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+Project Gutenberg's Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 447, by Various
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 447
+       Volume 18, New Series, July 24, 1852
+
+Author: Various
+
+Editor: William Chambers
+        Robert Chambers
+
+Release Date: April 17, 2007 [EBook #21126]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAMBERS'S EDINBURGH ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Malcolm Farmer, Richard J. Shiffer and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                     CHAMBERS' EDINBURGH JOURNAL
+
+  CONDUCTED BY WILLIAM AND ROBERT CHAMBERS, EDITORS OF 'CHAMBERS'S
+  INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE,' 'CHAMBERS'S EDUCATIONAL COURSE,' &c.
+
+
+  No. 447. NEW SERIES.   SATURDAY, JULY 24, 1852.   PRICE 1-1/2_d._
+
+
+
+
+THE MARTYR SEX.
+
+
+Ever since that unfortunate affair in which the mother of mankind was
+so prominently concerned, the female sex might say, with Shylock,
+'Sufferance is the badge of all our tribe.' They are, in fact, an
+incarnation of the Passive Voice--no mistake about it. 'Ah, gentle
+dames, it gars me greet,' as Burns pathetically says, to think on all
+the hardships and oppressions which you have undergone throughout the
+course of history, political and domestic. It is most wonderful that
+you can bear up your heads at all in the world. Most assuredly it
+could not be done except under favour of some inherent principle of
+fortitude, quite beyond all that your associate, Man, has ever
+displayed. For this reason, I propose to fix upon you the honourable
+style and title of the Martyr Sex.
+
+As insanity is the more affecting when we observe its victim to be
+unconscious of the visitation, so does my heart bleed most
+particularly for the Martyr Sex, when I observe them undergoing severe
+oppressions without knowing it. So natural is suffering to the sex, or
+so accustomed are they to it, that they subject themselves
+spontaneously to enormous loads of trouble and torture, which no one
+would think of imposing upon them, and which they might easily avoid.
+It might almost be said, that suffering has a sort of fascination for
+them, drawing them placidly into it, whether they will or not. It
+seems in some mysterious way wrought up with their entire destiny.
+
+Hence, at no period of the history of the Sex, do we find them free
+from some form of amateur affliction. At one time, it is one part of
+their persons, at another time, another, which is subjected to
+voluntary distress--but always some part. Not that the shifting is, so
+far as can be seen, designed as a measure of relief; it would rather
+appear the object simply is--to make every part bear its share in
+turn, and allow none to escape. Thus, about a hundred years ago, a
+lady went about with shoes that raised her heels three inches above
+the floor, and threw her whole person out of its proper balance,
+occasioning, of course, a severe strain upon certain muscles, attended
+by constant pain. A little later, her feet might have been found
+restored to their right level; but, as if to make up for this, and
+allow no interval of misery, a tower of hair, pomatum, flour, pins,
+and pinners, had been reared on the head, such as an inquisitor might
+have considered himself very ingenious in devising, as a means of
+undoing the convictions of heretics, or bringing round a Jew to
+Christianity. Verily, it was a most portentous enginery for the
+affliction of female humanity; but how heroically it was endured! A
+whole generation bore it without a sigh! It often cost them their
+night's rest merely to get it properly put in order--for, dressing
+being in those days very elaborate, the attendants had to prepare some
+ladies one day for a party that was to take place the next. They would
+sit, however, in a chair all night, in order to preserve the structure
+in all its integrity, sleeping only by snatches, and often waking in
+terror lest something might be going wrong. Talk of the martyrs of
+science--Galileo in prison, Bruno at the stake. These men had
+something of importance in view to sustain them in their trials. Give
+me the Martyr Sex, who sacrifice ease and convenience, without having
+any adventitious principle whatever to compensate for and support them
+under their sufferings.
+
+In more recent times, we have seen the entire Sex submitting to
+torture in a middle ground--namely, the waist--with an equal degree of
+magnanimity. The corsets also formed an engine which would have
+perfectly fitted the purposes of the Inquisition; indeed, there were
+some ingenious devices of the Holy Office which did not greatly differ
+from it. It might almost shake the common-sense of admiration for
+martyrial sufferings, to find that every little girl in England was
+for some years both able and willing to endure a regular torture,
+without apparently having the least idea of making any merit by her
+patience. Present pains, possible consequences--such as red noses, bad
+breath, permanent ill health, death itself--were made light of. There
+being no imaginable good end to be served by it, was nothing to the
+point. The corsets were, for a time, a proud symbol of the martyr
+power of the Sex. You would see an example set forth in each
+milliner's window, carefully disposed under a glass-shade, as
+indicating the pride they felt in it as a sort of badge of honour. It
+is to be hoped that a few special copies will be preserved in our
+antiquarian museums, and, if possible, they should be such as can be
+certified to have killed their wearers, in order to shew to future
+generations what the women of our age could submit to _in that
+particular line_--not _generally_ of course, for it is to be expected
+that the women of the future will have equal sufferings in some other
+walk to boast of.
+
+It is not always, indeed, that the Sex have a master torment, like
+tight stays, to endure; but certainly they are never without some
+source of either anguish or inconvenience to keep their martyr power
+in exercise. For one thing, they are sadly afflicted with over-large
+shoes. Strange to say, though there are artists pretending to be
+ladies' shoemakers, the sex never get shoes sufficiently small. Every
+now and then, they are receiving some monstrous affront, in the form
+of a pair of shoes that might hold sufficient meal for a pudding
+besides their feet. From this cause flow certain pains and penalties
+in the form of corns and bunions, insuring that they shall never take
+a step in life without being reminded of the doom of suffering which
+has been passed upon them. To speak of the simple incommodations which
+they suffer from dress were endless. At one time, they are all blown
+out into sleeve, so that a miscellaneous dinner-party looks like a
+series of men and women with feather-beds stuck between each pair. At
+another time, the sleeve, while moderate in the region of the upper
+arm, is fashioned wide at the bottom, as if to allow of the fair
+wearers laughing in it--the joke, however, being all against
+themselves, seeing that the pendulous part is a source of continual
+trouble and worry, from its trailing through every sauce and tart that
+may be at table, till it becomes a kind of geological phenomenon, in
+the illustration which it affords of the succession of deposits and
+incrustations. Or the swelling falls mainly into a lower part of the
+dress, taking the form of a monstrous prolongation of skirts, and
+insuring that the fair Martyrs shall act as scavengers upon every
+street in which they promenade. I hardly know a more interesting sight
+than that of a young lady going to school on a wet day, with books to
+carry in one hand, and an umbrella to sustain in the other. To see the
+struggles she makes in such circumstances to keep her skirts from
+dragging in the mud, or the patience with which she submits to their
+unavoidably doing so, and to think of the sad condition of her lower
+extremities all the time--to reflect, moreover, that all this trouble
+and suffering could be avoided by merely having skirts of a
+sufficient, but not over-sufficient length--presents such an affecting
+picture of evils voluntarily encountered and heroically sustained, as
+but rarely occurs in the course of human life. It is justly held as a
+strong proof of patience, that you should calmly submit to be spat
+upon, or have mud thrown upon you by some infuriated crowd; but here
+is a gentle creature who literally goes out every day to endure the
+certain contact of these nuisances, and comes home to dinner not in
+much better plight than one who has sat (unpopularly) in the pillory
+for an hour. I really must give such martyrdom the meed of my
+admiration; and the more so, that I feel myself, under the hardening
+effects of worldly common-sense, totally unprepared to go through such
+hardships without some useful end to be served by it.
+
+The last example of what may be called the Martyrdom of Inconvenience
+which the Sex have shewn, is to be found in a form of bonnet adapted
+for summer wear, in which the front comes only to about an inch behind
+the forehead, so as to leave the face fully exposed to the attacks of
+the sun (when there is one) and the unmitigated gaze of the beaux.
+There is something very remarkable in this fashion, for a great number
+of ladies find it absolutely indispensable to add to this abbreviation
+of a bonnet a sort of supplement of silk called an _ugly_, wherewith
+to screen the face from becoming an absolute photograph. A couple of
+inches added to the bonnet itself would serve the end; but this would
+give a regular and not inelegant protection. It would, therefore,
+entirely prevent inconvenience, and so thwart the Sex in their
+martyrial propensities. Such a thing is not to be thought of. On the
+contrary, either to suffer from sunlight without an _ugly_, or to
+suffer from clumsiness with one, enables the unfortunate Sex to
+indulge in its favourite passion to the fullest extent possible in
+such cases. Admirable portion of creation! what merits are yours, what
+praise is called for fully to requite you! But, indeed, it must be
+quite impossible ever to make sufficient acknowledgment of that
+wonderful power of endurance for its own sake which you shew in the
+most trivial, as in the most important phases of life!
+
+I therefore quit the subject with a humiliating sense of my utter
+incompetency to do it entire justice. I weep and wonder--my very soul
+thrills with the pathos of woman's martyr position on the earth and
+her volunteer sufferings above all. But I would vainly attempt to
+utter all I feel. I must leave it to each bearded fellow-creature, as
+he walks through the wilderness of this world, to behold with a
+sympathising eye and spirit an endurance so affecting, and endeavour
+to compensate it, to the individual sufferers within his reach, by
+every consolation and every reward he may have it in his power to
+bestow.
+
+
+
+
+THE YOUNGEST BRITISH COLONY.
+
+
+Which is the youngest British colony? Simple as the question seems, it
+may be doubted, considering the remarkable increase of late years in
+the number of John Bull's colonial progeny, whether the most
+experienced red-tapist of Downing Street could answer it without some
+hesitation. At least a dozen infant communities occur at once to the
+recollection. There is Port Philip, lately rechristened by the royal
+name of Victoria, and now seemingly in a fair way to be smothered in
+its cradle by a deluge of gold-dust. There is the Hudson's Bay
+Company's little Cinderella of Vancouver's Island, with its neglected
+coal-mines, and other mineral riches. Then we have the precocious
+'Canterbury' pet, the 'young Virginia' of New Zealand. Nor must we
+forget the storm-vexed colony of Labuan, ushered into existence amid
+typhoons and parliamentary debates--nor the small castaways, growing
+up in secluded islets and corners--in the Falkland Islands, the
+Auckland Islands, on the Mosquito Shore, and in the far Eastern Seas.
+It is in one of these directions that most persons would probably be
+inclined to cast an inquiring glance before attempting to answer the
+question with which these remarks are prefaced. It is not likely that
+many would at once be able to recall to mind the fact, that an
+important British colony, dating its official existence from the 22d
+of March 1851, has suddenly sprung up in the interior of Africa--a
+colony already possessing an efficient legislature, a handsome
+revenue, and several flourishing towns, with churches, schools, a
+respectable press, and other adjuncts, of civilisation. A brief
+description of this remarkable colony may serve to awaken for it an
+interest which its future progress, if at all corresponding with the
+past, will probably keep alive.
+
+There is some difficulty in describing the 'Orange River
+Sovereignty'--for such is the long and rather awkward name by which
+this settlement is now known--so as to convey a correct idea of its
+situation without the aid of a map. That the Cape Colony occupies the
+southern coast of the African continent, and that the colony of Natal
+is on the south-eastern coast, are facts of which few readers will
+need to be reminded. Will it, then, be sufficient to say, that the
+'sovereignty' in question is situated in the interior, between these
+two colonies, having the Cape on the south, and Natal on the east? It
+will be necessary to refer briefly to the manner in which it acquired
+its rank as a colony, and its peculiar name. Just two hundred years
+ago, in the year 1652, the Cape Colony was founded by the Dutch; and
+about fifty years ago, it came into the possession of our own
+government. During these two centuries, the colony has been constantly
+extending itself towards the east and north, just as the British
+settlements in North America, which were founded about the same time,
+have been ever since extending their borders towards the west and
+south, or as the settlements of Eastern Australia have been spreading
+to the west, south, and north. It is a natural movement of
+colonisation, and there seems to be no means of checking it, even if
+any advantage were to be gained by doing so.
+
+As the American backwoodsmen, in their progress westward, reached at
+last the boundary-streams--as they were once considered--of the
+Mississippi and the Ohio, so the South-African colonists gradually
+found their way to the great Orange River, which, flowing nearly
+across the continent, from east to west, formed a sort of natural
+limit to the old colony. But beyond this boundary, extensive plains
+and undulating downs, covered with nutritious herbage like the
+American prairies, spread out invitingly towards the distant northern
+horizon. The exterminating wars among the native tribes had left these
+grassy plains almost wholly unoccupied. You might travel over them for
+days without meeting a human being, or any traces of human possession,
+except here and there the decaying huts and bleaching skeletons of the
+former inhabitants. The feeble remnants of these tribes had sought
+refuge in the recesses of the neighbouring mountains, where some of
+them, in their dire extremity, sustained a horrid existence by
+cannibalism, which revolting custom still further diminished their
+numbers, and has only recently been suppressed. The Cape 'boers,' or
+farmers, rich as the patriarchs of old in cattle and sheep, and
+straitened like them for pasture, gradually found their way over the
+river into these fruitful and vacant plains. At first, they crossed
+only in small numbers, and with no intention of remaining permanently.
+But the abolition of slavery, the mismanaged Caffre wars, and some
+unpopular measures of the Cape government, suddenly gave a great
+impulse to the emigration.
+
+About fifteen years ago, some thousands of Dutch colonists sold their
+farms, packed their household gear in their huge capacious wagons,
+and with their wives and children--in all, at least 10,000
+souls--accompanied by myriads of cattle, sheep, and horses, crossed
+the Orange River, and plunged into the vast wilderness beyond. Some
+spread themselves over the rich pastures in the country lying
+immediately north of that river, and now forming the infant colony
+which is presently to be described. Others penetrated far to the
+north, forded the Vaal or Yellow River, and planted corn-fields and
+vineyards on the fertile slopes of the Kashan Mountains, where they
+still maintain themselves as a self-governed and thriving community.
+One small band of bold adventurers found their way to the verdant but
+fever-haunted plains about Delagoa Bay, whence the few survivors were
+presently driven by the destructive ravages of the pestilence. But the
+main column of the emigrants, turning to the right, crossed the lofty
+chain of the Drakenberg--the 'Rocky Mountains' of Africa--and
+descended into the well-watered valleys and woody lowlands of Natal.
+The romantic but melancholy story of the sufferings, the labours, the
+triumphs, and the reverses which filled up the subsequent years--how
+some of the emigrants were surprised and massacred by the jealous
+tribes of the interior, and others were treacherously slaughtered by
+their professed ally, the blood-thirsty chief of the Zulus--and how
+the exasperated survivors turned upon their assailants, broke their
+power, and scattered them; how they planted towns, formed a regular
+government, and set up an independent republic; all these, and many
+similar events, must be left for the future historians of South Africa
+to record. Neither is it necessary to refer here to the policy which
+led our government afterwards to extend its authority over the lands
+thus conquered and settled by the emigrants, or to the manner in which
+this authority, at first resisted, was finally established. Natal was
+thus made a British province in 1842. Many of the boors, naturally
+enough disliking the new government thus forced upon them, retraced
+their course over the Drakenberg, back into the upland plains of the
+interior. Here they were left pretty much to themselves, until the
+year 1848, when Sir Harry Smith proclaimed the extension of the
+Queen's supremacy over the whole of the territory situated between the
+Orange and Vaal Rivers; but, as has been already said, it was not
+until March of last year that this acquisition was finally sanctioned,
+and the new colony established by an act of the imperial government.
+
+The Vaal River--sometimes called the Nu Gariep, and sometimes the
+Yellow River--is the principal tributary of the Orange River; indeed,
+it is so large an affluent, that some geographers have doubted, as in
+the case of the Mississippi and the Missouri, which should properly be
+considered the main stream. These rivers, the Orange and the Vaal,
+rising near together in the Drakenberg chain, take a wide circuit, the
+one to the south-west, the other to the north-west, and flow each a
+distance of about 400 miles before their junction. The territory which
+they thus enclose is nearly as large as England, comprising between
+40,000 and 50,000 square miles. It is inhabited by about 80,000
+natives, of various Bechuana, Namaqua, and half-caste tribes, and by
+some 15,000 or 20,000 colonists of European origin. Over all these
+inhabitants, colonists and natives, the British sovereignty has been
+proclaimed. Subject to this supremacy, the native chiefs and tribes
+are still left to manage their own affairs, according to their
+original laws and customs. But in order to indicate clearly and
+decisively the fact, that the royal authority is now paramount in this
+region whenever Her Majesty's government chooses to exert it, the name
+of the Orange River Sovereignty has been given to the whole territory.
+
+The portion of this territory which is properly a British
+settlement--or, in other words, which is inhabited by Dutch and
+English colonists, is in extent about two-thirds of the whole. It is
+subdivided into four districts, for each of which a stipendiary
+magistrate has been appointed. These magistrates, with eight
+unofficial members of council--who are all respectable
+landowners--form, in conjunction with the 'British resident,' the
+legislature of the colony. The title of the Resident is borrowed from
+the official system of India, and was originally given to him when
+acting as a government commissioner for the protection of the native
+tribes; but his office is at present simply that of a colonial
+governor.
+
+The extensive country which is thus governed, cannot be better
+described than in the words of Sir Harry Smith, who, in a dispatch
+written in January 1848, gives the following account of the whole
+region, which he had just traversed, on his way from the Cape to
+Natal. He describes it as 'a country well fitted for the pasturage of
+cattle, and covered in every direction with large game. It is,' he
+adds, 'strongly undulating; and although badly watered, well adapted
+for the construction of dams; and, the soil being generally rich, it
+is capable, if irrigated, of producing every species of grain. It is
+miserably destitute of trees, frequently even of bush, and is thickly
+studded with abrupt and isolated hills, whose height frequently
+approaches that of mountains. Over the greater part of this tract of
+country, not a single native is to be seen; nor for many years, if
+ever, has it been inhabited by one. The gardens of the emigrants
+(boers) are in many places very good; their houses miserable, as they
+have been deterred from exhausting their little remaining capital by
+building on a doubtful and precarious tenure. That objection to the
+increase of their comfort, if the word be applicable, will now, I
+trust, be happily removed.' The absence of trees, of which Sir Harry
+speaks, is believed to have originated from the same cause which
+occasions a similar want in the prairies of America--that is, the
+native custom of burning down the grass every winter, to fertilise the
+soil. Where trees have been planted recently, they have grown well.
+The apple, pear, peach, and other fruit-trees of temperate climates,
+are found to thrive and produce abundantly. The whole country, it
+should be added, is a great plateau, elevated 2000 or 3000 feet above
+the level of the sea. The climate is, therefore, cooler than in Natal,
+which is situated in the same latitude, but at a lower elevation.
+
+It was not till Sir Harry Smith had thus proclaimed the royal
+supremacy, in 1848, that English colonists began to establish
+themselves in any considerable numbers in the country. But they then
+soon found their way thither, principally as traders, and settled in
+the new towns which quickly sprang up in the several districts. Bloem
+Fontein, the capital, is now almost wholly an English town. It has its
+municipality; its weekly newspaper--printed in English and Dutch; its
+English and 'Dutch Reformed' churches, and Wesleyan Chapel; its
+government school; its market; and various other appurtenances of a
+flourishing town, all of which have come into existence since Sir
+Harry Smith made his flying visit to the province in 1848, and
+proclaimed it subject to Her Majesty's supremacy. Such magic resides
+in a British governor's proclamation!
+
+But the growth of Bloem Fontein, rapid as it has been, is not so
+striking as that of another town. There is a well-known story of a
+traveller, in a newly-settled part of North America, inquiring his way
+at a lonely hut to a 'city' which made a conspicuous figure in some
+land-speculator's map, and receiving the startling information, that
+he was then standing in the principal square. An adventure of much the
+same nature befell a traveller in South Africa, who, in February 1850,
+attempted, while on his way from Bloem Fontein to Natal, to discover
+the newly-founded town of Harrismith.
+
+'At length,' he writes, 'having reached the eastern side of the
+mountain, I halted, and determined to go in search of this new-born
+town--a future city in our vast empire. Taking my attendant, Andries,
+with me, we proceeded to an elevation, where I felt sure it must come
+into view. We were disappointed. Not a spire, nor chimney, nor hut
+could be seen; and so we walked on towards another elevation. On our
+way, we came to an emigrant settler, busily employed in brick-making;
+and from him I learned that we had taken the left-hand road instead of
+the right, after we passed the last stream. We were about a mile from
+the spot marked out as the town, _but no houses are built, nor are any
+persons residing there_; so I did not deem it worth while to proceed
+further in that direction.' In May of the same year, 'two or three
+houses' are reported to have been built; in 1851, they are springing
+up rapidly; and at the latest date, the 9th of last January, we hear
+of an actual flourishing little town, with school-house, flour-mill,
+and bustling and increasing trade.
+
+The progressing town, however, had its difficulties, both physical and
+political, to contend with. The correspondent has to report, that 'the
+postal arrangements still continue unsatisfactory and vexatious, no
+post having been received from Bloem Fontein for the last two months;
+and,' he indignantly adds, 'to make matters worse, the late
+magistrate's clerk and postmaster has resigned, owing to grave charges
+having been preferred against him by a party faction who would rule
+public opinion.' But he consoles himself with the judicious
+reflection, that 'time and imported respectable intelligence will
+remedy this unhappy state of things, in the changes which small
+communities undergo.' It is satisfactory to learn, that in spite of
+the machinations of faction, the citizens managed to enjoy themselves
+when a suitable occasion offered. 'New-Year's Day,' we are told, 'was
+celebrated with more than ordinary spirit. A shooting-match took
+place, after which a public supper and quadrille-party came off; which
+finished the pleasures of the day. The next day, lovers of the turf
+had their enjoyment in the establishment of races.' And then we have,
+duly recorded in the well-known _Racing-Calendar_ style, the fortunes
+of the competitors, for the 'Untried' Cup, the 'Harrismith Plate,' the
+'Ladies' Purse,' and the 'Hack-Race' and it is stated that 'one of the
+horses was sold immediately after the races for L.40,' which would
+seem to be considered a high figure in that region. It is further
+announced, 'that another year will probably see the establishment of a
+fair, which will give our interior farmers and friends an opportunity
+of rendering a journey to Harrismith both profitable and pleasurable,
+as such an occasion will doubtless attract buyers of cattle, horses,
+sheep, wool, butter, tallow, grain, &c., from Natal.' And the
+correspondent is 'happy to state, that several farmers are settling
+upon their farms in the neighbourhood of the town, which will tend to
+give confidence, and increase the value of land in its vicinity.'
+
+Thus, in less than two years, a real, bustling, hopeful little town
+had sprung into existence, with all the genuine characteristics of an
+English community. Education and trade, races and quadrilles, were
+already flourishing. The well-known political parties, the Buffs and
+the Blues, the foes of corruption and the friends of established
+institutions, were already arraying themselves in hostile ranks. In
+two years more, we may expect to receive the first numbers of the
+_Harrismith Gazette_ and the _Harrismith Independent_, the 'organs' of
+the respective parties; and to learn through their valuable columns,
+that the 'Harrismith Agricultural and Commercial Bank' has declared
+its first annual dividend of 10 per cent., and that the new
+'Harrismith Assembly-Rooms' were thrown open, on the auspicious
+anniversary of the royal birthday, to a large and select assemblage of
+the rank, fashion, and beauty of the city and its neighbourhood.
+
+The writer from whose letter some of the foregoing quotations are
+made, strongly recommends that the government should offer 'unstinted
+encouragement and liberal assistance' to promote emigration from Great
+Britain; and considers that, if this were done, 'thousands of hardy
+English and Scotch farmers would avail themselves of the advantages
+which the country offers.' This is possible; but at the same time, it
+should be known, that the excitement among the native tribes, caused
+by the war in Caffreland, had extended across the Orange River into
+the sovereignty, and that much confusion, and, unfortunately, some
+bloodshed, had ensued. These disorders, it is true, were only local;
+but it is evident that the neighbourhood of some 80,000 barbarians
+must, for some time to come, be a source of considerable embarrassment
+and danger to all settlers in the new colony. In time, no doubt, with
+the progress of civilisation, this danger will be removed; and the
+natives may become, as in New Zealand, a source of wealth to the
+colony, as useful labourers--like the 'skipping Caffres' under the
+brickmaker's instructions, or peaceful cultivators of the soil. At
+present, however, the peril from this source is so evident and so
+serious, that a warning reference to it could not with propriety be
+omitted in any description of this otherwise promising settlement.
+
+
+
+
+THE SECRET.
+
+
+Jean Baptiste V�ron, a native, it was understood, of the south of
+France, established himself as a merchant at Havre-de-Gr�ce in 1788,
+being then a widower with one child, a young boy. The new-comer's
+place of business was on the south quay, about a hundred yards west of
+the custom-house. He had brought letters of high recommendation from
+several eminent Paris firms; his capital was ascertained to be large;
+and soon, moreover, approving him self to be a man of keen mercantile
+discernment, and measured, peremptory, unswerving business habits, it
+is not surprising that his commercial transactions speedily took a
+wide range, or that, at the end of about fifteen years, M. V�ron was
+pronounced by general consent to be the wealthiest merchant of the
+commercial capital of northern France. He was never, albeit, much of a
+favourite with any class of society: his manner was too _brusque_,
+decided, unbending--his speech too curt, frequently too bitter, for
+that; but he managed to steer his course in very difficult times
+quite as safely as those who put themselves to great pains and charges
+to obtain popularity. He never expressed--publicly at least--any
+preference for Royalism, Republicanism, or Imperialism; for
+fleur-de-lis, bonnet-rouge, or tricolore: in short, Jean Baptiste
+V�ron was a stern, taciturn, self-absorbed man of business; and as
+nothing else was universally concluded, till the installation of a
+_quasi_ legitimacy by Napoleon Bonaparte, when a circumstance, slight
+in itself, gave a clearer significance to the cold, haughty, repellent
+expression which played habitually about the merchant's gray, deep-set
+eyes, and thin, firmly-compressed lips. His newly-engraved private
+card read thus:--'J. B. _de_ V�ron, _Mon S�jour_, Ingouville.' Mon
+S�jour was a charming suburban domicile, situate upon the C�te, as it
+is usually termed-a sloping eminence on the north of Le Havre, which
+it commands, and now dotted with similar residences, but at the period
+we are writing of, very sparsely built upon. Not long after this
+assumption of the aristocratic prefix to his name, it was discovered
+that he had insinuated himself into the very narrow and exclusive
+circle of the De M�rodes, who were an unquestionable fragment of the
+old noblesse, damaged, it is true, almost irretrievably in purse, as
+their modest establishment on the C�te too plainly testified; but in
+pedigree as untainted and resplendent as in the palmiest days of the
+Capets. As the Chevalier de M�rode and his daughter Mademoiselle
+Henriette-Delphine-Hortense-Marie-Chasse-Loup de M�rode--described as
+a tall, fair, and extremely meagre damsel, of about thirty years of
+age--were known to be rigidly uncompromising in all matters having
+reference to ancestry, it was concluded that Jean Baptiste do V�ron
+had been able to satisfy his noble friends, that although _de facto_ a
+merchant from the sad necessities of the evil time, he was _de jure_
+entitled to take rank and precedence with the illustrious though
+decayed nobility of France. It might be, too, as envious gossips
+whispered, that any slight flaw or break in the chain of De V�ron's
+patrician descent, had been concealed or overlooked in the glitter of
+his wealth, more especially if it was true, as rumour presently began
+to circulate, that the immense sum--in French eyes and ears--of
+300,000 francs (L.12,000) was to be settled upon Mademoiselle de
+M�rode and her heirs on the day which should see her united in holy
+wedlock with Eug�ne de V�ron, by this time a fine-looking young man,
+of one or two-and-twenty, and, like ninety-nine in every hundred of
+the youth of France, strongly prejudiced _against_ the pretensions of
+mere birth and hereditary distinction.
+
+Rumour in this instance was correctly informed. 'Eug�ne,' said M. de
+V�ron, addressing his son in his usual cold positive manner, and at
+the same time locking his private �critoire, the hand of the clock
+being just on the stroke of five, the hour for closing--'I have a
+matter of importance to inform you of. All differences between me and
+the Chevalier de M�rode relative to your marriage with his daughter,
+Mademoiselle de M�rode, are'----
+
+'Hein!' ejaculated Eug�ne, suddenly whirling round upon his stool, and
+confronting his father. 'Hein!'
+
+'All differences, I say,' resumed M. de V�ron with unruffled calm and
+decision, 'between myself and the chevalier are arranged _�
+l'aimable_; and the contract of marriage will be ready, for your and
+Mademoiselle de M�rode's signature, on Monday next at two precisely.'
+
+'Mine and Mademoiselle de M�rode's!' repeated the astounded son, who
+seemed half doubtful whether he saw or heard aright.
+
+'Yes. No wonder you are surprised. So distinguished a connection could
+hardly, under the circumstances, have been hoped for; and it would
+have been cruel to have given you any intimation on the subject whilst
+there was a chance of the negotiation issuing unfavourably. Your wife
+and you will, for the present, at all events, take up your abode at
+Mon S�jour; and I must consequently look out at once for a smaller, a
+more bachelor-suiting residence.'
+
+'My wife and me!' echoed V�ron junior with the same air of stupid
+amazement as before--'My wife and me!' Recovering a little, he added:
+'Confound it, there must be some mistake here. Do you know, _mon
+p�re_, that this Mademoiselle de M�rode is not at all to my taste? I
+would as soon marry'----
+
+'No folly, Eug�ne, if you please,' interrupted M. de V�ron. 'The
+affair, as I have told you, is decided. You will marry Mademoiselle de
+M�rode; or if not, he added with iron inflexibility of tone and
+manner--'Eug�ne de V�ron is likely to benefit very little by his
+father's wealth, which the said Eug�ne will do well to remember is of
+a kind not very difficult of transference beyond the range of the law
+of inheritance which prevails in France. The leprosy of the
+Revolution,' continued M. de V�ron as he rose and put on his hat, 'may
+indeed be said to have polluted our very hearths, when we find
+children setting up their opinions, and likings and dislikings,
+forsooth! against their fathers' decision, in a matter so entirely
+within the parental jurisdiction as that of a son or daughter's
+marriage.'
+
+Eug�ne did not reply; and after assisting his father--who limped a
+little in consequence of having severely sprained his ankle some eight
+or ten days previously--to a light one-horse carriage in waiting
+outside, he returned to the office, and resumed his seat, still in a
+maze of confusion, doubt, and dismay. 'How could,' he incoherently
+muttered--'how could my father--how could anybody suppose that----How
+could he especially be so blind as not to have long ago
+perceived----What a contrast!' added Eug�ne de V�ron jumping up,
+breaking into passionate speech, and his eyes sparkling as if he was
+actually in presence of the dark-eyed divinity whose image filled his
+brain and loosed his tongue--'what a contrast! Ad�line, young,
+roseate, beautiful as Spring, lustrous as Juno, graceful as Hebe! Oh,
+_par exemple_, Mademoiselle de M�rode, you, with your high blood and
+skinny bones, must excuse me. And poor, too, poor as Ad�line!
+Decidedly, the old gentleman must be crazed, and--and let me
+see----Ay, to be sure, I must confer with Edouard at once.'
+
+Eug�ne de V�ron had only one flight of stairs to ascend in order to
+obtain this conference, Edouard le Blanc, the brother of Ad�line,
+being a principal clerk in the establishment. Edouard le Blanc readily
+and sincerely condoled with his friend upon the sudden obscuration of
+his and Ad�line's hopes, adding that he had always felt a strong
+misgiving upon the subject; and after a lugubrious dialogue, during
+which the clerk hinted nervously at a circumstance which, looking at
+the unpleasant turn matters were taking, might prove of terrible
+import--a nervousness but very partially relieved by Eug�ne's
+assurance, that, come what may, he would take the responsibility in
+that particular entirely upon himself, as, indeed, he was bound to
+do--the friends left the office, and wended their way to Madame le
+Blanc's, Ingouville. There the lover forgot, in Ad�line's gay
+exhilarating presence and conversation, the recent ominous and
+exasperating communication from his father; while Edouard proceeded to
+take immediate counsel with his mother upon the altered aspect of
+affairs, not only as regarded Ad�line and Eug�ne de V�ron, but more
+particularly himself, Edouard le Blanc.
+
+Ten minutes had hardly passed by ordinary reckoning--barely one by
+Eug�ne de V�ron's--when his interview with the charming Ad�line was
+rudely broken in upon by Madame le Blanc, a shrewd, prudent woman of
+the world, albeit that in this affair she had somewhat lost her
+balance, tempted by the glittering prize offered for her daughter's
+acceptance, and for a time apparently within her reach. The mother's
+tone and manner were stern and peremptory. 'Have the kindness,
+Monsieur Eug�ne de V�ron, to bid Ad�line adieu at once. I have a
+serious matter to talk over with you alone. Come!'
+
+Ad�line was extremely startled at hearing her rich lover thus
+addressed, and the carnation of her glowing cheeks faded at once to
+lily paleness, whilst Eug�ne's features flushed as quickly to deepest
+crimson. He stammered out his willingness to attend madame
+immediately, and hastily kissing Ad�line's hand, followed the
+unwelcome intruder to another room.
+
+'So, Monsieur Eug�ne,' began Madame le Blanc, 'this ridiculous
+wooing--of which, as you know, I never heartily approved--is at an
+end. You are, I hear, to marry Mademoiselle de M�rode in the early
+part of next week.'
+
+'Madame le Blanc,' exclaimed the young man, 'what is it you are
+saying? _I_ marry Mademoiselle de M�rode next or any other week! I
+swear to you, by all that is true and sacred, that I will be torn in
+pieces by wild horses before I break faith with'----
+
+'Chut! chut!' interrupted Madame Le Blanc; 'you may spare your oaths.
+The sentimental bavardage of boys in love will be lost upon me. You
+will, as you ought, espouse Mademoiselle de M�rode, who is, I am told,
+a very superior and amiable person; and as to Ad�line, she will
+console herself. A girl with her advantages will always be able to
+marry sufficiently well, though not into the family of a millionaire.
+But my present business with you, Monsieur Eug�ne de V�ron, relates to
+a different and much more important matter. Edouard has just confided
+to me a very painful circumstance. You have induced him to commit not
+only a weak but a highly criminal act: he has let you have, without
+Monsieur de V�ron's consent or knowledge, two thousand francs, upon
+the assurance that you would either reimburse that sum before his
+accounts were balanced, or arrange the matter satisfactorily with your
+father.' 'But, Madame le Blanc'----
+
+'Neither of which alternatives,' persisted that lady, 'I very plainly
+perceive, you will be able to fulfil, unless you comply with Monsieur
+de V�ron's wishes; and if you have any real regard for Ad�line, you
+will signify that acquiescence without delay, for her brother's ruin
+would in a moral sense be hers also. Part of the money has, I
+understand, been squandered on the presents you have made her: they
+shall be returned'----
+
+'Madame le Blanc,' exclaimed the excited young man, 'you will drive me
+mad! I cannot, will not give up Ad�line; and as for the paltry sum of
+money you speak of--_my_ money as it may fairly be considered-_that_
+shall be returned to-morrow morning.'
+
+Madame le Blanc did not speak for a few seconds, and then said: 'Very
+well, mind you keep your promise. To-morrow is, you are aware, the
+F�te Dieu: we have promised Madame Carson of the Grande Rue to pass
+the afternoon and evening at her house, where we shall have a good
+view of the procession. Do you and Edouard call on us there, as soon
+as the affair is arranged. I will not detain you longer at present.
+Adieu! Stay, stay--by this door, if you please. I cannot permit you to
+see Ad�line again, at all events till this money transaction is
+definitively settled.'
+
+'As you have now slept upon the proposal I communicated to you
+yesterday afternoon,' said M. de V�ron, addressing his son on the
+following morning at the conclusion of a silent breakfast--'you may
+perhaps be prepared with a more fitting answer than you were then?'
+
+Eug�ne warmly protested his anxiety to obey all his father's
+reasonable commands; but in this case compliance was simply
+impossible, forasmuch as he, Eug�ne, had already irrevocably pledged
+his word, his heart, his honour, in another quarter, and could not,
+therefore, nay, would not, consent to poison his future existence by
+uniting himself with Mademoiselle de M�rode, for whom, indeed, he felt
+the profoundest esteem, but not the slightest emotion of affection or
+regard.
+
+'Your word, your honour, your heart--you should have added your
+fortune,' replied M. de V�ron with frigid, slowly-distilled, sarcastic
+bitterness--'are irrevocably engaged, are they, to Ad�line le Blanc,
+sister of my collecting clerk--daughter of a deceased sous-lieutenant
+of the line'----
+
+'Of the Imperial Guard,' interposed Eug�ne.
+
+'Who aids her mother to eke out a scanty pension by embroidery'----
+
+'Very superior, artistic embroidery,' again interjected the son.
+
+'Be it so. I have not been quite so unobservant, Eug�ne, of certain
+incidents, as you and your friends appear to have supposed. But time
+proves all things, and the De M�rodes and I can wait.'
+
+Nothing further passed till M. de V�ron rose to leave the room, when
+his son, with heightened colour and trembling speech, although
+especially aiming at a careless indifference of tone and manner, said:
+Sir--sir--one word, if you please. I have a slight favour to ask.
+There are a few debts, to the amount of about two thousand francs,
+which I wish to discharge immediately--this morning, in fact.'
+
+'Debts to the amount of about two thousand francs, which you wish to
+discharge immediately--this morning, in fact,' slowly repeated De
+V�ron, fixing on his son a triumphant, mocking glance, admirably
+seconded by the curve of his thin white lips. 'Well, let the bills be
+sent to me. If correct and fair, they shall be paid.'
+
+'But--but, father, one, the chief item, is a debt of honour!'
+
+'Indeed! Then your honour is pledged to others besides Mademoiselle
+_la brodeuse_? I have only to say, that in that case I _will not_
+assist you.' Having said this, M. de V�ron, quite regardless of his
+son's angry expostulations, limped out of the apartment, and shortly
+after, the sound of carriage-wheels announced his departure to Le
+Havre. Eug�ne, about an hour afterwards followed, vainly striving to
+calm his apprehensions by the hope, that before the day for balancing
+Edouard's accounts arrived, he should find his father in a more
+Christian-like and generous mood, or, at any rate, hit upon some means
+of raising the money.
+
+The day, like the gorgeous procession that swept through the crowded
+streets, passed slowly and uninterruptedly away in M. de V�ron's place
+of business, till about half-past four, when that gentleman directed a
+porter, who was leaving the private office, to inform M. le Blanc,
+that he, M. de V�ron, wished to speak with him immediately. On hearing
+this order, Eug�ne looked quickly up from the desk at which he was
+engaged, to his father's face; but he discerned nothing on that
+impassive tablet either to dissipate or confirm his fear.
+
+'Edouard le Blanc,' said M. de V�ron with mild suavity of voice the
+instant the summoned clerk presented himself, 'it so chances that I
+have no further occasion for your services'----
+
+Sir!--sir!' gasped the terrified young man.
+
+'You are,' continued M. de V�ron, 'entitled to a month's salary, in
+lieu of that period of notice--one hundred francs, with which you may
+credit yourself in the cash account you will please to balance and
+bring me as quickly as possible.'
+
+'Sir!--sir!' again bewilderedly iterated the panic-stricken clerk, as
+he turned distractedly from father to son--'Sir!'
+
+'My words are plain enough, I think,' observed M. de V�ron, coolly
+tapping and opening his snuff-box from which he helped himself to a
+hearty pinch. 'You are discharged with one hundred francs, a month's
+salary in lieu of warning, in your pocket. You have now only to bring
+your accounts; they are correct, of course; I, finding them so, sign
+your _livret_, and there is an end of the matter.'
+
+Edouard le Blanc made a step or two towards the door, and then, as if
+overwhelmed with a sense of the hopelessness of further concealment,
+turned round, threw himself with a cry of terror and despair at M. de
+V�ron's feet, and poured forth a wild, sobbing, scarcely intelligible
+confession of the fault or crime of which he had been guilty, through
+the solicitations of M. Eug�ne, who had, he averred, received every
+farthing of the amount in which he, Edouard le Blanc, acknowledged
+himself to be a defaulter.
+
+'Yes!--yes!' exclaimed the son; 'Edouard gave the money into my hands,
+and if there is any blame, it is mine alone.'
+
+M. de V�ron listened with a stolid, stony apathy to all this, save for
+a slight glimmer of triumph that, spite of himself, shone out at the
+corners of his half-closed eyes. When the young man had ceased sobbing
+and exclaiming, he said: 'You admit, Edouard le Blanc, that you have
+robbed me of nearly two thousand francs, at, you say, the solicitation
+of my son--an excuse, you must be aware, of not the slightest legal
+weight; no more than if your pretty sister, Mademoiselle Ad�line, who,
+I must be permitted to observe, is not altogether, I suspect, a
+stranger to this affair----Hear me out, Messieurs, if you please: I
+say your excuse has no more legal validity, than if your sister had
+counselled you to commit this felony. Now, mark me, young man: it is
+just upon five o'clock. At half-past seven precisely, I shall go
+before a magistrate, and cause a warrant to be issued for your
+apprehension. To-morrow morning, consequently, the brother of
+Mademoiselle le Blanc will either be an incarcerated felon, or, which
+will suit me just as well, a proclaimed fugitive from justice.'
+
+'One moment--one word, for the love of Heaven, before you go!'
+exclaimed Eug�ne. 'Is there any mode, any means whereby Edouard may be
+rescued from this frightful, this unmerited calamity--this
+irretrievable ruin?'
+
+'Yes,' rejoined M. de V�ron, pausing for an instant on the outer
+threshold, 'there is one mode, Eug�ne, and only one. What it is, you
+do not require to be told. I shall dine in town to-day; at seven, I
+shall look in at the church of Notre Dame, and remain there precisely
+twenty minutes. After that, repentance will be too late.'
+
+Eug�ne was in despair, for it was quite clear that Ad�line must be
+given up--Ad�line, whose myriad charms and graces rose upon his
+imagination in tenfold greater lustre than before, now that he was
+about to lose her for ever! But there was plainly no help for it; and
+after a brief, agitated consultation, the young men left the office to
+join Madame and Mademoiselle le Blanc at the Widow Carson's, in the
+Grande Rue, or Rue de Paris, as the only decent street in
+Havre-de-Gr�ce was at that time indifferently named, both for the
+purpose of communicating the untoward state of affairs, and that
+Eug�ne might take a lingering, last farewell of Ad�line.
+
+Before accompanying them thither, it is necessary to say a few words
+of this Madame Carson, who is about to play a very singular part in
+this little drama. She was a gay, well-looking, symmetrically-shaped
+young widow, who kept a confectioner's shop in the said Grande Rue,
+and officiated as her own _dame du comptoir_. Her good-looks,
+coquettishly-gracious smiles, and unvarying good temper, rendered her
+establishment much more attractive--it was by no means a brilliant
+affair in itself--than it would otherwise have been. Madame Carson
+was, in a tacit, quiet kind of way, engaged to Edouard le Blanc--that
+is to say, she intended marrying him as soon as their mutual savings
+should justify such a step; and provided, also, that no more eligible
+offer wooed her acceptance in the meantime. M. de V�ron himself was
+frequently in the habit of calling, on his way to or from Mon S�jour,
+for a p�t� and a little lively badinage with the comely widow; and so
+frequently, at one time, that Edouard le Blanc was half-inclined--to
+Madame Carson's infinite amusement--to be jealous of the rich, though
+elderly merchant's formal and elaborate courtesies. It was on leaving
+her shop that he had slipped and sprained his ankle. M. de V�ron
+fainted with the extreme pain, was carried in that state into the
+little parlour behind the shop, and had not yet recovered
+consciousness when the apothecary, whom Madame Carson had despatched
+her little waiting-maid-of-all-work in quest of, entered to tender his
+assistance. This is all, I think, that needs be said, in a preliminary
+way, of Madame Carson.
+
+Of course, the tidings brought by Eug�ne and Edouard very painfully
+affected Mademoiselle le Blanc; but being a very sensible, as well as
+remarkably handsome young person, she soon rallied, and insisted,
+quite as warmly as her mother did, that the sacrifice necessary to
+relieve Edouard from the peril which environed him--painful,
+heartbreaking as that sacrifice might be--must be submitted to without
+reserve or delay. In other words, that M. de V�ron, junior, must
+consent to espouse Mademoiselle de M�rode, and forthwith inform his
+father that he was ready to sign the nuptial-contract that moment if
+necessary. Poor Eug�ne, who was really over head and ears in love, and
+more so just then than ever, piteously lamented his own cruel fate,
+and passionately denounced the tiger-heartedness of his barbarian
+father; but as tears and reproaches could avail nothing in such a
+strait, he finally submitted to the general award, and agreed to
+announce his submission to M. de V�ron at the church of Notre Dame,
+not a moment later, both ladies insisted, than five minutes past
+seven.
+
+Madame Carson was not at home all this while. She had gone to church,
+and after devotions, called on her way back on one or two friends for
+a little gossip, so that it wanted only about a quarter to seven when
+she reappeared. Of course the lamentable story had to be told over
+again, with all its dismal accompaniments of tears, sighs, and
+plaintive ejaculations; and it was curious to observe, as the
+narrative proceeded, how the widow's charming eyes flashed and
+sparkled, and her cheeks glowed with indignation, till she looked, to
+use Edouard le Blanc's expression, 'ferociously' handsome. 'Le
+monstre!' she exclaimed, as Eug�ne terminated the sad history,
+gathering up as she spoke the shawl and gloves she had just before put
+off; 'but I shall see him at once: I have influence with this Monsieur
+de V�ron.'
+
+'Nonsense, Emilie,' said Madame le Blanc. '_You_ possess influence
+over Monsieur de V�ron!'
+
+'Certainly I do. And is that such a miracle?' replied Madame Carson
+with a demure glance at Edouard le Blanc. Edouard looked somewhat
+scared, but managed to say: 'Not at all, certainly not; but this man's
+heart is iron--steel.'
+
+'We shall see,' said the fair widow, as she finished drawing on her
+gloves. '_La grande passion_ is sometimes stronger than iron or steel:
+is it not Monsieur Eug�ne? At all events, I shall try. He is in the
+church, you say. Very well, if I fail--but I am sure I shall _not_
+fail--I return in ten minutes, and that will leave Mademoiselle
+Ad�line's despairing lover plenty of time to make his submission, if
+better may not be; and so _au revoir_, Mesdames et Messieurs.'
+
+'What can she mean?' said Madame le Blanc as the door closed. 'I have
+noticed, once or twice during the last fortnight, that she has made
+use of strange half-hints relative to Monsieur de V�ron.'
+
+'I don't know what she can mean,' said Edouard le Blanc, seizing his
+hat and hurrying off; 'but I shall follow, and strive to ascertain.'
+
+He was just in time to catch a glimpse of Madame Carson's skirts as
+they whisked round the corner of the Rue St Jacques, and by
+quickening his speed, he saw her enter the church from that street.
+Notre Dame was crowded; but Edouard le Blanc had no difficulty in
+singling out M. de V�ron, who was sitting in his accustomed chair,
+somewhat removed from the mass of worshippers, on the left of the high
+altar; and presently he discerned Madame Carson gently and adroitly
+making her way through the crowd towards him. The instant she was near
+enough, she tapped him slightly on the shoulder. He turned quickly,
+and stared with a haughty, questioning glance at the smiling
+confectioner. There was no _grande passion_ in that look, Edouard felt
+quite satisfied, and Madame Carson's conduct seemed more than ever
+unintelligible. She appeared to say something, which was replied to by
+an impatient gesture of refusal, and M. de V�ron turned again towards
+the altar. Madame Carson next approached close to his chair, and
+bending down, whispered in his ear, for perhaps a minute. As she did
+so, M. de V�ron's body rose slowly up, involuntarily as it were, and
+stiffened into rigidity, as if under the influence of some frightful
+spell. Forcing himself at last, it seemed, to confront the whisperer,
+he no sooner caught her eye than he reeled, like one struck by a heavy
+blow, against the pedestal of a saint, whose stony features looked
+less white and bloodless than his own. Madame Carson contemplated the
+effect she had produced with a kind of pride for a few moments, and
+then, with a slight but peremptory wave of her hand, motioned him to
+follow her out of the sacred edifice. M. de V�ron hastily, though with
+staggering steps, obeyed; Edouard le Blanc crossing the church and
+reaching the street just soon enough to see them both driven off in M.
+de V�ron's carriage.
+
+Edouard hurried back to the Grande Rue to report what he had
+witnessed; and what could be the interpretation of the inexplicable
+scene, engrossed the inventive faculties of all there, till they were
+thoroughly tired of their wild and aimless guesses. Eight o'clock
+chimed--nine--ten--and they were all, Edouard especially, working
+themselves into a complete panic of undefinable apprehension, when, to
+their great relief, M. de V�ron's carriage drew up before the door.
+The first person to alight was M. Bourdon, a notary of eminence; next
+M. de V�ron, who handed out Madame Carson; and all three walked
+through the shop into the back-apartment. The notary wore his usual
+business aspect, and had in his hands two rolls of thickly-written
+parchment, which he placed upon the table, and at once began to spread
+out. M. de V�ron had the air of a man walking in a dream, and subdued,
+mastered by some overpowering, nameless terror; while Madame Carson,
+though pale with excitement, was evidently highly elated, and, to use
+a French phrase, completely 'mistress of the situation.' She was the
+first to break silence.
+
+'Monsieur de V�ron has been kind enough, Edouard, to explain, in the
+presence of Monsieur Bourdon, the mistake in the accounts he was
+disposed to charge you with to-day. He quite remembers, now, having
+received two thousand francs from you, for which, in his hurry at the
+time, he gave you no voucher. Is not that so, Monsieur de V�ron?' she
+added, again fixing on the merchant the same menacing look that Le
+Blanc had noticed in the church.
+
+'Yes, yes,' was the quick reply of M. de V�ron, who vainly attempted
+to look the astounded clerk in the face. 'The mistake was mine. Your
+accounts are quite correct, Monsieur le Blanc; and--and I shall be
+glad, of course, to see you at the office as usual.'
+
+'That is well,' said Madame Carson; 'and now, Monsieur Bourdon, to
+business, if you please. Those documents will not take so long to read
+as they did to write.'
+
+The notary smiled, and immediately began reading a marriage-contract
+between Eug�ne de V�ron and Ad�line le Blanc, by which it appeared
+that the union of those young persons was joyfully acceded to by Jean
+Baptiste de V�ron and Marie le Blanc, their parents--the said Jean
+Baptiste de V�ron binding himself formally to endow the bride and
+bridegroom jointly, on the day of marriage, with the sum of 300,000
+francs, and, moreover, to admit his son as a partner in the business,
+thenceforth to be carried on under the name of De V�ron & Son.
+
+This contract was written in duplicate, and as soon as the notary had
+finished reading, Madame Carson handed a pen to M. de V�ron, saying in
+the same light, coquettish, but peremptory tone as before: 'Now,
+Monsieur, quick, if you please: yours is the most important
+signature.' The merchant signed and sealed both parchments, and the
+other interested parties did the same, in silent, dumb bewilderment,
+broken only by the scratching of the pens and the legal words repeated
+after the notary. 'We need not detain you longer, Messieurs, I
+believe,' said Madame Carson. '_Bon soir_, Monsieur de V�ron,' she
+added, extending an ungloved hand to that gentleman, who faintly
+touched it with his lips; 'you will hear from me to-morrow.'
+
+'What is the meaning of all this?' exclaimed Eug�ne de V�ron, the
+instant his father and the notary disappeared. 'I positively feel as
+if standing upon my head!' A chorus of like interrogatories from the
+Le Blancs assailed Madame Carson, whose ringing bursts of mirth mocked
+for a time their impatience.
+
+'Meaning, _parbleu_!' she at last replied, after pausing to catch
+breath. 'That is plain enough, surely. Did you not all see with what
+_empressement_ the poor man kissed my hand? There, don't look so
+wretched, Edouard,' she added with a renewed outburst; 'perhaps I
+may have the caprice to prefer you after all to an elderly
+millionaire--who knows? But come, let us try to be a little calm and
+sensible. What I have done, good folks, I can as easily undo; and that
+being the case, Monsieur Eug�ne must sign me a bond to-morrow morning
+for fifty thousand francs, payable three days after his marriage. Is
+it agreed? Very well: then I keep these two parchments till the said
+bond is executed; and now, my friends; good-night, for I, as you may
+believe, am completely tired after all this benevolent fairy-work.'
+
+The wedding took place on the next day but one, to the great
+astonishment of every one acquainted with the two families. It was
+also positively rumoured that M. de V�ron had proposed marriage to
+Madame Carson, and been refused! Be this true or not, it was soon
+apparent that, from some cause or other, M. de V�ron's health and
+spirits were irretrievably broken down, and after lingering out a
+mopish, secluded life of scarcely a twelvemonth's duration, that
+gentleman died suddenly at Mon S�jour. A clause in his will bequeathed
+20,000 francs to Madame Carson, with an intimated hope, that it would
+be accepted as a pledge by that lady to respect, as she hitherto had
+done, the honour of an ancient family.
+
+This pledge to secrecy would no doubt have been kept, but that rumours
+of poisoning and suicide, in connection with De V�ron's death, having
+got abroad, the Procureur--G�n�ral ordered an investigation to take
+place. The suspicion proved groundless; but the _proc�s-verbal_ set
+forth, that on examining the body of the deceased, there were
+discovered the letters 'I. de B.,' 'T. F.,' branded on the front of
+the left shoulder; the two last, initials of '_Travaux Forces_'
+(forced labour), being large and very distinct. There could be no
+doubt, therefore, that the proud M. de V�ron was an escaped _for�at_;
+and subsequent investigation, which was not, however, very strongly
+pressed, sufficiently proved that Jean Baptiste de V�ron, the younger
+son of a high family, had in very early youth been addicted to wild
+courses; that he had gone to the colonies under a feigned name, to
+escape difficulties at home; and whilst at the Isle de Bourbon, had
+been convicted of premeditated homicide at a gaming-house, and
+sentenced to perpetual imprisonment with hard labour. Contriving to
+escape, he had returned to France, and by the aid of a considerable
+legacy, commenced a prosperous mercantile career; how terminated, we
+have just seen. It was by pure accident, or what passes for such in
+the world, that Madame Carson had arrived at a knowledge of the
+terrible secret. When M. de V�ron, after spraining his ankle, was
+carried in a state of insensibility into the room behind her shop, she
+had immediately busied herself in removing his neckcloth, unfastening
+his shirt, then a flannel one which fitted tightly round the neck, and
+thus obtained a glimpse of the branded letters 'T. F.' With her
+customary quickness of wit, she instantly replaced the shirts,
+neckcloth, &c., and carefully concealed the fatal knowledge she had
+acquired, till an opportunity of using it advantageously should
+present itself.
+
+The foregoing are, I believe, all the reliable particulars known of a
+story of which there used to be half-a-hundred different versions
+flying about Le Havre. Edouard le Blanc married Madame Carson, and
+subsequently became a partner of Eug�ne de V�ron. It was not long,
+however, before the business was removed to another and distant French
+seaport, where, for aught I know to the contrary, the firm of 'De
+V�ron and Le Blanc' flourishes to this day.
+
+
+
+
+BETTING-OFFICES.
+
+
+'Betting-shop' is vulgar, and we dislike vulgarity. 'Commission
+Office,' 'Racing Bank,' 'Mr Hopposite Green's Office,'
+'Betting-Office,'are the styles of announcement adopted by speculators
+who open what low people call Betting-shops. The chosen designation is
+usually painted in gold letter on a chocolate-coloured wire-gauze
+blind, impervious to the view. A betting-office may display on its
+small show-board two bronzed plaster horses, rampant, held by two
+Ethiopian figures, nude; or it may prefer making a show of cigars.
+Many offices have risen out of simple cigar-shops. When this is the
+case, the tobacco business gives way, the slow trade and fast
+profession not running well together. An official appearance is always
+considered necessary. A partition, therefore, sufficiently high not to
+be peered over, runs midway across the shop, surmounted with a rail.
+By such means, visions are suggested to the intelligent mind of desks,
+clerks, and, if the beholder has sufficient imagination, of bankers'
+clerks. In the partition is an enlarged _pigeon_-hole--not far off,
+may be supposed to lurk the hawk--through which are received
+shillings, half-crowns; in fact, any kind of coin or notes, no sum
+appearing inadmissible. The office is papered with a warm crimson
+paper, to make it snug and comfortable, pleasant as a lounge, and
+casting a genial glow upon the proceedings.
+
+But the betting-lists are the attraction--these are the dice of the
+betting-man: a section of one of the side-walls within the office is
+devoted to them. They consist of long strips of paper--each race
+having its own slip--on which are stated the odds against the horses.
+Hasty and anxious are the glances which the speculator casts at the
+betting-lists: he there sees which are the favourites; whether those
+he has backed are advancing or retrograding; and he endeavours to
+discover, by signs and testimonies, by all kinds of movements and
+dodges, the knowing one's opinion. He will drop fishing words to other
+gazers, will try to overhear whispered remarks, will sidle towards any
+jockey-legged or ecurial--costumed individual, and aim more especially
+at getting into the good graces of the betting-office keeper, who,
+when his business is slack, comes forth from behind the partition and
+from the duties of the pigeon-hole, to stretch his legs and hold
+turf-converse. The betting-office keeper is the speculator's divinity.
+
+The office itself is but the point where the ringing of the metal
+takes place, where the actual business is more bindingly entered into;
+but on great, or, as they are technically termed, grand days, there
+will occur--what will also apply, perhaps, occasionally to grand
+operas--very heavy operations. Large numbers of the speculators will
+collect, forming themselves into knots and groups on the pavement, and
+even in the roadway contiguous to the office. Here they appear a
+motley congregation, a curious agglomeration of seediness. Seediness
+is the prominent feature of the betting mass, as they are on such
+occasions collected--seediness of dress and of character. Yet amongst
+the groups are some better-looking kine, some who seem to fatten, and
+who costume themselves in fully-napped cloth, and boast of
+ostentatious pockets, and hats which advertise the owner as knowing a
+thing or two. These may be touters to the office: some may be victims,
+who have once won a stake. The latter now neglect their ordinary
+calling, and pass the whole of their time in the purlieus of
+betting-shops. As for the touters--betting-offices are not progressive
+without the aid of touters--they are gentlemen who have in their time
+worn many kinds of character, who have always existed one way or
+another on the very outskirts of honesty, till some fine morning a
+careless step brings them from that neutral ground into the domain of
+the law, where they are laid hold of. They do not disdain their
+adopted calling; they are not above assisting errand-boys to go in for
+large stakes; they tempt apothecaries' apprentices by prospects of
+being able to come out. They know likewise the best horses, and which
+are sure to win.
+
+But there are numbers of willing, untutored betting-men, who go in of
+their own accord--'quite promiscuous.' They belong to the class of
+petty tradesmen, and perhaps there are steady workmen and comfortably
+incomed clerks among them; although it is the tradesmen who are most
+numerous, and who give colour to the whole body. There is Macwait, the
+cheap baker, he contributes his quota weekly to the betting-shop: he
+has a strong desire to touch a twenty-pound stake. Whetcoles, the
+potato salesman, has given up a lucrative addition to his regular
+business--the purveying of oysters--for the sake of having more time
+to attend the office. Nimblecut, the hairdresser, has been
+endeavouring to raise his charge for shaving one half-penny per chin,
+to be enabled to speculate more largely. Shavings, journeyman
+carpenter, calculates upon clearing considerably more by 'Sister to
+Swindler' than a year's interest from the savings-bank. There are
+thousands of similarly circumstanced speculators: they make a daily,
+if not more frequent promenade to the betting-office; and on the days
+when the races come off, they may be observed in shoals, nodding and
+winking knowingly as they pass one another. Some are seen with jocular
+countenances, and pass for pleasant fellows: they are impressed with
+the idea that their horses are looking up. In others, the jocular
+expression has passed away, and the philosophical observer sets them
+down as melancholy individuals, given to castigating their wives, and
+verging dogwards.
+
+Betting-men--those who take a pride in their profession--assume
+generally a looseness of style: there may be an appropriateness in
+this, considering the mercurial contents of their pockets. In walking,
+a freedom of gait, approaching the swagger, is generally adopted;
+cigar-smoking at the office door is considered respectable; hands may
+be inserted _ad libitum_ in pockets, and a primary coloured 'kerchief
+worn mildly. The individual is usually seen by the observant public
+making up his book. But the evidence of shrewdness consists in
+familiarity with the technicalities of turf-lore; without this,
+costume is of no use. The better must be well up to the jockeys'
+names, and those of the horses--of the races they have run--of Day's
+stable--of Scott's ditto--must know when the cup or 2000-guinea stakes
+are run for. His vocabulary comprises such words as outsiders,
+winners, two-year old, lame ducks, and bad books. He sometimes talks
+loudly, although, for the most part, he delights in a close, earnest,
+confidential, suppressed tone. There is nothing a better prides
+himself on more than being in the possession of some, to the common
+herd, unattainable secret--something only to be obtained once in a
+lifetime, and then only after severe losses--a secret brought out by
+some train of fortuitous and most intricately-woven events. It comes
+through a line of ingenious, quickwitted, up-to-everything
+communicators, and is made known proximately to the fortunate
+possessor by a diplomatic potman, who waits in a room frequented by a
+groom, who pumped it out of a stable-boy, who----It is not improbable
+that the information has somewhat deteriorated in its journeyings
+through mews and along dung-heaps: it is possible, when it comes to be
+made use of, it may be found very expensive in its application.
+
+The turf speculator must possess a frank and willing imagination: he
+must calculate upon his account at the betting-shop, as he would upon
+so much being to his credit at a banker's; he must consider the office
+cheques with which his pocket-book is overflowing, as at par with
+bank-notes; he need keep but little gold and silver, as it is far
+better to know that it is producing a highly-profitable percentage.
+Should he be visited by any momentary fits of depression, he may draw
+forth his portfolio, and gratify his eyes with the contemplation of
+certificates for fives, and twenties, and fifties.
+
+We must not pass over a class of speculators who bet, and yet who are
+not true betting-men: they do not wish to be seen in betting-shops,
+yet cannot keep away. They are not loungers, for they may be observed
+passing along the thoroughfare seemingly with all desirable intentness
+upon their daily business; but they suddenly disappear as they arrive
+at the door of the betting-shop. These are your respectable men;
+worthy, solid, family men. But it is not easy to enter a betting-shop,
+and avoid rubbing against some clinging matter. Betting-men generally
+are not nice in their sensibilities; and perhaps on a fine Sunday
+morning, proceeding with his family to the parish church, our Pharisee
+may receive a tip from some unshaven, strong-countenanced _sans
+culotte_, which may cause his nerves to tingle for the rest of the
+day.
+
+But there is also a light, flimsy, fly-away-kind of speculator, a
+May-day betting-man--a youth fresh, perhaps, from school and the
+country, with whom his friends have hardly yet made up their minds
+what to do--who is at present seeing as much as he can see of town,
+upon what he finds decidedly small means. He has an ambition to appear
+fast; has of course a great admiration for fast people; but is at
+present young and fresh-coloured, and cannot, with all his endeavours,
+make himself appear less innocent and good-natured than he is. He has
+strained his purse in a bet, has betted on a winning horse, and has
+won five pounds. This would perhaps have fixed him for life as a
+speculator; but the money burns in his pocket. Before he can make up
+his mind to lay out his winnings on fresh bets, he must have a Hansom
+for the day. He decorates himself in his light-coloured paletot, blue
+neck-tie, and last dickey--drives to Regent Street to purchase
+cigars--to an oyster-shop redolent of saw-dust and lobsters--rigs a
+very light pair of kids--drives to, and alarms by his fast appearance,
+a few of his friends, who forthwith write off long woolly letters to
+relations in the country. He is accordingly cited to appear at home,
+where he becomes a respected local junior clerk in a Welsh mining
+company.
+
+There are various kinds of betting-offices. Some are speculative,
+May-fly offices, open to-day and shut to-morrow--offices that will bet
+any way, and against anything--that will accommodate themselves to any
+odds--receive any sum they can get, small or large; and should a
+misfortune occur, such as the wrong horse winning, forget to open next
+day. These are but second-rate offices. The money-making, prosperous
+betting-office is quite a different thing. It is not advisable for
+concerns which intend making thousands in a few years, to pay the
+superintendents liberally, and to keep well-clothed touters--to
+conduct themselves, in short, like speculative offices. They must not
+depend entirely upon chance. Chance is very well for betting-men, but
+will not do for the respectable betting-office keepers, who are the
+stakeholders.
+
+The plan adopted is a very simple one, but ingenious in its
+simplicity. The betting-office takes a great dislike in its own mind
+to a particular horse, the favourite of the betting-men. It makes bets
+against that horse, which amount in the aggregate to a fortune; and
+then it _buys_ the object of its frantic dislike. This being effected,
+the horse of course loses, and the office wins. How could it be
+otherwise? Would you have a horse win against its owner's interest?
+The thing being settled, the office, in order to ascertain the amount
+of its winnings, has only to deduct the price of the horse from its
+aggregate bets, and arrange the remainder in a line of perhaps five
+figures. Whereupon the betting-men grow seedier and more seedy; some
+of the more mercurial go off in a fit of apoplectic amazement; some
+betake themselves to Waterloo Stairs on a moonless night; some proceed
+to the Diggings, some to St Luke's, and some to the dogs; some become
+so unsteady, that they sign the wrong name to a draft, or enter the
+wrong house at night, or are detected in a crowd with their hand in
+the wrong man's pocket. But by degrees everything comes right again.
+The insane are shut up--the desperate transported--the dead
+buried--the deserted families carted to the workhouse; and the
+betting-office goes on as before.
+
+
+
+
+A MAY FLOWER-SHOW AT CHISWICK.
+
+
+It is one o'clock P. M.; I am at Hyde-Park Corner; I hail the nearest
+'Hansom,' and am quickly dashing away for Chiswick. The road leading
+thither is always a scene of great bustle: on a Chiswick f�te-day,
+this is very much augmented. But I am early, and the increase of
+vehicles is not yet great. A few carriages and cabs, mostly filled
+with ladies, who, like myself, are early on the road, and eager to be
+at the scene of action, are occasionally passed; for my horse is a
+good one, and the driver seems to desire to do the journey in good
+style. The majority of passengers and conveyances are chiefly of the
+everyday character, and such as are always met with on this great
+thoroughfare. Omnibuses, with loads of dusty passengers; carts and
+wagons, filled with manure, and each with a man or boy dozing upon the
+top; teams baiting at the roadside inns; troops of dirty children at
+the ends of narrow streets; with carriers' carts, and travel-stained
+pedestrians, make up the aggregate of the objects on the road. But in
+another hour the scene will change; the aristocratic 'turn-out,' with
+its brilliant appointments and spruce footmen--the cab, the brougham,
+and the open chariot, all filled with gaily-dressed company, will
+crowd the way; for a Chiswick f�te is one of the events of a London
+season. People go there as they do to the Opera--to see and to be
+seen. As I journey onward, I catch glimpses of blooming fruit-trees,
+and green hedges, speaking of the approach of summer. The little
+patches of garden by the wayside are gay with flowers, but sadly
+disfigured with dust. Even they, however, look quite refreshing in
+contrast with the close and crowded streets I have left behind. The
+spire of the church on Chiswick green is peeping above the houses in
+the distance; and by the time I have noticed the increase of bustle on
+the road, and about the inn-doors, the cab has stopped at one of the
+garden entrances. Early as I am, many others are before me, and are
+waiting for the hour of admission--two o'clock. The carriages of those
+already arrived are drawn up in rank upon the green; policemen are
+everywhere to preserve order; ostlers are numerous, with buckets of
+water and bundles of hay; groups of loungers are looking on, carriages
+are every minute arriving, and the bustle is becoming great. As it yet
+wants ten minutes to two o'clock, I shall occupy the time by giving
+the reader a little introduction to what we are presently to see.
+
+There are three of these f�tes every year--one in May, another in
+June, and a third in July. When the weather is fine, there is always a
+brilliant gathering of rank, and beauty, and fashion; but the June
+show is usually the best attended. English gardening is always well
+represented here. The plants and fruit brought for exhibition astonish
+even those who are best acquainted with what English gardeners can do.
+For several seasons past, it was thought that cultivation had reached
+its highest point; yet each succeeding year outvied the past, and
+report tells me, that the plants exhibited to-day are in advance of
+anything previously seen. They are sent here from widely distant parts
+of the country--many of them are brought one or two hundred miles; but
+most of the large collections are from gardens at a comparatively
+short distance from Chiswick. The principal prize is contended for by
+collections of thirty stove and greenhouse plants; and their large
+size will be apparent, when it is stated that one such collection
+makes eight or ten van-loads. There are never more than three or four
+competitors for this prize. Their productions are generally brought
+into the garden on the evening previous to the day of exhibition. At
+about daylight on the morning of the f�te, the great bustle of
+preparation begins. Everything has to be arranged, and ready for the
+judges by ten o'clock A. M., at which hour all exhibitors, and others
+interested in the awards, are obliged to leave the gardens; and they
+are not readmitted until the gates are thrown open to those who may
+have tickets of admission, at two o'clock.
+
+At last they _are_ open. (How expectation clogs the wheels of time!) I
+join the throng; and in a few minutes I am among the flowers, which
+are arranged in long tents, on stages covered with green baize, as a
+background to set off in bold relief their beautiful forms and tints.
+There are three military bands stationed in different parts of the
+grounds, to keep up a succession of enlivening strains until six
+o'clock, the hour when the proceedings, so far as the public are
+concerned, are supposed to terminate. One of them is already
+'discoursing most eloquent music.' Company rapidly arrives;
+well-dressed persons are strolling through the tents, sitting beneath
+the trees, or on the benches, listening to the music. The scene is a
+gay one. The richness and beauty of the masses of flower, rivalled
+only by the gay dresses and bright eyes of hundreds of fair admirers;
+the delicate green of the trees clothed with their young foliage, and
+the carpet-like lawns, all lit up by a bright May sun, and enlivened
+by the best music, combine to form a whole, the impression of which is
+not easily forgotten.
+
+But I am forgetting the flowers. Suppose we enter the nearest tent,
+and note the more prominent objects on our way. Here is a somewhat
+miscellaneous assortment; geraniums are conspicuous. The plants are
+remarkably fine, averaging nearly a yard across, and presenting masses
+of flower in the highest perfection. One is conspicuous for the
+richness of its colouring; its name is magnet (_Hoyle._) There is a
+collection of ferns, too; their graceful foliage, agitated by every
+breeze, adds much to the interest of this tent. Among the most
+remarkable are the maidenhair-ferns (_adiantum_), and a huge plant of
+the elk's horn fern, from New South Wales. It derives its name from
+the shape of its large fronds. Before us is a quantity of Chinese
+hydrangeas, remarkable in this case for the small size of the plants,
+and disproportionately large heads of pink blossoms. Cape
+pelargoniums, too, are well represented: they are curious plants,
+indigenous to the Cape of Good Hope; specimens of them are very often
+sent to this country, with boxes of bulbs, for which the Cape is
+famous. When they arrive, they look like pieces of deadwood; but when
+properly cared for, they rapidly make roots and branches, and produce
+their interesting flowers in abundance.
+
+Passing to the next tent, we enter that part devoted to the fruit. A
+delicate aroma pervades the place. Directly before us is a large plant
+of the Chinese loquah, loaded with fruit. This is yellow, and about
+the size of a small plum. The plant is a great novelty; for although
+hardy enough to be grown out of doors in this country, it produces its
+fruit only in a hothouse. Associated with it are some large vines in
+pots, with a profusion of fine bunches of grapes. Then there are
+dishes of strawberries (_British Queens_), numerous pine-apples,
+cherries, peaches, bananas (grown in this country), melons, &c.;
+besides some very fine winter apples and pears, which have been
+admirably preserved. Of the former, the winter-queen, old green
+nonpareil, and golden harvey are conspicuous; of the latter, the
+warden and Uvedale's St Germain are fine.
+
+The most attractive feature of these shows appears to be the
+orchideous or air-plants, as they are popularly known. A greater
+number of persons are always collected round them than in any other
+part of the tents; nor is this to be wondered at. Nothing can be more
+singular in appearance or gorgeous in colouring. Their fragrance, too,
+is so delightful. Description can convey but a faint idea of their
+great beauty and diversity of character. They seem to mimic the insect
+world in the shapes of their blossoms; nor are the resemblances
+distant. Every one has heard of the butterfly-plant: there is one on
+the stage now before us, and as the breeze gently waves its slender
+stalks, each tipped with a vegetable butterfly, it becomes almost
+difficult to imagine that we are not watching the movements of a real
+insect flitting among the plants. Here is a spike of _Gongora
+maculata_, bearing no faint resemblance to a quantity of brown insects
+with expanded wings collected round the stem. Close to it are some
+_Brassias_, mimicking with equal fidelity insects of a paler colour,
+besides hundreds of others equally curious and beautiful. Some bear
+their flowers in erect spikes, or loose heads; others have drooping
+racemes a yard in length, as some of the _dendrobiums_. More have a
+slender flower-stalk making a graceful curve, with the flowers placed
+on the uppermost side, as _Phol�nopsis amablis_, which bears a
+profusion of white blossoms closely resembling large moths with
+expanded wings. Here are some remarkable plants we must not pass
+without noticing: they are equally attractive both by their beauty and
+associations. They are two plants of _Stanhopea tigrina_, exhibited by
+Her Majesty, and a fine specimen of _Acincta Humboldtii_, named in
+honour of the philosophic traveller. They are all worthy of the
+associations they call up; they grow in open baskets, and the flowers
+are produced from below, directly opposite the leaves. The ordinary
+law of flowering-plants is reversed in them.
+
+We pass on: everywhere gorgeous masses of flower are before us. Huge
+plants of Indian azaleas, filling a space of several feet, literally
+covered with blossoms of every hue. Heaths from the Cape, far
+outrivalling their brethren in their native wilds; rhododendrons from
+the Himalaya; and cactuses from the plains of South America. In fact,
+here are collected examples of the flora of almost every known country
+of the globe. But we must not be carried away by these more showy
+plants to the exclusion of some very curious and interesting little
+things which I see we are in danger of forgetting. Here, carefully
+covered by a bell-glass, is a fine specimen of _Dion�a muscipula_, or
+Venus's fly-trap. Every reader of natural history is familiar with its
+economy; but one does not often get a sight of it. By the side of it
+are many other curious plants, covered with equal care.
+_Anoectochillis argenteus_, a little dwarf plant, with leaves which,
+both in their beautiful lustre and peculiar markings, resemble a green
+lizard, must serve for an example. Among other curiosities, is a small
+plant of one of the species of rhododendrons, recently introduced by
+Dr Hooker from the mountains of Sikkim Himalaya; close to it are some
+azaleas imported from the northern parts of the Celestial Empire.
+There are also some very rare and valuable specimens of hardy trees,
+from the mountains of Patagonia. They belong to the very extensive
+family of coniferous plants, and have been named respectively
+_Fitz-Roya Patagonica_ and _Saxe-Gothea conspicua_. There is also a
+remarkably handsome creeper, _Hexacentras mysorensis_, having pendent
+racemes of large flowers in shape resembling the snap-dragon, and of a
+rich orange and chocolate colour.
+
+To revert to the little Sikkim rhododendron, I shall give here the
+description of a still more diminutive specimen, met with by Dr Hooker
+during his journey, and which he has figured and described in his
+beautiful work, _The Rhododendron of Sikkim-Himalaya_. It is called
+_R. nivale_, or snow-rhododendron. 'The hard, woody branches of this
+curious little species, as thick as a goose-quill, struggle along the
+ground for a foot or two, presenting brown tufts of vegetation where
+not half-a-dozen other plants can exist. The branches are densely
+interwoven, very harsh and woody, wholly depressed; whence the shrub,
+spreading horizontally, and barely raised two inches above the soil,
+becomes eminently typical of the arid, stern climate it inhabits. The
+latest to bloom, and earliest to mature its seeds, by far the smallest
+in foliage, and proportionally largest in flower, most lepidote in
+vesture, humble in stature, rigid in texture, deformed in habit, yet
+the most odoriferous, it may be recognised, even in the herbarium, as
+the production of the loftiest elevation on the surface of the
+globe--of the most excessive climate--of the joint influences of a
+scorching sun by day, and the keenest frost by night--of the greatest
+drought, followed in a few hours by a saturated atmosphere--of the
+balmiest calm, alternating with the whirlwind of the Alps. For eight
+months of the year, it is buried under many feet of snow; for the
+remaining four, it is frequently snowed on and sunned in the same
+hour. During genial weather, when the sun heats the soil to 150
+degrees, its perfumed foliage scents the air; whilst to snow-storm and
+frost it is insensible: blooming through all; expanding its little
+purple flowers to the day, and only closing them to wither after
+fertilisation has taken place. As the life of a moth may be
+indefinitely prolonged whilst its duties are unfulfilled, so the
+flower of this little mountaineer will remain open through days of fog
+and sleet, till a mild day facilitates the detachment of the pollen
+and the fecundation of the ovarium. This process is almost wholly the
+effect of winds; for though humblebees, and the "Blues" and
+"Fritillaries" (_Polyommatus_ and _Argynnis_) amongst butterflies, do
+exist at this prodigious elevation, they are too few in number to
+influence the operations of vegetable life.' To this Dr Hooker adds:
+'This singular little plant attains a loftier elevation, I believe,
+than any other shrub in the world.'
+
+But here is a plant, or rather flower, more curious than any we have
+seen. The corolla is on a long stalk, a foot or more high; but how to
+describe it is the difficulty. Imagine a bat with expanded wings, with
+the addition of a tail, spread out before you, having on its breast a
+rosette of narrow ribbon, of the same dusky colour, and you will gain
+some idea of its form and colour. Its botanical name is _Attacia
+cristata_.
+
+Here is the rose-tent. In no previous season have the plants appeared
+in finer condition. A few years ago, nobody could grow roses fit to be
+seen in pots; many said it was impossible to do so: now, one can
+scarcely imagine anything finer than they are seen at the metropolitan
+flower-shows. Both in healthy appearance, and in fineness of flower,
+they exceed those which we admire so much in the open garden in
+summer. One or two are conspicuous, though all are beautiful.
+_Souvenirs d'un ami_ has pale flesh-coloured flowers, exceedingly
+delicate; nor is the perfume they emit less attractive. _Niphetus_,
+pure white; _Adam_, very pale; and _G�ant des Batailles_, of the
+richest crimson, are among the most attractive; but there are numerous
+others, rivalling them in beauty and fragrance.
+
+As the afternoon wears away, the more fashionable visitors depart. At
+six o'clock, the several bands of music form one, the National Anthem
+is played, and the f�te is over.
+
+
+
+
+GOLD-SEEKING AT HOME.
+
+
+The Lomond Hills, in the shires of Fife and Kinross, were known in
+ancient times as the hunting-grounds of the kings of Scotland, when
+these monarchs resided in their summer-palace at Falkland, a village
+on their north-eastern declivity. At a period intermediate between
+these and the present times, they were the haunt of the persecuted
+Covenanters, and often resounded with the voice of psalms raised at
+conventicles. Since then, their solitude and silence have seldom been
+disturbed, save by the bark of the shepherd's dog, or the echoes
+caused by the blasting of rocks in the limestone quarries which run
+along their southern and western ridges. But during the month of May
+last, this solitude and silence were completely destroyed, by
+thousands of persons plying every kind of instrument upon them, from
+the ponderous crowbar and pickaxe, to the easily-wielded trowel and
+hammer, in search of gold, which they believed to be hidden in their
+recesses. The information on which they acted seemed to them to come
+from an authentic source, and to be confirmed by competent authority.
+
+On the southern base of the hills, overlooking the far-famed
+Lochleven, lies the village of Kinnesswood, noted as the birthplace of
+the poet Michael Bruce. A native of this village entered the army, and
+there learned manners at war with good morals, which, after his
+discharge, brought upon him the vengeance of the law, and he was
+banished 'beyond seas.' His subsequent good-conduct, however, procured
+him 'a ticket-of-leave,' and he became servant to the commissariat for
+the convicts in Van Diemen's Land. In this capacity he had frequent
+opportunities of seeing the substance brought from the Bathurst
+'diggings,' containing the gold which is now arriving in this country
+in such large quantities. It at once struck him that he had seen
+abundance of the same material in his native hills, when visiting the
+quarries in which several of his friends and acquaintances earned
+their livelihood. This impression he conveyed in a letter to his
+mother, who, as a matter of course, afforded the information to all to
+whom she had an opportunity of communicating it. The intelligence
+spread with the rapidity of an electric telegraph; and an excitement
+was produced such as is seen among bees when their hive has received
+a sudden shock. The mountain pathways became immediately alive with
+human beings, and noises arose like the hum of a city heard at a
+distance during the busiest hours of the day. In the villages
+immediately adjoining the place of resort, the excitement was wholly
+confined to youngsters and idlers, who are ever ready to seize upon
+novelty and enter upon bustle; but further off, it extended to old and
+young, hale and infirm, asthmatic and long-winded, grave and gay,
+taught and untaught, respectable and disreputable, industrious and
+idle, till it reached a compass of twenty miles at least, extending
+not only to the Forth and Tay, but stretching inland from their
+opposite shores. In short, men who had never climbed a mountain all
+their lives before, though living in close proximity to one, were seen
+on its loftiest peaks, and toiling there with all the ardour of
+Cyclops.
+
+Meanwhile, some of the less impulsive minds in the district, not
+altogether untouched by the prevailing mania, began to cast about for
+warrants to justify their appropriation of some of this much-coveted
+material, and assure their confidence that it was really gold. Memory,
+research, tradition, testimony, all came to their help. They
+recollected how their fathers had told them that the Laird of Lathrisk
+had wrought a lead-mine on the northern declivity of the East Law,
+which yielded also a considerable proportion of silver, and which was
+abandoned only because of the high tax government had put upon the
+latter metal. Then came the ready query: That since there is silver in
+these hills, why not also gold, seeing they frequently go together?
+Then it was found that the mineral formations in which this metal
+occurs are the crystalline primitive rocks; and with these the Lomond
+Hills were held to correspond. Then it had been told them, that in
+days of yore shepherds had found pieces of gold while tending their
+flocks on the hills, and that gold had been frequently met with in the
+whole district of country between the Forth and the Tay. Last of all
+came the testimony of a man who had returned to the neighbourhood from
+California, and who assured them, that the substance they submitted to
+his inspection was in all respects similar to that which was dug out
+of the hills in the gold regions of America. Singularly enough, though
+they did not reflect upon the facts, this man had returned home as
+poor as he had departed, and manifested no desire to accompany them to
+the new El Dorado at their doors. Other persons were meanwhile pushing
+inquiries in a more certain direction, and subjecting the supposed
+precious treasure to infallible tests.
+
+The chief centre of attraction is a partially-wrought limestone
+quarry, known by the name of the Sheethiehead, right above the village
+of Kinnesswood, and about a gunshot back from the brow of the Bishop
+Hill. It is surrounded on all sides by immense heaps of d�bris, which
+has been repeatedly dug into during the last thirty years by
+geologising students, in search of fossils connected with the
+carboniferous system, and who must have frequently met with the
+substance which has caused all this excitement, but never imagined it
+to be gold. The face of the quarry, to the depth of twenty feet from
+the top, is an accumulation of shale or slate, lying in regular
+layers, and easily broken. It has been turned to good account of late
+in the manufacture of slate-pencils of superior quality. Among this
+shaly accumulation, there are frequent layers of a soft, wet clay or
+ochre; and it is in this that the brilliants which have dazzled the
+imagination of so many are chiefly found, and which, accordingly, are
+frequently thrown out among the d�bris, of which it comes to form a
+part. In this quarry, then, and in the heaps around it, hundreds are
+earnestly busy in laying bare what is beneath; while scores of men,
+women, and children are silently and earnestly looking on. One has
+just brought out a ball of stone, or something like stone, about the
+size of a man's hand, known among the quarrymen as 'a fairy ball;' it
+is composed of a hard crust, like rusted iron, which, on being broken,
+is found to contain a yellow shining metal of various shapes and
+sizes--grains, octohedrons, cubes, and their allied forms, as is the
+case with gold; and what else can it be but the precious metal, thinks
+the finder, as he places it in his receptacle, and applies himself
+anew to his vocation. In a little while he stumbles on another of
+these balls, as big as a man's hat, which he breaks, and opens with
+increasing eagerness; when, lo! it is as empty as a 'deaf nut'--the
+water which percolated through the shale having rusted the iron that
+goes to form the crust along with the ochre, but failed, as in the
+previous case, to form crystals in the interior. A third, fourth, and
+fifth are found to be as hollow as the last, and the 'digger' begins
+to look a little crestfallen, and abate his eagerness.
+
+But here is an Irishman, who has been vastly more lucky, dancing a
+jig, with a footless stocking near him, tied at each end, packed as
+full as it can hold of 'the fine stuff,' as he calls it, while with
+wonderful agility he flourishes a heavy pickaxe and spade over his
+head, and screams at the highest pitch of his voice: 'Sure, now, and
+isn't my fortune made!' By and by, getting at once hoarse and tired,
+he desists from his exertions, and entreats a boy near him 'to go into
+the bog beyont there, and get him some poteen, which he is sure is
+making in the stills among the turf;' offering him at the same time a
+lump of his 'treasure' as payment for his trouble.
+
+Here is a tall, grave, shrewd-looking man, very like an elder of the
+kirk, throwing away part of his accumulation, but somewhat stealthily
+retaining a portion in the large cotton handkerchief in which he had
+placed it, while a respectable-looking woman is saying to him: 'John,
+the minister says, it's no gold, but only brimstone.' To which he
+answers, with an audible sigh: 'Well hath the wise man said, all is
+vanity and vexation of spirit.' Here is a strong-built but
+lumpish-looking fellow, seemingly a ploughman or day-labourer, leaving
+the scene of action in evident disgust, who, on being asked if he had
+been successful, answers roughly: 'No!' and adds: 'I'll sell you this
+pick for a glass of ale or a dram of whisky.' Here are angry words
+passing between a middle-aged man and a youth, respecting the right of
+possession, the former having driven the latter away from a
+promising-looking place on which he was employed, and commenced
+operations upon it himself.
+
+It is Saturday; and the mills on the river Leven are stopped at noon,
+to allow the water in the lake from which it flows to accumulate its
+supplies for the following week's operations. Freed thus from labour,
+the spinners hasten to the scene of attraction, and largely swell the
+crowd already assembled there. The men begin the search with
+eagerness, while the women content themselves with looking on; but it
+is evident that they are unaccustomed to the use of the instruments
+they have assumed, and that long practice will be necessary before
+they can turn them to much account. Here are bands of colliers able to
+wield them to purpose, yet how unwilling they appear to be to put
+forth their strength. They came in the expectation of getting gold for
+the lifting, which is nowhere the case; and are evidently disappointed
+in finding that both effort and perseverance are necessary. Indeed, it
+surprised us to see so little disposition to make and maintain
+exertion on the part of those who fancied that certain riches would be
+the result. Notwithstanding the numerous traces of picking, hammering,
+and shovelling they have left behind them, there is not an excavation
+a foot deep; while over a crevice in the rock, three inches square, 'a
+digger' has left the words, scratched with a piece of slate: 'There
+is no gold here,' as if he had done all that was necessary to prove
+it. Even in the loose d�bris around the quarry--with which the
+substance referred to abounds--there is no trace of a digging wider or
+deeper than a man's hat. We have seen a student make greater and
+longer-continued exertion to get a fossil shell, and a terrier dog to
+get a rat or a rabbit, than any of the gold-seekers have. Burns the
+poet, in his lament, entitled _Man was made to Mourn_, complains, with
+more pathos and sentiment than truth and justice, that the landlords
+will not 'give him leave to toil.' That is not the leave most men
+desire, but the leave to be idle. If gold were to be got for the
+lifting, and bread were as easily procured as water, man would not be
+disposed to take healthful exercise, much less labour or toil.
+
+We shall not describe the scene as it developed itself on Sunday. It
+was at total variance with the reputation Scotchmen have acquired for
+the observance of that day, but in perfect keeping with the notoriety
+they have gained for their love of strong drink. Monday was the
+fifteenth day of the gold-fever; and, like most other fevers, it was
+then at its height. Parties had been on the hill soon after the
+previous midnight awaiting the dawn, resolved to be the first at the
+diggings that morning, and 'have their fortunes made before others
+arrived.' But the lark had not got many yards high in his heavenward
+ascent, and only struck the first note of his morning-carol, when the
+mountain concaves sent back echoes of music from a whole band of men,
+marching at the head of a still greater number, who might have been
+taken for a regiment of sappers and miners. They have come from a
+distance; and, like the others who have preceded them, can have known
+little or nothing of 'balmy sleep, kind nature's sweet restorer,'
+unless they have taken it at church the preceding day, or in their
+beds, when they should have been there. The morning has grown apace,
+and shews the mountain-sides and table-land teeming with life. 'The
+cry is still, they come;' and long before mid-day, it is calculated
+that there are at least 1200 persons on the hill--many of them
+spectators of the scene, but most of them actors in it.
+
+To a curious observer, it was at once an amusing, interesting,
+instructive, and painful spectacle. It developed character; shewed to
+some extent the state of society among certain classes and
+professions; and exhibited human nature in some of its peculiar and
+less agreeable phases. The most striking and unlikeable manifestations
+were--ignorance, credulity, superstition, recklessness, and disregard
+for all that is 'lovely and of good report.' We were particularly
+struck with the want of foresight, observation, and reflection shewn
+by a great number of the persons concerned, and of whom other things
+might have been expected. They had come to 'the diggings' without
+instruments of any kind with which to bring forth the supposed gold
+from its recesses; and, more wonderful still, without food to sustain
+them while employed in finding it. What an easy prey these persons
+would have been to any one willing to take advantage of them! They
+willingly parted with much of their supposed treasure for a few crumbs
+of cake from a boy's pocket, and with still more for a slice of poor
+cheese from a quarryman's wallet. The man who brought intoxicating
+drink to them, would have received in return whatever he would have
+been pleased to demand. One party, and one only, so far as we could
+learn, was more provident than the rest, having provisions with it
+equal to its necessities for one day at least, among which whisky held
+a prominent place.
+
+The substance found and supposed to be gold is very similar to that
+found in the coal-mines and iron-bands of Fife, which are known to
+'crop out' in the Lomond Hills--none being found further north--yet
+the colliers and miners did not identify the substance when found in
+other circumstances than those in which they are accustomed to meet
+with it. The inhabitants of the district in which it is found shewed
+little sympathy with the excitement produced, a fact which should have
+led the gold-hunters to pause and ponder; for they were as likely to
+know the nature of the substance sought as persons at a distance, and
+just as likely to appropriate it, if it really were gold. But under
+the influence of their credulity, our adventurers drew a conclusion
+quite different--namely, that the people at the foot of the hill
+affected indifference, in order to deceive those at a distance, and
+keep all the treasure to themselves. It was of no use to tell them,
+that this said gold had been tested half a century ago, and been
+'found wanting.' They wished it to be gold, and they were determined
+to believe it such. Much advantage was taken of this credulity, even
+by those who had themselves been its dupes. The most daring falsehoods
+were invented by them, in order to induce others to befool themselves
+as they had done. One, according to his own account, had received 30s.
+for his 'findings;' and another had been offered L.2 for as much as he
+had collected in half an hour. Such are specimens of the fables they
+devised, with a view to deceive their acquaintances, and they had
+manifest pleasure in seeing them produce the desired effect.
+
+Meanwhile, every test known to or conceivable by the amateur
+chemists--of which there are not few in the counties in which the
+hills are situated--was put in requisition, and a voice evoked by
+them, but it would not speak as desired. Others, who knew nothing of
+chemistry, were torturing it in every possible way--beating it with
+hammers, to see if it would expand, like gold, into leaf; but instead
+of this, it only flew off in splinters: then putting it into the
+smith's forge, to see if it would liquefy and separate from the dross,
+but it only evaporated in fumes, which drove them from the smithy by
+their offensive odour. Not one of these experimenters, whether more or
+less skilled, thought of subjecting it to the simple and certain test
+of cutting it with a knife, of which the substance in question is not
+susceptible, whereas gold cuts like tough cheese. Enough, however, had
+been done to confirm suspicions which had been floating in the minds
+of many of the diggers, that this rapid wealth-finding was a delusion
+and a lie. All doubts upon the subject were finally set at rest by the
+professors of mineralogy in the colleges, and the practical chemists
+in Edinburgh and Glasgow, informing certain inquirers as to the real
+nature of this deceptive substance. It is of two kinds: the one with a
+gray, the other with a brown base--the latter much more common than
+the former; the one shining with a whitish, the other, with a
+yellowish lustre. The one is _galena_, a sulphuret of lead; the other,
+_pyrites_, a sulphuret of iron. These pyrites are very extensively
+diffused, and are said to be worth about L.2 a ton. Pity it is that
+even this trifle should be lost to the poor quarryman, who has only to
+lay them aside when wheeling away his rubbish till they accumulate to
+such a quantity as to be worth a purchaser's notice, but who does not
+know where to find a customer.
+
+The Lomonds were now again left to their solitude and silence, a few
+stray persons visiting them only from curiosity, to see the place and
+its productions which had caused such excitement. But the mania did
+not abate all at once. A village patriarch, skilled in fairy lore,
+entertained some of the gold-seekers with the following legend, which
+had the effect of sending them in search of the precious metal
+elsewhere. According to this ancient, a fairy, in times long gone by,
+appeared on a summer gloaming to a boy herding cattle in the place
+indicated by the following doggrel, and told him that--
+
+    If Auchindownie cock does not craw,
+    If Balmain horn does not blaw,
+    I'll shew you the gold in _Largo Law_.
+
+'But,' added this benevolent son of Puck, 'if I leave you when these
+happen--for I must then return home immediately--take you notice where
+the brindled ox lies down, and there you will find the gold.' The cock
+crew and the horn blew. The fairy vanished, but the boy observed where
+the brindled ox lay down; but then he did not reflect upon the need of
+marking the place, but ran home, in his impatience to communicate the
+delightful information he had received, and on his return found that
+the brindled ox had risen and left the place; and as he could not
+determine the spot, the gold still awaits the search of some more
+reflective and painstaking person. Of course, one and another of the
+narrator's auditors thought himself such a person, and hied him away
+to the conical hill that rises so conspicuously at the entrance to the
+estuary of the Forth. What success attended them there we have not the
+means of knowing, but we have seen it stated in a local newspaper,
+that a specimen of the shining substance found in that place had been
+sent to the editor, and he pronounces it more like gold than the
+crystals brought him from the Lomond Hills. But 'like,' says the
+proverb, 'is an ill mark;' and we hope the gold-diggers of Fife will
+consider themselves as having been already sufficiently deceived by
+appearances.
+
+The mania lasted fully three weeks, not that any one person was under
+its influence all that time--for, singularly enough, the man who had
+been once there rarely if ever returned--but, like an epidemic, it
+spread wide, and only ceased by a change in the intellectual
+atmosphere. There could not be less than 300 persons upon an average
+each day upon the hill, either searching for the supposed treasure, or
+waiting to ascertain the result from those that did. This would make
+an aggregate of 6300 in the whole time; but let us keep much within
+the mark, and take the number convened during that period at 5000.
+Many of these were men earning 15s. a week; but let us put them all
+down at 1s. 6d per day each, and allow 1s. for the expense incurred in
+their going to and from the place. This will make half-a-crown lost
+and expended by every one of them. This calculation makes L.30 a day,
+and L.630 for the whole period. Now, we are fully persuaded, that
+though all the pyrites carried off had been gold in the proportion in
+which it seemed in the substance, it would not have realised this sum,
+which is about the price of 200 ounces of gold; so that, in the
+aggregate, the diggers would have been losers, though some of them
+individually might have been gainers. But the gainers would have been
+few in proportion to the whole, for we observed that not more than one
+man in twenty found even the pyrites, which are probably still more
+extensively diffused than gold itself ever is, even in the regions
+where it is now known to prevail: so that the wages of the nineteen
+unsuccessful men are to be calculated along with those of the
+successful one; and then it follows, that unless the 'findings' of the
+latter at the close of the day are equal to the wages of twenty men,
+there is no increase of capital to the country, no gain upon the
+whole. Then the man who was lucky at one time, was unlucky at
+another--like a poacher who snares three hares in a night, but does
+not snare another for a week, while he has been unable to work during
+the day, and, in the end, his losses have counterbalanced his gains.
+Then if this phantom had proved a reality, all the mines and mills
+within a wide range of the place would have been instantly abandoned,
+and it must have taken a long time, indeed, to reproduce the capital
+thus lost to the country. In fine, it must have become necessary to
+fix a rent upon the diggings, in order to constitute a right to labour
+in them; and still further, to levy a tax to provide a police, if not
+a military force, to preserve order; and after these deductions are
+made, together with the incomes derived from previous occupations, and
+the great uncertainty connected with the vocation--to say nothing of
+the labour and discomforts to be endured--we cannot think gold-digging
+a profitable or desirable pursuit.
+
+
+
+
+COMPETITION AND MONOPOLY.
+
+
+A Memorandum just issued by that active body, the Sanitary
+Association, contains the following amusing and instructive account of
+the memorable competition between the great London water-companies
+forty years ago, and of the close monopoly in which that reckless and
+ruinous struggle ended:--
+
+'In 1810, a water mania, like our recent railway mania, suddenly broke
+out; and the principle of competition, to which the legislature had
+all along looked for the protection of the public, was put upon its
+trial. Two powerful companies, which had been several years occupied
+in obtaining their acts and setting up their machinery, now took the
+field--one, the West Middlesex, attacking the old monopolists on their
+western flank; the other, the East London, invading their territory
+from the opposite quarter. At the same time, a band of dashing
+Manchester speculators started the Grand Junction Company with a
+flaming prospectus, and boldly flung their pipes into the very thick
+of the tangled net-work which now spread in every direction beneath
+the pavement of the hotly-contested streets.
+
+'These Grand-Junction men quite astonished the town by the
+magnificence of their promises. "Copious streams" of water, derived,
+by the medium of the Grand Junction Canal, from the rivers Colne and
+Brent: "always pure and fresh, because always coming in"--"high
+service, free of extra charge;" above all, "_unintermittent supply, so
+that customers may do without cisterns_;" such were a few of the
+seductive allurements held out by these interlopers to tempt deserters
+from the enemy's camp.
+
+'The West Middlesex Company, in its opening circulars, also promised
+"unlimited supplies" to the very "housetops," of water "clear and
+bright from the gravelly bottom of the Thames, thirteen miles above
+London Bridge." The East London was not behindhand with the trumpet;
+and its "skilful" directors, by paying dividends in rapid succession
+out of capital, raised their L.100 shares to the enormous premium of
+L.130 before they had well got their machinery into play. Meanwhile
+the South London (or Vauxhall) Company was started--in 1805--on the
+other side of the river, with a view to wrest from its old rulers the
+watery dominion of the south. The war was not, however, carried on in
+a very royal sort; for, as the travelling mountebank drives
+six-in-hand through a country town to entice the gaping provincials to
+his booth, so these water-jugglers went round the streets of London,
+throwing up rival _jets-d'eau_ from their mains, to prove the alleged
+superiority of their engines, and to captivate the fancy of hesitating
+customers.
+
+'The New River Company, thus put upon its mettle, boldly took up the
+gauntlet. It erected new forcing-engines, changed its remaining wooden
+pipes for iron, more than doubled its consumption of coal, reduced its
+charges, augmented its supplies, issued a contemptuous rejoinder to
+its adversaries, and, appealing as an "old servant" to the public for
+support, engaged in a war of extermination.
+
+'For seven years, the battle raged incessantly. The combatants
+sought--and openly avowed it--not their own profit, but their rivals'
+ruin. Tenants were taken on almost any terms. Plumbers were bribed to
+_tout_, like omnibus cads, for custom. Such was the rage for mere
+numerical conquest, that a line of pipes would be often driven down a
+long street, to serve one new customer at the end. Arrears remained
+uncollected, lest offence should be given and influence impaired.
+Capricious tenants amused themselves by changing from one main to
+another, as they might taste this or that tap of beer. The more
+credulous citizens, relying on the good faith of the "public
+servants"--as these once powerful water-lords now humbly called
+themselves--were simpletons enough, on the strength of their promises,
+to abandon their wells, to sell off their force-pumps, and to erect
+water-closets or baths in the upper storeys of their houses. In many
+streets, there were three lines of pipes laid down, involving triple
+leakage, triple interest on capital, triple administrative charges,
+triple pumping and storage costs, and a triple army of turncocks--the
+whole affording a less effective supply than would have resulted from
+a single well-ordered service. In this desperate struggle vast sums of
+money were sunk. The recently-established companies worked at a
+ruinous loss; and such as kept up a show of prosperity were, in fact,
+like the East London Company, paying dividends out of capital. The New
+River Company's dividends went down from L.500 to L.23 per share per
+annum. In the border-line districts, where the fiercest conflicts took
+place, the inhabitants sided with one or other of the contending
+parties. Some noted with delight the humbled tone of the old arbitrary
+monopolists, and heartily backed the invaders. Some old-stagers stuck
+to the ancient companies, and to the faces of familiar turncocks.
+These paid; but many shrewd fellows put off the obsequious collectors,
+and contrived to live water-rate free. Thus the honest, as usual, paid
+for the knaves; and the ultimate burden of all these squandered
+resources fell--also as usual--on society at large.
+
+'Such a state of things could not last; and it came to a conclusion
+which experience, had it been invoked, might have led parliament to
+anticipate. For, scarcely a century before, the two chartered East
+India Companies, after five years' internecine war, had coalesced to
+form that gigantic confederacy which for years monopolised the Indian
+trade, and rose to an unexampled pitch of corporate power and
+aggrandisement, at the cost of the mercantile community.
+
+'Just so, in 1817, the great water-companies coalesced against the
+public, and coolly portioned out London between them. Their treatment,
+on this occasion, of the tenants so lately flattered and cajoled, will
+never be effaced from the public memory. Batches of customers were
+handed over by one water-company to another, not merely without their
+consent, but without even the civility of a notice. Old tenants of the
+New River Company, who had taken their water for years, and had been
+their thick-and-thin supporters through the battle, found themselves
+ungratefully turned over, without previous explanation, to drink the
+"puddle" supplied by the Grand Junction Company. The abated rates were
+immediately raised, not merely to the former amount, but to charges
+from 25 to 400 per cent. more than they had been before the
+competition. The solemnly-promised high service was suppressed, or
+made the pretext for a heavy extra charge. Many people had to regret
+"selling their force-pumps as old lead," or fixing water-closets on
+their upper floors, on the faith of these treacherous contractors.
+Those who had fitted up their houses with pipes, in reliance on the
+guarantee of _unintermitting pressure_, found themselves obliged
+either to sacrifice the first outlay, or to expend on cisterns and
+their appendages further sums, varying from L.10 or L.20 up to
+L.50--and even, in many cases, L.100. When tenants thus unhandsomely
+dealt by expressed their indignation, and demanded redress, they were
+"jocosely" reminded by smiling secretaries that the competition was
+over, and that those who were dissatisfied with the companies'
+supplies were quite at liberty to set up pumps of their own.
+
+'Thus as, in political affairs, anarchy invariably leads to despotism,
+so, in commerce, subversive competition always ends its disorderly and
+ruinous course in monopoly, which, whether avowed or tacit, individual
+or collective, is but despotism in a lower sphere.
+
+'The cure for these evils lies in the competitive contract-system,
+which brings competition to bear _for_, instead of _in_, the field of
+supply, so as to obviate the reckless multiplication of
+establishments, and capitals, and staffs, for the performance of a
+service for which one would suffice. Evidence shews that the
+water-companies might be bought out, so as to clear the way for the
+consolidation of the water-supply with the drainage and other
+connected sanitary services, under a public authority, responsible to
+the rate-payers through parliament, and charged to supervise the due
+execution of the works by contractors competing freely, on open
+tender, in the public market--a system obviously calculated to secure
+for the public the best possible service at the lowest possible rates.
+By empowering such an authority to buy the companies out in full, with
+money borrowed at 3 or 3-1/2 per cent., we should come into possession
+of their works at an annual charge for interest, less, by nearly
+two-fifths, than our present annual payment to the companies; by
+consolidating the nine establishments thus acquired, we should save
+more than half the present working costs; and by the further
+consolidations referred to above, for which this first one would
+prepare the ground, we should still more reduce our annual charges,
+and still more improve our sanitary condition.'
+
+
+
+
+MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL:
+
+A STATUETTE.
+
+
+    My white archangel, with thy steady eyes
+    Outlooking on this silent, ghost-filled room,
+    Thy clasped hands wrapped on thy sheathed sword or doom,
+    Thy firm-closed lips, not made for human sighs,
+    Kisses, or smiles, or writhing agonies,
+    But for divine exhorting, heavenly song,
+    Bold, righteous counsel, sweet from seraph tongue--
+    Beautiful angel, strong as thou art wise,
+    Would that thy sight could make me wise and strong!
+    Would that this sword of thine, which idle lies
+    Stone-planted, could wake up and gleam among
+    The crowd of demons that with eager cries
+    Howl in my heart temptations of world's wrong!
+    _Lama Sabachthani_! How long--how long!
+
+    Michael, great leader of the hosts of God,
+    Warrer with Satan for the body of him
+    Whom living, God had loved--If cherubim
+    With cherubim contend for one poor clod
+    Of human dust, with sin-stained feet that trod
+    Through the wide deserts of Heaven's chastisement--
+    Are there not ministering angels sent
+    To strive with evil ones that roam abroad
+    Clutching our living souls? 'The living, still
+    The living, they shall praise Thee.' Let some great
+    Invisible spirit enter in and fill
+    The howling chambers of hearts desolate,
+    There stand like thee, O Michael, strong and wise,
+    My white archangel with the steadfast eyes!
+
+
+
+
+WAGES HEIGHTENED IN CONSEQUENCE OF IMPROVEMENT OF MACHINERY.
+
+
+It is stated in a report of the Commissioners appointed in 1832 to
+inquire concerning the employment of women and children in factories,
+that 'in the cotton-mill of Messrs Houldsworth, in Glasgow, a spinner
+employed on a mule of 336 spindles, and spinning cotton 120 hanks to
+the pound, produced in 1823, working 74-1/2 hours a week, 46 pounds of
+yarn, his net weekly wages for which amounted to 27s. 7d. Ten years
+later, the rate of wages having in the meantime been reduced 13 per
+cent., and the time of working having been lessened to 69 hours, the
+spinner was enabled by the greater perfection of the machinery to
+produce on a mule of the same number of spindles, 52-1/2 pounds of
+yarn of the same fineness, and his net weekly earnings were advanced
+from 27s. 7d. to 29s. 10d.' Similar results from similar circumstances
+were experienced in the Manchester factories. The cheapening of the
+article produced by help of machinery increases the demand for the
+article; and there being consequently a need for an increased number
+of workmen, the elevation of wages follows as a matter of course. Nor
+is this the only benefit which the working-man derives in the case,
+for he shares with the community in acquiring a greater command over
+the necessaries which machinery is concerned in producing.--_Condensed
+from a Lecture by G. R. Porter to the Wandsworth Literary and
+Scientific Association._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+Printed and Published by W. and R. CHAMBERS, High Street, Edinburgh.
+Also sold by W. S. ORR, Amen Corner, London; D. N. CHAMBERS, 55 West
+Nile Street, Glasgow; and J. M'GLASHAN, 50 Upper Sackville Street,
+Dublin.--Advertisements for Monthly Parts are requested to be sent to
+MAXWELL, & Co., 31 Nicholas Lane, Lombard Street, London, to whom all
+applications respecting their insertion must be made.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 447, by Various
+
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+    <title>
+    The Project Gutenberg eBook of Chambers' Edinburgh Journal No. 447. July 24, 1852
+    </title>
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+
+Project Gutenberg's Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 447, by Various
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 447
+       Volume 18, New Series, July 24, 1852
+
+Author: Various
+
+Editor: William Chambers
+        Robert Chambers
+
+Release Date: April 17, 2007 [EBook #21126]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAMBERS'S EDINBURGH ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Malcolm Farmer, Richard J. Shiffer and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<h1>CHAMBERS' EDINBURGH JOURNAL</h1>
+
+<h2><a name="Contents" id="Contents">CONTENTS</a></h2>
+
+<div class="contents">
+
+
+<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. -->
+<p>
+<a href="#THE_MARTYR_SEX"><b>THE MARTYR SEX.</b></a><br />
+<a href="#THE_YOUNGEST_BRITISH_COLONY"><b>THE YOUNGEST BRITISH COLONY.</b></a><br />
+<a href="#THE_SECRET"><b>THE SECRET.</b></a><br />
+<a href="#BETTING-OFFICES"><b>BETTING-OFFICES.</b></a><br />
+<a href="#A_MAY_FLOWER-SHOW_AT_CHISWICK"><b>A MAY FLOWER-SHOW AT CHISWICK.</b></a><br />
+<a href="#GOLD-SEEKING_AT_HOME"><b>GOLD-SEEKING AT HOME.</b></a><br />
+<a href="#COMPETITION_AND_MONOPOLY"><b>COMPETITION AND MONOPOLY.</b></a><br />
+<a href="#MICHAEL_THE_ARCHANGEL"><b>MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL.</b></a><br />
+<a href="#WAGES_HEIGHTENED_IN_CONSEQUENCE_OF_IMPROVEMENT_OF_MACHINERY"><b>WAGES HEIGHTENED IN CONSEQUENCE OF IMPROVEMENT OF MACHINERY.</b></a><br />
+</p>
+<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. -->
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[pg 49]</a></span></p>
+
+<img src="images/banner.png"
+          width="100%"
+          alt="Banner: Chambers' Edinburgh Journal" />
+
+<h4>CONDUCTED BY WILLIAM AND ROBERT CHAMBERS, EDITORS OF 'CHAMBERS'S
+INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE,' 'CHAMBERS'S EDUCATIONAL COURSE,' &amp;c.</h4>
+
+<hr class="full" />
+
+<table width="100%"
+        summary="Volume, Date and Price">
+<tr>
+<td align="left"><b><span class="sc">No.</span> 447.&nbsp;&nbsp; <span class="sc">New Series.</span></b></td>
+<td align="left"><b>SATURDAY, JULY 24, 1852.</b></td>
+<td align="right"><b><span class="sc">Price</span> 1&frac12;<i>d</i>.</b></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<hr class="full" />
+
+
+<h2><a name="THE_MARTYR_SEX" id="THE_MARTYR_SEX"></a>THE MARTYR SEX.</h2>
+
+<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of
+    Contents</a></p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Ever</span> since that unfortunate affair in which the mother of mankind was
+so prominently concerned, the female sex might say, with Shylock,
+'Sufferance is the badge of all our tribe.' They are, in fact, an
+incarnation of the Passive Voice&mdash;no mistake about it. 'Ah, gentle
+dames, it gars me greet,' as Burns pathetically says, to think on all
+the hardships and oppressions which you have undergone throughout the
+course of history, political and domestic. It is most wonderful that
+you can bear up your heads at all in the world. Most assuredly it
+could not be done except under favour of some inherent principle of
+fortitude, quite beyond all that your associate, Man, has ever
+displayed. For this reason, I propose to fix upon you the honourable
+style and title of the Martyr Sex.</p>
+
+<p>As insanity is the more affecting when we observe its victim to be
+unconscious of the visitation, so does my heart bleed most
+particularly for the Martyr Sex, when I observe them undergoing severe
+oppressions without knowing it. So natural is suffering to the sex, or
+so accustomed are they to it, that they subject themselves
+spontaneously to enormous loads of trouble and torture, which no one
+would think of imposing upon them, and which they might easily avoid.
+It might almost be said, that suffering has a sort of fascination for
+them, drawing them placidly into it, whether they will or not. It
+seems in some mysterious way wrought up with their entire destiny.</p>
+
+<p>Hence, at no period of the history of the Sex, do we find them free
+from some form of amateur affliction. At one time, it is one part of
+their persons, at another time, another, which is subjected to
+voluntary distress&mdash;but always some part. Not that the shifting is, so
+far as can be seen, designed as a measure of relief; it would rather
+appear the object simply is&mdash;to make every part bear its share in
+turn, and allow none to escape. Thus, about a hundred years ago, a
+lady went about with shoes that raised her heels three inches above
+the floor, and threw her whole person out of its proper balance,
+occasioning, of course, a severe strain upon certain muscles, attended
+by constant pain. A little later, her feet might have been found
+restored to their right level; but, as if to make up for this, and
+allow no interval of misery, a tower of hair, pomatum, flour, pins,
+and pinners, had been reared on the head, such as an inquisitor might
+have considered himself very ingenious in devising, as a means of
+undoing the convictions of heretics, or bringing round a Jew to
+Christianity. Verily, it was a most portentous enginery for the
+affliction of female humanity; but how heroically it was endured! A
+whole generation bore it without a sigh! It often cost them their
+night's rest merely to get it properly put in order&mdash;for, dressing
+being in those days very elaborate, the attendants had to prepare some
+ladies one day for a party that was to take place the next. They would
+sit, however, in a chair all night, in order to preserve the structure
+in all its integrity, sleeping only by snatches, and often waking in
+terror lest something might be going wrong. Talk of the martyrs of
+science&mdash;Galileo in prison, Bruno at the stake. These men had
+something of importance in view to sustain them in their trials. Give
+me the Martyr Sex, who sacrifice ease and convenience, without having
+any adventitious principle whatever to compensate for and support them
+under their sufferings.</p>
+
+<p>In more recent times, we have seen the entire Sex submitting to
+torture in a middle ground&mdash;namely, the waist&mdash;with an equal degree of
+magnanimity. The corsets also formed an engine which would have
+perfectly fitted the purposes of the Inquisition; indeed, there were
+some ingenious devices of the Holy Office which did not greatly differ
+from it. It might almost shake the common-sense of admiration for
+martyrial sufferings, to find that every little girl in England was
+for some years both able and willing to endure a regular torture,
+without apparently having the least idea of making any merit by her
+patience. Present pains, possible consequences&mdash;such as red noses, bad
+breath, permanent ill health, death itself&mdash;were made light of. There
+being no imaginable good end to be served by it, was nothing to the
+point. The corsets were, for a time, a proud symbol of the martyr
+power of the Sex. You would see an example set forth in each
+milliner's window, carefully disposed under a glass-shade, as
+indicating the pride they felt in it as a sort of badge of honour. It
+is to be hoped that a few special copies will be preserved in our
+antiquarian museums, and, if possible, they should be such as can be
+certified to have killed their wearers, in order to shew to future
+generations what the women of our age could submit to <i>in that
+particular line</i>&mdash;not <i>generally</i> of course, for it is to be expected
+that the women of the future will have equal sufferings in some other
+walk to boast of.</p>
+
+<p>It is not always, indeed, that the Sex have a master torment, like
+tight stays, to endure; but certainly they are never without some
+source of either anguish or inconvenience to keep their martyr power
+in exercise. For one thing, they are sadly afflicted with over-large
+shoes. Strange to say, though there are artists pretending to be
+ladies' shoemakers, the sex never get shoes sufficiently small. Every
+now and then, they are receiving some monstrous affront, in the form
+of a pair of shoes that might hold sufficient meal for a pudding
+besides their feet. From this cause flow<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[pg 50]</a></span> certain pains and penalties
+in the form of corns and bunions, insuring that they shall never take
+a step in life without being reminded of the doom of suffering which
+has been passed upon them. To speak of the simple incommodations which
+they suffer from dress were endless. At one time, they are all blown
+out into sleeve, so that a miscellaneous dinner-party looks like a
+series of men and women with feather-beds stuck between each pair. At
+another time, the sleeve, while moderate in the region of the upper
+arm, is fashioned wide at the bottom, as if to allow of the fair
+wearers laughing in it&mdash;the joke, however, being all against
+themselves, seeing that the pendulous part is a source of continual
+trouble and worry, from its trailing through every sauce and tart that
+may be at table, till it becomes a kind of geological phenomenon, in
+the illustration which it affords of the succession of deposits and
+incrustations. Or the swelling falls mainly into a lower part of the
+dress, taking the form of a monstrous prolongation of skirts, and
+insuring that the fair Martyrs shall act as scavengers upon every
+street in which they promenade. I hardly know a more interesting sight
+than that of a young lady going to school on a wet day, with books to
+carry in one hand, and an umbrella to sustain in the other. To see the
+struggles she makes in such circumstances to keep her skirts from
+dragging in the mud, or the patience with which she submits to their
+unavoidably doing so, and to think of the sad condition of her lower
+extremities all the time&mdash;to reflect, moreover, that all this trouble
+and suffering could be avoided by merely having skirts of a
+sufficient, but not over-sufficient length&mdash;presents such an affecting
+picture of evils voluntarily encountered and heroically sustained, as
+but rarely occurs in the course of human life. It is justly held as a
+strong proof of patience, that you should calmly submit to be spat
+upon, or have mud thrown upon you by some infuriated crowd; but here
+is a gentle creature who literally goes out every day to endure the
+certain contact of these nuisances, and comes home to dinner not in
+much better plight than one who has sat (unpopularly) in the pillory
+for an hour. I really must give such martyrdom the meed of my
+admiration; and the more so, that I feel myself, under the hardening
+effects of worldly common-sense, totally unprepared to go through such
+hardships without some useful end to be served by it.</p>
+
+<p>The last example of what may be called the Martyrdom of Inconvenience
+which the Sex have shewn, is to be found in a form of bonnet adapted
+for summer wear, in which the front comes only to about an inch behind
+the forehead, so as to leave the face fully exposed to the attacks of
+the sun (when there is one) and the unmitigated gaze of the beaux.
+There is something very remarkable in this fashion, for a great number
+of ladies find it absolutely indispensable to add to this abbreviation
+of a bonnet a sort of supplement of silk called an <i>ugly</i>, wherewith
+to screen the face from becoming an absolute photograph. A couple of
+inches added to the bonnet itself would serve the end; but this would
+give a regular and not inelegant protection. It would, therefore,
+entirely prevent inconvenience, and so thwart the Sex in their
+martyrial propensities. Such a thing is not to be thought of. On the
+contrary, either to suffer from sunlight without an <i>ugly</i>, or to
+suffer from clumsiness with one, enables the unfortunate Sex to
+indulge in its favourite passion to the fullest extent possible in
+such cases. Admirable portion of creation! what merits are yours, what
+praise is called for fully to requite you! But, indeed, it must be
+quite impossible ever to make sufficient acknowledgment of that
+wonderful power of endurance for its own sake which you shew in the
+most trivial, as in the most important phases of life!</p>
+
+<p>I therefore quit the subject with a humiliating sense of my utter
+incompetency to do it entire justice. I weep and wonder&mdash;my very soul
+thrills with the pathos of woman's martyr position on the earth and
+her volunteer sufferings above all. But I would vainly attempt to
+utter all I feel. I must leave it to each bearded fellow-creature, as
+he walks through the wilderness of this world, to behold with a
+sympathising eye and spirit an endurance so affecting, and endeavour
+to compensate it, to the individual sufferers within his reach, by
+every consolation and every reward he may have it in his power to
+bestow.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="THE_YOUNGEST_BRITISH_COLONY" id="THE_YOUNGEST_BRITISH_COLONY"></a>THE YOUNGEST BRITISH COLONY.</h2>
+
+<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of
+    Contents</a></p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Which</span> is the youngest British colony? Simple as the question seems, it
+may be doubted, considering the remarkable increase of late years in
+the number of John Bull's colonial progeny, whether the most
+experienced red-tapist of Downing Street could answer it without some
+hesitation. At least a dozen infant communities occur at once to the
+recollection. There is Port Philip, lately rechristened by the royal
+name of Victoria, and now seemingly in a fair way to be smothered in
+its cradle by a deluge of gold-dust. There is the Hudson's Bay
+Company's little Cinderella of Vancouver's Island, with its neglected
+coal-mines, and other mineral riches. Then we have the precocious
+'Canterbury' pet, the 'young Virginia' of New Zealand. Nor must we
+forget the storm-vexed colony of Labuan, ushered into existence amid
+typhoons and parliamentary debates&mdash;nor the small castaways, growing
+up in secluded islets and corners&mdash;in the Falkland Islands, the
+Auckland Islands, on the Mosquito Shore, and in the far Eastern Seas.
+It is in one of these directions that most persons would probably be
+inclined to cast an inquiring glance before attempting to answer the
+question with which these remarks are prefaced. It is not likely that
+many would at once be able to recall to mind the fact, that an
+important British colony, dating its official existence from the 22d
+of March 1851, has suddenly sprung up in the interior of Africa&mdash;a
+colony already possessing an efficient legislature, a handsome
+revenue, and several flourishing towns, with churches, schools, a
+respectable press, and other adjuncts, of civilisation. A brief
+description of this remarkable colony may serve to awaken for it an
+interest which its future progress, if at all corresponding with the
+past, will probably keep alive.</p>
+
+<p>There is some difficulty in describing the 'Orange River
+Sovereignty'&mdash;for such is the long and rather awkward name by which
+this settlement is now known&mdash;so as to convey a correct idea of its
+situation without the aid of a map. That the Cape Colony occupies the
+southern coast of the African continent, and that the colony of Natal
+is on the south-eastern coast, are facts of which few readers will
+need to be reminded. Will it, then, be sufficient to say, that the
+'sovereignty' in question is situated in the interior, between these
+two colonies, having the Cape on the south, and Natal on the east? It
+will be necessary to refer briefly to the manner in which it acquired
+its rank as a colony, and its peculiar name. Just two hundred years
+ago, in the year 1652, the Cape Colony was founded by the Dutch; and
+about fifty years ago, it came into the possession of our own
+government. During these two centuries, the colony has been constantly
+extending itself towards the east and north, just as the British
+settlements in North America, which were founded about the same time,
+have been ever since extending their borders towards the west and
+south, or as the settlements of Eastern Australia have been spreading
+to the west, south, and north. It is a natural movement of
+colonisation, and there seems to be no means of checking it, even if
+any advantage were to be gained by doing so.</p>
+
+<p>As the American backwoodsmen, in their progress westward, reached at
+last the boundary-streams&mdash;as they were once considered&mdash;of the
+Mississippi and the Ohio, so the South-African colonists gradually
+found<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[pg 51]</a></span> their way to the great Orange River, which, flowing nearly
+across the continent, from east to west, formed a sort of natural
+limit to the old colony. But beyond this boundary, extensive plains
+and undulating downs, covered with nutritious herbage like the
+American prairies, spread out invitingly towards the distant northern
+horizon. The exterminating wars among the native tribes had left these
+grassy plains almost wholly unoccupied. You might travel over them for
+days without meeting a human being, or any traces of human possession,
+except here and there the decaying huts and bleaching skeletons of the
+former inhabitants. The feeble remnants of these tribes had sought
+refuge in the recesses of the neighbouring mountains, where some of
+them, in their dire extremity, sustained a horrid existence by
+cannibalism, which revolting custom still further diminished their
+numbers, and has only recently been suppressed. The Cape 'boers,' or
+farmers, rich as the patriarchs of old in cattle and sheep, and
+straitened like them for pasture, gradually found their way over the
+river into these fruitful and vacant plains. At first, they crossed
+only in small numbers, and with no intention of remaining permanently.
+But the abolition of slavery, the mismanaged Caffre wars, and some
+unpopular measures of the Cape government, suddenly gave a great
+impulse to the emigration.</p>
+
+<p>About fifteen years ago, some thousands of Dutch colonists sold their
+farms, packed their household gear in their huge capacious wagons, and
+with their wives and children&mdash;in all, at least 10,000
+souls&mdash;accompanied by myriads of cattle, sheep, and horses, crossed
+the Orange River, and plunged into the vast wilderness beyond. Some
+spread themselves over the rich pastures in the country lying
+immediately north of that river, and now forming the infant colony
+which is presently to be described. Others penetrated far to the
+north, forded the Vaal or Yellow River, and planted corn-fields and
+vineyards on the fertile slopes of the Kashan Mountains, where they
+still maintain themselves as a self-governed and thriving community.
+One small band of bold adventurers found their way to the verdant but
+fever-haunted plains about Delagoa Bay, whence the few survivors were
+presently driven by the destructive ravages of the pestilence. But the
+main column of the emigrants, turning to the right, crossed the lofty
+chain of the Drakenberg&mdash;the 'Rocky Mountains' of Africa&mdash;and
+descended into the well-watered valleys and woody lowlands of Natal.
+The romantic but melancholy story of the sufferings, the labours, the
+triumphs, and the reverses which filled up the subsequent years&mdash;how
+some of the emigrants were surprised and massacred by the jealous
+tribes of the interior, and others were treacherously slaughtered by
+their professed ally, the blood-thirsty chief of the Zulus&mdash;and how
+the exasperated survivors turned upon their assailants, broke their
+power, and scattered them; how they planted towns, formed a regular
+government, and set up an independent republic; all these, and many
+similar events, must be left for the future historians of South Africa
+to record. Neither is it necessary to refer here to the policy which
+led our government afterwards to extend its authority over the lands
+thus conquered and settled by the emigrants, or to the manner in which
+this authority, at first resisted, was finally established. Natal was
+thus made a British province in 1842. Many of the boors, naturally
+enough disliking the new government thus forced upon them, retraced
+their course over the Drakenberg, back into the upland plains of the
+interior. Here they were left pretty much to themselves, until the
+year 1848, when Sir Harry Smith proclaimed the extension of the
+Queen's supremacy over the whole of the territory situated between the
+Orange and Vaal Rivers; but, as has been already said, it was not
+until March of last year that this acquisition was finally sanctioned,
+and the new colony established by an act of the imperial government.</p>
+
+<p>The Vaal River&mdash;sometimes called the Nu Gariep, and sometimes the
+Yellow River&mdash;is the principal tributary of the Orange River; indeed,
+it is so large an affluent, that some geographers have doubted, as in
+the case of the Mississippi and the Missouri, which should properly be
+considered the main stream. These rivers, the Orange and the Vaal,
+rising near together in the Drakenberg chain, take a wide circuit, the
+one to the south-west, the other to the north-west, and flow each a
+distance of about 400 miles before their junction. The territory which
+they thus enclose is nearly as large as England, comprising between
+40,000 and 50,000 square miles. It is inhabited by about 80,000
+natives, of various Bechuana, Namaqua, and half-caste tribes, and by
+some 15,000 or 20,000 colonists of European origin. Over all these
+inhabitants, colonists and natives, the British sovereignty has been
+proclaimed. Subject to this supremacy, the native chiefs and tribes
+are still left to manage their own affairs, according to their
+original laws and customs. But in order to indicate clearly and
+decisively the fact, that the royal authority is now paramount in this
+region whenever Her Majesty's government chooses to exert it, the name
+of the Orange River Sovereignty has been given to the whole territory.</p>
+
+<p>The portion of this territory which is properly a British
+settlement&mdash;or, in other words, which is inhabited by Dutch and
+English colonists, is in extent about two-thirds of the whole. It is
+subdivided into four districts, for each of which a stipendiary
+magistrate has been appointed. These magistrates, with eight
+unofficial members of council&mdash;who are all respectable
+landowners&mdash;form, in conjunction with the 'British resident,' the
+legislature of the colony. The title of the Resident is borrowed from
+the official system of India, and was originally given to him when
+acting as a government commissioner for the protection of the native
+tribes; but his office is at present simply that of a colonial
+governor.</p>
+
+<p>The extensive country which is thus governed, cannot be better
+described than in the words of Sir Harry Smith, who, in a dispatch
+written in January 1848, gives the following account of the whole
+region, which he had just traversed, on his way from the Cape to
+Natal. He describes it as 'a country well fitted for the pasturage of
+cattle, and covered in every direction with large game. It is,' he
+adds, 'strongly undulating; and although badly watered, well adapted
+for the construction of dams; and, the soil being generally rich, it
+is capable, if irrigated, of producing every species of grain. It is
+miserably destitute of trees, frequently even of bush, and is thickly
+studded with abrupt and isolated hills, whose height frequently
+approaches that of mountains. Over the greater part of this tract of
+country, not a single native is to be seen; nor for many years, if
+ever, has it been inhabited by one. The gardens of the emigrants
+(boers) are in many places very good; their houses miserable, as they
+have been deterred from exhausting their little remaining capital by
+building on a doubtful and precarious tenure. That objection to the
+increase of their comfort, if the word be applicable, will now, I
+trust, be happily removed.' The absence of trees, of which Sir Harry
+speaks, is believed to have originated from the same cause which
+occasions a similar want in the prairies of America&mdash;that is, the
+native custom of burning down the grass every winter, to fertilise the
+soil. Where trees have been planted recently, they have grown well.
+The apple, pear, peach, and other fruit-trees of temperate climates,
+are found to thrive and produce abundantly. The whole country, it
+should be added, is a great plateau, elevated 2000 or 3000 feet above
+the level of the sea. The climate is, therefore, cooler than in Natal,
+which is situated in the same latitude, but at a lower elevation.</p>
+
+<p>It was not till Sir Harry Smith had thus proclaimed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[pg 52]</a></span> the royal
+supremacy, in 1848, that English colonists began to establish
+themselves in any considerable numbers in the country. But they then
+soon found their way thither, principally as traders, and settled in
+the new towns which quickly sprang up in the several districts. Bloem
+Fontein, the capital, is now almost wholly an English town. It has its
+municipality; its weekly newspaper&mdash;printed in English and Dutch; its
+English and 'Dutch Reformed' churches, and Wesleyan Chapel; its
+government school; its market; and various other appurtenances of a
+flourishing town, all of which have come into existence since Sir
+Harry Smith made his flying visit to the province in 1848, and
+proclaimed it subject to Her Majesty's supremacy. Such magic resides
+in a British governor's proclamation!</p>
+
+<p>But the growth of Bloem Fontein, rapid as it has been, is not so
+striking as that of another town. There is a well-known story of a
+traveller, in a newly-settled part of North America, inquiring his way
+at a lonely hut to a 'city' which made a conspicuous figure in some
+land-speculator's map, and receiving the startling information, that
+he was then standing in the principal square. An adventure of much the
+same nature befell a traveller in South Africa, who, in February 1850,
+attempted, while on his way from Bloem Fontein to Natal, to discover
+the newly-founded town of Harrismith.</p>
+
+<p>'At length,' he writes, 'having reached the eastern side of the
+mountain, I halted, and determined to go in search of this new-born
+town&mdash;a future city in our vast empire. Taking my attendant, Andries,
+with me, we proceeded to an elevation, where I felt sure it must come
+into view. We were disappointed. Not a spire, nor chimney, nor hut
+could be seen; and so we walked on towards another elevation. On our
+way, we came to an emigrant settler, busily employed in brick-making;
+and from him I learned that we had taken the left-hand road instead of
+the right, after we passed the last stream. We were about a mile from
+the spot marked out as the town, <i>but no houses are built, nor are any
+persons residing there</i>; so I did not deem it worth while to proceed
+further in that direction.' In May of the same year, 'two or three
+houses' are reported to have been built; in 1851, they are springing
+up rapidly; and at the latest date, the 9th of last January, we hear
+of an actual flourishing little town, with school-house, flour-mill,
+and bustling and increasing trade.</p>
+
+<p>The progressing town, however, had its difficulties, both physical and
+political, to contend with. The correspondent has to report, that 'the
+postal arrangements still continue unsatisfactory and vexatious, no
+post having been received from Bloem Fontein for the last two months;
+and,' he indignantly adds, 'to make matters worse, the late
+magistrate's clerk and postmaster has resigned, owing to grave charges
+having been preferred against him by a party faction who would rule
+public opinion.' But he consoles himself with the judicious
+reflection, that 'time and imported respectable intelligence will
+remedy this unhappy state of things, in the changes which small
+communities undergo.' It is satisfactory to learn, that in spite of
+the machinations of faction, the citizens managed to enjoy themselves
+when a suitable occasion offered. 'New-Year's Day,' we are told, 'was
+celebrated with more than ordinary spirit. A shooting-match took
+place, after which a public supper and quadrille-party came off; which
+finished the pleasures of the day. The next day, lovers of the turf
+had their enjoyment in the establishment of races.' And then we have,
+duly recorded in the well-known <i>Racing-Calendar</i> style, the fortunes
+of the competitors, for the 'Untried' Cup, the 'Harrismith Plate,' the
+'Ladies' Purse,' and the 'Hack-Race' and it is stated that 'one of the
+horses was sold immediately after the races for L.40,' which would
+seem to be considered a high figure in that region. It is further
+announced, 'that another year will probably see the establishment of a
+fair, which will give our interior farmers and friends an opportunity
+of rendering a journey to Harrismith both profitable and pleasurable,
+as such an occasion will doubtless attract buyers of cattle, horses,
+sheep, wool, butter, tallow, grain, &amp;c., from Natal.' And the
+correspondent is 'happy to state, that several farmers are settling
+upon their farms in the neighbourhood of the town, which will tend to
+give confidence, and increase the value of land in its vicinity.'</p>
+
+<p>Thus, in less than two years, a real, bustling, hopeful little town
+had sprung into existence, with all the genuine characteristics of an
+English community. Education and trade, races and quadrilles, were
+already flourishing. The well-known political parties, the Buffs and
+the Blues, the foes of corruption and the friends of established
+institutions, were already arraying themselves in hostile ranks. In
+two years more, we may expect to receive the first numbers of the
+<i>Harrismith Gazette</i> and the <i>Harrismith Independent</i>, the 'organs' of
+the respective parties; and to learn through their valuable columns,
+that the 'Harrismith Agricultural and Commercial Bank' has declared
+its first annual dividend of 10 per cent., and that the new
+'Harrismith Assembly-Rooms' were thrown open, on the auspicious
+anniversary of the royal birthday, to a large and select assemblage of
+the rank, fashion, and beauty of the city and its neighbourhood.</p>
+
+<p>The writer from whose letter some of the foregoing quotations are
+made, strongly recommends that the government should offer 'unstinted
+encouragement and liberal assistance' to promote emigration from Great
+Britain; and considers that, if this were done, 'thousands of hardy
+English and Scotch farmers would avail themselves of the advantages
+which the country offers.' This is possible; but at the same time, it
+should be known, that the excitement among the native tribes, caused
+by the war in Caffreland, had extended across the Orange River into
+the sovereignty, and that much confusion, and, unfortunately, some
+bloodshed, had ensued. These disorders, it is true, were only local;
+but it is evident that the neighbourhood of some 80,000 barbarians
+must, for some time to come, be a source of considerable embarrassment
+and danger to all settlers in the new colony. In time, no doubt, with
+the progress of civilisation, this danger will be removed; and the
+natives may become, as in New Zealand, a source of wealth to the
+colony, as useful labourers&mdash;like the 'skipping Caffres' under the
+brickmaker's instructions, or peaceful cultivators of the soil. At
+present, however, the peril from this source is so evident and so
+serious, that a warning reference to it could not with propriety be
+omitted in any description of this otherwise promising settlement.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="THE_SECRET" id="THE_SECRET"></a>THE SECRET.</h2>
+
+<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of
+    Contents</a></p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Jean Baptiste V&eacute;ron</span>, a native, it was understood, of the south of
+France, established himself as a merchant at Havre-de-Gr&acirc;ce in 1788,
+being then a widower with one child, a young boy. The new-comer's
+place of business was on the south quay, about a hundred yards west of
+the custom-house. He had brought letters of high recommendation from
+several eminent Paris firms; his capital was ascertained to be large;
+and soon, moreover, approving him self to be a man of keen mercantile
+discernment, and measured, peremptory, unswerving business habits, it
+is not surprising that his commercial transactions speedily took a
+wide range, or that, at the end of about fifteen years, M. V&eacute;ron was
+pronounced by general consent to be the wealthiest merchant of the
+commercial capital of northern France. He was never, albeit, much of a
+favourite with any class of society: his manner was too <i>brusque</i>,
+decided, unbending&mdash;his speech too curt, frequently too bitter, for
+that; but he managed to steer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[pg 53]</a></span> his course in very difficult times
+quite as safely as those who put themselves to great pains and charges
+to obtain popularity. He never expressed&mdash;publicly at least&mdash;any
+preference for Royalism, Republicanism, or Imperialism; for
+fleur-de-lis, bonnet-rouge, or tricolore: in short, Jean Baptiste
+V&eacute;ron was a stern, taciturn, self-absorbed man of business; and as
+nothing else was universally concluded, till the installation of a
+<i>quasi</i> legitimacy by Napoleon Bonaparte, when a circumstance, slight
+in itself, gave a clearer significance to the cold, haughty, repellent
+expression which played habitually about the merchant's gray, deep-set
+eyes, and thin, firmly-compressed lips. His newly-engraved private
+card read thus:&mdash;'J. B. <i>de</i> V&eacute;ron, <i>Mon S&eacute;jour</i>, Ingouville.' Mon
+S&eacute;jour was a charming suburban domicile, situate upon the C&ocirc;te, as it
+is usually termed-a sloping eminence on the north of Le Havre, which
+it commands, and now dotted with similar residences, but at the period
+we are writing of, very sparsely built upon. Not long after this
+assumption of the aristocratic prefix to his name, it was discovered
+that he had insinuated himself into the very narrow and exclusive
+circle of the De M&eacute;rodes, who were an unquestionable fragment of the
+old noblesse, damaged, it is true, almost irretrievably in purse, as
+their modest establishment on the C&ocirc;te too plainly testified; but in
+pedigree as untainted and resplendent as in the palmiest days of the
+Capets. As the Chevalier de M&eacute;rode and his daughter Mademoiselle
+Henriette-Delphine-Hortense-Marie-Chasse-Loup de M&eacute;rode&mdash;described as
+a tall, fair, and extremely meagre damsel, of about thirty years of
+age&mdash;were known to be rigidly uncompromising in all matters having
+reference to ancestry, it was concluded that Jean Baptiste do V&eacute;ron
+had been able to satisfy his noble friends, that although <i>de facto</i> a
+merchant from the sad necessities of the evil time, he was <i>de jure</i>
+entitled to take rank and precedence with the illustrious though
+decayed nobility of France. It might be, too, as envious gossips
+whispered, that any slight flaw or break in the chain of De V&eacute;ron's
+patrician descent, had been concealed or overlooked in the glitter of
+his wealth, more especially if it was true, as rumour presently began
+to circulate, that the immense sum&mdash;in French eyes and ears&mdash;of
+300,000 francs (L.12,000) was to be settled upon Mademoiselle de
+M&eacute;rode and her heirs on the day which should see her united in holy
+wedlock with Eug&egrave;ne de V&eacute;ron, by this time a fine-looking young man,
+of one or two-and-twenty, and, like ninety-nine in every hundred of
+the youth of France, strongly prejudiced <i>against</i> the pretensions of
+mere birth and hereditary distinction.</p>
+
+<p>Rumour in this instance was correctly informed. 'Eug&egrave;ne,' said M. de
+V&eacute;ron, addressing his son in his usual cold positive manner, and at
+the same time locking his private &eacute;critoire, the hand of the clock
+being just on the stroke of five, the hour for closing&mdash;'I have a
+matter of importance to inform you of. All differences between me and
+the Chevalier de M&eacute;rode relative to your marriage with his daughter,
+Mademoiselle de M&eacute;rode, are'&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Hein!' ejaculated Eug&egrave;ne, suddenly whirling round upon his stool, and
+confronting his father. 'Hein!'</p>
+
+<p>'All differences, I say,' resumed M. de V&eacute;ron with unruffled calm and
+decision, 'between myself and the chevalier are arranged <i>&agrave;
+l'aimable</i>; and the contract of marriage will be ready, for your and
+Mademoiselle de M&eacute;rode's signature, on Monday next at two precisely.'</p>
+
+<p>'Mine and Mademoiselle de M&eacute;rode's!' repeated the astounded son, who
+seemed half doubtful whether he saw or heard aright.</p>
+
+<p>'Yes. No wonder you are surprised. So distinguished a connection could
+hardly, under the circumstances, have been hoped for; and it would
+have been cruel to have given you any intimation on the subject whilst
+there was a chance of the negotiation issuing unfavourably. Your wife
+and you will, for the present, at all events, take up your abode at
+Mon S&eacute;jour; and I must consequently look out at once for a smaller, a
+more bachelor-suiting residence.'</p>
+
+<p>'My wife and me!' echoed V&eacute;ron junior with the same air of stupid
+amazement as before&mdash;'My wife and me!' Recovering a little, he added:
+'Confound it, there must be some mistake here. Do you know, <i>mon
+p&egrave;re</i>, that this Mademoiselle de M&eacute;rode is not at all to my taste? I
+would as soon marry'&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'No folly, Eug&egrave;ne, if you please,' interrupted M. de V&eacute;ron. 'The
+affair, as I have told you, is decided. You will marry Mademoiselle de
+M&eacute;rode; or if not, he added with iron inflexibility of tone and
+manner&mdash;'Eug&egrave;ne de V&eacute;ron is likely to benefit very little by his
+father's wealth, which the said Eug&egrave;ne will do well to remember is of
+a kind not very difficult of transference beyond the range of the law
+of inheritance which prevails in France. The leprosy of the
+Revolution,' continued M. de V&eacute;ron as he rose and put on his hat, 'may
+indeed be said to have polluted our very hearths, when we find
+children setting up their opinions, and likings and dislikings,
+forsooth! against their fathers' decision, in a matter so entirely
+within the parental jurisdiction as that of a son or daughter's
+marriage.'</p>
+
+<p>Eug&egrave;ne did not reply; and after assisting his father&mdash;who limped a
+little in consequence of having severely sprained his ankle some eight
+or ten days previously&mdash;to a light one-horse carriage in waiting
+outside, he returned to the office, and resumed his seat, still in a
+maze of confusion, doubt, and dismay. 'How could,' he incoherently
+muttered&mdash;'how could my father&mdash;how could anybody suppose that&mdash;&mdash;How
+could he especially be so blind as not to have long ago
+perceived&mdash;&mdash;What a contrast!' added Eug&egrave;ne de V&eacute;ron jumping up,
+breaking into passionate speech, and his eyes sparkling as if he was
+actually in presence of the dark-eyed divinity whose image filled his
+brain and loosed his tongue&mdash;'what a contrast! Ad&eacute;line, young,
+roseate, beautiful as Spring, lustrous as Juno, graceful as Hebe! Oh,
+<i>par exemple</i>, Mademoiselle de M&eacute;rode, you, with your high blood and
+skinny bones, must excuse me. And poor, too, poor as Ad&eacute;line!
+Decidedly, the old gentleman must be crazed, and&mdash;and let me
+see&mdash;&mdash;Ay, to be sure, I must confer with Edouard at once.'</p>
+
+<p>Eug&egrave;ne de V&eacute;ron had only one flight of stairs to ascend in order to
+obtain this conference, Edouard le Blanc, the brother of Ad&eacute;line,
+being a principal clerk in the establishment. Edouard le Blanc readily
+and sincerely condoled with his friend upon the sudden obscuration of
+his and Ad&eacute;line's hopes, adding that he had always felt a strong
+misgiving upon the subject; and after a lugubrious dialogue, during
+which the clerk hinted nervously at a circumstance which, looking at
+the unpleasant turn matters were taking, might prove of terrible
+import&mdash;a nervousness but very partially relieved by Eug&egrave;ne's
+assurance, that, come what may, he would take the responsibility in
+that particular entirely upon himself, as, indeed, he was bound to
+do&mdash;the friends left the office, and wended their way to Madame le
+Blanc's, Ingouville. There the lover forgot, in Ad&eacute;line's gay
+exhilarating presence and conversation, the recent ominous and
+exasperating communication from his father; while Edouard proceeded to
+take immediate counsel with his mother upon the altered aspect of
+affairs, not only as regarded Ad&eacute;line and Eug&egrave;ne de V&eacute;ron, but more
+particularly himself, Edouard le Blanc.</p>
+
+<p>Ten minutes had hardly passed by ordinary reckoning&mdash;barely one by
+Eug&egrave;ne de V&eacute;ron's&mdash;when his interview with the charming Ad&eacute;line was
+rudely broken in upon by Madame le Blanc, a shrewd, prudent woman of
+the world, albeit that in this affair she had somewhat lost her
+balance, tempted by the glittering prize offered for her daughter's
+acceptance, and for a time apparently within her reach. The mother's
+tone and manner<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[pg 54]</a></span> were stern and peremptory. 'Have the kindness,
+Monsieur Eug&egrave;ne de V&eacute;ron, to bid Ad&eacute;line adieu at once. I have a
+serious matter to talk over with you alone. Come!'</p>
+
+<p>Ad&eacute;line was extremely startled at hearing her rich lover thus
+addressed, and the carnation of her glowing cheeks faded at once to
+lily paleness, whilst Eug&egrave;ne's features flushed as quickly to deepest
+crimson. He stammered out his willingness to attend madame
+immediately, and hastily kissing Ad&eacute;line's hand, followed the
+unwelcome intruder to another room.</p>
+
+<p>'So, Monsieur Eug&egrave;ne,' began Madame le Blanc, 'this ridiculous
+wooing&mdash;of which, as you know, I never heartily approved&mdash;is at an
+end. You are, I hear, to marry Mademoiselle de M&eacute;rode in the early
+part of next week.'</p>
+
+<p>'Madame le Blanc,' exclaimed the young man, 'what is it you are
+saying? <i>I</i> marry Mademoiselle de M&eacute;rode next or any other week! I
+swear to you, by all that is true and sacred, that I will be torn in
+pieces by wild horses before I break faith with'&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Chut! chut!' interrupted Madame Le Blanc; 'you may spare your oaths.
+The sentimental bavardage of boys in love will be lost upon me. You
+will, as you ought, espouse Mademoiselle de M&eacute;rode, who is, I am told,
+a very superior and amiable person; and as to Ad&eacute;line, she will
+console herself. A girl with her advantages will always be able to
+marry sufficiently well, though not into the family of a millionaire.
+But my present business with you, Monsieur Eug&egrave;ne de V&eacute;ron, relates to
+a different and much more important matter. Edouard has just confided
+to me a very painful circumstance. You have induced him to commit not
+only a weak but a highly criminal act: he has let you have, without
+Monsieur de V&eacute;ron's consent or knowledge, two thousand francs, upon
+the assurance that you would either reimburse that sum before his
+accounts were balanced, or arrange the matter satisfactorily with your
+father.' 'But, Madame le Blanc'&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Neither of which alternatives,' persisted that lady, 'I very plainly
+perceive, you will be able to fulfil, unless you comply with Monsieur
+de V&eacute;ron's wishes; and if you have any real regard for Ad&eacute;line, you
+will signify that acquiescence without delay, for her brother's ruin
+would in a moral sense be hers also. Part of the money has, I
+understand, been squandered on the presents you have made her: they
+shall be returned'&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Madame le Blanc,' exclaimed the excited young man, 'you will drive me
+mad! I cannot, will not give up Ad&eacute;line; and as for the paltry sum of
+money you speak of&mdash;<i>my</i> money as it may fairly be considered-<i>that</i>
+shall be returned to-morrow morning.'</p>
+
+<p>Madame le Blanc did not speak for a few seconds, and then said: 'Very
+well, mind you keep your promise. To-morrow is, you are aware, the
+F&ecirc;te Dieu: we have promised Madame Carson of the Grande Rue to pass
+the afternoon and evening at her house, where we shall have a good
+view of the procession. Do you and Edouard call on us there, as soon
+as the affair is arranged. I will not detain you longer at present.
+Adieu! Stay, stay&mdash;by this door, if you please. I cannot permit you to
+see Ad&eacute;line again, at all events till this money transaction is
+definitively settled.'</p>
+
+<p>'As you have now slept upon the proposal I communicated to you
+yesterday afternoon,' said M. de V&eacute;ron, addressing his son on the
+following morning at the conclusion of a silent breakfast&mdash;'you may
+perhaps be prepared with a more fitting answer than you were then?'</p>
+
+<p>Eug&egrave;ne warmly protested his anxiety to obey all his father's
+reasonable commands; but in this case compliance was simply
+impossible, forasmuch as he, Eug&egrave;ne, had already irrevocably pledged
+his word, his heart, his honour, in another quarter, and could not,
+therefore, nay, would not, consent to poison his future existence by
+uniting himself with Mademoiselle de M&eacute;rode, for whom, indeed, he felt
+the profoundest esteem, but not the slightest emotion of affection or
+regard.</p>
+
+<p>'Your word, your honour, your heart&mdash;you should have added your
+fortune,' replied M. de V&eacute;ron with frigid, slowly-distilled, sarcastic
+bitterness&mdash;'are irrevocably engaged, are they, to Ad&eacute;line le Blanc,
+sister of my collecting clerk&mdash;daughter of a deceased sous-lieutenant
+of the line'&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Of the Imperial Guard,' interposed Eug&egrave;ne.</p>
+
+<p>'Who aids her mother to eke out a scanty pension by embroidery'&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Very superior, artistic embroidery,' again interjected the son.</p>
+
+<p>'Be it so. I have not been quite so unobservant, Eug&egrave;ne, of certain
+incidents, as you and your friends appear to have supposed. But time
+proves all things, and the De M&eacute;rodes and I can wait.'</p>
+
+<p>Nothing further passed till M. de V&eacute;ron rose to leave the room, when
+his son, with heightened colour and trembling speech, although
+especially aiming at a careless indifference of tone and manner, said:
+Sir&mdash;sir&mdash;one word, if you please. I have a slight favour to ask.
+There are a few debts, to the amount of about two thousand francs,
+which I wish to discharge immediately&mdash;this morning, in fact.'</p>
+
+<p>'Debts to the amount of about two thousand francs, which you wish to
+discharge immediately&mdash;this morning, in fact,' slowly repeated De
+V&eacute;ron, fixing on his son a triumphant, mocking glance, admirably
+seconded by the curve of his thin white lips. 'Well, let the bills be
+sent to me. If correct and fair, they shall be paid.'</p>
+
+<p>'But&mdash;but, father, one, the chief item, is a debt of honour!'</p>
+
+<p>'Indeed! Then your honour is pledged to others besides Mademoiselle
+<i>la brodeuse</i>? I have only to say, that in that case I <i>will not</i>
+assist you.' Having said this, M. de V&eacute;ron, quite regardless of his
+son's angry expostulations, limped out of the apartment, and shortly
+after, the sound of carriage-wheels announced his departure to Le
+Havre. Eug&egrave;ne, about an hour afterwards followed, vainly striving to
+calm his apprehensions by the hope, that before the day for balancing
+Edouard's accounts arrived, he should find his father in a more
+Christian-like and generous mood, or, at any rate, hit upon some means
+of raising the money.</p>
+
+<p>The day, like the gorgeous procession that swept through the crowded
+streets, passed slowly and uninterruptedly away in M. de V&eacute;ron's place
+of business, till about half-past four, when that gentleman directed a
+porter, who was leaving the private office, to inform M. le Blanc,
+that he, M. de V&eacute;ron, wished to speak with him immediately. On hearing
+this order, Eug&egrave;ne looked quickly up from the desk at which he was
+engaged, to his father's face; but he discerned nothing on that
+impassive tablet either to dissipate or confirm his fear.</p>
+
+<p>'Edouard le Blanc,' said M. de V&eacute;ron with mild suavity of voice the
+instant the summoned clerk presented himself, 'it so chances that I
+have no further occasion for your services'&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>Sir!&mdash;sir!' gasped the terrified young man.</p>
+
+<p>'You are,' continued M. de V&eacute;ron, 'entitled to a month's salary, in
+lieu of that period of notice&mdash;one hundred francs, with which you may
+credit yourself in the cash account you will please to balance and
+bring me as quickly as possible.'</p>
+
+<p>'Sir!&mdash;sir!' again bewilderedly iterated the panic-stricken clerk, as
+he turned distractedly from father to son&mdash;'Sir!'</p>
+
+<p>'My words are plain enough, I think,' observed M. de V&eacute;ron, coolly
+tapping and opening his snuff-box from which he helped himself to a
+hearty pinch. 'You are discharged with one hundred francs, a month's
+salary in lieu of warning, in your pocket. You have now only to bring
+your accounts; they are correct, of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[pg 55]</a></span> course; I, finding them so, sign
+your <i>livret</i>, and there is an end of the matter.'</p>
+
+<p>Edouard le Blanc made a step or two towards the door, and then, as if
+overwhelmed with a sense of the hopelessness of further concealment,
+turned round, threw himself with a cry of terror and despair at M. de
+V&eacute;ron's feet, and poured forth a wild, sobbing, scarcely intelligible
+confession of the fault or crime of which he had been guilty, through
+the solicitations of M. Eug&egrave;ne, who had, he averred, received every
+farthing of the amount in which he, Edouard le Blanc, acknowledged
+himself to be a defaulter.</p>
+
+<p>'Yes!&mdash;yes!' exclaimed the son; 'Edouard gave the money into my hands,
+and if there is any blame, it is mine alone.'</p>
+
+<p>M. de V&eacute;ron listened with a stolid, stony apathy to all this, save for
+a slight glimmer of triumph that, spite of himself, shone out at the
+corners of his half-closed eyes. When the young man had ceased sobbing
+and exclaiming, he said: 'You admit, Edouard le Blanc, that you have
+robbed me of nearly two thousand francs, at, you say, the solicitation
+of my son&mdash;an excuse, you must be aware, of not the slightest legal
+weight; no more than if your pretty sister, Mademoiselle Ad&eacute;line, who,
+I must be permitted to observe, is not altogether, I suspect, a
+stranger to this affair&mdash;&mdash;Hear me out, Messieurs, if you please: I
+say your excuse has no more legal validity, than if your sister had
+counselled you to commit this felony. Now, mark me, young man: it is
+just upon five o'clock. At half-past seven precisely, I shall go
+before a magistrate, and cause a warrant to be issued for your
+apprehension. To-morrow morning, consequently, the brother of
+Mademoiselle le Blanc will either be an incarcerated felon, or, which
+will suit me just as well, a proclaimed fugitive from justice.'</p>
+
+<p>'One moment&mdash;one word, for the love of Heaven, before you go!'
+exclaimed Eug&egrave;ne. 'Is there any mode, any means whereby Edouard may be
+rescued from this frightful, this unmerited calamity&mdash;this
+irretrievable ruin?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' rejoined M. de V&eacute;ron, pausing for an instant on the outer
+threshold, 'there is one mode, Eug&egrave;ne, and only one. What it is, you
+do not require to be told. I shall dine in town to-day; at seven, I
+shall look in at the church of Notre Dame, and remain there precisely
+twenty minutes. After that, repentance will be too late.'</p>
+
+<p>Eug&egrave;ne was in despair, for it was quite clear that Ad&eacute;line must be
+given up&mdash;Ad&eacute;line, whose myriad charms and graces rose upon his
+imagination in tenfold greater lustre than before, now that he was
+about to lose her for ever! But there was plainly no help for it; and
+after a brief, agitated consultation, the young men left the office to
+join Madame and Mademoiselle le Blanc at the Widow Carson's, in the
+Grande Rue, or Rue de Paris, as the only decent street in
+Havre-de-Gr&acirc;ce was at that time indifferently named, both for the
+purpose of communicating the untoward state of affairs, and that
+Eug&egrave;ne might take a lingering, last farewell of Ad&eacute;line.</p>
+
+<p>Before accompanying them thither, it is necessary to say a few words
+of this Madame Carson, who is about to play a very singular part in
+this little drama. She was a gay, well-looking, symmetrically-shaped
+young widow, who kept a confectioner's shop in the said Grande Rue,
+and officiated as her own <i>dame du comptoir</i>. Her good-looks,
+coquettishly-gracious smiles, and unvarying good temper, rendered her
+establishment much more attractive&mdash;it was by no means a brilliant
+affair in itself&mdash;than it would otherwise have been. Madame Carson
+was, in a tacit, quiet kind of way, engaged to Edouard le Blanc&mdash;that
+is to say, she intended marrying him as soon as their mutual savings
+should justify such a step; and provided, also, that no more eligible
+offer wooed her acceptance in the meantime. M. de V&eacute;ron himself was
+frequently in the habit of calling, on his way to or from Mon S&eacute;jour,
+for a p&acirc;t&eacute; and a little lively badinage with the comely widow; and so
+frequently, at one time, that Edouard le Blanc was half-inclined&mdash;to
+Madame Carson's infinite amusement&mdash;to be jealous of the rich, though
+elderly merchant's formal and elaborate courtesies. It was on leaving
+her shop that he had slipped and sprained his ankle. M. de V&eacute;ron
+fainted with the extreme pain, was carried in that state into the
+little parlour behind the shop, and had not yet recovered
+consciousness when the apothecary, whom Madame Carson had despatched
+her little waiting-maid-of-all-work in quest of, entered to tender his
+assistance. This is all, I think, that needs be said, in a preliminary
+way, of Madame Carson.</p>
+
+<p>Of course, the tidings brought by Eug&egrave;ne and Edouard very painfully
+affected Mademoiselle le Blanc; but being a very sensible, as well as
+remarkably handsome young person, she soon rallied, and insisted,
+quite as warmly as her mother did, that the sacrifice necessary to
+relieve Edouard from the peril which environed him&mdash;painful,
+heartbreaking as that sacrifice might be&mdash;must be submitted to without
+reserve or delay. In other words, that M. de V&eacute;ron, junior, must
+consent to espouse Mademoiselle de M&eacute;rode, and forthwith inform his
+father that he was ready to sign the nuptial-contract that moment if
+necessary. Poor Eug&egrave;ne, who was really over head and ears in love, and
+more so just then than ever, piteously lamented his own cruel fate,
+and passionately denounced the tiger-heartedness of his barbarian
+father; but as tears and reproaches could avail nothing in such a
+strait, he finally submitted to the general award, and agreed to
+announce his submission to M. de V&eacute;ron at the church of Notre Dame,
+not a moment later, both ladies insisted, than five minutes past
+seven.</p>
+
+<p>Madame Carson was not at home all this while. She had gone to church,
+and after devotions, called on her way back on one or two friends for
+a little gossip, so that it wanted only about a quarter to seven when
+she reappeared. Of course the lamentable story had to be told over
+again, with all its dismal accompaniments of tears, sighs, and
+plaintive ejaculations; and it was curious to observe, as the
+narrative proceeded, how the widow's charming eyes flashed and
+sparkled, and her cheeks glowed with indignation, till she looked, to
+use Edouard le Blanc's expression, 'ferociously' handsome. 'Le
+monstre!' she exclaimed, as Eug&egrave;ne terminated the sad history,
+gathering up as she spoke the shawl and gloves she had just before put
+off; 'but I shall see him at once: I have influence with this Monsieur
+de V&eacute;ron.'</p>
+
+<p>'Nonsense, Emilie,' said Madame le Blanc. '<i>You</i> possess influence
+over Monsieur de V&eacute;ron!'</p>
+
+<p>'Certainly I do. And is that such a miracle?' replied Madame Carson
+with a demure glance at Edouard le Blanc. Edouard looked somewhat
+scared, but managed to say: 'Not at all, certainly not; but this man's
+heart is iron&mdash;steel.'</p>
+
+<p>'We shall see,' said the fair widow, as she finished drawing on her
+gloves. '<i>La grande passion</i> is sometimes stronger than iron or steel:
+is it not Monsieur Eug&egrave;ne? At all events, I shall try. He is in the
+church, you say. Very well, if I fail&mdash;but I am sure I shall <i>not</i>
+fail&mdash;I return in ten minutes, and that will leave Mademoiselle
+Ad&eacute;line's despairing lover plenty of time to make his submission, if
+better may not be; and so <i>au revoir</i>, Mesdames et Messieurs.'</p>
+
+<p>'What can she mean?' said Madame le Blanc as the door closed. 'I have
+noticed, once or twice during the last fortnight, that she has made
+use of strange half-hints relative to Monsieur de V&eacute;ron.'</p>
+
+<p>'I don't know what she can mean,' said Edouard le Blanc, seizing his
+hat and hurrying off; 'but I shall follow, and strive to ascertain.'</p>
+
+<p>He was just in time to catch a glimpse of Madame Carson's skirts as
+they whisked round the corner of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[pg 56]</a></span> the Rue St Jacques, and by
+quickening his speed, he saw her enter the church from that street.
+Notre Dame was crowded; but Edouard le Blanc had no difficulty in
+singling out M. de V&eacute;ron, who was sitting in his accustomed chair,
+somewhat removed from the mass of worshippers, on the left of the high
+altar; and presently he discerned Madame Carson gently and adroitly
+making her way through the crowd towards him. The instant she was near
+enough, she tapped him slightly on the shoulder. He turned quickly,
+and stared with a haughty, questioning glance at the smiling
+confectioner. There was no <i>grande passion</i> in that look, Edouard felt
+quite satisfied, and Madame Carson's conduct seemed more than ever
+unintelligible. She appeared to say something, which was replied to by
+an impatient gesture of refusal, and M. de V&eacute;ron turned again towards
+the altar. Madame Carson next approached close to his chair, and
+bending down, whispered in his ear, for perhaps a minute. As she did
+so, M. de V&eacute;ron's body rose slowly up, involuntarily as it were, and
+stiffened into rigidity, as if under the influence of some frightful
+spell. Forcing himself at last, it seemed, to confront the whisperer,
+he no sooner caught her eye than he reeled, like one struck by a heavy
+blow, against the pedestal of a saint, whose stony features looked
+less white and bloodless than his own. Madame Carson contemplated the
+effect she had produced with a kind of pride for a few moments, and
+then, with a slight but peremptory wave of her hand, motioned him to
+follow her out of the sacred edifice. M. de V&eacute;ron hastily, though with
+staggering steps, obeyed; Edouard le Blanc crossing the church and
+reaching the street just soon enough to see them both driven off in M.
+de V&eacute;ron's carriage.</p>
+
+<p>Edouard hurried back to the Grande Rue to report what he had
+witnessed; and what could be the interpretation of the inexplicable
+scene, engrossed the inventive faculties of all there, till they were
+thoroughly tired of their wild and aimless guesses. Eight o'clock
+chimed&mdash;nine&mdash;ten&mdash;and they were all, Edouard especially, working
+themselves into a complete panic of undefinable apprehension, when, to
+their great relief, M. de V&eacute;ron's carriage drew up before the door.
+The first person to alight was M. Bourdon, a notary of eminence; next
+M. de V&eacute;ron, who handed out Madame Carson; and all three walked
+through the shop into the back-apartment. The notary wore his usual
+business aspect, and had in his hands two rolls of thickly-written
+parchment, which he placed upon the table, and at once began to spread
+out. M. de V&eacute;ron had the air of a man walking in a dream, and subdued,
+mastered by some overpowering, nameless terror; while Madame Carson,
+though pale with excitement, was evidently highly elated, and, to use
+a French phrase, completely 'mistress of the situation.' She was the
+first to break silence.</p>
+
+<p>'Monsieur de V&eacute;ron has been kind enough, Edouard, to explain, in the
+presence of Monsieur Bourdon, the mistake in the accounts he was
+disposed to charge you with to-day. He quite remembers, now, having
+received two thousand francs from you, for which, in his hurry at the
+time, he gave you no voucher. Is not that so, Monsieur de V&eacute;ron?' she
+added, again fixing on the merchant the same menacing look that Le
+Blanc had noticed in the church.</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, yes,' was the quick reply of M. de V&eacute;ron, who vainly attempted
+to look the astounded clerk in the face. 'The mistake was mine. Your
+accounts are quite correct, Monsieur le Blanc; and&mdash;and I shall be
+glad, of course, to see you at the office as usual.'</p>
+
+<p>'That is well,' said Madame Carson; 'and now, Monsieur Bourdon, to
+business, if you please. Those documents will not take so long to read
+as they did to write.'</p>
+
+<p>The notary smiled, and immediately began reading a marriage-contract
+between Eug&egrave;ne de V&eacute;ron and Ad&eacute;line le Blanc, by which it appeared
+that the union of those young persons was joyfully acceded to by Jean
+Baptiste de V&eacute;ron and Marie le Blanc, their parents&mdash;the said Jean
+Baptiste de V&eacute;ron binding himself formally to endow the bride and
+bridegroom jointly, on the day of marriage, with the sum of 300,000
+francs, and, moreover, to admit his son as a partner in the business,
+thenceforth to be carried on under the name of De V&eacute;ron &amp; Son.</p>
+
+<p>This contract was written in duplicate, and as soon as the notary had
+finished reading, Madame Carson handed a pen to M. de V&eacute;ron, saying in
+the same light, coquettish, but peremptory tone as before: 'Now,
+Monsieur, quick, if you please: yours is the most important
+signature.' The merchant signed and sealed both parchments, and the
+other interested parties did the same, in silent, dumb bewilderment,
+broken only by the scratching of the pens and the legal words repeated
+after the notary. 'We need not detain you longer, Messieurs, I
+believe,' said Madame Carson. '<i>Bon soir</i>, Monsieur de V&eacute;ron,' she
+added, extending an ungloved hand to that gentleman, who faintly
+touched it with his lips; 'you will hear from me to-morrow.'</p>
+
+<p>'What is the meaning of all this?' exclaimed Eug&egrave;ne de V&eacute;ron, the
+instant his father and the notary disappeared. 'I positively feel as
+if standing upon my head!' A chorus of like interrogatories from the
+Le Blancs assailed Madame Carson, whose ringing bursts of mirth mocked
+for a time their impatience.</p>
+
+<p>'Meaning, <i>parbleu</i>!' she at last replied, after pausing to catch
+breath. 'That is plain enough, surely. Did you not all see with what
+<i>empressement</i> the poor man kissed my hand? There, don't look so
+wretched, Edouard,' she added with a renewed outburst; 'perhaps I may
+have the caprice to prefer you after all to an elderly
+millionaire&mdash;who knows? But come, let us try to be a little calm and
+sensible. What I have done, good folks, I can as easily undo; and that
+being the case, Monsieur Eug&egrave;ne must sign me a bond to-morrow morning
+for fifty thousand francs, payable three days after his marriage. Is
+it agreed? Very well: then I keep these two parchments till the said
+bond is executed; and now, my friends; good-night, for I, as you may
+believe, am completely tired after all this benevolent fairy-work.'</p>
+
+<p>The wedding took place on the next day but one, to the great
+astonishment of every one acquainted with the two families. It was
+also positively rumoured that M. de V&eacute;ron had proposed marriage to
+Madame Carson, and been refused! Be this true or not, it was soon
+apparent that, from some cause or other, M. de V&eacute;ron's health and
+spirits were irretrievably broken down, and after lingering out a
+mopish, secluded life of scarcely a twelvemonth's duration, that
+gentleman died suddenly at Mon S&eacute;jour. A clause in his will bequeathed
+20,000 francs to Madame Carson, with an intimated hope, that it would
+be accepted as a pledge by that lady to respect, as she hitherto had
+done, the honour of an ancient family.</p>
+
+<p>This pledge to secrecy would no doubt have been kept, but that rumours
+of poisoning and suicide, in connection with De V&eacute;ron's death, having
+got abroad, the Procureur&mdash;G&eacute;n&eacute;ral ordered an investigation to take
+place. The suspicion proved groundless; but the <i>proc&egrave;s-verbal</i> set
+forth, that on examining the body of the deceased, there were
+discovered the letters 'I. de B.,' 'T. F.,' branded on the front of
+the left shoulder; the two last, initials of '<i>Travaux Forces</i>'
+(forced labour), being large and very distinct. There could be no
+doubt, therefore, that the proud M. de V&eacute;ron was an escaped <i>for&ccedil;at</i>;
+and subsequent investigation, which was not, however, very strongly
+pressed, sufficiently proved that Jean Baptiste de V&eacute;ron, the younger
+son of a high family, had in very early youth been addicted to wild
+courses; that he had gone to the colonies under a feigned name, to
+escape difficulties at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[pg 57]</a></span> home; and whilst at the Isle de Bourbon, had
+been convicted of premeditated homicide at a gaming-house, and
+sentenced to perpetual imprisonment with hard labour. Contriving to
+escape, he had returned to France, and by the aid of a considerable
+legacy, commenced a prosperous mercantile career; how terminated, we
+have just seen. It was by pure accident, or what passes for such in
+the world, that Madame Carson had arrived at a knowledge of the
+terrible secret. When M. de V&eacute;ron, after spraining his ankle, was
+carried in a state of insensibility into the room behind her shop, she
+had immediately busied herself in removing his neckcloth, unfastening
+his shirt, then a flannel one which fitted tightly round the neck, and
+thus obtained a glimpse of the branded letters 'T. F.' With her
+customary quickness of wit, she instantly replaced the shirts,
+neckcloth, &amp;c., and carefully concealed the fatal knowledge she had
+acquired, till an opportunity of using it advantageously should
+present itself.</p>
+
+<p>The foregoing are, I believe, all the reliable particulars known of a
+story of which there used to be half-a-hundred different versions
+flying about Le Havre. Edouard le Blanc married Madame Carson, and
+subsequently became a partner of Eug&egrave;ne de V&eacute;ron. It was not long,
+however, before the business was removed to another and distant French
+seaport, where, for aught I know to the contrary, the firm of 'De
+V&eacute;ron and Le Blanc' flourishes to this day.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="BETTING-OFFICES" id="BETTING-OFFICES"></a>BETTING-OFFICES.</h2>
+
+<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of
+    Contents</a></p>
+
+<p>'<span class="smcap">Betting-shop</span>' is vulgar, and we dislike vulgarity. 'Commission
+Office,' 'Racing Bank,' 'Mr Hopposite Green's Office,'
+'Betting-Office,'are the styles of announcement adopted by speculators
+who open what low people call Betting-shops. The chosen designation is
+usually painted in gold letter on a chocolate-coloured wire-gauze
+blind, impervious to the view. A betting-office may display on its
+small show-board two bronzed plaster horses, rampant, held by two
+Ethiopian figures, nude; or it may prefer making a show of cigars.
+Many offices have risen out of simple cigar-shops. When this is the
+case, the tobacco business gives way, the slow trade and fast
+profession not running well together. An official appearance is always
+considered necessary. A partition, therefore, sufficiently high not to
+be peered over, runs midway across the shop, surmounted with a rail.
+By such means, visions are suggested to the intelligent mind of desks,
+clerks, and, if the beholder has sufficient imagination, of bankers'
+clerks. In the partition is an enlarged <i>pigeon</i>-hole&mdash;not far off,
+may be supposed to lurk the hawk&mdash;through which are received
+shillings, half-crowns; in fact, any kind of coin or notes, no sum
+appearing inadmissible. The office is papered with a warm crimson
+paper, to make it snug and comfortable, pleasant as a lounge, and
+casting a genial glow upon the proceedings.</p>
+
+<p>But the betting-lists are the attraction&mdash;these are the dice of the
+betting-man: a section of one of the side-walls within the office is
+devoted to them. They consist of long strips of paper&mdash;each race
+having its own slip&mdash;on which are stated the odds against the horses.
+Hasty and anxious are the glances which the speculator casts at the
+betting-lists: he there sees which are the favourites; whether those
+he has backed are advancing or retrograding; and he endeavours to
+discover, by signs and testimonies, by all kinds of movements and
+dodges, the knowing one's opinion. He will drop fishing words to other
+gazers, will try to overhear whispered remarks, will sidle towards any
+jockey-legged or ecurial&mdash;costumed individual, and aim more especially
+at getting into the good graces of the betting-office keeper, who,
+when his business is slack, comes forth from behind the partition and
+from the duties of the pigeon-hole, to stretch his legs and hold
+turf-converse. The betting-office keeper is the speculator's divinity.</p>
+
+<p>The office itself is but the point where the ringing of the metal
+takes place, where the actual business is more bindingly entered into;
+but on great, or, as they are technically termed, grand days, there
+will occur&mdash;what will also apply, perhaps, occasionally to grand
+operas&mdash;very heavy operations. Large numbers of the speculators will
+collect, forming themselves into knots and groups on the pavement, and
+even in the roadway contiguous to the office. Here they appear a
+motley congregation, a curious agglomeration of seediness. Seediness
+is the prominent feature of the betting mass, as they are on such
+occasions collected&mdash;seediness of dress and of character. Yet amongst
+the groups are some better-looking kine, some who seem to fatten, and
+who costume themselves in fully-napped cloth, and boast of
+ostentatious pockets, and hats which advertise the owner as knowing a
+thing or two. These may be touters to the office: some may be victims,
+who have once won a stake. The latter now neglect their ordinary
+calling, and pass the whole of their time in the purlieus of
+betting-shops. As for the touters&mdash;betting-offices are not progressive
+without the aid of touters&mdash;they are gentlemen who have in their time
+worn many kinds of character, who have always existed one way or
+another on the very outskirts of honesty, till some fine morning a
+careless step brings them from that neutral ground into the domain of
+the law, where they are laid hold of. They do not disdain their
+adopted calling; they are not above assisting errand-boys to go in for
+large stakes; they tempt apothecaries' apprentices by prospects of
+being able to come out. They know likewise the best horses, and which
+are sure to win.</p>
+
+<p>But there are numbers of willing, untutored betting-men, who go in of
+their own accord&mdash;'quite promiscuous.' They belong to the class of
+petty tradesmen, and perhaps there are steady workmen and comfortably
+incomed clerks among them; although it is the tradesmen who are most
+numerous, and who give colour to the whole body. There is Macwait, the
+cheap baker, he contributes his quota weekly to the betting-shop: he
+has a strong desire to touch a twenty-pound stake. Whetcoles, the
+potato salesman, has given up a lucrative addition to his regular
+business&mdash;the purveying of oysters&mdash;for the sake of having more time
+to attend the office. Nimblecut, the hairdresser, has been
+endeavouring to raise his charge for shaving one half-penny per chin,
+to be enabled to speculate more largely. Shavings, journeyman
+carpenter, calculates upon clearing considerably more by 'Sister to
+Swindler' than a year's interest from the savings-bank. There are
+thousands of similarly circumstanced speculators: they make a daily,
+if not more frequent promenade to the betting-office; and on the days
+when the races come off, they may be observed in shoals, nodding and
+winking knowingly as they pass one another. Some are seen with jocular
+countenances, and pass for pleasant fellows: they are impressed with
+the idea that their horses are looking up. In others, the jocular
+expression has passed away, and the philosophical observer sets them
+down as melancholy individuals, given to castigating their wives, and
+verging dogwards.</p>
+
+<p>Betting-men&mdash;those who take a pride in their profession&mdash;assume
+generally a looseness of style: there may be an appropriateness in
+this, considering the mercurial contents of their pockets. In walking,
+a freedom of gait, approaching the swagger, is generally adopted;
+cigar-smoking at the office door is considered respectable; hands may
+be inserted <i>ad libitum</i> in pockets, and a primary coloured 'kerchief
+worn mildly. The individual is usually seen by the observant public
+making up his book. But the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[pg 58]</a></span> evidence of shrewdness consists in
+familiarity with the technicalities of turf-lore; without this,
+costume is of no use. The better must be well up to the jockeys'
+names, and those of the horses&mdash;of the races they have run&mdash;of Day's
+stable&mdash;of Scott's ditto&mdash;must know when the cup or 2000-guinea stakes
+are run for. His vocabulary comprises such words as outsiders,
+winners, two-year old, lame ducks, and bad books. He sometimes talks
+loudly, although, for the most part, he delights in a close, earnest,
+confidential, suppressed tone. There is nothing a better prides
+himself on more than being in the possession of some, to the common
+herd, unattainable secret&mdash;something only to be obtained once in a
+lifetime, and then only after severe losses&mdash;a secret brought out by
+some train of fortuitous and most intricately-woven events. It comes
+through a line of ingenious, quickwitted, up-to-everything
+communicators, and is made known proximately to the fortunate
+possessor by a diplomatic potman, who waits in a room frequented by a
+groom, who pumped it out of a stable-boy, who&mdash;&mdash;It is not improbable
+that the information has somewhat deteriorated in its journeyings
+through mews and along dung-heaps: it is possible, when it comes to be
+made use of, it may be found very expensive in its application.</p>
+
+<p>The turf speculator must possess a frank and willing imagination: he
+must calculate upon his account at the betting-shop, as he would upon
+so much being to his credit at a banker's; he must consider the office
+cheques with which his pocket-book is overflowing, as at par with
+bank-notes; he need keep but little gold and silver, as it is far
+better to know that it is producing a highly-profitable percentage.
+Should he be visited by any momentary fits of depression, he may draw
+forth his portfolio, and gratify his eyes with the contemplation of
+certificates for fives, and twenties, and fifties.</p>
+
+<p>We must not pass over a class of speculators who bet, and yet who are
+not true betting-men: they do not wish to be seen in betting-shops,
+yet cannot keep away. They are not loungers, for they may be observed
+passing along the thoroughfare seemingly with all desirable intentness
+upon their daily business; but they suddenly disappear as they arrive
+at the door of the betting-shop. These are your respectable men;
+worthy, solid, family men. But it is not easy to enter a betting-shop,
+and avoid rubbing against some clinging matter. Betting-men generally
+are not nice in their sensibilities; and perhaps on a fine Sunday
+morning, proceeding with his family to the parish church, our Pharisee
+may receive a tip from some unshaven, strong-countenanced <i>sans
+culotte</i>, which may cause his nerves to tingle for the rest of the
+day.</p>
+
+<p>But there is also a light, flimsy, fly-away-kind of speculator, a
+May-day betting-man&mdash;a youth fresh, perhaps, from school and the
+country, with whom his friends have hardly yet made up their minds
+what to do&mdash;who is at present seeing as much as he can see of town,
+upon what he finds decidedly small means. He has an ambition to appear
+fast; has of course a great admiration for fast people; but is at
+present young and fresh-coloured, and cannot, with all his endeavours,
+make himself appear less innocent and good-natured than he is. He has
+strained his purse in a bet, has betted on a winning horse, and has
+won five pounds. This would perhaps have fixed him for life as a
+speculator; but the money burns in his pocket. Before he can make up
+his mind to lay out his winnings on fresh bets, he must have a Hansom
+for the day. He decorates himself in his light-coloured paletot, blue
+neck-tie, and last dickey&mdash;drives to Regent Street to purchase
+cigars&mdash;to an oyster-shop redolent of saw-dust and lobsters&mdash;rigs a
+very light pair of kids&mdash;drives to, and alarms by his fast appearance,
+a few of his friends, who forthwith write off long woolly letters to
+relations in the country. He is accordingly cited to appear at home,
+where he becomes a respected local junior clerk in a Welsh mining
+company.</p>
+
+<p>There are various kinds of betting-offices. Some are speculative,
+May-fly offices, open to-day and shut to-morrow&mdash;offices that will bet
+any way, and against anything&mdash;that will accommodate themselves to any
+odds&mdash;receive any sum they can get, small or large; and should a
+misfortune occur, such as the wrong horse winning, forget to open next
+day. These are but second-rate offices. The money-making, prosperous
+betting-office is quite a different thing. It is not advisable for
+concerns which intend making thousands in a few years, to pay the
+superintendents liberally, and to keep well-clothed touters&mdash;to
+conduct themselves, in short, like speculative offices. They must not
+depend entirely upon chance. Chance is very well for betting-men, but
+will not do for the respectable betting-office keepers, who are the
+stakeholders.</p>
+
+<p>The plan adopted is a very simple one, but ingenious in its
+simplicity. The betting-office takes a great dislike in its own mind
+to a particular horse, the favourite of the betting-men. It makes bets
+against that horse, which amount in the aggregate to a fortune; and
+then it <i>buys</i> the object of its frantic dislike. This being effected,
+the horse of course loses, and the office wins. How could it be
+otherwise? Would you have a horse win against its owner's interest?
+The thing being settled, the office, in order to ascertain the amount
+of its winnings, has only to deduct the price of the horse from its
+aggregate bets, and arrange the remainder in a line of perhaps five
+figures. Whereupon the betting-men grow seedier and more seedy; some
+of the more mercurial go off in a fit of apoplectic amazement; some
+betake themselves to Waterloo Stairs on a moonless night; some proceed
+to the Diggings, some to St Luke's, and some to the dogs; some become
+so unsteady, that they sign the wrong name to a draft, or enter the
+wrong house at night, or are detected in a crowd with their hand in
+the wrong man's pocket. But by degrees everything comes right again.
+The insane are shut up&mdash;the desperate transported&mdash;the dead
+buried&mdash;the deserted families carted to the workhouse; and the
+betting-office goes on as before.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="A_MAY_FLOWER-SHOW_AT_CHISWICK" id="A_MAY_FLOWER-SHOW_AT_CHISWICK"></a>A MAY FLOWER-SHOW AT CHISWICK.</h2>
+
+<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of
+    Contents</a></p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">It</span> is one o'clock <span class="smcap">p. m.</span>; I am at Hyde-Park Corner; I hail the nearest
+'Hansom,' and am quickly dashing away for Chiswick. The road leading
+thither is always a scene of great bustle: on a Chiswick f&ecirc;te-day,
+this is very much augmented. But I am early, and the increase of
+vehicles is not yet great. A few carriages and cabs, mostly filled
+with ladies, who, like myself, are early on the road, and eager to be
+at the scene of action, are occasionally passed; for my horse is a
+good one, and the driver seems to desire to do the journey in good
+style. The majority of passengers and conveyances are chiefly of the
+everyday character, and such as are always met with on this great
+thoroughfare. Omnibuses, with loads of dusty passengers; carts and
+wagons, filled with manure, and each with a man or boy dozing upon the
+top; teams baiting at the roadside inns; troops of dirty children at
+the ends of narrow streets; with carriers' carts, and travel-stained
+pedestrians, make up the aggregate of the objects on the road. But in
+another hour the scene will change; the aristocratic 'turn-out,' with
+its brilliant appointments and spruce footmen&mdash;the cab, the brougham,
+and the open chariot, all filled with gaily-dressed company, will
+crowd the way; for a Chiswick f&ecirc;te is one of the events of a London
+season. People go there as they do to the Opera&mdash;to see and to be
+seen. As I journey onward, I catch glimpses of blooming fruit-trees,
+and green hedges, speaking of the approach of summer. The little
+patches of garden by the wayside are gay with flowers, but sadly
+disfigured with dust. Even they, however,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[pg 59]</a></span> look quite refreshing in
+contrast with the close and crowded streets I have left behind. The
+spire of the church on Chiswick green is peeping above the houses in
+the distance; and by the time I have noticed the increase of bustle on
+the road, and about the inn-doors, the cab has stopped at one of the
+garden entrances. Early as I am, many others are before me, and are
+waiting for the hour of admission&mdash;two o'clock. The carriages of those
+already arrived are drawn up in rank upon the green; policemen are
+everywhere to preserve order; ostlers are numerous, with buckets of
+water and bundles of hay; groups of loungers are looking on, carriages
+are every minute arriving, and the bustle is becoming great. As it yet
+wants ten minutes to two o'clock, I shall occupy the time by giving
+the reader a little introduction to what we are presently to see.</p>
+
+<p>There are three of these f&ecirc;tes every year&mdash;one in May, another in
+June, and a third in July. When the weather is fine, there is always a
+brilliant gathering of rank, and beauty, and fashion; but the June
+show is usually the best attended. English gardening is always well
+represented here. The plants and fruit brought for exhibition astonish
+even those who are best acquainted with what English gardeners can do.
+For several seasons past, it was thought that cultivation had reached
+its highest point; yet each succeeding year outvied the past, and
+report tells me, that the plants exhibited to-day are in advance of
+anything previously seen. They are sent here from widely distant parts
+of the country&mdash;many of them are brought one or two hundred miles; but
+most of the large collections are from gardens at a comparatively
+short distance from Chiswick. The principal prize is contended for by
+collections of thirty stove and greenhouse plants; and their large
+size will be apparent, when it is stated that one such collection
+makes eight or ten van-loads. There are never more than three or four
+competitors for this prize. Their productions are generally brought
+into the garden on the evening previous to the day of exhibition. At
+about daylight on the morning of the f&ecirc;te, the great bustle of
+preparation begins. Everything has to be arranged, and ready for the
+judges by ten o'clock <span class="smcap">a. m.</span>, at which hour all exhibitors, and others
+interested in the awards, are obliged to leave the gardens; and they
+are not readmitted until the gates are thrown open to those who may
+have tickets of admission, at two o'clock.</p>
+
+<p>At last they <i>are</i> open. (How expectation clogs the wheels of time!) I
+join the throng; and in a few minutes I am among the flowers, which
+are arranged in long tents, on stages covered with green baize, as a
+background to set off in bold relief their beautiful forms and tints.
+There are three military bands stationed in different parts of the
+grounds, to keep up a succession of enlivening strains until six
+o'clock, the hour when the proceedings, so far as the public are
+concerned, are supposed to terminate. One of them is already
+'discoursing most eloquent music.' Company rapidly arrives;
+well-dressed persons are strolling through the tents, sitting beneath
+the trees, or on the benches, listening to the music. The scene is a
+gay one. The richness and beauty of the masses of flower, rivalled
+only by the gay dresses and bright eyes of hundreds of fair admirers;
+the delicate green of the trees clothed with their young foliage, and
+the carpet-like lawns, all lit up by a bright May sun, and enlivened
+by the best music, combine to form a whole, the impression of which is
+not easily forgotten.</p>
+
+<p>But I am forgetting the flowers. Suppose we enter the nearest tent,
+and note the more prominent objects on our way. Here is a somewhat
+miscellaneous assortment; geraniums are conspicuous. The plants are
+remarkably fine, averaging nearly a yard across, and presenting masses
+of flower in the highest perfection. One is conspicuous for the
+richness of its colouring; its name is magnet (<i>Hoyle.</i>) There is a
+collection of ferns, too; their graceful foliage, agitated by every
+breeze, adds much to the interest of this tent. Among the most
+remarkable are the maidenhair-ferns (<i>adiantum</i>), and a huge plant of
+the elk's horn fern, from New South Wales. It derives its name from
+the shape of its large fronds. Before us is a quantity of Chinese
+hydrangeas, remarkable in this case for the small size of the plants,
+and disproportionately large heads of pink blossoms. Cape
+pelargoniums, too, are well represented: they are curious plants,
+indigenous to the Cape of Good Hope; specimens of them are very often
+sent to this country, with boxes of bulbs, for which the Cape is
+famous. When they arrive, they look like pieces of deadwood; but when
+properly cared for, they rapidly make roots and branches, and produce
+their interesting flowers in abundance.</p>
+
+<p>Passing to the next tent, we enter that part devoted to the fruit. A
+delicate aroma pervades the place. Directly before us is a large plant
+of the Chinese loquah, loaded with fruit. This is yellow, and about
+the size of a small plum. The plant is a great novelty; for although
+hardy enough to be grown out of doors in this country, it produces its
+fruit only in a hothouse. Associated with it are some large vines in
+pots, with a profusion of fine bunches of grapes. Then there are
+dishes of strawberries (<i>British Queens</i>), numerous pine-apples,
+cherries, peaches, bananas (grown in this country), melons, &amp;c.;
+besides some very fine winter apples and pears, which have been
+admirably preserved. Of the former, the winter-queen, old green
+nonpareil, and golden harvey are conspicuous; of the latter, the
+warden and Uvedale's St Germain are fine.</p>
+
+<p>The most attractive feature of these shows appears to be the
+orchideous or air-plants, as they are popularly known. A greater
+number of persons are always collected round them than in any other
+part of the tents; nor is this to be wondered at. Nothing can be more
+singular in appearance or gorgeous in colouring. Their fragrance, too,
+is so delightful. Description can convey but a faint idea of their
+great beauty and diversity of character. They seem to mimic the insect
+world in the shapes of their blossoms; nor are the resemblances
+distant. Every one has heard of the butterfly-plant: there is one on
+the stage now before us, and as the breeze gently waves its slender
+stalks, each tipped with a vegetable butterfly, it becomes almost
+difficult to imagine that we are not watching the movements of a real
+insect flitting among the plants. Here is a spike of <i>Gongora
+maculata</i>, bearing no faint resemblance to a quantity of brown insects
+with expanded wings collected round the stem. Close to it are some
+<i>Brassias</i>, mimicking with equal fidelity insects of a paler colour,
+besides hundreds of others equally curious and beautiful. Some bear
+their flowers in erect spikes, or loose heads; others have drooping
+racemes a yard in length, as some of the <i>dendrobiums</i>. More have a
+slender flower-stalk making a graceful curve, with the flowers placed
+on the uppermost side, as <i>Phol&aelig;nopsis amablis</i>, which bears a
+profusion of white blossoms closely resembling large moths with
+expanded wings. Here are some remarkable plants we must not pass
+without noticing: they are equally attractive both by their beauty and
+associations. They are two plants of <i>Stanhopea tigrina</i>, exhibited by
+Her Majesty, and a fine specimen of <i>Acincta Humboldtii</i>, named in
+honour of the philosophic traveller. They are all worthy of the
+associations they call up; they grow in open baskets, and the flowers
+are produced from below, directly opposite the leaves. The ordinary
+law of flowering-plants is reversed in them.</p>
+
+<p>We pass on: everywhere gorgeous masses of flower are before us. Huge
+plants of Indian azaleas, filling a space of several feet, literally
+covered with blossoms of every hue. Heaths from the Cape, far
+outrivalling their brethren in their native wilds; rhododendrons<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[pg 60]</a></span> from
+the Himalaya; and cactuses from the plains of South America. In fact,
+here are collected examples of the flora of almost every known country
+of the globe. But we must not be carried away by these more showy
+plants to the exclusion of some very curious and interesting little
+things which I see we are in danger of forgetting. Here, carefully
+covered by a bell-glass, is a fine specimen of <i>Dion&aelig;a muscipula</i>, or
+Venus's fly-trap. Every reader of natural history is familiar with its
+economy; but one does not often get a sight of it. By the side of it
+are many other curious plants, covered with equal care.
+<i>An&oelig;ctochillis argenteus</i>, a little dwarf plant, with leaves which,
+both in their beautiful lustre and peculiar markings, resemble a green
+lizard, must serve for an example. Among other curiosities, is a small
+plant of one of the species of rhododendrons, recently introduced by
+Dr Hooker from the mountains of Sikkim Himalaya; close to it are some
+azaleas imported from the northern parts of the Celestial Empire.
+There are also some very rare and valuable specimens of hardy trees,
+from the mountains of Patagonia. They belong to the very extensive
+family of coniferous plants, and have been named respectively
+<i>Fitz-Roya Patagonica</i> and <i>Saxe-Gothea conspicua</i>. There is also a
+remarkably handsome creeper, <i>Hexacentras mysorensis</i>, having pendent
+racemes of large flowers in shape resembling the snap-dragon, and of a
+rich orange and chocolate colour.</p>
+
+<p>To revert to the little Sikkim rhododendron, I shall give here the
+description of a still more diminutive specimen, met with by Dr Hooker
+during his journey, and which he has figured and described in his
+beautiful work, <i>The Rhododendron of Sikkim-Himalaya</i>. It is called
+<i>R. nivale</i>, or snow-rhododendron. 'The hard, woody branches of this
+curious little species, as thick as a goose-quill, struggle along the
+ground for a foot or two, presenting brown tufts of vegetation where
+not half-a-dozen other plants can exist. The branches are densely
+interwoven, very harsh and woody, wholly depressed; whence the shrub,
+spreading horizontally, and barely raised two inches above the soil,
+becomes eminently typical of the arid, stern climate it inhabits. The
+latest to bloom, and earliest to mature its seeds, by far the smallest
+in foliage, and proportionally largest in flower, most lepidote in
+vesture, humble in stature, rigid in texture, deformed in habit, yet
+the most odoriferous, it may be recognised, even in the herbarium, as
+the production of the loftiest elevation on the surface of the
+globe&mdash;of the most excessive climate&mdash;of the joint influences of a
+scorching sun by day, and the keenest frost by night&mdash;of the greatest
+drought, followed in a few hours by a saturated atmosphere&mdash;of the
+balmiest calm, alternating with the whirlwind of the Alps. For eight
+months of the year, it is buried under many feet of snow; for the
+remaining four, it is frequently snowed on and sunned in the same
+hour. During genial weather, when the sun heats the soil to 150
+degrees, its perfumed foliage scents the air; whilst to snow-storm and
+frost it is insensible: blooming through all; expanding its little
+purple flowers to the day, and only closing them to wither after
+fertilisation has taken place. As the life of a moth may be
+indefinitely prolonged whilst its duties are unfulfilled, so the
+flower of this little mountaineer will remain open through days of fog
+and sleet, till a mild day facilitates the detachment of the pollen
+and the fecundation of the ovarium. This process is almost wholly the
+effect of winds; for though humblebees, and the "Blues" and
+"Fritillaries" (<i>Polyommatus</i> and <i>Argynnis</i>) amongst butterflies, do
+exist at this prodigious elevation, they are too few in number to
+influence the operations of vegetable life.' To this Dr Hooker adds:
+'This singular little plant attains a loftier elevation, I believe,
+than any other shrub in the world.'</p>
+
+<p>But here is a plant, or rather flower, more curious than any we have
+seen. The corolla is on a long stalk, a foot or more high; but how to
+describe it is the difficulty. Imagine a bat with expanded wings, with
+the addition of a tail, spread out before you, having on its breast a
+rosette of narrow ribbon, of the same dusky colour, and you will gain
+some idea of its form and colour. Its botanical name is <i>Attacia
+cristata</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Here is the rose-tent. In no previous season have the plants appeared
+in finer condition. A few years ago, nobody could grow roses fit to be
+seen in pots; many said it was impossible to do so: now, one can
+scarcely imagine anything finer than they are seen at the metropolitan
+flower-shows. Both in healthy appearance, and in fineness of flower,
+they exceed those which we admire so much in the open garden in
+summer. One or two are conspicuous, though all are beautiful.
+<i>Souvenirs d'un ami</i> has pale flesh-coloured flowers, exceedingly
+delicate; nor is the perfume they emit less attractive. <i>Niphetus</i>,
+pure white; <i>Adam</i>, very pale; and <i>G&eacute;ant des Batailles</i>, of the
+richest crimson, are among the most attractive; but there are numerous
+others, rivalling them in beauty and fragrance.</p>
+
+<p>As the afternoon wears away, the more fashionable visitors depart. At
+six o'clock, the several bands of music form one, the National Anthem
+is played, and the f&ecirc;te is over.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="GOLD-SEEKING_AT_HOME" id="GOLD-SEEKING_AT_HOME"></a>GOLD-SEEKING AT HOME.</h2>
+
+<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of
+    Contents</a></p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> Lomond Hills, in the shires of Fife and Kinross, were known in
+ancient times as the hunting-grounds of the kings of Scotland, when
+these monarchs resided in their summer-palace at Falkland, a village
+on their north-eastern declivity. At a period intermediate between
+these and the present times, they were the haunt of the persecuted
+Covenanters, and often resounded with the voice of psalms raised at
+conventicles. Since then, their solitude and silence have seldom been
+disturbed, save by the bark of the shepherd's dog, or the echoes
+caused by the blasting of rocks in the limestone quarries which run
+along their southern and western ridges. But during the month of May
+last, this solitude and silence were completely destroyed, by
+thousands of persons plying every kind of instrument upon them, from
+the ponderous crowbar and pickaxe, to the easily-wielded trowel and
+hammer, in search of gold, which they believed to be hidden in their
+recesses. The information on which they acted seemed to them to come
+from an authentic source, and to be confirmed by competent authority.</p>
+
+<p>On the southern base of the hills, overlooking the far-famed
+Lochleven, lies the village of Kinnesswood, noted as the birthplace of
+the poet Michael Bruce. A native of this village entered the army, and
+there learned manners at war with good morals, which, after his
+discharge, brought upon him the vengeance of the law, and he was
+banished 'beyond seas.' His subsequent good-conduct, however, procured
+him 'a ticket-of-leave,' and he became servant to the commissariat for
+the convicts in Van Diemen's Land. In this capacity he had frequent
+opportunities of seeing the substance brought from the Bathurst
+'diggings,' containing the gold which is now arriving in this country
+in such large quantities. It at once struck him that he had seen
+abundance of the same material in his native hills, when visiting the
+quarries in which several of his friends and acquaintances earned
+their livelihood. This impression he conveyed in a letter to his
+mother, who, as a matter of course, afforded the information to all to
+whom she had an opportunity of communicating it. The intelligence
+spread with the rapidity of an electric telegraph; and an excitement
+was produced such as is seen among<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[pg 61]</a></span> bees when their hive has received
+a sudden shock. The mountain pathways became immediately alive with
+human beings, and noises arose like the hum of a city heard at a
+distance during the busiest hours of the day. In the villages
+immediately adjoining the place of resort, the excitement was wholly
+confined to youngsters and idlers, who are ever ready to seize upon
+novelty and enter upon bustle; but further off, it extended to old and
+young, hale and infirm, asthmatic and long-winded, grave and gay,
+taught and untaught, respectable and disreputable, industrious and
+idle, till it reached a compass of twenty miles at least, extending
+not only to the Forth and Tay, but stretching inland from their
+opposite shores. In short, men who had never climbed a mountain all
+their lives before, though living in close proximity to one, were seen
+on its loftiest peaks, and toiling there with all the ardour of
+Cyclops.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, some of the less impulsive minds in the district, not
+altogether untouched by the prevailing mania, began to cast about for
+warrants to justify their appropriation of some of this much-coveted
+material, and assure their confidence that it was really gold. Memory,
+research, tradition, testimony, all came to their help. They
+recollected how their fathers had told them that the Laird of Lathrisk
+had wrought a lead-mine on the northern declivity of the East Law,
+which yielded also a considerable proportion of silver, and which was
+abandoned only because of the high tax government had put upon the
+latter metal. Then came the ready query: That since there is silver in
+these hills, why not also gold, seeing they frequently go together?
+Then it was found that the mineral formations in which this metal
+occurs are the crystalline primitive rocks; and with these the Lomond
+Hills were held to correspond. Then it had been told them, that in
+days of yore shepherds had found pieces of gold while tending their
+flocks on the hills, and that gold had been frequently met with in the
+whole district of country between the Forth and the Tay. Last of all
+came the testimony of a man who had returned to the neighbourhood from
+California, and who assured them, that the substance they submitted to
+his inspection was in all respects similar to that which was dug out
+of the hills in the gold regions of America. Singularly enough, though
+they did not reflect upon the facts, this man had returned home as
+poor as he had departed, and manifested no desire to accompany them to
+the new El Dorado at their doors. Other persons were meanwhile pushing
+inquiries in a more certain direction, and subjecting the supposed
+precious treasure to infallible tests.</p>
+
+<p>The chief centre of attraction is a partially-wrought limestone
+quarry, known by the name of the Sheethiehead, right above the village
+of Kinnesswood, and about a gunshot back from the brow of the Bishop
+Hill. It is surrounded on all sides by immense heaps of d&eacute;bris, which
+has been repeatedly dug into during the last thirty years by
+geologising students, in search of fossils connected with the
+carboniferous system, and who must have frequently met with the
+substance which has caused all this excitement, but never imagined it
+to be gold. The face of the quarry, to the depth of twenty feet from
+the top, is an accumulation of shale or slate, lying in regular
+layers, and easily broken. It has been turned to good account of late
+in the manufacture of slate-pencils of superior quality. Among this
+shaly accumulation, there are frequent layers of a soft, wet clay or
+ochre; and it is in this that the brilliants which have dazzled the
+imagination of so many are chiefly found, and which, accordingly, are
+frequently thrown out among the d&eacute;bris, of which it comes to form a
+part. In this quarry, then, and in the heaps around it, hundreds are
+earnestly busy in laying bare what is beneath; while scores of men,
+women, and children are silently and earnestly looking on. One has
+just brought out a ball of stone, or something like stone, about the
+size of a man's hand, known among the quarrymen as 'a fairy ball;' it
+is composed of a hard crust, like rusted iron, which, on being broken,
+is found to contain a yellow shining metal of various shapes and
+sizes&mdash;grains, octohedrons, cubes, and their allied forms, as is the
+case with gold; and what else can it be but the precious metal, thinks
+the finder, as he places it in his receptacle, and applies himself
+anew to his vocation. In a little while he stumbles on another of
+these balls, as big as a man's hat, which he breaks, and opens with
+increasing eagerness; when, lo! it is as empty as a 'deaf nut'&mdash;the
+water which percolated through the shale having rusted the iron that
+goes to form the crust along with the ochre, but failed, as in the
+previous case, to form crystals in the interior. A third, fourth, and
+fifth are found to be as hollow as the last, and the 'digger' begins
+to look a little crestfallen, and abate his eagerness.</p>
+
+<p>But here is an Irishman, who has been vastly more lucky, dancing a
+jig, with a footless stocking near him, tied at each end, packed as
+full as it can hold of 'the fine stuff,' as he calls it, while with
+wonderful agility he flourishes a heavy pickaxe and spade over his
+head, and screams at the highest pitch of his voice: 'Sure, now, and
+isn't my fortune made!' By and by, getting at once hoarse and tired,
+he desists from his exertions, and entreats a boy near him 'to go into
+the bog beyont there, and get him some poteen, which he is sure is
+making in the stills among the turf;' offering him at the same time a
+lump of his 'treasure' as payment for his trouble.</p>
+
+<p>Here is a tall, grave, shrewd-looking man, very like an elder of the
+kirk, throwing away part of his accumulation, but somewhat stealthily
+retaining a portion in the large cotton handkerchief in which he had
+placed it, while a respectable-looking woman is saying to him: 'John,
+the minister says, it's no gold, but only brimstone.' To which he
+answers, with an audible sigh: 'Well hath the wise man said, all is
+vanity and vexation of spirit.' Here is a strong-built but
+lumpish-looking fellow, seemingly a ploughman or day-labourer, leaving
+the scene of action in evident disgust, who, on being asked if he had
+been successful, answers roughly: 'No!' and adds: 'I'll sell you this
+pick for a glass of ale or a dram of whisky.' Here are angry words
+passing between a middle-aged man and a youth, respecting the right of
+possession, the former having driven the latter away from a
+promising-looking place on which he was employed, and commenced
+operations upon it himself.</p>
+
+<p>It is Saturday; and the mills on the river Leven are stopped at noon,
+to allow the water in the lake from which it flows to accumulate its
+supplies for the following week's operations. Freed thus from labour,
+the spinners hasten to the scene of attraction, and largely swell the
+crowd already assembled there. The men begin the search with
+eagerness, while the women content themselves with looking on; but it
+is evident that they are unaccustomed to the use of the instruments
+they have assumed, and that long practice will be necessary before
+they can turn them to much account. Here are bands of colliers able to
+wield them to purpose, yet how unwilling they appear to be to put
+forth their strength. They came in the expectation of getting gold for
+the lifting, which is nowhere the case; and are evidently disappointed
+in finding that both effort and perseverance are necessary. Indeed, it
+surprised us to see so little disposition to make and maintain
+exertion on the part of those who fancied that certain riches would be
+the result. Notwithstanding the numerous traces of picking, hammering,
+and shovelling they have left behind them, there is not an excavation
+a foot deep; while over a crevice in the rock, three inches square, 'a
+digger' has left the words, scratched with a piece of slate: 'There<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[pg 62]</a></span>
+is no gold here,' as if he had done all that was necessary to prove
+it. Even in the loose d&eacute;bris around the quarry&mdash;with which the
+substance referred to abounds&mdash;there is no trace of a digging wider or
+deeper than a man's hat. We have seen a student make greater and
+longer-continued exertion to get a fossil shell, and a terrier dog to
+get a rat or a rabbit, than any of the gold-seekers have. Burns the
+poet, in his lament, entitled <i>Man was made to Mourn</i>, complains, with
+more pathos and sentiment than truth and justice, that the landlords
+will not 'give him leave to toil.' That is not the leave most men
+desire, but the leave to be idle. If gold were to be got for the
+lifting, and bread were as easily procured as water, man would not be
+disposed to take healthful exercise, much less labour or toil.</p>
+
+<p>We shall not describe the scene as it developed itself on Sunday. It
+was at total variance with the reputation Scotchmen have acquired for
+the observance of that day, but in perfect keeping with the notoriety
+they have gained for their love of strong drink. Monday was the
+fifteenth day of the gold-fever; and, like most other fevers, it was
+then at its height. Parties had been on the hill soon after the
+previous midnight awaiting the dawn, resolved to be the first at the
+diggings that morning, and 'have their fortunes made before others
+arrived.' But the lark had not got many yards high in his heavenward
+ascent, and only struck the first note of his morning-carol, when the
+mountain concaves sent back echoes of music from a whole band of men,
+marching at the head of a still greater number, who might have been
+taken for a regiment of sappers and miners. They have come from a
+distance; and, like the others who have preceded them, can have known
+little or nothing of 'balmy sleep, kind nature's sweet restorer,'
+unless they have taken it at church the preceding day, or in their
+beds, when they should have been there. The morning has grown apace,
+and shews the mountain-sides and table-land teeming with life. 'The
+cry is still, they come;' and long before mid-day, it is calculated
+that there are at least 1200 persons on the hill&mdash;many of them
+spectators of the scene, but most of them actors in it.</p>
+
+<p>To a curious observer, it was at once an amusing, interesting,
+instructive, and painful spectacle. It developed character; shewed to
+some extent the state of society among certain classes and
+professions; and exhibited human nature in some of its peculiar and
+less agreeable phases. The most striking and unlikeable manifestations
+were&mdash;ignorance, credulity, superstition, recklessness, and disregard
+for all that is 'lovely and of good report.' We were particularly
+struck with the want of foresight, observation, and reflection shewn
+by a great number of the persons concerned, and of whom other things
+might have been expected. They had come to 'the diggings' without
+instruments of any kind with which to bring forth the supposed gold
+from its recesses; and, more wonderful still, without food to sustain
+them while employed in finding it. What an easy prey these persons
+would have been to any one willing to take advantage of them! They
+willingly parted with much of their supposed treasure for a few crumbs
+of cake from a boy's pocket, and with still more for a slice of poor
+cheese from a quarryman's wallet. The man who brought intoxicating
+drink to them, would have received in return whatever he would have
+been pleased to demand. One party, and one only, so far as we could
+learn, was more provident than the rest, having provisions with it
+equal to its necessities for one day at least, among which whisky held
+a prominent place.</p>
+
+<p>The substance found and supposed to be gold is very similar to that
+found in the coal-mines and iron-bands of Fife, which are known to
+'crop out' in the Lomond Hills&mdash;none being found further north&mdash;yet
+the colliers and miners did not identify the substance when found in
+other circumstances than those in which they are accustomed to meet
+with it. The inhabitants of the district in which it is found shewed
+little sympathy with the excitement produced, a fact which should have
+led the gold-hunters to pause and ponder; for they were as likely to
+know the nature of the substance sought as persons at a distance, and
+just as likely to appropriate it, if it really were gold. But under
+the influence of their credulity, our adventurers drew a conclusion
+quite different&mdash;namely, that the people at the foot of the hill
+affected indifference, in order to deceive those at a distance, and
+keep all the treasure to themselves. It was of no use to tell them,
+that this said gold had been tested half a century ago, and been
+'found wanting.' They wished it to be gold, and they were determined
+to believe it such. Much advantage was taken of this credulity, even
+by those who had themselves been its dupes. The most daring falsehoods
+were invented by them, in order to induce others to befool themselves
+as they had done. One, according to his own account, had received 30s.
+for his 'findings;' and another had been offered L.2 for as much as he
+had collected in half an hour. Such are specimens of the fables they
+devised, with a view to deceive their acquaintances, and they had
+manifest pleasure in seeing them produce the desired effect.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, every test known to or conceivable by the amateur
+chemists&mdash;of which there are not few in the counties in which the
+hills are situated&mdash;was put in requisition, and a voice evoked by
+them, but it would not speak as desired. Others, who knew nothing of
+chemistry, were torturing it in every possible way&mdash;beating it with
+hammers, to see if it would expand, like gold, into leaf; but instead
+of this, it only flew off in splinters: then putting it into the
+smith's forge, to see if it would liquefy and separate from the dross,
+but it only evaporated in fumes, which drove them from the smithy by
+their offensive odour. Not one of these experimenters, whether more or
+less skilled, thought of subjecting it to the simple and certain test
+of cutting it with a knife, of which the substance in question is not
+susceptible, whereas gold cuts like tough cheese. Enough, however, had
+been done to confirm suspicions which had been floating in the minds
+of many of the diggers, that this rapid wealth-finding was a delusion
+and a lie. All doubts upon the subject were finally set at rest by the
+professors of mineralogy in the colleges, and the practical chemists
+in Edinburgh and Glasgow, informing certain inquirers as to the real
+nature of this deceptive substance. It is of two kinds: the one with a
+gray, the other with a brown base&mdash;the latter much more common than
+the former; the one shining with a whitish, the other, with a
+yellowish lustre. The one is <i>galena</i>, a sulphuret of lead; the other,
+<i>pyrites</i>, a sulphuret of iron. These pyrites are very extensively
+diffused, and are said to be worth about L.2 a ton. Pity it is that
+even this trifle should be lost to the poor quarryman, who has only to
+lay them aside when wheeling away his rubbish till they accumulate to
+such a quantity as to be worth a purchaser's notice, but who does not
+know where to find a customer.</p>
+
+<p>The Lomonds were now again left to their solitude and silence, a few
+stray persons visiting them only from curiosity, to see the place and
+its productions which had caused such excitement. But the mania did
+not abate all at once. A village patriarch, skilled in fairy lore,
+entertained some of the gold-seekers with the following legend, which
+had the effect of sending them in search of the precious metal
+elsewhere. According to this ancient, a fairy, in times long gone by,
+appeared on a summer gloaming to a boy herding cattle in the place
+indicated by the following doggrel, and told him that&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">If Auchindownie cock does not craw,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">If Balmain horn does not blaw,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I'll shew you the gold in <i>Largo Law</i>.<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[pg 63]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<p>'But,' added this benevolent son of Puck, 'if I leave you when these
+happen&mdash;for I must then return home immediately&mdash;take you notice where
+the brindled ox lies down, and there you will find the gold.' The cock
+crew and the horn blew. The fairy vanished, but the boy observed where
+the brindled ox lay down; but then he did not reflect upon the need of
+marking the place, but ran home, in his impatience to communicate the
+delightful information he had received, and on his return found that
+the brindled ox had risen and left the place; and as he could not
+determine the spot, the gold still awaits the search of some more
+reflective and painstaking person. Of course, one and another of the
+narrator's auditors thought himself such a person, and hied him away
+to the conical hill that rises so conspicuously at the entrance to the
+estuary of the Forth. What success attended them there we have not the
+means of knowing, but we have seen it stated in a local newspaper,
+that a specimen of the shining substance found in that place had been
+sent to the editor, and he pronounces it more like gold than the
+crystals brought him from the Lomond Hills. But 'like,' says the
+proverb, 'is an ill mark;' and we hope the gold-diggers of Fife will
+consider themselves as having been already sufficiently deceived by
+appearances.</p>
+
+<p>The mania lasted fully three weeks, not that any one person was under
+its influence all that time&mdash;for, singularly enough, the man who had
+been once there rarely if ever returned&mdash;but, like an epidemic, it
+spread wide, and only ceased by a change in the intellectual
+atmosphere. There could not be less than 300 persons upon an average
+each day upon the hill, either searching for the supposed treasure, or
+waiting to ascertain the result from those that did. This would make
+an aggregate of 6300 in the whole time; but let us keep much within
+the mark, and take the number convened during that period at 5000.
+Many of these were men earning 15s. a week; but let us put them all
+down at 1s. 6d per day each, and allow 1s. for the expense incurred in
+their going to and from the place. This will make half-a-crown lost
+and expended by every one of them. This calculation makes L.30 a day,
+and L.630 for the whole period. Now, we are fully persuaded, that
+though all the pyrites carried off had been gold in the proportion in
+which it seemed in the substance, it would not have realised this sum,
+which is about the price of 200 ounces of gold; so that, in the
+aggregate, the diggers would have been losers, though some of them
+individually might have been gainers. But the gainers would have been
+few in proportion to the whole, for we observed that not more than one
+man in twenty found even the pyrites, which are probably still more
+extensively diffused than gold itself ever is, even in the regions
+where it is now known to prevail: so that the wages of the nineteen
+unsuccessful men are to be calculated along with those of the
+successful one; and then it follows, that unless the 'findings' of the
+latter at the close of the day are equal to the wages of twenty men,
+there is no increase of capital to the country, no gain upon the
+whole. Then the man who was lucky at one time, was unlucky at
+another&mdash;like a poacher who snares three hares in a night, but does
+not snare another for a week, while he has been unable to work during
+the day, and, in the end, his losses have counterbalanced his gains.
+Then if this phantom had proved a reality, all the mines and mills
+within a wide range of the place would have been instantly abandoned,
+and it must have taken a long time, indeed, to reproduce the capital
+thus lost to the country. In fine, it must have become necessary to
+fix a rent upon the diggings, in order to constitute a right to labour
+in them; and still further, to levy a tax to provide a police, if not
+a military force, to preserve order; and after these deductions are
+made, together with the incomes derived from previous occupations, and
+the great uncertainty connected with the vocation&mdash;to say nothing of
+the labour and discomforts to be endured&mdash;we cannot think gold-digging
+a profitable or desirable pursuit.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="COMPETITION_AND_MONOPOLY" id="COMPETITION_AND_MONOPOLY"></a>COMPETITION AND MONOPOLY.</h2>
+
+<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of
+    Contents</a></p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A Memorandum</span> just issued by that active body, the Sanitary
+Association, contains the following amusing and instructive account of
+the memorable competition between the great London water-companies
+forty years ago, and of the close monopoly in which that reckless and
+ruinous struggle ended:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'In 1810, a water mania, like our recent railway mania, suddenly broke
+out; and the principle of competition, to which the legislature had
+all along looked for the protection of the public, was put upon its
+trial. Two powerful companies, which had been several years occupied
+in obtaining their acts and setting up their machinery, now took the
+field&mdash;one, the West Middlesex, attacking the old monopolists on their
+western flank; the other, the East London, invading their territory
+from the opposite quarter. At the same time, a band of dashing
+Manchester speculators started the Grand Junction Company with a
+flaming prospectus, and boldly flung their pipes into the very thick
+of the tangled net-work which now spread in every direction beneath
+the pavement of the hotly-contested streets.</p>
+
+<p>'These Grand-Junction men quite astonished the town by the
+magnificence of their promises. "Copious streams" of water, derived,
+by the medium of the Grand Junction Canal, from the rivers Colne and
+Brent: "always pure and fresh, because always coming in"&mdash;"high
+service, free of extra charge;" above all, "<i>unintermittent supply, so
+that customers may do without cisterns</i>;" such were a few of the
+seductive allurements held out by these interlopers to tempt deserters
+from the enemy's camp.</p>
+
+<p>'The West Middlesex Company, in its opening circulars, also promised
+"unlimited supplies" to the very "housetops," of water "clear and
+bright from the gravelly bottom of the Thames, thirteen miles above
+London Bridge." The East London was not behindhand with the trumpet;
+and its "skilful" directors, by paying dividends in rapid succession
+out of capital, raised their L.100 shares to the enormous premium of
+L.130 before they had well got their machinery into play. Meanwhile
+the South London (or Vauxhall) Company was started&mdash;in 1805&mdash;on the
+other side of the river, with a view to wrest from its old rulers the
+watery dominion of the south. The war was not, however, carried on in
+a very royal sort; for, as the travelling mountebank drives
+six-in-hand through a country town to entice the gaping provincials to
+his booth, so these water-jugglers went round the streets of London,
+throwing up rival <i>jets-d'eau</i> from their mains, to prove the alleged
+superiority of their engines, and to captivate the fancy of hesitating
+customers.</p>
+
+<p>'The New River Company, thus put upon its mettle, boldly took up the
+gauntlet. It erected new forcing-engines, changed its remaining wooden
+pipes for iron, more than doubled its consumption of coal, reduced its
+charges, augmented its supplies, issued a contemptuous rejoinder to
+its adversaries, and, appealing as an "old servant" to the public for
+support, engaged in a war of extermination.</p>
+
+<p>'For seven years, the battle raged incessantly. The combatants
+sought&mdash;and openly avowed it&mdash;not their own profit, but their rivals'
+ruin. Tenants were taken on almost any terms. Plumbers were bribed to
+<i>tout</i>, like omnibus cads, for custom. Such was the rage for mere
+numerical conquest, that a line of pipes would be often driven down a
+long street, to serve one new customer at the end. Arrears remained
+uncollected, lest offence should be given and influence impaired.
+Capricious tenants amused themselves by changing from one main to
+another, as they might taste this or that tap of beer. The more
+credulous citizens, relying on the good faith of the "public
+servants"&mdash;as these once powerful water-lords now humbly called
+themselves&mdash;were simpletons enough, on the strength of their promises,
+to abandon their wells, to sell off their force-pumps, and to erect
+water-closets or baths in the upper storeys of their houses. In many
+streets, there were three lines of pipes laid down, involving triple
+leakage, triple interest on capital,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[pg 64]</a></span> triple administrative charges,
+triple pumping and storage costs, and a triple army of turncocks&mdash;the
+whole affording a less effective supply than would have resulted from
+a single well-ordered service. In this desperate struggle vast sums of
+money were sunk. The recently-established companies worked at a
+ruinous loss; and such as kept up a show of prosperity were, in fact,
+like the East London Company, paying dividends out of capital. The New
+River Company's dividends went down from L.500 to L.23 per share per
+annum. In the border-line districts, where the fiercest conflicts took
+place, the inhabitants sided with one or other of the contending
+parties. Some noted with delight the humbled tone of the old arbitrary
+monopolists, and heartily backed the invaders. Some old-stagers stuck
+to the ancient companies, and to the faces of familiar turncocks.
+These paid; but many shrewd fellows put off the obsequious collectors,
+and contrived to live water-rate free. Thus the honest, as usual, paid
+for the knaves; and the ultimate burden of all these squandered
+resources fell&mdash;also as usual&mdash;on society at large.</p>
+
+<p>'Such a state of things could not last; and it came to a conclusion
+which experience, had it been invoked, might have led parliament to
+anticipate. For, scarcely a century before, the two chartered East
+India Companies, after five years' internecine war, had coalesced to
+form that gigantic confederacy which for years monopolised the Indian
+trade, and rose to an unexampled pitch of corporate power and
+aggrandisement, at the cost of the mercantile community.</p>
+
+<p>'Just so, in 1817, the great water-companies coalesced against the
+public, and coolly portioned out London between them. Their treatment,
+on this occasion, of the tenants so lately flattered and cajoled, will
+never be effaced from the public memory. Batches of customers were
+handed over by one water-company to another, not merely without their
+consent, but without even the civility of a notice. Old tenants of the
+New River Company, who had taken their water for years, and had been
+their thick-and-thin supporters through the battle, found themselves
+ungratefully turned over, without previous explanation, to drink the
+"puddle" supplied by the Grand Junction Company. The abated rates were
+immediately raised, not merely to the former amount, but to charges
+from 25 to 400 per cent. more than they had been before the
+competition. The solemnly-promised high service was suppressed, or
+made the pretext for a heavy extra charge. Many people had to regret
+"selling their force-pumps as old lead," or fixing water-closets on
+their upper floors, on the faith of these treacherous contractors.
+Those who had fitted up their houses with pipes, in reliance on the
+guarantee of <i>unintermitting pressure</i>, found themselves obliged
+either to sacrifice the first outlay, or to expend on cisterns and
+their appendages further sums, varying from L.10 or L.20 up to
+L.50&mdash;and even, in many cases, L.100. When tenants thus unhandsomely
+dealt by expressed their indignation, and demanded redress, they were
+"jocosely" reminded by smiling secretaries that the competition was
+over, and that those who were dissatisfied with the companies'
+supplies were quite at liberty to set up pumps of their own.</p>
+
+<p>'Thus as, in political affairs, anarchy invariably leads to despotism,
+so, in commerce, subversive competition always ends its disorderly and
+ruinous course in monopoly, which, whether avowed or tacit, individual
+or collective, is but despotism in a lower sphere.</p>
+
+<p>'The cure for these evils lies in the competitive contract-system,
+which brings competition to bear <i>for</i>, instead of <i>in</i>, the field of
+supply, so as to obviate the reckless multiplication of
+establishments, and capitals, and staffs, for the performance of a
+service for which one would suffice. Evidence shews that the
+water-companies might be bought out, so as to clear the way for the
+consolidation of the water-supply with the drainage and other
+connected sanitary services, under a public authority, responsible to
+the rate-payers through parliament, and charged to supervise the due
+execution of the works by contractors competing freely, on open
+tender, in the public market&mdash;a system obviously calculated to secure
+for the public the best possible service at the lowest possible rates.
+By empowering such an authority to buy the companies out in full, with
+money borrowed at 3 or 3&frac12; per cent., we should come into possession
+of their works at an annual charge for interest, less, by nearly
+two-fifths, than our present annual payment to the companies; by
+consolidating the nine establishments thus acquired, we should save
+more than half the present working costs; and by the further
+consolidations referred to above, for which this first one would
+prepare the ground, we should still more reduce our annual charges,
+and still more improve our sanitary condition.'</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="MICHAEL_THE_ARCHANGEL" id="MICHAEL_THE_ARCHANGEL"></a>MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL:</h2>
+
+<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of
+    Contents</a></p>
+
+<h3>A STATUETTE.</h3>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">My</span> white archangel, with thy steady eyes<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Outlooking on this silent, ghost-filled room,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Thy clasped hands wrapped on thy sheathed sword or doom,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Thy firm-closed lips, not made for human sighs,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Kisses, or smiles, or writhing agonies,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But for divine exhorting, heavenly song,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Bold, righteous counsel, sweet from seraph tongue&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Beautiful angel, strong as thou art wise,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Would that thy sight could make me wise and strong!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Would that this sword of thine, which idle lies<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Stone-planted, could wake up and gleam among<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The crowd of demons that with eager cries<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Howl in my heart temptations of world's wrong!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>Lama Sabachthani</i>! How long&mdash;how long!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Michael, great leader of the hosts of God,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Warrer with Satan for the body of him<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Whom living, God had loved&mdash;If cherubim<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With cherubim contend for one poor clod<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of human dust, with sin-stained feet that trod<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Through the wide deserts of Heaven's chastisement&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Are there not ministering angels sent<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To strive with evil ones that roam abroad<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Clutching our living souls? 'The living, still<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The living, they shall praise Thee.' Let some great<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Invisible spirit enter in and fill<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The howling chambers of hearts desolate,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">There stand like thee, O Michael, strong and wise,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">My white archangel with the steadfast eyes!<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="WAGES_HEIGHTENED_IN_CONSEQUENCE_OF_IMPROVEMENT_OF_MACHINERY" id="WAGES_HEIGHTENED_IN_CONSEQUENCE_OF_IMPROVEMENT_OF_MACHINERY"></a>WAGES HEIGHTENED IN CONSEQUENCE OF IMPROVEMENT OF MACHINERY.</h2>
+
+<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of
+    Contents</a></p>
+
+<p>It is stated in a report of the Commissioners appointed in 1832 to
+inquire concerning the employment of women and children in factories,
+that 'in the cotton-mill of Messrs Houldsworth, in Glasgow, a spinner
+employed on a mule of 336 spindles, and spinning cotton 120 hanks to
+the pound, produced in 1823, working 74&frac12; hours a week, 46 pounds of
+yarn, his net weekly wages for which amounted to 27s. 7d. Ten years
+later, the rate of wages having in the meantime been reduced 13 per
+cent., and the time of working having been lessened to 69 hours, the
+spinner was enabled by the greater perfection of the machinery to
+produce on a mule of the same number of spindles, 52&frac12; pounds of
+yarn of the same fineness, and his net weekly earnings were advanced
+from 27s. 7d. to 29s. 10d.' Similar results from similar circumstances
+were experienced in the Manchester factories. The cheapening of the
+article produced by help of machinery increases the demand for the
+article; and there being consequently a need for an increased number
+of workmen, the elevation of wages follows as a matter of course. Nor
+is this the only benefit which the working-man derives in the case,
+for he shares with the community in acquiring a greater command over
+the necessaries which machinery is concerned in producing.&mdash;<i>Condensed
+from a Lecture by G. R. Porter to the Wandsworth Literary and
+Scientific Association.</i></p>
+
+<hr class="full" />
+
+<p>Printed and Published by W. and R. <span class="smcap">Chambers</span>, High Street, Edinburgh.
+Also sold by W. S. <span class="smcap">Orr</span>, Amen Corner, London; D. N. <span class="smcap">Chambers</span>, 55 West
+Nile Street, Glasgow; and J. <span class="smcap">M'Glashan</span>, 50 Upper Sackville Street,
+Dublin.&mdash;Advertisements for Monthly Parts are requested to be sent to
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+Project Gutenberg's Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 447, by Various
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 447
+       Volume 18, New Series, July 24, 1852
+
+Author: Various
+
+Editor: William Chambers
+        Robert Chambers
+
+Release Date: April 17, 2007 [EBook #21126]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAMBERS'S EDINBURGH ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Malcolm Farmer, Richard J. Shiffer and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                     CHAMBERS' EDINBURGH JOURNAL
+
+  CONDUCTED BY WILLIAM AND ROBERT CHAMBERS, EDITORS OF 'CHAMBERS'S
+  INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE,' 'CHAMBERS'S EDUCATIONAL COURSE,' &c.
+
+
+  No. 447. NEW SERIES.   SATURDAY, JULY 24, 1852.   PRICE 1-1/2_d._
+
+
+
+
+THE MARTYR SEX.
+
+
+Ever since that unfortunate affair in which the mother of mankind was
+so prominently concerned, the female sex might say, with Shylock,
+'Sufferance is the badge of all our tribe.' They are, in fact, an
+incarnation of the Passive Voice--no mistake about it. 'Ah, gentle
+dames, it gars me greet,' as Burns pathetically says, to think on all
+the hardships and oppressions which you have undergone throughout the
+course of history, political and domestic. It is most wonderful that
+you can bear up your heads at all in the world. Most assuredly it
+could not be done except under favour of some inherent principle of
+fortitude, quite beyond all that your associate, Man, has ever
+displayed. For this reason, I propose to fix upon you the honourable
+style and title of the Martyr Sex.
+
+As insanity is the more affecting when we observe its victim to be
+unconscious of the visitation, so does my heart bleed most
+particularly for the Martyr Sex, when I observe them undergoing severe
+oppressions without knowing it. So natural is suffering to the sex, or
+so accustomed are they to it, that they subject themselves
+spontaneously to enormous loads of trouble and torture, which no one
+would think of imposing upon them, and which they might easily avoid.
+It might almost be said, that suffering has a sort of fascination for
+them, drawing them placidly into it, whether they will or not. It
+seems in some mysterious way wrought up with their entire destiny.
+
+Hence, at no period of the history of the Sex, do we find them free
+from some form of amateur affliction. At one time, it is one part of
+their persons, at another time, another, which is subjected to
+voluntary distress--but always some part. Not that the shifting is, so
+far as can be seen, designed as a measure of relief; it would rather
+appear the object simply is--to make every part bear its share in
+turn, and allow none to escape. Thus, about a hundred years ago, a
+lady went about with shoes that raised her heels three inches above
+the floor, and threw her whole person out of its proper balance,
+occasioning, of course, a severe strain upon certain muscles, attended
+by constant pain. A little later, her feet might have been found
+restored to their right level; but, as if to make up for this, and
+allow no interval of misery, a tower of hair, pomatum, flour, pins,
+and pinners, had been reared on the head, such as an inquisitor might
+have considered himself very ingenious in devising, as a means of
+undoing the convictions of heretics, or bringing round a Jew to
+Christianity. Verily, it was a most portentous enginery for the
+affliction of female humanity; but how heroically it was endured! A
+whole generation bore it without a sigh! It often cost them their
+night's rest merely to get it properly put in order--for, dressing
+being in those days very elaborate, the attendants had to prepare some
+ladies one day for a party that was to take place the next. They would
+sit, however, in a chair all night, in order to preserve the structure
+in all its integrity, sleeping only by snatches, and often waking in
+terror lest something might be going wrong. Talk of the martyrs of
+science--Galileo in prison, Bruno at the stake. These men had
+something of importance in view to sustain them in their trials. Give
+me the Martyr Sex, who sacrifice ease and convenience, without having
+any adventitious principle whatever to compensate for and support them
+under their sufferings.
+
+In more recent times, we have seen the entire Sex submitting to
+torture in a middle ground--namely, the waist--with an equal degree of
+magnanimity. The corsets also formed an engine which would have
+perfectly fitted the purposes of the Inquisition; indeed, there were
+some ingenious devices of the Holy Office which did not greatly differ
+from it. It might almost shake the common-sense of admiration for
+martyrial sufferings, to find that every little girl in England was
+for some years both able and willing to endure a regular torture,
+without apparently having the least idea of making any merit by her
+patience. Present pains, possible consequences--such as red noses, bad
+breath, permanent ill health, death itself--were made light of. There
+being no imaginable good end to be served by it, was nothing to the
+point. The corsets were, for a time, a proud symbol of the martyr
+power of the Sex. You would see an example set forth in each
+milliner's window, carefully disposed under a glass-shade, as
+indicating the pride they felt in it as a sort of badge of honour. It
+is to be hoped that a few special copies will be preserved in our
+antiquarian museums, and, if possible, they should be such as can be
+certified to have killed their wearers, in order to shew to future
+generations what the women of our age could submit to _in that
+particular line_--not _generally_ of course, for it is to be expected
+that the women of the future will have equal sufferings in some other
+walk to boast of.
+
+It is not always, indeed, that the Sex have a master torment, like
+tight stays, to endure; but certainly they are never without some
+source of either anguish or inconvenience to keep their martyr power
+in exercise. For one thing, they are sadly afflicted with over-large
+shoes. Strange to say, though there are artists pretending to be
+ladies' shoemakers, the sex never get shoes sufficiently small. Every
+now and then, they are receiving some monstrous affront, in the form
+of a pair of shoes that might hold sufficient meal for a pudding
+besides their feet. From this cause flow certain pains and penalties
+in the form of corns and bunions, insuring that they shall never take
+a step in life without being reminded of the doom of suffering which
+has been passed upon them. To speak of the simple incommodations which
+they suffer from dress were endless. At one time, they are all blown
+out into sleeve, so that a miscellaneous dinner-party looks like a
+series of men and women with feather-beds stuck between each pair. At
+another time, the sleeve, while moderate in the region of the upper
+arm, is fashioned wide at the bottom, as if to allow of the fair
+wearers laughing in it--the joke, however, being all against
+themselves, seeing that the pendulous part is a source of continual
+trouble and worry, from its trailing through every sauce and tart that
+may be at table, till it becomes a kind of geological phenomenon, in
+the illustration which it affords of the succession of deposits and
+incrustations. Or the swelling falls mainly into a lower part of the
+dress, taking the form of a monstrous prolongation of skirts, and
+insuring that the fair Martyrs shall act as scavengers upon every
+street in which they promenade. I hardly know a more interesting sight
+than that of a young lady going to school on a wet day, with books to
+carry in one hand, and an umbrella to sustain in the other. To see the
+struggles she makes in such circumstances to keep her skirts from
+dragging in the mud, or the patience with which she submits to their
+unavoidably doing so, and to think of the sad condition of her lower
+extremities all the time--to reflect, moreover, that all this trouble
+and suffering could be avoided by merely having skirts of a
+sufficient, but not over-sufficient length--presents such an affecting
+picture of evils voluntarily encountered and heroically sustained, as
+but rarely occurs in the course of human life. It is justly held as a
+strong proof of patience, that you should calmly submit to be spat
+upon, or have mud thrown upon you by some infuriated crowd; but here
+is a gentle creature who literally goes out every day to endure the
+certain contact of these nuisances, and comes home to dinner not in
+much better plight than one who has sat (unpopularly) in the pillory
+for an hour. I really must give such martyrdom the meed of my
+admiration; and the more so, that I feel myself, under the hardening
+effects of worldly common-sense, totally unprepared to go through such
+hardships without some useful end to be served by it.
+
+The last example of what may be called the Martyrdom of Inconvenience
+which the Sex have shewn, is to be found in a form of bonnet adapted
+for summer wear, in which the front comes only to about an inch behind
+the forehead, so as to leave the face fully exposed to the attacks of
+the sun (when there is one) and the unmitigated gaze of the beaux.
+There is something very remarkable in this fashion, for a great number
+of ladies find it absolutely indispensable to add to this abbreviation
+of a bonnet a sort of supplement of silk called an _ugly_, wherewith
+to screen the face from becoming an absolute photograph. A couple of
+inches added to the bonnet itself would serve the end; but this would
+give a regular and not inelegant protection. It would, therefore,
+entirely prevent inconvenience, and so thwart the Sex in their
+martyrial propensities. Such a thing is not to be thought of. On the
+contrary, either to suffer from sunlight without an _ugly_, or to
+suffer from clumsiness with one, enables the unfortunate Sex to
+indulge in its favourite passion to the fullest extent possible in
+such cases. Admirable portion of creation! what merits are yours, what
+praise is called for fully to requite you! But, indeed, it must be
+quite impossible ever to make sufficient acknowledgment of that
+wonderful power of endurance for its own sake which you shew in the
+most trivial, as in the most important phases of life!
+
+I therefore quit the subject with a humiliating sense of my utter
+incompetency to do it entire justice. I weep and wonder--my very soul
+thrills with the pathos of woman's martyr position on the earth and
+her volunteer sufferings above all. But I would vainly attempt to
+utter all I feel. I must leave it to each bearded fellow-creature, as
+he walks through the wilderness of this world, to behold with a
+sympathising eye and spirit an endurance so affecting, and endeavour
+to compensate it, to the individual sufferers within his reach, by
+every consolation and every reward he may have it in his power to
+bestow.
+
+
+
+
+THE YOUNGEST BRITISH COLONY.
+
+
+Which is the youngest British colony? Simple as the question seems, it
+may be doubted, considering the remarkable increase of late years in
+the number of John Bull's colonial progeny, whether the most
+experienced red-tapist of Downing Street could answer it without some
+hesitation. At least a dozen infant communities occur at once to the
+recollection. There is Port Philip, lately rechristened by the royal
+name of Victoria, and now seemingly in a fair way to be smothered in
+its cradle by a deluge of gold-dust. There is the Hudson's Bay
+Company's little Cinderella of Vancouver's Island, with its neglected
+coal-mines, and other mineral riches. Then we have the precocious
+'Canterbury' pet, the 'young Virginia' of New Zealand. Nor must we
+forget the storm-vexed colony of Labuan, ushered into existence amid
+typhoons and parliamentary debates--nor the small castaways, growing
+up in secluded islets and corners--in the Falkland Islands, the
+Auckland Islands, on the Mosquito Shore, and in the far Eastern Seas.
+It is in one of these directions that most persons would probably be
+inclined to cast an inquiring glance before attempting to answer the
+question with which these remarks are prefaced. It is not likely that
+many would at once be able to recall to mind the fact, that an
+important British colony, dating its official existence from the 22d
+of March 1851, has suddenly sprung up in the interior of Africa--a
+colony already possessing an efficient legislature, a handsome
+revenue, and several flourishing towns, with churches, schools, a
+respectable press, and other adjuncts, of civilisation. A brief
+description of this remarkable colony may serve to awaken for it an
+interest which its future progress, if at all corresponding with the
+past, will probably keep alive.
+
+There is some difficulty in describing the 'Orange River
+Sovereignty'--for such is the long and rather awkward name by which
+this settlement is now known--so as to convey a correct idea of its
+situation without the aid of a map. That the Cape Colony occupies the
+southern coast of the African continent, and that the colony of Natal
+is on the south-eastern coast, are facts of which few readers will
+need to be reminded. Will it, then, be sufficient to say, that the
+'sovereignty' in question is situated in the interior, between these
+two colonies, having the Cape on the south, and Natal on the east? It
+will be necessary to refer briefly to the manner in which it acquired
+its rank as a colony, and its peculiar name. Just two hundred years
+ago, in the year 1652, the Cape Colony was founded by the Dutch; and
+about fifty years ago, it came into the possession of our own
+government. During these two centuries, the colony has been constantly
+extending itself towards the east and north, just as the British
+settlements in North America, which were founded about the same time,
+have been ever since extending their borders towards the west and
+south, or as the settlements of Eastern Australia have been spreading
+to the west, south, and north. It is a natural movement of
+colonisation, and there seems to be no means of checking it, even if
+any advantage were to be gained by doing so.
+
+As the American backwoodsmen, in their progress westward, reached at
+last the boundary-streams--as they were once considered--of the
+Mississippi and the Ohio, so the South-African colonists gradually
+found their way to the great Orange River, which, flowing nearly
+across the continent, from east to west, formed a sort of natural
+limit to the old colony. But beyond this boundary, extensive plains
+and undulating downs, covered with nutritious herbage like the
+American prairies, spread out invitingly towards the distant northern
+horizon. The exterminating wars among the native tribes had left these
+grassy plains almost wholly unoccupied. You might travel over them for
+days without meeting a human being, or any traces of human possession,
+except here and there the decaying huts and bleaching skeletons of the
+former inhabitants. The feeble remnants of these tribes had sought
+refuge in the recesses of the neighbouring mountains, where some of
+them, in their dire extremity, sustained a horrid existence by
+cannibalism, which revolting custom still further diminished their
+numbers, and has only recently been suppressed. The Cape 'boers,' or
+farmers, rich as the patriarchs of old in cattle and sheep, and
+straitened like them for pasture, gradually found their way over the
+river into these fruitful and vacant plains. At first, they crossed
+only in small numbers, and with no intention of remaining permanently.
+But the abolition of slavery, the mismanaged Caffre wars, and some
+unpopular measures of the Cape government, suddenly gave a great
+impulse to the emigration.
+
+About fifteen years ago, some thousands of Dutch colonists sold their
+farms, packed their household gear in their huge capacious wagons,
+and with their wives and children--in all, at least 10,000
+souls--accompanied by myriads of cattle, sheep, and horses, crossed
+the Orange River, and plunged into the vast wilderness beyond. Some
+spread themselves over the rich pastures in the country lying
+immediately north of that river, and now forming the infant colony
+which is presently to be described. Others penetrated far to the
+north, forded the Vaal or Yellow River, and planted corn-fields and
+vineyards on the fertile slopes of the Kashan Mountains, where they
+still maintain themselves as a self-governed and thriving community.
+One small band of bold adventurers found their way to the verdant but
+fever-haunted plains about Delagoa Bay, whence the few survivors were
+presently driven by the destructive ravages of the pestilence. But the
+main column of the emigrants, turning to the right, crossed the lofty
+chain of the Drakenberg--the 'Rocky Mountains' of Africa--and
+descended into the well-watered valleys and woody lowlands of Natal.
+The romantic but melancholy story of the sufferings, the labours, the
+triumphs, and the reverses which filled up the subsequent years--how
+some of the emigrants were surprised and massacred by the jealous
+tribes of the interior, and others were treacherously slaughtered by
+their professed ally, the blood-thirsty chief of the Zulus--and how
+the exasperated survivors turned upon their assailants, broke their
+power, and scattered them; how they planted towns, formed a regular
+government, and set up an independent republic; all these, and many
+similar events, must be left for the future historians of South Africa
+to record. Neither is it necessary to refer here to the policy which
+led our government afterwards to extend its authority over the lands
+thus conquered and settled by the emigrants, or to the manner in which
+this authority, at first resisted, was finally established. Natal was
+thus made a British province in 1842. Many of the boors, naturally
+enough disliking the new government thus forced upon them, retraced
+their course over the Drakenberg, back into the upland plains of the
+interior. Here they were left pretty much to themselves, until the
+year 1848, when Sir Harry Smith proclaimed the extension of the
+Queen's supremacy over the whole of the territory situated between the
+Orange and Vaal Rivers; but, as has been already said, it was not
+until March of last year that this acquisition was finally sanctioned,
+and the new colony established by an act of the imperial government.
+
+The Vaal River--sometimes called the Nu Gariep, and sometimes the
+Yellow River--is the principal tributary of the Orange River; indeed,
+it is so large an affluent, that some geographers have doubted, as in
+the case of the Mississippi and the Missouri, which should properly be
+considered the main stream. These rivers, the Orange and the Vaal,
+rising near together in the Drakenberg chain, take a wide circuit, the
+one to the south-west, the other to the north-west, and flow each a
+distance of about 400 miles before their junction. The territory which
+they thus enclose is nearly as large as England, comprising between
+40,000 and 50,000 square miles. It is inhabited by about 80,000
+natives, of various Bechuana, Namaqua, and half-caste tribes, and by
+some 15,000 or 20,000 colonists of European origin. Over all these
+inhabitants, colonists and natives, the British sovereignty has been
+proclaimed. Subject to this supremacy, the native chiefs and tribes
+are still left to manage their own affairs, according to their
+original laws and customs. But in order to indicate clearly and
+decisively the fact, that the royal authority is now paramount in this
+region whenever Her Majesty's government chooses to exert it, the name
+of the Orange River Sovereignty has been given to the whole territory.
+
+The portion of this territory which is properly a British
+settlement--or, in other words, which is inhabited by Dutch and
+English colonists, is in extent about two-thirds of the whole. It is
+subdivided into four districts, for each of which a stipendiary
+magistrate has been appointed. These magistrates, with eight
+unofficial members of council--who are all respectable
+landowners--form, in conjunction with the 'British resident,' the
+legislature of the colony. The title of the Resident is borrowed from
+the official system of India, and was originally given to him when
+acting as a government commissioner for the protection of the native
+tribes; but his office is at present simply that of a colonial
+governor.
+
+The extensive country which is thus governed, cannot be better
+described than in the words of Sir Harry Smith, who, in a dispatch
+written in January 1848, gives the following account of the whole
+region, which he had just traversed, on his way from the Cape to
+Natal. He describes it as 'a country well fitted for the pasturage of
+cattle, and covered in every direction with large game. It is,' he
+adds, 'strongly undulating; and although badly watered, well adapted
+for the construction of dams; and, the soil being generally rich, it
+is capable, if irrigated, of producing every species of grain. It is
+miserably destitute of trees, frequently even of bush, and is thickly
+studded with abrupt and isolated hills, whose height frequently
+approaches that of mountains. Over the greater part of this tract of
+country, not a single native is to be seen; nor for many years, if
+ever, has it been inhabited by one. The gardens of the emigrants
+(boers) are in many places very good; their houses miserable, as they
+have been deterred from exhausting their little remaining capital by
+building on a doubtful and precarious tenure. That objection to the
+increase of their comfort, if the word be applicable, will now, I
+trust, be happily removed.' The absence of trees, of which Sir Harry
+speaks, is believed to have originated from the same cause which
+occasions a similar want in the prairies of America--that is, the
+native custom of burning down the grass every winter, to fertilise the
+soil. Where trees have been planted recently, they have grown well.
+The apple, pear, peach, and other fruit-trees of temperate climates,
+are found to thrive and produce abundantly. The whole country, it
+should be added, is a great plateau, elevated 2000 or 3000 feet above
+the level of the sea. The climate is, therefore, cooler than in Natal,
+which is situated in the same latitude, but at a lower elevation.
+
+It was not till Sir Harry Smith had thus proclaimed the royal
+supremacy, in 1848, that English colonists began to establish
+themselves in any considerable numbers in the country. But they then
+soon found their way thither, principally as traders, and settled in
+the new towns which quickly sprang up in the several districts. Bloem
+Fontein, the capital, is now almost wholly an English town. It has its
+municipality; its weekly newspaper--printed in English and Dutch; its
+English and 'Dutch Reformed' churches, and Wesleyan Chapel; its
+government school; its market; and various other appurtenances of a
+flourishing town, all of which have come into existence since Sir
+Harry Smith made his flying visit to the province in 1848, and
+proclaimed it subject to Her Majesty's supremacy. Such magic resides
+in a British governor's proclamation!
+
+But the growth of Bloem Fontein, rapid as it has been, is not so
+striking as that of another town. There is a well-known story of a
+traveller, in a newly-settled part of North America, inquiring his way
+at a lonely hut to a 'city' which made a conspicuous figure in some
+land-speculator's map, and receiving the startling information, that
+he was then standing in the principal square. An adventure of much the
+same nature befell a traveller in South Africa, who, in February 1850,
+attempted, while on his way from Bloem Fontein to Natal, to discover
+the newly-founded town of Harrismith.
+
+'At length,' he writes, 'having reached the eastern side of the
+mountain, I halted, and determined to go in search of this new-born
+town--a future city in our vast empire. Taking my attendant, Andries,
+with me, we proceeded to an elevation, where I felt sure it must come
+into view. We were disappointed. Not a spire, nor chimney, nor hut
+could be seen; and so we walked on towards another elevation. On our
+way, we came to an emigrant settler, busily employed in brick-making;
+and from him I learned that we had taken the left-hand road instead of
+the right, after we passed the last stream. We were about a mile from
+the spot marked out as the town, _but no houses are built, nor are any
+persons residing there_; so I did not deem it worth while to proceed
+further in that direction.' In May of the same year, 'two or three
+houses' are reported to have been built; in 1851, they are springing
+up rapidly; and at the latest date, the 9th of last January, we hear
+of an actual flourishing little town, with school-house, flour-mill,
+and bustling and increasing trade.
+
+The progressing town, however, had its difficulties, both physical and
+political, to contend with. The correspondent has to report, that 'the
+postal arrangements still continue unsatisfactory and vexatious, no
+post having been received from Bloem Fontein for the last two months;
+and,' he indignantly adds, 'to make matters worse, the late
+magistrate's clerk and postmaster has resigned, owing to grave charges
+having been preferred against him by a party faction who would rule
+public opinion.' But he consoles himself with the judicious
+reflection, that 'time and imported respectable intelligence will
+remedy this unhappy state of things, in the changes which small
+communities undergo.' It is satisfactory to learn, that in spite of
+the machinations of faction, the citizens managed to enjoy themselves
+when a suitable occasion offered. 'New-Year's Day,' we are told, 'was
+celebrated with more than ordinary spirit. A shooting-match took
+place, after which a public supper and quadrille-party came off; which
+finished the pleasures of the day. The next day, lovers of the turf
+had their enjoyment in the establishment of races.' And then we have,
+duly recorded in the well-known _Racing-Calendar_ style, the fortunes
+of the competitors, for the 'Untried' Cup, the 'Harrismith Plate,' the
+'Ladies' Purse,' and the 'Hack-Race' and it is stated that 'one of the
+horses was sold immediately after the races for L.40,' which would
+seem to be considered a high figure in that region. It is further
+announced, 'that another year will probably see the establishment of a
+fair, which will give our interior farmers and friends an opportunity
+of rendering a journey to Harrismith both profitable and pleasurable,
+as such an occasion will doubtless attract buyers of cattle, horses,
+sheep, wool, butter, tallow, grain, &c., from Natal.' And the
+correspondent is 'happy to state, that several farmers are settling
+upon their farms in the neighbourhood of the town, which will tend to
+give confidence, and increase the value of land in its vicinity.'
+
+Thus, in less than two years, a real, bustling, hopeful little town
+had sprung into existence, with all the genuine characteristics of an
+English community. Education and trade, races and quadrilles, were
+already flourishing. The well-known political parties, the Buffs and
+the Blues, the foes of corruption and the friends of established
+institutions, were already arraying themselves in hostile ranks. In
+two years more, we may expect to receive the first numbers of the
+_Harrismith Gazette_ and the _Harrismith Independent_, the 'organs' of
+the respective parties; and to learn through their valuable columns,
+that the 'Harrismith Agricultural and Commercial Bank' has declared
+its first annual dividend of 10 per cent., and that the new
+'Harrismith Assembly-Rooms' were thrown open, on the auspicious
+anniversary of the royal birthday, to a large and select assemblage of
+the rank, fashion, and beauty of the city and its neighbourhood.
+
+The writer from whose letter some of the foregoing quotations are
+made, strongly recommends that the government should offer 'unstinted
+encouragement and liberal assistance' to promote emigration from Great
+Britain; and considers that, if this were done, 'thousands of hardy
+English and Scotch farmers would avail themselves of the advantages
+which the country offers.' This is possible; but at the same time, it
+should be known, that the excitement among the native tribes, caused
+by the war in Caffreland, had extended across the Orange River into
+the sovereignty, and that much confusion, and, unfortunately, some
+bloodshed, had ensued. These disorders, it is true, were only local;
+but it is evident that the neighbourhood of some 80,000 barbarians
+must, for some time to come, be a source of considerable embarrassment
+and danger to all settlers in the new colony. In time, no doubt, with
+the progress of civilisation, this danger will be removed; and the
+natives may become, as in New Zealand, a source of wealth to the
+colony, as useful labourers--like the 'skipping Caffres' under the
+brickmaker's instructions, or peaceful cultivators of the soil. At
+present, however, the peril from this source is so evident and so
+serious, that a warning reference to it could not with propriety be
+omitted in any description of this otherwise promising settlement.
+
+
+
+
+THE SECRET.
+
+
+Jean Baptiste Veron, a native, it was understood, of the south of
+France, established himself as a merchant at Havre-de-Grace in 1788,
+being then a widower with one child, a young boy. The new-comer's
+place of business was on the south quay, about a hundred yards west of
+the custom-house. He had brought letters of high recommendation from
+several eminent Paris firms; his capital was ascertained to be large;
+and soon, moreover, approving him self to be a man of keen mercantile
+discernment, and measured, peremptory, unswerving business habits, it
+is not surprising that his commercial transactions speedily took a
+wide range, or that, at the end of about fifteen years, M. Veron was
+pronounced by general consent to be the wealthiest merchant of the
+commercial capital of northern France. He was never, albeit, much of a
+favourite with any class of society: his manner was too _brusque_,
+decided, unbending--his speech too curt, frequently too bitter, for
+that; but he managed to steer his course in very difficult times
+quite as safely as those who put themselves to great pains and charges
+to obtain popularity. He never expressed--publicly at least--any
+preference for Royalism, Republicanism, or Imperialism; for
+fleur-de-lis, bonnet-rouge, or tricolore: in short, Jean Baptiste
+Veron was a stern, taciturn, self-absorbed man of business; and as
+nothing else was universally concluded, till the installation of a
+_quasi_ legitimacy by Napoleon Bonaparte, when a circumstance, slight
+in itself, gave a clearer significance to the cold, haughty, repellent
+expression which played habitually about the merchant's gray, deep-set
+eyes, and thin, firmly-compressed lips. His newly-engraved private
+card read thus:--'J. B. _de_ Veron, _Mon Sejour_, Ingouville.' Mon
+Sejour was a charming suburban domicile, situate upon the Cote, as it
+is usually termed-a sloping eminence on the north of Le Havre, which
+it commands, and now dotted with similar residences, but at the period
+we are writing of, very sparsely built upon. Not long after this
+assumption of the aristocratic prefix to his name, it was discovered
+that he had insinuated himself into the very narrow and exclusive
+circle of the De Merodes, who were an unquestionable fragment of the
+old noblesse, damaged, it is true, almost irretrievably in purse, as
+their modest establishment on the Cote too plainly testified; but in
+pedigree as untainted and resplendent as in the palmiest days of the
+Capets. As the Chevalier de Merode and his daughter Mademoiselle
+Henriette-Delphine-Hortense-Marie-Chasse-Loup de Merode--described as
+a tall, fair, and extremely meagre damsel, of about thirty years of
+age--were known to be rigidly uncompromising in all matters having
+reference to ancestry, it was concluded that Jean Baptiste do Veron
+had been able to satisfy his noble friends, that although _de facto_ a
+merchant from the sad necessities of the evil time, he was _de jure_
+entitled to take rank and precedence with the illustrious though
+decayed nobility of France. It might be, too, as envious gossips
+whispered, that any slight flaw or break in the chain of De Veron's
+patrician descent, had been concealed or overlooked in the glitter of
+his wealth, more especially if it was true, as rumour presently began
+to circulate, that the immense sum--in French eyes and ears--of
+300,000 francs (L.12,000) was to be settled upon Mademoiselle de
+Merode and her heirs on the day which should see her united in holy
+wedlock with Eugene de Veron, by this time a fine-looking young man,
+of one or two-and-twenty, and, like ninety-nine in every hundred of
+the youth of France, strongly prejudiced _against_ the pretensions of
+mere birth and hereditary distinction.
+
+Rumour in this instance was correctly informed. 'Eugene,' said M. de
+Veron, addressing his son in his usual cold positive manner, and at
+the same time locking his private ecritoire, the hand of the clock
+being just on the stroke of five, the hour for closing--'I have a
+matter of importance to inform you of. All differences between me and
+the Chevalier de Merode relative to your marriage with his daughter,
+Mademoiselle de Merode, are'----
+
+'Hein!' ejaculated Eugene, suddenly whirling round upon his stool, and
+confronting his father. 'Hein!'
+
+'All differences, I say,' resumed M. de Veron with unruffled calm and
+decision, 'between myself and the chevalier are arranged _a
+l'aimable_; and the contract of marriage will be ready, for your and
+Mademoiselle de Merode's signature, on Monday next at two precisely.'
+
+'Mine and Mademoiselle de Merode's!' repeated the astounded son, who
+seemed half doubtful whether he saw or heard aright.
+
+'Yes. No wonder you are surprised. So distinguished a connection could
+hardly, under the circumstances, have been hoped for; and it would
+have been cruel to have given you any intimation on the subject whilst
+there was a chance of the negotiation issuing unfavourably. Your wife
+and you will, for the present, at all events, take up your abode at
+Mon Sejour; and I must consequently look out at once for a smaller, a
+more bachelor-suiting residence.'
+
+'My wife and me!' echoed Veron junior with the same air of stupid
+amazement as before--'My wife and me!' Recovering a little, he added:
+'Confound it, there must be some mistake here. Do you know, _mon
+pere_, that this Mademoiselle de Merode is not at all to my taste? I
+would as soon marry'----
+
+'No folly, Eugene, if you please,' interrupted M. de Veron. 'The
+affair, as I have told you, is decided. You will marry Mademoiselle de
+Merode; or if not, he added with iron inflexibility of tone and
+manner--'Eugene de Veron is likely to benefit very little by his
+father's wealth, which the said Eugene will do well to remember is of
+a kind not very difficult of transference beyond the range of the law
+of inheritance which prevails in France. The leprosy of the
+Revolution,' continued M. de Veron as he rose and put on his hat, 'may
+indeed be said to have polluted our very hearths, when we find
+children setting up their opinions, and likings and dislikings,
+forsooth! against their fathers' decision, in a matter so entirely
+within the parental jurisdiction as that of a son or daughter's
+marriage.'
+
+Eugene did not reply; and after assisting his father--who limped a
+little in consequence of having severely sprained his ankle some eight
+or ten days previously--to a light one-horse carriage in waiting
+outside, he returned to the office, and resumed his seat, still in a
+maze of confusion, doubt, and dismay. 'How could,' he incoherently
+muttered--'how could my father--how could anybody suppose that----How
+could he especially be so blind as not to have long ago
+perceived----What a contrast!' added Eugene de Veron jumping up,
+breaking into passionate speech, and his eyes sparkling as if he was
+actually in presence of the dark-eyed divinity whose image filled his
+brain and loosed his tongue--'what a contrast! Adeline, young,
+roseate, beautiful as Spring, lustrous as Juno, graceful as Hebe! Oh,
+_par exemple_, Mademoiselle de Merode, you, with your high blood and
+skinny bones, must excuse me. And poor, too, poor as Adeline!
+Decidedly, the old gentleman must be crazed, and--and let me
+see----Ay, to be sure, I must confer with Edouard at once.'
+
+Eugene de Veron had only one flight of stairs to ascend in order to
+obtain this conference, Edouard le Blanc, the brother of Adeline,
+being a principal clerk in the establishment. Edouard le Blanc readily
+and sincerely condoled with his friend upon the sudden obscuration of
+his and Adeline's hopes, adding that he had always felt a strong
+misgiving upon the subject; and after a lugubrious dialogue, during
+which the clerk hinted nervously at a circumstance which, looking at
+the unpleasant turn matters were taking, might prove of terrible
+import--a nervousness but very partially relieved by Eugene's
+assurance, that, come what may, he would take the responsibility in
+that particular entirely upon himself, as, indeed, he was bound to
+do--the friends left the office, and wended their way to Madame le
+Blanc's, Ingouville. There the lover forgot, in Adeline's gay
+exhilarating presence and conversation, the recent ominous and
+exasperating communication from his father; while Edouard proceeded to
+take immediate counsel with his mother upon the altered aspect of
+affairs, not only as regarded Adeline and Eugene de Veron, but more
+particularly himself, Edouard le Blanc.
+
+Ten minutes had hardly passed by ordinary reckoning--barely one by
+Eugene de Veron's--when his interview with the charming Adeline was
+rudely broken in upon by Madame le Blanc, a shrewd, prudent woman of
+the world, albeit that in this affair she had somewhat lost her
+balance, tempted by the glittering prize offered for her daughter's
+acceptance, and for a time apparently within her reach. The mother's
+tone and manner were stern and peremptory. 'Have the kindness,
+Monsieur Eugene de Veron, to bid Adeline adieu at once. I have a
+serious matter to talk over with you alone. Come!'
+
+Adeline was extremely startled at hearing her rich lover thus
+addressed, and the carnation of her glowing cheeks faded at once to
+lily paleness, whilst Eugene's features flushed as quickly to deepest
+crimson. He stammered out his willingness to attend madame
+immediately, and hastily kissing Adeline's hand, followed the
+unwelcome intruder to another room.
+
+'So, Monsieur Eugene,' began Madame le Blanc, 'this ridiculous
+wooing--of which, as you know, I never heartily approved--is at an
+end. You are, I hear, to marry Mademoiselle de Merode in the early
+part of next week.'
+
+'Madame le Blanc,' exclaimed the young man, 'what is it you are
+saying? _I_ marry Mademoiselle de Merode next or any other week! I
+swear to you, by all that is true and sacred, that I will be torn in
+pieces by wild horses before I break faith with'----
+
+'Chut! chut!' interrupted Madame Le Blanc; 'you may spare your oaths.
+The sentimental bavardage of boys in love will be lost upon me. You
+will, as you ought, espouse Mademoiselle de Merode, who is, I am told,
+a very superior and amiable person; and as to Adeline, she will
+console herself. A girl with her advantages will always be able to
+marry sufficiently well, though not into the family of a millionaire.
+But my present business with you, Monsieur Eugene de Veron, relates to
+a different and much more important matter. Edouard has just confided
+to me a very painful circumstance. You have induced him to commit not
+only a weak but a highly criminal act: he has let you have, without
+Monsieur de Veron's consent or knowledge, two thousand francs, upon
+the assurance that you would either reimburse that sum before his
+accounts were balanced, or arrange the matter satisfactorily with your
+father.' 'But, Madame le Blanc'----
+
+'Neither of which alternatives,' persisted that lady, 'I very plainly
+perceive, you will be able to fulfil, unless you comply with Monsieur
+de Veron's wishes; and if you have any real regard for Adeline, you
+will signify that acquiescence without delay, for her brother's ruin
+would in a moral sense be hers also. Part of the money has, I
+understand, been squandered on the presents you have made her: they
+shall be returned'----
+
+'Madame le Blanc,' exclaimed the excited young man, 'you will drive me
+mad! I cannot, will not give up Adeline; and as for the paltry sum of
+money you speak of--_my_ money as it may fairly be considered-_that_
+shall be returned to-morrow morning.'
+
+Madame le Blanc did not speak for a few seconds, and then said: 'Very
+well, mind you keep your promise. To-morrow is, you are aware, the
+Fete Dieu: we have promised Madame Carson of the Grande Rue to pass
+the afternoon and evening at her house, where we shall have a good
+view of the procession. Do you and Edouard call on us there, as soon
+as the affair is arranged. I will not detain you longer at present.
+Adieu! Stay, stay--by this door, if you please. I cannot permit you to
+see Adeline again, at all events till this money transaction is
+definitively settled.'
+
+'As you have now slept upon the proposal I communicated to you
+yesterday afternoon,' said M. de Veron, addressing his son on the
+following morning at the conclusion of a silent breakfast--'you may
+perhaps be prepared with a more fitting answer than you were then?'
+
+Eugene warmly protested his anxiety to obey all his father's
+reasonable commands; but in this case compliance was simply
+impossible, forasmuch as he, Eugene, had already irrevocably pledged
+his word, his heart, his honour, in another quarter, and could not,
+therefore, nay, would not, consent to poison his future existence by
+uniting himself with Mademoiselle de Merode, for whom, indeed, he felt
+the profoundest esteem, but not the slightest emotion of affection or
+regard.
+
+'Your word, your honour, your heart--you should have added your
+fortune,' replied M. de Veron with frigid, slowly-distilled, sarcastic
+bitterness--'are irrevocably engaged, are they, to Adeline le Blanc,
+sister of my collecting clerk--daughter of a deceased sous-lieutenant
+of the line'----
+
+'Of the Imperial Guard,' interposed Eugene.
+
+'Who aids her mother to eke out a scanty pension by embroidery'----
+
+'Very superior, artistic embroidery,' again interjected the son.
+
+'Be it so. I have not been quite so unobservant, Eugene, of certain
+incidents, as you and your friends appear to have supposed. But time
+proves all things, and the De Merodes and I can wait.'
+
+Nothing further passed till M. de Veron rose to leave the room, when
+his son, with heightened colour and trembling speech, although
+especially aiming at a careless indifference of tone and manner, said:
+Sir--sir--one word, if you please. I have a slight favour to ask.
+There are a few debts, to the amount of about two thousand francs,
+which I wish to discharge immediately--this morning, in fact.'
+
+'Debts to the amount of about two thousand francs, which you wish to
+discharge immediately--this morning, in fact,' slowly repeated De
+Veron, fixing on his son a triumphant, mocking glance, admirably
+seconded by the curve of his thin white lips. 'Well, let the bills be
+sent to me. If correct and fair, they shall be paid.'
+
+'But--but, father, one, the chief item, is a debt of honour!'
+
+'Indeed! Then your honour is pledged to others besides Mademoiselle
+_la brodeuse_? I have only to say, that in that case I _will not_
+assist you.' Having said this, M. de Veron, quite regardless of his
+son's angry expostulations, limped out of the apartment, and shortly
+after, the sound of carriage-wheels announced his departure to Le
+Havre. Eugene, about an hour afterwards followed, vainly striving to
+calm his apprehensions by the hope, that before the day for balancing
+Edouard's accounts arrived, he should find his father in a more
+Christian-like and generous mood, or, at any rate, hit upon some means
+of raising the money.
+
+The day, like the gorgeous procession that swept through the crowded
+streets, passed slowly and uninterruptedly away in M. de Veron's place
+of business, till about half-past four, when that gentleman directed a
+porter, who was leaving the private office, to inform M. le Blanc,
+that he, M. de Veron, wished to speak with him immediately. On hearing
+this order, Eugene looked quickly up from the desk at which he was
+engaged, to his father's face; but he discerned nothing on that
+impassive tablet either to dissipate or confirm his fear.
+
+'Edouard le Blanc,' said M. de Veron with mild suavity of voice the
+instant the summoned clerk presented himself, 'it so chances that I
+have no further occasion for your services'----
+
+Sir!--sir!' gasped the terrified young man.
+
+'You are,' continued M. de Veron, 'entitled to a month's salary, in
+lieu of that period of notice--one hundred francs, with which you may
+credit yourself in the cash account you will please to balance and
+bring me as quickly as possible.'
+
+'Sir!--sir!' again bewilderedly iterated the panic-stricken clerk, as
+he turned distractedly from father to son--'Sir!'
+
+'My words are plain enough, I think,' observed M. de Veron, coolly
+tapping and opening his snuff-box from which he helped himself to a
+hearty pinch. 'You are discharged with one hundred francs, a month's
+salary in lieu of warning, in your pocket. You have now only to bring
+your accounts; they are correct, of course; I, finding them so, sign
+your _livret_, and there is an end of the matter.'
+
+Edouard le Blanc made a step or two towards the door, and then, as if
+overwhelmed with a sense of the hopelessness of further concealment,
+turned round, threw himself with a cry of terror and despair at M. de
+Veron's feet, and poured forth a wild, sobbing, scarcely intelligible
+confession of the fault or crime of which he had been guilty, through
+the solicitations of M. Eugene, who had, he averred, received every
+farthing of the amount in which he, Edouard le Blanc, acknowledged
+himself to be a defaulter.
+
+'Yes!--yes!' exclaimed the son; 'Edouard gave the money into my hands,
+and if there is any blame, it is mine alone.'
+
+M. de Veron listened with a stolid, stony apathy to all this, save for
+a slight glimmer of triumph that, spite of himself, shone out at the
+corners of his half-closed eyes. When the young man had ceased sobbing
+and exclaiming, he said: 'You admit, Edouard le Blanc, that you have
+robbed me of nearly two thousand francs, at, you say, the solicitation
+of my son--an excuse, you must be aware, of not the slightest legal
+weight; no more than if your pretty sister, Mademoiselle Adeline, who,
+I must be permitted to observe, is not altogether, I suspect, a
+stranger to this affair----Hear me out, Messieurs, if you please: I
+say your excuse has no more legal validity, than if your sister had
+counselled you to commit this felony. Now, mark me, young man: it is
+just upon five o'clock. At half-past seven precisely, I shall go
+before a magistrate, and cause a warrant to be issued for your
+apprehension. To-morrow morning, consequently, the brother of
+Mademoiselle le Blanc will either be an incarcerated felon, or, which
+will suit me just as well, a proclaimed fugitive from justice.'
+
+'One moment--one word, for the love of Heaven, before you go!'
+exclaimed Eugene. 'Is there any mode, any means whereby Edouard may be
+rescued from this frightful, this unmerited calamity--this
+irretrievable ruin?'
+
+'Yes,' rejoined M. de Veron, pausing for an instant on the outer
+threshold, 'there is one mode, Eugene, and only one. What it is, you
+do not require to be told. I shall dine in town to-day; at seven, I
+shall look in at the church of Notre Dame, and remain there precisely
+twenty minutes. After that, repentance will be too late.'
+
+Eugene was in despair, for it was quite clear that Adeline must be
+given up--Adeline, whose myriad charms and graces rose upon his
+imagination in tenfold greater lustre than before, now that he was
+about to lose her for ever! But there was plainly no help for it; and
+after a brief, agitated consultation, the young men left the office to
+join Madame and Mademoiselle le Blanc at the Widow Carson's, in the
+Grande Rue, or Rue de Paris, as the only decent street in
+Havre-de-Grace was at that time indifferently named, both for the
+purpose of communicating the untoward state of affairs, and that
+Eugene might take a lingering, last farewell of Adeline.
+
+Before accompanying them thither, it is necessary to say a few words
+of this Madame Carson, who is about to play a very singular part in
+this little drama. She was a gay, well-looking, symmetrically-shaped
+young widow, who kept a confectioner's shop in the said Grande Rue,
+and officiated as her own _dame du comptoir_. Her good-looks,
+coquettishly-gracious smiles, and unvarying good temper, rendered her
+establishment much more attractive--it was by no means a brilliant
+affair in itself--than it would otherwise have been. Madame Carson
+was, in a tacit, quiet kind of way, engaged to Edouard le Blanc--that
+is to say, she intended marrying him as soon as their mutual savings
+should justify such a step; and provided, also, that no more eligible
+offer wooed her acceptance in the meantime. M. de Veron himself was
+frequently in the habit of calling, on his way to or from Mon Sejour,
+for a pate and a little lively badinage with the comely widow; and so
+frequently, at one time, that Edouard le Blanc was half-inclined--to
+Madame Carson's infinite amusement--to be jealous of the rich, though
+elderly merchant's formal and elaborate courtesies. It was on leaving
+her shop that he had slipped and sprained his ankle. M. de Veron
+fainted with the extreme pain, was carried in that state into the
+little parlour behind the shop, and had not yet recovered
+consciousness when the apothecary, whom Madame Carson had despatched
+her little waiting-maid-of-all-work in quest of, entered to tender his
+assistance. This is all, I think, that needs be said, in a preliminary
+way, of Madame Carson.
+
+Of course, the tidings brought by Eugene and Edouard very painfully
+affected Mademoiselle le Blanc; but being a very sensible, as well as
+remarkably handsome young person, she soon rallied, and insisted,
+quite as warmly as her mother did, that the sacrifice necessary to
+relieve Edouard from the peril which environed him--painful,
+heartbreaking as that sacrifice might be--must be submitted to without
+reserve or delay. In other words, that M. de Veron, junior, must
+consent to espouse Mademoiselle de Merode, and forthwith inform his
+father that he was ready to sign the nuptial-contract that moment if
+necessary. Poor Eugene, who was really over head and ears in love, and
+more so just then than ever, piteously lamented his own cruel fate,
+and passionately denounced the tiger-heartedness of his barbarian
+father; but as tears and reproaches could avail nothing in such a
+strait, he finally submitted to the general award, and agreed to
+announce his submission to M. de Veron at the church of Notre Dame,
+not a moment later, both ladies insisted, than five minutes past
+seven.
+
+Madame Carson was not at home all this while. She had gone to church,
+and after devotions, called on her way back on one or two friends for
+a little gossip, so that it wanted only about a quarter to seven when
+she reappeared. Of course the lamentable story had to be told over
+again, with all its dismal accompaniments of tears, sighs, and
+plaintive ejaculations; and it was curious to observe, as the
+narrative proceeded, how the widow's charming eyes flashed and
+sparkled, and her cheeks glowed with indignation, till she looked, to
+use Edouard le Blanc's expression, 'ferociously' handsome. 'Le
+monstre!' she exclaimed, as Eugene terminated the sad history,
+gathering up as she spoke the shawl and gloves she had just before put
+off; 'but I shall see him at once: I have influence with this Monsieur
+de Veron.'
+
+'Nonsense, Emilie,' said Madame le Blanc. '_You_ possess influence
+over Monsieur de Veron!'
+
+'Certainly I do. And is that such a miracle?' replied Madame Carson
+with a demure glance at Edouard le Blanc. Edouard looked somewhat
+scared, but managed to say: 'Not at all, certainly not; but this man's
+heart is iron--steel.'
+
+'We shall see,' said the fair widow, as she finished drawing on her
+gloves. '_La grande passion_ is sometimes stronger than iron or steel:
+is it not Monsieur Eugene? At all events, I shall try. He is in the
+church, you say. Very well, if I fail--but I am sure I shall _not_
+fail--I return in ten minutes, and that will leave Mademoiselle
+Adeline's despairing lover plenty of time to make his submission, if
+better may not be; and so _au revoir_, Mesdames et Messieurs.'
+
+'What can she mean?' said Madame le Blanc as the door closed. 'I have
+noticed, once or twice during the last fortnight, that she has made
+use of strange half-hints relative to Monsieur de Veron.'
+
+'I don't know what she can mean,' said Edouard le Blanc, seizing his
+hat and hurrying off; 'but I shall follow, and strive to ascertain.'
+
+He was just in time to catch a glimpse of Madame Carson's skirts as
+they whisked round the corner of the Rue St Jacques, and by
+quickening his speed, he saw her enter the church from that street.
+Notre Dame was crowded; but Edouard le Blanc had no difficulty in
+singling out M. de Veron, who was sitting in his accustomed chair,
+somewhat removed from the mass of worshippers, on the left of the high
+altar; and presently he discerned Madame Carson gently and adroitly
+making her way through the crowd towards him. The instant she was near
+enough, she tapped him slightly on the shoulder. He turned quickly,
+and stared with a haughty, questioning glance at the smiling
+confectioner. There was no _grande passion_ in that look, Edouard felt
+quite satisfied, and Madame Carson's conduct seemed more than ever
+unintelligible. She appeared to say something, which was replied to by
+an impatient gesture of refusal, and M. de Veron turned again towards
+the altar. Madame Carson next approached close to his chair, and
+bending down, whispered in his ear, for perhaps a minute. As she did
+so, M. de Veron's body rose slowly up, involuntarily as it were, and
+stiffened into rigidity, as if under the influence of some frightful
+spell. Forcing himself at last, it seemed, to confront the whisperer,
+he no sooner caught her eye than he reeled, like one struck by a heavy
+blow, against the pedestal of a saint, whose stony features looked
+less white and bloodless than his own. Madame Carson contemplated the
+effect she had produced with a kind of pride for a few moments, and
+then, with a slight but peremptory wave of her hand, motioned him to
+follow her out of the sacred edifice. M. de Veron hastily, though with
+staggering steps, obeyed; Edouard le Blanc crossing the church and
+reaching the street just soon enough to see them both driven off in M.
+de Veron's carriage.
+
+Edouard hurried back to the Grande Rue to report what he had
+witnessed; and what could be the interpretation of the inexplicable
+scene, engrossed the inventive faculties of all there, till they were
+thoroughly tired of their wild and aimless guesses. Eight o'clock
+chimed--nine--ten--and they were all, Edouard especially, working
+themselves into a complete panic of undefinable apprehension, when, to
+their great relief, M. de Veron's carriage drew up before the door.
+The first person to alight was M. Bourdon, a notary of eminence; next
+M. de Veron, who handed out Madame Carson; and all three walked
+through the shop into the back-apartment. The notary wore his usual
+business aspect, and had in his hands two rolls of thickly-written
+parchment, which he placed upon the table, and at once began to spread
+out. M. de Veron had the air of a man walking in a dream, and subdued,
+mastered by some overpowering, nameless terror; while Madame Carson,
+though pale with excitement, was evidently highly elated, and, to use
+a French phrase, completely 'mistress of the situation.' She was the
+first to break silence.
+
+'Monsieur de Veron has been kind enough, Edouard, to explain, in the
+presence of Monsieur Bourdon, the mistake in the accounts he was
+disposed to charge you with to-day. He quite remembers, now, having
+received two thousand francs from you, for which, in his hurry at the
+time, he gave you no voucher. Is not that so, Monsieur de Veron?' she
+added, again fixing on the merchant the same menacing look that Le
+Blanc had noticed in the church.
+
+'Yes, yes,' was the quick reply of M. de Veron, who vainly attempted
+to look the astounded clerk in the face. 'The mistake was mine. Your
+accounts are quite correct, Monsieur le Blanc; and--and I shall be
+glad, of course, to see you at the office as usual.'
+
+'That is well,' said Madame Carson; 'and now, Monsieur Bourdon, to
+business, if you please. Those documents will not take so long to read
+as they did to write.'
+
+The notary smiled, and immediately began reading a marriage-contract
+between Eugene de Veron and Adeline le Blanc, by which it appeared
+that the union of those young persons was joyfully acceded to by Jean
+Baptiste de Veron and Marie le Blanc, their parents--the said Jean
+Baptiste de Veron binding himself formally to endow the bride and
+bridegroom jointly, on the day of marriage, with the sum of 300,000
+francs, and, moreover, to admit his son as a partner in the business,
+thenceforth to be carried on under the name of De Veron & Son.
+
+This contract was written in duplicate, and as soon as the notary had
+finished reading, Madame Carson handed a pen to M. de Veron, saying in
+the same light, coquettish, but peremptory tone as before: 'Now,
+Monsieur, quick, if you please: yours is the most important
+signature.' The merchant signed and sealed both parchments, and the
+other interested parties did the same, in silent, dumb bewilderment,
+broken only by the scratching of the pens and the legal words repeated
+after the notary. 'We need not detain you longer, Messieurs, I
+believe,' said Madame Carson. '_Bon soir_, Monsieur de Veron,' she
+added, extending an ungloved hand to that gentleman, who faintly
+touched it with his lips; 'you will hear from me to-morrow.'
+
+'What is the meaning of all this?' exclaimed Eugene de Veron, the
+instant his father and the notary disappeared. 'I positively feel as
+if standing upon my head!' A chorus of like interrogatories from the
+Le Blancs assailed Madame Carson, whose ringing bursts of mirth mocked
+for a time their impatience.
+
+'Meaning, _parbleu_!' she at last replied, after pausing to catch
+breath. 'That is plain enough, surely. Did you not all see with what
+_empressement_ the poor man kissed my hand? There, don't look so
+wretched, Edouard,' she added with a renewed outburst; 'perhaps I
+may have the caprice to prefer you after all to an elderly
+millionaire--who knows? But come, let us try to be a little calm and
+sensible. What I have done, good folks, I can as easily undo; and that
+being the case, Monsieur Eugene must sign me a bond to-morrow morning
+for fifty thousand francs, payable three days after his marriage. Is
+it agreed? Very well: then I keep these two parchments till the said
+bond is executed; and now, my friends; good-night, for I, as you may
+believe, am completely tired after all this benevolent fairy-work.'
+
+The wedding took place on the next day but one, to the great
+astonishment of every one acquainted with the two families. It was
+also positively rumoured that M. de Veron had proposed marriage to
+Madame Carson, and been refused! Be this true or not, it was soon
+apparent that, from some cause or other, M. de Veron's health and
+spirits were irretrievably broken down, and after lingering out a
+mopish, secluded life of scarcely a twelvemonth's duration, that
+gentleman died suddenly at Mon Sejour. A clause in his will bequeathed
+20,000 francs to Madame Carson, with an intimated hope, that it would
+be accepted as a pledge by that lady to respect, as she hitherto had
+done, the honour of an ancient family.
+
+This pledge to secrecy would no doubt have been kept, but that rumours
+of poisoning and suicide, in connection with De Veron's death, having
+got abroad, the Procureur--General ordered an investigation to take
+place. The suspicion proved groundless; but the _proces-verbal_ set
+forth, that on examining the body of the deceased, there were
+discovered the letters 'I. de B.,' 'T. F.,' branded on the front of
+the left shoulder; the two last, initials of '_Travaux Forces_'
+(forced labour), being large and very distinct. There could be no
+doubt, therefore, that the proud M. de Veron was an escaped _forcat_;
+and subsequent investigation, which was not, however, very strongly
+pressed, sufficiently proved that Jean Baptiste de Veron, the younger
+son of a high family, had in very early youth been addicted to wild
+courses; that he had gone to the colonies under a feigned name, to
+escape difficulties at home; and whilst at the Isle de Bourbon, had
+been convicted of premeditated homicide at a gaming-house, and
+sentenced to perpetual imprisonment with hard labour. Contriving to
+escape, he had returned to France, and by the aid of a considerable
+legacy, commenced a prosperous mercantile career; how terminated, we
+have just seen. It was by pure accident, or what passes for such in
+the world, that Madame Carson had arrived at a knowledge of the
+terrible secret. When M. de Veron, after spraining his ankle, was
+carried in a state of insensibility into the room behind her shop, she
+had immediately busied herself in removing his neckcloth, unfastening
+his shirt, then a flannel one which fitted tightly round the neck, and
+thus obtained a glimpse of the branded letters 'T. F.' With her
+customary quickness of wit, she instantly replaced the shirts,
+neckcloth, &c., and carefully concealed the fatal knowledge she had
+acquired, till an opportunity of using it advantageously should
+present itself.
+
+The foregoing are, I believe, all the reliable particulars known of a
+story of which there used to be half-a-hundred different versions
+flying about Le Havre. Edouard le Blanc married Madame Carson, and
+subsequently became a partner of Eugene de Veron. It was not long,
+however, before the business was removed to another and distant French
+seaport, where, for aught I know to the contrary, the firm of 'De
+Veron and Le Blanc' flourishes to this day.
+
+
+
+
+BETTING-OFFICES.
+
+
+'Betting-shop' is vulgar, and we dislike vulgarity. 'Commission
+Office,' 'Racing Bank,' 'Mr Hopposite Green's Office,'
+'Betting-Office,'are the styles of announcement adopted by speculators
+who open what low people call Betting-shops. The chosen designation is
+usually painted in gold letter on a chocolate-coloured wire-gauze
+blind, impervious to the view. A betting-office may display on its
+small show-board two bronzed plaster horses, rampant, held by two
+Ethiopian figures, nude; or it may prefer making a show of cigars.
+Many offices have risen out of simple cigar-shops. When this is the
+case, the tobacco business gives way, the slow trade and fast
+profession not running well together. An official appearance is always
+considered necessary. A partition, therefore, sufficiently high not to
+be peered over, runs midway across the shop, surmounted with a rail.
+By such means, visions are suggested to the intelligent mind of desks,
+clerks, and, if the beholder has sufficient imagination, of bankers'
+clerks. In the partition is an enlarged _pigeon_-hole--not far off,
+may be supposed to lurk the hawk--through which are received
+shillings, half-crowns; in fact, any kind of coin or notes, no sum
+appearing inadmissible. The office is papered with a warm crimson
+paper, to make it snug and comfortable, pleasant as a lounge, and
+casting a genial glow upon the proceedings.
+
+But the betting-lists are the attraction--these are the dice of the
+betting-man: a section of one of the side-walls within the office is
+devoted to them. They consist of long strips of paper--each race
+having its own slip--on which are stated the odds against the horses.
+Hasty and anxious are the glances which the speculator casts at the
+betting-lists: he there sees which are the favourites; whether those
+he has backed are advancing or retrograding; and he endeavours to
+discover, by signs and testimonies, by all kinds of movements and
+dodges, the knowing one's opinion. He will drop fishing words to other
+gazers, will try to overhear whispered remarks, will sidle towards any
+jockey-legged or ecurial--costumed individual, and aim more especially
+at getting into the good graces of the betting-office keeper, who,
+when his business is slack, comes forth from behind the partition and
+from the duties of the pigeon-hole, to stretch his legs and hold
+turf-converse. The betting-office keeper is the speculator's divinity.
+
+The office itself is but the point where the ringing of the metal
+takes place, where the actual business is more bindingly entered into;
+but on great, or, as they are technically termed, grand days, there
+will occur--what will also apply, perhaps, occasionally to grand
+operas--very heavy operations. Large numbers of the speculators will
+collect, forming themselves into knots and groups on the pavement, and
+even in the roadway contiguous to the office. Here they appear a
+motley congregation, a curious agglomeration of seediness. Seediness
+is the prominent feature of the betting mass, as they are on such
+occasions collected--seediness of dress and of character. Yet amongst
+the groups are some better-looking kine, some who seem to fatten, and
+who costume themselves in fully-napped cloth, and boast of
+ostentatious pockets, and hats which advertise the owner as knowing a
+thing or two. These may be touters to the office: some may be victims,
+who have once won a stake. The latter now neglect their ordinary
+calling, and pass the whole of their time in the purlieus of
+betting-shops. As for the touters--betting-offices are not progressive
+without the aid of touters--they are gentlemen who have in their time
+worn many kinds of character, who have always existed one way or
+another on the very outskirts of honesty, till some fine morning a
+careless step brings them from that neutral ground into the domain of
+the law, where they are laid hold of. They do not disdain their
+adopted calling; they are not above assisting errand-boys to go in for
+large stakes; they tempt apothecaries' apprentices by prospects of
+being able to come out. They know likewise the best horses, and which
+are sure to win.
+
+But there are numbers of willing, untutored betting-men, who go in of
+their own accord--'quite promiscuous.' They belong to the class of
+petty tradesmen, and perhaps there are steady workmen and comfortably
+incomed clerks among them; although it is the tradesmen who are most
+numerous, and who give colour to the whole body. There is Macwait, the
+cheap baker, he contributes his quota weekly to the betting-shop: he
+has a strong desire to touch a twenty-pound stake. Whetcoles, the
+potato salesman, has given up a lucrative addition to his regular
+business--the purveying of oysters--for the sake of having more time
+to attend the office. Nimblecut, the hairdresser, has been
+endeavouring to raise his charge for shaving one half-penny per chin,
+to be enabled to speculate more largely. Shavings, journeyman
+carpenter, calculates upon clearing considerably more by 'Sister to
+Swindler' than a year's interest from the savings-bank. There are
+thousands of similarly circumstanced speculators: they make a daily,
+if not more frequent promenade to the betting-office; and on the days
+when the races come off, they may be observed in shoals, nodding and
+winking knowingly as they pass one another. Some are seen with jocular
+countenances, and pass for pleasant fellows: they are impressed with
+the idea that their horses are looking up. In others, the jocular
+expression has passed away, and the philosophical observer sets them
+down as melancholy individuals, given to castigating their wives, and
+verging dogwards.
+
+Betting-men--those who take a pride in their profession--assume
+generally a looseness of style: there may be an appropriateness in
+this, considering the mercurial contents of their pockets. In walking,
+a freedom of gait, approaching the swagger, is generally adopted;
+cigar-smoking at the office door is considered respectable; hands may
+be inserted _ad libitum_ in pockets, and a primary coloured 'kerchief
+worn mildly. The individual is usually seen by the observant public
+making up his book. But the evidence of shrewdness consists in
+familiarity with the technicalities of turf-lore; without this,
+costume is of no use. The better must be well up to the jockeys'
+names, and those of the horses--of the races they have run--of Day's
+stable--of Scott's ditto--must know when the cup or 2000-guinea stakes
+are run for. His vocabulary comprises such words as outsiders,
+winners, two-year old, lame ducks, and bad books. He sometimes talks
+loudly, although, for the most part, he delights in a close, earnest,
+confidential, suppressed tone. There is nothing a better prides
+himself on more than being in the possession of some, to the common
+herd, unattainable secret--something only to be obtained once in a
+lifetime, and then only after severe losses--a secret brought out by
+some train of fortuitous and most intricately-woven events. It comes
+through a line of ingenious, quickwitted, up-to-everything
+communicators, and is made known proximately to the fortunate
+possessor by a diplomatic potman, who waits in a room frequented by a
+groom, who pumped it out of a stable-boy, who----It is not improbable
+that the information has somewhat deteriorated in its journeyings
+through mews and along dung-heaps: it is possible, when it comes to be
+made use of, it may be found very expensive in its application.
+
+The turf speculator must possess a frank and willing imagination: he
+must calculate upon his account at the betting-shop, as he would upon
+so much being to his credit at a banker's; he must consider the office
+cheques with which his pocket-book is overflowing, as at par with
+bank-notes; he need keep but little gold and silver, as it is far
+better to know that it is producing a highly-profitable percentage.
+Should he be visited by any momentary fits of depression, he may draw
+forth his portfolio, and gratify his eyes with the contemplation of
+certificates for fives, and twenties, and fifties.
+
+We must not pass over a class of speculators who bet, and yet who are
+not true betting-men: they do not wish to be seen in betting-shops,
+yet cannot keep away. They are not loungers, for they may be observed
+passing along the thoroughfare seemingly with all desirable intentness
+upon their daily business; but they suddenly disappear as they arrive
+at the door of the betting-shop. These are your respectable men;
+worthy, solid, family men. But it is not easy to enter a betting-shop,
+and avoid rubbing against some clinging matter. Betting-men generally
+are not nice in their sensibilities; and perhaps on a fine Sunday
+morning, proceeding with his family to the parish church, our Pharisee
+may receive a tip from some unshaven, strong-countenanced _sans
+culotte_, which may cause his nerves to tingle for the rest of the
+day.
+
+But there is also a light, flimsy, fly-away-kind of speculator, a
+May-day betting-man--a youth fresh, perhaps, from school and the
+country, with whom his friends have hardly yet made up their minds
+what to do--who is at present seeing as much as he can see of town,
+upon what he finds decidedly small means. He has an ambition to appear
+fast; has of course a great admiration for fast people; but is at
+present young and fresh-coloured, and cannot, with all his endeavours,
+make himself appear less innocent and good-natured than he is. He has
+strained his purse in a bet, has betted on a winning horse, and has
+won five pounds. This would perhaps have fixed him for life as a
+speculator; but the money burns in his pocket. Before he can make up
+his mind to lay out his winnings on fresh bets, he must have a Hansom
+for the day. He decorates himself in his light-coloured paletot, blue
+neck-tie, and last dickey--drives to Regent Street to purchase
+cigars--to an oyster-shop redolent of saw-dust and lobsters--rigs a
+very light pair of kids--drives to, and alarms by his fast appearance,
+a few of his friends, who forthwith write off long woolly letters to
+relations in the country. He is accordingly cited to appear at home,
+where he becomes a respected local junior clerk in a Welsh mining
+company.
+
+There are various kinds of betting-offices. Some are speculative,
+May-fly offices, open to-day and shut to-morrow--offices that will bet
+any way, and against anything--that will accommodate themselves to any
+odds--receive any sum they can get, small or large; and should a
+misfortune occur, such as the wrong horse winning, forget to open next
+day. These are but second-rate offices. The money-making, prosperous
+betting-office is quite a different thing. It is not advisable for
+concerns which intend making thousands in a few years, to pay the
+superintendents liberally, and to keep well-clothed touters--to
+conduct themselves, in short, like speculative offices. They must not
+depend entirely upon chance. Chance is very well for betting-men, but
+will not do for the respectable betting-office keepers, who are the
+stakeholders.
+
+The plan adopted is a very simple one, but ingenious in its
+simplicity. The betting-office takes a great dislike in its own mind
+to a particular horse, the favourite of the betting-men. It makes bets
+against that horse, which amount in the aggregate to a fortune; and
+then it _buys_ the object of its frantic dislike. This being effected,
+the horse of course loses, and the office wins. How could it be
+otherwise? Would you have a horse win against its owner's interest?
+The thing being settled, the office, in order to ascertain the amount
+of its winnings, has only to deduct the price of the horse from its
+aggregate bets, and arrange the remainder in a line of perhaps five
+figures. Whereupon the betting-men grow seedier and more seedy; some
+of the more mercurial go off in a fit of apoplectic amazement; some
+betake themselves to Waterloo Stairs on a moonless night; some proceed
+to the Diggings, some to St Luke's, and some to the dogs; some become
+so unsteady, that they sign the wrong name to a draft, or enter the
+wrong house at night, or are detected in a crowd with their hand in
+the wrong man's pocket. But by degrees everything comes right again.
+The insane are shut up--the desperate transported--the dead
+buried--the deserted families carted to the workhouse; and the
+betting-office goes on as before.
+
+
+
+
+A MAY FLOWER-SHOW AT CHISWICK.
+
+
+It is one o'clock P. M.; I am at Hyde-Park Corner; I hail the nearest
+'Hansom,' and am quickly dashing away for Chiswick. The road leading
+thither is always a scene of great bustle: on a Chiswick fete-day,
+this is very much augmented. But I am early, and the increase of
+vehicles is not yet great. A few carriages and cabs, mostly filled
+with ladies, who, like myself, are early on the road, and eager to be
+at the scene of action, are occasionally passed; for my horse is a
+good one, and the driver seems to desire to do the journey in good
+style. The majority of passengers and conveyances are chiefly of the
+everyday character, and such as are always met with on this great
+thoroughfare. Omnibuses, with loads of dusty passengers; carts and
+wagons, filled with manure, and each with a man or boy dozing upon the
+top; teams baiting at the roadside inns; troops of dirty children at
+the ends of narrow streets; with carriers' carts, and travel-stained
+pedestrians, make up the aggregate of the objects on the road. But in
+another hour the scene will change; the aristocratic 'turn-out,' with
+its brilliant appointments and spruce footmen--the cab, the brougham,
+and the open chariot, all filled with gaily-dressed company, will
+crowd the way; for a Chiswick fete is one of the events of a London
+season. People go there as they do to the Opera--to see and to be
+seen. As I journey onward, I catch glimpses of blooming fruit-trees,
+and green hedges, speaking of the approach of summer. The little
+patches of garden by the wayside are gay with flowers, but sadly
+disfigured with dust. Even they, however, look quite refreshing in
+contrast with the close and crowded streets I have left behind. The
+spire of the church on Chiswick green is peeping above the houses in
+the distance; and by the time I have noticed the increase of bustle on
+the road, and about the inn-doors, the cab has stopped at one of the
+garden entrances. Early as I am, many others are before me, and are
+waiting for the hour of admission--two o'clock. The carriages of those
+already arrived are drawn up in rank upon the green; policemen are
+everywhere to preserve order; ostlers are numerous, with buckets of
+water and bundles of hay; groups of loungers are looking on, carriages
+are every minute arriving, and the bustle is becoming great. As it yet
+wants ten minutes to two o'clock, I shall occupy the time by giving
+the reader a little introduction to what we are presently to see.
+
+There are three of these fetes every year--one in May, another in
+June, and a third in July. When the weather is fine, there is always a
+brilliant gathering of rank, and beauty, and fashion; but the June
+show is usually the best attended. English gardening is always well
+represented here. The plants and fruit brought for exhibition astonish
+even those who are best acquainted with what English gardeners can do.
+For several seasons past, it was thought that cultivation had reached
+its highest point; yet each succeeding year outvied the past, and
+report tells me, that the plants exhibited to-day are in advance of
+anything previously seen. They are sent here from widely distant parts
+of the country--many of them are brought one or two hundred miles; but
+most of the large collections are from gardens at a comparatively
+short distance from Chiswick. The principal prize is contended for by
+collections of thirty stove and greenhouse plants; and their large
+size will be apparent, when it is stated that one such collection
+makes eight or ten van-loads. There are never more than three or four
+competitors for this prize. Their productions are generally brought
+into the garden on the evening previous to the day of exhibition. At
+about daylight on the morning of the fete, the great bustle of
+preparation begins. Everything has to be arranged, and ready for the
+judges by ten o'clock A. M., at which hour all exhibitors, and others
+interested in the awards, are obliged to leave the gardens; and they
+are not readmitted until the gates are thrown open to those who may
+have tickets of admission, at two o'clock.
+
+At last they _are_ open. (How expectation clogs the wheels of time!) I
+join the throng; and in a few minutes I am among the flowers, which
+are arranged in long tents, on stages covered with green baize, as a
+background to set off in bold relief their beautiful forms and tints.
+There are three military bands stationed in different parts of the
+grounds, to keep up a succession of enlivening strains until six
+o'clock, the hour when the proceedings, so far as the public are
+concerned, are supposed to terminate. One of them is already
+'discoursing most eloquent music.' Company rapidly arrives;
+well-dressed persons are strolling through the tents, sitting beneath
+the trees, or on the benches, listening to the music. The scene is a
+gay one. The richness and beauty of the masses of flower, rivalled
+only by the gay dresses and bright eyes of hundreds of fair admirers;
+the delicate green of the trees clothed with their young foliage, and
+the carpet-like lawns, all lit up by a bright May sun, and enlivened
+by the best music, combine to form a whole, the impression of which is
+not easily forgotten.
+
+But I am forgetting the flowers. Suppose we enter the nearest tent,
+and note the more prominent objects on our way. Here is a somewhat
+miscellaneous assortment; geraniums are conspicuous. The plants are
+remarkably fine, averaging nearly a yard across, and presenting masses
+of flower in the highest perfection. One is conspicuous for the
+richness of its colouring; its name is magnet (_Hoyle._) There is a
+collection of ferns, too; their graceful foliage, agitated by every
+breeze, adds much to the interest of this tent. Among the most
+remarkable are the maidenhair-ferns (_adiantum_), and a huge plant of
+the elk's horn fern, from New South Wales. It derives its name from
+the shape of its large fronds. Before us is a quantity of Chinese
+hydrangeas, remarkable in this case for the small size of the plants,
+and disproportionately large heads of pink blossoms. Cape
+pelargoniums, too, are well represented: they are curious plants,
+indigenous to the Cape of Good Hope; specimens of them are very often
+sent to this country, with boxes of bulbs, for which the Cape is
+famous. When they arrive, they look like pieces of deadwood; but when
+properly cared for, they rapidly make roots and branches, and produce
+their interesting flowers in abundance.
+
+Passing to the next tent, we enter that part devoted to the fruit. A
+delicate aroma pervades the place. Directly before us is a large plant
+of the Chinese loquah, loaded with fruit. This is yellow, and about
+the size of a small plum. The plant is a great novelty; for although
+hardy enough to be grown out of doors in this country, it produces its
+fruit only in a hothouse. Associated with it are some large vines in
+pots, with a profusion of fine bunches of grapes. Then there are
+dishes of strawberries (_British Queens_), numerous pine-apples,
+cherries, peaches, bananas (grown in this country), melons, &c.;
+besides some very fine winter apples and pears, which have been
+admirably preserved. Of the former, the winter-queen, old green
+nonpareil, and golden harvey are conspicuous; of the latter, the
+warden and Uvedale's St Germain are fine.
+
+The most attractive feature of these shows appears to be the
+orchideous or air-plants, as they are popularly known. A greater
+number of persons are always collected round them than in any other
+part of the tents; nor is this to be wondered at. Nothing can be more
+singular in appearance or gorgeous in colouring. Their fragrance, too,
+is so delightful. Description can convey but a faint idea of their
+great beauty and diversity of character. They seem to mimic the insect
+world in the shapes of their blossoms; nor are the resemblances
+distant. Every one has heard of the butterfly-plant: there is one on
+the stage now before us, and as the breeze gently waves its slender
+stalks, each tipped with a vegetable butterfly, it becomes almost
+difficult to imagine that we are not watching the movements of a real
+insect flitting among the plants. Here is a spike of _Gongora
+maculata_, bearing no faint resemblance to a quantity of brown insects
+with expanded wings collected round the stem. Close to it are some
+_Brassias_, mimicking with equal fidelity insects of a paler colour,
+besides hundreds of others equally curious and beautiful. Some bear
+their flowers in erect spikes, or loose heads; others have drooping
+racemes a yard in length, as some of the _dendrobiums_. More have a
+slender flower-stalk making a graceful curve, with the flowers placed
+on the uppermost side, as _Pholaenopsis amablis_, which bears a
+profusion of white blossoms closely resembling large moths with
+expanded wings. Here are some remarkable plants we must not pass
+without noticing: they are equally attractive both by their beauty and
+associations. They are two plants of _Stanhopea tigrina_, exhibited by
+Her Majesty, and a fine specimen of _Acincta Humboldtii_, named in
+honour of the philosophic traveller. They are all worthy of the
+associations they call up; they grow in open baskets, and the flowers
+are produced from below, directly opposite the leaves. The ordinary
+law of flowering-plants is reversed in them.
+
+We pass on: everywhere gorgeous masses of flower are before us. Huge
+plants of Indian azaleas, filling a space of several feet, literally
+covered with blossoms of every hue. Heaths from the Cape, far
+outrivalling their brethren in their native wilds; rhododendrons from
+the Himalaya; and cactuses from the plains of South America. In fact,
+here are collected examples of the flora of almost every known country
+of the globe. But we must not be carried away by these more showy
+plants to the exclusion of some very curious and interesting little
+things which I see we are in danger of forgetting. Here, carefully
+covered by a bell-glass, is a fine specimen of _Dionaea muscipula_, or
+Venus's fly-trap. Every reader of natural history is familiar with its
+economy; but one does not often get a sight of it. By the side of it
+are many other curious plants, covered with equal care.
+_Anoectochillis argenteus_, a little dwarf plant, with leaves which,
+both in their beautiful lustre and peculiar markings, resemble a green
+lizard, must serve for an example. Among other curiosities, is a small
+plant of one of the species of rhododendrons, recently introduced by
+Dr Hooker from the mountains of Sikkim Himalaya; close to it are some
+azaleas imported from the northern parts of the Celestial Empire.
+There are also some very rare and valuable specimens of hardy trees,
+from the mountains of Patagonia. They belong to the very extensive
+family of coniferous plants, and have been named respectively
+_Fitz-Roya Patagonica_ and _Saxe-Gothea conspicua_. There is also a
+remarkably handsome creeper, _Hexacentras mysorensis_, having pendent
+racemes of large flowers in shape resembling the snap-dragon, and of a
+rich orange and chocolate colour.
+
+To revert to the little Sikkim rhododendron, I shall give here the
+description of a still more diminutive specimen, met with by Dr Hooker
+during his journey, and which he has figured and described in his
+beautiful work, _The Rhododendron of Sikkim-Himalaya_. It is called
+_R. nivale_, or snow-rhododendron. 'The hard, woody branches of this
+curious little species, as thick as a goose-quill, struggle along the
+ground for a foot or two, presenting brown tufts of vegetation where
+not half-a-dozen other plants can exist. The branches are densely
+interwoven, very harsh and woody, wholly depressed; whence the shrub,
+spreading horizontally, and barely raised two inches above the soil,
+becomes eminently typical of the arid, stern climate it inhabits. The
+latest to bloom, and earliest to mature its seeds, by far the smallest
+in foliage, and proportionally largest in flower, most lepidote in
+vesture, humble in stature, rigid in texture, deformed in habit, yet
+the most odoriferous, it may be recognised, even in the herbarium, as
+the production of the loftiest elevation on the surface of the
+globe--of the most excessive climate--of the joint influences of a
+scorching sun by day, and the keenest frost by night--of the greatest
+drought, followed in a few hours by a saturated atmosphere--of the
+balmiest calm, alternating with the whirlwind of the Alps. For eight
+months of the year, it is buried under many feet of snow; for the
+remaining four, it is frequently snowed on and sunned in the same
+hour. During genial weather, when the sun heats the soil to 150
+degrees, its perfumed foliage scents the air; whilst to snow-storm and
+frost it is insensible: blooming through all; expanding its little
+purple flowers to the day, and only closing them to wither after
+fertilisation has taken place. As the life of a moth may be
+indefinitely prolonged whilst its duties are unfulfilled, so the
+flower of this little mountaineer will remain open through days of fog
+and sleet, till a mild day facilitates the detachment of the pollen
+and the fecundation of the ovarium. This process is almost wholly the
+effect of winds; for though humblebees, and the "Blues" and
+"Fritillaries" (_Polyommatus_ and _Argynnis_) amongst butterflies, do
+exist at this prodigious elevation, they are too few in number to
+influence the operations of vegetable life.' To this Dr Hooker adds:
+'This singular little plant attains a loftier elevation, I believe,
+than any other shrub in the world.'
+
+But here is a plant, or rather flower, more curious than any we have
+seen. The corolla is on a long stalk, a foot or more high; but how to
+describe it is the difficulty. Imagine a bat with expanded wings, with
+the addition of a tail, spread out before you, having on its breast a
+rosette of narrow ribbon, of the same dusky colour, and you will gain
+some idea of its form and colour. Its botanical name is _Attacia
+cristata_.
+
+Here is the rose-tent. In no previous season have the plants appeared
+in finer condition. A few years ago, nobody could grow roses fit to be
+seen in pots; many said it was impossible to do so: now, one can
+scarcely imagine anything finer than they are seen at the metropolitan
+flower-shows. Both in healthy appearance, and in fineness of flower,
+they exceed those which we admire so much in the open garden in
+summer. One or two are conspicuous, though all are beautiful.
+_Souvenirs d'un ami_ has pale flesh-coloured flowers, exceedingly
+delicate; nor is the perfume they emit less attractive. _Niphetus_,
+pure white; _Adam_, very pale; and _Geant des Batailles_, of the
+richest crimson, are among the most attractive; but there are numerous
+others, rivalling them in beauty and fragrance.
+
+As the afternoon wears away, the more fashionable visitors depart. At
+six o'clock, the several bands of music form one, the National Anthem
+is played, and the fete is over.
+
+
+
+
+GOLD-SEEKING AT HOME.
+
+
+The Lomond Hills, in the shires of Fife and Kinross, were known in
+ancient times as the hunting-grounds of the kings of Scotland, when
+these monarchs resided in their summer-palace at Falkland, a village
+on their north-eastern declivity. At a period intermediate between
+these and the present times, they were the haunt of the persecuted
+Covenanters, and often resounded with the voice of psalms raised at
+conventicles. Since then, their solitude and silence have seldom been
+disturbed, save by the bark of the shepherd's dog, or the echoes
+caused by the blasting of rocks in the limestone quarries which run
+along their southern and western ridges. But during the month of May
+last, this solitude and silence were completely destroyed, by
+thousands of persons plying every kind of instrument upon them, from
+the ponderous crowbar and pickaxe, to the easily-wielded trowel and
+hammer, in search of gold, which they believed to be hidden in their
+recesses. The information on which they acted seemed to them to come
+from an authentic source, and to be confirmed by competent authority.
+
+On the southern base of the hills, overlooking the far-famed
+Lochleven, lies the village of Kinnesswood, noted as the birthplace of
+the poet Michael Bruce. A native of this village entered the army, and
+there learned manners at war with good morals, which, after his
+discharge, brought upon him the vengeance of the law, and he was
+banished 'beyond seas.' His subsequent good-conduct, however, procured
+him 'a ticket-of-leave,' and he became servant to the commissariat for
+the convicts in Van Diemen's Land. In this capacity he had frequent
+opportunities of seeing the substance brought from the Bathurst
+'diggings,' containing the gold which is now arriving in this country
+in such large quantities. It at once struck him that he had seen
+abundance of the same material in his native hills, when visiting the
+quarries in which several of his friends and acquaintances earned
+their livelihood. This impression he conveyed in a letter to his
+mother, who, as a matter of course, afforded the information to all to
+whom she had an opportunity of communicating it. The intelligence
+spread with the rapidity of an electric telegraph; and an excitement
+was produced such as is seen among bees when their hive has received
+a sudden shock. The mountain pathways became immediately alive with
+human beings, and noises arose like the hum of a city heard at a
+distance during the busiest hours of the day. In the villages
+immediately adjoining the place of resort, the excitement was wholly
+confined to youngsters and idlers, who are ever ready to seize upon
+novelty and enter upon bustle; but further off, it extended to old and
+young, hale and infirm, asthmatic and long-winded, grave and gay,
+taught and untaught, respectable and disreputable, industrious and
+idle, till it reached a compass of twenty miles at least, extending
+not only to the Forth and Tay, but stretching inland from their
+opposite shores. In short, men who had never climbed a mountain all
+their lives before, though living in close proximity to one, were seen
+on its loftiest peaks, and toiling there with all the ardour of
+Cyclops.
+
+Meanwhile, some of the less impulsive minds in the district, not
+altogether untouched by the prevailing mania, began to cast about for
+warrants to justify their appropriation of some of this much-coveted
+material, and assure their confidence that it was really gold. Memory,
+research, tradition, testimony, all came to their help. They
+recollected how their fathers had told them that the Laird of Lathrisk
+had wrought a lead-mine on the northern declivity of the East Law,
+which yielded also a considerable proportion of silver, and which was
+abandoned only because of the high tax government had put upon the
+latter metal. Then came the ready query: That since there is silver in
+these hills, why not also gold, seeing they frequently go together?
+Then it was found that the mineral formations in which this metal
+occurs are the crystalline primitive rocks; and with these the Lomond
+Hills were held to correspond. Then it had been told them, that in
+days of yore shepherds had found pieces of gold while tending their
+flocks on the hills, and that gold had been frequently met with in the
+whole district of country between the Forth and the Tay. Last of all
+came the testimony of a man who had returned to the neighbourhood from
+California, and who assured them, that the substance they submitted to
+his inspection was in all respects similar to that which was dug out
+of the hills in the gold regions of America. Singularly enough, though
+they did not reflect upon the facts, this man had returned home as
+poor as he had departed, and manifested no desire to accompany them to
+the new El Dorado at their doors. Other persons were meanwhile pushing
+inquiries in a more certain direction, and subjecting the supposed
+precious treasure to infallible tests.
+
+The chief centre of attraction is a partially-wrought limestone
+quarry, known by the name of the Sheethiehead, right above the village
+of Kinnesswood, and about a gunshot back from the brow of the Bishop
+Hill. It is surrounded on all sides by immense heaps of debris, which
+has been repeatedly dug into during the last thirty years by
+geologising students, in search of fossils connected with the
+carboniferous system, and who must have frequently met with the
+substance which has caused all this excitement, but never imagined it
+to be gold. The face of the quarry, to the depth of twenty feet from
+the top, is an accumulation of shale or slate, lying in regular
+layers, and easily broken. It has been turned to good account of late
+in the manufacture of slate-pencils of superior quality. Among this
+shaly accumulation, there are frequent layers of a soft, wet clay or
+ochre; and it is in this that the brilliants which have dazzled the
+imagination of so many are chiefly found, and which, accordingly, are
+frequently thrown out among the debris, of which it comes to form a
+part. In this quarry, then, and in the heaps around it, hundreds are
+earnestly busy in laying bare what is beneath; while scores of men,
+women, and children are silently and earnestly looking on. One has
+just brought out a ball of stone, or something like stone, about the
+size of a man's hand, known among the quarrymen as 'a fairy ball;' it
+is composed of a hard crust, like rusted iron, which, on being broken,
+is found to contain a yellow shining metal of various shapes and
+sizes--grains, octohedrons, cubes, and their allied forms, as is the
+case with gold; and what else can it be but the precious metal, thinks
+the finder, as he places it in his receptacle, and applies himself
+anew to his vocation. In a little while he stumbles on another of
+these balls, as big as a man's hat, which he breaks, and opens with
+increasing eagerness; when, lo! it is as empty as a 'deaf nut'--the
+water which percolated through the shale having rusted the iron that
+goes to form the crust along with the ochre, but failed, as in the
+previous case, to form crystals in the interior. A third, fourth, and
+fifth are found to be as hollow as the last, and the 'digger' begins
+to look a little crestfallen, and abate his eagerness.
+
+But here is an Irishman, who has been vastly more lucky, dancing a
+jig, with a footless stocking near him, tied at each end, packed as
+full as it can hold of 'the fine stuff,' as he calls it, while with
+wonderful agility he flourishes a heavy pickaxe and spade over his
+head, and screams at the highest pitch of his voice: 'Sure, now, and
+isn't my fortune made!' By and by, getting at once hoarse and tired,
+he desists from his exertions, and entreats a boy near him 'to go into
+the bog beyont there, and get him some poteen, which he is sure is
+making in the stills among the turf;' offering him at the same time a
+lump of his 'treasure' as payment for his trouble.
+
+Here is a tall, grave, shrewd-looking man, very like an elder of the
+kirk, throwing away part of his accumulation, but somewhat stealthily
+retaining a portion in the large cotton handkerchief in which he had
+placed it, while a respectable-looking woman is saying to him: 'John,
+the minister says, it's no gold, but only brimstone.' To which he
+answers, with an audible sigh: 'Well hath the wise man said, all is
+vanity and vexation of spirit.' Here is a strong-built but
+lumpish-looking fellow, seemingly a ploughman or day-labourer, leaving
+the scene of action in evident disgust, who, on being asked if he had
+been successful, answers roughly: 'No!' and adds: 'I'll sell you this
+pick for a glass of ale or a dram of whisky.' Here are angry words
+passing between a middle-aged man and a youth, respecting the right of
+possession, the former having driven the latter away from a
+promising-looking place on which he was employed, and commenced
+operations upon it himself.
+
+It is Saturday; and the mills on the river Leven are stopped at noon,
+to allow the water in the lake from which it flows to accumulate its
+supplies for the following week's operations. Freed thus from labour,
+the spinners hasten to the scene of attraction, and largely swell the
+crowd already assembled there. The men begin the search with
+eagerness, while the women content themselves with looking on; but it
+is evident that they are unaccustomed to the use of the instruments
+they have assumed, and that long practice will be necessary before
+they can turn them to much account. Here are bands of colliers able to
+wield them to purpose, yet how unwilling they appear to be to put
+forth their strength. They came in the expectation of getting gold for
+the lifting, which is nowhere the case; and are evidently disappointed
+in finding that both effort and perseverance are necessary. Indeed, it
+surprised us to see so little disposition to make and maintain
+exertion on the part of those who fancied that certain riches would be
+the result. Notwithstanding the numerous traces of picking, hammering,
+and shovelling they have left behind them, there is not an excavation
+a foot deep; while over a crevice in the rock, three inches square, 'a
+digger' has left the words, scratched with a piece of slate: 'There
+is no gold here,' as if he had done all that was necessary to prove
+it. Even in the loose debris around the quarry--with which the
+substance referred to abounds--there is no trace of a digging wider or
+deeper than a man's hat. We have seen a student make greater and
+longer-continued exertion to get a fossil shell, and a terrier dog to
+get a rat or a rabbit, than any of the gold-seekers have. Burns the
+poet, in his lament, entitled _Man was made to Mourn_, complains, with
+more pathos and sentiment than truth and justice, that the landlords
+will not 'give him leave to toil.' That is not the leave most men
+desire, but the leave to be idle. If gold were to be got for the
+lifting, and bread were as easily procured as water, man would not be
+disposed to take healthful exercise, much less labour or toil.
+
+We shall not describe the scene as it developed itself on Sunday. It
+was at total variance with the reputation Scotchmen have acquired for
+the observance of that day, but in perfect keeping with the notoriety
+they have gained for their love of strong drink. Monday was the
+fifteenth day of the gold-fever; and, like most other fevers, it was
+then at its height. Parties had been on the hill soon after the
+previous midnight awaiting the dawn, resolved to be the first at the
+diggings that morning, and 'have their fortunes made before others
+arrived.' But the lark had not got many yards high in his heavenward
+ascent, and only struck the first note of his morning-carol, when the
+mountain concaves sent back echoes of music from a whole band of men,
+marching at the head of a still greater number, who might have been
+taken for a regiment of sappers and miners. They have come from a
+distance; and, like the others who have preceded them, can have known
+little or nothing of 'balmy sleep, kind nature's sweet restorer,'
+unless they have taken it at church the preceding day, or in their
+beds, when they should have been there. The morning has grown apace,
+and shews the mountain-sides and table-land teeming with life. 'The
+cry is still, they come;' and long before mid-day, it is calculated
+that there are at least 1200 persons on the hill--many of them
+spectators of the scene, but most of them actors in it.
+
+To a curious observer, it was at once an amusing, interesting,
+instructive, and painful spectacle. It developed character; shewed to
+some extent the state of society among certain classes and
+professions; and exhibited human nature in some of its peculiar and
+less agreeable phases. The most striking and unlikeable manifestations
+were--ignorance, credulity, superstition, recklessness, and disregard
+for all that is 'lovely and of good report.' We were particularly
+struck with the want of foresight, observation, and reflection shewn
+by a great number of the persons concerned, and of whom other things
+might have been expected. They had come to 'the diggings' without
+instruments of any kind with which to bring forth the supposed gold
+from its recesses; and, more wonderful still, without food to sustain
+them while employed in finding it. What an easy prey these persons
+would have been to any one willing to take advantage of them! They
+willingly parted with much of their supposed treasure for a few crumbs
+of cake from a boy's pocket, and with still more for a slice of poor
+cheese from a quarryman's wallet. The man who brought intoxicating
+drink to them, would have received in return whatever he would have
+been pleased to demand. One party, and one only, so far as we could
+learn, was more provident than the rest, having provisions with it
+equal to its necessities for one day at least, among which whisky held
+a prominent place.
+
+The substance found and supposed to be gold is very similar to that
+found in the coal-mines and iron-bands of Fife, which are known to
+'crop out' in the Lomond Hills--none being found further north--yet
+the colliers and miners did not identify the substance when found in
+other circumstances than those in which they are accustomed to meet
+with it. The inhabitants of the district in which it is found shewed
+little sympathy with the excitement produced, a fact which should have
+led the gold-hunters to pause and ponder; for they were as likely to
+know the nature of the substance sought as persons at a distance, and
+just as likely to appropriate it, if it really were gold. But under
+the influence of their credulity, our adventurers drew a conclusion
+quite different--namely, that the people at the foot of the hill
+affected indifference, in order to deceive those at a distance, and
+keep all the treasure to themselves. It was of no use to tell them,
+that this said gold had been tested half a century ago, and been
+'found wanting.' They wished it to be gold, and they were determined
+to believe it such. Much advantage was taken of this credulity, even
+by those who had themselves been its dupes. The most daring falsehoods
+were invented by them, in order to induce others to befool themselves
+as they had done. One, according to his own account, had received 30s.
+for his 'findings;' and another had been offered L.2 for as much as he
+had collected in half an hour. Such are specimens of the fables they
+devised, with a view to deceive their acquaintances, and they had
+manifest pleasure in seeing them produce the desired effect.
+
+Meanwhile, every test known to or conceivable by the amateur
+chemists--of which there are not few in the counties in which the
+hills are situated--was put in requisition, and a voice evoked by
+them, but it would not speak as desired. Others, who knew nothing of
+chemistry, were torturing it in every possible way--beating it with
+hammers, to see if it would expand, like gold, into leaf; but instead
+of this, it only flew off in splinters: then putting it into the
+smith's forge, to see if it would liquefy and separate from the dross,
+but it only evaporated in fumes, which drove them from the smithy by
+their offensive odour. Not one of these experimenters, whether more or
+less skilled, thought of subjecting it to the simple and certain test
+of cutting it with a knife, of which the substance in question is not
+susceptible, whereas gold cuts like tough cheese. Enough, however, had
+been done to confirm suspicions which had been floating in the minds
+of many of the diggers, that this rapid wealth-finding was a delusion
+and a lie. All doubts upon the subject were finally set at rest by the
+professors of mineralogy in the colleges, and the practical chemists
+in Edinburgh and Glasgow, informing certain inquirers as to the real
+nature of this deceptive substance. It is of two kinds: the one with a
+gray, the other with a brown base--the latter much more common than
+the former; the one shining with a whitish, the other, with a
+yellowish lustre. The one is _galena_, a sulphuret of lead; the other,
+_pyrites_, a sulphuret of iron. These pyrites are very extensively
+diffused, and are said to be worth about L.2 a ton. Pity it is that
+even this trifle should be lost to the poor quarryman, who has only to
+lay them aside when wheeling away his rubbish till they accumulate to
+such a quantity as to be worth a purchaser's notice, but who does not
+know where to find a customer.
+
+The Lomonds were now again left to their solitude and silence, a few
+stray persons visiting them only from curiosity, to see the place and
+its productions which had caused such excitement. But the mania did
+not abate all at once. A village patriarch, skilled in fairy lore,
+entertained some of the gold-seekers with the following legend, which
+had the effect of sending them in search of the precious metal
+elsewhere. According to this ancient, a fairy, in times long gone by,
+appeared on a summer gloaming to a boy herding cattle in the place
+indicated by the following doggrel, and told him that--
+
+    If Auchindownie cock does not craw,
+    If Balmain horn does not blaw,
+    I'll shew you the gold in _Largo Law_.
+
+'But,' added this benevolent son of Puck, 'if I leave you when these
+happen--for I must then return home immediately--take you notice where
+the brindled ox lies down, and there you will find the gold.' The cock
+crew and the horn blew. The fairy vanished, but the boy observed where
+the brindled ox lay down; but then he did not reflect upon the need of
+marking the place, but ran home, in his impatience to communicate the
+delightful information he had received, and on his return found that
+the brindled ox had risen and left the place; and as he could not
+determine the spot, the gold still awaits the search of some more
+reflective and painstaking person. Of course, one and another of the
+narrator's auditors thought himself such a person, and hied him away
+to the conical hill that rises so conspicuously at the entrance to the
+estuary of the Forth. What success attended them there we have not the
+means of knowing, but we have seen it stated in a local newspaper,
+that a specimen of the shining substance found in that place had been
+sent to the editor, and he pronounces it more like gold than the
+crystals brought him from the Lomond Hills. But 'like,' says the
+proverb, 'is an ill mark;' and we hope the gold-diggers of Fife will
+consider themselves as having been already sufficiently deceived by
+appearances.
+
+The mania lasted fully three weeks, not that any one person was under
+its influence all that time--for, singularly enough, the man who had
+been once there rarely if ever returned--but, like an epidemic, it
+spread wide, and only ceased by a change in the intellectual
+atmosphere. There could not be less than 300 persons upon an average
+each day upon the hill, either searching for the supposed treasure, or
+waiting to ascertain the result from those that did. This would make
+an aggregate of 6300 in the whole time; but let us keep much within
+the mark, and take the number convened during that period at 5000.
+Many of these were men earning 15s. a week; but let us put them all
+down at 1s. 6d per day each, and allow 1s. for the expense incurred in
+their going to and from the place. This will make half-a-crown lost
+and expended by every one of them. This calculation makes L.30 a day,
+and L.630 for the whole period. Now, we are fully persuaded, that
+though all the pyrites carried off had been gold in the proportion in
+which it seemed in the substance, it would not have realised this sum,
+which is about the price of 200 ounces of gold; so that, in the
+aggregate, the diggers would have been losers, though some of them
+individually might have been gainers. But the gainers would have been
+few in proportion to the whole, for we observed that not more than one
+man in twenty found even the pyrites, which are probably still more
+extensively diffused than gold itself ever is, even in the regions
+where it is now known to prevail: so that the wages of the nineteen
+unsuccessful men are to be calculated along with those of the
+successful one; and then it follows, that unless the 'findings' of the
+latter at the close of the day are equal to the wages of twenty men,
+there is no increase of capital to the country, no gain upon the
+whole. Then the man who was lucky at one time, was unlucky at
+another--like a poacher who snares three hares in a night, but does
+not snare another for a week, while he has been unable to work during
+the day, and, in the end, his losses have counterbalanced his gains.
+Then if this phantom had proved a reality, all the mines and mills
+within a wide range of the place would have been instantly abandoned,
+and it must have taken a long time, indeed, to reproduce the capital
+thus lost to the country. In fine, it must have become necessary to
+fix a rent upon the diggings, in order to constitute a right to labour
+in them; and still further, to levy a tax to provide a police, if not
+a military force, to preserve order; and after these deductions are
+made, together with the incomes derived from previous occupations, and
+the great uncertainty connected with the vocation--to say nothing of
+the labour and discomforts to be endured--we cannot think gold-digging
+a profitable or desirable pursuit.
+
+
+
+
+COMPETITION AND MONOPOLY.
+
+
+A Memorandum just issued by that active body, the Sanitary
+Association, contains the following amusing and instructive account of
+the memorable competition between the great London water-companies
+forty years ago, and of the close monopoly in which that reckless and
+ruinous struggle ended:--
+
+'In 1810, a water mania, like our recent railway mania, suddenly broke
+out; and the principle of competition, to which the legislature had
+all along looked for the protection of the public, was put upon its
+trial. Two powerful companies, which had been several years occupied
+in obtaining their acts and setting up their machinery, now took the
+field--one, the West Middlesex, attacking the old monopolists on their
+western flank; the other, the East London, invading their territory
+from the opposite quarter. At the same time, a band of dashing
+Manchester speculators started the Grand Junction Company with a
+flaming prospectus, and boldly flung their pipes into the very thick
+of the tangled net-work which now spread in every direction beneath
+the pavement of the hotly-contested streets.
+
+'These Grand-Junction men quite astonished the town by the
+magnificence of their promises. "Copious streams" of water, derived,
+by the medium of the Grand Junction Canal, from the rivers Colne and
+Brent: "always pure and fresh, because always coming in"--"high
+service, free of extra charge;" above all, "_unintermittent supply, so
+that customers may do without cisterns_;" such were a few of the
+seductive allurements held out by these interlopers to tempt deserters
+from the enemy's camp.
+
+'The West Middlesex Company, in its opening circulars, also promised
+"unlimited supplies" to the very "housetops," of water "clear and
+bright from the gravelly bottom of the Thames, thirteen miles above
+London Bridge." The East London was not behindhand with the trumpet;
+and its "skilful" directors, by paying dividends in rapid succession
+out of capital, raised their L.100 shares to the enormous premium of
+L.130 before they had well got their machinery into play. Meanwhile
+the South London (or Vauxhall) Company was started--in 1805--on the
+other side of the river, with a view to wrest from its old rulers the
+watery dominion of the south. The war was not, however, carried on in
+a very royal sort; for, as the travelling mountebank drives
+six-in-hand through a country town to entice the gaping provincials to
+his booth, so these water-jugglers went round the streets of London,
+throwing up rival _jets-d'eau_ from their mains, to prove the alleged
+superiority of their engines, and to captivate the fancy of hesitating
+customers.
+
+'The New River Company, thus put upon its mettle, boldly took up the
+gauntlet. It erected new forcing-engines, changed its remaining wooden
+pipes for iron, more than doubled its consumption of coal, reduced its
+charges, augmented its supplies, issued a contemptuous rejoinder to
+its adversaries, and, appealing as an "old servant" to the public for
+support, engaged in a war of extermination.
+
+'For seven years, the battle raged incessantly. The combatants
+sought--and openly avowed it--not their own profit, but their rivals'
+ruin. Tenants were taken on almost any terms. Plumbers were bribed to
+_tout_, like omnibus cads, for custom. Such was the rage for mere
+numerical conquest, that a line of pipes would be often driven down a
+long street, to serve one new customer at the end. Arrears remained
+uncollected, lest offence should be given and influence impaired.
+Capricious tenants amused themselves by changing from one main to
+another, as they might taste this or that tap of beer. The more
+credulous citizens, relying on the good faith of the "public
+servants"--as these once powerful water-lords now humbly called
+themselves--were simpletons enough, on the strength of their promises,
+to abandon their wells, to sell off their force-pumps, and to erect
+water-closets or baths in the upper storeys of their houses. In many
+streets, there were three lines of pipes laid down, involving triple
+leakage, triple interest on capital, triple administrative charges,
+triple pumping and storage costs, and a triple army of turncocks--the
+whole affording a less effective supply than would have resulted from
+a single well-ordered service. In this desperate struggle vast sums of
+money were sunk. The recently-established companies worked at a
+ruinous loss; and such as kept up a show of prosperity were, in fact,
+like the East London Company, paying dividends out of capital. The New
+River Company's dividends went down from L.500 to L.23 per share per
+annum. In the border-line districts, where the fiercest conflicts took
+place, the inhabitants sided with one or other of the contending
+parties. Some noted with delight the humbled tone of the old arbitrary
+monopolists, and heartily backed the invaders. Some old-stagers stuck
+to the ancient companies, and to the faces of familiar turncocks.
+These paid; but many shrewd fellows put off the obsequious collectors,
+and contrived to live water-rate free. Thus the honest, as usual, paid
+for the knaves; and the ultimate burden of all these squandered
+resources fell--also as usual--on society at large.
+
+'Such a state of things could not last; and it came to a conclusion
+which experience, had it been invoked, might have led parliament to
+anticipate. For, scarcely a century before, the two chartered East
+India Companies, after five years' internecine war, had coalesced to
+form that gigantic confederacy which for years monopolised the Indian
+trade, and rose to an unexampled pitch of corporate power and
+aggrandisement, at the cost of the mercantile community.
+
+'Just so, in 1817, the great water-companies coalesced against the
+public, and coolly portioned out London between them. Their treatment,
+on this occasion, of the tenants so lately flattered and cajoled, will
+never be effaced from the public memory. Batches of customers were
+handed over by one water-company to another, not merely without their
+consent, but without even the civility of a notice. Old tenants of the
+New River Company, who had taken their water for years, and had been
+their thick-and-thin supporters through the battle, found themselves
+ungratefully turned over, without previous explanation, to drink the
+"puddle" supplied by the Grand Junction Company. The abated rates were
+immediately raised, not merely to the former amount, but to charges
+from 25 to 400 per cent. more than they had been before the
+competition. The solemnly-promised high service was suppressed, or
+made the pretext for a heavy extra charge. Many people had to regret
+"selling their force-pumps as old lead," or fixing water-closets on
+their upper floors, on the faith of these treacherous contractors.
+Those who had fitted up their houses with pipes, in reliance on the
+guarantee of _unintermitting pressure_, found themselves obliged
+either to sacrifice the first outlay, or to expend on cisterns and
+their appendages further sums, varying from L.10 or L.20 up to
+L.50--and even, in many cases, L.100. When tenants thus unhandsomely
+dealt by expressed their indignation, and demanded redress, they were
+"jocosely" reminded by smiling secretaries that the competition was
+over, and that those who were dissatisfied with the companies'
+supplies were quite at liberty to set up pumps of their own.
+
+'Thus as, in political affairs, anarchy invariably leads to despotism,
+so, in commerce, subversive competition always ends its disorderly and
+ruinous course in monopoly, which, whether avowed or tacit, individual
+or collective, is but despotism in a lower sphere.
+
+'The cure for these evils lies in the competitive contract-system,
+which brings competition to bear _for_, instead of _in_, the field of
+supply, so as to obviate the reckless multiplication of
+establishments, and capitals, and staffs, for the performance of a
+service for which one would suffice. Evidence shews that the
+water-companies might be bought out, so as to clear the way for the
+consolidation of the water-supply with the drainage and other
+connected sanitary services, under a public authority, responsible to
+the rate-payers through parliament, and charged to supervise the due
+execution of the works by contractors competing freely, on open
+tender, in the public market--a system obviously calculated to secure
+for the public the best possible service at the lowest possible rates.
+By empowering such an authority to buy the companies out in full, with
+money borrowed at 3 or 3-1/2 per cent., we should come into possession
+of their works at an annual charge for interest, less, by nearly
+two-fifths, than our present annual payment to the companies; by
+consolidating the nine establishments thus acquired, we should save
+more than half the present working costs; and by the further
+consolidations referred to above, for which this first one would
+prepare the ground, we should still more reduce our annual charges,
+and still more improve our sanitary condition.'
+
+
+
+
+MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL:
+
+A STATUETTE.
+
+
+    My white archangel, with thy steady eyes
+    Outlooking on this silent, ghost-filled room,
+    Thy clasped hands wrapped on thy sheathed sword or doom,
+    Thy firm-closed lips, not made for human sighs,
+    Kisses, or smiles, or writhing agonies,
+    But for divine exhorting, heavenly song,
+    Bold, righteous counsel, sweet from seraph tongue--
+    Beautiful angel, strong as thou art wise,
+    Would that thy sight could make me wise and strong!
+    Would that this sword of thine, which idle lies
+    Stone-planted, could wake up and gleam among
+    The crowd of demons that with eager cries
+    Howl in my heart temptations of world's wrong!
+    _Lama Sabachthani_! How long--how long!
+
+    Michael, great leader of the hosts of God,
+    Warrer with Satan for the body of him
+    Whom living, God had loved--If cherubim
+    With cherubim contend for one poor clod
+    Of human dust, with sin-stained feet that trod
+    Through the wide deserts of Heaven's chastisement--
+    Are there not ministering angels sent
+    To strive with evil ones that roam abroad
+    Clutching our living souls? 'The living, still
+    The living, they shall praise Thee.' Let some great
+    Invisible spirit enter in and fill
+    The howling chambers of hearts desolate,
+    There stand like thee, O Michael, strong and wise,
+    My white archangel with the steadfast eyes!
+
+
+
+
+WAGES HEIGHTENED IN CONSEQUENCE OF IMPROVEMENT OF MACHINERY.
+
+
+It is stated in a report of the Commissioners appointed in 1832 to
+inquire concerning the employment of women and children in factories,
+that 'in the cotton-mill of Messrs Houldsworth, in Glasgow, a spinner
+employed on a mule of 336 spindles, and spinning cotton 120 hanks to
+the pound, produced in 1823, working 74-1/2 hours a week, 46 pounds of
+yarn, his net weekly wages for which amounted to 27s. 7d. Ten years
+later, the rate of wages having in the meantime been reduced 13 per
+cent., and the time of working having been lessened to 69 hours, the
+spinner was enabled by the greater perfection of the machinery to
+produce on a mule of the same number of spindles, 52-1/2 pounds of
+yarn of the same fineness, and his net weekly earnings were advanced
+from 27s. 7d. to 29s. 10d.' Similar results from similar circumstances
+were experienced in the Manchester factories. The cheapening of the
+article produced by help of machinery increases the demand for the
+article; and there being consequently a need for an increased number
+of workmen, the elevation of wages follows as a matter of course. Nor
+is this the only benefit which the working-man derives in the case,
+for he shares with the community in acquiring a greater command over
+the necessaries which machinery is concerned in producing.--_Condensed
+from a Lecture by G. R. Porter to the Wandsworth Literary and
+Scientific Association._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+Printed and Published by W. and R. CHAMBERS, High Street, Edinburgh.
+Also sold by W. S. ORR, Amen Corner, London; D. N. CHAMBERS, 55 West
+Nile Street, Glasgow; and J. M'GLASHAN, 50 Upper Sackville Street,
+Dublin.--Advertisements for Monthly Parts are requested to be sent to
+MAXWELL, & Co., 31 Nicholas Lane, Lombard Street, London, to whom all
+applications respecting their insertion must be made.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 447, by Various
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