Dumesnil's in a state of the utmost terror; a
feeling I did not get rid of for a long time."
[2] The celebrated tragedian.
[Mademoiselle Clairon gives some further details similar to the
above, and adds that the noises finally ceased in about two years
and a half. After this, intending to change her residence, she
put up a bill on the house she was leaving; and many people made
the pretext of looking at the apartments an excuse for gratifying
their curiosity to see, in her every-day guise, the great
tragedian of the Théâtre Français.]
"One day I was told that an old lady desired to see my rooms.
Having always had a great respect for the aged, I went down to
receive her. An unaccountable emotion seized me on seeing her,
and I perceived that she was moved in a similar manner. I begged
her to sit down, and we were both silent for some time. At length
she spoke, and, after some preparation, came to the subject of
her visit.
"'I was, mademoiselle, the best friend of M. de S----, and the
only friend whom he would see during the last year of his life.
We spoke of you incessantly; I urging him to forget you,--he
protesting that he would love you beyond the tomb. Your eyes
which are full of tears allow me to ask you why you made him so
wretched; and how, with such a mind and such feelings as yours,
you could refuse him the consolation of once more seeing and
speaking to you?'
"'We can not,' I answered, 'command our sentiments. M. de S----
had merit and estimable qualities; but his gloomy, bitter, and
overbearing temper made me equally afraid of his company, his
friendship, and his love. To make him happy, I must have
renounced all intercourse with society, and even the exercise of
my talents. I was poor and proud; I desire, and hope I shall ever
desire, to owe nothing to any one but myself. My friendship for
him prompted me to use every endeavor to lead him to more just
and reasonable sentiments: failing in this, and persuaded that
his obstinacy proceeded less from the excess of his passion than
from the violence of his character, I took the firm resolution to
separate from him entirely. I refused to see him in his last
moments, because the sight would have rent my heart; because I
feared to appear too barbarous if I remained inflexible, and to
make myself wretched if I yielded. Such, madame, are the
motives of my conduct--motives for which, I think, no one can
blame me.'
"'It would indeed,' said the lady, 'be unjust to condemn you. My
poor friend himself in his reasonable moments acknowledged all
that he owed you. But his passion and his malady overcame him,
and your refusal to see him hastened his last moments. He was
counting the minutes, when at half-past ten, his servant came to
tell him that decidedly you would not come. After a moment's
silence, he took me by the hand with a frightful expression of
despair. Barbarous woman! he cried; but she will gain nothing by
her cruelty. As I have followed her in life, I shall follow her
in death! I endeavored to calm him; he was dead.'
"I need scarcely tell you, my dear friend, what effect these last
words had upon me. Their analogy to all my apparitions filled me
with terror, but time and reflection calmed my feelings. The
consideration that I was neither the better nor the worse for all
that had happened to me, has led me to ascribe it all to chance.
I do not, indeed, know what _chance_ is; but it can not be denied
that the something which goes by that name has a great influence
on all that passes in the world.
"Such is my story; do with it what you will. If you intend to
make it public, I beg you to suppress the initial letter of the
name, and the name of the province."
This last injunction was not, as we see, strictly complied with; but, at
the distance of half a century, the suppression of a name was probably
of little consequence.
There is no reason to doubt the entire truth of Mademoiselle Clairon's
narrative. The incidents which she relates made such a deep and enduring
impression on her mind, that it remained uneffaced during the whole
course of her brilliant career, and, almost at the close of a long life
spent in the bustle and business of the world, inspired her with solemn
and religious thoughts. Those incidents can scarcely be ascribed to
delusions of her imagination; for she had a strong and cultivated mind,
not likely to be influenced by superstitious credulity; and besides, the
mysterious sounds were heard by others as well as herself, and had
become the subject of general conversation in Paris. The suspicion of a
trick or conspiracy never seems to have occurred to her, though such a
supposition is the only way in which the circumstances can be explained;
and we are convinced that this explanation, though not quite
satisfactory in every particular, is the real one. Several portentous
occurrences, equally or more marvelous, have thus been accounted for.
Our readers remember the history of the Commissioners of the Roundhead
Parliament for the sequestration of the royal domains, who were
terrified to death, and at last fairly driven out of the Palace of
Woodstock, by a series of diabolical sounds and sights, which were long
afterward discovered to be the work of one of their own servants, Joe
Tomkins by name, a loyalist in the disguise of a puritan. The famous
"Cocklane Ghost," which kept the town in agitation for months, and
baffled the penetration of multitudes of the divines, philosophers, and
literati of the day, was a young girl of some eleven or twelve years
old, whose mysterious knockings were produced by such simple means, that
their remaining so long undetected is the most marvelous part of the
story. This child was the agent of a conspiracy formed by her father,
with some confederates, to ruin the reputation of a gentleman by means
of pretended revelations from the dead. For this conspiracy these
persons were tried, and the father, the most guilty party, underwent the
punishment of the pillory.
A more recent story is that of the "Stockwell Ghost," which forms the
subject of a volume published in 1772, and is shortly told by Mr. Hone
in the first volume of his "Every Day Book." Mrs. Golding, an elderly
lady residing at Stockwell, in Surrey, had her house disturbed by
portents, which not only terrified her and her family, but spread alarm
through the vicinity. Strange noises were heard proceeding from empty
parts of the house, and heavy articles of furniture, glass, and
earthenware, were thrown down and broken in pieces before the eyes of
the family and neighbors. Mrs. Golding, driven by terror from her own
dwelling, took refuge, first in one neighboring house, and then in
another, and thither the prodigies followed her. It was observed that
her maid-servant, Ann Robinson, was always present when these things
took place, either in Mrs. Golding's own house, or in those of the
neighbors. This girl, who had lived only about a week with her mistress,
became the subject of mistrust and was dismissed, after which the
disturbances entirely ceased. But the matter rested on mere suspicion.
"Scarcely any one," says Mr. Hone, "who lived at that time listened
patiently to the presumption, or without attributing the whole to
witchcraft." At length Mr. Hone himself obtained a solution of the
mystery from a gentleman who had become acquainted with Ann Robinson
many years after the affair happened, and to whom she had confessed that
she alone had produced all these supernatural horrors, by fixing wires
or horse-hairs to different articles, according as they were heavy or
light, and thus throwing them down, with other devices equally simple,
which the terror and confusion of the spectators prevented them from
detecting. The girl began these tricks to forward some love affair, and
continued them for amusement when she saw the effect they produced.
Remembering these cases, we can have little doubt that Mademoiselle
Clairon's maid was the author of the noises which threw her mistress and
her friends into such consternation. Her own house was generally the
place where these things happened; and on the most remarkable occasions
where they happened elsewhere, is expressly mentioned that the maid was
present. At St. Cloud it was to the maid, who was her bed-fellow, that
Clairon was congratulating herself on being out of the way of the cry,
when it suddenly was heard in the very room. She had her maid in the
carriage with her on the Boulevards, and it was immediately after the
girl had asked her a question about the death of M. de S---- that the
gun-shot was heard, which seemed to traverse the carriage. Had the maid
a confederate--perhaps her fellow-servant on the box--to whom she might
have given the signal? When Mademoiselle Clairon went a-shopping to the
Rue St. Honoré, she probably had her maid with her, either in or outside
the carriage; and, indeed, in every instance the noises took place when
the maid would most probably have been present, or close at hand. In
regard to the unearthly cry, she might easily have produced it herself
without any great skill in ventriloquism, or the art of imitating
sounds; a supposition which is rendered the more probable, as its
realization was rendered the more easy, by the fact of no words having
been uttered--merely a wild cry. Most of the common itinerant
ventriloquists on our public race-courses can utter speeches for an
imaginary person without any perceptible motion of the lips; the
utterance of a mere sound in this way would be infinitely less
difficult.
The noises resembling the report of fire-arms (very likely to have been
unconsciously, and in perfect good faith, exaggerated by the terror of
the hearers) may have been produced by a confederate fellow-servant, or
a lover. It is to be observed, that the first time this seeming report
was heard, the houses opposite were guarded by the police, and spies
were placed in the street, but Mademoiselle Clairon's own house was
merely "examined." It is evident that these precautions, however
effectual against a plot conducted from without, could have no effect
whatever against tricks played within her house by one or more of her
own servants.
As to the maid-servant's motives for engaging in this series of
deceptions, many may have existed and been sufficiently strong; the
lightest, which we shall state last, would probably be the strongest.
She may have been in communication with M. de S----'s relations for some
hidden purpose which never was effected. How far this circumstance may
be connected with the date of the first portent, the very night of the
young man's death, or whether that coincidence was simply accidental, is
matter for conjecture. The old lady, his relative, who afterward visited
Clairon, and told her a tale calculated to fill her with superstitious
dread, _may_ herself have been the maid-servant's employer for some
similar purpose; or (which is at least equally probable) the tale may
have had nothing whatever to do with the sound, and may have been
perfectly true. But all experience in such cases assures us that the
love of mischief, or the love of power, and the desire of being
important, would be sufficient motives to the maid for such a deception.
The more frightened Clairon was, the more necessary and valuable her
maid became to her, naturally. A thousand instances of long continued
deception on the part of young women, begun in mere folly, and continued
for the reasons just mentioned, though continued at an immense cost of
trouble, resolution, and self-denial in all other respects, are familiar
to most readers of strange transactions, medical and otherwise. There
seem to be strong grounds for the conclusion that the maid was the
principal, if not the sole agent in this otherwise supernatural part of
this remarkable story.
THE REV. WILLIAM LISLE BOWLES.
We must not allow a poet of the tender and manly feeling of Mr. Bowles
to pass away from among us with a mere notice of his death amid the
common gossip of the week. The peculiar excellence of his Sonnets and
his influence on English poetry deserve a further notice at our hands.
The Rev. William Lisle Bowles, of an ancient family in the county of
Wilts, was born in the village of King's Sutton, in Northamptonshire--a
parish of which his father was vicar--on the 24th of September, 1762.
His mother was the daughter of Dr. Richard Gray, chaplain to Nathaniel
Crew, bishop of Durham. He was educated at Winchester School, under Dr.
Joseph Warton, and rose to be the senior boy. Warton took much notice of
him; and, on his removal to Oxford, in 1782, was the means, we have
heard, of inducing him to enter at Trinity College, of which Tom Warton
was then the senior Fellow. "Among my contemporaries at Trinity," he
says, "were several young men of talents and literature--Headley, Kett,
Benwell, Dallaway, Richards, Dornford." Of these Headley is still
remembered by some beautiful pieces of poetry, distinguished for
imagery, pathos, and simplicity.
Mr. Bowles became a poet in print in his twenty-seventh year--publishing
in 1789 a very small volume in quarto, with the very modest title of
"Fourteen Sonnets." His excellencies were not lost on the public; and in
the same year appeared a second edition, with seven additional sonnets.
"I had just entered on my seventeenth year," says Coleridge, in his
"Biographia Literaria," "when the Sonnets of Mr. Bowles, twenty-one in
number, and just then published in a quarto pamphlet, were first made
known and presented to me by a schoolfellow [at Christ's Hospital] who
had quitted us for the University. As my school finances did not permit
me to purchase copies, I made, within less than a year and a half, more
than forty transcriptions--as the best presents I could offer to those
who had in any way won my regard. And with almost equal delight did I
receive the three or four following publications of the same author."
Coleridge was always consistent in his admiration of Mr. Bowles.
Charlotte Smith and Bowles, he says--writing in 1797--are they who first
made the sonnet popular among the present generation of English readers;
and in the same year in which this encomium was printed, his own volume
of poetry contains "Sonnets attempted in the manner of Mr. Bowles." "My
obligations to Mr. Bowles," he adds in another place, "were indeed
important, and for radical good;" and that his approbation might not be
confined to prose, he has said in verse:
"My heart has thanked thee, Bowles, for those soft strains
Whose sadness soothes me, like the murmuring
Of wild bees in the sunny showers of spring."
Mr. Bowles's sonnets were descriptive of his personal feelings; and the
manly tenderness which pervades them was occasioned, he tells us, by the
sudden death of a deserving young woman with whom
"Sperabat longos, heu! ducere soles,
Et fido acclinis consenuisse sinu."
An eighth edition appeared in 1802; and a ninth and a tenth have since
been demanded.
While at Trinity--where he took his degree in 1792--Mr. Bowles obtained
the Chancellor's prize for a Latin poem. On leaving the University he
entered into holy orders, and was appointed to a curacy in Wiltshire;
from which he was preferred to a living in Gloucestershire--and in 1803
to a canonry in Salisbury Cathedral. His next step was to the rectory of
Bremhill in Wiltshire--to which he was presented by Archbishop Moore.
Here he remained till his death--beloved by his parishioners and by all
who had the pleasure of his acquaintance. A volume of his sermons
("Paulus Parochialis"), designed for country congregations, was
published in 1826.
The Sonnets were followed, at an Horatian interval, by other poems
hardly of an inferior quality: such, for instance, as his "Hope, an
Allegorical Sketch"--"St. Michael's Mount"--"Coombe Ellen"--and "Grave
of Howard." His "Spirit of Discovery by Sea," the longest of his
productions, was published in 1804, and is now chiefly remembered by the
unhappy notoriety which Lord Byron obtained for it by asserting in his
"English Bards" that the poet had made the woods of Madeira tremble to a
kiss. Lord Byron subsequently acknowledged that he had mistaken Mr.
Bowles's meaning: too late, however, to remove the injurious impression
which his hasty reading had occasioned. Generally, Mr. Bowles's more
ambitious works may be ranked as superior to the poems of Crowe and
Carrington--both of which in their day commanded a certain
reputation--and as higher in academical elegance than the verse of Mr.
James Montgomery; while they have neither the nerve and occasional
nobility of Cowper, nor that intimate mixture of fancy, feeling, lofty
contemplations, and simple themes and images which have placed
Wordsworth at the head of a school.
The school of the Wartons was not the school of Pope; and the
comparatively low appreciation of the great poetical satirist, which Mr.
Bowles entertained and asserted in print, was no doubt imbibed at
Winchester under Joseph Warton, and strengthened at Oxford under Tom.
Mr. Bowles's edition of Pope is a very poor performance. He had little
diligence, and few indeed of the requirements of an editor. He undertook
to traduce the moral character of Pope; and the line in which Lord
Byron refers to him on that account
"To do for hate what Mallet did for hire"
will long be remembered to his prejudice. His so-called "invariable
principles of poetry" maintained in his Pope and in his controversy with
Byron and Campbell, are better based than critics hitherto have been
willing to admit. Considering how sharply the reverend Pamphleteer was
hit by the Peer's ridicule, it must be always remembered, to the credit
of his Christianity, that possibly the most popular of all the dirges
written on Lord Byron's death came from Mr. Bowles's pen; and the
following tributary stanza is deepened in its music by the memory of the
former war.
"I will not ask sad Pity to deplore
His wayward errors who thus sadly died,
Still less, CHILDE HAROLD, now thou art no more,
Will I say aught of Genius misapplied;
Of the past shadows of thy spleen or pride:
But I will bid th' Arcadian cypress wave,
Pluck the green laurel from the Perseus's side,
And pray thy spirit may such quiet have
That not one thought unkind be murmured o'er thy grave."
It only remains for us to add, that Mr. Bowles wrote a somewhat poor
life of Bishop Ken--that he was famous for his Parson Adams-like
forgetfulness--that his wife died in 1844, at the age of 72--and that he
himself at the time of his death was in his eighty-eighth year.--_London
Athenæum._
MORNING IN SPRING.
(FROM THE GERMAN OF GUSTAV SOLLING.)
From the valleys to the hills
See the morning mists arise;
And the early dew distills
Balmy incense to the skies.
Purple clouds, with vapory grace,
Round the sun their soft sail fling;
Now they fade--and from his face
Beams the new-born bliss of Spring!
From the cool grass glitter bright
Myriad drops of diamond dew;
Bending 'neath their pressure light,
Waves the green corn, springing new
Nought but the fragrant wind is heard,
Whispering softly through the trees,
Or, lightly perched, the early bird
Chirping to the morning breeze
Dewy May-flowers to the sun
Ope their buds of varied hue.
Fragrant shades--his beams to shun--
Hide the violet's heavenly blue
A joyous sense of life revived
Streams through every limb and vein:
I thank thee, Lord! that I have lived
To see the bright young Spring again!
ETA.
[From Household Words.]
WORK! AN ANECDOTE.
A calvary officer of large fortune, who had distinguished himself in
several actions, having been quartered for a long time in a foreign
city, gradually fell into a life of extreme and incessant dissipation.
He soon found himself so indisposed to any active military service, that
even the ordinary routine became irksome and unbearable. He accordingly
solicited and obtained leave of absence from his regiment for six
months. But, instead of immediately engaging in some occupation of mind
and body, as a curative process for his morbid condition, he hastened to
London, and gave himself up entirely to greater luxuries than ever, and
plunged into every kind of sensuality. The consequence was a disgust of
life and all its healthy offices. He became unable to read half a page
of a book, or to write the shortest note; mounting his horse was too
much trouble; to lounge down the street was a hateful effort. His
appetite failed, or every thing disagreed with him; and he could seldom
sleep. Existence became an intolerable burden; he therefore determined
on suicide.
With this intention he loaded his pistols, and, influenced by early
associations, dressed himself in his regimental frock-coat and crimson
sash, and entered St. James's Park a little before sunrise. He felt as
if he was mounting guard for the last time; listened to each sound, and
looked with miserable affection across the misty green toward the Horse
Guards, faintly seen in the distance.
A few minutes after the officer had entered the park, there passed
through the same gate a poor mechanic, who leisurely followed in the
same direction. He was a gaunt, half-famished looking man, and walked
with a sad air, his eyes bent thoughtfully on the ground, and his large
bony hands dangling at his sides.
The officer, absorbed in the act he meditated, walked on without being
aware of the presence of another person. Arriving about the middle of a
wide open space, he suddenly stopped, and drawing forth both pistols,
exclaimed, "Oh, most unfortunate and most wretched man that I am!
Wealth, station, honor, prospects, are of no avail! Existence has become
a heavy torment to me! I have not strength--I have not courage to endure
or face it a moment longer!"
With these words he cocked the pistols, and was raising both of them to
his head, when his arms were seized from behind, and the pistols twisted
out of his fingers. He reeled round, and beheld the gaunt scarecrow of a
man who had followed him.
"What are you?" stammered the officer, with a painful air; "How dare you
to step between me and death?"
"I am a poor, hungry mechanic;" answered the man, "one who works from
fourteen to sixteen hours a day, and yet finds it hard to earn a living.
My wife is dead--my daughter was tempted away from me--and I am a lone
man. As I have nobody to live for, and have become quite tired of my
life, I came out this morning, intending to drown myself. But as the
fresh air of the park came over my face, the sickness of life gave way
to shame at my own want of strength and courage, and I determined to
walk onward and live my allotted time. But what are _you_? Have you
encountered cannon-balls and death in all shapes, and now want the
strength and courage to meet the curse of idleness?"
The officer was moving off with some confused words, but the mechanic
took him by the arm, and threatening to hand him over to the police if
he resisted, led him droopingly away.
This mechanic's work was that of a turner, and he lived in a dark
cellar, where he toiled at his lathe from morning to night. Hearing that
the officer had amused himself with a little turnery in his youth, the
poor artisan proposed to take him down into his work-shop. The officer
offered him money; and was anxious to escape; but the mechanic refused
it, and persisted.
He accordingly took the morbid gentleman down into his dark cellar, and
set him to work at his lathe. The officer began very languidly, and soon
rose to depart. Whereupon, the mechanic forced him down again on the
hard bench, and swore that if he did not do an hour's work for him, in
return for saving his life, he would instantly consign him to a
policeman, and denounce him for attempting to commit suicide. At this
threat the officer was so confounded, that he at once consented to do
the work.
When the hour was over, the mechanic insisted on a second hour, in
consequence of the slowness of the work--it had not been a fair hour's
labor. In vain the officer protested, was angry, and exhausted--had the
heartburn--pains in his back and limbs--and declared it would kill him.
The mechanic was inexorable. "If it _does_ kill you," said he, "then you
will only be where you would have been if I had not stopped you." So the
officer was compelled to continue his work with an inflamed face, and
the perspiration pouring down over his cheeks and chin.
At last he could proceed no longer, come what would of it, and sank back
in the arms of his persecuting preserver. The mechanic now placed before
him his own breakfast, composed of a two-penny loaf of brown bread, and
a pint of small beer; the whole of which the officer disposed of in no
time, and then sent out for more.
Before the boy who was dispatched on this errand returned, a little
conversation had ensued; and as the officer rose to go, he smilingly
placed his purse, with his card, in the hands of the mechanic. The poor,
ragged man received them with all the composure of a physician, and with
a sort of dry, grim humor which appeared peculiar to him, and the only
relief of his other wise rough and rigid character, made sombre by the
constant shadows and troubles of life.
But the moment he read the name on the card all the hard lines in his
deeply-marked face underwent a sudden contortion. Thrusting back the
purse and card into the officer's hand, he seized him with a fierce grip
by one arm--hurried him, wondering, up the dark broken stairs, along the
narrow passage--then pushed him out at the door!
"You are the fine gentleman who tempted my daughter away!" said he.
"I--_your_ daughter!" exclaimed the officer.
"Yes, my daughter; Ellen Brentwood!" said the mechanic. "Are there so
many men's daughters in the list, that you forget her name?"
"I implore you," said the officer, "to take this purse. _Pray_, take
this purse! If you will not accept it for yourself, I entreat you to
send it to her!"
"Go and buy a lathe with it," said the mechanic. "Work, man! and repent
of your past life!"
So saying, he closed the door in the officer's face, and descended the
stairs to his daily labor.
IGNORANCE IN ENGLAND.--Taking the whole of northern Europe--including
Scotland, and France and Belgium (where education is at a low ebb), we
find that to every 2-1/4 of the population, there is one child acquiring
the rudiments of knowledge; while in England there is only one such
pupil to every fourteen inhabitants. It has been calculated that there
are at the present day in England and Wales nearly 8,000,000 persons who
can neither read nor write--that is to say, nearly one quarter of the
population. Also, that of all the children between five and fourteen,
more than one half attend no place of instruction. These statements
would be hard to believe, if we had not to encounter in our every-day
life degrees of illiteracy which would be startling, if we were not
thoroughly used to it. Wherever we turn, ignorance, not always allied to
poverty, stares us in the face. If we look in the _Gazette_, at the list
of partnerships dissolved, not a month passes but some unhappy man,
rolling, perhaps, in wealth, but wallowing in ignorance, is put to the
_experimentum crucis_ of "his mark." The number of petty jurors--in
rural districts especially--who can only sign with a cross, is enormous.
It is not unusual to see parish documents of great local importance
defaced with the same humiliating symbol by persons whose office shows
them to be not only "men of mark," but men of substance. A housewife in
humble life need only turn to the file of her tradesmen's bills to
discover hieroglyphics which render them so many arithmetical puzzles.
In short, the practical evidences of the low ebb to which the plainest
rudiments of education in this country have fallen, are too common to
bear repetition. We can not pass through the streets, we can not enter a
place of public assembly, or ramble in the fields, without the gloomy
shadow of Ignorance sweeping over us.--_Dickens's "Household Words."_
[From The Ladies' Companion.]
MEN AND WOMEN.
A woman is naturally gratified when a man singles her out, and addresses
his conversation to her. She takes pains to appear to the best
advantage, but without any thought of willfully misleading.
How different is it with men! At least it is thus that women in general
think of men. The mask with them is deliberately put on and worn as a
mask, and wo betide the silly girl who is too weak or too unsuspicious,
not to appear displeased with the well-turned compliments and flattering
attentions so lavishly bestowed upon her by her partner at the ball. If
a girl has brothers she sees a little behind the scenes, and is saved
much mortification and disappointment. She discovers how little men mean
by attentions they so freely bestow upon the last new face which takes
their fancy.
Men are singularly wanting in good feeling upon this subject; they pay a
girl marked attention, flatter her in every way, and then, perhaps, when
warned by some judicious friend that they are going too far, "can hardly
believe the girl could be so foolish as to fancy that any thing was
meant."
The fault which strikes women most forcibly in men is _selfishness_.
They expect too much in every way, and become impatient if their
comforts and peculiarities are interfered with. If the men of the
present day were less selfish and self-indulgent, and more willing to be
contented and happy upon moderate means, there would be fewer causes of
complaint against young women undertaking situations as governesses when
they were wholly unfit for so responsible an office. I feel the deepest
interest in the present movement for the improvement of the female sex;
and most cordially do I concur in the schemes for this desirable purpose
laid down in "The Ladies' Companion;" but I could not resist the
temptation of lifting up my voice in testimony against some of the
every-day faults of men, to which I think many of the follies and
weaknesses of women are mainly to be attributed.
Mr. Thackeray is the only writer of the present day who touches, with
any severity, upon the faults of his own sex. He has shown us the style
of women that he thinks men most admire, in "Amelia," and "Mrs.
Pendennis." Certainly, my own experience agrees with his opinion; and
until men are sufficiently improved to be able to appreciate higher
qualities in women, and to choose their wives among women who possess
such qualities, I do not expect that the present desirable movement will
make much progress. The improvement of both sexes must be simultaneous.
A "gentleman's horror" is still a "blue stocking," which unpleasing
epithet is invariably bestowed upon all women who have read much, and
who are able to think and act for themselves.
A YOUNG WIFE
THE RETURN OF POPE PIUS IX. TO ROME.
The banishment of a Pope has hitherto been a rare event: the
following detailed and graphic description of the return of PIUS
IX. to his seat of empire, superadds a certain degree of
historical importance to its immediate interest. It is from the
correspondence of the "London Times."
VELLETRI, _Thursday, April_ 11.
All speculation is now set at rest--the last and the most important
stage in the Papal progress has been made--the Pope has arrived at
Velletri.
The Pope was expected yesterday at three o'clock, but very early in the
morning every one in the town, whether they had business to execute or
not, thought it necessary to rush about, here, there, and every where. I
endeavored to emulate this activity, and to make myself as ubiquitous as
the nature of the place, which is built on an ascent, and my own nature,
which is not adapted to ascents, would allow me. At one moment I stood
in admiration at the skill with which sundry sheets and napkins were
wound round a wooden figure, to give it a chaste and classic appearance,
which figure--supposed to represent Charity, Fortitude, Prudence, or
Plenty--was placed as a _basso relievo_ on the triumphal arch, where it
might have done for any goddess or virtue in the mythology or calendar.
At another moment I stood on the Grand Place, marveling at the arch and
dry manner in which half a dozen painters were inscribing to Pio Nono,
over the doors of the Municipality, every possible quality which could
have belonged to the whole family of saints--one man, in despair at
giving adequate expression to his enthusiasm, having satisfied himself
with writing _Pio Nono Immortale! Immortale! Immortale! Vero Angelo!_
But to say the truth, there was something very touching in the
enthusiasm of this rustic and mountain people, although it was sometimes
absurdly and quaintly expressed; for instance, in one window there was a
picture, or rather a kind of transparency, representing little angels,
which a scroll underneath indicated as the children of His Holiness.
Whether the Velletrians intended to represent their own innocence or to
question that of His Holiness, I did not choose to inquire. Then there
were other pictures of the Pope in every possible variety of dress;
sometimes as a young officer, at another as a cardinal; again, a corner
shop had him as a benevolent man in a black coat and dingy neck-cloth;
but, most curious of all, he at one place took the shape of a female
angel placing her foot on the demon of rebellion. The circumstance of
his Protean quality arose from each family having turned their pictures
from the inside outside the houses, and printed Pio Nono under each; but
if the features of each picture differed, not so the feelings that
placed them there: it was a touching and graceful sight to see the
people as they greeted each other that morning.
As the day drew on, the preparations were completed, and the material of
which every house was built was lost under a mass of scarlet and green.
But, alas! about three o'clock the clouds gathered upon Alba; Monte
Calvi was enveloped in mist, which sailed over the top of Artemisio; the
weather turned cold; and the whole appearance of the day became
threatening. The figure of the Pope on the top of the triumphal arch, to
compose which sundry beds must have been stripped of their sheets--for
it was of colossal dimensions--quivered in the breeze, and at every
blast I expected to see the worst possible omen--the mitre, which was
only fastened by string to the sacred head, falling down headless; but
having pointed this out to some persons who were too excited themselves
to see anything practical, a boy was sent up, and with two long nails
secured the mitre more firmly on the sacred head than even Lord Minto's
counsels could do. At three o'clock the Municipality passed down the
lines of troops amid every demonstration of noisy joy. There were half a
dozen very respectable gentlemen in evening dress, all looking
wonderfully alike, and remarkably pale, either from the excitement or
the important functions which they had to perform; but I ought to speak
well of them, for they invited me to the reserved part of the small
entrance square, where I had the good fortune to shelter myself from the
gusts of wind which drove down from the hills. From three to six we all
waited, the people very patient, and fortunately so crowded that they
could not well feel cold. The cardinal's servants--strange
grotesque-looking fellows in patchwork liveries--were running up and
down the portico, and the soldiers on duty began to give evident signs
of a diminution of ardor. Some persons were just beginning to croak,
"Well, I told you he would not come," when the cannon opened from the
heights, the troops fell in--a carriage is seen coming down the hill,
but it is the wrong road. Who can it be? The troops seem to know, for
the chasseurs draw their swords, the whole line present arms, the band
strikes up, and the French General Baraguay d'Hilliers dashes through
the gates. Again roar the cannon--another carriage is seen, and this
time in the right direction; it is preceded by the Pope's courier,
covered with scarlet and gold. The people cheered loudly, although they
could not have known whom it contained; but they cheered the magnificent
arms and the reeking horses. It was the Vice-Legate of Velletri,
Monsignore Beraldi. The Municipality rushed to the door of the carriage,
and a little, energetic-looking man in lace and purple descended, and
was almost smothered in the embraces of the half dozen municipal
officers, who confused him with questions--"Dove e la sua Santita!"
"Vicino! Vicino!" "E a Frosinone, e a Valomontone?" "Bellissimo,
bellissimo, recevimento! sorprendente! Tanto bello! tanto bello!" was
all the poor little man could jerk out, and at each word he was stifled
with fresh embraces; but he was soon set aside and forgotten, when half
a dozen of the Papal couriers galloped up, splashed from head to foot.
They were followed by several carriages with four or six horses, the
postillions in their new liveries; then came a large squadron of
Neapolitan cavalry, and immediately afterward the Pope. It was a
touching sight. While the women cried, the men shouted; but however
absurd a description of enthusiasm may be, in its action it was very
fine. As he passed on, the troops presented arms, and every one knelt.
He drew up in front of the municipality, who were so affected or so
frightened that their speech ended in nothing. The carriage door was
opened, and then the scene which ensued was without parallel; every one
rushed forward to kiss the foot which he put out. One little Abbate, Don
Pietro Metranga, amused me excessively. Nothing could keep him back; he
caught hold of the sacred foot, he hugged it, he sighed, he wept over
it. A knot of gentlemen were standing on the steps of the entrance,
among others Mr. Baillie Cochrane, in the Scotch Archers' uniform, whom
His Holiness beckoned forward, and put out his hand for him to kiss.
Again the carriages would have moved on, for it was late, and _Te Deum_
had to be sung; but for some time it was quite impossible to shake off
the crowd at the door. At last the procession moved, and I, at the peril
of my life--for the crowd, couriers, and chasseurs rode like
lunatics--ran down to the cathedral. To my surprise, the Pope had
anticipated me, and the door was shut. I was about to retire in despair,
when I saw a little man creeping silently up to a small gate, followed
by a very tall and ungainly prince in a red uniform, which put me very
much in mind of Ducrow in his worst days. I looked again, and I knew it
was my friend the Abbé, and if I followed him I must go right. It was as
I expected. While we had been abusing the arrangements, he had gone and
asked for the key of the sacristy, by which way we entered the church.
It was densely crowded in all parts, and principally by troops who had
preoccupied it. When the host was raised, the effect was grand in the
extreme. The Pope, with all his subjects, bowed their heads to the
pavement, and the crash of arms was succeeded by the most perfect
silence. The next ceremony was the benediction of the people from the
palace, which is situate on the extreme height of the town. Nerving
myself for this last effort, I struggled and stumbled up the hill. There
the thousands from the country and neighborhood were assembled, and in a
few minutes the Pope arrived. In the interval all the façades of the
houses had been illuminated, and the effects of the light on the various
picturesque groups and gay uniforms was very striking. A burst of music
and fresh cannon announced the arrival of His Holiness. He went straight
into the palace, and in a few minutes the priests with the torches
entered the small chapel which was erected on the balcony. The Pope
followed, and then arose one shout, such as I never remember to have
heard: another and another, and all knelt, and not a whisper was heard.
As the old man stretched out his hands to bless the people, his voice
rung clear and full in the night:
"Sit nomen Dei benedictum."
And the people, with one voice, replied:
"Ex hoc et nunc et in seculum."
Then the Pope:
"Adjutorum nostrum in nomine Domini."
The people:
"Qui fecit coelum et terram."
His Holiness:
"Benedicat vos omnipotens Deus Pater, Filius, et Spiritus
Sanctus."
And the people, with one voice:
"Amen!"
_Thursday Evening._
The Velletri fireworks were certainly a failure; the population
understands genuflexions better than squibs and crackers; but the
illumination, which consisted of large pots of grease placed on posts at
intervals of a yard down every street, had really a very good effect,
and might afford a good hint for cheap illuminations in England. What is
most remarkable to an Englishman on such occasions is, the total absence
of drunkenness and the admirable and courteous conduct of the people to
each other. It seemed to me that the population never slept; they were
perambulating the streets chanting "Viva Pio Nono" all night; and, at 8
o'clock this morning, there was the same crowd, with the same
excitement. I went early to the Papal Palace to witness the reception of
the different deputations; but, notwithstanding my activity, I arrived
one of the last, and on being shown into a waiting-room found myself
standing in a motley group of generals of every clime, priests in every
variety of costume, judges, embassadors, and noble guards. A long suite
of ten rooms was thrown open, and probably the old and tapestried walls
had never witnessed so strange a sight before as the gallery presented.
There was a kind of order and degree preserved in the distribution of
the visitors. The first room mostly contained priests of the lower
ranks, in the second were gentlemen in violet colored dresses, looking
proud and inflated; then came a room full of officers, then
distinguished strangers, among whom might be seen General Baraguay
d'Hilliers, Count Ludolf, the Neapolitan embassador, the Princes
Massimo, Corsini, Ruspoli, Cesareni, all covered with stars, ribbons,
and embroidery. The door of each room was kept by the municipal troops,
who were evidently very new to the work, for the pages in their pink
silk dresses might be seen occasionally instructing them in the salute.
Presently there was a move, every one drew back for Cardinal Macchi; he
is the _doyen_ of the college, and, as Archbishop of Velletri, appeared
in his brightest scarlet robes--a fit subject for the pencil of the
great masters. He was followed by Cardinals Asquini and Dupont in more
modest garb, and each as he passed received and gracefully acknowledged
the homage of the crowd. While we were standing waiting, two priests in
full canonicals marched by with stately steps, preceded by the cross,
and bearing the consecrated elements which they were to administer to
the Pope; they remained with him about twenty minutes, and again the
doors were thrown open, and they came out with the same forms. The
Sacrament was succeeded by the breakfast service of gold, which it would
have made any amateurs of Benvenuto Cellini's workmanship envious to
see. At last the breakfast was ended, and I began to hope there was some
chance of our suspense terminating, when there was a great movement
among the crowd at one end of the gallery, the pages rushed to their
posts, flung back the two doors, and the Prime Minister, Cardinal
Antonelli, entered. Standing in that old palace, and gazing on the
Priest Premier, I could realize the times of Mazarin and Richelieu.
Neither of these could have possessed a haughtier eye than Antonelli, or
carried themselves more proudly: every action spoke the man
self-possessed and confident in the greatness of his position. He is
tall, thin, about forty-four or forty-five, of a dark and somewhat
sallow complexion, distinguished not by the regularity or beauty of his
features, but by the calmness and dignity of their expression. As the
mass moved to let him pass to the Papal apartments at the other
extremity of the gallery, there was nothing flurried in his manner or
hurried in his step--he knew to a nicety the precise mode of courtesy
which he should show to each of his worshipers; for instance, when the
French general--ay, the rough soldier of the camp--bent to kiss his
hand, he drew it back, and spoke a few low, complimentary words as he
bowed low to him, always graciously, almost condescendingly. When the
Roman princes wished to perform the same salute his hand met their lips
half-way. When the crowd of abbes, monks, priests, and deacons, seized
it, it passed on unresistingly from mouth to mouth, as though he knew
that blessing was passing out of him, but that he found sufficient for
all. I was beginning to marvel what had become of my little friend of
the preceding evening, Don Pietro, when I observed a slight stoppage,
occasioned by some one falling at the Cardinal's feet. It was Don
Pietro. He had knelt down to get a better hold of the hanging fringes,
and no power could withdraw them from his lips; he appeared determined
to exhaust their valuable savor, and, for the first time, I saw a smile
on Antonelli's countenance, which soon changed into a look of severity,
which so frightened the little abbate that he gave up his prey. Cardinal
Antonelli went in to the Pope, and expectation and patience had to be
renewed. Then came all the deputations in succession, men with long
parchments and long faces of anxiety. There could not have been less
than eight or ten of these, who all returned from the interview looking
very bright and contented, ejaculating "_Quanto e buono! quanto buono!_"
To my great disappointment, a very officious little gentleman, who, it
appears, is a nephew of Cardinal Borroneo, and who, only two days since,
had been appointed a kind of deputy master of the ceremonies, informed
me that it was very unlikely His Holiness could receive any more people,
as he had to go out at eleven, which fact was confirmed by the Papal
couriers, who marched, booted and spurred, whip in hand, into the
ante-room. This announcement had scarcely been made, when Cardinal
Antonelli appeared and informed us that the Pope would receive two or
three at a time, but that they must not stop long. The first batch
consisted of "our own correspondent;" Don Flavio Ghigi, I looked round
to see who was the third, it was the little abbate. As we entered the
presence chamber, I made an inclination, but, to my surprise, both Don
Flavio and Don Pietro rushed forward. The Ghigi gracefully, and with
emotion, kissed the Sovereign's foot, and then his hand, which was
extended to him. His Holiness had evidently been greatly excited. He
took Don Flavio by the hand, saying, "Rise up, my son, our sorrows are
over." Meanwhile Don Pietro had embraced not merely the foot, but the
ankle. Vainly the Pope bade him rise. At last he exclaimed, looking at
the little man with wonder, "Eh! Ché Don Pietro con una barba!" "Ah,"
said the unclerical priest, not in any degree taken by surprise, "Since
our misfortunes, your Holiness, I never had the heart to shave." "Then,
now that happier times are come, we shall see your face quite clean,"
was the Pope's reply. More genuflexions, more embracings, and away we
went. After a few minutes' delay, the gentlemen of the chamber gave
notice that His Holiness was about to pass; he was preceded by priests
bearing the crucifix, and this time wore a rich embroidered stole; his
benevolent face lighted up as he blessed all his servants who knelt on
his passage. He has a striking countenance, full of paternal goodness;
nor does his tendency to obesity interfere with the dignity of his
movements. Some half-dozen Capuchins fell down before him, and the
guards had some difficulty in making them move out of the way. As the
Pope moved he dispensed his blessing to the right and to the left.
Meanwhile a great crowd had collected outside. When he appeared he was
enthusiastically cheered. He entered his carriage--the scarlet couriers
kicked, cracked, and spurred--the troops all knelt--the band played some
strange anthem, for he has become rather tired of "_Viva Pio Nono_,"
with which he has no agreeable associations--and the pageant passed
away.
I was compelled to decline the invitation from the Council of State;
and, soon after his Holiness's departure, I started for Rome, in order
to arrive before the gates were shut, for the passport system is in the
strictest operation. All along the road fortunately the preparations
have taken the turn of cleanliness--whitewash is at a premium. At
Genzano and Albano the woods of Dunsinane seem to be moving through the
towns. At the former place I saw General Baraguay d'Hilliers, who had to
send to Albano for two cutlets and bread, the supplies of Genzano being
exhausted. The Pope leaves Velletri to-morrow, Friday, 12th, at 8
o'clock. At Genzano the Neapolitan troops leave him, and are replaced by
the French; at Albano he breakfasts, and enters Rome at 4 o'clock.
Preparations are making for a grand illumination, and the town is all
alive.
ROME, _Friday Evening, April_ 12.
The history of the last two years has taught us to set very little
reliance on any demonstrations of public opinion. But for this sad
experience I should have warmly congratulated the Pope and his French
advisers on the success of their experiment, and augured well of the new
Roman era from the enthusiasm which has ushered it in. It is true that
there was wanting the delirious excitement which greeted our second
Charles on his return from a sixteen years' exile; nor were the forms of
courtly etiquette broken through as on that memorable 21st of March,
when Napoleon, accompanied by Cambronne and Bertrand dashed into the
court of the Tuileries and was borne on the shoulders of his troops into
the Salle des Maréchaux. Even the genuine heartiness, the uncalculating
expression of emotion, which delighted the Pope at Frosinone and
Velletri, were not found in Rome; but then it must be remembered that it
was from Rome the Pope was driven forth as an exile--that shame and
silence are the natural expressions of regret and repentance; so,
considering every thing, the Pope was very well received. Bright banners
waved over his head, bright flowers were strewn on his path, the day was
warm and sunny--in all respects it was a morning _albâ notanda credâ_,
one of the _dies fasti_ of the reformed Papacy.
And yet the thoughts which the gorgeous scene suggested were not of
unmixed gratification. French troops formed the Papal escort; French
troops lined the streets and thronged St. Peter's. At first the mind was
carried back to the times when Pepin, as the eldest son of the Catholic
church, restored the Pope to the throne of the Apostle, and for the
moment we were disposed to feel that the event and the instrument were
happily associated; but a moment's glance at the tri-color standard, at
the free and easy manner of the general-in-chief when he met the Pope at
the gate of the Lateran, recalled the mind back to the French Republic,
with all its long train of intrigue, oppression, and infatuated folly.
But, whatever the change of scene may be, it must be admitted that the
drama was full of interest and the decorations magnificent. When the sun
shone on the masses collected in the Piazza of St. Giovanni, and the
great gates of the Lateran being thrown open the gorgeous hierarchy of
Rome, with the banners of the various Basilicæ, the insignia and costume
of every office issued forth, the effect was beyond measure imposing. An
artist must have failed in painting, as he must have failed in composing
such a picture. Precisely at 4 o'clock the batteries on the Place
announced that the _cortége_ was in view, and presently the clouds of
dust blown before it gave a less agreeable assurance of its approach.
The procession was headed by a strong detachment of cavalry; then
followed the tribe of couriers, outriders, and officials--whom I
described from Velletri--more troops, and then the Pope. As he passed
the drums beat the _générale_, and the soldiers knelt, it was commonly
reported, but I know not with what truth; it was the first time they
ever knelt before the head of the church. Certainly, with the Italians
church ceremonies are an instinct--the coloring and grouping are so
accidentally but artistically arranged; the bright scarlet of the
numerous cardinals mingling with the solemn black of the _Conservatori_,
the ermine of the senate, the golden vestments of the high-priests, and
the soberer hues of the inferior orders of the clergy. When the Pope
descended from the carriage a loud cheer was raised and handkerchiefs
were waved in abundance; but, alas! the enthusiasm that is valuable is
that which does not boast of such a luxury as handkerchiefs. Very few
people seemed to think it necessary to kneel, and, on the whole, the
mass were more interested in the pageant itself than in the
circumstances in which it originated. The excitement of curiosity was,
however, at its height, for many people in defiance of horse and foot
broke into the square, where they afforded excellent sport to the
chasseurs, who amused themselves in knocking off their hats and then in
preventing them from picking them up. I ran down in time to see his
Holiness march in procession up the centre of the magnificent St.
Giovanni. This religious part of the ceremony was perhaps more imposing
than that outside the church. The dead silence while the Pope prayed,
the solemn strains when he rose from his knees, the rich draperies which
covered the walls and cast an atmosphere of purple light around, the
black dresses and the vails which the ladies wore, mingling with every
variety of uniform, stars, and ribbons, produced an admirable effect.
The great object, when this ceremony was half finished, was to reach St.
Peter's before the Pope could arrive there, every body, of course,
starting at the same moment, and each party thinking they were going to
do a very clever thing in taking a narrow roundabout way to the Ponte
Sisto, so choking it up and leaving the main road by the Coliseum and
the Foro Trajano quite deserted. In the palmiest days of the circus Rome
could never have witnessed such chariot-racing. All ideas of courtesy
and solemnity befitting the occasion were banished. The only thing was
who could arrive first at the bridge. The streets as we passed through
were quite deserted--it looked like a city of the dead. As we passed
that admirable institution, the Hospital St. Giovanni Colabita, which is
always open to public view, the officiating priests and soldiers were
standing in wonder at the entrance, and the sick men raised themselves
on their arms and looked with interest on the excitement occasioned by
the return of the Head of that Church, to which they owed the foundation
where they sought repose, and the faith that taught them hope. By the
time we arrived at St. Peter's the immense space was already crowded,
but, thanks to my Irish pertinacity, I soon elbowed myself into a
foremost place at the head of the steps. Here I had to wait for about an
hour, admiring the untiring energy of the mob, who resisted all the
attempts of the troops to keep them back, the gentle expostulations of
the officers, and sometimes the less gentle persuasion of the bayonet.
At 6 o'clock, the banners flew from the top of Adrian's Tomb, and the
roar of cannon recommenced; but again the acclamations were very
partial, and, but for the invaluable pocket-handkerchiefs of the
ever-sympathizing ladies, the affair must have passed off rather coldly.
It was, however, very different in St. Peter's. When his Holiness trod
that magnificent temple the thousands collected within its walls
appeared truly impressed with the grandeur, the almost awful grandeur of
the scene. The man, the occasion, and the splendor, all so striking;
never was the host celebrated under a more remarkable combination of
circumstances. The word of command given to the troops rang through the
immense edifice, then the crash of arms, and every man knelt for some
moments amid a breathless silence, only broken by the drums, which
rolled at intervals. The mass was ended. St. Peter's sent forth the tens
of thousands, the soldiers fell in, the pageantry was at an end. Then
came the illumination, which was very beautiful, not from the brilliancy
of the lights, but from its being so universal. St. Peter's was only
lighted _en demi-toilette_, and is to appear in his glory to-morrow
evening; but as the wind played among the lamps, and the flames
flickered and brightened in the breeze, the effect from the Pincian was
singularly graceful. The Campodoglio, that centre of triumph, was in a
blaze of glory, and the statues of the mighty of old stood forth, like
dark and solemn witnesses of the past, in the sea of light. But one by
one the lamps died out, the silence and the darkness of the night
resumed their sway, and the glory of the day became the history of the
past.
Thus far prognostications have been defeated. The Pope is in the
Vatican. Let us hope the prophets of evil may again find their
predictions falsified; but, alas! it is impossible to be blind to the
fact, that within the last few days the happiness of many homes has been
destroyed, and that the triumph of the one has been purchased by the
sorrows of the many. True, some 30,000 scudi have been given in charity,
of which the Pope granted 25,000; but there is that which is even more
blessed than food--it is liberty. There were conspiracies, it is true.
An attempt was made to set fire to the Quirinal; a small _machine
infernale_ was exploded near the Palazzo Teodoli. There was the excuse
for some arrests, but not for so many. But if the hand of the
administration is to press too heavily on the people, the absence of
prudence and indulgence on the part of the church can not be compensated
for by the presence of its head. In former days of clerical ignorance
and religious bigotry the master-writings of antiquity, which were found
inscribed on old parchments, were obliterated to make way for missals,
homilies, and golden legends, gorgeously illuminated but ignorantly
expressed. Let not the church fall into the same error in these days, by
effacing from its record the stern but solemn lessons of the past, to
replace them by illiberal, ungenerous, and therefore erroneous views,
clothed although they may be with all the pride and pomp of papal
supremacy. Doubtless some time will elapse before any particular course
of policy will be laid down. The Pope will for the moment bide his time
and observe. No one questions his good intentions, no man puts his
benevolence in doubt. Let him only follow the dictates of his own
kindness of heart, chastened by his bitter experience, which will teach
him alike to avoid the extremes of indulgence and the excesses of
severity.
_Saturday Morning, April_ 13.
I am glad to be able to add that the night has passed off in the most
quiet and satisfactory manner, and I do not hear that in a single
instance public tranquillity was disturbed. The decorations, consisting
of bright colors and rich tapestry, which ornamented the windows and
balconies yesterday, are kept up to-day, and the festive appearance of
the city is fully maintained. There is an apparent increase of movement
in all the principal thoroughfares. His Holiness is engaged to-day in
receiving various deputations, but to-morrow the ceremonies will
recommence with high mass at St. Peter's, after which the Pope will
bless the people from the balcony, and no doubt for several days to come
religious observances will occupy all the time and attention of his
Holiness. I am very glad to find, from a gentleman who arrived last
night, having followed the papal progress through Cesterna, Velletri,
Genzano, and Albano, several hours after I had left, that the most
perfect tranquillity prevailed on the whole line of road, and up to the
gates of Rome, at four o'clock this morning not a single accident had
occurred to disturb the general satisfaction. Of course the whole city
is alive with reports of various descriptions; every body draws his own
conclusions from the great events of yesterday, and indulges in
vaticinations in the not improbable event of General Baraguay
d'Hilliers' immediate departure, now that his mission has been
accomplished. A fine field will be open for speculation. Meanwhile the
presence of the sovereign has been of one inestimable advantage to the
town--it has put the municipality on the alert. The heaps of rubbish
have been removed from the centres of the squares and the corners of the
different streets, to the great discomfiture of the tribes of hungry
dogs which, for the comfort of the tired population, had not energy to
bay through the night. Workpeople have been incessantly employed in
carting away the remains of republican violence. I observe, however,
that the causeway between the Vatican and St. Angelo, which was broken
down by the mob, has not yet been touched. Are we to hail this as an
omen that the sovereign will never again require to seek the shelter of
the fortress, or as an evidence that the ecclesiastical and the civil
power are not yet entirely united?
[From Bentley's Miscellany.]
THE GENIUS OF GEORGE SAND.
THE COMEDY OF FRANÇOIS LE CHAMPI.
Scarcely half a dozen years have elapsed since it was considered a
dangerous experiment to introduce the name of George Sand into an
English periodical. In the interval we have overcome our scruples, and
the life and writings of George Sand are now as well known in this
country as those of Charles Dickens, or Bulwer Lytton. The fact itself
is a striking proof of the power of a great intellect to make itself
heard in spite of the prejudices and aversion of its audience.
The intellectual power of George Sand is attested by the suffrages of
Europe. The use to which she has put it is another question.
Unfortunately, she has applied it, for the most part, to so bad a use,
that half the people who acknowledge the ascendency of her genius, see
too much occasion to deplore its perversion.
The principles she has launched upon the world have an inevitable
tendency toward the disorganization of all existing institutions,
political and social. This is the broad, palpable fact, let sophistry
disguise or evade it as it may. Whether she pours out an intense novel
that shall plow up the roots of the domestic system, or composes a
proclamation for the Red Republicans that shall throw the streets into a
flame, her influence is equally undeniable and equally pernicious.
It has been frequently urged, in the defense of her novels, that they do
not assail the institution of marriage, but the wrongs that are
perpetrated in its name. Give her the full benefit of her intention, and
the result is still the same. Her eloquent expositions of ill-assorted
unions--her daring appeals from the obligations they impose, to the
affections they outrage--her assertion of the rights of nature over the
conventions of society, have the final effect of justifying the
violation of duty on the precarious ground of passion and inclination.
The bulk of her readers--of all readers--take such social philosophy in
the gross; they can not pick out its nice distinctions, and sift its
mystical refinements. It is less a matter of reasoning than of feeling.
Their sensibility, and not their judgment, is invoked. It is not to
their understanding that these rhapsodies are addressed, but to their
will and their passions. A writer who really meant to vindicate an
institution against its abuses, would adopt a widely different course;
and it is only begging George Sand out of the hands of the jury to
assert that the _intention_ of her writings is opposed to their
_effect_, which is to sap the foundations upon which the fabric of
domestic life reposes.
Her practice accords harmoniously with her doctrines. Nobody who knows
what the actual life of George Sand has been, can doubt for a moment the
true nature of her opinions on the subject of marriage. It is not a
pleasant subject to touch, and we should shrink from it, if it were not
as notorious as every thing else by which she has become famous in her
time. It forms, in reality, as much a part of the philosophy she desires
to impress upon the world, as the books through which she has expounded
her theory. It is neither more nor less than her theory of freedom and
independence in the matter of passion (we dare not dignify it by any
higher name) put into action--rather vagrant action, we fear, but, on
that account, all the more decisive. The wonder is, how any body,
however ardent an admirer of George Sand's genius, can suppose for a
moment that a woman who leads this life from choice, and who carries its
excesses to an extremity of voluptuous caprice, could by any human
possibility pass so completely out of herself into another person in her
books. The supposition is not only absurd in itself, but utterly
inconsistent with the boldness and sincerity of her character.
Some sort of justification for the career of Madame Dudevant has been
attempted to be extracted from the alleged unhappiness of her married
life, which drove her at last to break the bond, and purchase her
liberty at the sacrifice of a large portion of her fortune, originally
considerable. But all such justifications must be accepted with
hesitation in the absence of authentic data, and more especially when
subsequent circumstances are of a nature to throw suspicion upon the
defense. Cases undoubtedly occur in which the violent disruption of
domestic ties may be extenuated even upon moral grounds; but we can not
comprehend by what process of reasoning the argument can be stretched so
as to cover any _indiscretions_ that take place afterward.
Madame Dudevant was married in 1822, her husband is represented as a
plain country gentleman, very upright and literal in his way, and quite
incapable, as may readily be supposed, of sympathizing with what one of
her ablest critics calls her "aspirations toward the infinite, art and
liberty." She bore him two children, lived with him eight years, and,
shortly after the insurrection of July, 1830, fled from her dull house
at Nohant, and went up to Paris. Upon this step nobody has a right, to
pronounce judgment. Nor should the world penetrate the recesses of her
private life from that day forward, if her life could be truly
considered private, and if it were not in fact and in reality a part and
parcel of her literary career. She has made so little scruple about
publishing it herself, that nobody else need have any such scruple on
that head. She has been interwoven in such close intimacies with a
succession of the most celebrated persons, and has acted upon all
occasions so openly, that there is not the slightest disguise upon the
matter in the literary circles of Paris. But even all this publicity
might not wholly warrant a reference to the erratic course of this
extraordinary woman, if she had not made her own experiences, to some
extent, the basis of her works, which are said by those most familiar
with her habits and associations, to contain, in a variety of forms, the
confession of the strange vicissitudes through which her heart and
imagination have passed. The reflection is not limited to general types
of human character and passion, but constantly descends to
individualization; and her intimate friends are at no loss to trace
through her numerous productions a whole gallery of portraits, beginning
with poor M. Dudevant, and running through a remarkable group of
contemporary celebrities. Her works then are, avowedly, transcripts of
her life; and her life consequently becomes, in a grave sense, literary
property, as the spring from whence has issued the turbid principles she
glories in enunciating.
We have no desire to pursue this view of George Sand's writings to its
ultimate consequences. It is enough for our present purpose to indicate
the source and nature of the influence she exercises. Taking her life
and her works together, their action and re-action upon each other, it
may be observed that such a writer could be produced and fostered only
in such a state of society as that of Paris. With all her genius she
would perish in London. The moral atmosphere of France is necessary
alike to its culture and reception--the volcanic soil--the perpetual
excitement--the instability of the people and the government--the
eternal turmoil, caprice, and transition--a society agitated and
polluted to its core. These elements of fanaticism and confusion, to
which she has administered so skillfully, have made her what she is. In
such a country as England, calm, orderly, and conservative, her social
philosophy would lack earth for its roots and air for its blossoms. The
very institutions of France, upon which no man can count for an hour,
are essential to her existence as a writer.
But time that mellows all things has not been idle with George Sand.
After having written "Indiana," "Lelie," "Valentine," and sundry other
of her most conspicuous works, she found it necessary to defend herself
against the charge of advocating conjugal infidelity. The defense, to be
sure, was pre-eminently sophistical, and rested on a complete evasion of
the real question; but it was a concession to the feelings and decorum
of society which could not fail in some measure to operate as a
restraint in future labors. Her subsequent works were not quite so
decisive on these topics; and in some of them marriage was even treated
with a respectful recognition, and love was suffered to run its course
in purity and tranquillity, without any of those terrible struggles with
duty and conscience which were previously considered indispensable to
bring out its intensity.
And now comes an entirely new phase in the development of George Sand's
mind. Perhaps about this time the influences immediately acting upon her
may have undergone a modification that will partly help to explain the
miracle. Her daughter, the fair Solange, is grown up and about to be
married; and the household thoughts and cares, and the tenderness of a
serious and unselfish cast, which creep to a mother's heart on such
occasions, may have shed their sweetness upon this wayward soul, and
inspired it with congenial utterances. This is mere speculation, more or
less corroborated by time and circumstance; but whatever may have been
the agencies by which the charm was wrought, certain it is that George
Sand has recently produced a work which, we will not say flippantly in
the words of the song,
"Has for once a moral,"
but which is in the highest degree chaste in conception, and full of
simplicity and truthfulness in the execution. This work is in the form
of a three-act comedy, and is called "François le Champi." (For the
benefit of the country gentlemen, we may as well at once explain that
the word _champi_ means a foundling of the fields.)
The domestic morality, the quiet nature, the _home feeling_ of this
comedy may be described as something wonderful for George Sand; not that
her genius was not felt to be plastic enough for such a display, but
that nobody suspected she could have accomplished it with so slight an
appearance of artifice or false sentiment, or with so much geniality and
faith in its truth. But this is not the only wonder connected with
"François le Champi." Its reception by the Paris audience was something
yet more wonderful. We witnessed a few weeks ago at the Odeon its
hundred and fourth or fifth representation--and it was a sight not
readily forgotten. The acting, exquisite as it was through the minutest
articulation of the scene, was infinitely less striking than the
stillness and patience of the spectators. It was a strange and curious
thing to see these mercurial people pouring in from their gay _cafés_
and _restaurants_, and sitting down to the representation of this
dramatic pastoral with much the same close and motionless attention as a
studious audience might be expected to give to a scientific lecture. And
it was more curious still to contrast what was doing at that moment in
different places with a like satisfaction to other crowds of listeners;
and to consider what an odd compound that people must be who can equally
enjoy the rustic virtues of the Odeon, and the grossnesses and prurient
humors of the Variétés. Paris and the Parisians will, probably, forever
remain an enigma to the moral philosopher. One never can see one's way
through their surprising contradictions, or calculate upon what will
happen next, or what turn any given state of affairs will take. In this
sensuous, sentimental, volatile, and dismal Paris, any body who may
think it worth while to cross the water for such a spectacle, may see
reproduced together, side by side, the innocence of the golden age, and
the worst vices of the last stage of a high civilization.
At the bottom of all this, no doubt, will be found a constitutional
melancholy that goes a great way to account for the opposite excesses
into which the national character runs. A Frenchman is at heart the
saddest man in the universe; but his nature is of great compass at both
ends, being deficient only in the repose of the middle notes. And this
constitutional melancholy opposed to the habitual frivolity (it never
deserved to be called mirth) of the French is now more palpable than
ever. Commercial depression has brought it out in its darkest colors.
The people having got what they wanted, begin now to discover that they
want every thing else. The shops are empty--the Palais Royal is as
_triste_ as the suburb of a country town--and the drive in the Champs
Elysées, in spite of its display of horsemen and private carriages,
mixed up in motley cavalcade with hack cabriolets and omnibuses, is as
different from what it used to be in the old days of the monarchy, as
the castle of Dublin will be by-and-by, when the viceregal pageant is
removed to London. The sparkling butterflies that used to flirt about in
the gardens of the Tuileries, may now be seen pacing moodily along,
their eyes fixed on the ground, and their hands in their pockets,
sometimes with an old umbrella (which seems to be received by common
assent as the emblem of broken-down fortunes), and sometimes with a
brown paper parcel under their arms. The animal spirits of the Parisians
are very much perplexed under these circumstances; and hence it is that
they alternately try to drown their melancholy in draughts of fierce
excitement, or to solace it by gentle sedatives.
George Sand has done herself great honor by this charming little drama.
That she should have chosen such a turbulent moment for such an
experiment upon the public, is not the least remarkable incident
connected with it. Only a few months before we heard of her midnight
revels with the heads of the Repulican party in the midst of the fury
and bloodshed of an _emeute_; and then follows close upon the blazing
track of revolution, a picture of household virtues so sweet and
tranquil, so full of tenderness and love, that it is difficult to
believe it to be the production of the same hand that had recently flung
flaming addresses, like brands, into the streets to set the town on
fire. But we must be surprised at nothing that happens in France, where
truth is so much stranger than fiction, as to extinguish the last
fragment of an excuse for credulity and wonder.
AMUSEMENTS OF THE COURT OF LOUIS XV.
At one time the whole court was thrown into great commotion by a sudden
fancy which the king took for worsted work. A courier was instantly
dispatched to Paris for wool, needles, and canvas. He only took two
hours and a half to go and come back, and the same day all the courtiers
in Versailles were seen, with the Duke of Gesvres at their head,
embroidering like their sovereign. At a later period, both the new and
the old nobility joined in the common pursuit of pleasure before their
fall. Bad taste and frivolousness marked their amusements. Titled
ladies, who eagerly sought the favor of being allowed a seat in the
presence of Madame de Pompadour, visited in secret the popular ball of
the Porcherons, or amused themselves by breaking plates and glasses in
obscure cabarets, assuming the free and reckless tone of men. Their
husbands in the meanwhile embroidered at home, or paced the stately
galleries of Louis XIV, at Versailles, a little painted cardboard figure
in one hand, while with the other they drew the string which put it in
motion. This preposterous amusement even spread throughout the whole
ration, and grave magistrates were to be met in the streets playing,
like the rest, with their _pantins_, as these figures were called. This
childish folly was satirized in the following epigram:
"D'un peuple frivole et volage
Pantin fut la divinité.
Faut-il être s'il chérissait l'image
Dont il est la réalité?"
The general degeneracy of the times was acknowledged even by those who
shared in it. The old nobles ascribed it to that fatal evil, the want of
female chastity. Never, indeed, had this social stain been so universal
and so great.--_Women in France during the Eighteenth Century._
THE PLEASURES OF OLD AGE.--One forenoon I did prevail with my mother to
let them carry her to a considerable distance from the house, to a
sheltered, sunny spot, whereunto we did often resort formerly to hear
the wood-pigeons which frequented the fir trees hereabout. We seated
ourselves, and did pass an hour or two very pleasantly. She remarked,
how merciful it was ordered that these pleasures should remain to the
last days of life; that when the infirmities of age make the company of
others burdensome to us and ourselves a burden to them, the quiet
contemplation of the works of God affords a simple pleasure which
needeth not aught else than a contented mind to enjoy: the singing of
birds, even a single flower, or a pretty spot like this, with its bank
of primroses, and the brook running in there below, and this warm
sunshine, how pleasant they are. They take back our thoughts to our
youth, which ago doth love to look back upon.--_Diary of Lady
Willoughby._
[From Bentley's Miscellany.]
THE CIRCASSIAN PRIEST-WARRIOR AND HIS WHITE HORSE.
A TRUE TALE OF THE DAGHESTAN.
The Russian camp lay at the foot
Of a bold and lofty hill,
Where many a noble tree had root,
And babbled many a rill;
And the rill's laughter and the shade--
The melody and shade combin'd--
Men of most gentle feelings made,
But of unbending mind.
On that hill's side, concealed by trees,
Slumber'd Circassia's might,
Awaiting till the war-horse neighs
His welcome to the light.
The first gray light broke forth at length,
And with it rose the Invader's strength.
Now, if the Vulture, reasoning bird,
Foretelling blood and scenting strife,
Had not among the hill-clouds stirr'd,
One would have said that human life,
Save that of shepherds tending flocks,
Breathed not among yon silent rocks.
What Spectre, gliding tow'rd the rays
Of rising sun, meets Russian gaze,
And is it fright, amaze, or awe,
Distends each eye and hangs each jaw?
A Horse, as snow on mountain height,
His master clothed all, too, in white,
Moved slowly up the mountain's side,
Arching his neck in conscious pride.
And though the cannon pointed stood,
Charged with its slumb'ring lava flood,
The rider gave no spur nor stroke,
Nor did he touch the rein which lay
Upon the horse's neck--who yoke
Of spur nor rein did e'er obey.
His master's voice he knew--the horse,
And by it checked or strain'd his course.
But even no voice was needed now,
For when he reach'd the mountain's brow,
He halted while his master spread
His arms full wide, threw back his head,
And pour'd to Allah forth a pray'r--
Or seem'd to pray--for Russian ear
Even in that pure atmosphere,
The name of Allah 'lone could hear.
The sound, whose purport is to name
God's name--it is an awful sound,
No matter from what lips it came,
Or in what form 'tis found--
Jehovah! Allah! God alike,
Most Christian heart with terror strike.
For ignorant as may be man,
Or with perverted learning stored,
There is, within the soul's wide span,
A deep unutterable word.
A music, and a hymn,
Which any voice of love that breaks
From pious spirit gently wakes,
Like slumb'ring Cherubim.
And "Allah, Allah, Allah!" rose
More thrilling still for Russian foes
By Russian eyes unseen!
Behind a thick wood's screen,
Circassia's dreadful horsemen were
Bowed to the earth, and drinking there
Enthusiasm grand from pray'r,
Ready to spring as soldier fir'd,
When soldier is a Priest inspir'd.
Ay, o'er that host the sacred name
Of Allah rolled, a scorching flame,
That thrilled into the heart's deep core,
And swelled it like a heaving ocean
Visited by Tempest's roar.
Invader! such sublime emotion
Bodes thee no good--so do not mock
The sacred sound which fills each rock.
"Yon Priest must fall, and by his blood
Damp the affrighted army's zeal,
Who dream his body's proof and good
'Gainst flying ball or flashing steel."
A gun was pointed--match applied--
The ball leaped forth; the smoke spread wide.
And cleared away as the echo died,
And "Allah! Allah! Allah!" rose
From lips that never quiver'd:
Nor changed the White Priest's grand repose,
The White Horse never shiver'd.
The cannoneer, now trembling, blushed,
For he rarely missed his aim,
While his commander forward rushed,
With words of bitter blame.
"There is no mark to guide the eye,"
Faltered the chidden man;
"Yon thing of white is as the sky--
No difference can I scan!"
"Let charge the gun with _mitraille_ show'r,
And Allah will be heard no more."
And the gun was charged, and fixed, and fired;
Full fifty bullets flew.
The smoke hung long, the men admired
How the cannon burst not through.
And the startled echoes thundered,
And more again all wondered--
As died away the echoes' roar--
The name of Allah rose once more.
And "Allah! Allah! Allah!" rose,
While horse and rider look'd repose,
As statues on the mountain raised,
Round whom the _mitraille_ idly blazed,
And rent and tore the earth around;
But nothing shook except the ground,
Still the untroubled lip ne'er quivered,
Still that white altar-horse ne'er shivered.
"Wait his return," the captain cried;
"The mountain's side a mark supplies,
And range in line some twenty guns:
Fire one by one, as back he runs;
With _mitraille_ loaded be each gun--
For him who kills a grade is won!"
But back the White Horse ran not--no!
His pace was gentle, grand, and slow;
His rider on the holy skies,
In meditation fix'd his eyes.
The enemy, with murderous plan,
Knew not which to most admire,
The grand White Steed, the grander man,
When, lo! the signal--"Fire!"
"Unscath'd! unscath'd! now mark the race!"
The laughing soldiers cried:
The White Horse quickens not his pace,
The Priest spurs not his side.
"Ha! mark his figure on the rock!"
A second gun is ringing,
The rock itself is springing,
As from a mine's low shock,
Its splinters flying in the air,
And round the Priest and steed is there
Of balls and stones an atmosphere.
What not one stain upon his side!
The whited robe remains undyed--
No bloody rain upon the path--
Surprise subdues the soldier's wrath.
"Give him a chance for life, one chance;
(Now, hear the chance the captain gave)
Let every gun be fired at once--
At random, too--and he, the brave,
If he escape, will have to tell
A prodigy--a miracle--
Or meet the bloodiest grave
That ever closed o'er human corse,
O'er rider brave, or gallant horse."
And away, and away, like thunder weather,
Full twenty cannon blaze together;
Forth the volcano vomits wide.
The men who fired them spring aside,
As back the cannons wheeled.
Then came a solemn pause;
One would have thought the mountain reeled,
As a crater opes its jaws.
But the smoke and sulphur clearing,
Down the mountain's side, unfearing,
Phantom-like glided horse and man,
As though they had no danger ran.
"Hurrah! hurrah!" the soldiers cheer,
And clap their hands in wild delight.
Circassia's Priest, who scorn'd to fear,
Bears the applause of Muscovite.
But, soldiers, load your guns once more;
Load them if ye have time,
For ears did hear your cannons roar,
To whom it is as sweet bells chime,
Inviting to a battle feast.
Dark eyes did see the _mitraille_ driven,
With murderous intent,
'Gainst the High Priest, to whom was given
Protection by offended Heaven,
From you on murder bent,
Haste, sacrilegious Russian, haste,
For behold, their forest-screen they form,
With the ominous sounds of a gathering storm.
Promptly--swiftly--fatally burst,
That storm by Patriot-piety nursed;
Down it swept the mountain's side;
Fast o'er the plain it pour'd,
An avalanche--a deluge wide,
O'er the invader roared.
A White Horse, like a foaming wave,
Dashed forward 'mong the foremost brave,
And swift as is the silver light,
He arrowy clear'd his way,
And cut the mass as clouds a ray.
Or meteor piercing night.
Aimed at him now was many a lance,
No spear could stop his fiery prance,
Oft would he seize it with his mouth,
With snort and fierce tempestuous froth,
While swift the rider would cut down
The lanceman rash, and then dash on
Among advancing hosts, or flying,
Marking his path with foemen dying.
Now, the morning after, when
The gray light kiss'd the mountain,
And down it, like a fountain,
Freshly, clearly ran--oh, then
The Priest and White Horse rose,
So white they scarce threw shade,
But now no sacrilegious blows
At man nor horse are made.
The eyes profane that yester glared,
Hung'ring for that sacred life,
Were quench'd in yester's fatal strife,
And void of meaning stared.
No lip could mock--no Russian ear
Thanksgiving unto Allah hear,
"To Allah, the deliverer!"
The mountain look'd unchang'd, the plain is red;
Peaceful be the fallen invaders' bed.
_Paris._ J.F.C.
ON ATHEISM.--"I had rather," says Sir Francis Bacon, "believe all the
fables in the Legend, the Talmud, and the Koran, than that this
universal frame is without a mind. God never wrought miracles to
convince Atheists, because His ordinary works are sufficient to convince
them. It is true, that a little philosophy inclineth men's minds to
Atheism; but depth in philosophy bringeth them back to religion; for
while the mind of man looketh upon second causes scattered, it may
sometimes rest on them, and go no further; but when it beholdeth the
chain of them confederate and linked together, it must needs fly to
Providence and Deity."
[From the London Examiner.]
UNSECTARIAN EDUCATION IN ENGLAND.
Upon none of the various classes of official men who have been employed
for the last twenty years in introducing or extending social and
administrative reforms, has a more delicate, invidious, and thankless
task devolved, than upon those who have had the charge of the
preliminary arrangements for a system of national education.
A growing sense of the importance of this great subject has been slowly
manifesting itself since the close of last century. The Edgeworths
diffused practical views of individual education. Lancaster demonstrated
the possibility, by judicious arrangement, of imparting instruction to
great numbers of children at once, and, by thus reducing the cost of
education, of rendering it acceptable to the poorest. Before Lancaster
entered the field some benevolent persons, among whom Nonconformists
were the most numerous and active, had set on foot Sunday schools for
the benefit of those whose week-day toil left them no leisure for mental
cultivation. The High Church and Tory parties at first very bitterly
opposed these Sunday and Lancaster schools; but finding the tide too
strong against them, they set up Dr. Bell, as a Churchman, against
Lancaster the Dissenter, and organized the National School Society in
opposition to the British and Foreign School Society. Controversy, as
usual, not only increased the numbers of those who took an interest in
the discussion, but rectified and improved public opinion on the matters
at issue. The _Edinburgh Review_ took the lead, and for a considerable
time kept it, as the champion of unsectarian education; and the wit and
wisdom of Sydney Smith did invaluable service in this field.
The result was, that, very gradually, by means of individuals and
private associations, opportunities of education were extended to
classes who had not previously enjoyed them; improved methods of tuition
were introduced; and the good work went on in an imperfect, scrambling,
amorphous way till after the passing of the reform bill, and the
establishment of the Whigs in power. From this time we have to date the
first regular efforts--poor enough at first, lamentably inadequate
still, but steadily and progressively increasing--to countenance and
extend general education by the government and legislature.
The beginnings were very feeble, as we have said. From 1833 to 1838,
£20,000 was annually voted for the promotion of educational purposes,
and this paltry sum was administered by the Lords of the Treasury. Since
1839 the annual grant has been administered by the Committee of Council
on Education, and its amount has been progressively augmented. From 1839
to 1842 inclusive it was £30,000 per annum; in 1843 and 1844 it was
£40,000; £75,000 in 1845; £100,000 in 1846 and in 1847; and in 1848 it
was raised to £125,000. The distribution of this grant being intrusted
to a committee of council, the president became to a certain extent
invested with the character of a Minister of Education. A machinery of
government inspectors of schools was organized, and a permanent
educational secretary attached to the committee. Not to mention other
valuable results, we may add that the establishment of workhouse and
factory schools, and the institution of the normal school for training
teachers at Kneller Hall, are among the most prominent benefits for
which we are indebted to this growing recognition of a care for the
extension of general education as one of the duties of government.
When we thus look back on the twenty years since 1830, it can not be
denied that a great advance has been made. We have now the rudiments of
an educational department of government. The grants annually voted by
parliament for educational purposes are still, it must be confessed,
unworthily small, when contrasted with the sums freely voted for less
essential objects; and the operations of the committee on education have
been thwarted, impeded, and obstructed by all kinds of narrow-minded and
vexatious opposition. Still we can console ourselves by the reflection
that we have got an educational department of government; that the
public mind is becoming familiarized with its existence, and convinced
of its utility; and that its organization, slowly indeed, but surely, is
being extended and perfected.
This was substantially admitted by Mr. Fox in the able speech
introducing his supplementary educational plan to the House of Commons;
and with the strongest sense of the merits and claims of the government
measure, we find ourselves able very heartily to approve of the proposal
of Mr. Fox. It would remedy the defects of the existing system with the
least possible jar to existing prejudices. With nothing heretofore set
on foot for the promotion of educational purposes would it in any way
meddle--being addressed simply to the remedy of notorious defects, and
for that purpose using and strengthening the machinery at present
employed by government. It is on every account desirable that a fair and
earnest consideration should be given to the second reading of this
bill. It has been mixed up with other educational projects lately set on
foot, and not a very correct impression prevails respecting it.
For here we must be allowed to remark, in passing, that of all the
caviling and vexatious obstructions which the committee of council have
had to encounter, the most ungracious and indefensible appear to have
been those offered by advocates of unsectarian education less reasonable
and considerate than Mr. Fox. We are not going to challenge any
particular respect for the feelings of men in office. It is the
well-understood fate of those who undertake reforms to be criticised
sharply and unreflectingly; such unsparing treatment helps to harden
them for the discharge of unpalatable duties; and even the most captious
objections may be suggestive of improved arrangements. But making every
allowance on this score, it remains incontrovertible that men
entertaining sound abstract views respecting unsectarian education, and
the importance of intrusting to the local public a large share in the
control of educational institutions, like the members of the Lancashire
School Association and others, have not only refused to make due
allowance for the obstructions opposed to the committee of council on
education by the prepossessions of the general public, but, by assuming
an attitude of jealous opposition to it, have materially increased the
difficulties with which it has had to labor. These gentlemen think no
reform worth having unless it accord precisely with their preconceived
notions; and are not in the least contented with getting what they wish,
unless they can also have it in the exact way they wish it. Other and
even more factious malcontents have been found among a class of very
worthy but not very wise persons, who, before government took any charge
of education, had exerted themselves to establish Sunday and other
schools; and have now allowed the paltry jealousy lest under a new and
improved system of general education their own local and congregational
importance may be diminished, to drive them into a virulent opposition
to any scheme of national education under the auspices or by the
instrumentality of government. But all this parenthetically. Our
immediate object is to comment upon an opposition experienced in
carrying out the scheme of operations which the state of public opinion
has compelled government to adopt, coming from the very parties who were
most instrumental in forcing that scheme upon it.
The committee of council, finding it impossible, in the face of
threatened resistance from various religious bodies, to institute
schools by the unaided power of the secular authorities, yielded so far
as to enter into arrangements with the existing societies of promoters
of schools, with a view to carry out the object through their
instrumentality. The correspondence commenced in 1845 under the
administration of Sir Robert Peel, and the arrangements were concluded
under the ministry of Lord John Russell in 1846. It was agreed that
money should be advanced by government to assist in founding and
supporting schools in connection with various religious communions, on
the conditions that the schools should be open to the supervision of
government inspectors (who were, however, to be restrained from all
interference "with the religious instruction, or discipline, or
management of the schools"), and that certain "management clauses,"
drawn up in harmony with the religious views of the respective
communions, should be adhered to. On these terms arrangements were
concluded with the National Society, representing the promoters of
Church of England schools; with the British and Foreign School Society;
with the Wesleyan body; and with the Free Church of Scotland. A
negotiation with the Poor-school Committee of the Roman Catholic Church
is still pending.
With the exception of the National Society all the bodies who entered
into these arrangements with the Committee of Council have co-operated
with it in a frank and fair spirit, and to good purpose. A majority of
the National Society, on the other hand, have made vehement efforts to
recede from the very arrangements which they themselves had proposed;
and have at length concluded a tedious and wrangling attempt to cajole
or bully the committee on education to continue their grants, and yet
emancipate them from the conditions on which they were made, by passing,
on the 11th of December last, a resolution which virtually suspends all
co-operation between the society and government. The state of the
controversy may be briefly explained.
The "management clauses" relating to Church of England schools are few
in number. They relate, first, to the constitution of the managing
committee in populous and wealthy districts of towns; second, to the
constitution of the committee in towns and villages having not less than
a population of five hundred, and a few wealthy and well-educated
inhabitants; third, to its constitution in very small parishes, where
the residents are all illiterate, or indifferent to education; and,
fourth, to its constitution in rural parishes having a population under
five hundred, and where, from poverty and ignorance, the number of
subscribers is limited to very few persons. There are certain provisions
common to all these clauses. The master, mistress, assistant teachers,
managers, and electors, must all be _bona fide_ members of the church;
the clergyman is _ex-officio_ chairman of the committee, with power to
place his curate or curates upon it, and with a casting vote; the
superintendence of the religious and moral instruction is vested
exclusively in the clergyman, with an appeal to the bishop, whose
decision is final; the bishop has a veto on the use of any book, in
school hours, which he deems contrary to the doctrines of the church; in
matters not relating to religious and moral instruction, an appeal lies
to the president of the council, who refers it to one of the inspectors
of schools nominated by himself, to another commissioner nominated by
the bishop of the diocese, and to a third named by the other two
commissioners. It must be kept in mind as bearing on the composition of
such commissions, that the concurrence of the archbishop of the province
is originally requisite in appointing inspectors of church schools, and
that the third commissioner must be a magistrate and member of the
church. We now come to the points of difference in these "management
clauses." They relate exclusively to the constitution of the local
school committees. In the first class of schools, the committee is
elected by annual subscribers; in the second, it is nominated by the
promoters, and vacancies are supplied by election; in the third it is
nominated, as the promotions and vacancies are filled up, by the
remaining members, till the bishop may direct the election to be thrown
open to subscribers; in the fourth no committee is provided, but the
bishop may order one to be nominated by the clergyman from among the
subscribers.
The management clauses, thus drawn, were accepted by the National
Society. The provisions for appeal, in matters of moral and religious
instruction, had been proposed by themselves, and were in a manner
forced by them on the committee of council. Let us now look at the
claims which the society has since advanced, and on account of the
refusal of which it has suspended, if not finally broken off, its
alliance with the committee.
The National Society required: 1st, that a free choice among the several
clauses be left to the promoters of church schools; 2d, that another
court of appeal be provided, in matters not relating to religious and
moral instruction; and 3d, that all lay members of school committees
shall qualify to serve, by subscribing a declaration not merely to the
effect that they are members of the church, but that they have for three
years past been communicants. And because demur is made to these
demands, the committee of the society have addressed a letter to the
committee of council, in which they state that they "deeply regret the
resolution finally adopted by the committee of council to exclude from
all share in the parliamentary grant for education, those church schools
the promoters of which are unwilling to constitute their trust deeds on
the model prescribed by their lordships."
It is a minor matter, yet, in connection with considerations to be
hereafter alluded to, not unworthy of notice, that this statement is
simply untrue. The committee of council have only declined to
contribute, in the cases referred to, to the building of schools; they
have not absolutely declined to contribute to their support when built.
They have refused to give public money to build schools without a
guarantee for their proper management; but they have not refused to give
public money to support even such schools as withhold the guarantee, so
long as they _are_ properly conducted.
The object of the alterations in the management clauses demanded by the
National Society is sufficiently obvious. It is asked that a free choice
among the several clauses be left to the promoters of church schools.
This is a Jesuitical plan for getting rid of the co-operation and
control of lay committee-men. The fourth clause would uniformly be
chosen, under which no committee is appointed, but the bishop may
empower the clergyman to nominate one. It is asked that another court of
appeal be provided in matters relating to the appointment, selection,
and dismissal of teachers and their assistants. By this means the
teachers would be placed, in all matters, secular as well as religious,
under the despotic control of the clergy instead of being amenable, in
purely secular matters, to a committee principally composed of laymen,
with an appeal to lay judges. The third demand also goes to limit the
range of lay interference with, and control of church schools. The sole
aim of the demands of the National Society, however variously expressed,
is to increase the clerical power. Their desire and determination is to
invest the clergy with absolute despotic power over all Church of
England Schools.
In short, the quarrel fastened by the National Society on the committee
on education is but another move of that clerical faction which is
resolute to ignore the existence of laymen as part of the church, except
in the capacity of mere passing thralls and bondsmen of the clergy. It
is a scheme to further their peculiar views. It is another branch of the
agitation which preceded and has followed the appeal to the judicial
committee of the privy council in the Gorham case. It is a trick to
render the church policy and theories of Philpotts omnipotent. The
equivocation to evade the arrangement investing a degree of control over
church schools in lay contributors to their foundation and support, by
insisting upon liberty to choose an inapplicable "management clause," is
transparent. So is the factious complaint against the court of appeal
provided in secular matters, and the allegation that Nonconformists have
no such appeal, when the complainants know that this special arrangement
was conceded at their own request. The untrue averment that the
committee of council have refused to contribute to the support of
schools not adopting the management clauses is in proper keeping with
these equivocations. Let us add that the intolerant, almost blasphemous
denunciations of the council, and of all who act with it, which some
advancers of these falsehoods and equivocations have uttered from the
platform, are no more than might have been expected from men so lost to
the sense of honesty and shame.
The position of the committee of council on education is, simply and
fairly, this: They have yielded to the religious sentiment of an
overwhelming majority in the nation, and have consented to the
experiment of conducting the secular education of the people by the
instrumentality of the various ecclesiastical associations into which
the people are divided. But with reference to the church, as to all
other communions, they insist upon the laity having a fair voice in the
administration of those schools which are in part supplied by the public
money, and which have in view secular as well as religious instruction.
The clergy of only two communions seek to thwart them in this object,
and to arrogate all power over the schools to themselves. The conduct of
the ultra-High Church faction in the Anglican establishment we have
attempted to make clear. The conduct of the Roman Catholic clergy has
been more temperate, but hardly less insincere or invidious. Their
poor-school committee declare that their prelates would be unwilling "to
accept, were it tendered to them, an appellate jurisdiction over schools
in matters purely secular;" but at the same time they claim for their
"ecclesiastical authorities" the power of deciding what questions do or
do not affect "religion and morals." The committee of the council, on
the one hand, are exerting themselves to give effect to the desire of a
great majority of the English public, that religious and moral shall be
combined with intellectual education; and, on the other, to guard
against their compliance with this desire being perverted into an
insidious instrument for enabling arrogant priesthoods to set their feet
on the necks of the laity.
We challenge for public men thus honorably and usefully discharging
important duties a more frank and cordial support than it has yet been
their good fortune to obtain. Several ornaments of the church,
conspicuous for their learning and moderation--such men as the Bishop of
Manchester, Archdeacon Hare, and the Rev. Henry Parr Hamilton--have
already borne direct and earnest testimony to the temper and justice, as
well as straightforward, honesty of purpose, displayed by the committee
of council. It is to be hoped that the laity of the church will now
extend to them the requisite support; and that the Nonconformists and
educational enthusiasts, who, by their waywardness, have been playing
the game of the obscurantist priests, may see the wisdom of altering
this very doubtful policy.
[From the London Athenæum.]
WILLIAM WORDSWORTH.
The great philosophical poet of our age, William Wordsworth, died at
Rydal Mount, in Westmoreland--among his native lakes and hills--on the
23d of April, in the eighty-first year of his age. Those who are curious
in the accidents of birth and death, observable in the biographies of
celebrated men, have thought it worthy of notice that the day of
Wordsworth's death was the anniversary of Shakspeare's birth.
William Wordsworth was born at Cockermouth, in Cumberland, on the 7th of
April, 1770, and educated at Hawkeshead Grammar School, and at St.
John's College, Cambridge. He was designed by his parents for the
Church--but poetry and new prospects turned him into another path. His
pursuit through life was poetry, and his profession that of Stamp
Distributor for the Government in the counties of Cumberland and
Westmoreland: to which office he was appointed by the joint interest, as
we have heard, of his friend, Sir George Beaumont, and his patron, Lord
Lonsdale.
Mr. Wordsworth made his first appearance as a poet in the year 1793, by
the publication of a thin quarto volume entitled "An Evening Walk--an
Epistle in Verse, addressed to a young Lady from the Lakes of the North
of England, by W. Wordsworth, B.A., of St. John's College, Cambridge."
Printed at London, and published by Johnson in St. Paul's Church-yard
from whose shop seven years before had appeared "The Task" of Cowper. In
the same year he published "Descriptive Sketches in Verse, taken during
a Pedestrian Tour in the Italian, Grison, Swiss and Savoyard Alps."
What was thought of these poems by a few youthful admirers may be
gathered from the account given by Coleridge in his "Biographia
Literaria." "During the last year of my residence at Cambridge, 1794, I
became acquainted with Mr. Wordsworth's first publication, entitled
'Descriptive Sketches;' and seldom, if ever, was the emergence of an
original poetic genius above the literary horizon more evidently
announced." The two poets, then personally unknown to each other, first
became acquainted in the summer of 1796, at Nether Stowey, in
Somersetshire. Coleridge was then in his twenty-fourth year, and
Wordsworth in his twenty-sixth. A congeniality of pursuit soon ripened
into intimacy; and in September, 1798, the two poets, accompanied by
Miss Wordsworth, made a tour in Germany.
Wordsworth's next publication was the first volume of his "Lyrical
Ballads," published in the summer of 1798 by Mr. Joseph Cottle, of
Bristol, who purchased the copyright for thirty guineas. It made no way
with the public, and Cottle was a loser by the bargain. So little,
indeed, was thought of the volume, that when Cottle's copyrights were
transferred to the Messrs. Longman, the "Lyrical Ballads" was thrown in
as a valueless volume, in the mercantile idea of the term. The copyright
was afterward returned to Cottle; and by him transferred to the great
poet, who lived to see it of real money value in the market of
successful publications.
Disappointed but not disheartened by the very indifferent success of his
"Lyrical Ballads," years elapsed before Mr. Wordsworth again appeared as
a poet. But he was not idle. He was every year maturing his own
principles of poetry and making good the remark of Coleridge, that to
admire on principle is the only way to imitate without loss of
originality. In the very year which witnessed the failure of his
"Lyrical Ballads," he wrote his "Peter Bell," the most strongly
condemned of all his poems. The publication of this when his name was
better known (for he kept it by him till, he says, it nearly survived
its _minority_) brought a shower of contemptuous criticisms on his
head.
Wordsworth married in the year 1803 Miss Mary Hutchinson of Penrith, and
settled among his beloved Lakes--first at Grasmere, and afterward at
Rydal Mount. Southey's subsequent retirement to the same beautiful
country, and Coleridge's visits to his brother poets, originated the
name of the Lake School of Poetry--"the school of whining and
hypochondriacal poets that haunt the Lakes"--by which the opponents of
their principles and the admirers of the _Edinburgh Review_
distinguished the three great poets whose names have long been and will
still continue to be connected.
Wordsworth's fame increasing, slowly, it is true, but securely, he put
forth in 1807 two volumes of his poems. They were reviewed by Byron,
then a young man of nineteen, and as yet not even a poet in print, in
the _Monthly Literary Recreations_ for the August of that year. "The
poems before us," says the reviewer, "are by the author of 'Lyrical
Ballads,' a collection which has not undeservedly met with a
considerable share of public applause. The characteristics of Mr.
Wordsworth's muse are, simple and flowing, though occasionally
inharmonious verse, strong and sometimes irresistible appeals to the
feelings, with unexceptionable sentiments. Though the present work may
not equal his former efforts, many of the poems possess a native
elegance, natural and unaffected, totally devoid of the tinsel
embellishments and abstract hyperboles of several contemporary
sonneteers. 'The Song at the feasting of Brougham Castle,' 'The Seven
Sisters,' 'The Affliction of Margaret ----, of ----,' possess all the
beauties and few of the defects of this writer. The pieces least worthy
of the author are those entitled 'Moods of My Own Mind.' We certainly
wish these moods had been less frequent." Such is a sample of Byron's
criticism--and of the criticising indeed till very recently of a large
class of people misled by the caustic notices of the _Edinburgh Review_,
the pungent satires of Byron, and the admirable parody of the poet's
occasional style contained in the "Rejected Addresses."
His next publication was "The Excursion, being a portion of The
Recluse," printed in quarto in the autumn of 1814. The critics were hard
upon it. "This will never do," was the memorable opening of the review
in the _Edinburgh_. Men who thought for themselves thought highly of the
poem--but few dared to speak out. Jeffrey boasted wherever he went that
he had _crushed_ it in its birth. "_He_ crush 'The Excursion!'" said
Southey, "tell him he might as easily crush Skiddaw." What Coleridge
often wished, that the first two books of "The Excursion" had been
published separately under the name of "The Deserted Cottage" was a
happy idea--and one, if it had been carried into execution, that would
have removed many of the trivial objections made at the time to its
unfinished character.
While "The Excursion" was still dividing the critics much in the same
way that Davenant's "Gondibert" divided them in the reign of Charles the
Second, "Peter Bell" appeared, to throw among them yet greater
difference of opinion. The author was evidently aware that the poem,
from the novelty of its construction, and the still greater novelty of
its hero, required some protection, and this protection he sought behind
the name of Southey: with which he tells us in the Dedication, his own
had often appeared "both for good and evil." The deriders of the poet
laughed still louder than before--his admirers too were at first
somewhat amazed--and the only consolation which the poet obtained was
from a sonnet of his own, in imitation of Milton's sonnet, beginning:
A book was writ of late called "Tetrachordon."
This sonnet runs as follows--
A book came forth of late, called "Peter Bell;"
Not negligent the style;--the matter?--good
As aught that song records of Robin Hood;
Or Roy, renowned through many a Scottish dell;
But some (who brook these hackneyed themes full wet
Nor heat at Tam O'Shanter's name their blood)
Waxed wrath, and with foul claws, a harpy brood
On Bard and Hero clamorously fell.
Heed not, wild Rover once through heath and glen.
Who mad'st at length the better life thy choice.
Heed not such onset! Nay, if praise of men
To thee appear not an unmeaning voice,
Lift up that gray-haired forehead and rejoice
In the just tribute of thy poet's pen.
Lamb in thanking the poet for his strange but clever poem, asked "Where
was 'The Wagoner?'" of which he retained a pleasant remembrance from
hearing Wordsworth read it in MS. when first written in 1806. Pleased
with the remembrance of the friendly essayist, the poet determined on
sending "The Wagoner" to press--and in 1815 the poem appeared with a
dedication to his old friend who had thought so favorably of it. Another
publication of this period which found still greater favor with many of
his admirers, was "The White Doe of Rylstone;" founded on a tradition
connected with the beautiful scenery that surrounds Bolton Priory, and
on a ballad in Percy's collection called "The Rising of the North."
His next poem of consequence in the history of his mind is "The River
Duddon," described in a noble series of sonnets, and containing some of
his very finest poetry. The poem is dedicated to his brother, the Rev.
Dr. Wordsworth, and appeared in 1820. The subject seems to have been
suggested by Coleridge; who, among his many unfulfilled intentions,
designed writing "The Brook," a poem which in his hands would surely
have been a masterly performance.
The "Duddon" did much for the extension of Wordsworth's fame; and the
public began to call, in consequence, for a fresh edition of his poems.
The sneers of Byron, so frequent in his "Don Juan," such as,
Thou shalt believe in Milton, Dryden, Pope,
Thou shalt not set up Wordsworth, Coleridge, Southey,
Because the first is crazed beyond all hope,
The second drunk, the third so quaint and mouthey;
and again in another place,
"Peddlers" and "Boats" and "Wagons." Oh! ye shades
Of Pope and Dryden, are we come to this?
and somewhat further on,
The little boatman and his Peter Bell
Can sneer at him who drew Achitophel,
fell comparatively harmless. The public had now found out (what was
known only to a few before) that amid much novelty of construction and
connected with some very homely heroes, there was a rich vein of the
very noblest poetry throughout the whole of Wordsworth's works, such as
was not to be found elsewhere in the whole body of English poetry. The
author felt at the same time the truth of his own remark, that no really
great poet had ever obtained an immediate reputation, or any popular
recognition commensurate to his merits.
Wordsworth's last publication of importance was his "Yarrow Revisited,
and other Poems," published in 1835. The new volume, however, rather
sustained than added to his reputation. Some of the finer poems are
additions to his Memorials of a Tour in Scotland, which have always
ranked among the most delightful of his works.
In the same year Mr. Wordsworth received a pension of £300 a year from
Sir Robert Peel's government, and permission to resign his office of
Stamp Distributor in favor of his son. The remaining fifteen years of
his life were therefore even less diversified by events of moment than
any fifteen years previous had been. He seems henceforth to have
surrendered himself wholly to the muse--and to contemplations suitable
to his own habits of mind and to the lovely country in which he lived.
This course of life, however, was varied by a tour to Italy in company
with his friend, Mr. Crabb Robinson. The result of his visit, as far as
poetry is concerned, was not remarkable.
On Southey's death Mr. Wordsworth was appointed Poet Laureate: an
appropriate appointment, if such an office was to be retained at
all--for the laurel dignified by the brows of Ben Johnson, Davenant,
Dryden, Tom Warton, and Southey, had been sullied and degraded by
appearing on the unworthy temples of Tate, Eusden, Whitehead, and Pye.
Once, and once only, did Wordsworth sing in discharge of his office--on
the occasion of Her Majesty's visit to the University of Cambridge.
There is more obscurity, however, than poetry in what he wrote. Indeed,
the Ode in question must be looked on as another addition to the
numerous examples that we possess of how poor a figure the Muse
invariably makes when the occasion of her appearance is such as the poet
himself would not have selected for a voluntary invocation.
If Wordsworth was unfortunate--as he certainly was--in not finding any
recognition of his merits till his hair was gray, he was luckier than
other poets similarly situated have been in living to, a good old age,
and in the full enjoyment of the amplest fame which his youthful dreams
had ever pictured. His admirers have perhaps carried their idolatry too
far: but there can be no doubt of the high position which he must always
hold among British Poets. His style is simple, unaffected, and
vigorous--his blank verse manly and idiomatic--his sentiments both noble
and pathetic--and his images poetic and appropriate. His sonnets are
among the finest in the language: Milton's scarcely finer. "I think,"
says Coleridge, "that Wordsworth possessed more of the genius of a great
philosophic poet than any man I ever knew, or, as I believe, has existed
in England since Milton; but it seems to me that he ought never to have
abandoned the contemplative position which is peculiarly--perhaps I
might say exclusively--fitted for him. His proper title is _Spectator ab
extra_."
Mr. Wordsworth's works are rich in quotations suitable to the various
phases of human life; and his name will be remembered not by his "Peter
Bell," or his "Idiot Boy," or even his "Wagoner," but by his
"Excursion," his "Laodamia," his "Tintern Abbey," some twenty of his
sonnets, his "Daisy," and his "Yarrow _Un_visited." The lineaments of
his face will be perpetuated by Chantrey's noble bust; not by the
pictures of it, which in too many cases justify the description that he
gave of one of them in our hearing: "It is the head of a drover, or a
common juryman, or a writer in the _Edinburgh Review_, or a speaker in
the House of Commons: ... as for the head of a poet, it is no such
thing."
THE MOTHER'S FIRST DUTY.
I would wish every mother to pay attention to the difference between a
course of action, adopted in compliance with _the authority_, and
between a conduct pursued _for the sake of another_.
The first proceeds from reasoning; the second flows from affection. The
first may be abandoned, when the immediate cause may have ceased to
exist; the latter will be permanent, as it did not depend upon
circumstances, or accidental considerations, but is founded in a moral
and constant principle.
In the case now before us, if the infant does not disappoint the hope of
the mother, it will be a proof, first of affection, secondly, of
confidence.
Of affection--for the earliest, and the most innocent wish to please, is
that of the infant to please the mother. If it be questioned, whether
that wish can at all exist in one so little advanced in development. I
would again, as I do upon almost all occasions, appeal to the experience
of mothers.
It is a proof, also, of confidence. Whenever an infant has been
neglected; when the necessary attention has not been paid to its wants;
and when, instead of the smile of kindness, it has been treated with the
frown of severity; it will be difficult to restore it to that quiet and
amiable disposition, in which it will wait for the gratification of its
desires without impatience, and enjoy it without greediness.
If affection and confidence have once gained ground in the heart, it
will be the first duty of the mother to do every thing in her power to
encourage, to strengthen, and to elevate this principle.--_Pestalozzi._
PHYSICAL EDUCATION.
The revival of gymnastics is, in my opinion, the most important step
that has been done in that direction. The great merit of the gymnastic
art is not the facility with which certain exercises are performed, or
the qualification which they may give for certain exertions that require
much energy and dexterity; though an attainment of that sort is by no
means to be despised. But the greatest advantage resulting from a
practice of these exercises, is the natural progress which is observed
in the arrangement of them, beginning with those which, while they are
easy in themselves, yet lead as a preparatory practice to others which
are more complicated and more difficult. There is not, perhaps, any art
in which it may be so clearly shown, that energies which appeared to be
wanting, are to be produced, as it were, or at least are to be
developed, by no other means than practice alone. This might afford a
most useful hint to all those who are engaged in teaching any object of
instruction, and who meet with difficulties in bringing their pupils to
that proficiency which they had expected. Let them recommence on a new
plan, in which the exercises shall be differently arranged, and the
subjects brought forward in a manner that will admit of the natural
progress from the easier to the more difficult. When talent is wanting
altogether, I know that it can not be imparted by any system of
education. But I have been taught by experience to consider the cases,
in which talents of any kind are absolutely wanting, but very few. And
in most cases, I have had the satisfaction to find, that a faculty which
had been quite given over, instead of being developed, had been
obstructed rather in its agency by a variety of exercises which tended
to perplex or to deter from further exertion.
And here I would attend to a prejudice, which is common enough,
concerning the use of gymnastics; it is frequently said, that they may
be very good for those who are strong enough; but that those who are
suffering from weakness of constitution would be altogether unequal to,
and even endangered by, a practice of gymnastics.
Now, I will venture to say, that this rests merely upon a
misunderstanding of the first principles of gymnastics: the exercises
not only vary in proportion to the strength of individuals; but
exercises may be, and have been devised, for those also who were
decidedly suffering. And I have consulted the authority of the first
physicians, who declared, that in cases which had come under their
personal observation, individuals affected with pulmonary complaints, if
these had not already proceeded too far, had been materially relieved
and benefited by a constant practice of the few and simple exercises,
which the system in such cases proposes.
And for this very reason, that exercises may be devised for every age,
and for every degree of bodily strength, however reduced, I consider it
to be essential, that mothers should make themselves acquainted with
the principles of gymnastics, in order that, among the elementary and
preparatory exercises, they may be able to select those which, according
to circumstances, will be most likely to suit and benefit their
children.
If the physical advantage of gymnastics is great and incontrovertible, I
would contend, that the moral advantage resulting from them is as
valuable. I would again appeal to your own observation. You have seen a
number of schools in Germany and Switzerland, of which gymnastics formed
a leading feature; and I recollect that in our conversations on the
subject, you made the remark, which exactly agrees with my own
experience, that gymnastics, well conducted, essentially contribute to
render children not only cheerful and healthy, which, for moral
education, are two all-important points, but also to promote among them
a certain spirit of union, and a brotherly feeling, which is most
gratifying to the observer: habits of industry, openness and frankness
of character, personal courage, and a manly conduct in suffering pain,
are also among the natural and constant consequences of an early and a
continued practice of exercises on the gymnastic system.--_Pestalozzi._
MARRIED MEN.--So good was he, that I now take the opportunity of making
a confession which I have often had upon my lips, but have hesitated to
make from the fear of drawing upon myself the hatred of every married
woman. But now I will run the risk--so now for it--some time or other,
people must unburden their hearts. I confess, then, that I never find,
and never have found a man more lovable, more captivating than when he
is a married man; that is to say, a good married man. A man is never so
handsome, never so perfect in my eyes as when he is married, as when he
is a husband, and the father of a family, supporting, in his manly arms,
wife and children, and the whole domestic circle, which, in his entrance
into the married state, closes around him and constitutes a part of his
home and his world. He is not merely ennobled by this position, but he
is actually _beautified_ by it. Then he appears to me as the crown of
creation; and it is only such a man as this who is dangerous to me, and
with whom I am inclined to fall in love. But then propriety forbids it.
And Moses, and all European legislators declare it to be sinful, and all
married women would consider it a sacred duty to stone me.
Nevertheless, I can not prevent the thing. It is so, and it can not be
otherwise, and my only hope of appeasing those who are excited against
me is in my further confession, that no love affects me so pleasantly;
the contemplation of no happiness makes me so happy, as that between
married people. It is amazing to myself, because it seems to me, that I
living unmarried, or mateless, have with that happiness little to do.
But it is so, and it always was so.--_Miss Bremer._
[From the London Examiner.]
SIDNEY SMITH ON MORAL PHILOSOPHY.
_Elementary Sketches of Moral Philosophy_; delivered at the Royal
Institution, in the years 1804, 1805, and 1806. By the late Rev.
Sydney Smith, M.A. Longman and Co.
How difficult it is to discover the merits of a manuscript appears from
the history of this book. Lord Jeffrey, consulted as to the expediency
of its publication, while it yet existed but in pen and ink, gave a
decidedly adverse opinion. But some hundred copies having been printed
for private distribution, and a copy reaching Lord Jeffrey, he hastened,
with his accustomed candor and sweetness of disposition, to retract his
hostile verdict, after reading the book in print; and (only three days
before he was attacked by the illness which terminated his valuable
life) thus wrote to Sydney Smith's widow:
"I am now satisfied that in what I then said, I did great and grievous
injustice to the merit of these lectures, and was quite wrong in
dissuading their publication, or concluding they would add nothing to
the reputation of the author; on the contrary, my firm impression is,
that, with a few exceptions, they will do him as much credit as any
thing he ever wrote, and produce, on the whole, a stronger impression of
the force and vivacity of his intellect, as well as a _truer_ and more
engaging view of his character, than most of what the world has yet seen
of his writings."
One practical application of this anecdote is to enforce the importance
of calligraphical studies upon authors. A hieroglyphical hand is the
false medium excluding British authors from the public; In general we
should say that there is no class of men whose education in this respect
is so deplorably imperfect, or to whom "only six lessons" would so often
be priceless.
We must confess that the book before us has taken us by surprise,
notwithstanding our affectionate esteem and admiration for its writer.
It has raised our estimate of the power and range of his intellect, of
his insight into human character, of his well-balanced judgment, of his
tolerance and charity undebased by compromise with the vicious or mean,
of the vigorous play of his thoughts, of the sustained beauty of his
style, of his eloquence as well as his humor, and of his profundity no
less than of his wit. Hurriedly composed and unrevised though the
lectures obviously are, fragmentary as the condition is in which they
have been preserved, they are an invaluable addition to English
literature.
Their delivery is associated with the first outbreak of a fashion
ridiculed by Lord Byron in his _Beppo_ and his _Blues_. The poet's
satirical touches notwithstanding, we think that those lectures at the
Royal Institution were even more wanted by their fashionable auditors at
the time, than the similar prelections at Mechanics' Institutes which
came in vogue for less fashionable auditors some few years later. Had it
only been possible to insure the services of a series of Sydney Smiths,
the Institution might have gone on lecturing to the present day to the
unspeakable advantage of all parties concerned. What innumerable
fopperies in literature, in politics, in religion, we might thus have
escaped, it is not easy to conjecture!
The "Elementary Sketches" were delivered soon after the commencement of
Sydney's metropolitan career, and bear strong marks of his recent
residence in Edinburgh. In their general outline they closely
approximate to the course delivered from the moral philosophy chairs of
Scotch Universities. The division of the subject is the same; the
authorities most frequently and panegyrically cited are the same; the
principles and opinions set forth are in the main the same. Sydney
Smith's moral philosophy belongs undeniably to the Scotch school--to the
school of Reid, Stewart, and Adam Smith. But his "sketches" do not the
less indicate an original thinker, a master in the science taught, and
one who can suggest to the great men we have named almost as much as he
receives from them.
The book is an excellent illustration of what could be gained by
engrafting the Edinburgh philosophy on a full-grown healthy English
intellect. The habits of English society, and the classical tastes
imbibed at an English University, preserved Sydney Smith from that touch
of pedantry which characterized the thinkers of the Scotch universities,
trained in a provincial sphere, and trammeled by the Calvinistic logic
even after they had freed themselves from the Calvinistic theology.
Without disparaging the Edinburgh school of literature, the fact must be
admitted that its most prominent ornaments have generally had the
advantage of a "foreign" education. Hume and Black studied in France;
Adam Smith was the member of an English university; Jeffrey had become
familiar with Oxford, though he did not stay there; Homer was caught
young, and civilized at Hackney; and Mackintosh and Brougham, thoroughly
Scotch-bred, expanded amazingly when transplanted to the south. It may
be a national weakness, but it occurs to us that Sydney Smith, who was
southern born as well as bred, is still more free from narrownesses and
angularities than any of them.
The healthy and genial nature of the man accounts for his most
characteristic excellencies, but this book exhibits much we had not
looked for. The lectures on the passions evince a power of comprehending
and sympathizing with what is great in the emotional part of human
nature for which we were not prepared. The lectures on the conduct of
the understanding, and on habit, show that the writer had studied
profoundly and successfully the discipline of the mind and character.
The lectures on the beautiful are pervaded by a healthy and unaffected
appreciation of the loveliness of external nature. And combined with
these high qualities, is that incessant play of witty and humorous fancy
(perhaps the only certain safeguard against sentimental and systematic
excesses, and, when duly restrained by the judgment and moral sense,
the best corrective of hasty philosophizing), so peculiar to Sydney
Smith. Much of all that we have mentioned is indeed and undoubtedly
attributable to the original constitution of Smith's mind; but for much
he was also, beyond all question, indebted to the greater freedom of
thought and conversation which (as compared with the Scotch) has always
characterized literary and social opinion in England.
The topics discussed in the lectures naturally resolve themselves into,
and are arranged in, three divisions. We have an analysis of the
thinking faculties, or the powers of perception, conception, and
reasoning; an analysis of the powers of taste, or of what Schiller and
other Germans designate the _æsthetical_ part of our nature; and an
exposition of the "active powers of the mind," as they are designated in
the nomenclature of the school of Reid, the appetites, passions, and
will. All these themes are discussed with constant reference to a
practical application of the knowledge conveyed. Every thing is treated
in subordination to the establishment of rules for the right conduct of
the understanding, and the formation of good habits. These practical
lessons for the strengthening of the reason, and the regulation of the
emotions and imagination, constitute what, in the language of Sydney
Smith, and the school to which he belongs, is called "Moral Philosophy."
Apart from any particular school, the impression of the author left by
the perusal of his lectures is that he was a man of considerable reading
in books, but far more deeply read in the minds of those he encountered
in society. It is in this extensive knowledge of the world, confirming
and maturing the judgments suggested by his wisely-balanced powers of
feeling and humor, that the superiority of Smith over the rest of his
school consists. He knows men not merely as they are represented in
books, but as they actually are; he knows them not only as they exist in
a provincial sphere, narrowed by petty interests and trammeled by
pedantic opinion, but as they exist in the freest community of the
world, where boundless ambition and enterprise find full scope.
It appears to us that Sidney Smith is most perfectly at home--most
entirely in his element--when discussing the "active powers" of man, or
those impulses in which originate the practical business of life.
Scarcely, if at all, secondary in point of excellence to his remarks on
these topics, are those which he makes on the sublime and beautiful (a
fact for which many will not be prepared), and on wit and humor (which
every body will have expected). The least conclusive and satisfactory of
his discussions are those which relate to the intellectual powers, or
the anatomy of mind. With reference to this part of the course, however,
it must be kept in remembrance that here, more than in the other two
departments, he was fettered by the necessity of being popular in his
language, and brief and striking in his illustrations, in order to keep
within the range of the understandings and intellects of his auditory.
These earlier lectures, too, survive in a more fragmentary and
dilapidated condition than the rest. And after all, even where we seem
to miss a sufficiently extensive and intimate acquaintance with the
greatest and best writers on the subjects handled, or a sufficiently
subtle and precise phraseology, we always find the redeeming qualities
of lively and original conception, of witty and forcible illustration,
and of sound manly sense most felicitously expressed.
In the general tone and tendency of the lectures there is something
Socratic. There is the pervading common sense and practical turn of mind
which characterized the Greek philosopher. There is the liberal
tolerance, and the moral intrepidity. There is the amusement always
insinuating or enforcing instruction. There is the conversational tone,
and adaptation to the tastes and habits of the social circle. We feel
that we are listening to a man who moves habitually in what is called
the best society, who can relish and add a finishing grace to the
pleasures of those portions of the community, but who retains
unsophisticated his estimate of higher and more important matters, and
whose incessant aim is to engraft a better and worthier tone of thought
and aspiration upon the predominating frivolity of his associates.
Nothing can be more graceful or charming than the way in which Sydney
accommodates himself to the habitual language and thoughts of his
brilliant auditory; nothing more manly or strengthening than the sound
practical lessons he reads to them. Such a manual should now be
invaluable to our aristocracy. Let them thoroughly embue themselves with
its precepts, and do their best to act as largely as possible upon its
suggestions. They can have no better chance of maintaining their
position in the front of English society.
To appreciate the book as a whole--and its purpose, thought, and
sentiment impart to it a unity of the highest kind--it must be not only
read but studied. A few citations, however, gleaned here and there at
random, may convey some notion of the characteristic beauties and
felicities of thought and expression which are scattered through every
page of it.
SOCRATES.
Socrates was, in truth, not very fond of subtle and refined
speculations; and upon the intellectual part of our nature, little or
nothing of his opinions is recorded. If we may infer any thing from the
clearness and simplicity of his opinions on moral subjects, and from the
bent which his genius had received for the useful and the practical, he
would certainly have laid a strong foundation for rational metaphysics.
The slight sketch I have given of his moral doctrines contains nothing
very new or very brilliant, but comprehends those moral doctrines which
every person of education has been accustomed to hear from his
childhood; but two thousand years ago they were great discoveries, two
thousand years since, common sense was not invented. If Orpheus, or
Linus, or any of those melodious moralists, sung, in bad verses, such
advice as a grandmamma would now give to a child of six years old, he
was thought to be inspired by the gods, and statues and altars were
erected to his memory. In Hesiod there is a very grave exhortation to
mankind to wash their faces: and I have discovered a very strong analogy
between the precepts of Pythagoras and Mrs. Trimmer; both think that a
son ought to obey his father, and both are clear that a good man is
better than a bad one. Therefore, to measure aright this extraordinary
man, we must remember the period at which he lived; that he was the
first who called the attention of mankind from the pernicious subtleties
which engaged and perplexed their wandering understandings to the
practical rules of life; he was the great father and inventor of common
sense, as Ceres was of the plow, and Bacchus of intoxication. First, he
taught his contemporaries that they did not know what they pretended to
know; then he showed them that they knew nothing; then he told them what
they ought to know. Lastly, to sum the praise of Socrates, remember that
two thousand years ago, while men were worshiping the stones on which
they trod, and the insects which crawled beneath their feet; two
thousand years ago, with the bowl of poison in his hand, Socrates said,
"I am persuaded that my death, which is now just coming, will conduct me
into the presence of the gods, who are the most righteous governors, and
into the society of just and good men; and I derive confidence from the
hope that something of man remains after death, and that the condition
of good men will then be much better than that of the bad." Soon after
this he covered himself up with his cloak and expired.
PLATO.
Of all the disciples of Socrates, Plato, though he calls himself the
least, was certainly the most celebrated. As long as philosophy
continued to be studied among the Greeks and Romans, his doctrines were
taught, and his name revered. Even to the present day his writings give
a tinge to the language and speculations of philosophy and theology. Of
the majestic beauty of Plato's style, it is almost impossible to convey
an adequate idea. He keeps the understanding up to a high pitch of
enthusiasm longer than any existing writer; and, in reading Plato, zeal
and animation seem rather to be the regular feelings than the casual
effervescence of the mind. He appears almost disdaining the mutability
and imperfection of the earth on which he treads, to be drawing down
fire from heaven, and to be seeking among the gods above, for the
permanent, the beautiful, and the grand! In contrasting the vigor and
the magnitude of his conceptions with the extravagance of his
philosophical tenets, it is almost impossible to avoid wishing that he
had confined himself to the practice of eloquence; and, in this way
giving range and expansion to the mind which was struggling within him,
had become one of those famous orators who
"Wielded at will that fierce democratic,
Shook th' arsenal, and fulmin'd over Greece
To Macedon and Artaxerxes' throne."
After having said so much of his language, I am afraid I must proceed to
his philosophy; observing always, that, in stating it, I do not always
pretend to understand it, and do not even engage to defend it. In
comparing the very few marks of sobriety and discretion with the
splendor of his genius, I have often exclaimed as Prince Henry did about
Falstaff's bill, "Oh, monstrous! but one half-pennyworth of bread to
this intolerable deal of sack!"
DR. REID.
In answer to these metaphysical lunacies, Dr. Reid has contended that,
for all reasoning, there must be some first principles from whence such
reasoning originates, and which must _necessarily_ be incapable of proof
or they would not be _first principles_; and that facts so irresistibly
ingrafted upon human belief as the existence of mind and matter, must be
assumed for truths, and reasoned upon as such. All that these skeptics
have said of the outer and the inner world may, with equal justice, be
applied to every other radical truth. Who can prove his own personal
identity? A man may think himself a clergyman, and believe he has
preached for these ten years last past; but I defy him to offer any sort
of _proof_ that he has not been a fishmonger all the time ... ever doubt
that all reasoning _must_ end in arbitrary belief; that we must, at
last, come to that point where the only reply can be, "I _am so_--this
belief is the constitution of my nature--God willed it." I grant that
this reasoning is a ready asylum for ignorance and imbecility, and that
it affords too easy a relief from the pain of rendering a reason: but
the most unwearied vigor of human talents must at last end there; the
wisdom of ages can get no further; here, after all, the Porch, the
Garden, the Academy, the Lyceum, must close their labors.
Much as we are indebted to Dr. Reid for preaching up this doctrine, he
has certainly executed it very badly; and nothing can be more imperfect
than the table of first principles which he has given us--an enumeration
of which is still a desideratum of the highest importance. The skeptics
may then call the philosophy of the human mind merely hypothetical; but
if it be so, all other knowledge must, of course, be hypothetical also;
and if it be so, and all is erroneous, it will do quite as well as
reality, if we keep up a certain proportion in our errors: for there
_may_ be no such things as lunar tables, no sea, and no ships; but, by
falling into one of these errors after the other, we avoid shipwreck,
or, what is the same thing, as it gives the same pain, the idea of
shipwreck. So with the philosophy of the human mind: I may have no
memory, and no imagination--they may be mistakes; but if I cultivate
them both, I derive honor and respect from my fellow-creatures, which
may be mistakes also; but they harmonize so well together, that they are
quite as good as realities. The only evil of errors is, that they are
never supported by consequences; if they were, they would be as good as
realities. Great merit is given to Dr. Reid for his destruction of what
is called the ideal system, but I confess I can not see the important
consequences to which it has yet led.
PUNS.
I have mentioned puns. They are, I believe, what I have denominated
them--the wit of words. They are exactly the same to words which wit is
to ideas, and consist in the sudden discovery of relations in language.
A pun, to be perfect in its kind, should contain two distinct meanings;
the one common and obvious; the other, more remote; and in the notice
which the mind takes of the relation between these two sets of words,
and in the surprise which that relation excites, the pleasure of a pun
consists. Miss Hamilton, in her book on Education, mentions the instance
of a boy so very neglectful, that he could never be brought to read the
word _patriarchs_; but whenever he met with it he always pronounced it
_partridges_. A friend of the writer observed to her, that it could
hardly be considered as a mere piece of negligence, for it appeared to
him that the boy, in calling them partridges, was _making game_ of the
patriarchs. Now, here are two distinct meanings contained in the same
phrase; for to make game of the patriarchs is to laugh at them; or to
make game of them is, by a very extravagant and laughable sort of
ignorance of words, to rank them among pheasants, partridges, and other
such delicacies, which the law takes under its protection and calls
_game_; and the whole pleasure derived from this pun consists in the
sudden discovery that two such different meanings are referable to one
form of expression. I have very little to say about puns; they are in
very bad repute, and so they _ought to_ be. The wit of language is so
miserably inferior to the wit of ideas, that it is very deservedly
driven out of good company. Sometimes, indeed, a pun makes its
appearance which seems for a moment to redeem its species; but we must
not be deceived by them; it is a radically bad race of wit. By
unremitting persecution, it has been at last got under, and driven into
cloisters--from whence it must never again be suffered to emerge into
the light of the world.
IMPORTANCE OF BEING ABLE TO DESPISE RIDICULE.
I know of no principle which it is of more importance to fix in the
minds of young people than that of the most determined resistance to the
encroachment of ridicule. Give up to the world, and to the ridicule with
which the world enforces its dominion, every trifling question of manner
and appearance; it is to toss courage and firmness to the winds, to
combat with the mass upon such subjects as these. But learn from the
earliest days to insure your principles against the perils of ridicule:
you can no more exercise your reason, if you live in the constant dread
of laughter, than you can enjoy your life, if you are in the constant
terror of death. If you think it right to differ from the times, and to
make a stand for any valuable point of morals, do it, however rustic,
however antiquated, however pedantic it may appear--do it, not for
insolence, but _seriously_ and _grandly_--as a man who wore a soul of
his own in his bosom, and did not wait till it was breathed into him by
the breath of fashion. Let men call you mean, if you know you are just;
hypocritical, if you are honestly religious; pusillanimous, if you feel
that you are firm: resistance soon converts unprincipled wit into
sincere respect; and no after-time can tear from you those feelings
which every man carries within him who has made a noble and successful
exertion in a virtuous cause.
BULLS AND CHARADES.
A bull--which must by no means be passed over in this recapitulation of
the family of wit and humor--a bull is exactly the counterpart of a
witticism: for as wit discovers real relations that are not apparent,
bulls admit apparent relations that are not real. The pleasure arising
from bulls, proceeds from our surprise at suddenly discovering two
things to be dissimilar in which a resemblance might have been
suspected. The same doctrine will apply to wit and bulls in action.
Practical wit discovers connection or relation between actions, in which
duller understandings discover none; and practical bulls originate from
an apparent relation between two actions which more correct
understandings immediately perceive to have none at all. In the late
rebellion in Ireland, the rebels, who had conceived a high degree of
indignation against some great banker, passed a resolution that they
would burn his notes; which they accordingly did, with great assiduity;
forgetting, that in burning his notes they were destroying his debts,
and that for every note which went into the flames, a correspondent
value went into the banker's pocket. A gentleman, in speaking of a
nobleman's wife of great rank and fortune, lamented very much that she
had no children. A medical gentleman who was present observed, that to
have no children was a great misfortune, but he thought he had remarked
it was _hereditary_ in some families. Take any instance of this branch
of the ridiculous, and you will always find an apparent relation of
ideas leading to a complete inconsistency.
I shall say nothing of charades, and such sort of unpardonable trumpery:
if charades are made at all, they should be made without benefit of
clergy, the offender should instantly be hurried off to execution, and
be cut off in the middle of his dullness, without being allowed to
explain to the executioner why his first is like his second, or what is
the resemblance between his fourth and his ninth.
WIT AND PROFESSED WITS.
I wish, after all I have said about wit and humor, I could satisfy
myself of their good effects upon the character and disposition; but I
am convinced the probable tendency of both is, to corrupt the
understanding and the heart. I am not speaking of wit where it is kept
down by more serious qualities of mind, and thrown into the background
of the picture; but where it stands out boldly and emphatically, and is
evidently the master quality in any particular mind. Professed wits,
though they are generally courted for the amusement they afford, are
seldom respected for the qualities they possess. The habit of seeing
things in a witty point of view, increases, and makes incursions from
its own proper regions, upon principles and opinions which are ever held
sacred by the wise and good. A witty man is a dramatic performer: in
process of time, he can no more exist without applause than he can exist
without air; if his audience be small, or if they are inattentive, or if
a new wit defrauds him of any portion of his admiration, it is all over
with him--he sickens, and is extinguished. The applauses of the theatre
on which he performs are so essential to him, that he must obtain them
at the expense of decency, friendship, and good feeling. It must always
be _probable_, too, that a _mere_ wit is a person of light and frivolous
understanding. His business is not to discover relations of ideas that
are _useful_, and have a real influence upon life, but to discover the
more trifling relations which are only amusing; he never looks at things
with the naked eye of common sense, but is always gazing at the world
through a Claude Lorraine glass--discovering a thousand appearances
which are created only by the instrument of inspection, and covering
every object with factitious and unnatural colors. In short, the
character of a _mere_ wit it is impossible to consider as very amiable,
very respectable, or very safe. So far the world, in judging of wit
where it has swallowed up all other qualities, judge aright; but I doubt
if they are sufficiently indulgent to this faculty where it exists in a
lesser degree, and as one out of many other ingredients of the
understanding. There is an association in men's minds between dullness
and wisdom, amusement and folly, which has a very powerful influence in
decision upon character, and is not overcome without considerable
difficulty. The reason is, that the _outward_ signs of a dull man and a
wise man are the same, and so are the outward signs of a frivolous man
and a witty man; and we are not to expect that the majority will be
disposed to look to much _more_ than the outward sign. I believe the
fact to be, that wit is very seldom the _only_ eminent quality which
resides in the mind of any man; it is commonly accompanied by many other
talents of every description, and ought to be considered as a strong
evidence of a fertile and superior understanding. Almost all the great
poets, orators, and statesmen of all times, have been witty, Cæsar,
Alexander, Aristotle, Descartes, and Lord Bacon, were witty men; so were
Cicero, Shakspeare, Demosthenes, Boileau, Pope, Dryden, Fontenelle,
Jonson, Waller, Cowley, Solon, Socrates, Dr. Johnson, and almost every
man who has made a distinguished figure in the House of Commons. I have
talked of the _danger_ of wit: I do not mean by that to enter into
commonplace declamation against faculties because they _are_ dangerous;
wit is dangerous, eloquence is dangerous, a talent for observation is
dangerous, _every_ thing is dangerous that has efficacy and vigor for
its characteristics: nothing is safe but mediocrity. The business is, in
conducting the understanding well, to risk something; to aim at uniting
things that are commonly incompatible. The meaning of an extraordinary
man is, that he is _eight_ men, not one man; that he has as much wit as
if he had no sense, and as much sense as if he had no wit; that his
conduct is as judicious as if he were the dullest of human beings, and
his imagination as brilliant as if he were irretrievably ruined. But
when wit is combined with sense and information; when it is softened by
benevolence, and restrained by strong principle; when it is in the hands
of a man who can use it and despise it, who can be witty and something
much _better_ than witty, who loves honor, justice, decency,
good-nature, morality, and religion, ten thousand times better than wit;
wit is _then_ a beautiful and delightful part of our nature. There is no
more interesting spectacle than to see the effects of wit upon the
different characters of men; than to observe it expanding caution,
relaxing dignity, unfreezing coldness--teaching age, and care, and pain
to smile--extorting reluctant gleams of pleasure from melancholy, and
charming even the pangs of grief. It is pleasant to observe how it
penetrates through the coldness and awkwardness of society, gradually
bringing men nearer together, and, like the combined force of wine and
oil, giving every man a glad heart and a shining countenance. Genuine
and innocent wit like this, is surely the _flavor of the mind_! Man
could direct his ways by plain reason, and support his life by tasteless
food; but God has given us wit, and flavor, and brightness, and
laughter, and perfumes, to enliven the days of man's pilgrimage, and to
"charm his pained steps over the burning marl."
INFLUENCE OF ASSOCIATION.
I remember once seeing an advertisement in the papers, with which I was
much struck; and which I will take the liberty of reading: "Lost, in the
Temple Coffee-house, and supposed to be taken away by mistake, an oaken
stick, which has supported its master not only over the greatest part of
Europe, but has been his companion in his journeys over the inhospitable
deserts of Africa: whoever will restore it to the waiter, will confer a
very serious obligation on the advertiser; or, if that be any object,
shall receive a recompense very much above the value of the article
restored." Now, here is a man, who buys a sixpenny stick, because it is
useful; and, totally forgetting the trifling causes which first made his
stick of any consequence, speaks of it with warmth and affection; calls
it his companion; and would hardly have changed it, perhaps, for the
gold stick which is carried before the king. But the best and the
strongest example of this, and of the customary progress of association,
is in the passion of avarice. A child only loves a guinea because it
shines; and, as it is equally splendid, he loves a gilt button as well.
In after-life, he begins to love wealth, because it affords him the
comforts of existence; and then loves it so well, that he denies himself
the common comforts of life to increase it. The uniting idea is so
totally forgotten, that it is completely sacrificed to the ideas which
it unites. Two friends unite against the person to whose introduction
they are indebted for their knowledge of each other; exclude him their
society, and ruin him by their combination.
INDESTRUCTIBILITY OF ENJOYMENT.
Mankind are always happier for having been happy; so that if you make
them happy now, you make them happy twenty years hence, by the memory of
it. A childhood passed with a due mixture of rational indulgence, under
fond and wise parents, diffuses over the whole of life a feeling of calm
pleasure; and, in extreme old age, is the very last remembrance which
time can erase from the mind of man. No enjoyment, however
inconsiderable, is confined to the present moment. A man is the happier
for life, from having made once an agreeable tour, or lived for any
length of time with pleasant people, or enjoyed any considerable
interval of innocent pleasure: and it is most probably the recollection
of their past pleasures, which contributes to render old men so
inattentive to the scenes before them; and carries them back to a world
that is past, and to scenes never to be renewed again.
HAPPINESS AS A MORAL AGENT.
That virtue gives happiness we all know; but if it be true that
happiness contributes to virtue, the principle furnishes us with some
sort of excuse for the errors and excesses of able young man, at the
bottom of life, fretting with impatience under their obscurity, and
hatching a thousand chimeras of being neglected and overlooked by the
world. The natural cure for these errors is the sunshine of prosperity:
as they get happier, they get better, and learn, from the respect which
they receive from others, to respect themselves. "Whenever," says Mr.
Lancaster (in his book just published), "I met with a boy particularly
mischievous, I made him a monitor: I never knew this fail." The _cause_
for the promotion, and the kind of encouragement it must occasion, I
confess appear rather singular, but of the _effect_, I have no sort of
doubt.
POWER OF HABIT.
Habit uniformly and constantly strengthens all our active exertions:
whatever we do often, we become more and more apt to do. A snuff-taker
begins with a pinch of snuff per day, and ends with a pound or two every
month. Swearing begins in anger; it ends by mingling itself with
ordinary conversation. Such-like instances are of too common notoriety
to need that they be adduced; but, as I before observed, at the very
time that the tendency to do the thing is every day increasing, the
pleasure resulting from it is, by the blunted sensibility of the bodily
organ, diminished, and the desire is irresistible, though the
gratification is nothing. There is rather an entertaining example of
this in Fielding's "Life of Jonathan Wild," in that scene where he is
represented as playing at cards with the count, a professed gambler.
"Such," says Mr. Fielding, "was the power of habit over the minds of
these illustrious persons, that Mr. Wild could not keep his hands out of
the count's pockets, though he knew they were empty; nor could the count
abstain from palming a card, though he was well aware Mr. Wild had no
money to pay him."
THE USE OF THE PASSIONS.
The passions are in morals, what motion is in physics; they create,
preserve, and animate, and without them all would be silence and death.
Avarice guides men across the deserts of the ocean; pride covers the
earth with trophies, and mausoleums, and pyramids; love turns men from
their savage rudeness; ambition shakes the very foundations of kingdoms.
By the love of glory, weak nations swell into magnitude and strength.
Whatever there is of terrible, whatever there is of beautiful in human
events, all that shakes the soul to and fro, and is remembered while
thought and flesh cling together, all these have their origin from the
passions. As it is only in storms, and when their coming waters are
driven up into the air, that we catch a sight of the depths of the sea,
it is only in the season of perturbation that we have a glimpse of the
real internal nature of man. It is then only that the might of these
eruptions, shaking his frame, dissipates all the feeble coverings of
opinion, and rends in pieces that cobweb vail with which fashion hides
the feelings of the heart. It is then only that Nature speaks her
genuine feelings; and, as at the last night of Troy, when Venus
illumined the darkness, Æneas saw the gods themselves at work, so may
we, when the blaze of passion is flung upon man's nature, mark in him
the signs of a celestial origin, and tremble at the invisible agents of
God!
Look at great men in critical and perilous moments, when every cold and
little spirit is extinguished: their passions always bring them out
harmless, and at the very moment when they _seem_ to perish, they emerge
into greater glory. Alexander in the midst of his mutinous soldiers;
Frederick of Prussia, combating against the armies of three kingdoms;
Cortes, breaking in pieces the Mexican empire: their passions led all
these great men to fix their attention strongly upon the objects of
their desires; they saw them under aspects unknown to, and unseen by
common men, and which enabled them to conceive and execute those hardy
enterprises, deemed rash and foolish, till their wisdom was established
by their success. It is, in fact, the great passions alone which enable
men to distinguish between what is difficult and what is impossible; a
distinction always confounded by merely _sensible_ men, who do not even
_suspect_ the existence of those means which men of genius employ to
effect their object. It is only passion which gives a man that high
enthusiasm for his country, and makes him regard it as the only object
worthy of human attention; an enthusiasm which to common eyes appears
madness and extravagance, but which always creates fresh powers of mind,
and commonly insures their ultimate success. In fact, it is only the
great passions which, tearing us away from the seductions of indolence,
endow us with that continuity of attention, to which alone superiority
of mind is attached. It is to their passions alone, under the providence
of God, that nations must trust, when perils gather thick about them,
and their last moments seem to be at hand. The history of the world
shows us that men are not to be counted by their numbers, but by the
fire and vigor of their passions; by their deep sense of injury; by
their memory of past glory; by their eagerness for fresh fame; by their
clear and steady resolution of ceasing to live, or of achieving a
particular object, which, when it is _once_ formed, strikes off a load
of manacles and chains, and gives free space to all heavenly and heroic
feelings. All great and extraordinary actions come from the heart. There
are seasons in human affairs, when qualities fit enough to conduct the
common business of life, are feeble and useless, and when men must trust
to emotion for that safety which reason at such times can never give.
These are the feelings which led the ten thousand over the Carduchian
mountains; these are the feelings by which a handful of Greeks broke in
pieces the power of Persia: they have, by turns, humbled Austria,
reduced Spain; and in the fens of the Dutch, and on the mountains of the
Swiss, defended the happiness, and revenged the oppressions of man! God
calls all the passions out in their keenness and vigor for the present
safety of mankind. Anger, and revenge, and the heroic mind, and a
readiness to suffer; all the secret strength, all the invisible array of
the feelings, all that nature has reserved for the great scenes of the
world. For the usual hopes and the common aids of man are all gone!
Kings have perished, armies are subdued, nations mouldered away! Nothing
remains, under God, but those passions which have often proved the best
ministers of His vengeance, and the surest protectors of the world.
In that, and similar passages, a sustained feeling and expression not
ordinarily associated with Sydney Smith, impresses the reader with its
unaffected eloquence and emotion. We close the book reluctantly, for we
leave many things unquoted that had the most forcibly impressed us. In
the two chapters on the conduct of the understanding, there are most
masterly disquisitions on labor and study as connected with the
manifestations of genius; on the importance of men adhering to the
particular line of their powers or talents, and on the tendency of all
varieties of human accomplishment to the same great object of exalting
and gladdening life. We would also particularly mention a happy and
noble recommendation of the uses of classical study at the close of the
chapter on the sublime.
YOUNG POET'S PLAINT.
God, release our dying sister!
Beauteous blight hath sadly kiss'd her
Whiter than the wild, white roses,
Famine in her face discloses
Mute submission, patience holy,
Passing fair! but passing slowly.
Though she said, "You know I'm dying."
In her heart green trees are sighing;
Not of them hath pain bereft her,
In the city, where we left her:
"Bring," she said, "a hedgeside blossom!"
Love shall lay it on her bosom.
ELLIOTT.
ALEXANDER AFTER THE RETREAT FROM LUTZEN.--"The Emperor of Russia passed
the night of the battle at Pegau, whither his britcka containing his
papers and camp-bed had been brought; and, after having been twenty-four
hours on horseback, Lord Cathcart and his staff found the bare floor of
a cottage so comfortable a couch, without even the luxury of straw, that
no one seemed in a hurry to rise when we were informed soon after
daylight, that his imperial majesty was about to mount and depart, and
that the enemy were approaching to dislodge us. The emperor slowly rode
some miles toward the rear, along the Altenburg road, conversing with
Lord Cathcart about the battle: he laid great stress upon the report of
the commandant of artillery as to the want of ammunition, which he
assigned as the principal reason for not renewing the action; he spoke
of the result as a victory gained on our side; and it was afterward the
fashion in the army to consider it as such, though not perhaps a victory
so important in its consequences, or so decisive as could have been
wished. At length the emperor observed that he did not like to be seen
riding, fast to the rear, and that it was now necessary for him to go to
Dresden with all expedition, and prepare for ulterior operations: he
then entered his little traveling-carriage, which was drawn by relays of
Cossack horses, and proceeded by Altenburg to Penig."--_Cathcart._
[From the Dublin University Magazine.]
SONNETS FROM THE ITALIAN.
UPON THE DEATH OF THE REDEEMER.
BY MINZONI.
When, in that last, loud wail, the Son of God
Rent open graves and shook the mountain's steep--
Adam, affrighted from his world-long sleep,
Raised up his head; then stark and upright stood:
With fear and wonder filled, he moved around
His troubled eyes--then asked, with throbbing heart,
Who was that awful One who hung apart,
Gore-stained and lifeless, on the curst tree bound.
Soon as he learned, his penitent hand defiled
His shriveled brow and bloodless cheeks, and tore
The hoary locks that streamed his shoulders o'er.
Turning to Eve, in lamentation wild,
He cried, 'till Calvary echoed to the cry--
"WOMAN! FOR THEE I'VE GIVEN MY LORD TO DIE!"
TWO SONNETS ON JUDAS.
BY MONTI.
I.
Down on the Temple-floor the traitor flung
The infamous bribe for which he sold the Lord,
Then in despair rushed forth, and with a cord,
From out the tree, his reprobate body hung.
Pent in his throat, the struggling spirit poured
A mingled sound of rage and wildest grief,
And Christ it cursed, and its own sin in chief,
Which glutted hell with triumphs so abhorred.
Forth with a howl at last the spirit fled.
Then Justice bore it to the holy mount,
And dipping there her finger in the fount
Of Christ's all-sacred blood, the sentence dread
Wrote on its brow of everlasting woe,
Then, loathing, plunged it into hell below.
II.
Down into hell that wretched soul she flung,
When lo! a mighty earthquake shook the ground;
The mountain reeled. The wind swept fierce around
The black and strangled body where it hung.
From Calvary at eve, the angels wending,
On slow, hushed wing, their holy vigil o'er,
Saw it afar, and swift their white wings, blending
With trembling fear, their pure eyes spread before.
Meanwhile fiends pluck the corse down in the gloom,
And on their burning shoulders, as a bier,
Convey the burden to its nameless doom.
Cursing and howling, downward thus they steer
Their hell-ward course, and in its depths restore
The wandering soul to its damned corse once more.
SONNET UPON JUDAS.
BY GIANNI.
Spent with the struggles of his mad despair,
Judas hung gasping from the fatal tree;
Then swift the tempter-fiend sprang on him there,
Flapping his flame-red wings exultingly.
With griping claws he clutched the noose that bound
The traitor's throat, and hurled him down below,
Where hell's hot depths, incessant bubbling glow
His burning flesh and crackling bones around:
There, mid the gloomy shades, asunder riven
By storm and lurid flame, was SATAN seen;
Relaxing his stern brow, with hideous grin.
Within his dusky arms the wretch he caught,
And with smutched lips, fuliginous and hot,
_Repaid the kiss which he to Christ had given._
THE CHARACTER OF BURNS.
BY EBENEZER ELLIOTT.
Perhaps no falsehood has been more frequently repeated, than that men of
genius are less fortunate and less virtuous than other men; but the
obvious truth, that they who attempt little are less liable to failure
than they who attempt much, will account for the proverbial good luck of
fools. In our estimate of the sorrows and failings of literary men, we
forget that sorrow is the common lot; we forget, too, that the
misfortunes and the errors of men of genius are recorded; and that,
although their virtues may be utterly forgotten, their minutest faults
will be sure to find zealous historians. And this is as it should be.
Let the dead instruct us. But slanderers blame, in individuals, what
belongs to the species. "We women," says Clytemnestra in Eschylus, when
meditating the murder of her husband, and in reply to an attendant who
was praising the gentleness of the sex, "We women are--what we are." So
is it with us all. Then let every fault of men of genius be known; but
let not hypocrisy come with a sponge, and wipe away their virtues.
Of the misfortunes of Cowper we have all heard, and certainly he was
unfortunate, for he was liable to fits of insanity. But it might be said
of him, that he was tended through life by weeping angels. Warm-hearted
friends watched and guarded him with intense and unwearied solicitude;
the kindest hearted of the softer sex, the best of the best, seems to
have been born only to anticipate his wants. A glance at the world, will
show us that his fate, though sad, was not saddest; for how many madmen
are there, and how many men still more unfortunate than madmen, who have
no living-creature to aid, or soothe, or pity them! Think of
Milton--"blind among enemies!"
But the saddest incident in the life of Cowper remains to be told. In
his latter days, he was pensioned by the crown--a misfortune which I can
forgive to him, but not to destiny. It is consoling to think, that he
was not long conscious of his degradation after the cruel kindness was
inflicted on him. But why did not his friends, if weary of sustaining
their kinsman stricken by the arrows of the Almighty, suffer him to
perish in a _beggars'_ mad-house? Would he had died in a ditch rather
than this shadow had darkened over his grave! Burns was more fortunate
in his death than Cowper: he lived self-supported to the end. Glorious
hearted Burns! Noble, but unfortunate Cowper!
Burns was one of the few poets fit to be seen. It has been asserted that
genius is a disease--the malady of physical inferiority. It is certain
that we have heard of Pope, the hunchback: of Scott and Byron, the
cripples: of the epileptic Julius Cæsar, who, it is said, never planned
a great battle without going into fits; and of Napoleon, whom a few
years of trouble killed: where Cobbett (a man of talent, not of genius)
would have melted St. Helena, rather than have given up the ghost with a
full belly. If Pope could have leaped over five-barred gates, he
probably would not have written his inimitable sofa-and-lap-dog poetry;
but it does not follow that he would not have written the "Essay on
Man;" and they who assert that genius is a physical disease, should
remember that, as true critics are more rare than true poets, we having
only one in our language, William Hazlitt, so, very tall and complete
men are as rare as genius itself, a fact well known to persons who have
the appointment of constables. And if it is undeniable that God wastes
nothing, and that we, therefore, perhaps seldom find a gigantic body
combined with a soul of Æolian tones; it is equally undeniable, that
Burns was an exception to the rule--a man of genius, tall, strong, and
handsome, as any man that could be picked out of a thousand at a country
fair.
But he was unfortunate, we are told. Unfortunate! He was a tow-heckler
who cleared six hundred pounds by the sale of his poems: of which sum he
left two hundred pounds behind him, in the hands of his brother Gilbert:
two facts which prove that he could neither be so unfortunate, nor so
imprudent, as we are told he was. If he had been a mere tow-heckler, I
suspect he would never have possessed six hundred shillings.
But he _was_ imprudent, it is said. Now, he is a wise man who has done
one act that influences beneficially his whole life. Burns did three
such acts--he wrote poetry--he published it; and, despairing of his
farm, he became an exciseman. It is true he did one imprudent act; and,
I hope, the young persons around me will be warned by it; he took a
farm, without thoroughly understanding the business of farming.
It does not appear that he wasted or lost any capital, except what he
threw away on his farm. He was unlucky, but not imprudent in giving it
up when he did. Had he held it a little longer, the Bank Restriction Act
would have enriched him at the expense of his landlord; but Burns was an
honest man, and, therefore, alike incapable of desiring and foreseeing
that enormous villainy.
But he was neglected, we are told. Neglected! No strong man in good
health _can_ be neglected, if he is true to himself. For the benefit of
the young, I wish we had a correct account of the number of persons who
fail of success, in a thousand that resolutely strive to do well. I do
not think it exceeds one per cent. By whom was Burns neglected?
Certainly not by the people of Scotland: for they paid him the highest
compliment that can be paid to an author: they bought his book! Oh, but
he ought to have been pensioned. Pensioned! Can not we think of poets
without thinking of pensions? _Are_ they such poor creatures, that they
can not earn an honest living? Let us hear no more of such degrading and
insolent nonsense.
But he was a drunkard, it is said. I do not mean to exculpate him when I
say that he was probably no worse, in that respect, than his neighbors;
for he _was_ worse if he was not better than they, the balance being
against him; and his Almighty Father would not fail to say to him, "What
didst thou with the lent talent?" But drunkenness, in his time, was the
vice of his country--it is so still; and if the traditions of Dumfries
are to be depended on, there are allurements which Burns was much less
able to resist than those of the bottle; and the supposition of his
frequent indulgence in the crimes to which those allurements lead, is
incompatible with that of his habitual drunkenness.
OF DELAYS.--Fortune is like the market where, many times, if you can
stay a little, the price will fall; and again, it is sometimes like the
Sibyl's offer, who at first offereth the commodity at full, then
consumeth part and part, and still holdeth up the price.... There is
surely no greater wisdom than well to time the beginnings and onsets of
things. Dangers are no more light if they once seem light: and more
dangers have deceived men than forced them. Nay, it were better to meet
some dangers half-way, though they come nothing near, than to keep too
long a watch upon their approaches; for if a man watch too long, it is
odds he will fall asleep. On the other side, to be deceived with too
long shadows--as some have been, when the moon was low and shone on
their enemies, and so to shoot off before the time--or to teach dangers
to come on, by an over-early buckling toward them, is another extreme.
The ripeness or unripeness of the occasion must ever be well weighed;
and, generally, it is good to commit the beginnings of all great actions
to Argus with his hundred eyes, and the ends to Briareus with his
hundred hands; first to watch, and then to speed.--_Lord Bacon._
[From the London Examiner.]
THE PARIS ELECTION.
All Paris is absorbed in the contest between the stationer Leclerc and
Eugene Sue the novelist. Strange it is that the party which pretends to
superior intelligence and refinement, should have put forward as their
candidate merely a specimen of constabulary violence, an honest
policemen, in fact; while the party accused of consisting of the mere
dregs of society has selected for its representative one of the most
refined and searching intellects of the day. If ever a man became a
Socialist from conviction, it has been Sue; for his writings clearly
show the progress and the changes of his mind. From depicting high
society and influences he acquired a disgust for them; by diving among
the vulgar, he discovered virtues whose existence he did not suspect.
And though the conclusions he has drawn are erroneous, they would seem
to be sincere.
It is remarkable indeed to observe how all the great literary geniuses
of the day in France have taken the popular side. We know how boldly
Lamartine plunged into it. Victor Hugo has taken the same part, and
Eugene Sue. Alexandre Dumas, though in the employ of Louis Philippe in
1830, soon flung aside court livery and conservatism. Emile de Girardin,
another man of first rate literary ability, is decidedly Socialist.
Beranger, as far as age will permit him, is a stern republican. When a
cause thus attracts and absorbs all the floating talent of a country,
there is a vitality and respectability in it, more than we are at
present inclined to allow to French democratic parties.
That the intellect, that is, the entire working intelligence of the
country, has labored on the Democratic, and, we fear even on the
Socialist side, is too evident from the fact that the opinions of the
latter have gained ground, and not retrograded even in the provinces,
where property is subdivided, and where there are few of the indigent
classes. In no place is property more generally possessed that in the
South of France; and there the results of the last two years have been
certainly to strengthen democratic ideas, and to make monarchic ones
decline. There is no mistaking, indeed, in what direction the current of
ideas has set.
The Conservatives, or Monarchists, or the old political class, whatever
one pleases to call them, begin to perceive that they are beaten in the
intellectual, the argumentative struggle. They therefore make an appeal
to arms. This is evident in all their acts, arguments, and movements.
Their efforts are directed to crush the press, proscribe and imprison
writers, and abolish meetings and speeches, except those delivered in
their own clubs. They give the universities over to the Jesuits, and
elect for the Assembly no longer orators, but stout soldiers.
Changarnier is the Alpha, and Leclerc the Omega of such a party.
Strategy is its policy. It meditates no question of political economy or
of trade, but bethinks it how streets are best defended, and how towns
are fortified against themselves. A War Minister, a Tax Minister, and a
Police Minister--these form the head Cabinet of France. As to foreign
policy, trade policy, and the other paraphernalia of government, all
this is as much a sham and a humbug, as an assembly must be of which the
majority is marshaled and instructed in a club, before it dares proceed
to its duties of legislation.
The entire tendency is to change an intellectual and argumentative into
a physical struggle. What events may occur, and what fortune prevail in
a war of this kind, it is utterly impossible to foretell. For, after
all, the results of war depend infinitely upon chance, and still more on
the talent of the leader which either party may choose to give itself.
Nor is it always the one which conquers first that maintains its
ascendency to the last. A war of this kind in France would evidently
have many soldiers enlisted on either side, and soldiers in that country
make excellent officers. The Conservatives seem to think that the strife
will be decided, as of old, in the streets of Paris; and they look to
the field of battle, and prepare for it, with a forethought and a
vigilance as sanguinary and destructive as it is determined. We doubt,
however, whether any quantity of street-fighting in the metropolis can
decide a quarrel which becomes every day more embittered and more
universal. Socialism will not be put down in a night, nor yet in three
days; no nor, we fear, even in a campaign.
Looking on the future in this light, it appears to us of trifling moment
whether M. Leclerc or M. Sue carry the Paris election. Some thousand
voters, more or less, on this side or on that, is no decision. The
terrible fact is, the almost equal division of French society into two
camps, either of which makes too formidable a minority to put up with
defeat and its consequences, without one day or other taking up arms to
advance fresh pretensions and defend new claims.
MRS. HEMANS.--She reminds us of a poet just named, and whom she
passionately admired, namely, Shelley. Like him, drooping, fragile, a
reed shaken by the wind, a mighty mind, in sooth, too powerful for the
tremulous reed on which it discoursed its music--like him, the victim of
exquisite nervous organization--like him, verse flowed on and from her,
and the sweet sound often overpowered the meaning, kissing it, as it
were, to death; like him she was melancholy, but the sadness of both was
musical, tearful, active, not stony, silent and motionless, still less
misanthropical and disdainful; like him she was gentle, playful, they
could both run about their prison garden, and dally with the dark chains
which they knew bound them to death. Mrs. Hemans was not indeed a
_Vates_, she has never reached his heights, nor sounded his depths, yet
they are, to our thought, so strikingly alike as to seem brother and
sister, in one beautiful but delicate and dying family.--_Gilfillan._
THE POPE AT HOME AGAIN.
The Pope has returned to Rome, but the Papacy is not reinstated. The
past can not be recalled. When Pius the Ninth abandoned the territorial
seat of the Papal power, he relinquished the post that preserved to that
power its place of command throughout many parts of Europe. It was the
"Pope _of Rome_" to whom the many did homage, and the Pope could only be
deemed to be "_of_ Rome" so long as he was _at_ Rome: for there can be
no doubt that a great part of the spiritual influence possessed by the
Sovereign Pontiff has been indissolubly connected with the temporal
sovereignty and territorial abode of the Pontificate. Even after his
dispossession, for a time, no doubt, heart might have been kept up among
his more refined and cultivated followers; but the most faithful peoples
have always demanded a tangible standard or beacon of their faith--a
pillar of fire or a visible church. When Pius left Rome, the rock became
tenantless; the mansion of St. Peter was vacant; a Pope in lodgings was
no Pope of Europe. And so it was felt.
But the bodily restoration of Pius the Ninth to the capital of his
states is not the restoration of the Pope to his spiritual throne. That
can no more be effected. The riddle has been read, in these terrible
days of reading and writing--so different from the days when a Papal
rustication at Avignon disturbed the Catholic world, and verily shook
the Papacy to its foundations even then. Some accounts describe the
Pope's return as a triumph, and relate how the Romans submitted
themselves in obedient ecstasy to his blessing: it is not true--it is
not in the nature of things. It is easy to get up an array of popular
feeling, as in a theatre, which shall make a show--a frontage of
delight; easy to hire twelve beggars that their feet may be washed. Mr.
Anderson of Drury Lane can furnish any amount of popular feeling or
pious awe at a shilling a head; and the managers know these things in
Rome, where labor is much cheaper than with us. Pius returned to Rome
under cover of the French bayonets, to find a people cowed and
sulky--contrasting their traditions with the presence of the Gaul,
remembering in bitterness the days before the Papacy, and imputing this
crowning finish of their disgrace to the Pope forced back upon them.
Even were the people for a moment pleased to see the well-meaning and
most unfortunate old man, the days of his inscrutable power are over.
Nothing can again be inscrutable that he can hold. While he was away,
the tongue of Rome was let loose, and can he make the ear of Rome forget
what it heard in those days of license? Can he undo the knowledge which
men then attained of each other, and their suppressed ideas? Assuredly
not. When he left the keys of St. Peter in his flight, men unlocked the
door of the sanctuary, and found out his secret--that it was bare.
Political bondage to them will be, not the renewal of pious ignorance,
but the rebinding of limbs that have learned to be free.
Nay, were Rome to resume her subjection, the past has been too much
broken up elsewhere for a quiet return to the old régime, even in Italy.
The ecclesiastical courts have been abolished in Piedmont, and the
Sardinian states henceforth stand in point of free discussion on a level
with Germany, if not with France. The Pope will be fain to permit more
in Genoa or Turin than the eating of eggs during Lent--to permit a
canvassing of Papal authority fatal to its existence. But in Tuscany,
for many generations, a spirit of free discussion has existed among the
educated classes: the reforming spirit of Ricci has never died in the
capital of Tuscany, and the memory of Leopold protected the freedom of
thought: a sudden and a new value has been given to that prepared state
of the Tuscan mind by the existence of free institutions in Piedmont.
Giusti will no longer need to traverse the frontier of Italy in search
of a printer. With free discussion in two of the Italian states, Milan
will not be deaf, nor Naples without a whisper. Italy _must_ sooner or
later get to know her own mind, and then the Bishop of Rome will have to
devise a new position for himself.
Abroad, in Catholic Europe, there is the same disruption between the
past and the future. The Archbishop of Cologne exposed, in his rashness,
the waning sanctity of the Church; the Neo-Catholics have exposed its
frangible condition. Sectarian distinctions are torn to pieces in
Hungary by the temporal conflicts, and the dormant spirit of a national
Protestantism survives in sullen hatred to alien rule. Austria proper is
pledged to any course of political expediency which may defer the evil
day of Imperial accountability, and will probably, in waxing
indifferency, see fit to put Lombardy on a spiritual par with Piedmont.
France is precarious in her allegiance. Two countries alone remain in
unaltered relation to the See of Rome--Spain, the most bigoted of the
children of Rome; and Ireland, the most faithful. But Ireland is
impotent. And to this day Spain asserts, and preserves, the _national_
independence which she has retained throughout the most arrogant days of
Romish supremacy, throughout the tyrant régime of Torquemada. Even court
intrigue dares not prostitute the _nationality_ of Spain to Roman
influence. Rome is the talk of the world, and the return of Pius to the
Vatican can not restore the silent submission of the faithful. He is but
to be counted among the "fashionable arrivals."--_London Spectator._
CIVIL LIBERTY DEFINED.--This is not the liberty which we can hope, that
no grievance ever should arise in the commonwealth; that let no man in
this world expect; but when complaints are freely heard, deeply
considered, and speedily reformed, then is the utmost bound of civil
liberty attained that wise men look for.--_John Milton._
[From the London Examiner.]
THE AUSTRALIAN COLONIES.
The Jutland and Sleswick pirates, who fourteen centuries ago performed
the great achievement of conquering and colonizing Britain, have since,
in the persons of their descendants, achieved the still greater feat of
colonizing and settling, while they are in a fair way of conquering and
occupying, a whole continent, to the destruction or absorption of every
other race. The Anglo-Saxon population of America, in fact, constitutes,
at this moment, a people more numerous and mighty than any European
nation of the period when their emigration commenced. The very same
people is now engaged in achieving another great, although not equally
great enterprise, the colonization of another continent, Australia; and
the Australian colonies, within sixty years of their first foundation,
are already calling loudly for self and responsible government, which
is, by more than a century, sooner than the American Colonies made a
similar claim. We have not the least doubt but that it will be to the
mutual and permanent advantage of both parties, that these demands of
the Colonists, which are in no respect unreasonable, should be liberally
and readily granted.
The better to understand our position in relation to them, let us
compare the two continents alluded to. America has a greater extent of
territory, and therefore more room for expansion than Australia. Its
natural products are more valuable, its soil is more fertile, and its
climates more varied and propitious to vegetation. Its greatest
superiority over Australia, however, consists in its magnificent water
communication--its great rivers, its splendid lakes, its navigable
estuaries, and its commodious harbors. Finally, it possesses the vast
advantage of being only one-sixth part of the distance that Australia is
from the civilization and markets of Europe.
Let us now see what Australia is. It is said to contain three millions
of square miles. But of this we take it that about one-half, or all of
it that lies north of the twenty-fifth degree of south latitude, is
unfit for our use as Europeans, and, most probably, for the profitable
use of any people, on account of the comparative sterility of the land,
or, what in such a situation is equivalent to sterility, the drought of
the climate. But for these great and, we fear, insuperable
disadvantages, the tropical portion of Australia might have been peopled
from industrious and teeming China, which, with the help of steam
navigation, is at an easy distance. Notwithstanding this serious
deduction from its available area, Australia has extent enough for the
abode of a great people, as what remains is equal to near twenty
Britains, or above seven countries as large as France!
The absence of good water communication is the greatest defect of
Australia. It has not one great river which at once penetrates deeply
into the country and communicates by a navigable course with the sea.
The best of its rivers are not equal to those of the fourth or fifth
order in America, and it has no lake at all of commercial value. Another
almost equally great disadvantage is frequent and long-continued
droughts, even of its southern parts, which, however, as strength and
wealth increase, may in time be, at least, mitigated by the erection of
great works of irrigation, such as those on which the existence of whole
populations depend in the warmer regions of Asia.
In salubrity of climate Australia has a great superiority, not only over
America, but over every other country. For the rearing of sheep and the
production of fine wool, it may be said to possess almost a natural
monopoly; and in this respect, it will soon become as necessary to us,
and probably as important, as America is for the growth of cotton. Its
adaptation for pastoral husbandry is such, indeed, that we have often
thought, had it been settled by Tartars or Arabs, or even by
Anglo-Saxons of the time of Hengist and Horsa, that it would have been
now thinly inhabited by nomade hordes, mere shepherds and robbers, if
there was any one to rob. One immense advantage Australia possesses over
America, which must not be omitted--the total absence of a servile
population and an alien race. In America the bondsmen form a fourth part
of the whole population, and in Australia little more than one sixtieth,
speedily to vanish all together.
If the comparison between America and Australia have reference to the
facility of achieving and maintaining independence, all the advantages
are unquestionably on the side of Australia. It is at least six times as
far away from Europe; and a military force sufficient to have even a
chance of coercing the colonists could not get at them in less than four
months, while the voyage would force it to run the gauntlet of the
equator and both tropics. When it reached its destination, supposing its
landing to be unopposed, it would have to march every step to seek the
insurgents, for there is neither river nor estuary to transport it into
the interior of the country. The colonists, rifle in hand, and driving
their flocks and herds before them to the privation of the invader,
would of course take to the bush, and do so with impunity, being without
tents or equipage, or risk of starvation, having a wholesome sky over
their heads, and abundant food in their cattle. With a thorough
knowledge of localities, the colonial riflemen, under such
circumstances, would be more than a match for regular troops, and could
pick off soldiers with more ease than they bring down the kangaroo or
opossum.
We should look, however, to the number and character of the Australian
population. In 1828 the total colonial population of Australia was
53,000, of whom a large proportion were convicts. In 1848 it was
300,000, of which the convicts were but 6000. In the two years since,
37,000 emigrants have proceeded thither, and the total population at
this moment can not be less than 350,000. It has, therefore, been
multiplied in twenty-two years' time by near seven-fold; and if it
should go on at this rate of increase, in the year 1872 it will amount
to close on two millions and a half, which is a greater population than
that of the old American colonies at the declaration of independence,
and after an existence of 175 years. Such a population, or the one half
of it, would, from numbers, position, and resources, be unconquerable.
Such is a true picture, we conceive, of the position in which we stand
in relation to our Australian colonies. Meanwhile, the colonists are
loyal, affectionate, and devoted, and (the result of absence and
distance) with really warmer feelings toward the mother country than
those they left behind them. It will be the part of wisdom on our side
to keep them in this temper. They demand nothing that is
unreasonable--nothing that it is not equally for their advantage and
ours that we should promptly and freely concede. They ask for
responsible government, and doing so they ask for no more than what is
possessed by their fellow-citizens. They ought to have perfect power
over their own resources and their own expenditure; but, in justice and
fairness, they ought also to defray their own military charges; and,
seeing they have neither within nor without any enemy that can cope with
a company of light infantry, the cost ought not to be oppressive to
them.
The Australian colonies are, at present, governed in a fashion to
produce discontent and recalcitration. They are, consequently, both
troublesome and expensive. The nation absolutely gains nothing by them
that it would not gain, and even in a higher degree, were they
self-governed, or, for that matter, were they even independent. Thus,
emigration to them would go on at least in the same degree as it does
now. It does so go on, to the self-governed colony of Canada, and to the
country which was once colonies, and this after a virtual separation of
three quarters of a century.
In like manner will our commercial intercourse with the Australian
colonies proceed under self-government. In 1828, the whole exports of
Australia amounted only to the paltry sum of £181,000, and in 1845, the
last for which there is a return, they had come to £2,187,633, or in
seventeen years' time, had been increased by above fourteen-fold, a
rapidity of progress to which there is no parallel. At this ratio, of
course, they can not be expected to proceed in future; for the
Australians, having coal, iron, and wool in abundance, will soon learn
to make coarse fabrics for themselves. The finer they will long receive
from us, as America, after its long separation, still does. But that the
Australian Colonies, under any circumstances, are destined to become one
of the greatest marts of British commerce, may be considered as a matter
of certainty. The only good market in the world, for the wool, the
tallow, the train oil, and the copper ore of Australia, is England; and
to England they must come, even if Australia were independent to-morrow;
and they must be paid for, too, in British manufactures. Independence
has never kept the tobacco of America from finding its best market in
England, nor has it prevented American cotton from becoming the greatest
of the raw materials imported by England.
A common lineage, a common language, common manners, customs, laws, and
institutions, bind us and our Australian brethren together, and will
continue to do so, perhaps longer than the British Constitution itself
will last. They form, in fact, a permanent bond of union; whereas the
influence of patronage, and the trickeries of Conservative legislation,
do but provoke and hasten the separation which they are foolishly framed
to prevent.
[From the Dublin University Magazine.]
JEWISH VENERATION.
The veneration of the Jew for the law is displayed by the grossest
superstition, a copy of the Torah or Decalogue being carefully soldered
into a narrow tin case, and hung over the entrance to their chambers, as
old crones with us nail a horse-shoe to a door; it is even believed to
avail as an amulet or charm capable of averting evil, or curing the most
obstinate disease. "Ah," said a bed-ridden old Hebrew woman to me, as I
visited the mission hospital in Jerusalem, "what can the doctors do for
me? If I could only touch the Torah I should be made whole." Not exactly
comprehending what she meant, I handed her a little tin-cased copy of
the Ten Commandments; she grasped it in her emaciated hands, which
trembled with anxiety, and her eyes were lit up with a transient gleam
of joy. "Are you made whole?" I inquired; she made no answer, fell back
on her pillow, let drop the Torah, and turned from me with a sigh.
Sitting one evening with an intelligent German Jew, who used often to
pay me a visit at my lodgings, the conversation turned on Jewish
religious rites and ceremonies. Alluding to the day of atonement, he
assured me that on that day the Jews believe that ministers are
appointed in heaven for the ensuing year: a minister over angels; one
over the stars; one over earth; the winds, trees, plants, birds, beasts,
fishes, men, and so forth.
That, on that day also, the good and evil deeds of every son of Abraham
are actually summed up, and the balance struck for or against each,
individually. Where the evil deeds preponderate, such individuals are
brought in as in debt to the law; and ten days after the day of
atonement, summonses are issued to call the defaulters before God. When
these are served, the party summoned to appear is visited either with
sudden death or a rapid and violent disease which must terminate
speedily in death. "But can not the divine wrath be appeased?" said I.
"Not appeased," said my informant; "_the decree must be evaded_." "How
so?" "Thus," he replied. "When a Jew is struck with sudden sickness
about this time, if he apprehends that his call is come, he sends
immediately for twelve elders of his people; they demand his name; he
tells them, for example, my name is Isaac; they answer, thy name shall
no more be Isaac, but Jacob shall thy name be called. Then kneeling
round the sick roan, they pray for him in these words: O God, thy
servant, Isaac, has not good deeds to exceed the evil, and a summons
against him has gone forth; but this pious man before thee, is named
Jacob, and not Isaac. There is a flaw in the indictment; the name in the
angel's summons is not correct, therefore, thy servant Jacob can not be
called on to appear." "After all," said I, "suppose this Jacob dies."
"Then," replied my companion, "_the Almighty is unjust_; the summons was
irregular, and its execution not according to law."
Does not this appear incredible? Another anecdote, and I have done.
On the same occasion we were speaking about vows, and the obligation of
fulfilling them. "As to paying your vow," said my Jewish friend, "we
consider it performed, if the vow be observed to the letter." He then
gave me the following rather ludicrous illustration as a case in point:
There was in his native village a wealthy Jew, who was seized with a
dangerous illness. Seeing death approach, despite of his physician's
skill, he bethought him of vowing a vow; so he solemnly promised, that
if God would restore him to health, he, on his part, on his recovery,
would sell a certain fat beast in his stall, and devote the proceeds to
the Lord.
The man recovered, and in due time appeared before the door of the
synagogue, driving before him a goodly ox, and carrying under one arm a
large, black Spanish cock. The people were coming out of the synagogue,
and several Jewish butchers, after artistically examining the fine, fat
beast, asked our convalescent what might be the price of the ox. "This
ox," replied the owner, "I value at _two shillings_ (I substitute
English money); but the cock," he added, ostentatiously exhibiting
chanticleer, "I estimate at _twenty pounds_." The butchers laughed at
him; they thought he was in joke. However, as he gravely persisted that
he was in earnest, one of them, taking him at his word, put down two
shillings for the ox. "Softly, my good friend," rejoined the seller, "_I
have made a vow not to sell the ox without the cock_; you must buy both,
or be content with neither." Great was the surprise of the bystanders,
who could not conceive what perversity possessed their wealthy neighbor.
But the cock being value for two shillings, and the ox for twenty
pounds, the bargain was concluded, and the money paid.
Our worthy Jew now walks up to the Rabbi, cash in hand. "This," said he,
handing the two shillings, "I devote to the service of the synagogue,
being the price of the ox, which I had vowed; and this, placing the
twenty pounds in his own bosom, is lawfully mine own, for is it not the
price of the cock?" "And what did your neighbors say of the transaction?
Did they not think this rich man an arrant rogue?" "Rogue!" said my
friend, repeating my last words with some amazement, "they considered
him a pious and a _clever_ man." Sharp enough, thought I; but delicate
about exposing my ignorance, I judiciously held my peace.
[From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine.]
THE MODERN ARGONAUTS.
I.
You have heard the ancient story,
How the gallant sons of Greece,
Long ago, with Jason ventured
For the fated Golden Fleece;
How they traversed distant regions,
How they trod on hostile shores;
How they vexed the hoary Ocean
With the smiting of their oars;--
Listen, then, and you shall hear another wondrous tale,
Of a second Argo steering before a prosperous gale!
II.
From the southward came a rumor,
Over sea and over land;
From the blue Ionian islands,
And the old Hellenic strand,
That the sons of Agamemnon,
To their faith no longer true,
Had confiscated the carpets
Of a black and bearded Jew!
Helen's rape, compared to this, was but an idle toy,
Deeper guilt was that of Athens than the crime of haughty Troy.
III.
And the rumor, winged by Ate,
To the lofty chamber ran,
Where great Palmerston was sitting
In the midst of his Divan:
Like Saturnius triumphant,
In his high Olympian hall,
Unregarded by the mighty,
But detested by the small;
Overturning constitutions--setting nations by the ears,
With divers sapient plenipos, like Minto and his peers.
IV.
With his fist the proud dictator
Smote the table that it rang--
From the crystal vase before him
The blood-red wine upsprang!
"Is my sword a wreath of rushes,
Or an idle plume my pen,
That they dare to lay a finger
On the meanest of my men?
No amount of circumcision can annul the Briton's right--
Are they mad, these lords of Athens, for I know they can not fight?
V.
"Had the wrong been done by others,
By the cold and haughty Czar,
I had trembled ere I opened
All the thunders of my war.
But I care not for the yelping
Of these fangless curs of Greece--
Soon and sorely will I tax them
For the merchant's plundered Fleece.
From the earth his furniture for wrath and vengeance cries--
Ho, Eddisbury! take thy pen, and straightway write to Wyse!"
VI.
Joyfully the bells are ringing
In the old Athenian town,
Gayly to Piræus harbor
Stream the merry people down;
For they see the fleet of Britain
Proudly steering to their shore,
Underneath the Christian banner
That they knew so well of yore,
When the guns at Navarino thundered o'er the sea,
And the Angel of the North proclaimed that Greece again was free.
VII.
Hark!--a signal gun--another!
On the deck a man appears
Stately as the Ocean-shaker--
"Ye Athenians, lend your ears!
Thomas Wyse am I, a herald
Come to parley with the Greek;
Palmerston hath sent me hither,
In his awful name I speak--
Ye have done a deed of folly--one that ye shall sorely rue!
Wherefore did ye lay a finger on the carpets of the Jew?
VIII.
"Don Pacifico of Malta!
Dull indeed were Britain's ear,
If the wrongs of such a hero
Tamely she could choose to hear!
Don Pacifico of Malta!
Knight-commander of the Fleece--
For his sake I hurl defiance
At the haughty towns of Greece.
Look to it--For by my head! since Xerxes crossed the strait,
Ye never saw an enemy so vengeful at your gate.
IX.
"Therefore now, restore the carpets,
With a forfeit twenty-fold;
And a goodly tribute offer
Of your treasure and your gold
Sapienza and the islet
Cervi, ye shall likewise cede,
So the mighty gods have spoken,
Thus hath Palmerston decreed!
Ere the sunset, let an answer issue from your monarch's lips;
In the mean time, I have orders to arrest your merchants' ships."
X.
Thus he spoke, and snatched a trumpet
Swiftly from a soldier's hand,
And therein he blew so shrilly,
That along the rocky strand
Rang the war-note, till the echoes
From the distant hills replied,
Hundred trumpets wildly wailing,
Poured their blast on every side;
And the loud and hearty shout of Britain rent the skies,
"Three cheers for noble Palmerston! another cheer for Wyse!"
XI.
Gentles! I am very sorry
That I can not yet relate,
Of this gallant expedition,
What has been the final fate.
Whether Athens was bombarded
For her Jew-coercing crimes,
Hath not been as yet reported
In the columns of the _Times_.
But the last accounts assure us of some valuable spoil:
Various coasting vessels, laden with tobacco, fruit, and oil.
XII.
Ancient chiefs! that sailed with Jason
O'er the wild and stormy waves--
Let not sounds of later triumphs
Stir you in your quiet graves!
Other Argonauts have ventured
To your old Hellenic shore,
But they will not live in story
Like the valiant men of yore.
O! 'tis more than shame and sorrow thus to jest upon a theme
That for Britain's fame and glory, all would wish to be dream!
MONTHLY RECORD OF CURRENT EVENTS.
THE NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE will present monthly a digest of all Foreign
Events, Incidents, and Opinions, that may seem to have either interest
or value for the great body of American readers. Domestic intelligence
reaches every one so much sooner through the Daily and Weekly
Newspapers, that its repetition in the pages of a Monthly would be dull
and profitless. We shall confine our summary, therefore, to the events
and movements of foreign lands.
* * * * *
The AFFAIRS OF FRANCE continue to excite general interest. The election
of member of the Assembly in Paris has been the great European event of
the month. The Socialists nominated EUGENE SUE; their opponents, M.
LECLERC. The first is known to all the world as a literary man of great
talent, personally a profligate--wealthy, unprincipled, and
unscrupulous. The latter was a tradesman, distinguished for nothing but
having fought and lost a son at the barricades, and entirely unqualified
for the post for which he had been put in nomination. The contest was
thus not so much a struggle between the _men_, as the _parties_ they
represented; and those parties were not simply Socialists and
Anti-Socialists. Each party included more than its name would imply. The
Socialists in Paris are all Republicans: it suits the purposes of the
Government to consider all Republicans as Socialists, inasmuch as it
gives them an admirable opportunity to make war upon Republicanism,
while they seem only to be resisting Socialism. In this adroit and
dangerous manner LOUIS NAPOLEON was advancing with rapid strides toward
that absolutism--that personal domination independent of the
Constitution, which is the evident aim of all his efforts and all his
hopes. He had gone on exercising the most high-handed despotism, and
violating the most explicit and sacred guarantees of the Constitution.
He had forbidden public meetings, suppressed public papers, and outraged
private rights, with the most wanton disregard of those provisions of
the Constitution by which they are expressly guaranteed. The nomination
of EUGENE SUE was a declaration of hostility to this unconstitutional
dynasty. He was supported not only by the Socialists proper, but by all
citizens who were in favor of maintaining the Republic with its
constitutional guarantees. The issue was thus between a Republic and a
Monarchy, between the Constitution and a Revolution. For days previous
to the election this issue was broadly marked, and distinctly recognized
by all the leading royalist journals, and the Republic was attacked with
all the power of argument and ridicule. Repressive laws, and a stronger
form of government, which should bridle the fierce democracy, were
clamorously demanded. The very day before the polls were opened, the
_Napoleon_ journal, which derives its chief inspiration from the
President, drew a colored parallel between the necessities of the 18th
_Brumaire_, and those of the present crisis, and entered into a labored
vindication of all the arbitrary measures which followed BONAPARTE's
dissolution of the Assembly, and his usurpation of the executive power.
The most high-handed expedients were resorted to by the ministry to
assure the success of the coalition. The sale of all the principal
democratic journals in the streets was interdicted. The legal
prosecutions of the Procureur General virtually reestablished the
censorship of the Press. Placards in favor of the democratic candidate
were excluded from the street walls, while those of his opponent were
every where emblazoned. Electoral meetings were prohibited; democratic
merchants and shop-keepers were threatened with a loss of patronage; and
the whole republican party was officially denounced as a horde of
imbeciles, and knaves, and fanatics. No means were left unemployed by
the reactionists to secure a victory.
It was all in vain. On closing the polls the vote stood thus:
EUGENE SUE 128,007
M. LECLERC 119,420
-------
SUE's majority 8,587
And, what is still more startling, _four-fifths_ of all the votes given
by the Army were cast for SUE. The result created a good deal of alarm
in Paris. Stocks fell, and there seemed to be a general apprehension of
an outbreak. If any such event occurs, however, it will be through the
instigation of the Government. Finding himself outvoted, LOUIS NAPOLEON
would undoubtedly be willing to try force. In any event, we do not
believe it will be found possible to overthrow Republicanism in France.
Previous to the election there was a _Mutiny in the 11th Infantry_. On
the march of the 2d battalion from Rennes to Toulon, on the 11th April,
the popular cry was raised by the common soldiers, urged on by the
democrats of the town, and they insulted their officers. At Angers the
men were entertained at a fete; and in the evening the soldiers and
subaltern officers, accompanied by their entertainers, paraded the
streets, shouting again and again, "Vive la République démocratique et
sociale!" The Minister of War, on receiving intelligence of this affair,
ordered the battalion to be disbanded, and the subalterns and soldiers
drafted into the regiments at Algiers.
Besides this disgrace, an involuntary and _Appalling Calamity_ befell
this regiment. When the 3d battalion was leaving Angers, on the 16th, at
eleven o'clock in the morning they met a squadron of hussars coming from
Nantes, which crossed over the suspension-bridge of the Basse Maine,
without any accident. A fearful storm raged at the time. The last of the
horses had scarcely crossed the bridge than the head of the column of
the third battalion of the 11th appeared on the other side. Reiterated
warnings were given to the troops to break into sections, as is usually
done, but, the rain falling heavily, it was disregarded, and they
advanced in close column. The head of the battalion had reached the
opposite side--the pioneers, the drummers, and a part of the band were
off the bridge, when a horrible crash was heard; the cast-iron columns
of the right bank suddenly gave way, crushing beneath them the rear of
the fourth company, which, with the flank company, had not stepped upon
the bridge. To describe the frightful spectacle, and the cries of
despair which were raised, is impossible. The whole town rushed to the
spot to give assistance. In spite of the storm, all the boats that could
be got at were launched to pick up the soldiers in the river, and a
great number who were clinging to the parapets of the bridge, or who
were afloat by their knapsacks, were immediately got out. The greater
number were, however, found to be wounded by the bayonets, or by the
fragments of the bridge falling on them. As the soldiers were got out,
they were led into the houses adjoining, and every assistance given. A
young lieutenant, M. Loup, rendered himself conspicuous for his heroic
exertions; and a young workwoman, at the imminent danger of her life,
jumped into the water, and saved the life of an officer who was just
sinking. A journeyman hatter stripped and jumped into the river, and, by
his strength and skill in swimming, saved a great many lives. One of the
soldiers who had reached the shore unhurt, immediately stripped, and
swam to the assistance of his comrades. The lieutenant-colonel, an old
officer of the empire, was taken out of the river seriously wounded, but
remained to watch over the rescue of his comrades. It appears that some
people of the town were walking on the bridge at the time of the
accident, for among the bodies found were those of a servant-maid and
two children.
When the muster-roll was called, it was found that there were 219
soldiers missing, whose fate was unknown. There were, besides, 33 bodies
lying in the hospital, and 30 wounded men; 70 more bodies were found
during the morning, 4 of whom were officers.
_M. Proudhon was arrested_ on the 18th, and sent to the fortress of
Doullens, for having charged the ministry in his own paper, the "Voix du
Peuple," with having occasioned the disaster of Angers by sending the
11th Regiment of Light Infantry to Africa. In a letter from prison he
acquitted the government of design in producing the catastrophe, but in
a tone which hinted the possibility of so diabolical a crime having been
meditated.
A _Notorious Murderer_ has been arrested in France, whose mysterious and
criminal career would afford the materials for a romance. He was taken
at Ivry; in virtue of a writ granted by the President, on the demand of
the Sardinian government, having been condemned for a murder under
extraordinary circumstances. He was arrested in 1830, at Chambery, his
native town, for being concerned in a murder; but he escaped from the
prison of Bonneville, where he was confined, and by means of a disguise
succeeded in reaching the town of Chene Tonnex, where he went to an inn
which was full of travelers. There being no vacant beds, the innkeeper
allowed him to sleep in a room with a cattle-dealer, named Claude Duret.
The unfortunate cattle-dealer was found dead in the morning, he having
been smothered with the mattress on which he had slept. He had a large
sum of money with him, which was stolen, and this, as well as his
papers, had, no doubt, been taken by Louis Pellet, who had disappeared.
Judicial inquiries ensued, and the result was that Louis Pellet, already
known to have committed a murder, was condemned, _par contumace_, to ten
years' imprisonment at the galleys by the senate of Chambery. In the
mean time Louis Pellet, profiting by the papers of the unfortunate
Claude Duret, contrived to reach Paris, when he opened a shop, where he
organized a foreign legion for Algeria, enrolled himself under the name
of his victim, and sailed for Oran in a government vessel. From this
time up to 1834 all trace of him was lost. He came to Paris, took a
house, amassed a large sum of money, and it turns out he was mixed up
with a number of cases of murder, swindling, and forgery. These facts
came to the knowledge of the police, owing to Pellet having been taken
before the Correctional Police for a trifling offense, when he appealed
against the punishment of confinement for five days. The French
government immediately sent an account of the arrest of this great
criminal to the consul of the government of Savoy resident at Paris.
* * * * *
Political movements in ENGLAND are not without interest and importance,
although nothing startling has occurred. The birth of another Prince,
christened ARTHUR, has furnished another occasion for evincing the
attachment of the English people to their sovereign. The event, which,
occurred on the 28th of April, was celebrated by the usual
demonstrations of popular joy. Few years will elapse, however, before
each of the princes and princesses, whose advent is now so warmly
welcomed, will require a splendid and expensive establishment, which
will add still more to the burdens of taxation which already press, with
overwhelming weight, upon the great mass of the English people. Thus it
is that every thing in that country, however fortunate and welcome it
may appear, tends irresistibly to an increase of popular burdens which
infallibly give birth to popular discontents.
The attention of Parliament has been attracted of late, in an unusual
degree, to the intellectual wants of the humbler classes, and to the
removal, by legislation, of some of the many restrictions which now
deprive them of all access even to the most ordinary sources of
information. Even newspapers, which in this country go into the hands
of every man, woman, and child who can read, and which therefore enable
every member of the community to keep himself informed concerning all
matters of interest to him as a citizen, are virtually prohibited to the
poorer classes in England by the various duties which are imposed upon
them, and which raise the price so high as to be beyond their reach. Mr.
GIBSON, in the House of Commons, brought forward resolutions, on the
16th of April, to abolish what he justly styled these _Taxes on
Knowledge_: they proposed 1st, to repeal the excise duty only on paper;
2d, to abolish the stamp, and 3d, the advertisement duty on newspapers;
4th, to do away with the customs duty on foreign books. In urging these
measures Mr. GIBSON said, that the sacrifice of the small excise duty on
paper yearly, would lead to the employment of 40,000 people in London
alone. The suppression of Chambers' Miscellany, and the prevented
re-issue of Mr. Charles Knight's Penny Cyclopædia, from the pressure of
the duty, were cited as gross instances of the check those duties impose
on the diffusion of knowledge. Mr. GIBSON did not propose to alter the
postal part of the newspaper stamp duties; all the duty paid for
postage--a very large proportion--would therefore still be paid. He
dwelt on the unjust Excise caprices which permit this privilege to
humorous and scientific weekly periodicals, but deny it to the avowed
"news" columns of the daily press. He especially showed by extracts from
a heap of unstamped newspapers, that great evil is committed on the
poorest reading classes, by denying them that useful fact and true
exposition which would be the best antidote to the pernicious principles
now disseminated among them by the cheap, unstamped press. There is no
reason but this duty, which only gives £350,000 per annum, why the poor
man should not have his penny and even his halfpenny newspaper, to give
him the leading facts and the important ideas of the passing time. The
tax on advertisements checks information, fines poverty, mulcts charity,
depresses literature, and impedes every species of mental activity, to
realize £150,000 per annum. That mischievous tax on knowledge, the duty
on foreign books, is imposed for the sake of no more than £8000 a year!
Mr. GIBSON concluded by expressing his firm conviction, that unless
these taxes were removed, and the progress of knowledge by that and
every other possible means facilitated, evils most terrible would arise
in the future--a not unfit retribution for the gross impolicy of the
legislature. He was supported by Mr. ROEBUCK, but the motion was
negatived, 190 to 89. In his speech he instanced a curious specimen of
the manner in which the act is sometimes evaded. A Greenock publisher
himself informed him that, having given offense to the authorities by
some political reflections in a weekly unstamped newspaper of his of the
character of _Chambers's Journal_, he was prosecuted for violation of
the Stamp Act, and fined for each of five numbers £25. Thereupon he
diligently studied the Act; and finding that printing upon _cloth_ was
not within the prohibition, he set to work and printed his journal upon
cloth--giving matter "savoring of intelligence" without the penny
stamp--and calling his paper the _Greenock Newscloth_, sent it forth
despite the Solicitor to the Stamp Office.
The _Education Bill_ introduced by Mr. Fox came up on the 17th, and was
discussed at some length. The general character of the measure proposed,
is very forcibly set forth in an article from the _Examiner_, which will
be found upon a preceding page of this Magazine. The bill was opposed
mainly by Lord ARUNDEL, a Catholic, on the ground that it made no
provision for religious education, and secular education he denounced as
essentially atheistic. Mr. ROEBUCK advocated the bill in an able and
eloquent speech, urging the propriety of education as a means of
preventing crime. He asked for the education of the people, and he asked
it upon the lowest ground. As a mere matter of policy, the state ought
to educate the people; and why did he say so? Lord Ashley had been
useful in his generation in getting up Ragged Schools. It was a great
imputation upon the kingdom that such schools were needed. Why were they
needed? Because of the vice which was swarming in all our great cities.
"We pass laws," said he, "send forth an army of judges and barristers to
administer them, erect prisons and place aloft gibbets to enforce them;
but religious bigotry prevents the chance of our controlling the evil at
the source, by so teaching the people as to prevent the crimes we strive
to punish." It was because he believed that prevention was better than
cure; it was because he believed that the business of government was to
prevent crime in every possible way rather than to punish it after its
commission, that he asked the house to divest themselves of all that
prejudice and bigotry which was at the bottom of the opposition to this
measure. The bill was warmly opposed, however, and its further
consideration was postponed until the 20th of May.
The ministry during the month has been defeated upon several measures,
though upon none of very great importance. In the first week of the
meeting of parliament after the Easter holidays, the cabinet had to
endure, in the House of Commons, three defeats--two positive, and one
comparative; and, shortly after, a fourth. On a motion, having for its
object improvement in the status and accommodation of assistant-surgeons
on board Her Majesty's ships, ministers were placed in a minority equal
to eight votes. On the measure for extending the jurisdiction of county
courts, to which they were not disposed to agree, they voted with a
minority, which numbered 67 against 144 votes. These were the positive
defeats; the comparative one arose out of a motion to abolish the
window-tax. Against this the cabinet made come effort, but its
supporters only mustered in sufficient strength to afford a majority of
three. Their last disaster was in a committee on the New Stamp Duties
Bill. The ministry seem disposed to gratify the public by economy so far
as possible. Lord JOHN RUSSELL having introduced and carried a motion
for a select committee on the subject.
Great preparations are making for the Industrial Exhibition of 1851. It
has been decided that it is to take place in Hyde Park in a building
made of iron to guard against fire. The _Literary Gazette_ has the
following paragraph in regard to it:
"We are informed that an overture has been received by the Royal
Commissioners from the government of the United States of America,
offering to remove the exhibition, after its close in London, to be
reproduced at New York, and paying a consideration for the same which
would go toward the increase of the English fund. With regard to this
fund, while we again express our regret at its languishing so much, and
at the continuance of the jobbing which inflicted the serious wound on
its commencement, and is still allowed to paralyze the proceedings in
chief, we adhere to the opinion that it will be sufficient for the
Occasion. The Occasion, not as bombastically puffed, but as nationally
worthy; and that the large sum which may be calculated upon for
admissions (not to mention this new American element), will carry it
through in as satisfactory a manner as could be expected."
The _Expeditions to the Arctic Seas_ in search of Sir JOHN FRANKLIN
attract a good deal of attention. It is stated that Captain Penny was to
sail April 30th from Scotland, in command of the two ships the Lady
Franklin and the Sophia. He will proceed without delay to Jones's Sound;
which he purposes thoroughly to explore. The proposed expedition under
the direction of Sir John Ross will also be carried into execution. He
will sail from Ayr about the middle of May; and will probably be
accompanied by Commander Philips, who was with Sir James Ross in his
Antarctic Expedition. Another expedition, in connection with that of Sir
John Ross, is under consideration. It has for its object the search of
Prince Regent's Inlet by ship as far south as Brentford Bay; from whence
walking and boating parties might be dispatched in various directions.
This plan--which could be carried into effect by dispatching a small
vessel with Sir John Ross, efficiently equipped for the service--is
deemed highly desirable by several eminent authorities; as it is
supposed--and not without considerable reason--that Sir John Franklin
may be to the south of Cape Walker; and that he would, in such case,
presuming him to be under the necessity of forsaking his ships this
spring, prefer making for the wreck of the Fury stores in Prince
Regent's Inlet, the existence of which he is aware of, to attempting to
gain the barren shore of North America, which would involve great hazard
and fatigue. As a matter of course this second expedition would be of a
private nature, and wholly independent of those dispatched by the
Admiralty. These various expeditions, in addition to that organized by
Mr. HENRY GRINELL of New York, will do all that can be done toward
rescuing Captain FRANKLIN, or, at least, obtaining some knowledge of his
fate.
The death of WORDSWORTH, the Patriarch of English Poetry, and that of
BOWLES, distinguished also in the same high sphere, have called forth
biographical notices from the English press. A sketch of each of these
distinguished men will be found in these pages. The propriety of
discontinuing the laureateship is forcibly urged. About £2000 has been
contributed toward the erection of a monument to Lord JEFFREY.
* * * * *
The LONDON SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES present nothing of extraordinary
interest for the month. At the meeting of the Geological Society, March
28, Sir RODERICK MURCHISON read a paper of some importance on the
Relations of the Hot Water and Vapor sources of Tuscany to the Volcanic
Eruptions of Italy. On the 10th of April, a paper was read from Prof.
LEPSIUS on the height of the Nile valley in Nubia, which was formerly
much greater than it is now.
At the Royal Society, April 12, the Rev. Professor O'BRIEN, in a paper
"on a Popular View of certain Points in the Undulatory Theory of Light,"
restricted his illustration to a single topic, namely, the analogy of
the mixture of colors to the mixture of sounds, having first explained
generally what the undulatory theory of light is, and the composition of
colors and sounds. At the meeting on the 19th, Mr. STENHOUSE, in
concluding a paper on the artificial production of organic bases, said
he did not despair of producing artificially the natural alkaloids, and
the more especially as, thirty years ago, we could not produce any
alkaloids. Before the chair was vacated, Mr. FARADAY submitted a
powerful magnet which had been sent to him by a foreign philosopher;
indeed, it was the strongest ever made. A good magnet, Mr. Faraday said,
weighing 8 lbs., would support a weight of about 40 lbs. The magnet he
exhibited had surprised him; it weighed only 1 lb., and it supported
26-1/2 lbs. This magnet, so beautifully made, was, we believe,
constructed by M. Lozeman, on a new method, the result of the researches
of M. Elias, both of Haarlem.
At another meeting of the same society, Dr. MANTELL submitted a paper
upon the _Pelorosaurus_, an undescribed, gigantic terrestrial reptile,
of which an enormous arm-bone, or humerus, has recently been discovered
in Sussex. It was found imbedded in sandstone, by Mr. Peter Fuller, of
Lewes, at about twenty feet below the surface; it presents the usual
mineralized condition of the fossil bones from the arneaceous strata of
the Wealden. It is four and a half feet in length, and the circumference
of its distal extremity is 32 inches! It has a medullary cavity 3 inches
in diameter, which at once separates it from the Cetiosaurus and other
supposed marine Saurians, while its form and proportions distinguish it
from the humerus of the Iguanodon, Hylæosaurus, and Megalosaurus. It
approaches most nearly to the Crocodilians, but possesses characters
distinct from any known fossil genus. Its size is stupendous, far
surpassing that of the corresponding bone even of the gigantic
Iguanodon; and the name of _Pelorosaurus_ (from [Greek: pelor], _pelõr_,
monster) is, therefore, proposed for the genus, with the specific term
_Conybeari_, in honor of the palæontological labors of the Dean of
Llandaff. No bones have been found in such contiguity with this humerus
as to render it certain that they belonged to the same gigantic reptile;
but several very large caudal vertebræ of peculiar characters, collected
from the same quarry, are probably referable to the Pelorosaurus; these,
together with some distal caudals which belong to the same type, are
figured and described by the author. Certain femora and other bones from
the oolite of Oxfordshire, in the collection of the dean of Westminster,
at Oxford, are mentioned as possessing characters more allied to those
of the Pelorosaurus, or to some unknown terrestrial Saurian, than to the
Cetiosaurus, with which they have been confounded. As to the magnitude
of the animal to which the humerus belonged, Dr. Mantell, while
disclaiming the idea of arriving at any certain conclusions from a
single bone, stated that in a Gavial 18 feet long, the humerus is one
foot in length, _i.e._, one-eighteenth part of the length of the animal,
from the end, of the muzzle to the tip of the tail. According to these
admeasurements the Pelorosaurus would be 81 feet long, and its body 20
feet in circumference. But if we assume the length and number of the
vertebræ as the scale, we should have a reptile of relatively
abbreviated proportions; even in this case, however, the original
creature would far surpass in magnitude the most colossal of reptilian
forms. A writer in the _Athenæum_, in speaking of the expense of marble
and bronze statues, which limits the possession of works of high art to
the wealthy, calls attention to the fact that _lead_ possesses every
requisite for the casting of statues which bronze possesses,
while it excels that costly material in two very important
particulars--cheapness, and fusibility at a low temperature. As evidence
that it may be used for that purpose, he cites the fact that the finest
piece of statuary in Edinburgh is composed of lead. This is the
equestrian statue of Charles the Second, erected in the Parliament
Square by the magistrates of Edinburgh in honor of the restoration of
that monarch. This statue is such a fine work of art that it has
deceived almost every one who has mentioned its composition. Thus, a
late writer in giving an account of the statuary in Edinburgh describes
it as consisting of "hollow bronze;" and in "Black's Guide through
Edinburgh" it is spoken of as "the best specimen of bronze statuary
which Edinburgh possesses." _It is, however, composed of lead_, and has
already, without sensible deterioration, stood the test of 165 years'
exposure to the weather, and it still seems as fresh as if erected but
yesterday. Lead, therefore, appears from this instance to be
sufficiently durable to induce artists to make trial of it in metallic
castings, instead of bronze.
Intelligence from Mosul to the 4th ult. states that Mr. LAYARD and his
party are still carrying on their excavations at Nimrood and Nineveh. A
large number of copper vessels beautifully engraved have been found in
the former; and from the latter a large assortment of fine slabs
illustrative of the rule, conquests, domestic life, and arts of the
ancient Assyrians, are daily coming to light, and are committed to paper
by the artist, Mr. Cooper, one of the expedition. Mr Layard intends to
make a trip to the Chaboor, the Chaboras of the Romans, and to visit
Reish Aina, the Resen of Scripture, where he hopes to find a treasure of
Assyrian remains.
* * * * *
THE LITERARY INTELLIGENCE of the month is not of special interest. The
first part of a new work by WILLIAM MURE, entitled a "Critical History
of the Language and Literature of Ancient Greece," has just been
published in London, and elicits warm commendation from the critical
journals. The three volumes thus far published are devoted mainly to a
discussion of HOMER. Mr. CHARLES MERIVALE has also completed and
published two volumes of his "History of the Romans under the Empire,"
which extend to the death of Julius Caesar.
Mrs. SARA COLERIDGE, widow of HENRY NELSON, and daughter of S.T.
COLERIDGE, has collected such of her father's supposed writings in the
Watchman, Morning Post, and Courier, ranging between the years 1795 and
1817, as could with any certainty be identified for his, and, with such
as he avowed by his signature, has published them in three duodecimo
volumes, as _Essays on his own Times_, or a second series of _The
Friend_. They are dedicated to Archdeacon Hare, and embody not a little
of that system of thought, or method of regarding public affairs from
the point of view of a liberal and enlarged Christianity, which is now
ordinarily associated with what is called the German party in the
English Church. The volumes are not only a valuable contribution to the
history of a very remarkable man's mind, but also to the history of the
most powerful influence now existing in the world--the Newspaper Press.
A more complete and elaborate work upon this subject, however, has
appeared in the shape of two post octavo volumes by Mr. F. KNIGHT HUNT,
entitled _The Fourth Estate_. Mr. Hunt describes his book very fairly as
contributions toward a history of newspapers, and of the liberty of the
press, rather than as a complete historical view of either; but he has
had a proper feeling for the literature of his subject, and has varied
his entertaining anecdotes of the present race of newspaper men, with
extremely curious and valuable notices of the past.
Of books on mixed social and political questions the most prominent has
been a new volume of Mr. LAING's _Observations on the Social and
Political State of the European People_, devoted to the last two years,
from the momentous incidents of which Mr. Laing derives sundry warnings
as to the instability of the future, the necessity of changes in
education and political arrangements, and the certain ultimate
predominance of material over imaginative influences in the progress of
civilization, which his readers will very variously estimate, according
to their habits of thinking; and Mr. KAY's collections of evidence as to
the present _Social Condition and Education of the People in England and
Europe_, the object of which is to show that the results of the primary
schools, and of the system of dividing landed property, existing on the
Continent, has been to produce a certain amount of mental cultivation
and social comfort among the lower classes of the people abroad, to
which the same classes in England can advance no claim whatever. The
book contains a great deal of curious evidence in support of this
opinion.
Of works strictly relating to modern history, the first volume of
General KLAPKA's memoirs of the _War in Hungary_, and a military
treatise by Colonel CATHCART on the _Russian and German Campaigns of
1812 and 1813_, may be mentioned as having authority. Klapka was a
distinguished actor in the war he now illustrates by his narrative, and
Colonel Cathcart saw eight general actions lost and won in which
Napoleon commanded in person.
In the department of biography, the principal publications have been a
greatly improved edition of Mr. Charles Knight's illustrations of the
_Life of Shakspeare_, with the erasure of many fanciful, and the
addition of many authentic details; a narrative of the _Life of the Duke
of Kent_, by Mr. Erskine Neale, in which the somewhat troubled career of
that very amiable prince is described with an evident desire to do
justice to his character and virtues; and a _Life of Dr. Andrew Combe_,
of Edinburgh, an active and benevolent physician, who led the way in
that application of the truths and teachings of physiology to health and
education, which has of late occupied so largely the attention of the
best thinkers of the time, and whose career is described with
affectionate enthusiasm by his brother Mr. George Combe. Not as a
regular biography, but as a delightful assistance, not only to our
better knowledge of the wittiest and one of the wisest of modern men,
but to our temperate and just judgments of all men, we may mention the
publication of the posthumous fragments of Sydney Smith's _Elementary
Sketches of Moral Philosophy_.
To the department of poetry, Mr. BROWNING's _Christmas Eve and Easter
Day_ has been the most prominent addition. But we have also to mention a
second and final volume of _More Verse and Prose_ by the late Corn-law
Rhymer; a new poetical translation of _Dante's Divine Comedy_, by Mr.
Patrick Bannerman; and a dramatic poem, called the _Roman_, by a writer
who adopts the fictitious name of Sydney Yendys, on the recent
revolutionary movements in Italy. In prose fiction, the leading
productions have been a novel entitled the _Initials_, depicting German
social life, by a new writer; and an historical romance, called
_Reginald Hastings_, of which the subject is taken from the English
civil wars, by Mr. ELIOT WARBURTON.
* * * * *
The DEATHS OF DISTINGUISHED PERSONS, during the month, have not been
very numerous, though they comprise names of considerable celebrity in
various departments.
Of WORDSWORTH and BOWLES, both poets, and both friends of COLERIDGE,
LAMB, SOUTHEY, and CRABBE, more detailed mention is made in preceding
pages.
Lieut.-General Sir JAMES BATHURST, K.C.B., died at Kibworth Rectory,
Leicestershire, on the 13th, in his 68th year. When he entered the army
in 1794, if his age be correctly stated, he could have been only twelve
years of age. He served at Gibraltar and in the West Indies, the capture
of Surinam, the campaign in Egypt in 1801, in the expedition to Hanover,
and in the actions fought for the relief of Dantzic, as well as in those
of Lomitten, Deppen, Gutstadt, Heilsberg, and Friedland. Subsequently he
served at Rugen, and at the siege of Copenhagen. In 1808 and 1809, he
served with the army in Portugal and Spain as assistant
quartermaster-general, and as military secretary to the Duke of
Wellington.
Madame DULCKEN died on the 13th, in Harley-street, aged 38. She was the
sister of the celebrated violinist, David, and had been for many years
resident in England, where she held a conspicuous position among the
most eminent professors of the piano-forte.
Sir ARCHIBALD GALLOWAY, Chairman of the Hon. East India Company, died on
the 6th, in London, aged 74, after a few hours' illness. He transacted
business at the India House, on the 4th, and presided at the banquet
recently given by the directors of the East India Company to Lord Gough.
Rear-Admiral HILLS died on the 8th, aged 73. He became a lieutenant in
1798, and a post-captain in 1814. The deceased was a midshipman of the
Eclair at the occupation of Toulon, and was lieutenant of the Amethyst
at the capture of various prizes during the late war.
Dr. PROUT, F.R.S., expired in Piccadilly, on the 9th, at an advanced
age. He was till lately in extensive practice as a physician, besides
being a successful author.
Captain SMITH, R.N., the Admiralty superintendent of packets at
Southampton, died on the 8th, unexpectedly. He was distinguished as the
inventor of paddle-box boats for steamers, and of the movable target for
practicing naval gunnery. He entered the navy in 1808, and saw a good
deal of service till the close of the war.
Madame TUSSAUD, the well-known exhibitor of wax figures, died on the
10th, in her 90th year. She was a native of Berne, but left Switzerland
when but six years old for Paris, where she became a pupil of her uncle,
M. Curtius, "artiste to Louis XVI.," by whom she was instructed in the
fine arts, of which he was an eminent professor. Madame Tussaud prided
herself upon the fact of having instructed Madame Elizabeth to draw and
model, and she continued to be employed by that princess until October,
1789. She passed unharmed through the horrors of the Revolution, perhaps
by reason of her peculiar ability as a modeler; for she was employed to
take heads of most of the Revolutionary leaders. She came to England in
1802, and has from that time been occupied in gathering the popular
exhibition now exhibiting in London.
* * * * *
Affairs in ITALY seem very unpromising. The POPE returned to Rome on the
12th: and in this number of this Magazine will be found a detailed and
very graphic account of his approach, entry, and reception. From
subsequent accounts there is reason to fear that the POPE has fallen
entirely under the influence of the Absolutist party, which now sways
the councils of the Vatican; and the same arbitrary proceedings appear
to be carried on in his immediate presence as were the order of the day
when he resided at Portici. The secret press of the Republican party is
kept at work, and its productions, somehow or other, find their way into
the hands of PIO NONO himself, filling him with indignation. It is said
that the Pontiff is very much dissatisfied with his present position,
which he feels to be that of a prisoner or hostage. No one is allowed to
approach him without permission, and all papers are opened beforehand by
the authority of Cardinal ANTONELLI. It is generally feared that his
Holiness is a tool in the hands of the Absolutists--a very pretty
consummation to have been brought about by the republican bayonets of
France! ITALY, for which so many hopes have been entertained, and of
whose successful progress in political regeneration so many delightful
anticipations have been indulged, seems to be overshadowed, from the
Alps to the Abruzzi, with one great failure.
* * * * *
The two Overland Mails from India which arrived during the month brought
news that there had been some fighting in the newly acquired
territories. On the 2d of February a body of Affredies, inhabitants of
the Kohat hills, about a thousand strong, attacked the camp of a party
of British sappers, employed in making a road in a pass between Peshawur
and Kohat. Twelve of the latter were killed, six wounded, and the camp
was plundered. To avenge this massacre a strong force under Colonel
Bradshaw, Sir Charles Napier himself, with Sir John Campbell,
accompanying him, marched from Peshawur an the 9th. The mountaineers
made a stand in every pass and defile; but although the troops destroyed
six villages and killed a great number of the enemy, they were obliged
to return to Peshawur on the 11th without having accomplished their
object. On the 14th February another force was sent to regain the passes
and to keep them open for a larger armament.
* * * * *
Accounts from EGYPT to the 6th, state that the Pacha, who had been
residing at his new palace in the Desert, had returned to Cairo. The
proximity of his residence has drawn his attention to the _Improvement
of the Overland Route_; and he has said that means must be adopted to
reduce the period of traveling between the ships in the Mediterranean
and Red Sea to 60 or 65 hours, instead of 80 or 85 hours. He has sent a
small landing steamer to ply in Suez harbor; and he is causing the work
of Macadamizing the Desert road to be proceeded with vigorously. An
agreement has been made with contractors to enlarge the station-houses
on the Desert, so as to admit of the necessary stabling accommodation
for eight or ten relays of horses, instead of four or five, by which
means 50 or 60 persons will be moved across in one train, instead of, as
at present, half that number. Mules, again, are to be substituted for
baggage camels in the transport of the Indian luggage and cargoes, with
the view to a reduction of the time consumed in this operation between
Suez and Cairo, from 36 to 24 hours. It is easy to perceive the benefits
which will be derived from these measures.
* * * * *
Mr. P. COLQUOHON sends to the _Athenæum_, the following extract of a
letter from Baron de Rennenkampff, the Chief Chamberlain of H.R.H. the
Grand Duke of Oldenburg, and President of the Museum of Antiquities at
Oldenburg, which is almost entirely indebted to that gentleman for its
collection--narrating an important discovery of Roman silver coins:
"A most interesting circumstance, the particulars of which have much
occupied my attention, has occurred here lately. Some poor day laborers
in the neighborhood of the small town of Jever, on the border of Marsch
and Gest, found, in a circle of a few feet, at a depth of from 7 to 8
feet, a heap of small Roman coins, of fine silver, being 5000 pieces of
Roman denarii. The half of them immediately fell into the hands of a Jew
of Altona, at a very inconsiderable price. The greatest portion of the
remainder were dispersed before I gained intelligence of it, and I only
succeeded in collecting some 500 pieces for the Grand Duke's collection,
who permitted me to remunerate the discoverers with four times the value
of the metal. The coins date between the years 69 and 170 after Christ
while the oldest which have hitherto been discovered on the European
Continent, in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, &c., date from 170 or
180. Each piece bears the effigy of one of the Emperors of the time, the
reverse is adorned with the impression of some occurrence (a woman lying
down with a chariot wheel, and beneath it the legend _via Trajaceæ_, a
trophy, and on the escutcheon _Dacia capta_, &c.), and these are so
various that pairs have only been found in a few cases. The discovery is
so much the more wonderful, as, historically, no trace can be found of
the Romans having penetrated so far down as Jever."
The French Minister of the Interior has decided on postponing the
Exhibition of Painting in Paris this year until November. The
comparative absence from the capital during the fine season of strangers
and of rich amateurs likely to be purchasers of pictures, is the motive
for this change in the period of opening the Salon.
The French papers state that the submarine electric telegraph between
Dover and Calais is to be opened to the public on the 4th of May, the
anniversary of the proclamation of the French Republic by the
Constituent Assembly.
The Indian Mail brings copies of a new journal published in China on the
first day of the present year, and called the _Pekin Monitor_. It is
written in Chinese, and carefully printed, on fine paper. The first
number contains an ordinance of the emperor, Toa-kouang, forbidding the
emigration of his subjects to California or the State of Costa Rica.
It is stated in the _Berliner Allgemeine Kirchen Zeitung_, that the Jews
have obtained a firman from the Porte, granting them permission to build
a temple on Mount Zion. The projected edifice is, it is said, to equal
Solomon's Temple in magnificence.
The creation of a university for New South Wales is a striking
expression of the rapid development of the history of a colony founded,
in times comparatively recent, with the worst materials of civilization
grafted on the lowest forms of barbarism existing on the earth. The new
institution is to be at Sydney; and a sum of £30,000 has been, it is
said, voted for the building and £5000 for its fittings-up. It will
contain at first chairs of the Classical Languages, Mathematics,
Chemistry, Natural History, Natural Philosophy, Mechanics, Physiology,
and the Medical Sciences; and professorships of History, Philosophy, and
Political Economy are to be hereafter added. There is to be no faculty
of Theology--and no religious tests.
The late Dr. POTTS, inventor of the hydraulic pile-driving process, and
other mechanical inventions, expired at his house in Buckingham-street,
Strand, on the 23d ultimo. Dr. Potts belonged originally to the medical
profession; but by inclination, even from school-boy days, and while a
class-fellow with the present Premier and the Duke of Bedford, he
appears to have devoted himself to mechanical and engineering pursuits.
His name, however, will be most closely associated for the future with
the ingenious process for driving piles.
It is said that "among the agriculturists of Gloucestershire,
Worcestershire, and Herefordshire," there is a grand scheme of
emigration afloat, which projects the purchase of a million acres of
land in one of the Western States of America.
Some of the paper slips dropped by the telegraphing balloons, sent up
experimentally by the Admiralty at Whitehall, have been returned by post
from Hamburg and Altona, a distance of 450 miles direct.
Box tunnel, London, which is 3192 yards in length, was an object of some
interest on Tuesday, the 9th of April, as on that morning at twenty-five
minutes past five the sun shone through it. The only other periods that
such an event occurs are on the 3d and 4th of September.
An oak tree, forty feet high, with three tons of soil on its roots, has
been transplanted at Graisley, near Wolverhampton. The tree was mounted
on a timber-carriage, and, with its branches lashed to prevent damage to
windows, passed through the streets, a singular but beautiful sight.
The Plymouth Town-Council are about to lay down a quantity of glass
pipes, jointed with gutta percha, as an experiment, for the conveyance
of water.
The French, Belgian, and Prussian governments appointed a commission in
1848 to draw up the base of an arrangement for an international railway
communication; the commission is about to commence its sittings in
Paris.
The Russian Geographical Society has decided upon exploring that portion
of the Northern Ural which lies between Mount Kwognar and the pass of
Koppol; an extent of 2000 wersts, which has not yet been explored by the
Ural expedition. The expedition will consist of only three persons--a
geognort, who also determines the altitude, a geographer, and one
assistant. A great number of attendants, interpreters, workpeople, and
rein-deer sledges, have already been engaged. The expedition will set
out immediately, and it is hoped will complete the investigation by
September.
* * * * *
It is said that nothing indicates the social and moral condition of any
community more accurately or impressively than its RECORDS OF CRIME. The
following instances, selected from English journals of the month, will
not, therefore, be without interest and instruction.
On the 2d, Thomas Denny was tried at Kingston-on-Thames, for _Murdering
his Child_. He was a farm-servant, and so poor that he lived in a
hay-loft on his master's premises, with his reputed wife. In August a
child was born, and died immediately. Suspicions arose, and an
investigation took place, which led to the prisoner's commitment,
charged with murdering the infant. On the trial the prisoner's son, an
intelligent boy of eight years old, told the following graphic story of
his father's guilt: "We all," he said, "lived together in the hay-loft
at Ewell. When mother had a baby, I went to my father and told him to
come home directly. When we got back my father took up the baby in his
arms. He then took up an awl. [Here the child became much affected, and
cried bitterly, and it was some time before he could proceed with his
testimony. At length he went on.] My father took up the awl, and killed
the baby with it. He stuck the awl into its throat. The baby cried, and
my father took the child to its mother, and asked her if he should make
a coffin for it. Before he said this, he asked her if she would help to
kill it, and gave her the awl. She tried to kill it also. My father gave
her the child and the awl, and she did the same to it that he had done.
I was very much frightened at what I saw, and ran away, and when I came
back I found mother in bed." The woman (Eliza Tarrant) had been charged
as an accomplice, but the bill against her was ignored by the grand
jury. On the trial she was called as a witness; to which the prisoner's
counsel objected, she being a presumed participator in the crime. The
woman, however, was called, and partly corroborated her son's testimony;
but denied that she took any share in killing her offspring. The
prisoner was convicted, and Mr. Justice Maule passed sentence of death,
informing him that there was no hope of respite. Subsequently, however,
the objections of the prisoner's counsel proved more valid than the
judge supposed, for the secretary of state thought proper to commute the
sentence. The unfortunate man received the respite with heartfelt
gratitude. Since his conviction he appeared to be overcome with grief at
his awful position.
_A Tale of Misery_ was revealed on the 3d to Mr. à Beckett, the
magistrate Of Southwark police court. He received a letter from a
gentleman who stated that as he was walking home one evening, his
attention was attracted to a young woman. She was evidently following an
immoral career; but her appearance and demeanor interesting him he spoke
to her. She candidly acknowledged, that having been deserted by her
parents, she was leading an abandoned life to obtain food for her three
sisters, all younger than herself. Her father had been in decent
circumstances, but that unfortunately her mother was addicted to drink,
and owing to this infirmity their parents had separated, and abandoned
them. The writer concluded by hoping that the magistrate would cause an
inquiry to be made. Mr. à Beckett directed an officer of the court to
investigate into this case. On the 4th, the officer called at the abode
of the young woman, in a wretched street, at a time when such a visit
could not have been expected. He found Mary Ann Bannister, the girl
alluded to, and her three sisters, of the respective ages of eight,
eleven, and fourteen, in deep distress. The eldest was washing some
clothing for her sisters. There was no food of any description in the
place. Altogether the case was a very distressing one, and although
accustomed to scenes of misery, in the course of his duties, yet this
was one of the most lamentable the officer had met with. The publication
of the case had the effect of inducing several benevolent individuals to
transmit donations to Mr. à Beckett for these destitute girls, to the
amount, as he stated on a subsequent day, of above £25. He added that
it was in contemplation to enable the girls to emigrate to South
Australia, and that meanwhile they had been admitted into the workhouse
of St. George's parish, where they would be kept till a passage was
procured for them to the colony. More than one person had offered to
take Mary Ann Bannister into domestic service; but emigration for the
whole four was thought more advisable.
A female named Lewis, who resided at Bassalleg, left her home on the 3d
to go to Newport, about three miles distant, to make purchases. She
never returned. A search was made by her son and husband, who is a
cripple, and on the night of the following day they discovered her
_murdered in a wood_ at no very great distance from the village, so
frightfully mangled as to leave no doubt that she had been waylaid and
brutally murdered. The head was shockingly disfigured, battered by some
heavy instrument, and the clothes were saturated with blood. For some
days the perpetrators escaped detection, but eventually Murphy and
Sullivan, two young Irishmen, were arrested at Cheltenham, on suspicion.
Wearing apparel, covered with blood, and a number of trifling articles
were found on them. They were sent off to Newport, where it was found
they had been engaged in an atrocious outrage in Gloucestershire, on an
old man whom they had assailed and robbed on the road near Purby; his
skull was fractured; and his life was considered to be in imminent
peril. Both prisoners were fully committed to the county jail at
Monmouth to take their trial for willful murder.
_A Dreadful Murder_ has been discovered in the neighborhood of Frome, in
Somersetshire. On the 3d, a young man named Thomas George, the son of a
laborer residing near that town, left his father's house about eight in
the evening, and never returned. Next morning, his father went in search
of him, and found his body in a farmer's barn; he had been apparently
dead for some hours, and there were deep wounds in his head and throat.
A man named Henry Hallier, who had been seen in company with the
deceased, the night he disappeared, close to the barn where his body was
found, was apprehended on the 18th on suspicion, and committed to the
county jail.
An act of _Unparalleled Atrocity_ was committed during the Easter week
in the Isle of Man. Two poor men named Craine and Gill went to a
hill-side to procure a bundle of heather to make brooms. The proprietor
of the premises observed them, and remarked that he would quickly make
them remove their quarters. He at once set fire to the dry furze and
heather, directly under the hilly place where the poor men were engaged.
The fire spread furiously, and it was only by rolling himself down the
brow of the hill, and falling over the edge of a precipice into the
river underneath, that Gill escaped. His unfortunate companion, who was
a pensioner, aged 80 years, and quite a cripple, was left in his
helpless state a prey to the flames. After they had subsided, Gill went
in search of Craine, whom he found burned to a cinder. The proprietor of
the heath has been apprehended.
_A Shot at his Sweetheart_ was fired by John Humble Sharpe, a young man
of 21, who was tried for it at the Norfolk Circuit on the 9th. The
accused, a young carpenter, had courted and had been accepted by the
prosecutrix, Sarah Lingwood. She, however, listened to other vows; the
lover grew jealous, and was at length rejected. In the night after he
had received his dismissal, the family of the girl's uncle with whom she
lived were alarmed by the report of a gun. On examining her bedroom it
was discovered that a bullet had been fired through the window, had
crossed the girl's bed, close to the bottom where she lay, grazed a
dress that was lying on the bed-clothes, and struck a chest of drawers
beyond. Suspicion having fallen on the prisoner, he was apprehended. The
prisoner's counsel admitted the fact, but denied the intent. The
prisoner had, he said, no desire to harm the girl, whom he tenderly
loved, but only to alarm her and induce her to return to him. The jury,
after long deliberation, acquitted the prisoner.
Several shocking instances of _Agrarian Crime_ have been mentioned in
the Irish papers. At Glasslough, in the county of Monaghan, a shot was
fired into the bed-room window of Mr. John Robertson, land steward to
C.P. Leslie, Esq., on the night of the 10th. Arthur O'Donnel, Esq., of
Pickwick Cottage, in Clare, was murdered near his own house, on the
night of the 11th. He was attacked by a party of men and killed with a
hatchet. The supposition was that this deed was committed by recipients
of relief whom Mr. O'Donnel was wont to strike off the lists at the
weekly revision by the board of the Kilrush union, of which he was one.
A man was arrested on strong suspicion. There was another murder in
Clare. The herdsman of Mr. Scanlon, of Fortune in that county, went out
to look after some sheep, the property of his master, when he was
attacked by some persons who had been lurking about the wood, and his
throat cut.
Two evidences of the _Low Price of Labor_ were brought before the
magistrates. One at Bow-street on the 10th, when W. Gronnow, a
journeyman shoemaker, was charged with pawning eight pairs of ladies'
shoes intrusted to him for making up. He pleaded extreme distress, and
said he intended to redeem the shoes that week. The prisoner's employer
owned that the man was entitled to no more than 4_s._ 8_d._ for making
and preparing the eight pairs of shoes. "Why," said the magistrate,
"that price is only _sevenpence_ a pair for the workman. I am not
surprised to hear of so many persons pawning their employers' property,
when they are paid so badly." The prisoner was fined 2_s._ and ordered
to pay the money he had received upon the shoes within fourteen days; in
default, to be imprisoned fourteen days. Being unable to pay the money,
he was locked up.
On the previous day a man named Savage, a slop shirt seller, was
summoned at Guildhall for 9_d._, the balance due to Mrs. Wallis for
making three cotton shirts. When delivered, Savage found fault with
them, and deferred payment. Eventually 1_s._ 3_d._ was paid instead of
2_s._ The alderman said he was surprised at any tradesman who only paid
8_d._ for making a shirt, deducting 3_d._ from so small a remuneration;
it was disgraceful. He then ordered the money to be paid, with expenses.
Alexander Levey, a goldsmith, was tried at the Central Criminal Court on
the 10th, for the _Murder of his Wife_. They were a quarrelsome pair:
one day, while the husband, with a knife in his hand, was cooking a
sweetbread, the wife came in, and, in answer to his inquiry where she
had been, said she had been to a magistrate for a warrant against him.
On this, with a violent exclamation, he stabbed her in the throat; she
ran out of the house, while he continued eating with the knife with
which he stabbed her, saying, however, he hoped she was not much hurt.
She died in consequence of the wound. The defense was, that the blow had
been given in the heat of passion, and the prisoner was found guilty of
manslaughter only. He was sentenced to fifteen years' transportation.
On the same day, Jane Kirtland was tried for the _Manslaughter of her
Husband_. They lived at Shadwell, and were both addicted to drinking and
quarreling, in both which they indulged. Kirtland having called his wife
an opprobrious name she took up a chopper, and said that if he repeated
the offensive expression, she would chop him. He immediately repeated it
with a still more offensive addition, and at the same time thrust his
fist, in her face, when she struck him on the elbow with the chopper,
and inflicted a wound of which he died a few days afterward. The
prisoner, when called upon for her defense, burst into tears, and said
that her husband was constantly drunk, and that he was in the habit of
going out all day, and leaving her and her children in a destitute
state, and when he came home he would abuse her and insult her in every
possible way. In a moment of anger she struck him with a chopper, but
she had no intention to do him any serious injury. The jury found the
prisoner Guilty, but recommended her to mercy on account of the
provocation she had received. She was sentenced to be kept to hard labor
in the House of Correction for six months.
A coroner's inquest was held in Southwark on the same day, respecting
the death of Mrs. Mary Carpenter, _an Eccentric Old Lady_, of
eighty-two. She had been left, by a woman who attended her, cooking a
chop for her dinner; and soon afterward the neighbors were alarmed by
smoke coming from the house. On breaking into her room on an upper
floor, the place was found to be on fire. The flames were got under, but
the old lady was burnt almost to a cinder. Mrs. Carpenter was a very
singular person; she used at one time to wear dresses so that they did
not reach down to her knees. Part of her leg was exposed, but the other
was encased with milk-white stockings, tied up with scarlet garters, the
ribbons extending to her feet, or flying about her person. In this
extraordinary dress she would sally forth to market, followed by an
immense crowd of men and children. For some years past she discontinued
these perambulations, and lived entirely shut up in her house in
Moss-alley, the windows of which she had bricked up, so that no light
could enter from without. Though she had considerable freehold property,
she had only an occasional female attendant, and would allow no other
person, but the collector of her rents, to enter her preserve.
On the 12th, Mrs. Eleanor Dundas Percival, a lady of thirty-five,
destroyed herself by poison at the Hope Coffee-house, in Fetter-lane,
where she had taken temporary apartments. _A Distressing History_
transpired at the inquest. She was the daughter of a Scotch clergyman,
and lost the countenance of her family by marrying a Catholic, a captain
in the navy; while her husband suffered the same penalty for marrying a
Protestant. About a year ago he and their infant died in the West
Indies; she afterward became governess in the family of Sir Colin
Campbell, governor of Barbadoes; her health failing, she returned to
England in October last, and had since been reduced to extreme distress.
Having been turned out of a West-end hotel, and had her effects detained
on account of her debt contracted there, she had been received into the
apartments in Fetter-lane, partly through the compassion of a person who
resided in the house. While there, she had written to Miss Burdett
Coutts, and, a few days before her death, a gentleman had called on her
from that benevolent lady, who paid up the rent she owed, amounting to
£2 14_s._, and left her 10_s._ On the evening above-mentioned she went
out, and returned with a phial in her hand containing morphia, which, it
appeared, she swallowed on going to bed between five and six, as she was
afterward found in a dying state, and the empty phial beside her. The
verdict was temporary insanity.
_Elias Lucas and Mary Reeder were executed_ at Cambridge on the 13th.
Lucas was the husband of the female convict's sister, whom they had
poisoned. Morbid curiosity had attracted from twenty to thirty thousand
spectators. In the procession from the jail to the scaffold there was a
great parade of county magistrates.
Louisa Hartley was charged at the Southwark Police Court, on the 16th,
with an _Attempt to poison her Father_, who is a fellowship porter. On
the previous morning she made the coffee for breakfast, on tasting it,
it burnt Harley's mouth, and he charged the girl with having put poison
in his cup, which she denied; he then tasted her coffee, and found it
had no unpleasant flavor. His daughter then snatched away his cup, and
threw the contents into a wash-hand basin. But in spite of her tears and
protestations of innocence, he took the basin to Guy's Hospital, where
it was found that the coffee must have contained vitriol. The girl, who
was said to be of weak intellect, and stood sobbing at the bar, being
questioned, only shook her head, and said she had nothing to say. At a
subsequent hearing the magistrate decided that there was sufficient
evidence for a committal.
A man named William Bennison, a workman in an iron-foundry, has been
committed to prison at Leith on suspicion of having _Poisoned his Wife_.
The circumstances of the case are extraordinary. The scene of the murder
is an old-fashioned tiled house in Leith. Bennison and his wife occupied
the second floor of a house, in which also resides Alexander Milne, a
cripple from his infancy, well known to the frequenters of Leith Walk,
where he sits daily, in a small cart drawn by a dog. Mrs. Bennison,
after, it is said, partaking of some gruel, became very ill, and died on
Monday, the 22d inst. The dog which drew the cripple's cart died about
the same time; suspicion was drawn upon the husband, and he was
apprehended, and the dog's body conveyed to Surgeon's Hall for
examination. Some weeks before, Bennison had purchased arsenic from a
neighboring druggist, to kill rats, as he said. When suspected he called
on the druggist, and requested him and his wife not to mention that he
had purchased the arsenic. He even pressed for a written denial of the
fact, adding that there might be arsenic found in his wife's stomach,
but he did not put it there. On the Monday previous to her death it is
said he enrolled her name in a benefit society, by which on her death he
was entitled to a sum of £6. At the prisoner's examination before the
sheriff, the report of the chemists pronounced the contents of the dog's
stomach to have been metallic poison. The accused was eventually
committed for trial. The deceased and her husband were members of the
Wesleyan body, and bore an excellent character for piety. Bennison
professed to be extremely zealous in behalf of religion, and was in the
habit of administering its consolations to such as would accept of them.
His "gifts" of extempore prayer are said to be extensive.
_Two Men were shot at by a Gamekeeper_ lately in a wood belonging to
Lord Wharncliffe, near Barnsley. The game on this estate is preserved by
a solicitor, who resides near Wokefield, who employs Joseph Hunter as
gamekeeper. Both the men were severely injured, and Cherry, one of them,
sued Hunter as the author of the offense, in the Barnsley County Court,
and the case was heard on the 19th instant. Cherry stated, that on the
23d February he went to see the Badsworth hounds meet at the village of
Notton, and in coming down by the side of a wood he saw the defendant,
who asked plaintiff and two others where the hounds were. Plaintiff told
him they were in Notton-park. These men left Hunter, and walked down by
the side of Noroyds-wood. They went through the wood, when one of the
men who was with him began cutting some sticks. Plaintiff then saw
Hunter, who was about twenty-five yards from them, coming toward them:
the men began to run away, when plaintiff said to the other, "He's going
to shoot us;" and before he had well delivered the words, he was shot in
the arm and side, and could not run with the others. A surgeon proved
that the wounds were severe and in a dangerous part of the body. The two
men who were with the plaintiff corroborated his evidence. The judge
said that defendant deserved to be sent to York for what he had done
already. The damages might have been laid at £100 or £1000 had plaintiff
been acting lawfully; but he thought plaintiff had acted with discretion
in laying the damages at £10 for which he should give a verdict, and all
the costs the law would allow.
_An Affecting Case_ occurred at the Mansion House on the 23d. William
Powers, a boy, was brought up on the charge of picking a gentleman's
pocket of a handkerchief. A little boy, who had seen the theft, was
witness against him. The prisoner made a feeble attempt to represent the
witness as an accomplice; but he soon abandoned it, and said, with
tears, that he "did not believe the other boy to be a thief at all." The
alderman, moved by his manner, asked him if he had parents? He said he
had, but they were miserably poor. "My father was, when I last saw him,
six months ago, going into the workhouse. What was I to do? I was partly
brought up to the tailoring business, but I can get nothing to do at
that. I am able to job about, but still I am compelled to be idle. If I
had work, wouldn't I work! I'd be glad to work hard for a living,
instead of being obliged to thieve and tell lies for a bit of bread."
Alderman Carden--If I send you for a month to Bridewell, and from thence
into an industrial school, will you stick honestly to labor? The
prisoner--Try me. You shall never see me here or in any other
disgraceful situation again. Alderman Carden--I will try you. You shall
go to Bridewell for a month, and to the School of Occupation afterward,
where you will have an opportunity of reforming. The wretched boy
expressed himself in terms of gratitude to the alderman, and went away,
as seemed to be the general impression in the justice-room, for the
purpose of commencing a new life.
On the 5th a pilot-boat brought into Cowes the master of the Lincoln,
sailing from Boston for California. He had reached the latitude of 4° N.
and longitude 25° W., and when at 10.30 p.m. of March 2, during a heavy
shower of rain, and without any menacing appearance in the air, the ship
was _Struck with Lightning_, which shivered the mainmast, and darted
into the hold. On opening the scuttle, volumes of smoke were emitted,
and finding it impossible to extinguish the fire, the crew endeavored to
stifle it by closing every aperture. In this state they remained for
nearly four days, with the fire burning in the hold, when they were
relieved from their perilous situation by the providential appearance of
the Maria Christina, and taken on board. Previous to leaving the
ill-fated brig, the hatches were opened, when the flames burst forth,
and in thirty minutes afterward the mainmast fell over the side. The
unfortunate crew were most kindly treated by Captain Voss, the master of
the Maria Christina, who did every thing in his power for their relief.
A Miss Downie met, on the 4th, with an _Extraordinary Death_ at
Traquair-on-the-Tweed. She had suffered, since childhood, from severe
pains in the head and deafness; her health had been gradually declining
for the last three years, and in August last she was seized with most
painful inflammation in the left ear, accompanied by occasional
bleedings also from the ear. On the 20th of March an ordinary-sized
metallic pin was extracted from the left ear, which was enveloped in a
firm substance with numerous fibres attached to it; several hard bodies,
in shape resembling the grains of buckwheat, but of various colors, were
also taken out of the right ear. The poor girl endured the most intense
pain, which she bore with Christian fortitude till death terminated her
sufferings. It is believed the pin must have lodged in the head for
nearly twenty years, as she never recollected of having put one in her
ear, but she had a distinct remembrance of having, when a child, had a
pin in her mouth, which she thought she had swallowed.
THE POET BOWLES.--The canon's absence of mind was very great, and when
his coachman drove him into Bath he had to practice all kinds of
cautions to keep him to time and place. The poet once left our office in
company with a well-known antiquary of our neighborhood, since deceased,
and who was as absent as Mr. Bowles himself. The servant of the latter
came to our establishment to look for him, and, on learning that he had
gone away with the gentleman to whom we have referred, the man
exclaimed, in a tone of ludicrous distress, "What! those two wandered
away together? then they'll never be found any more!" The act of
composition was a slow and laborious operation with him. He altered and
re-wrote his MS. until, sometimes, hardly anything remained of the
original, excepting the general conception. When we add that his
handwriting was one of the worst that ever man wrote--insomuch that
frequently he could not read that which he had written the day
before--we need not say that his printers had very tough work in getting
his works into type. At the time when we printed for Mr. Bowles we had
one compositor in our office (his death is recorded in our paper of
to-day), who had a sort of knack in making out the poet's hieroglyphics,
and he was once actually sent for by Mr Bowles into Wiltshire to copy
some MS. written a year or two before, which the poet had himself vainly
endeavored to decipher.--_Bath Chronicle._
ARCHIBALD ALISON.
[Illustration: Portrait of Archibald Alison]
Mr. Archibald Alison, author of the "History of Europe," is son of the
author of the well-known "Essay on Taste." He holds the office of
sheriff of Lanarkshire, and is much respected in the city of Glasgow,
where his official duties compel him to reside. Though educated for the
profession of the law, and daily administering justice as the principal
local judge of a populous district, Mr. Alison's tastes are entirely
literary. Besides the "History of Europe," in 20 volumes--a work which,
we believe, originated in the pages of a "Scottish Annual Register,"
long since discontinued--Mr. Alison has written a "Life of Marlborough"
and various economic and political pamphlets. He is also a frequent
contributor to _Blackwood's Magazine_. It is, however, upon his "History
of Europe" that his fame principally rests. If Mr. Alison be not the
most successful of modern historians, we know not to whom, in preference
to him, the palm can be conceded. His work is to be found in every
library, and bids fair to rank hereafter as the most valuable production
of the age in which he lived. This success is due, not only to the
importance and interest of his theme, but to the skillful, eloquent, and
generally correct manner in which he has treated it. He has, doubtless,
been guilty of some errors of omission as well as of commission, as we
have heard of a literary amateur, whose chief amusement for some years
past, has been to make out a list of his mistakes; but, after all
deductions of this kind, enough of merit remains in the work to entitle
its author to a place in the highest rank of contemporary authors.
The bust of Mr. Alison, of which we present an engraving, was executed
in the year 1846, and presented in marble to Mr. Alison by a body of his
private friends in Glasgow, as a testimonial of their friendship to him
as an individual; of their esteem and respect for him in his public
capacity, as one of their local judges; and of their admiration of his
writings. It is considered a very excellent likeness.
THE CORN-LAW RHYMER.
Ebenezer Elliott not only possessed poetical spirit, or the apparent
faculty of producing poetry, but he produced poems beautiful in
description, touching in incident and feeling, and kindly in sentiment,
when he was kept away from that bugbear of his imagination a landed
gentleman. A man of acres, or any upholder of the corn-laws, was to him
what brimstone and blue flames are to a certain species of devotee, or
the giant oppressor of enchanted innocence to a mad knight-errant. In a
squire or a farmer he could see no humanity; the agriculturist was an
incarnate devil, bent upon raising the price of bread, reducing wages,
checking trade, keeping the poor wretched and dirty, and rejoicing when
fever followed famine, to sweep them off by thousands to an untimely
grave. According to his creed, there was no folly, no fault, no
idleness, no improvidence in the poor. Their very crimes were brought
upon them by the gentry class. The squires, assisted a little by kings,
ministers, and farmers, were the true origin of evil in this world of
England, whatever might be the cause of it elsewhere.
This rabid feeling was opposed to high poetical excellence. Temper and
personal passion are fatal to art: "in the very torrent, tempest, and (I
may say) whirlwind of your passion, you should acquire and beget a
temperance that may give it smoothness." It is also fatal to more than
art: where a person looks with the vulgar eyes that Ebenezer Elliott
used on many occasions, there can be neither truth nor justice. Even the
satirist must observe a partial truth and a measure in expressing it, or
he sinks down to the virulent lampooner.
Part of this violence must be placed to the natural disposition of the
man, but part of it was owing to his narrow education; by which we mean,
not so much book-learning or reading, of which he had probably enough,
but provincial and possibly low associates. Something, perhaps, should
be ascribed to a self-sufficiency rather morbid than proud; for we think
Elliott had a liking to be "head of the company," and that he resented
any want of public notice as an affront, even when the parties could not
know that he was entitled to notice.
These defects of character operated very mischievously upon his works.
The temper marred his political poems; though the people, their
condition, vices, and virtues, is a theme that, properly sung, might
stir the Anglo-Saxon race throughout the world and give immortality to a
poet. The provincial mind affected the mass of Elliott's poems even
where the subject was removed from his prejudices; for he had no
habitual elevation or refinement of taste: it required a favorable theme
or a happy moment to triumph over the deficiencies of nature and
education. His self-sufficiency coupled with his provincialism seems to
have prevented him from closely criticising his productions; so that he
often published things that were prosaic as well as faulty in other
respects.
The posthumous volumes before us naturally abound in the author's
peculiarities; for the feelings of survivors are prone to err on the
side of fullness, and the friends of the lately dead too often print
indiscriminately. The consequence is, that the publication has an air of
gatherings, and contains a variety of things that a critical stranger
would wish away. It was proper, perhaps, to have given prose as a
specimen of the author; and the review of his works by Southey, said to
have been rejected by the _Quarterly_, is curious for its total
disregard of the reviewer's own canons, since very little description is
given of the poems, and not much of the characteristics of the poet.
Much of the poetry in these volumes would have been better unpublished.
Here and there we find a touching little piece, or a bit of power; but
the greater part is not only unpoetical but trivial, or merely personal
in the expression of feeling. There is, moreover, a savageness of tone
toward the agricultural interest, even after the corn-laws were
abolished, that looks as like malignity as honest anger.--_London
Spectator._
MADAME GRANDIN, the widow of M. Victor Grandin, representative of the
Seine Inférieure, who died about seven or eight months since, met with a
melancholy end on the 6th, at her residence at Elboeuf. She was confined
to her bed from illness, and the woman, who had been watching by her
during the night, had left her but a short time, when the most piercing
shrieks were heard to proceed from her room. Her brother ran in alarm to
her assistance, but, unfortunately, he was too late, the poor lady had
expired, having been burned in her bed. It is supposed that in reaching
to take something from the table, her night-dress came in contact with
the lamp, and thus communicated to the bed.
T. BABINGTON MACAULAY.
[Illustration: Portrait of Thomas Babington Macaulay]
Mr. Macaulay, though ambitious at one time, and perhaps still, of a
reputation for poetry though an acute critic and a brilliant essayist,
and though a showy and effective orator, who could command at all times
the attention of an assembly that rather dislikes studied eloquence
seems at present inclined to build up his fame upon his historical
writings. Most of his admirers consider that, in this respect, he has
judged wisely. As a poet--however pleasing his "Lays of Ancient Rome"
and some of his other ballads maybe--he could never have succeeded in
retaining the affection of the public. Depth of feeling, earnest and
far-seeing thought, fancy, imagination, a musical ear, a brilliancy of
expression, and an absolute mastery of words, are all equally essential
to him who, in this or any other time, would climb the topmost heights
of Parnassus. Mr. Macaulay has fancy but not imagination; and though his
ear is good, and his command of language unsurpassed by any living
writer, he lacks the earnestness and the deep philosophy of all the
mighty masters of song. As a critic he is, perhaps, the first of his
age; but criticism, even in its highest developments, is but a secondary
thing to the art upon which it thrives. Mr. Macaulay has in him the
stuff of which artists and originators are made, and we are of the
number of those who rejoice that, in the vigor of his days; he has
formed a proper estimate of his own powers, and that he has abandoned
the poetical studies, in the prosecution of which he never could have
attained the first rank; and those critical corruscations which, however
beautiful, must always have been placed in a lower scale of merit than
the compositions upon which they were founded; and that he has devoted
his life to the production of an original work in the very highest
department of literature.
There was, at one time, a prospect before Mr. Macaulay of being one of
the men who _make_, instead of those who _write_ history; but his recent
retirement from parliament and from public life has, for a while at
least, closed up that avenue. In cultivating at leisure the literary
pursuits that he loves, we trust that he, as well as the world, will be
the gainer, and that his "History of England," when completed, will be
worthy of so high a title. As yet the field is clear before him. The
histories that have hitherto appeared are mostly bad or indifferent.
Some are good, but not sufficiently good to satisfy the wants of the
reader, or to render unnecessary the task of more enlightened, more
impartial, more painstaking, and more elegant writers. There never was a
work of art, whether in painting, sculpture, music, or literature, in
which lynx-eyed criticism could not detect a flaw, or something
deficient, which the lynx-eyed critic, and he alone, could have
supplied. Mr. Macaulay's history has not escaped the ordeal, neither was
it desirable that it should; but the real public opinion of the country
has pronounced itself in his favor, and longs for the worthy completion
of a task which has been worthily begun.
The bust of Mr. Macaulay was executed shortly after that of Mr. Alison,
and is, we believe, in Mr. Macaulay's own possession. It is a very
admirable likeness.
MOSCOW AFTER THE CONFLAGRATION.
It was both a strange and a horrible spectacle. Some houses appeared to
have been razed; of others, fragments of smoke-blackened walls remained;
ruins of all kinds encumbered the streets; every where was a horrible
smell of burning. Here and there a cottage, a church, a palace, stood
erect amid the general destruction. The churches especially, by their
many-colored domes, by the richness and variety of their construction,
recalled the former opulence of Moscow. In them had taken refuge most of
the inhabitants, driven by our soldiers from the houses the fire had
spared. The unhappy wretches, clothed in rags, and wandering like ghosts
amid the ruins, had recourse to the saddest expedients to prolong their
miserable existence. They sought and devoured the scanty vegetables
remaining in the gardens; they tore the flesh from the animals that lay
dead in the streets; some even plunged into the river for corn the
Russians had thrown there, and which was now in a state of
fermentation.... It was with the greatest difficulty we procured black
bread and beer; meat began to be very scarce. We had to send strong
detachments to seize oxen in the woods where the peasants had taken
refuge, and often the detachments returned empty-handed. Such was the
pretended abundance procured us by the pillage of the city. We had
liquors, sugar, sweetmeats, and we wanted for meat and bread. We covered
ourselves with furs, but were almost without clothes and shoes. With
great store of diamonds, jewels, and every possible object of luxury, we
were on the eve of dying of hunger. A large number of Russian soldiers
wandered in the streets of Moscow. I had fifty of them seized; and a
general, to whom I reported the capture, told me I might have had them
shot, and that on all future occasions he authorized me to do so. I did
not abuse the authorization. It will be easily understood how many
mishaps, how much disorder, characterized our stay in Moscow. Not an
officer, not a soldier, but could tell strange anecdotes on this head.
One of the most striking is that of a Russian whom a French officer
found concealed in the ruins of a house; by signs he assured him of
protection, and the Russian accompanied him. Soon, being obliged to
carry an order, and seeing another officer pass at the head of a
detachment, he transferred the individual to his charge, saying
hastily--"I recommend this gentleman to you." The second officer,
misunderstanding the intention of the words, and the tone in which they
were pronounced, took the unfortunate Russian for an incendiary, and had
him shot.--_Fezensac's Journal._
TRUTH.--Truth is a subject which men will not suffer to grow old. Each
age has to fight with its own falsehoods: each man with his love of
saying to himself and those around him pleasant things and things
serviceable for to-day, rather than things which are. Yet a child
appreciates at once the divine necessity for truth; never asks, "What
harm is there in saying the thing there is not?" and an old man finds in
his growing experience wider and wider applications of the great
doctrine and discipline of truth.--_Friends in Council._
A provincial paper mentions the discovery of the _Original Portrait of
Charles the First_, by Vandyck, lost in the time of the Commonwealth,
and which has been found at Barnstaple in Devonshire. It had been for
many years in the possession of a furniture-broker in that town, from
whom it was lately purchased by a gentleman of the name of Taylor, for
two shillings. Mr. Taylor, the account adds, has since required £2000
for it.
WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT.
[Illustration: Portrait of William H. Prescott]
William H. Prescott, the American historian, is a native of Salem,
Massachusetts, where he was born on the 4th of May 1796. He is a son of
the late eminent lawyer WILLIAM PRESCOTT, LL.D., of Boston, and a
grandson of Colonel WILLIAM PRESCOTT, who commanded the forces in the
redoubt on Breed's Hill in the memorable battle fought there on the 17th
of June 1775. Mr. Prescott entered Harvard college in 1811, where his
chief delight consisted in the study of the works of ancient authors. He
left Harvard in 1814, and resolved to devote a year to a course of
historical study, before commencing that of the law, his chosen
profession. His reading was suddenly checked by a rheumatic inflammation
of his eyes, which for a long time, deprived him wholly of sight. He had
already lost the use of one eye by an accidental blow while at college;
doubtless the burden of study being laid upon the other overtaxed it,
and produced disease. In the autumn of 1815 he went to Europe, where he
remained two years, a greater portion of the time utterly unable to
enjoy the pleasures of reading and study. He returned to Boston in 1817,
and in the course of a few years married a grand-daughter of Captain
Linzee who commanded one of the British vessels at the battle of Bunker
Hill. His vision gradually strengthened with advancing age, and he
began to use his eye sparingly in reading. The languages of continental
Europe now attracted his attention, and he soon became proficient in
their use. These acquirements, and his early taste for, and intimate
acquaintance with, the best ancient writers, prepared him for those
labors as a historian in which he has since been engaged.
As early as 1819, Mr. Prescott conceived the idea of producing an
historical work of a superior character. For this purpose, he allowed
ten years for preliminary study, and ten for the investigation and
preparation of the work. He chose for his theme the history of the life
and times of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain; and at the end of nearly
twenty years, pursuant to his original plan, that great work was
completed. He had resolved not to allow it to be published during his
lifetime, but the remark of his father, that "The man who writes a book
which he is afraid to publish, is a coward" decided him, and it went
forth to the world in 1838. It was quickly republished in London; every
where it was pronounced a master-piece, and his fame was firmly
established. But little did those who read his delightful pages know of
the vast toil, and patient, persevering industry, in the midst of a
great privation, which the historian had employed in his task. His rare
volumes from Spain and other sources were consulted through the medium
of a reader; the copious notes were written by a secretary; much of the
work in its final shape was written by himself with a writing machine
for the blind, and in the whole preparation of this and subsequent
works, he relied far more upon his ear than his eye for aid.
The "Conquest of Mexico" next followed, and his publishers sold seven
thousand copies the next year. It was published at the same time in
London, and translated in Paris, Berlin, Rome, Madrid, and Mexico. His
"Conquest of Peru" followed soon afterward, and was received at home and
abroad with equal favor. The "Conquest of Mexico" has had three separate
translations into the Castilian, and the "Peru," two. They have been
reprinted in English in London and Paris, and have gone through repeated
editions in this country. Whether we shall soon have another work from
Mr. Prescott's pen, is a matter of doubt, as it is understood that he
proposes to employ the last ten years of his historic life in preparing
a History of the Reign of Philip the Second of Spain. His eyes have
somewhat failed in strength, and he is now able to use them for reading
less than an hour each day; "But," he says in a letter to a friend, "I
am not, and never expect to be, in the category of the blind men."
Our allotted space will not permit us to take an analytical view of the
character and writings of Mr. Prescott. We can only say that great
industry, sound judgment, comprehensive views, purity of diction, and
fine, flowing style in description and narrative, all governed by a
genius eminently philosophical, place him in the first rank of modern
historians. Americans love him as a cherished member of their
household--throughout the Republic of Letters he is admired as one of
its brightest ornaments.
THE ENCHANTED BATHS.
These warm springs are natural phenomena, which perhaps have not their
equal in the whole world. I am, therefore, quite inconsolable at the
thought of having made the long and difficult journey from Bona, and
having been five whole days here in Guelma, within the distance of
five-and-twenty miles from those wonderful springs, yet unable to see
them. At the distance of a mile or two from Hammam Meskutine, thick
clouds of vapor are seen rising from these warm springs. The water is
highly impregnated with calcareous properties, whose accumulated
deposits have formed conical heaps, some of which are upwards of thirty
feet high. From amidst these cones the springs jet forth lofty columns
of water, which descend in splendid cascades, flowing over the ancient
masonry, and covering it with a white calcareous stratum.
The mass produced by the crystalization of the particles escaping from
the seething waters, has been, after a long lapse of years, transformed
into beautiful rose-colored marble. F---- brought me a piece of this
substance from the springs. It is precisely similar to that used in
building the church at Guelma, which is obtained from a neighboring
quarry. From the remains of an ancient tower and a fort, situated near
Hammam Meskutine, it is evident that these springs were known to the
Romans. An old Arab legend records that, owing to the extreme wickedness
of the inhabitants of these districts, God visited them with a
punishment similar to that of Lot's wife, by transforming them into the
conical heaps of chalk I have mentioned above. To this day, the mass of
the people firmly believe that the larger cones represent the parents,
and the smaller ones, the children.
Owing to the high temperature, the surrounding vegetation is clothed in
the most brilliant green; and the water of a tepid brook, which flows at
the foot of the cascades, though in itself as clear as a mirror, appears
to be of a beautiful emerald color. F---- told me that he was not a
little surprised to see in this warm rivulet a multitude of little
fishes sporting about, as lively as though they had been in the coolest
water. This curious natural phenomenon is explainable by the fact, that
in this rivulet, which is of considerable depth, the under-currents are
sufficiently cool to enable the fish to live and be healthy, though the
upper current of water is so warm, that it is scarcely possible to hold
the hand in it any longer than a few seconds. The hilly environs of
Hammam Meskutine are exceedingly beautiful, and around the waters
perpetual spring prevails.--_Travels in Barbary._
LITERARY NOTICES.
LETTERS OF A TRAVELER; or, Notes of Things seen in Europe and
America. By William Cullen Bryant. 12mo, pp. 442. New York: G.P.
Putnam.
Every one will welcome a volume of descriptive sketches from the eminent
American poet. The author has made a collection of letters, written at
wide intervals from each other, during different journeys both in Europe
and in this country, rightly judging that they possess sufficient
elements of interest to claim a less ephemeral form than that in which
most of them have been already presented to the public. They consist of
the reminiscences of travel in France, Italy, England, the Netherlands,
Cuba, and the most interesting portions of the United States. Arranged
in the order of time, without reference to subject or place, the
transition from continent to continent is often abrupt, and sometimes
introduces us without warning into scenes of the utmost incongruity with
those where we had been lingering under the spell of enchantment which
the author's pen throws around congenial objects. Thus we are
transported at once from the delicious scenery and climate of Tuscany,
and the dreamy glories of Venice, to the horse thieves and prairie
rattlesnakes of Illinois, making a break in the associations of the
reader which is any thing but agreeable. The method of grouping by
countries would be more natural, and would leave more lively impressions
both on the imagination and the memory.
Mr. Bryant's style in these letters is an admirable model of descriptive
prose. Without any appearance of labor, it is finished with an exquisite
grace, showing the habitual elegance and accuracy of his mental habits.
The genial love of nature, and the lurking tendency to humor, which it
every where betrays, prevent its severe simplicity from running into
hardness, and give it a freshness and occasional glow, in spite of its
entire want of _abandon_, and its prevailing conscious propriety and
reserve.
The criticisms on Art, in the European portions of the work, are less
frequent than we could have wished, and although disclaiming all
pretensions to connoisseurship, are of singular acuteness and value. Mr.
B.'s description of his first impressions of Power's Greek Slave, which
he saw in London in 1845, has a curious interest at the present time, as
predicting the reputation which has since been gained by that noble
piece of statuary.
We notice rather a singular inadvertence for one who enjoys such
distinguished opportunities of "stated preaching" in a remark in the
first letter from Paris, that "Here, too, was the tree which was the
subject of the first Christian miracle, the fig, its branches heavy with
the bursting fruit just beginning to ripen for the market." If the first
miracle was not the turning of water into wine, we have forgot our
catechism.
ELDORADO; OR, ADVENTURES IN THE PATH OF EMPIRE; comprising a Voyage
to California, _via_ Panama; Life in San Francisco and Monterey;
Pictures of the Gold Region, and Experiences of Mexican Travel.
By Bayard Taylor. In two vols., 12mo, pp. 251, 247. New York:
G.P. Putnam.
California opens as rich a field for adventure to the collector of
literary materials, as to the emigrant in pursuit of gold. We shall yet
have the poetry, the romance, the dramatic embodiment of the strange
life in the country of yellow sands. Already it has drawn forth numerous
authors, describing the results of their experience, in nearly every
variety of style, from the unpretending statement of every-day
occurrences, to the more ambitious attempts of graphic descriptive
composition. The spectacle of a mighty nation, springing suddenly into
life, has been made so familiar to us, by the frequent narratives of
eye-witnesses, that we almost lose sight of its unique and marvelous
character, surpassing the dreams of imagination which have so wildly
reveled in the magnificent promises of the nineteenth century.
Mr. Taylor's book is presented to us at the right moment. It completes
the series of valuable productions which have been born of the
Californian excitement, supplying their deficiencies, and viewing the
subject from the highest point that has yet been attained by any
traveler. He possesses many admirable qualifications for the task which
he has performed. With a natural enthusiasm for travel, a curiosity that
never tires, and a rare power of adapting himself to novel situations
and strange forms of society, he combines a Yankee shrewdness of
perception, a genial hilarity of spirit, and a freshness of poetical
illustration, which place him in the very first rank of intelligent
travelers. His European experiences were of no small value in his
Californian expedition. He had learned from them the quickness of
observation, the habit of just comparison, the facility of manners, and
the familiarity with foreign languages, which are essential to the
success of the tourist, and enable him to feel equally at home beneath
the dome of St. Peter's, or in the golden streets of San Francisco.
Mr. Taylor visited California with no intention of engaging in traffic
or gold-hunting. He had no private purposes to serve, no offices to
seek, no plans of amassing sudden wealth to execute. He was,
accordingly, able to look at every thing with the eye of an impartial
spectator. He has described what he saw in a style which is equally
remarkable for its picturesque beauty and its chaste simplicity. His
descriptions not only give you a lively idea of the objects which they
set forth, but the most favorable impression of the author, although he
never allows any striking prominence to the first person singular. As a
manual for the Californian traveler, as well as a delightful work for
the home circle, these volumes will be found to be at once singularly
instructive and charming, and will increase the enviable reputation
which has been so well won by the youthful author, as a man both of
genius and of heart.
We must not close our notice without refreshing our pages with at least
one specimen of Mr. Taylor's felicitous descriptions. Here is a bit of
fine painting, which gives us a vivid idea of the scenery on the road
between San Francisco and the San Joaquin:
SCENERY OF THE INLAND.
Our road now led over broad plains, through occasional belts of
timber. The grass was almost entirely burned up, and dry,
gravelly arroyos, in and out of which we went with a plunge and a
scramble, marked the courses of the winter streams. The air was
as warm and balmy as May, and fragrant with the aroma of a
species of gnaphalium, which made it delicious to inhale. Not a
cloud was to be seen in the sky, and the high, sparsely-wooded
mountains on either hand showed softened and indistinct through a
blue haze. The character of the scenery was entirely new to me.
The splendid valley, untenanted except by a few solitary
rancheros living many miles apart, seemed to be some deserted
location of ancient civilization and culture. The wooded slopes
of the mountains are lawns, planted by Nature with a taste to
which Art could add no charm. The trees have nothing of the wild
growth of our forests; they are compact, picturesque, and grouped
in every variety of graceful outline. The hills were covered to
the summit with fields of wild oats, coloring them, as far as the
eye could reach, with tawny gold, against which the dark, glossy
green of the oak and cypress showed with peculiar effect. As we
advanced further, these natural harvests extended over the plain,
mixed with vast beds of wild mustard, eight feet in height, under
which a thick crop of grass had sprung up, furnishing sustenance
to the thousands of cattle, roaming every where unherded. The
only cultivation I saw was a small field of maize, green and with
good ears.
Mr. Taylor occasionally indulges in a touch of natural
transcendentalism, as in his comparison between the Palm and the Pine,
with which we take our leave of his fascinating volumes:
I jogged steadily onward from sunrise till blazing noon, when,
having accomplished about half the journey, I stopped under a
palm-tree and let my horse crop a little grass, while I refreshed
myself with the pine-apple. Not far off there was a single
ranche, called Piedra Gorda--a forlorn-looking place where one
can not remain long without being tortured by the sand-flies.
Beyond it, there is a natural dome of rock, twice the size of St.
Peter's, capping an isolated mountain. The broad intervals of
meadow between the wastes of sand were covered with groves of the
beautiful fan-palm, lifting their tufted tops against the pale
violet of the distant mountains. In lightness, grace, and
exquisite symmetry, the Palm is a perfect type of the rare and
sensuous expression of Beauty in the South. The first sight of
the tree had nearly charmed me into disloyalty to my native Pine;
but when the wind blew, and I heard the sharp, dry, metallic
rustle of its leaves, I retained the old allegiance. The truest
interpreter of Beauty is in the voice, and no tree has a voice
like the Pine, modulated to a rythmic accord with the subtlest
flow of Fancy, touched with a human sympathy for the expression
of Hope and Love and Sorrow, and sounding in an awful undertone,
to the darkest excess of Passion.
STANDISH THE PURITAN. A Tale of the American Resolution. By Edward
Grayson, Esq. 12mo, pp. 320. New York: Harper and Brothers.
A novel by a sharp-eyed Manhattaner, illustrating some of the more
salient aspects of New York society at the period of the revolutionary
war, and combining many of the quaint traditions of that day in a
narrative of very considerable interest and power. The author wields a
satirical pen of more than common vigor, and in his descriptions of the
state of traffic and the legal profession at the time of his story,
presents a series of piquant revelations which, if founded on personal
history, would cause many "a galled jade to wince," if revivified at the
present day. His style does not exhibit a very practiced hand in
descriptive composition, nor is it distinguished for its dramatic power;
but it abounds in touches of humor and pathos, which would have had
still greater effect if not so freely blended with moral disquisitions,
in which the author seems to take a certain mischievous delight. In
spite of these drawbacks, his book is lively and readable, entitling the
author to a comfortable place among the writers of American fiction, and
if he will guard against the faults we have alluded to, his future
efforts may give him a more eminent, rank than he will be likely to gain
from the production before us.
TALBOT AND VERNON. A Novel. 12mo, pp 513. New York: Baker and
Scribner.
The plot of this story turns on a point of circumstantial evidence, by
which the hero escapes the ruin of his reputation and prospects, when
arraigned as a criminal on a charge of forgery. The details are managed
with a good deal of skill, developing the course of affairs in such a
gradual manner, that the interest of the reader never sleeps, until the
final winding-up of the narrative. Familiar with the routine of courts
of law, betraying no slight acquaintance with the springs of human
action, and master of a bold and vigorous style of expression, the
author has attained a degree of success in the execution of his plan,
which gives a promising augury of future eminence. In the progress of
the story, the scene shifts from one of the western cities of the United
States to the camp of General Taylor on the plains of Mexico. Many
stirring scenes of military life are introduced with excellent effect,
as well as several graphic descriptions of Mexican scenery and manners.
The battle of Buena Vista forms the subject of a powerful episode, and
is depicted with a life-like energy. We presume the author is more
conversant with the bustle of a camp than with the tranquil retirements
of literature, although his work betrays no want of the taste and
cultivation produced by the influence of the best books. But he shows a
knowledge of the world, a familiarity with the scenes and topics of
every day life, which no scholastic training can give, and which he has
turned to admirable account in the composition of this volume.
Fashions for Early Summer.
[Illustration: BALL AND VISITING DRESSES]
There is a decided tendency in fashion this season to depart from
simplicity in dress, and to adopt the extreme ornamental elegance of the
middle ages. Bonnets, dresses, and mantles are trimmed all over with
puffings of net, lace, and flowers. A great change has taken place in
the width of skirts, which, from being very large, are now worn almost
narrow. Ball dresses _à tablier_ (apron trimming, as seen in the erect
figure on the left of the above group) are much in vogue, covered with
puffings of net. The three flounces of lace, forming the trimming of the
bottom of the dress, have all a puffing of net at the top of them; the
whole being fastened to the apron with a rosette of ribbon. A precious
gem is sometimes worn in the centre of the rosette, either diamond,
emerald, or ruby, according to the color of the dress. Wreaths are worn
very full, composed of flowers and fruits of every kind; they are placed
on the forehead, and the branches at the end of them are long, and fall
on the neck. Bouquets, in shape of bunches, are put high up on the body
of the dress. Such is the mania in Paris and London for mixing fruits of
every kind, that some even wear small apples, an ornament far less
graceful than bunches of currants, grapes, and tendrils of the vine. The
taste for massive ornaments is so decided, that roses and poppies of
enormous dimensions are preferred. For young persons, wreaths of
delicate flowers, lightly fastened, and falling upon the shoulders, are
always the prettiest. Silks of light texture, in the styles which the
French manufacturers designate _chiné_, will be generally employed for
walking dresses until the extreme heat of summer arrives, when they will
be superseded by French barèges, having flounces woven with borders,
consisting of either satin stripes or flowers. Many of the patterns are
in imitation of _guipure_ lace. The most admired of the French light
silks are those wrought upon a white ground, the colors including almost
every hue. In some the ground is completely covered by rich arabesque
patterns. These _chinés_, on account of the Oriental designs, have
obtained the name of Persian silks. Worsted lace is the height of
fashion for mantles, which are trimmed with quillings of this article,
plaited in the old style. The dresses are made with several flounces,
narrower than last year, and more numerous. Nearly all the sleeves of
visiting dresses are Chinese, or "pagoda" fashion. The bodies are open
in front, and laced down to the waist, as seen in the figure in the
group, standing behind the sitting figure. Low dresses are made falling
on the shoulders, and straight across the chest; others are quite
square, and others are made in the shape of a heart before and behind.
Opera polkas are worn short, with wide sleeves, trimmed with large bands
of ermine.
[Illustration: STRAW HATS FOR PROMENADE.]
[Illustration: STRAW BONNET.]
[Illustration: TULIP BONNET.]
Broad-brimmed straw hats are used for the promenade; open-work straw
bonnets, of different colors, are adopted for the earlier summer wear,
trimmed with branches of lilac, or something as appropriate. White drawn
silk bonnets, covered with foldings of net, are much worn. Also, drawn
lace and crape bonnets, and black and white lace ones, are worn.
Branches of fruit are much worn upon these last-mentioned bonnets. The
tulip bonnet is composed of white silk, covered with white spotted
_tulle_; the edges of the front foliated, so as to give it a graceful
and airy appearance. Many of the straw bonnets are of dark-colored
ground, ornamented with fine open straw work. _Crinoline_ hats, of open
pattern, trimmed generally with a flower or feathers, are worn to the
opera. They are exceedingly graceful in appearance, and make a fine
accompaniment to a fancy dress.
[Illustration: THE LACE JACQUETTE.]
Elegant black lace jackets, with loosely-hanging sleeves, are worn, and
form a beautiful portion of the dress of a well-developed figure. There
is a style of walking dress, worn by those who have less love for
ornaments. The robe is of a beautiful light apple-green silk, figured
with white. The skirt is unflounced, but ornamented up the front with a
row of green and white fancy silk buttons. Bonnet of pink crape, drawn
in very full _bouillonnées_; strings of pink satin ribbon, and on one
side a drooping bouquet of small pink flowers. Corresponding bouquets in
the inside trimming. Shawl of pink China crape, richly embroidered with
white silk.
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes:
Words surrounded by _ are italicized.
Letters preceded by ^ are superscripts.
Obvious punctuation errors have been repaired, other punctuations have
been left as printed in the paper book.
Erroneous page numbers in Table of Content corrected.
Captions added to captionless illustrations.
Obvious printer's errors have been repaired, other inconsistent
spellings have been kept, including:
- use of hyphen (e.g. "death-bed" and "deathbed");
- accents (e.g. "Republique" and "République");
- any other inconsistent spellings (e.g. "fairy" and "faery").
Following proper names have been corrected:
- In the Table of Content:
"Farraday" corrected to be "Faraday" (Faraday, and Mantell);
"Oldenburgh" corrected to be "Oldenburg" (Duchy of Oldenburg);
- Pg 116, "Lecler" corrected to be "Leclerc" (whether M. Leclerc or).
In the Table of Content, word "of" added (Arrest of M. Proudhon).
Pg 33, word "I" removed (I don't see).
Pg 77, title added to article (Tunnel of the Alps).
Pg 85, word "is" removed (is expressly mentioned).
Pg 113, word "been" changed to "be seen" (to be seen riding).
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. 1. No 1, June 1850" ***
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