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diff --git a/31187-8.txt b/31187-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e67bfee --- /dev/null +++ b/31187-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14605 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Volume 1, +No. 2, July, 1850., 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: Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Volume 1, No. 2, July, 1850. + +Author: Various + +Release Date: February 5, 2010 [EBook #31187] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY, JULY 1850 *** + + + + +Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net. + + + + + + + +HARPER'S + +NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. + +No. II.--JULY, 1850.--VOL. I. + + + + +[From the London Eclectic Review.] + +THOMAS DE QUINCEY. + + +When "Gilfillan's Gallery" first appeared, a copy of it was sent to an +eminent lay-divine, the first sentence of whose reply was, "You have +sent me a _list of shipwrecks_." It was but too true, for that "Gallery" +contains the name of a Godwin, shipwrecked on a false system, and a +Shelley, shipwrecked on an extravagant version of that false system--and +a Hazlitt, shipwrecked on no system at all--and a Hall, driven upon the +rugged reef of madness--and a Foster, cast high and dry upon the dark +shore of Misanthropy--and an Edward Irving, inflated into sublime idiocy +by the breath of popular favor, and in the subsidence of that breath, +left to roll at the mercy of the waves, a mere log--and lastly, a +Coleridge and a De Quincy, stranded on the same poppy-covered coast, the +land of the "Lotos-eaters," where it is never morning, nor midnight, nor +full day, but always afternoon. + +Wrecks all these are, but all splendid and instructive withal. And we +propose now--repairing to the shore, where the last great argosy, Thomas +De Quincey, lies half bedded in mud--to pick up whatever of noble and +rare, of pure and permanent, we can find floating around. We would speak +of De Quincey's history, of his faults, of his genius, of his works, and +of his future place in the history of literature. And when we reflect on +what a _mare magnum_ we are about to show to many of our readers, we +feel for the moment as if it were new to us also, as if _we_ stood-- + + "Like stout Cortea, when with eagle eyes + He stared at the Pacific, + ----and all his men + Gathered round him with a wild surmise, + Silent, upon a peak of Darien." + +We can not construct a regular biography of this remarkable man; neither +the time for this has come, nor have the materials been, as yet, placed +within reach of us, or of any one else. But we may sketch the outlines +of what we know, which is indeed but little. + +Thomas De Quincey is the son of a Liverpool merchant. He is one of +several children, the premature loss of one of whom he has, in his +"Suspiria de Profundis" (published in "Blackwood") most plaintively and +eloquently deplored. His father seems to have died early. Guardians were +appointed over him, with whom he contrived to quarrel, and from whose +wing (while studying at Oxford) he fled to London. There he underwent a +series of surprising adventures and severe sufferings, which he has +recounted in the first part of his "Opium Confessions." On one occasion, +while on the point of death by starvation, his life was saved by the +intervention of a poor street-stroller, of whom he afterward lost sight, +but whom, in the strong gratitude of his heart, he would pursue into the +central darkness of a London brothel, or into the deeper darkness of the +grave. Part of the same dark period of his life was spent in Wales, +where he subsisted now on the hospitality of the country people, and +now, poor fellow, on hips and haws. He was at last found out by some of +his friends, and remanded to Oxford. There he formed a friendship with +Christopher North, which has continued unimpaired to this hour. +Both--besides the band of kindred genius--had that of profound +admiration, then a rare feeling, for the poetry of Wordsworth. In the +course of this part of his life he visited Ireland, and was introduced +soon afterward to OPIUM--fatal friend, treacherous ally--root of that +tree called Wormwood, which has overshadowed all his after life. A blank +here occurs in his history. We find him next in a small white cottage in +Cumberland--married--studying Kant, drinking laudanum, and dreaming the +most wild and wondrous dreams which ever crossed the brain of mortal. +These dreams he recorded in the "London Magazine," then a powerful +periodical, conducted by John Scott, and supported by such men as +Hazlitt, Reynolds, and Allan Cunningham. The "Confessions," when +published separately, ran like wildfire, although from their anonymous +form they added nothing at the time to the author's fame. Not long after +their publication, Mr. De Quincey came down to Scotland, where he has +continued to reside, wandering from place to place, contributing to +periodicals of all sorts and sizes--to "Blackwood," "Tait," "North +British Review," "Hogg's Weekly Instructor," as well as writing for the +"Encyclopædia Britannica," and publishing one or two independent works, +such as "Klosterheim," a tale, and the "Logic of Political Economy." His +wife has been long dead. Three of his daughters, amiable and excellent +persons, live in the sweet village of Lasswade, in the neighborhood of +Edinburgh; and there he is, we believe, at present himself. + +From his very imperfect sketch of De Quincey's history, there rush into +our minds some rather painful reflections. It is painful to see a + + "Giant mind broken by sorrows unspoken, + And woes." + +It is painful to see a glorious being transfigured into a rolling thing +before the whirlwind. It is painful to be compelled to inscribe upon +such a shield the word "Desdichado." It is painful to remember how much +misery must have passed through that heart, and how many sweat drops of +agony must have stood, in desolate state, upon that brow. And it is most +painful of all to feel that guilt, as well as misery, has been here, and +that the sowing of the wind preceded the reaping of the whirlwind. + +Such reflections were mere sentimentalism, unless attended by such +corollaries as these: 1st. Self-control ought to be more than at present +a part of education, sedulously and sternly taught, for is it not the +geometry of life? 2dly. Society should feel more that she is responsible +for the wayward children of genius, and ought to seek more than she does +to soothe their sorrows, to relieve their wants, to reclaim their +wanderings, and to search, as with lighted candles, into the causes of +their incommunicable misery. Had the public, twenty years ago, feeling +Mr. De Quincey to be one of the master spirits of the age, and, +therefore, potentially, one of its greatest benefactors, inquired +deliberately into his case, sought him out, put him beyond the reach of +want, encouraged thus his heart, and strengthened his hand, rescued him +from the mean miseries into which he was plunged, smiled approvingly +upon the struggles he was making to conquer an evil habit--in one word, +_recognized_ him, what a different man had he been now, and over what +magnificent wholes had we been rejoicing, in the shape of his works, +instead of deploring powers and acquirements thrown away, in rearing +towers of Babel, tantalizing in proportion to the magnitude of their +design, and the beauty of their execution. Neglected and left alone as a +corpse in the shroud of his own genius, a fugitive, though not a +vagabond, compelled day after day to fight absolute starvation at the +point of his pen, the marvel is, that he has written so much which the +world may not willingly let die. _But_, it is the world's fault that the +writings it now recognizes, and may henceforth preserve on a high shelf, +are rather the sublime ravings of De Quincey drunk, than the calm, +profound cogitations of De Quincey sober. The theory of capital +punishments is much more subtle and widely ramified than we might at +first suppose. On what else are many of our summary critical and moral +judgments founded? Men find a man guilty of a crime--they vote him for +that one act a purely pernicious member of society, and they turn him +off. So a Byron quarrels with his wife--a Coleridge loses his balance, +and begins to reel and totter like Etna in an earthquake--a Burns, made +an exciseman, gradually descends toward the low level of his trade--or +a De Quincey takes to living on laudanum, and the public, instead of +seeking to reform and re-edify each brilliant begun ruin, shouts out, +"Raze, raze it to its foundation." Because the sun is eclipsed, they +would howl him away! Because one blot has lighted on an imperishable +page, they would burn it up! Let us hope, that as our age is fast +becoming ashamed of those infernal sacrifices called executions, so it +shall also soon forbear to make its most gifted sons pass through the +fire to Moloch, till it has tested their _thorough_ and _ineradicable_ +vileness. + +Mr. De Quincey's faults we have spoken of in the plural--we ought, +perhaps, rather to have used the singular number. In the one word +excitement, assuming the special form of opium--the "insane root"--lies +the _gravamen_ of his guilt, as, also, of Coleridge's. Now, we are far +from wishing to underrate the evil of this craving. But we ought to +estimate Mr. De Quincey's criminality with precision and justice; and, +while granting that he used opium to excess--an excess seldom +paralleled--we must take his own explanation of the circumstances which +led him to begin its use, and of the effects it produced on him. He did +not begin it to multiply or intensify his pleasures, still less to lash +himself with its fiery thongs into a counterfeit inspiration, but to +alleviate bodily pain. It became, gradually and reluctantly, a necessity +of his life. Like the serpents around Laocoon, it confirmed its grasp, +notwithstanding the wild tossings of his arms, the spasmodic resistance +of every muscle, the loud shouts of protesting agony; and, when +conquered, he lay like the overpowered Hatteraick in the cave, sullen, +still in despair, breathing hard, but perfectly powerless. Its effects +on him, too, were of a peculiar kind. They were not brutifying or +blackguardizing. He was never intoxicated with the drug in his life; +nay, he denies its power to intoxicate. Nor did it at all weaken his +intellectual faculties any more than it strengthened them. We have heard +poor creatures consoling themselves for their inferiority by saying, +"Coleridge would not have written so well but for opium." "No thanks to +De Quincey for his subtlety--he owes it to opium." Let such persons +swallow the drug, and try to write the "Suspiria," or the "Aids to +Reflection." + +Coleridge and De Quincey were great in spite of their habits. Nay, we +believe that on truly great intellects stimulus produces little +inspiration at all. Can opium think? can beer imagine? It is De Quincey +in opium--not opium in De Quincey--that ponders and that writes. The +stimulus is only the _occasional cause_ which brings the internal power +into play; it may sometimes dwarf the giant, but it can never really +elevate the dwarf. + +The evil influences of opium on De Quincey were of a different, but a +very pernicious sort: they weakened his will; they made him a colossal +slave to a tiny tyrant; they shut him up (like the Genii in the "Arabian +Tales") in a phial filled with dusky fire; they spread a torpor over +the energies of his body; they closed up or poisoned the natural sources +of enjoyment; the air, the light, the sunshine, the breeze, the +influences of spring, lost all charm and power over him. Instead of +these, snow was welcomed with an unnatural joy; storm embraced as a +brother; and the stern scenery of night arose like a desolate temple +round his ruined spirit. If his heart was not utterly hardened, it was +owing to its peculiar breadth and warmth. At last his studies were +interrupted, his peace broken, his health impaired, and then came the +noon of his night; a form of gigantic gloom, swaying an "ebon sceptre," +stood over him in triumph, and it seemed as if nothing less than a +miraculous intervention could rescue the victim from his power. + +But the victim was not an ordinary one. Feeling that hell had come, and +that death was at hand, he determined, by a mighty effort, to arise from +his degradation. For a season his struggles were great and impotent, as +those of the giants cast down by Jove under Etna. The mountain shook, +the burden tottered, but the light did not at first appear. Nor has he +ever, we suspect, completely emancipated himself from his bondage; but +he has struggled manfully against it, and has cast off such a large +portion of the burden that it were injustice not to say of him that he +is now FREE. + +It were ungracious to have dwelt, even so long, upon the errors of De +Quincey, were it not that, first, his own frankness of disclosures frees +us from all delicacy; and that, secondly, the errors of such a man, like +the cloud of the pillar, have two sides--his darkness may become our +light--his sin our salvation. It may somewhat counteract that craving +cry for excitement, that everlasting Give, give, so much the mistake of +the age, to point strongly to this conspicuous and transcendent victim, +and say to his admirers, "Go ye and do _otherwise_." + +We pass gladly to the subject of his genius. That is certainly one of +the most singular in its power, variety, culture, and eccentricity, our +age has witnessed. His intellect is at once solid and subtle, reminding +you of veined and figured marble, so beautiful and evasive in aspect, +that you must touch ere you are certain of its firmness. The motion of +his mind is like that of dancing, but it is the dance of an elephant, or +of a Polyphemus, with his heavy steps, thundering down the music to +which he moves. Hence his humor often seems forced in motion, while +always fine in spirit. The contrast between the slow march of his +sentences, the frequent gravity of his spirit, the recondite masses of +his lore, the logical severity of his diction, and his determination, at +times, to be desperately witty, produces a ludicrous effect, but +somewhat different from what he had intended. It is "Laughter" lame, and +only able to hold one of his sides, so that you laugh at, as well as +with him. But few, we think, would have been hypercritical in judging of +Columbus' first attitudes as he stepped down upon his new world. And +thus, let a great intellectual explorer be permitted to occupy his own +region, in whatever way, and with whatever ceremonies, may seem best to +himself. Should he even, like Cæsar, stumble upon the shore, no matter +if he stumble _forward_, and by accepting, make the omen change its +nature and meaning. + +Genius and logical perception are De Quincey's principal powers. There +are some writers whose power, like the locusts in the Revelation, is "in +their tails"--they have stings, and there lies their scorpion power. De +Quincey's vigor is evenly and equally diffused through his whole being. +It is not a partial palpitation, but a deep, steady glow. His insight +hangs over us and the world like a nebulous star, seeing us, but, in +part, remaining unseen. In fact, his deepest thoughts have never been +disclosed. Like Burke, he has not "hung his heart upon his sleeve for +daws to peck at." He has profound _reticence_ as well as power, and he +has modesty as well as reticence. On subjects with which he is +acquainted, such as logic, literature, or political economy, no man can +speak with more positive and perfect assurance. But on all topics where +the conscience--the inner most moral nature--must be the umpire, "the +English Opium Eater" is silent. His "silence" indeed, "answers very +loud," his dumbness has a tongue, but it requires a "fine ear" to hear +its accents; and to interpret them what but his own exquisitely subtle +and musical style, like written sculpture, could suffice? + +Indeed, De Quincey's style is one of the most wondrous of his gifts. As +Professor Wilson once said to us about him, "the _best_ word always +comes up." It comes up easily, as a bubble on the wave; and is yet +fixed, solid, and permanent as marble. It is at once warm as genius, and +cool as logic. Frost and fire fulfill the paradox of "embracing each +other." His faculties never disturb or distract each other's +movements--they are inseparable, as substance and shadow. Each thought +is twin-born with poetry. His sentences are generally very long, and as +full of life and of joints as a serpent. It is told of Coleridge, that +no shorthand-writer could do justice to his lectures; because, although +he spoke deliberately, yet it was impossible, from the first part of his +sentences, to have the slightest notion how they were to end--each +clause was a new surprise, and the close often unexpected as a +thunderbolt. In this, as in many other respects. De Quincey resembles +the "noticeable man with large gray eyes." Each of his periods, begin +where it may, accomplishes a cometary sweep ere it closes. To use an +expression of his own, applied to Bishop Berkeley, "he passes, with the +utmost ease and speed, from tar-water to the Trinity, from a mole-heap +to the thrones of the Godhead." His sentences are microcosms--real, +though imperfect wholes. It is as if he dreaded that earth would end, +and chaos come again, ere each prodigious period were done. This +practice, so far from being ashamed of, he often and elaborately +defends--contrasting it with the "short-winded and asthmatic" style of +writing which abounds in modern times, and particularly among French +authors. We humbly think that the truth on this question lies in the +middle. If an author is anxious for fullness, let him use long +sentences; if he aims at clearness, let them be short. If he is beating +about for truth, his sentences will be long; if he deems he has found, +and wishes to communicate it to others, they will be short. In long +sentences you see processes; in short, results. Eloquence delights in +long sentences, wit in short. Long sentences impress more at the time; +short sentences, if nervous, cling more to the memory. From long +sentences you must, in general, deduct a considerable quantum of +verbiage; short have often a meagre and skeleton air. The reading of +long sentences is more painful at first, less so afterward; a volume +composed entirely of short sentences becomes soon as wearisome as a +jest-book. The mind which employs long sentences has often a broad, but +dim vision--that which delights in short, sees a great number of small +points clearly, but seldom a rounded whole. De Quincey is a good +specimen of the first class. The late Dr. Hamilton, of Leeds, was the +most egregious instance of the second. With all his learning, and +talent, and fancy, the writings of that distinguished divine are +rendered exceedingly tedious by the broken and gasping character of +their style--reading which has been compared to walking on +stepping-stones instead of a firm road. Every thing is so clear, sharp, +and short, that you get irritated and provoked, and cry out for an +intricate or lengthy sentence, both as a trial to your wind, and as a +relief to your weariness. + +The best style of writing, in point of effect, is that which combines +both forms of sentence in proper proportions. Just as a well-armed +warrior of old, while he held the broadsword in his right hand, had the +dagger of mercy suspended by his side, the effective writer, who can at +one time wave the flaming brand of eloquence, can at another use the +pointed poignard of direct statement, of close logic, or of keen and +caustic wit. Thus did Burke, Hall, Horsley, and Chalmers. + +Akin to De Quincey's length of sentence, is his ungovernable habit of +digression. You can as soon calculate on the motions of a stream of the +aurora, as on those of his mind. From the title of any one of his +papers, you can never infer whether he is to treat the subject +announced, or a hundred others--whether the subjects he is to treat are +to be cognate, or contradictory, to the projected theme--whether, should +he begin the subject, he shall ever finish it--or into how many +foot-notes he is to draw away, as if into subterranean pipes, its pith +and substance. At every possible angle of his road he contrives to break +off, and hence he has never yet reached the end of a day's journey. +Unlike Christian in the "Pilgrim," _he_ welcomes every temptation to go +astray--and, not content with shaking hands with old Worldly Wiseman, he +must, before climbing Mount Difficulty, explore both the way of Danger +and that of Destruction. It may be inquired, if this arise from the +fertility or from the frailty of his genius--from his knowledge of, and +dominion over every province of thought, or from his natural or acquired +inability to resist "right-hand or left-hand defections," provided they +promise to interest himself and to amuse his readers. Judging from +Coleridge's similar practice, we are forced to conclude that it is in De +Quincey too--a weakness fostered, if not produced, by long habits of +self-indulgence. + +And yet, notwithstanding such defects (and we might have added to them +his use of logical formulæ at times when they appear simply ridiculous, +his unnecessary scholasticism, and display of learning, the undue +self-complacence with which he parades his peculiar views, and explodes +his adversary's, however reputed and venerable, and a certain air of +exaggeration which swathes all his written speech), what splendid powers +this strange being, at all times and on all subjects, exerts! With what +razor-like sharpness does he cut the most difficult distinctions! What +learning is his--here compelling wonder, from its variety and minute +accuracy; and there, from the philosophical grasp with which he holds +it, in compressed masses! And, above all, what grand, sombre, Miltonic +gleams his imagination casts around him on his way; and in what deep +swells of organ-like music do his thoughts often, harmoniously and +irrepressibly, move! The three prose-writers of this century, who, as it +appears to us, approach most nearly to the giants of the era of Charles +I., in spirit of genius and munificence of language, are, Edward Irving, +in his preface to "Ben Ezra," Thomas Aird, in parts of his "Religious +Characteristics," and Thomas De Quincey, in his "Confessions," and his +"Suspiria de Profundis." + +In coming down from an author to his works we have often a feeling of +humiliation and disappointment. It is like comparing the great Ben Nevis +with the streamlets which flow from his base, and asking, "Is this all +the mighty mountain can give the world?" So, "What has De Quincey done?" +is a question we are now sure to hear, and feel rather afraid to answer. + +In a late number of that very excellent periodical, "Hogg's Instructor," +Mr. De Quincey, as if anticipating some such objection, argues +(referring to Professor Wilson), that it is ridiculous to expect a +writer now to write a large separate work, as some had demanded from the +professor. He is here, however, guilty of a fallacy, which we wonder he +allowed to escape from his pen: there is a difference between a large +and a great work. No one wishes either De Quincey or John Wilson to +write a folio; what we wish from each of them is, an _artistic_ whole, +large or comparatively small, fully reflecting the image of his mind, +and bearing the relation to his other works which the "Paradise Lost" +does to Milton's "Lycidas," "Arcades," and "Hymn on the Nativity." And +this, precisely, is what neither of those illustrious men has as yet +effected. + +De Quincey's works, if collected, would certainly possess sufficient +bulk; they lie scattered, in prodigal profusion, through the thousand +and one volumes of our periodical literature; and we are certain, that a +selection of their better portions would fill ten admirable octavos. Mr. +De Quincey himself was lately urged to collect them. His reply was, +"Sir, the thing is absolutely, insuperably, and forever impossible. Not +the archangel Gabriel, nor his multipotent adversary, durst attempt any +such thing!" We suspect, at least, that death must seal the lips of the +"old man eloquent," ere such a selection shall be made. And yet, in +those unsounded abysses, what treasures might be found--of criticism, of +logic, of wit, of metaphysical acumen, of research, of burning +eloquence, and essential poetry! We should meet there with admirable +specimens of translation from Jean Paul Richter and Lessing; with a +criticism on the former, quite equal to that more famous one of +Carlyle's; with historical chapters, such as those in "Blackwood" on the +Cæsars, worthy of Gibbon; with searching criticisms, such as one on the +knocking in Macbeth, and two series on Landor and Schlosser; with the +elephantine humor of his lectures on "Murder, considered as one of the +fine arts;" and with the deep theological insight of his papers on +Christianity, considered as a means of social progress, and on the +Essenes. In fact, De Quincey's knowledge of theology is equal to that of +two bishops--in metaphysics, he could puzzle any German professor--in +astronomy, he has outshone Professor Nichol--in chemistry, he can +outdive Samuel Brown--and in Greek, excite to jealousy the shades of +Porson and Parr. There is another department in which he stands first, +second, and third--we mean, the serious hoax. Do our readers remember +the German romance of Walladmor, passed off at the Leipsic fair as one +of Sir Walter Scott's, and afterward translated into English? The +translation, which was, in fact, a new work, was executed by De Quincey, +who, finding the original dull, thought proper to re-write it; and thus, +to charge trick upon trick. Or have they ever read his chapter in +"Blackwood" for July, 1837, on the "Retreat of a Tartar tribe?" a +chapter certainly containing the most powerful historical painting we +ever read, and recording a section of adventurous and romantic story not +equaled, he says, "since the retreat of the fallen angels." This +chapter, we have good reason for knowing, originated principally in his +own inventive brain. Add to all this, the fiery eloquence of his +"Confessions"--the labored speculation of his "Political Economy"--the +curiously-perverted ingenuity of his "Klosterheim"--and the solemn, +sustained, linked, and lyrical raptures of his "Suspiria," and we have +answered the question, What has he done? But another question is less +easy to answer, What can he, or should he, or shall he yet do? And here +we venture to express a long-cherished opinion. Pure history, or that +species of biography which merges into history, is his forte, and ought +to have been his selected province. He never could have written a +first-rate fiction or poem, or elaborated a complete or original system +of philosophy, although both his imagination and his intellect are of a +very high order. But he has every quality of the great historian, except +compression; he has learning, insight, the power of reproducing the +past, fancy to color, and wit to enliven his writing, and a style which, +while it is unwieldy upon small subjects, rises to meet all great +occasions, like a senator to salute a king. The only danger is, that if +he were writing the history of the Crusades or Cæsars, for instance, his +work would expand to the dimensions of the "Universal History." + +A great history we do not now expect from De Quincey; but he might, +produce some, as yet, unwritten life, such as the life of Dante, or of +Milton. Such a work would at once concentrate his purpose, task his +powers, and perpetuate his name. + +As it is, his place in the future gallery of ages is somewhat uncertain. +For all he has hitherto done, or for all the impression he has made upon +the world, his course may be marked as that of a brilliant but timid +meteor, shooting athwart the midnight, watched but by few eyes, but +accompanied by the keenest interest and admiration of those who did +watch it. Passages of his writings may be preserved in collections; and, +among natural curiosities in the museum of man, his memory must +assuredly be included as the greatest consumer of laudanum and +learning--as possessing the most potent of brains, and the weakest of +wills, of almost all men who ever lived. + +We have other two remarks to offer ere we close. Our first is, that, +with all his errors, De Quincey has never ceased to believe in +Christianity. In an age when most men of letters have gone over to the +skeptical side, and too often treat with insolent scorn, as sciolistic +and shallow, those who still cling to the gospel, it is refreshing to +find one who stands confessedly at the head of them all, in point of +talent and learning, so intimately acquainted with the tenets, so +profoundly impressed by the evidences, and so ready to do battle for the +cause, of the blessed faith of Jesus. From those awful depths of sorrow +in which he was long plunged, he never ceased to look up to the +countenance and the cross of the Saviour; and now, recovered from his +evils, and sins, and degradations, we seem to see him sitting, "clothed +and in his right mind, at the feet of Jesus." Would to God that others +of his class were to go, and to sit down beside him! + +We may state, in fine, that efforts are at present being made to +procure for Mr. De Quincey a pension. A memorial on the subject has been +presented to Lord John Russell. We need hardly say, that we cordially +wish this effort all success. A pension would be to him a delicate +sunset ray--soon, possibly, to shine on his bed of death--but, at all +events, sure to minister a joy and a feeling of security, which, during +all his long life, he has never for an hour experienced. It were but a +proper reward for his eminent abilities, hard toils, and the uniform +support which he has given, by his talents, to a healthy literature, and +a spiritual faith. We trust, too, that government may be induced to +couple with his name, in the same generous bestowal, another--inferior, +indeed, in brilliance, but which represents a more consistent and a more +useful life. We allude to Dr. Dick, of Broughty Ferry, a gentleman who +has done more than any living author to popularize science--to +accomplish the Socratic design of bringing down philosophy to earth--who +has never ceased, at the same time, to exhale moral and religious +feeling, as a fine incense, from the researches and experiments of +science to the Eternal Throne--and who, for his laborious exertions, of +nearly thirty years' duration, has been rewarded by poverty, and +neglect, the "proud man's contumely," and, as yet, by the silence of a +government which professes to be the patron of literature and the +succorer of every species of merit in distress. To quote a +newspaper-writer, who is well acquainted with the case: "I know that Dr. +Dick has lived a long and a laborious life, writing books which have +done much good to man. I know that he has often had occasion to sell +these books to publishers, at prices to which his poverty, and not his +will consented. I know, too, that throughout his life he has lived with +the moderation and the meekness of a saint, as he has written with the +wisdom of a sage; and, knowing these things, I would fain save him from +the death of a martyr." + + + + +[From Household Words.] + +THE MINER'S DAUGHTERS--A TALE OF THE PEAK. + +IN THREE CHAPTERS. + + +CHAPTER I--THE CHILD'S TRAGEDY. + +There is no really beautiful part of this kingdom so little known as the +Peak of Derbyshire. Matlock, with its tea-garden trumpery and +mock-heroic wonders; Buxton, with its bleak hills and fashionable +bathers; the truly noble Chatsworth and the venerable Haddon, engross +almost all that the public generally have seen of the Peak. It is talked +of as a land of mountains, which in reality are only hills; but its true +beauty lies in valleys that have been created by the rending of the +earth in some primeval convulsion, and which present a thousand charms +to the eyes of the lover of nature. How deliciously do the crystal +waters of the Wye and the Dove rush along such valleys, or dales, as +they there are called. With what a wild variety do the gray rocks soar +up amid their woods and copses. How airily stand in the clear heavens +the lofty limestone precipices, and the gray edges of rock gleam cut +from the bare green downs--there _never_ called downs. What a genuine +Saxon air is there cast over the population--what a Saxon bluntness +salutes you in their speech! + +It is into the heart of this region that we propose now to carry the +reader. Let him suppose himself with us now on the road from +Ashford-in-the-water to Tideswell. We are at the Bull's Head, a little +inn on that road. There is nothing to create wonder, or a suspicion of a +hidden Arcadia in any thing you see, but another step forward, +and--there! There sinks a world of valleys at your feet. To your left +lies the delicious Monsal Dale. Old Finn Hill lifts his gray head +grandly over it. Hobthrush's Castle stands bravely forth in the hollow +of his side--gray, and desolate, and mysterious. The sweet Wye goes +winding and sounding at his feet, amid its narrow green meadows, green +as the emerald, and its dark glossy alders. Before us stretches on, +equally beautiful, Cressbrook Dale; Little Edale shows its cottages from +amidst its trees; and as we advance, the Mousselin-de-laine Mills +stretch across the mouth of Miller's Dale, and startle with the aspect +of so much life amid so much solitude. + +But our way is still onward. We resist the attraction of Cressbrook +village on its lofty eminence, and plunge to the right, into Wardlow +Dale. Here we are buried deep in woods, and yet behold still deeper the +valley descend below us. There is an Alpine feeling upon us. We are +carried once more, as in a dream, into the Saxon Switzerland. Above us +stretch the boldest ranges of lofty precipices, and deep amid the woods +are heard the voices of children. These come from a few workmen's +houses, couched at the foot of a cliff that rises high and bright amid +the sun. That is Wardlow Cop; and there we mean to halt for a moment. +Forward lies a wild region of hills, and valleys, and lead-mines, but +forward goes no road, except such as you can make yourself through the +tangled woods. + +At the foot of Wardlow Cop, before this little hamlet of Bellamy Wick +was built, or the glen was dignified with the name of Raven Dale, there +lived a miner who had no term for his place of abode. He lived, he said, +under Wardlow Cop, and that contented him. + +His house was one of those little, solid, gray limestone cottages, with +gray flagstone roofs, which abound in the Peak. It had stood under that +lofty precipice when the woods which now so densely fill the valley were +but newly planted. There had been a mine near it, which had no doubt +been the occasion of its erection in so solitary a place; but that mine +was now worked out and David Dunster, the miner, now worked at a mine +right over the hills in Miller's Dale. He was seldom at home, except at +night, and on Sundays. His wife, besides keeping her little house, and +digging and weeding in the strip of garden that lay on the steep slope +above the house, hemmed in with a stone wall, also seamed stockings for +a framework-knitter in Ashford, whither she went once or twice in the +week. + +They had three children, a boy and two girls. The boy was about eight +years of age; the girls were about five and six. These children were +taught their lessons of spelling and reading by the mother, among her +other multifarious tasks; for she was one of those who are called +regular plodders. She was quiet, patient, and always doing, though never +in a bustle. She was not one of those who acquire a character for vast +industry by doing every thing in a mighty flurry, though they contrive +to find time for a tolerable deal of gossip under the plea of resting a +bit, and which "resting a bit" they always terminate by an exclamation +that "they must be off, though, for they have a world of work to do." +Betty Dunster, on the contrary, was looked on as rather "a slow coach." +If you remarked that she was a hard-working woman, the reply was, "Well, +she's always doing--Betty's work's never done; but then she does na +hurry hersen." The fact was, Betty was a thin, spare woman, of no very +strong constitution, but of an untiring spirit. Her pleasure and rest +were, when David came home at night, to have his supper ready, and to +sit down opposite to him at the little round table, and help him, giving +a bit now and then to the children, that came and stood round, though +they had had their suppers, and were ready for bed as soon as they had +seen something of their "dad." + +David Dunster was one of those remarkably tall fellows that you see +about these hills, who seem of all things the very worst made men to +creep into the little mole holes on the hill sides that they call +lead-mines. But David did manage to burrow under and through the hard +limestone rooks as well as any of them. He was a hard-working man, +though he liked a sup of beer, as most Derbyshire men do, and sometimes +came home none of the soberest. He was naturally of a very hasty temper, +and would fly into great rages; and if he were put out by any thing in +the working of the mines, or the conduct of his fellow-workmen, he would +stay away from home for days, drinking at Tideswell, or the Bull's Head, +at the top of Monsal Dale, or down at the Miners' Arms at +Ashford-in-the-water. + +Betty Dunster bore all this patiently. She looked on these things +somewhat as matters of course. At that time, and even now, how few +miners do not drink and "rol a bit," as they call it. She was, +therefore, tolerant, and let the storms blow over, ready always to +persuade her husband to go home and sleep off his drink and anger, but +if he were too violent, leaving him till another attempt might succeed +better. She was very fond of her children, and not only taught them on +week-days their lessons, and to help her to seam, but also took them to +the Methodist Chapel in "Tidser," as they called Tideswell, whither, +whenever she could, she enticed David. David, too, in his way, was fond +of the children, especially of the boy, who was called David after him. +He was quite wrapped up in the lad, to use the phrase of the people in +that part; in fact, he was foolishly and mischievously fond of him. He +would give him beer to drink, "to make a true Briton on him," as he +said, spite of Betty's earnest endeavor to prevent it--telling him that +he was laying the foundation in the lad of the same faults that he had +himself. But David Dunster did not look on drinking as a fault at all. +It was what he had been used to all his life. It was what all the miners +had been used to for generations. A man was looked on as a milk-sop and +a Molly Coddle, that would not take his mug of ale, and be merry with +his comrades. It required the light of education, and the efforts that +have been made by the Temperance Societies, to break in on this ancient +custom of drinking, which, no doubt, has flourished in these hills since +the Danes and other Scandinavians bored and perforated them of old for +the ores of lead and copper. To Betty Dunster's remonstrances, and +commendations of tea, David would reply, "Botheration, Betty, wench! +Dunna tell me about thy tea and such-like pig's-wesh. It's all very well +for women; but a man, Betty, a man mun ha' a sup of real stingo, lass. +He mun ha' summut to prop his ribs out, lass, as he delves through th' +chert and tood-stone. When tha weylds th' maundrel (the pick), and I +wesh th' dishes, tha shall ha' th' drink, my wench, and I'll ha' th' +tea. Till then, prithee let me aloon, and dunna bother me, for it's no +use. It only kicks my monkey up." + +And Betty found that it was of no use; that it did only kick his monkey +up, and so she let him alone, except when she could drop in a persuasive +word or two. The mill-owners at Cress brook and Miller's Dale had +forbidden any public-house nearer than Edale, and they had more than +once called the people together to point out to them the mischiefs of +drinking, and the advantages to be derived from the very savings of +temperance. But all these measures, though they had some effect on the +mill people, had very little on the miners. They either sent to +Tideswell or Edale for kegs of beer to peddle at the mines, or they went +thither themselves on receiving their wages. + +And let no one suppose that David Dunster was worse than his fellows, or +that Betty Dunster thought her case a particularly hard one. David was +"pretty much of a muchness," according to the country phrase, with the +rest of his hard-working tribe, which was, and always had been, a +hard-drinking tribe; and Betty, though she wished it different, did not +complain just because it was of no use, and because she was no worse off +than her neighbors. + +Often when she went to "carry in her hose" to Ashford, she left the +children at home by themselves. She had no alternative. They were there +in that solitary valley for many hours playing alone. And to them it was +not solitary. It was all that they knew of life, and that all was very +pleasant to them. In spring, they hunted for birds'-nests in the copses, +and among the rocks and gray stones that had fallen from them. In the +copses built the blackbirds and thrushes; in the rocks the firetails; +and the gray wagtails in the stones, which were so exactly of their own +color, as to make it difficult to see them. In summer, they gathered +flowers and berries, and in the winter they played at horses, kings, and +shops, and sundry other things in the house. + +On one of these occasions, a bright afternoon in autumn, the three +children had rambled down the glen, and found a world of amusement in +being teams of horses, in making a little mine at the foot of a tall +cliff; and in marching for soldiers, for they had one day--the only time +in their lives--seen some soldiers go through the village of Ashford, +when they had gone there with their mother, for she now and then took +them with her when she had something from the shop to carry besides her +bundle of hose. At length they came to the foot of an open hill, which +swelled to a considerable height, with a round and climbable side, on +which grew a wilderness of bushes, amid which lay scattered masses of +gray crag. A small winding path went up this, and they followed it. It +was not long, however, before they saw some things which excited their +eager attention. Little David, who was the guide, and assumed to himself +much importance as the protector of his sisters, exclaimed, "See here!" +and springing forward, plucked a fine crimson cluster of the mountain +bramble. His sisters, on seeing this, rushed on with like eagerness. +They soon forsook the little winding and craggy footpath, and hurried +through sinking masses of moss and dry grass, from bush to bush, and +place to place. They were soon far up above the valley, and almost every +step revealed to them some delightful prize. The clusters of the +mountain-bramble, resembling mulberries, and known only to the +inhabitants of the hills, were abundant, and were rapidly devoured. The +dewberry was as eagerly gathered--its large, purple fruit passing with +them for blackberries. In their hands were soon seen posies of the +lovely grass of Parnassus, the mountain cistus, and the bright blue +geranium. + +Higher and higher the little group ascended in this quest, till the +sight of the wide, naked hills, and the hawks circling round the lofty, +tower-like crags over their heads, made them feel serious and somewhat +afraid. + +"Where are we?" asked Jane, the elder sister. "Arn't we a long way from +hom?" + +"Let us go hom," said little Nancy. "I'm afreed here;" clutching hold of +Jane's frock. + +"Pho, nonsense!" said David; "what are you afreed on? I'll tak care on +you, niver fear." + +And with this he assumed a bold and defying aspect, and said, "Come +along; there are nests in th' hazzles up yonder." + +He began to mount again, but the two girls hung back and said, "Nay, +David, dunna go higher; we are both afreed;" and Jane added, "It's a +long wee from hom, I'm sure." + +"And those birds screechin' so up there; I darna go up," added little +Nancy. They were the hawks that she meant, which hovered whimpering and +screaming about the highest cliffs. David called them little cowards, +but began to descend, and, presently, seeking for berries and flowers as +they descended, they regained the little winding, craggy road, and, +while they were calling to each other, discovered a remarkable echo on +the opposite hill side. On this, they shouted to it, and laughed, and +were half frightened when it laughed and shouted again. Little Nancy +said it must be an old man in the inside of the mountain; at which they +were all really afraid, though David put on a big look, and said, +"Nonsense! it was nothing at all." But Jane asked how nothing at all +could shout and laugh as it did? and on this little Nancy plucked her +again by the frock, and said in turn, "Oh, dear, let's go hom!" + +But at this David gave a wild whoop to frighten them, and when the hill +whooped again, and the sisters began to run, he burst into laughter, and +the strange spectral Ha! ha! ha! that ran along the inside of the hill, +as it were, completed their fear, and they stopped their ears with their +hands, and scuttled away down the hill. But now David seized them, and +pulling their hands down from their heads, he said, "See here! what a +nice place with the stones sticking out like seats. Why, it's like a +little house; let us stay and play a bit here." It was a little hollow +in the hill side surrounded by projecting stones like an amphitheatre. +The sisters were still afraid, but the sight of this little hollow with +its seats of crag had such a charm for them that they promised David +they would stop awhile, if he would promise not to shout and awake the +echo. David readily promised this, and so they sat down. David proposed +to keep a school, and cut a hazel wand from a bush, and began to lord it +over his two scholars in a very pompous manner. The two sisters +pretended to be much afraid, and to read very diligently on pieces of +flat stone which they had picked up. And then David became a sergeant, +and was drilling them for soldiers, and stuck pieces of fern into their +hair for cockades. And then, soon after, they were sheep, and he was the +shepherd; and he was catching his flock and going to shear them, and +made so much noise that Jane cried, "Hold! there's the echo mocking us." + +At this they all were still. But David said, "Pho! never mind the echo; +I must shear my sheep:" but just as he was seizing little Nancy to +pretend to shear her with a piece of stick, Jane cried out, "Look! look! +how black it is coming down the valley there! There's going to be a +dreadful starm. Let us hurry hom!" + +David and Nancy both looked up, and agreed to run as fast down the hill +as they could. But the next moment the driving storm swept over the +hill, and the whole valley was hid in it. The three children still +hurried on, but it became quite dark, and they soon lost the track, and +were tossed about by the wind, so that they had difficulty to keep on +their legs. Little Nancy began to cry, and the three taking hold of each +other, endeavored in silence to make their way homeward. But presently +they all stumbled over a large stone, and fell some distance down the +hill. They were not hurt, but much frightened, for they now remembered +the precipices, and were afraid every minute of going over them. They +now strove to find the track by going up again, but they could not find +it any where. Sometimes they went upward till they thought they were +quite too far, and then they went downward till they were completely +bewildered; and then, like the Babes in the Wood, "They sate them down +and cried." + +But ere they had sate long, they heard footsteps, and listened. They +certainly heard them and shouted, but there was no answer. David +shouted, "Help! fayther! mother! help!" but there was no answer. The +wind swept fiercely by; the hawks whimpered from the high crags, lost in +the darkness of the storm; and the rain fell, driving along icy cold. +Presently there was a gleam of light through the clouds; the hill side +became visible, and through the haze they saw a tall figure as of an old +man ascending the hill. He appeared to carry two loads slung from his +shoulders by a strap; a box hanging before, and a bag hanging at his +back. He wound up the hill slowly and wearily, and presently he stopped, +and relieving himself of his load, seated himself on a piece of crag to +rest. Again David shouted, but there still was no answer. The old man +sate as if no shout had been heard--immovable. + +"It _is_ a man," said David, "and I _will_ mak him hear;" and with that +he shouted once more with all his might. But the old man made no sign of +recognition. He did not even turn his head, but he took off his hat and +began to wipe his brow as if warm with the ascent. + +"What can it be?" said David in astonishment. "It _is_ a man, that's +sartain. I'll run and see." + +"Nay, nay!" shrieked the sisters. "Don't, David, don't! It's perhaps the +old man out of the mountain that's been mocking us. Perhaps," added +Jane, "he only comes out in starms and darkness." + +"Stuff!" said David, "an echo isn't a man; it's only our own voices. +I'll see who it is;" and away he darted, spite of the poor girls' crying +in terror, "Don't; don't, David; oh, don't!" + +But David was gone. He was not long in reaching the old man, who sate on +his stone breathing hard, as if out of breath with his ascent, but not +appearing to perceive David's approach. The rain and the wind drove +fiercely upon him, but he did not seem to mind it. David was half afraid +to approach close to him, but he called out, "Help! help, mester!" The +old man remained as unconscious of his presence. "Hillo!" cried David +again. "Can you tell us the way down, mester?" There was no answer, and +David was beginning to feel a shudder of terror run through every limb, +when the clouds cleared considerably, and he suddenly exclaimed, "Why, +it's old Tobias Turton of top of Edale, and he's as deaf as a door +nail!" + +In an instant David was at his side; seized his coat to make him aware +of his presence, and, on the old man perceiving him, shouted in his ear, +"Which is the way down here, Mester Turton? Where's the track?" + +"Down? Weighs o' the back?" said the old man; "ay, my lad, I was fain to +sit down; it does weigh o' th' back, sure enough." + +"Where's the foot-track?" shouted David, again. + +"Th' foot-track? Why, what art ta doing here, my lad, in such a starm? +Isn't it David Dunster's lad?" + +David nodded. "Why, the track's here--see!" and the old man stamped his +foot. "Get down hom, my lad, as fast as thou can. What dun they do +letting thee be upon th' hills in such a dee as this?" + +David nodded his thanks, and turned to descend the track, while the old +man, adjusting his burden again, silently and wearily recommenced his +way upward. + +David shouted to his sisters as he descended, and they quickly replied. +He called to them to come toward him, as he was on the track, and was +afraid to quit it again. They endeavored to do this; but the darkness +was now redoubled, and the wind and rain became more furious than ever. +The two sisters were soon bewildered among the bushes; and David, who +kept calling to them at intervals to direct their course toward him, +soon heard them crying bitterly. At this, he forgot the necessity of +keeping the track, and darting toward them, soon found them, by +continuing to call to them, and took their hands to lead them to the +track. But they were now drenched through with the rain, and shivered +with cold and fear. David, with a stout heart, endeavored to cheer them. +He told them the track was close by, and that they would soon be at +home. But though the track was not ten yards off, somehow they did not +find it. Bushes and projecting rocks turned them out of their course; +and, owing to the confusion caused by the wind, the darkness, and their +terror, they searched in vain for the track. Sometimes they thought they +had found it, and went on a few paces, only to stumble over loose +stones, or get entangled in the bushes. + +It was now absolutely becoming night. Their terrors increased greatly. +They shouted and cried aloud, in the hope of making their parents hear +them. They felt sure that both father and mother must be come home; and +as sure that they would be hunting for them. But they did not reflect +that their parents could not tell in what direction they had gone. Both +father and mother were come home, and the mother had instantly rushed +out to try to find them, on perceiving that they were not in the house. +She had hurried to and fro, and called--not at first supposing they +would be far. But when she heard nothing of them, she ran in, and begged +of her husband to join in the search. But at first David Dunster would +do nothing. He was angry at them for going away from the house, and +said he was too tired to go on a wild-goose chase through the +plantations after them. "They are i' th' plantations," said he; "they +are sheltering there somewhere. Let them alone, and they'l come home, +with a good long tail behind them." + +With this piece of a child's song of sheep, David sat down to his +supper, and Betty Dunster hurried up the valley, shouting, "Children, +where are you? David! Jane! Nancy! where are you?" + +When she heard nothing of them, she hurried still more wildly up the +hill toward the village. When she arrived there--the distance of a mile +--she inquired from house to house, but no one had seen any thing of +them. It was clear they had not been in that direction. An alarm was +thus created in the village; and several young men set out to join Mrs. +Dunster in the quest. They again descended the valley toward Dunster's +house, shouting every now and then, and listening. The night was pitch +dark, and the rain fell heavily; but the wind had considerably abated, +and once they thought they heard a faint cry in answer to their call, +far down the valley. They were right: the children had heard the +shouting, and had replied to it. But they were far off. The young men +shouted again, but there was no answer; and after shouting once more +without success, they hastened on. When they reached David Dunster's +house, they found the door open, and no one within. They knew that David +had set off in quest of the children himself, and they determined to +descend the valley. The distracted mother went with them, crying +silently to herself, and praying inwardly, and every now and then trying +to shout. But the young men raised their strong voices above hers, and +made the cliffs echo with their appeals. + +Anon a voice answered them down the valley. They ran on as well as the +darkness would let them, and soon found that it was David Dunster, who +had been in the plantations on the other side of the valley; but hearing +nothing of the lost children, now joined them. He said he had heard the +cry from the hill side farther down, that answered to their shouts; and +he was sure that it was his boy David's voice. But he had shouted again, +and there had been no answer but a wild scream as of terror, that made +his blood run cold. + +"O God!" exclaimed the distracted mother, "what can it be! David! +David! Jane Nancy!" + +There was no answer. The young men bade Betty Dunster to contain +herself, and they would find the children before they went home again. +All held on down the valley, and in the direction whence the voice came. +Many times did the young men and the now strongly agitated father shout +and listen. At length they seemed to hear voices of weeping and moaning. +They listened--they were sure they heard a lamenting--it could only be +the children. But why then did they not answer? On struggled the men, +and Mrs. Dunster followed wildly after. Now, again, they stood and +shouted, and a kind of terrified scream followed the shout. + +"God in heaven!" exclaimed the mother; "what is it? There is something +dreadful. My children! my children! where are you?" + +"Be silent, pray do, Mrs. Dunster," said one of the young men, "or we +can not catch the sounds so as to follow them." They again listened, and +the wailings of the children were plainly heard. The whole party pushed +forward over stock and stone up the hill. They called again, and there +was a cry of "Here! here! fayther! mother! where are you?" + +In a few moments more the whole party had reached the children, who +stood drenched with rain, and trembling violently, under a cliff that +gave no shelter, but was exposed especially to the wind and rain. + +"O Christ! my children!" cried the mother, wildly, struggling forward +and clasping one in her arms. "Nancy! Jane! But where is David? David! +David! Oh, where is David? Where is your brother?" + +The whole party was startled at not seeing the boy, and joined in a +simultaneous "Where is he? where is your brother?" + +The two children only wept and trembled more violently, and burst into +loud crying. + +"Silence!" shouted the father. "Where is David? I tell ye? Is he lost? +David, lad, where ar ta?" + +All listened, but there was no answer but the renewed crying of the two +girls. + +"Where is the lad, then?" thundered forth the father with a terrible +oath. + +The two terrified children cried, "Oh, down there! down there!" + +"Down where? Oh, God!" exclaimed one of the young men; "why it's a +precipice! Down there!" + +At this dreadful intelligence the mother gave a wild shriek, and fell +senseless on the ground. The young men caught her, and dragged her back +from the edge of the precipice. The father in the same moment, furious +at what he heard, seized the younger child, that happened to be near +him, and shaking it violently, swore he would fling it down after the +lad. + +He was angry with the poor children, as if they had caused the +destruction of his boy. The young men seized him, and bade him think +what he was about; but the man believing his boy had fallen down the +precipice, was like a madman. He kicked at his wife as she lay on the +ground, as if she were guilty of this calamity by leaving the children +at home. He was furious against the poor girls, as if they had led their +brother into danger. In his violent rage he was a perfect maniac, and +the young men pushing him away, cried shame on him. In a while, the +desperate man, torn by a hurricane of passion, sate himself down on a +crag, and burst into a tempest of tears, and struck his head violently +with his clenched fists, and cursed himself and every body. It was a +dreadful scene. + +Meantime, some of the young men had gone down below the precipice on +which the children had stood, and, feeling among the loose stones, had +found the body of poor little David. He was truly dead! + +When he had heard the shout of his father, or of the young men, he had +given one loud shout in answer, and saying, "Come on! never fear now!" +sprang forward, and was over the precipice in the dark, and flew down, +and was dashed to pieces. His sisters heard a rush, a faint shriek, and +suddenly stopping, escaped the destruction that poor David had found. + + +CHAPTER II.--MILL LIFE. + +We must pass over the painful and dreadful particulars of that night, +and of a long time to come; the maniacal rage of the father, the +shattered heart and feelings of the mother, the dreadful state of the +two remaining children, to whom their brother was one of the most +precious objects in a world which, like theirs, contained so few. One +moment to have seen him full of life, and fun, and bravado, and almost +the next a lifeless and battered corpse, was something too strange and +terrible to be soon surmounted. But this was woefully aggravated by the +cruel anger of their father, who continued to regard them as guilty of +the death of his favorite boy. He seemed to take no pleasure in them. He +never spoke to them but to scold them. He drank more deeply than ever, +and came home later; and when there, was sullen and morose. When their +mother, who suffered severely, but still plodded on with all her duties, +said, "David, they are thy children too," he would reply, savagely, "Hod +thy tongue! What's a pack o' wenches to my lad?" + +What tended to render the miner more hard toward the two girls was a +circumstance which would have awakened a better feeling in a softer +father's heart. Nancy, the younger girl, since the dreadful catastrophe, +had seemed to grow gradually dull and defective in her intellect, she +had a slow and somewhat idiotic air and manner. Her mother perceived it, +and was struck with consternation by it. She tried to rouse her, but in +vain. She could not perform her ordinary reading and spelling lessons. +She seemed to have forgotten what was already learned. She appeared to +have a difficulty in moving her legs, and carried her hands as if she +had suffered a partial paralysis. Jane, her sister, was dreadfully +distressed at it, and she and her mother wept many bitter tears over +her. One day, in the following spring, they took her with them to +Ashford, and consulted the doctor there. On examining her, and hearing +fully what had taken place at the time of the brother's death--the fact +of which he well knew, for it, of course, was known to the whole country +round--he shook his head, and said he was afraid they must make up their +minds to a sad case; that the terrors of that night had affected her +brain, and that, through it, the whole nervous system had suffered, and +was continuing to suffer the most melancholy effects. The only thing, he +thought, in her favor was her youth; and added, that it might have a +good effect, if they could leave the place where she had undergone such +a terrible shock. But whether they did or not, kindness and soothing +attentions to her would do more than any thing else. + +Mrs. Dunster and little Jane returned home with heavy hearts. The +doctor's opinion had only confirmed their fears; for Jane, though but a +child, had quickness and affection for her sister enough to make her +comprehend the awful nature of poor Nancy's condition. Mrs. Dunster told +her husband the doctor's words, for she thought they would awaken some +tenderness in him toward the unfortunate child. But he said, "That's +just what I expected. Hou'll grow soft, and then who's to maintain her? +Hou mun goo to th' workhouse." + +With that he took his maundrel and went off to his work. Instead of +softening his nature, this intelligence seemed only to harden and +brutalize it. He drank now more and more. But all that summer the mother +and Jane did all that they could think of to restore the health and mind +of poor Nancy. Every morning, when the father was gone to work, Jane +went to a spring up in the opposite wood, famed for the coldness and +sweetness of its waters. On this account the proprietors of the mills at +Cressbrook had put down a large trough there under the spreading trees, +and the people fetched the water even from the village. Hence Jane +brought, at many journeys, this cold, delicious water to bathe her +sister in; they then rubbed her warm with cloths, and gave her new milk +for her breakfast. Her lessons were not left off, lest the mind should +sink into fatuity, but were made as easy as possible. Jane continued to +talk to her, and laugh with her, as if nothing was amiss, though she did +it with a heavy heart, and she engaged her to weed and hoe with her in +their little garden. She did not dare to lead her far out into the +valley, lest it might excite her memory of the past fearful time, but +she gathered her flowers, and continued to play with her at all their +accustomed sports, of building houses with pieces of pots and stones, +and imagining gardens and parks. The anxious mother, when some weeks +were gone by, fancied that there was really some improvement. The +cold-bathing seemed to have strengthened the system: the poor child +walked, and bore herself with more freedom and firmness. She became +ardently fond of being with her sister, and attentive to her directions. +But there was a dull cloud over her intellect, and a vacancy in her eyes +and features. She was quiet, easily pleased, but seemed to have little +volition of her own. Mrs. Dunster thought if they could but get her away +from that spot, it might rouse her mind from its sleep. But, perhaps, +the sleep was better than the awaking might be; however, the removal +came, though in a more awful way than was looked for. The miner, who had +continued to drink more and more, and seemed to have almost estranged +himself from his home, staying away in his drinking bouts for a week or +more together, was one day blasting a rock in the mine, and being +half-stupefied with beer, did not take care to get out of the way of the +explosion, was struck with a piece of the flying stone, and killed on +the spot. + +The poor widow and her children were now obliged to remove from under +Wardlow-Cop. The place had been a sad one to her; the death of her +husband, though he had been latterly far from a good one, and had left +her with the children in deep poverty, was a fresh source of severe +grief to her. Her religious mind was struck down with a weight of +melancholy by the reflection of the life he had led, and the sudden way +in which he had been summoned into eternity. When she looked forward, +what a prospect was there for her children! It was impossible for her to +maintain them from her small earnings, and as to Nancy, would she ever +be able to earn her own bread, and protect herself in the world? + +It was amid such reflections that Mrs. Dunster quitted this deep, +solitary, and, to her, fatal valley, and took up her abode in the +village of Cressbrook. Here she had one small room, and by her own +labors, and some aid from the parish, she managed to support herself and +the children. For seven years she continued her laborious life, assisted +by the labor of the two daughters, who also seamed stockings, and in the +evenings were instructed by her. Her girls were now thirteen and fifteen +years of age: Jane was a tall and very pretty girl of her years; she was +active, industrious, and sweet-tempered: her constant affection for poor +Nancy was something as admirable as it was singular. Nancy had now +confirmed good health, but it had affected her mother to perceive that, +since the catastrophe of her brother's death, and the cruel treatment of +her father at that time, she had never grown in any degree as she ought; +she was short, stout, and of a pale and very plain countenance. It could +not be now said that she was deficient in mind, but she was slow in its +operations. She displayed, indeed, a more than ordinary depth of +reflection, and a shrewdness of observation, but the evidences of-this +came forth in a very quiet way, and were observable only to her mother +and sister. To all besides she was extremely reserved: she was timid to +excess, and shrunk from public notice into the society of her mother and +sister. There was a feeling abroad in the neighborhood that she was "not +quite right," but the few who were more discerning, shook their heads, +and observed, "Right, she was not, poor thing, but it was not want of +sense; she had more of that than most." + +And such was the opinion of her mother and sister. They perceived that +Nancy had received a shock of which she must bear the effects through +life. Circumstances might bring her feeble but sensitive nerves much +misery. She required to be guarded and sheltered from the rudenesses of +the world, and the mother trembled to think how much she might be +exposed to them. But in every thing that related to sound judgment, they +knew that she surpassed not only them, but any of their acquaintance. If +any difficulty had to be decided, it was Nancy who pondered on it, and, +perhaps, at some moment when least expected, pronounced an opinion that +might be taken as confidently as an oracle. + +The affection of the two sisters was something beyond the ties of this +world. Jane had watched and attended to her from the time of her +constitutional injury with a love that never seemed to know a moment's +weariness or change; and the affection which Nancy evinced for her was +equally intense and affecting. She seemed to hang on her society for her +very life. Jane felt this, and vowed that they would never quit one +another. The mother sighed. How many things, she thought, might tear +asunder that beautiful resolve. + +But now they were of an age to obtain work in the mill. Indeed, Jane +could have had employment there long before, but she would not quit her +sister till she could go with her--and now there they went. The +proprietor, who knew the case familiarly, so ordered it that the two +sisters should work near each other; and that poor Nancy should be as +little exposed to the rudeness of the work-people as possible. But at +first so slow and awkward were Nancy's endeavors, and such an effect had +it on her frame, that it was feared she must give it up. This would have +been a terrible calamity; and the tears of the two sisters and the +benevolence of the employer enabled Nancy to pass through this severe +ordeal. In a while she acquired sufficient dexterity, and thenceforward +went through her work with great accuracy and perseverance. As far as +any intercourse with the workpeople was concerned, she might be said to +be dumb. Scarcely ever did she exchange a word with any one, but she +returned kind nods and smiles; and every morning and evening, and at +dinner-time, the two sisters might be seen going to and fro, side by +side--Jane often talking with some of them; the little, odd-looking +sister walking silent and listening. + +Five more years, and Jane was a young woman. Amid her companions, who +were few of them above the middle size, she had a tall and striking +appearance. Her father had been a remarkably tall and strong man, and +she possessed something of his stature, though none of his irritable +disposition. She was extremely pretty, of a blooming, fresh complexion, +and graceful form. She was remarkable for the sweetness of her +expression, which was the index of her disposition. By her side still +went that odd, broad-built, but still pale and little sister. Jane was +extremely admired by the young men of the neighborhood, and had already +many offers, but she listened to none. "Where I go must Nancy go," she +said to herself, "and of whom can I be sure?" + +Of Nancy no one took notice. Her pale, somewhat large features, her +thoughtful, silent look, and her short, stout figure, gave you an idea +of a dwarf, though she could not strictly be called one. No one would +think of Nancy as a wife--where Jane went she must go; the two clung +together with one heart and soul. The blow which deprived them of their +brother seemed to bind them inseparably together. + +Mrs. Dunster, besides her seaming, at which, in truth, she earned a +miserable sum, had now for some years been the post-woman from the +village to the Bull's Head, where the mail, going on to Tideswell, left +the letter-bag. Thither and back, wet or dry, summer or winter, she went +every day, the year round. With her earnings, and those of the girls, +the world went as well with them as the world goes on the average with +the poor; and she kept a small, neat cottage. Cramps and rheumatisms she +began to feel sensibly from so much exposure to rain and cold; but the +never-varying and firm affection of her two children was a balm in her +cup which made her contented with every thing else. + +When Jane was about two-and-twenty, poor Mrs. Dunster, seized with +rheumatic fever, died. On her death-bed, she said to Jane, "Thou will +never desert poor Nancy; and that's my comfort. God has been good to me. +After all my trouble, he has given me this faith, that, come weal, come +woe, so long as thou has a home, Nancy will never want one. God bless +thee for it! God bless you both; and he will bless you!" So saying, +Betty Dunster breathed her last. + +The events immediately following her death did not seem to bear out her +dying faith; for the two poor girls were obliged to give up their +cottage. There was a want of cottages. Not half of the work-people could +be entertained in this village; they went to and fro for many miles. +Jane and Nancy were now obliged to do the same. Their cottage was wanted +for an overlooker--and they removed to Tideswell, three miles off. They +had thus six miles a day to walk, besides standing at their work; but +they were young, and had companions. In Tideswell they were more +cheerful. They had a snug little cottage; were near a meeting; and found +friends. They did not complain. Here, again Jane Dunster attracted great +attention, and a young, thriving grocer paid his addresses to her. It +was an offer that made Jane take time to reflect. Every one said it was +an opportunity not to be neglected: but Jane weighed in her mind, "Will +he keep faith in my compact with Nancy?" Though her admirer made every +vow on the subject, Jane paused and determined to take the opinion of +Nancy. Nancy thought for a day, and then said, "Dearest sister, I don't +feel easy; I fear that from some cause it would not do in the end." + +Jane, from that moment, gave up the idea of the connection. There might +be those who would suspect Nancy of a selfish bias in the advice she +gave; but Jane knew that no such feeling influenced her pure soul. For +one long year the two sisters traversed the hills between Cressbrook and +Tideswell. But they had companions, and it was pleasant in the summer +months. But winter came, and then it was a severe trial. To rise in the +dark, and traverse those wild and bleak hills; to go through snow and +drizzle, and face the sharpest winds in winter, was no trifling matter. +Before winter was over, the two young women began seriously to revolve +the chances of a nearer residence, or a change of employ. There were not +few who blamed Jane excessively for the folly of refusing the last good +offer. There were even more than one who, in the hearing of Nancy, +blamed her. Nancy was thoughtful, agitated, and wept. "If I can, dear +sister," she said, "have advised you to your injury, how shall I forgive +myself? What _shall_ become of me?" + +But Jane clasped her sister to her heart, and said, "No! no! dearest +sister, you are not to blame. I feel you are right; let us wait, and we +shall see!" + + +CHAPTER III.--THE COURTSHIP AND ANOTHER SHIP. + +One evening, as the two sisters were hastening along the road through +the woods on their way homeward, a young farmer drove up in his +spring-cart, cast a look at them, stopped, and said, "Young women, if +you are going my way. I shall be glad of your company. You are quite +welcome to ride." + +The sisters looked at each other. "Dunna be afreed," said the young +farmer; "my name's James Cheshire. I'm well known in these parts; you +may trust yersens wi' me, if it's agreeable." + +To Jane's surprise, Nancy said, "No, sir, we are not afraid; we are much +obliged to you." + +The young farmer helped them up into the cart, and away they drove. + +"I'm afraid we shall crowd you," said Jane. + +"Not a bit of it," replied the young farmer. "There's room for three +bigger nor us on this seat, and I'm no ways tedious." + +The sisters saw nothing odd in his use of the word "tedious," as +strangers would have done they knew it merely meant "not at all +particular." They were soon in active talk. As he had told them who he +was, he asked them in their turn if they worked at the mills there. They +replied in the affirmative, and the young man said, + +"I thought so. I've seen you sometimes going along together. I noticed +you because you seemed so sisterly like, and you are sisters, I reckon." + +They said "Yes." + +"I've a good spanking horse, you seen," said James Cheshire. "I shall +get over th' ground rayther faster nor you done a-foot, eh? My word, +though, it must be nation cold on these bleak hills i' winter." + +The sisters assented, and thanked the young farmer for taking them up. + +"We are rather late," said they, "for we looked in on a friend, and the +rest of the mill-hands were gone on." + +"Well," said the young farmer, "never mind that. I fancy Bess, my mare +here, can go a little faster nor they can. We shall very likely be at +Tidser as soon as they are." + +"But you are not going to Tidser," said Jane, "your farm is just before +us there." + +"Yay, I'm going to Tidser though. I've a bit of business to do there +before I go hom." + +On drove the farmer at what he called a spanking rate; presently they +saw the young mill-people on the road before them. + +"There are your companions," said James Cheshire; "we shall cut past +them like a flash of lightning." + +"Oh," exclaimed Jane Dunster, "what will they say at seeing us riding +here?" and she blushed brightly. + +"Say?" said the young farmer, smiling, "never mind what they'll say; +depend upon it, they'd like to be here theirsens." + +James Cheshire cracked his whip. The horse flew along. The party of the +young mill-hands turned round, and on seeing Jane and Nancy in the cart, +uttered exclamations of surprise. + +"My word, though!" said Mary Smedley, a fresh buxom lass, somewhat +inclined to stoutness. + +"Well, if ever!" cried smart little Hannah Bowyer. + +"Nay, then, what next?" said Tetty Wilton, a tall, thin girl of very +good looks. + +The two sisters nodded and smiled to their companions; Jane still +blushing rosily, but Nancy sitting as pale and as gravely as if they +were going on some solemn business. + +The only notice the farmer took was to turn with a broad, smiling face, +and shout to them, "Wouldn't you like to be here too?" + +"Ay, take us up," shouted a number of voices together; but the farmer +cracked his whip, and giving them a nod and a dozen smiles in one, said, +"I can't stay. Ask the next farmer that comes up." + +With this they drove on; the young farmer very merry and full of talk. +They were soon by the side of his farm. "There's a flock of sheep on +the turnips there," he said, proudly, "they're not to be beaten on this +side Ashbourne. And there are some black oxen, going for the night to +the straw-yard. Jolly fellows, those, eh? But I reckon you don't +understand much of farming stock?" + +"No," said Jane, and was again surprised at Nancy adding, "I wish we +did. I think a farmer's life must be the very happiest of any." + +"You think so?" said the farmer, turning and looking at her earnestly, +and evidently with some wonder. "You are right," said he. "You little +ones are knowing ones. You are right: it's the life for a king." + +They were at the village. "Pray stop," said Jane, "and let us get down. +I would not for the world go up the village thus. It would make such a +talk!" + +"Talk! who cares for talk?" said the farmer; "won't the youngsters we +left on the road talk?" + +"Quite enough," said Jane. + +"And are _you_ afraid of talk?" said the farmer to Nancy. + +"I'm not afraid of it when I don't provoke it willfully," said Nancy; +"but we are poor girls, and can't afford to lose even the good word of +our acquaintance. You've been very kind in taking us up on the road; but +to drive us to our door would cause such wonder as would perhaps make us +wish we had not been obliged to you." + +"Blame me, if you arn't right again!" said the young farmer, +thoughtfully. "These are scandal-loving times, and th' neebors might +plague you. That's a deep head of yourn, though--Nancy, I think your +sister caw'd you. Well, here I stop then." + +He jumped down, and helped them out. + +"If you will drive on first," said Jane, "we will walk on after, and we +are greatly obliged to you." + +"Nay," said the young man, "I shall turn again here." + +"But you've business." + +"Oh! my business was to drive you here--that's all." + +James Cheshire was mounting his cart, when Nancy stepped up, and said, +"Excuse me, sir, but you'll meet the mill-people on your return, and it +will make them talk all the more, as you have driven us past your farm. +Have you no business that you can do in Tidser, sir?" + +"Gad! but thou'rt right again! Ay, I'll go on!" and with a crack of his +whip, and a "Good night!" he whirled into the village before them. + +No sooner was he gone than Nancy, pressing her sister's arm to her side, +said, "There's the right man at last, dear Jane." + +"What!" said Jane, yet blushing deeply at the same time, and her heart +beating quicker against her side. "Whatever are you talking of, Nancy? +That young farmer fall in love with a mill-girl?" + +"He's done it," said Nancy; "I see it in him--I feel it in him. And I +feel, too, that he is true and stanch as steel." + +Jane was silent. They walked on in silence. Jane's own heart responded +to what Nancy had said; she thought again and again on what he said. "I +have seen you sometimes;" "I noticed you because you seemed so +sisterly." "He must have a good heart," thought Jane; "but then he can +never think of a poor mill-girl like me." + +The next morning they had to undergo plenty of raillery from their +companions. We will pass that over. For several days, as they passed to +and fro, they saw nothing of the young farmer. But one evening, as they +were again alone, having staid at the same acquaintance's as before, the +young farmer popped his head over a stone wall, and said, "Good evening +to you, young women." He was soon over the wall, and walked on with them +to the end of the town. On the Sunday at the chapel Jane saw Nancy's +grave face fixed on some object steadily, and, looking in the same +direction, was startled to see James Cheshire. Again her heart beat +pit-a-pat, and she thought, "Can he really be thinking of me?" + +The moment chapel was over, James Cheshire was gone, stopping to speak +to no one. Nancy again pressed the arm of Jane to her side, as they +walked home, and said, "I was not wrong." Jane only replied by returning +her affectionate pressure. + +Some days after, as Nancy Dunster was coming out of a shop in the +evening, after their return home from the mill, James Cheshire suddenly +put his hand on her shoulder, and, on her turning, shook her hand +cordially, and said, "Come along with me a bit. I must have a little +talk with you." + +Nancy consented without remark or hesitation. James Cheshire walked on +quickly till they came near the fine old church which strikes travelers +as so superior to the place in which it is located, when he slackened +his pace, and taking Nancy's hand, began in a most friendly manner to +tell her how much he liked her and her sister. That, to make a short +matter of it, as was his way, he had made up his mind that the woman of +all others in the world that would suit him for a wife was her sister. +"But before I said so to her, I thought I would say so to you, Nancy, +for you are so sensible, I'm sure you will say what is best for us all." + +Nancy manifested no surprise, but said calmly, "You are a well-to-do +farmer, Mr. Cheshire. You have friends of property; my sister, and--" + +"Ay, and a mill-girl; I know all that. I've thought it all over, and so +far you are right again, my little one. But just hear what I've got to +say. I'm no fool, though I say it. I've an eye in my head and a head on +my shoulders, eh?" + +Nancy smiled + +"Well now, it s not _any_ mill-girl--mind you, it's not _any_ +mill-girl; no, nor perhaps another in the kingdom, that would do for me. +I don't think mill-girls are in the main cut out for farmers' wives, any +more than farmers' wives are fit for mill-girls; but, you see, I've got +a notion that your sister is not only a very farrantly lass, but that +she's one that has particular good sense, though not so deep as you, +Nancy, neither. Well, I've a notion she can turn her hand to any thing, +and that she's a heart to do it when it's a duty. Isn't that so, eh? And +if it is so, then Jane Dunster's the lass for me; that is, if it's quite +agreeable." + +Nancy pressed James Cheshire's hand, and said. "You are very kind." + +"Not a bit of it," said James. + +"Well," continued Nancy; "but I would have you to consider what your +friends will say, and whether you will not be made unhappy by them." + +"Why, as to that," said James Cheshire, interrupting her, "mark me, Miss +Dunster. I don't ask my friends for any thing. I can farm my own farm; +buy my own cattle; drive my spring-cart, without any advice or +assistance of theirs; and therefore I don't think I shall ask their +advice in the matter of a wife, eh? No, no, on that score I'm made up. +My name's Independent, and, at a word, the only living thing I mean to +ask advice of is yourself. If you, Miss Dunster, approve of the match, +it's settled, as far as I'm concerned." + +"Then so far," said Nancy, "as you and my sister are concerned, without +reference to worldly circumstances, I approve it with all my heart. I +believe you to be as good and honest as I know my sister to be. Oh, Mr. +Cheshire! she is one of ten thousand." + +"Well, I was sure of it," said the young farmer; "and so now you must +tell your sister all about it; and if all's right, chalk me a white +chalk inside of my gate as you go past i' th' morning, and to-morrow +evening I'll come up and see you." + +Here the two parted with a cordial shake of the hand. The novel signal +of an accepted love was duly discovered by James Cheshire on his +gate-post, when he issued forth at day-break, and that evening he was +sitting at tea with Jane and Nancy in the little cottage, having brought +in his cart a basket of eggs, apples, fresh butter, and a pile of the +richest pikelets (crumpets), country pikelets, very different to +town-made ones, for tea. + +We need not follow out the courtship of James Cheshire and Jane Dunster. +It was cordial and happy. James insisted that both the sisters should +give immediate notice to quit the mill-work, to spare themselves the +cold and severe walks which the winter now occasioned them. The sisters +had improved their education in their evenings. They were far better +read and informed than most farmers' daughters. They had been, since +they came to Tideswell, teachers in the Sunday-school. There was +comparatively little to be learned in a farm-house for the wife in +winter, and James Cheshire therefore proposed to the sisters to go for +three months to Manchester into a wholesale house, to learn as much as +they could of the plain sewing and cutting out of household linen. The +person in question made up all sorts of household linen, sheets, +pillow-cases, shirts, and other things; in fact, a great variety of +articles. Through an old acquaintance he got them introduced there, +avowedly to prepare them for housekeeping. It was a sensible step, and +answered well. At spring, to cut short opposition from his own +relatives, which began to show itself, for these things did not fail to +be talked of, James Cheshire got a license, and proceeding to +Manchester, was then and there married, and came home with his wife and +sister. + +The talk and gossip which this wedding made all round the country, was +no little; but the parties themselves were well satisfied with their +mutual choice, and were happy. As the spring advanced, the duties of the +household grew upon Mrs. Cheshire. She had to learn the art of +cheese-making, butter-making, of all that relates to poultry, calves, +and household management. But in these matters she had the aid of an old +servant, who had done all this for Mr. Cheshire, since he began farming. +She took a great liking to her mistress, and showed her with hearty +good-will how every thing was done; and as Jane took a deep interest in +it, she rapidly made herself mistress of the management of the house, as +well as of the house itself. She did not disdain, herself, to take a +hand at the churn, that she might be familiar with the whole process of +butter-making, and all the signs by which the process is conducted to a +successful issue. It was soon seen that no farmer's wife could produce a +firmer, fresher, sweeter pound of butter. It was neither _swelted_ by +too hasty churning, nor spoiled, as is too often the case, by the +buttermilk or by water being left in it, for want of well kneading and +pressing. It was deliciously sweet, because the cream was carefully put +in the cleanest vessels and well attended to. Mrs. Cheshire, too, might +daily be seen kneeling by the side of the cheese-pan, separating the +curd, taking off the whey, filling the cheese-vat with the curd, and +putting the cheese herself into press. Her cheese-chamber displayed as +fine a set of well-salted, well-colored, well-turned and regular cheeses +as ever issued from that or any other farm-house. + +James Cheshire was proud of his wife: and Jane herself found a most +excellent helper in Nancy. Nancy took particularly to housekeeping; saw +that all the rooms were exquisitely clean; that every thing was in nice +repair; that not only the master and mistress, but the servants had +their food prepared in a wholesome and attractive manner. The eggs she +stored up; and as fruit came into season, had it collected for market, +and for a judicious household use. She made the tea and coffee morning +and evening, and did every thing but preside at the table. There was not +a farm-house for twenty miles round that wore an air of so much +brightness and evident good management as that Of James Cheshire. For +Nancy, from the first moment of their acquaintance, he had conceived a +most profound respect. In all cases that required counsel, though he +consulted freely with his wife, he would never decide till they had had +Nancy's opinion and sanction. + +And James Cheshire prospered. But, spite of this, he did not escape the +persecution from his relations that Nancy had foreseen. On all hands he +found coldness. None of them called on him. They felt scandalized at his +_evening_ himself, as they called it, to a mill-girl. He was taunted, +when they met at market, with having been caught with a pretty face; and +told that they thought he had had more sense than to marry a dressed +doll with a witch by her side. + +At first James Cheshire replied with a careless waggery, "The pretty +face makes capital butter though, eh? The dressed doll turns out a +tolerable dairy, eh? Better," added James, "than a good many can, that I +know, who have neither pretty faces, nor have much taste in dressing to +crack of." + +The allusion to Nancy's dwarfish plainness was what peculiarly provoked +James Cheshire. He might have laughed at the criticisms on his wife, +though the envious neighbors' wives did say that it was the old servant +and not Mrs. Cheshire who produced such fine butter and cheese; for +wherever she appeared, spite of envy and detraction, her lovely person +and quiet good sense, and the growing rumor of her good management, did +not fail to produce a due impression. And James had prepared to laugh it +off; but it would not do. He found himself getting every now and then +angry and unsettled by it. A coarse jest on Nancy at any time threw him +into a desperate fit of indignation. The more the superior merit of his +wife was known, the more seemed to increase the envy and venom of some +of his relatives. He saw, too, that it had an effect on his wife. She +was often sad, and sometimes in tears. + +One day when this occurred, James Cheshire said, as they sat at tea, +"I've made up my mind. Peace in this life is a jewel. Better is a dinner +of herbs with peace, than a stalled ox with strife. Well now, I'm +determined to have peace. Peace and luv," said he, looking +affectionately at his wife and Nancy, "peace and luv, by God's blessing, +have settled down on this house; but there are stings here and stings +there, when we go out of doors. We must not only have peace and luv in +the house, but peace all round it. So I've made up my mind. I'm for +America!" + +"For America!" exclaimed Jane. "Surely you can not be in earnest." + +"I never was more in earnest in my life," said James Cheshire. "It is +true I do very well on this farm here, though it's a cowdish situation; +but from all I can learn I can do much better in America. I can there +farm a much better farm of my own. We can have a much finer climate +than this Peak country, and our countrymen still about us. Now, I want +to know what makes a man's native land pleasant to him?--the kindness of +his relations and friends. But then, if a man's relation are not +kind?--if they get a conceit into them, that because they are relations, +they are to choose a man's wife for him, and sting him and snort at him +because he has a will of his own?--why, then, I say, God send a good big +herring-pool between me and such relations! My relations, by way of +showing their natural affection, spit spite and bitterness. You, dear +wife and sister, have none of yourn to spite you. In the house we have +peace and luv. Let us take the peace and luv, and leave the bitterness +behind." + +There was a deep silence. + +"It is a serious proposal," at length said Jane, with tears in her eyes. + +"What says Nancy?" asked James. + +"It is a serious proposal," said Nancy, "but it is good. I feel it so." + +There was another deep silence; and James Cheshire said, "Then it is +decided." + +"Think of it," said Jane, earnestly--"think well of it." + +"I have thought of it long and well, my dear. There are some of these +chaps that call me relation that I shall not keep my hands off, if I +stay among them--and I fain would. But for the present I will say no +more; but," added he, rising and bringing a book from his desk, "here is +a book by one Morris Birkbeck--read it, both of you, and then let me +know your minds." + +The sisters read. On the following Lady-day James Cheshire had turned +over his farm advantageously to another, and he, his wife, Nancy, and +the old servant, Mary Spendlove, all embarked at Liverpool, and +transferred themselves to the United States, and then to the State of +Illinois. Five-and-twenty years have rolled over since that day. We +could tell a long and curious story of the fortunes of James Cheshire +and his family--from the days when, half repenting of his emigration and +his purchase, he found himself in a rough country, amid rough and +spiteful squatters, and lay for months with a brace of pistols under his +pillow, and a great sword by his bedside for fear of robbery and murder. +But enough, that at this moment, James Cheshire, in a fine cultivated +country, sees his ample estate cultivated by his sons, while as colonel +and magistrate he dispenses the law and receives the respectful homage +of the neighborhood. Nancy Dunster, now styled Mrs. Dunster, the Mother +in Israel--the promoter of schools and the counselor of old and +young--still lives. Years have improved rather than deteriorated her +short and stout exterior. The long exercise of wise thoughts and the +play of benevolent feelings, have given even a sacred beauty to her +homely features. The dwarf has disappeared, and there remains instead, a +grave but venerable matron--honored like a queen. + + + + +MOORISH DOMESTIC LIFE. + + +At the threshold of the door, leading from the court-yard to the house, +the daughters of Sidi Mahmoud received us with cordial welcome. They are +two very beautiful girls. The eldest, who is about fourteen years of +age, particularly interested me. There is an expression in her soft, +intelligent, eyes which shows that she feels the oppression of +captivity. Her features are not those of a regular beauty; but the grace +which marks all her movements, the soul breathing animation which lights +up her countenance, and the alternate blush and pallor which overspread +her delicate cheek, seem to mark the fair Zuleica for a heroine of +romance. + +While I gazed on her, I thought she looked like a personification of her +lovely namesake, the glorious creation of Byron's muse. Her beautiful +chestnut hair was unfortunately (in compliance with the custom of the +country) tinged with a reddish dye. It was combed to the nape of the +neck, and a red woolen band was closely twisted round it, so that the +most beautiful adornment of a female head was converted into a long, +stiff rouleau, which either dangled down her back, or was hidden in the +folds of her dress. On her head she wore a small, closely-fitting fez. +Her sister, a pretty, smiling girl of ten years of age, had her hair +arranged in the same manner, and she wore the same sort of fez. She was +wrapped in a shawl of a clear sea-green hue, which was draped round her +figure very gracefully, but entirely concealed her arms. Her full +trowsers of rose-colored calico descended nearly to her ankles. The +costume of the elder sister was marked by greater elegance. Her shawl +was dark red, but of less size and thinner texture than that worn by her +sister. After we had been a few minutes together, we became quite +familiar friends, and the young ladies permitted me to have a minute +inspection of their dresses. They conducted us to their drawing-room, +or, as they called it, their _salon_. This apartment, like all the rooms +in the house, is exceedingly small; and on my expressing some surprise +at its limited dimensions, the elder sister replied in her broken +French, "Mauresques pas tener salons pas jolies comme toi Français;" by +which she meant to say that their houses or saloons are not so fine as +those of the Europeans; for they call all Europeans, indiscriminately, +French. There was but little furniture in the drawing-room. + +Over the middle part of the floor was spread a very handsome Turkey +carpet; and along the sides of the apartment were laid several carpets +of various kinds and patterns. In one corner of the room there was a +looking-lass in a miserable-looking frame, and beside it a loaded +musket. Whether this weapon be destined for the defense of the elegant +mirror or of the lovely Zuleica, I pretend not to say. + +Having observed a telescope fixed at the window, I expressed some +surprise. Zuleica, who converses very intelligibly in what she calls +_lingua franca_ (a jargon principally composed of French words), +informed me that this telescope constitutes her principal source of +amusement, and that she is almost continually occupied in looking +through it, to watch the arrival of her friends, and the movements of +the steamers in the harbor. The walls of the apartment were simply +whitewashed, and the window and doors were arched as a precaution +against accidents in the earthquakes so frequent in this country. The +only decorations on the walls were two little frames, containing +passages from the Koran. + +Among the other articles of furniture contained in this apartment, I +must not omit to mention a small table, on which lay some sheets of +paper (having Arabic characters inscribed on them) a book, and an +inkstand. + +When I entered the room, the young ladies brought a straw stool, and +requested me to sit down on it, while they themselves squatted on the +floor. A white muslin curtain hung over a doorway, which led to the +sleeping apartment of the father and mother. Nothing could be more plain +than the furniture of this apartment. Two small French iron bedsteads +indicated, it is true, great advancement in civilization; and between +these bedsteads a piece of carpet covered the rough red tiles with which +the floor was paved. There was neither washing-stand nor toilet-table; +but, indeed, the apartment was so small that there was no room for them. +I was next conducted to the boudoir, where coffee, pomegranates, melons, +and sweetmeats were served. To decline taking any thing that is offered +is regarded as an affront by the Mohammedans, so I was compelled to +receive in my bare hand an immensely large slice of some kind of sweet +cake, spread over with a thick jelly. + +The collation being ended, the young ladies conducted me to their own +sleeping-room. Here we found a slave at work. She was a negress, for +whom I was told Sidi Mahmoud had paid 600 francs. I suppose this negress +saw something irresistibly droll in my appearance, for as soon as I +appeared she burst into an immoderate fit of laughter, and it was some +time ere she recovered her composure. + +Little Zuleica very good-naturedly opened several trunks to gratify me +with the sight of some of her best dresses. She drew forth a number of +garments of various descriptions, all composed of rich and beautiful +materials. When I say that she had at least twenty elegant tunics of +silk or gauze, and several others richly embroidered with gold, I do not +overrate the number. I expressed my astonishment at the number and +variety of the garments, of which I imagined I had seen the last; but +Zuleica turned to me with an arch smile, which seemed to say she had a +still greater surprise in store for me. Then diving into the lowest +depths of one of the trunks, she drew forth a complete bridal costume. +It consisted of a robe or tunic of rich red damask silk, embroidered +with gold, a gold girdle, a splendid caftan, loose trowsers of silk, +and a vail of white gauze, several yards in length, and sprigged with +gold. I was also shown several valuable jeweled ornaments, destined to +be worn with this splendid costume. + +Seeing the bridal dress thus ready prepared I conjectured that Zuleica +was betrothed, and I ventured to ask her when she was to be married. At +this question she blushed and looked confused; then, after a little +hesitation, she replied, "Quand trouver mari."... + +Among Zuleica's ornaments were several set with splendid diamonds and +pearls. My hostess, after having examined and admired them, asked +whether the jewels were all real. Zuleica looked a little offended at +this question, and answered proudly, "Mauresques jamais tenir ce que +n'est pas vrai." We were greatly amused by the interest and curiosity +with which these Moorish girls examined every thing we wore, and even +asked the price of any article which particularly pleased them. No part +of my dress escaped the scrutinizing eyes of Zuleica. She was +particularly charmed with a small handkerchief I wore round my throat. I +took it off and, requested her to accept it as a token of my +remembrance. + +The eldest sister had so engaged my attention that the younger one +appeared to think I had neglected her, and she timidly requested that, +as I had seen all Zuleica's beautiful things, I would look at some of +hers also. Accordingly, she began showing me her dolls, meanwhile +relating to me in her _lingua franca_ the history of each. These dolls +were attired in the costumes of Moorish ladies, and little Gumara +assured me that the dresses were all her own making. After I had admired +them, and complimented Gumara on her taste, she told me with an air of +mystery that she had yet one thing more to show. So saying, she produced +a doll with a huge black beard and fierce countenance, and dressed +completely in imitation of the Sultan. While I was engaged in admiring +it, Sidi Mahmoud entered. He had heard that I could speak Italian, and +he came to have a little conversation with me about Italy, a country +with which he is acquainted, and in which he has himself traveled much. +The father's unexpected appearance dismayed the young ladies, who +colored deeply while they endeavored to hide the miniature effigy of the +Sultan. I afterward learned that Zuleica and her sister are brought up +under such rigorous restraint, that even the possession of a doll in +male attire is a thing prohibited.--_Leaves from a Lady's Diary._ + + * * * * * + +The works of men of genius alone, where great faults are united with +great beauties, afford proper matter for criticism. Genius is always +executive, bold, and daring; which at the same time that it commands +attention, is sure to provoke criticism. It is the regular, cold, and +timid composer who escapes censure and deserves praise.--_Sir Joshua +Reynolds._ + + + + +[From Household Words.] + +THE RAILWAY STATION. + + + They judge not well, who deem that once among us + A Spirit moved that now from earth has fled; + Who say that at the busy sounds which throng us, + Its shining wings forevermore have sped. + + Not all the turmoil of the Age of Iron + Can scare that Spirit hence; like some sweet bird + That loud harsh voices in its cage environ, + It sings above them all, and will be heard! + + Not, for the noise of axes or of hammers, + Will that sweet bird forsake her chosen nest; + Her warblings pierce through all those deafening clamors + But surer to their echoes in the breast. + + And not the Past alone, with all its guerdon + Of twilight sounds and shadows, bids them rise; + But soft, above the noontide heat and burden + Of the stern present, float those melodies. + + Not with the baron bold, the minstrel tender, + Not with the ringing sound of shield and lance, + Not with the Field of Gold in all its splendor, + Died out the generous flame of old Romance. + + Still, on a nobler strife than tilt or tourney, + Rides forth the errant knight, with brow elate; + Still patient pilgrims take, in hope, their journey; + Still meek and cloistered spirits "stand and wait." + + Still hath the living, moving world around us, + Its legends, fair with honor, bright with truth; + Still, as in tales that in our childhood bound us, + Love holds the fond traditions of its youth. + + We need not linger o'er the fading traces + Of lost divinities; or seek to hold + Their serious converse 'mid Earth's green waste-places, + Or by her lonely fountains, as of old: + + For, far remote from Nature's fair creations, + Within the busy mart, the crowded street, + With sudden, sweet, unlooked-for revelations + Of a bright presence we may chance to meet; + + E'en _now_, beside a restless tide's commotion, + I stand and hear, in broken music, swell + Above the ebb and flow of Life's great ocean, + An under-song of greeting and farewell. + + For here are meetings: moments that inherit + The hopes and wishes, that through months and years + Have held such anxious converse with the spirit, + That now its joy can only speak in tears; + + And here are partings: hands that soon must sever, + Yet clasp the firmer; heart, that unto heart, + Was ne'er so closely bound before, nor ever + So near the other as when now they part; + + And here Time holds his steady pace unbroken, + For all that crowds within his narrow scope; + For all the language, uttered and unspoken, + That will return when Memory comforts Hope! + + One short and hurried moment, and forever + Flies, like a dream, its sweetness and its pain, + And, for the hearts that love, the hands that sever, + Who knows what meetings are in store again? + + They who are left, unto their homes returning, + With musing step, trace o'er each by-gone scene; + And they upon their journey--doth no yearning, + No backward glance, revert to what hath been? + + Yes! for awhile, perchance, a tear-drop starting, + Dims the bright scenes that greet the eye and mind; + But here--as ever in life's cup of parting-- + Theirs is the bitterness who stay behind! + + So in life's sternest, last farewell, may waken + A yearning thought, a backward glance be thrown + By them who leave: but oh! how blest the token, + To those who stay behind when THEY are gone! + + + + +THE SICK MAN'S PRAYER + + + Come, soft sleep! + Bid thy balm my hot eyes meet-- + Of the long night's heavy stillness, + Of the loud clock's ceaseless beat, + Of the weary thought of illness, + Of the room's oppressive heat-- + Steep me in oblivion deep, + That my weary, weary brain, + May have rest from all its pain; + Come, oh blessedness again,-- + Come, soft sleep! + + Come, soft sleep! + Let this weary tossing end, + Let my anguished watch be ceasing, + Yet no dreams thy steps attend, + When thou bring'st from pain releasing. + Fancies wild to rest may lend + Sense of waking misery deep, + Calm as death, oh, on me sink, + That my brain may quiet drink, + And neither feel, nor know, nor think. + Come, soft sleep! + + W. C. BENNETT. + + + + +[From the Autobiography of Leigh Hunt, unpublished.] + +SOPHISTRY OF ANGLERS.--IZAAK WALTON. + + +Many brave and good men have been anglers, as well as many men of a +different description; but their goodness would have been complete, and +their bravery of a more generous sort, had they possessed self-denial +enough to look the argument in the face, and abstained from procuring +themselves pleasure at the expense of a needless infliction. The charge +is not answered by the favorite retorts about effeminacy, God's +providence, neighbors' faults, and doing "no worse." They are simple +beggings of the question. I am not aware that anglers, or sportsmen in +general, are braver than the ordinary run of mankind. Sure I am that a +great fuss is made if they hurt their fingers; much more if they lie +gasping, like fish, on the ground. I am equally sure that many a man who +would not hurt a fly is as brave as they are; and as to the reference to +God's providence, it is an edge-tool that might have been turned against +themselves by any body who chose to pitch them into the river, or knock +out their brains. They may lament, if they please, that they should be +forced to think of pain and evil at all; but the lamentation would not +be very magnanimous under any circumstances; and it is idle, considering +that the manifest ordination and progress of things demand that such +thoughts be encountered. The question still returns: Why do they seek +amusement in sufferings which are unnecessary and avoidable? and till +they honestly and thoroughly answer this question, they must be content +to be looked upon as disingenuous reasoners, who are determined to +retain a selfish pleasure. + +As to old Izaak Walton, who is put forward as a substitute for argument +on this question, and whose sole merits consisted in his having a taste +for nature and his being a respectable citizen, the trumping him up into +an authority and a kind of saint is a burlesque. He was a writer of +conventionalities; who, having comfortably feathered his nest, as he +thought, both in this world and in the world to come, concluded he had +nothing more to do than to amuse himself by putting worms on a hook, and +fish into his stomach, and so go to heaven, chuckling and singing +psalms. There would be something in such a man and in his book, +offensive to a real piety, if that piety did not regard whatever has +happened in the world, great and small, with an eye that makes the best +of what is perplexing, and trusts to eventual good out of the worst. +Walton was not the hearty and thorough advocate of nature he is supposed +to have been. There would have been something to say for him on that +score, had he looked upon the sum of evil as a thing not to be +diminished. But he shared the opinions of the most commonplace +believers in sin and trouble, and only congratulated himself on being +exempt from their consequences. The overweening old man found himself +comfortably off somehow; and it is good that he did. It is a comfort to +all of us, wise or foolish. But to reverence him is a jest. You might as +well make a god of an otter. Mr. Wordsworth, because of the servitor +manners of Walton and his biographies of divines (all _anglers_), wrote +an idle line about his "meekness" and his "heavenly memory." When this +is quoted by the gentle brethren, it will be as well if they add to it +another passage from the same poet, which returns to the only point at +issue, and upsets the old gentleman altogether Mr. Wordsworth's +admonition to us is, + + "Never to link our pastime, or our pride, + With suffering to the meanest thing that lives." + +It was formerly thought effeminate not to hunt Jews; then not to roast +heretics; then not to bait bears and bulls; then not to fight cocks, and +to throw sticks at them. All these evidences of manhood became gradually +looked upon as no such evidences at all, but things fit only for manhood +to renounce; yet the battles of Waterloo and of Sobraon have been won, +and Englishmen are not a jot the less brave all over the world. Probably +they are braver, that is to say, more deliberately brave, more serenely +valiant; also more merciful to the helpless, and that is the crown of +valor. + +It was during my infancy, if I am not mistaken, that there lived at +Hampstead (a very unfit place for such a resident), a man whose name I +suppress lest there should be possessors of it surviving, and who was a +famous cock-fighter. He was rich and idle, and therefore had no bounds +to set to the unhappy passions that raged within him. It is related of +this man, that, having lost a bet on a favorite bird, he tied the noble +animal to a spit in his kitchen before the fire, and notwithstanding the +screams of the sufferer and the indignant cries of the beholders, whose +interference he wildly resisted with the poker, actually persisted in +keeping it there burning, till he fell down in his fury and died. + +Let us hope he was mad. What, indeed, is more probable? It is always a +great good, when the crimes of a fellow-creature can be traced to +madness; to some fault of the temperament or organization; some "jangle +of the sweet bells;" some overbalance in the desired equipoise of the +faculties, originating, perhaps in accident or misfortune. It does not +subject us the more to their results. On the contrary, it sets us on our +guard against them. And, meantime, it diminishes one of the saddest, +most injurious, and most preposterous notions of human ignorance--the +belief in the wickedness of our kind. + +But I have said enough of these barbarous customs. + + + + +[From Household Words.] + +GLOBES, AND HOW THEY ARE MADE. + + +One of the most remarkable of self-educated men, James Ferguson, when a +poor agricultural laborer, constructed a globe. A friend had made him a +present of "Gordon's Geographical Grammar," which, he says, "at that +time was to me a great treasure. There is no figure of a globe in it, +although it contains a tolerable description of the globes and their +use. From this description I made a globe in three weeks, at my +father's, having turned the ball thereof out of a piece of wood; which +ball I covered with paper, and delineated a map of the world upon it, +made the meridian ring and horizon of wood, covered them with paper, and +graduated them; and was happy to find that by my globe (which was the +first I ever saw) I could solve the problems." + +"But," he adds, "this was not likely to afford me bread." + +In a few years this ingenious man discovered the conditions upon which +he could earn his bread, by a skill which did not suffer under the +competition of united labor. He had made also a wooden clock. He carried +about his globe and his clock, and "began to pick up some money about +the country" by cleaning clocks. He became a skilled clock-cleaner. For +six-and-twenty years afterward he earned his bread as an artist. He then +became a scientific lecturer, and in connection with his pursuits, was +also a globe maker. His name may be seen upon old globes, associated +with that of Senex. The demand for globes must have been then very +small, but Ferguson had learned that cheapness is produced by +labor-saving contrivances. A pretty instrument for graduating lines upon +the meridian ring, once belonging to Ferguson, is in use at this hour in +the manufactory of Messrs. Malby and Son. The poor lad "who made a globe +in three weeks" finally won the honors and riches that were due to his +genius and industry. But he would never have earned a living in the +continuance of his first attempt to turn a ball out of a piece of wood, +cover it with paper, and draw a map of the world upon it. The nicest +application of his individual skill, and the most careful employment of +his scientific knowledge, would have been wasted upon those portions of +the work in which the continued application of common routine labor is +the most efficient instrument of production. + +Let us contrast the successive steps of Ferguson's first experiment in +globe-making with the processes of a globe manufactory. + +A globe is not made of "a ball turned out of a piece of wood." If a +solid ball of large dimensions were so turned, it would be too heavy for +ordinary use. Erasmus said of one of the books of Thomas Aquinas, "No +man can carry it about, much less get it into his head;" and so would it +be said of a solid globe. If it were made of hollow wood, it would warp +and split at the junction of its parts. A globe is made of paper and +plaster. It is a beautiful combination of solidity and lightness. It is +perfectly balanced upon its axis. It retains its form under every +variety of temperature. Time affects it less than most other works of +art. It is as durable as a Scagliola column. + +A globe may not, at first sight, appear a cheap production. It is not, +of necessity, a low-priced production, and yet it is essentially cheap; +for nearly all the principles of manufacture that are conditions of +cheapness are exhibited in the various stages of its construction. There +are only four globe-makers in England, and one in Scotland. The annual +sale of globes is only about a thousand pair. The price of a pair of +globes varies from six shillings to fifty pounds. But from the smallest +2-inch, to the largest 36-inch globe, a systematic process is carried on +at every step of its formation. We select this illustration of cheapness +as a contrast, in relation to price and extent of demand, to the lucifer +match. But it is, at the same time, a parallel in principle. If a globe +were not made upon a principle involving the scientific combination of +skilled labor, it would be a mere article of luxury from its excessive +costliness. It is now a most useful instrument in education. For +educational purposes the most inexpensive globe is as valuable as that +of the highest price. All that properly belongs to the excellence of the +instrument is found in combination with the commonest stained wood +frame, as perfectly as with the most highly-finished frame of rose-wood +or mahogany. + +The mould, if we may so express it, of a globe is turned out of a piece +of wood. This sphere need not be mathematically accurate. It is for +rough work, and flaws and cracks are of little consequence. This wooden +ball has an axis, a piece of iron wire at each pole. And here we may +remark, that, at every stage of the process, the revolution of a sphere +upon its axis, under the hands of the workman, is the one great +principle which renders every operation one of comparative ease and +simplicity. The labor would be enormously multiplied if the same class +of operations had to be performed upon a cube. The solid mould, then, of +the embryo globe is placed on its axis in a wooden frame. In a very +short time a boy will form a pasteboard globe upon its surface. He first +covers it entirely with strips of strong paper, thoroughly wet, which +are in a tub of water at his side. The slight inequalities produced by +the overlapping of the strips are immaterial. The saturated paper is not +suffered to dry; but is immediately covered over with a layer of pasted +paper, also cut in long narrow slips. A third layer of similarly pasted +paper--brown paper and white being used alternately--is applied, and +then, a fourth, a fifth, and a sixth. Here the pasting process ends for +globes of moderate size. For the large ones it is carried farther. This +wet pasteboard ball has now to be dried--placed upon its axis in a rack. +If we were determined to follow the progress of this individual ball +through all its stages, we should have to wait a fortnight before it +advanced another step. But as the large factory of Messrs. Malby and Son +has many scores of globes all rolling onward to perfection, we shall be +quite satisfied to witness the next operation performed upon a +pasteboard sphere that began to exist some weeks earlier, and is now +hard to the core. + +The wooden ball, with its solid paper covering, is placed on its axis. A +sharp cutting instrument, fixed on a bench, is brought into contact with +the surface of the sphere, which is made to revolve. In less time than +we write, the pasteboard ball is cut in half. There is no adhesion to +the wooden mould, for the first coating of paper was simply _wetted_. +Two bowls of thick card now lie before us, with a small hole in each, +made by the axis of the wooden ball. But a junction is very soon +effected. Within every globe there is a piece of wood--we may liken it +to a round ruler--of the exact length of the inner surface of the sphere +from pole to pole. A thick wire runs through this wood, and originally +projected some two or three inches at each end. This stick is placed +upright in a vice. The semi-globe is nailed to one end of the stick, +upon which it rests, when the wire is passed through its center. It is +now reversed, and the edges of the card rapidly covered with glue. The +edges of the other semi-globe are instantly brought into contact, the +other end of the wire passing through its center in the same way, and a +similar nailing to the stick taking place. We have now a paper globe, +with its own axis, which will be its companion for the whole term of its +existence. + +The paper globe is next placed on its axis in a frame, of which one side +is a semi-circular piece of metal; the horizon of a globe cut in half +would show its form. A tub of white composition--a compound of whiting, +glue, and oil is on the bench. The workman dips his hand into this +"gruel thick and slab," and rapidly applies it to the paper sphere with +tolerable evenness: but, as it revolves, the semi-circle of metal clears +off the superfluous portions. The ball of paper is now a ball of plaster +externally. Time again enters largely into the manufacture. The first +coating must thoroughly dry before the next is applied; and so again +till the process has been repeated four or five times. Thus, when we +visit a globe workshop, we are at first surprised at the number of white +balls, from three inches' diameter to three feet, which occupy a large +space. They are all steadily advancing toward completion. They can not +be hurriedly dried. The duration of their quiescent state must depend +upon the degrees of the thermometer in the ordinary atmosphere. They +cost little. They consume nothing beyond a small amount of rent. As they +advance to the dignity of perfect spheres, increased pains are taken in +the application of the plaster. At last they are polished. Their surface +is as hard and as fine as ivory. But, beautiful as they are, they may, +like many other beautiful things, want a due equipoise. They must be +perfectly balanced. They must move upon their poles with the utmost +exactness. A few shot, let in here and there, correct all +irregularities. And now the paper and plaster sphere is to be endued +with intelligence. + +What may be called the artistical portion of globe-making here +commences. In the manufactory we are describing there are two skilled +workers, who may take their rank as artists, but whose skill is limited, +and at the same time perfected, by the uniformity of their operations. +One of these artists, a young woman, who has been familiar with the +business from her earliest years, takes the polished globe in her lap, +for the purpose of marking it with lines of direction for covering it +with engraved strips, which will ultimately form a perfect map. The +inspection of a finished globe will show that the larger divisions of +longitude are expressed by lines drawn from pole to pole, and those of +latitude by a series of concentric rings. The polished plaster has to be +covered with similar lines. These lines are struck with great rapidity, +and with mathematical truth, by an instrument called a "beam compass," +in the use of which this workwoman is most expert. The sphere is now +ready for receiving the map, which is engraved in fourteen distinct +pieces. The arctic and antarctic poles form two circular pieces, from +which the lines of longitude radiate. These having been fitted and +pasted, one of the remaining twelve pieces, containing 30 degrees, is +also pasted on the sphere, in the precise space where the lines of +longitude have been previously marked its lines of latitude +corresponding in a similar manner. The paper upon which these portions +of the earth's surface are engraved is thin and extremely tough. It is +rubbed down with the greatest care, through all the stages of this +pasting process. We have at length a globe covered with a plain map, so +perfectly joined that every line and every letter fit together as if +they had been engraved in one piece--which, of course, would be +absolutely impossible for the purpose of covering a ball. + +The artist who thus covers the globe, called a paster, is also a +colorer. This is, of necessity, a work which can not be carried on with +any division of labor. It is not so with the coloring of an atlas. A map +passes under many hands in the coloring. A series of children, each +using one color, produce in combination a map colored in all its parts, +with the rapidity and precision of a machine. But a globe must be +colored by one hand. It is curious to observe the colorer working +without a pattern. By long experience the artist knows how the various +boundaries are to be defined, with pink continents, and blue islands, +and the green oceans, connecting the most distant regions. To a +contemplative mind, how many thoughts must go along with the work, as he +covers Europe with indications of populous cities, and has little to do +with Africa and Australia but to mark the coast lines; as year after +year he has to make some variation in the features of the great +American continent, which indicates the march of the human family over +once trackless deserts, while the memorable places of the ancient world +undergo few changes but those of name. And then, as he is finishing a +globe for the cabin of some "great ammirall," may he not think that, in +some frozen nook of the Arctic Sea, the friendly Esquimaux may come to +gaze upon his work, and seeing how petty a spot England is upon the +ball, wonder what illimitable riches nature spontaneously produces in +that favored region, some of which is periodically scattered by her +ships through those dreary climes in the search for some unknown road +amidst everlasting icebergs, while he would gladly find a short track to +the sunny south. And then, perhaps, higher thoughts may come into his +mind; and as this toy of a world grows under his fingers, and as he +twists it around upon its material axis, he may think of the great +artificer of the universe, having the feeling, if not knowing the words +of the poet: + + "In ambient air this ponderous ball HE hung." + +Contemplative, or not, the colorer steadily pursues his uniform labor, +and the sphere is at length fully colored. + +The globe has now to be varnished with a preparation technically known +as "white hard," to which some softening matter is added to prevent the +varnish cracking. This is a secret which globe-makers preserve. Four +coats of varnish complete the work. + +And next the ball has to be mounted. We have already mentioned an +instrument by which the brass meridian ring is accurately graduated; +that is, marked with lines representing 360 degrees, with corresponding +numerals. Of whatever size the ring is, an index-hand, connected with +the graduating instrument, shows the exact spot where the degree is to +be marked with a graver. The operation is comparatively rapid; but for +the largest globes it involves considerable expense. After great +trouble, the ingenious men whose manufactory we are describing, have +succeeded in producing cast-iron rings, with the degrees and figures +perfectly distinct; and these applied to 36-inch globes, instead of the +engraved meridians, make a difference of ten guineas in their price. For +furniture they are not so beautiful; for use they are quite as valuable. +There is only one other process which requires great nicety. The axis of +the globe revolves on the meridian ring, and of course it is absolutely +necessary that the poles should be exactly parallel. This is effected by +a little machine which drills each extremity at one and the same +instant; and the operation is termed poleing the meridian. + +The mounting of the globe--the completion of a pair of globes--is now +handed over to the cabinet-maker. The cost of the material and the +elaboration of its workmanship determine the price. + +Before we conclude, we would say a few words as to the limited nature +of the demand for globes. Our imperfect description of this manufacture +will have shown that experience, and constant application of ingenuity, +have succeeded in reducing to the lowest amount the labor employed in +the production of globes. The whole population of English globe-makers +does not exceed thirty or forty men, women, and boys. Globes are thus +produced at the lowest rate of cheapness, as regards the number of +laborers, and with very moderate profits to the manufacturer, on account +of the smallness of his returns. The _durability_ of globes is one great +cause of the limitation of the demand. Changes of fashion, or caprices +of taste, as to the mounting, new geographical discoveries, and modern +information as to the position and nomenclature of the stars, may +displace a few old globes annually, which then find their way from +brokers' shops into a class somewhat below that of their original +purchasers. But the pair of globes generally maintain for years their +original position in the school-room or the library. They are rarely +injured, and suffer very slight decay. The new purchasers represent that +portion of society which is seeking after knowledge, or desires to +manifest some pretension to intellectual tastes. The number of globes +annually sold represents to a certain extent the advance of education. +But if the labor-saving expedients did not exist in the manufacture the +cost would be much higher, and the purchasers greatly reduced in number. +The contrivances by which comparative cheapness is produced arise out of +the necessity of contending against the durability of the article by +encouraging a new demand. If these did not exist, the supply would +outrun the demand; the price of the article would less and less repay +the labor expended in its production; the manufacture of globes would +cease till the old globes were worn out, and the few rich and scientific +purchasers had again raised up a market. + + * * * * * + +THE BODY.--Among the strange compliments which superstition pays to the +Creator, is a scorn and contempt for the fleshy investiture which he has +bestowed on us, at least among Christians; for the Pagans were far more +pious in this respect; and Mohammed agreed with them in doing justice to +the beauty and dignity of the human frame. It is quite edifying, in the +Arabian Nights, to read the thanks that are so often and so rapturously +given to the Supreme Being for his bestowal of such charms on his +creatures. Nor was a greater than Mahomet of a nature to undervalue the +earthly temples of gentle and loving spirits. Ascetic mistakes have ever +originated in want of heartiness or of heart; in consciousness of +defect, or vulgarity of nature, or in spiritual pride. A well-balanced +body and soul never, we may be sure, gave way to it. What an +extraordinary flattery of the Deity to say, "Lord! I thank thee for this +jewel of a soul which I possess; but what a miserable casket thou hast +given me to put it in!"--_Leigh Hunt._ + + + + +[From The Ladies' Companion] + +LETTICE ARNOLD. + +By the Author of "TWO OLD MEN'S TALES," "EMILIA WYNDHAM," &c. + +[_Continued from page 35._] + + +CHAPTER V. + + Since trifles make the sum of human things.... + Oh! let the ungentle spirit learn from thence, + A small unkindness is a great offense: + Large favors to bestow we strive in vain, + But all may shun the guilt of giving pain. + + HANNAH MORE. + +If Lettice had made her reflections, and had started upon her new +undertaking with a heart yearning with the desire to perform its duties +well, Mrs. Melwyn had not been without undergoing a somewhat similar +process upon her side, and this was her course of thought: + +"She had at first felt the utmost dislike to the plan. + +"She had, in the course of her life, seen so much discomfort and +dissatisfaction arise upon both sides from this sort of connection, that +she had taken up quite a prejudice against any thing of the sort. + +"It was a very great pity," she often said to herself, "that so it +should be, but the case was almost universal. If it could be otherwise, +what desirable connections might be formed in a world such as the +present! Such numbers of women of all ages, and all degrees of mental +qualifications, find themselves suddenly without resource, through the +accident of early death in the case of the professions, or of disaster +in commercial life; and so many others, through disease or advanced age, +or the still more cruel stroke of death, find themselves stranded, +lonely, and deserted, and languishing for a fireside friend. What +comfortable, beneficial unions might be brought about in such cases, one +should think; and yet why did they never or seldom turn out well? + +"Faults there must be. Where did they lie?--On both sides," answered her +understanding. "Not surely alone upon the side of the new comer--the +paid one, consequently the obliged one, consequently the only one of the +parties who had duties that she was pledged to perform, and which, it is +true, she too often very imperfectly performed--but also upon the other. +She, it is true, is pledged to nothing but the providing meat, lodging, +and salary; but that will not dispense her from obligations as a +Christian, and as a member of the universal sisterhood, which are not +quite so easily discharged. + +"It must double the difficulty to the new comer," thought Mrs. Melwyn, +"the being treated so carelessly as she too often is. How hard it must +be to perform duties such as hers, if they are not performed in love! +and how impossible it must be to love in such a case--unless we meet +with love. Even to be treated with consideration and kindness will not +suffice upon the one side, nor the most scrupulous endeavor to +discharge duty upon the other--people must try to _love_. + +"How soothing to a poor, deserted orphan to be taken to the heart! How +sweet to forlorn old age to find a fresh object of affection! Ah, but +then these sort of people seem often so disagreeable, do one's best, one +can not love or like them! But why do they seem so disagreeable? Partly +because people will overlook nothing--have no mutual indulgence in +relations which require so much. If one's child has little ways one does +not quite like, who thinks of hating her for it? If one's mother is a +little provoking and tedious under the oppressive weight of years or +sickness, who thinks of making a great hardship of it? But if the poor, +humble friend is only a little awkward or ungainly, she is odious; and +if the poor, deserted mother, or widow, wife, or aged suffering creature +is a little irritable or tedious, she is _such_ a tyrant! + +"Oh how I wish!... + +"Well, Catherine is a sensible, well-judging creature, and she assures +me this Miss Arnold is a remarkably sweet-tempered, affectionate, +modest, judicious girl. Why should I not try to make such a being love +me? Why should we not be very happy together? There is Randall, to be +sure, sets herself extremely against it; but, as Catherine says, 'Is +Randall to be mistress in this family, or am I?' It is come quite to +that point. And then it will be a great thing to have somebody between +me and Randall. She will not be so necessary to me then, whatever she +may be to the general; and when she makes herself so disagreeable, if +this young lady is as comfortable to me as Catherine says she will be, I +really shall not so much care. + +"Then," continuing her meditations, which, though I put down in black +and white, were _thought_, not spoken, "then Catherine says she is so +greatly to be pitied, and is so exemplary; and she said, in her darling, +coaxing way, 'dear mamma, it will give you so much pleasure to make the +poor thing a little amends for all her hardships, and if poor papa is a +little cross at times, it will be quite an interest to you to contrive +to make up for it. She will be quite a daughter to you, and, in one +respect, you will have more pleasure in making her happy than even in +your own loving daughter, because one is dear from our natural +affections, and the other will be so from generous beneficence; and +though natural affection is such a sweet, precious, inestimable thing, +generous beneficence is yet nobler, and brings us still nearer to God.' + +"If I could make her love me!--and with such an affectionate temper why +should I not? She wants a parent, I want a child. If I study her +happiness disinterestedly, kindly, truly, she can not help loving me; +but I will not even think of myself, I will try to study _her_ good, +_her_ well-being; and I will let the love for me come or not as it may, +and God will help me. He always does help me--when I have the courage to +dare to forget myself, and leave the issues of things to His +Providence." + +Such were the dispositions upon both sides with which the two met. But +the best resolutions win no battle. They are part, and a very serious +part of every undertaking, but they are far from being all. We are so +imperfect ourselves, and we have to do with such imperfect beings, that +evils and difficulties, unexpected, are sure to arise in our +communication with others, even when both sides meet with the very best +intentions; therefore, whoever intends to carry out such good +intentions, and make a right piece of work of it, must calculate upon +these things, just as the mechanic is obliged to make a large allowance +for unavoidable obstructions in carrying out any of his theories into +action and reality--into useful, every-day working order. + +In due time, a fly from the railway--one of those dirty, hired carriages +which are the disgrace of England--deposited Miss Arnold and her luggage +at the door of General Melwyn's handsome mansion of the Hazels, and in +all due form and order she was introduced into the dining-room. It was +between six and seven o'clock in the evening when she entered the very +handsomely furnished apartment, where, over a half-and-half sort of +fire--it having been rather a warm February day--sat the general and his +lady. + +Lettice was tired, heated, and red with the jumbling of the railway, the +bother at the station, and the knocking about in the very uneasy +carriage in which she had come up; and she felt in that disagreeable +sort of journey disorder of toilet, which makes people feel and look so +awkward. But she put the best face upon the matter, and entering, made a +very respectful courtesy to Mrs. Melwyn, who met her, holding out her +hand; and with her face and appearance Lettice felt charmed in a moment. +Mrs. Melwyn, who did not want penetration, saw that in Lettice, spite of +present disadvantages, which she was sure she should like very much. Not +so the general. He was a perfect fool of the eye, as military men are +too apt to be. Whatever was awkward or ill-dressed, was perfectly +abhorrent to him; and he took a dislike to "the creature" the moment he +cast his eyes upon her. + + * * * * * + +It seemed but an unpromising beginning. + +The heart of poor Lettice sunk within her in a way she was little +accustomed to, as the general, in a very pettish mood, stirred the fire, +and said. "When _are_ we to have dinner, Mrs. Melwyn? What _are_ we +waiting for? Will you never teach that cook of yours to be punctual?" + +"It is not her fault, indeed," was the answer, in a low, timid voice; "I +ventured to order dinner to be put off half an hour, to suit the railway +time." + +The general was too well bred to utter what he very plainly looked--that +to have been thus kept waiting for Miss Arnold he thought a very +unwarrantable proceeding indeed. + +He stirred up the fire with additional vigor--made it blaze +fiercely--then complained of these abominable coals, which burned like +touchwood, and had no heat in them, and wondered whether Mrs. Melwyn +would ever have the energy to order sea-borne coal, as he had desired; +and then, casting a most ungracious look at the new comer, who stood +during this scene, feeling shocked and uncomfortable to a degree, he +asked Mrs. Melwyn "how long she intended to keep the young lady standing +there before she dressed for dinner?" and suggested that the housemaid +should be sent for, to show her to her room. + +"I will take that office upon myself," said Mrs. Melwyn. "Come, Miss +Arnold, will you follow me?" And lighting a candle, for it was now dark, +she proceeded toward the door. + +"For heaven's sake, don't be long!" said her husband, in an irritable +tone; "it's striking six and three quarters. _Is_ dinner to be upon the +table at seven o'clock, or is it not?" + +"Punctually." + +"Then, Miss--Miss--I beg your pardon--and Mrs. Melwyn, I _hope_ you will +be ready to take your usual place at table." + +They heard no more; for Mrs. Melwyn closed the door, with the air of one +escaping--and, looking uncomfortable and half frightened, led the way +up-stairs. + +It was a pretty, cheerful little room, of which she opened the door; and +a pleasant fire was blazing in the grate. The bed was of white dimity, +trimmed with a border of colored chintz, as were the window-curtains; +the carpet quite new, and uncommonly pretty; chairs, dressing-table, +writing-table, all very neat and elegant; and the tables comfortably +covered each with its proper appendages. + +It was quite a pretty little den. + +Mrs. Melwyn had taken much pleasure in the fitting up of this small +room, which was next to her own dressing-room. She had fancied herself +going to receive into it a second Catherine: and though the very +moderate amount of money of which she had the power of disposing as she +pleased, and the noisy remonstrances and objections of Randall, had +prevented her indulging in many petty fancies which would have amused +and occupied her pleasantly since the dismal day of Catherine's wedding, +still she had persisted, contrary to her wont, in having in some degree +her own way. So, in spite of all Randall could do, she had discarded the +ugly old things--which the lady's maid, excessively jealous of this new +comer, declared were more than too good for such as her--and had +substituted this cheerful simplicity; and the air of freshness and +newness cast over every thing rendered it particularly pleasing. + +"What a beautiful little room!" Lettice could not help exclaiming, +looking excessively delighted. She liked pretty things, and elegant +little comforts as well as any body, did Lettice, though they seldom +fell to her share, because she was always for giving them up to other +people. + +"Do you like it, my dear?" said Mrs. Melwyn, in what Lettice thought the +sweetest, softest voice she had ever heard. "I have taken great pleasure +in getting it ready for you; I shall be glad, indeed, if you can make +yourself happy in it." + +"Happy! Who could help being happy in such a paradise?" "And with such a +sweet, gentle, charming person as Mrs. Melwyn," mentally added Lettice. +"What matters it how cross the poor old general is," thought she. + +"But, my dear, I don't see your trunks. Will you ring the bell for them? +The general must not be kept waiting for his dinner, and he can not +endure those who sit down at his table, either to be too late, or not to +be in an evening dress. Military men, you know, are so used to this sort +of precision, that they expect it from all around them. You will +remember another day, my dear, and--" then the under housemaid opened +the door. "Tell them to bring up Miss Arnold's trunks directly." + +_Them._ + +She did not at that moment exactly know which was the proper servant +whose office it ought to be to carry Miss Arnold's trunks. Miss Arnold +was an anomaly. There was no precedent. Not a servant in this family +would stir without a precedent. The trunk was probably too heavy for the +under-housemaid to carry up--that under-housemaid, one of the fags of an +establishment like this, kept merely to do what the upper-servants are +too fine to do. In households like the one before us, you must have two +in every department--there is a chance, then, if you want any thing +done, you may get it done. The under-servant is always, as I said, a +sort of fag or slave in the eyes of the upper ones. They will _allow_ +her to make herself useful, though it should not be exactly _her place_. +Mrs. Melwyn had provided for the attendance upon Miss Arnold by having +recourse to this said under-housemaid, and adding a couple of sovereigns +to her wages unknown to Randall, but she had forgotten the carrying up +of her trunk. Had it been Catherine, this would have been done as a +matter of course by the two footmen, and she had a sort of faint hope +they would do it of course now. But, she did not like to ask such a +thing, so she said "_them_;" hoping somebody would answer to it some way +or other, but-- + +"Who?" asked Bridget bringing the matter to a point. + +"Why, I am sure I don't exactly know. Who is there below? I suppose you +could not carry them up yourself, Bridget?" + +"I am afraid not, ma'am; there's only one trunk, and it looks heavy." + +"Oh!" cried Lettice, "I can come and help you. We can carry it up +together, for Myra and I carried it down together." And she was quitting +the room. But Mrs. Melwyn laid her hand upon her shoulder. + +"No, my dear, upon no account; Bridget, fetch up the gardener's boy, +he'll help you to carry the trunk up." + +Mrs. Melwyn looked excessively annoyed and distressed: Lettice could not +imagine what could be the matter. + +The gentle, kind lady seemed nervous and embarrassed. At last, evidently +making a very great effort with herself, she got out, "Excuse me, my +dear, but there is a little thing.... I would rather not, if you please +... servants are so insolent, you know they are ill brought up; if you +please, my dear, it will be better _not_ to offer to do things for +yourself, which young ladies don't usually undertake to do; such as +carrying up trunks. And then, I think, it will be better not to allude +to past circumstances, servants are apt to have such a contempt for +people that have not been very rich. It's very strange and wrong, but so +it is. You will be more comfortable, I think, if you maintain your own +dignity. I hope you will not be hurt at me for giving you this little +hint, Miss Arnold." + +"Hurt! Oh, madam!" And Lettice could not forbear taking up the beautiful +white hand of this most fair and delicate woman, and kissing it with the +most respectful reverence. "Whatever you will be so very kind as to +suggest to me I will so carefully attend to, and I shall be so much +obliged to you." + +How sweet was this gentle manner to poor Mrs. Melwyn! She began to feel +lightened from quite a load of anxiety. She began to believe, that +happen what would, she should never be _afraid_ of Lettice. "Catherine +was quite right; oh, what a comfort it would be!" + +"Well then," she continued, with more cheerfulness, "I will go away and +see that your things are sent up to you, for there is no time to be +lost. Bless me! it's striking seven. You never _can_ be ready. Oh! here +it comes! I forgot to tell you that Bridget is to answer your bell and +wait upon you. I have settled all that--you will find her quite good +natured and attentive; she's really an obliging girl." + +And so she was. The upper housemaid took care to preserve strict +discipline, and exact prompt obedience in her own department, whatever +the mistress of the mansion might do in hers. + +"Well, then, I will leave you and make your excuses to the general, and +you will follow me to the dining-room as soon as you can. We must not +keep dinner waiting any longer. You will excuse that ceremony, I am +sure. The general is an invalid, you know, and these matters are +important to his health." + +And so saying, she glided away, leaving Lettice almost too much +astonished to be delighted with all this consideration and +kindness--things to which she had been little accustomed. But the +impression she received, upon the whole, was very sweet. The face and +manner of Mrs. Melwyn were so excessively soft; her very dress, the +color of her hair, her step, her voice; every thing spoke so much +gentleness. Lettice thought her the loveliest being she had ever met +with. More charming even than Catherine--more attaching even than Mrs. +Danvers. She felt very much inclined to adore her. + +She was but a very few hours longer in the house before pity added to +this rising feeling of attachment; and I believe there is nothing +attachés the inferior to the superior like pity. + +Dressed in one of her best new dresses, and with her hair done up as +neatly as she possibly could in that hurry, Lettice made her way to the +dining-room. + +It was a large, lofty, very handsome, and rather awfully _resounding_ +room, with old family pictures upon every side. There was a sideboard +set out sparkling with glass and plate; a small table in the middle of +the apartment with silver covers and dishes shining in the light of four +wax candles; a blazing fire, a splendid Indian screen before the door; +two footmen in liveries of pink and white, and a gentleman in a black +suit, waiting. The general and Mrs. Melwyn were seated opposite to each +other at table. + +The soup had been already discussed, and the first course was set upon +the table when Miss Arnold entered. + +Had she been a young lady born, an obsequious footman would have been +ready to attend her to her seat, and present her with a chair: as it +was, she would have been spared this piece of etiquette, and she was +making her way to her chair without missing the attention, when the +general, who observed his saucy footmen standing lounging about, without +offering to move forward, frowned in what Lettice thought a most +alarming way, and said in a stern voice, and significant manner, "What +are you about?" to the two footmen. This piece of attention was bestowed +upon her to her surprise and to Mrs. Melwyn's great satisfaction. + +"We thought you would excuse us. The soup has been set aside for you," +said the lady of the house. + +"Oh, thank you, ma'am, pray don't trouble yourself." + +"Give Miss Arnold soup." + +Again in a stern, authoritative voice from the General. Mrs. Melwyn was +used to the sternness, and most agreeably surprised at the politeness, +and quite grateful for it. Lettice thought the voice and look too +terrible to take pleasure in any thing connected with it. + +She had no need to feel gratitude either--it was not done out of +consideration for her. The general, who, with the exception of Randall, +kept, as far as he was concerned, every servant in the utmost +subservience, did not choose that any one who had the honor of a seat at +his table should be neglected by those "rascals," as he usually styled +his footmen. + + * * * * * + +It being the first evening, Mrs. Melwyn had too much politeness to +require Miss Arnold to enter upon those after-dinner duties, the +performance of which had been expressly stipulated for by Catherine; +stipulated for, not only with Lettice, but with the general himself. +She has made her father promise that he would suffer this young lady to +undertake the place of reader--which Catherine had herself filled for +some time, to the inexpressible relief of her mother--and that Miss +Arnold should be permitted to try whether she could play well enough at +backgammon to make an adversary worth vanquishing. + +He had grumbled and objected, as a matter of course, to this +arrangement, but had finally consented. However, he was not particularly +impatient to begin; and besides, he was habitually a well-bred man, so +that any duty which came under his category of good manners he +punctually performed. People are too apt to misprize this sort of +politeness of mere habit; yet, as far as it goes, it is an excellent +thing. It enhances the value of a really kind temper in all the domestic +relations, to an incalculable degree--a degree little appreciated by +some worthy people, who think roughness a proof of sincerity, and that +rudeness marks the honest truth of their affections. And where there is +little kindness of nature, and a great deal of selfishness and +ill-tempered indulgence, as in this cross, old man before us, still the +habit of politeness was not without avail; it kept him in a certain +check, and certainly rendered him more tolerable. He was not quite such +a brute bear as he would have been, left to his uncorrected nature. + +Politeness is, and ought to be, a habit so confirmed, that we exercise +it instinctively--without consideration, without attention, without +effort, as it were; this is the very essence of the sort of politeness I +am thinking of. It takes it out of the category of the virtues, it is +true, but it places it in that of the qualities; and, in some matters, +good qualities are almost as valuable, almost more valuable, than if +they still continued among the virtues--and this of politeness, in my +opinion, is one. + +By virtues, I mean acts which are performed with a certain difficulty, +under the sense of responsibility to duty, under the self-discipline of +right principle; by qualities, I mean what is spontaneous. +Constitutional good qualities are spontaneous. Such as natural sweetness +of temper--natural delicacy of feeling--natural intrepidity; others are +the result of habit, and end by being spontaneous--by being a second +nature: justly are habits called so. Gentleness of tone and +manner--attention to conventional proprieties--to people's little wants +and feelings--are of these. This same politeness being a sort of summary +of such, I will end this little didactic digression by advising all +those who have the rearing of the young in their hands, carefully to +form them in matters of this description, so that they shall attain +_habits_--so that the delicacy of their perceptions, the gentleness of +their tones and gestures, the propriety of their dress, the politeness +of their manners, shall become spontaneous acts, done without reference +to self, as things of course. By which means, not only much that is +disagreeable to their is avoided, and much that is amiable attained, +but a great deal of reference to self is in after life escaped; and +temptations to the faults of vanity--pride--envious comparisons with our +neighbors, and the feebleness of self-distrust very considerably +diminished. + +And so, to return, the politeness of the general and Mrs. Melwyn led to +this result, the leaving Miss Arnold undisturbed to make her reflections +and her observations, before commencing the task which Mrs. Melwyn, for +the last time, undertook for her, of reading the newspaper and playing +the hit. + +Lettice could not help feeling rejoiced to be spared this sort of public +exhibition of her powers, till she was in a slight degree better +acquainted with her ground; and she was glad to know, without being +directly told, what it was customary to do in these respects. But in +every other point of view, she had better, perhaps, have been reader +than listener. For, if she gained a lesson as to the routine to be +followed, she paid for it by receiving at the same time, a considerably +alarming impression of the general's ways of proceeding. + +"Shall I read the newspaper this evening?" began Mrs. Melwyn, timidly. + +"I don't care if you do," roughly. + +Polite men, be it observed, _en passant_, do not at all make it a rule +to exercise that habit to their wives. The wife is a thing apart from +the rest of the world, out of the category of such proprieties. To be +rude to his wife is no impeachment of a man's gentleman-like manners at +all. + +"Is there any thing worth reading in it?" + +"I am sure I don't know what you will think worth reading. Shall I begin +with the leading article?" + +"What is it all about?" + +"I am sure I can't say." + +"Can't you look?" + +"The sugar question, I think." + +"Well, what has the fool to say about that?" + +"The speech of Lord **** last night upon the much discussed subject of +the sugar question, has no doubt been read and commented upon, in their +various ways, and according to their different impressions--shall we say +prejudices?--by our readers. The performance, it is upon all hands +agreed, was masterly, and, as far as eloquence is concerned, that the +accomplished statesman who uttered this remarkable speech did only +justice to..." + +"Well--well--well--_well_," in a sneering tone--"I really do wonder how +long you could go on droning and dinning, and dinning and droning such +palpably empty editorial nonsense as that into a man's ears. Now, I +would be glad to ask you--merely to ask you, as a rational woman, Mrs. +Melwyn--what possible amusement or profit can be drawn from a long +exordium which says absolutely nothing--tells one absolutely nothing but +what every one knew before--stuff with which all editors of newspapers +seem to think it necessary to preface their remarks. What in the name +of--is the use of wasting your breath and my patience--can't you skip? +Are you a mere reading machine, madam?" + +"Shall I pass on to the next subject?" + +"No, that's not my meaning--if you could take a meaning. What I want is +only what every rational person expects when these confounded +lucubrations of a stupid newspaper editor are read up--that the reader +will have the sense to leave all these useless phrases and useless +syllables out, and give the pith and marrow to the listener. Well--well, +never mind--if you can't, you can't: get on, at all events." + +Mrs. Melwyn colored faintly, looked nervous and uneasy--glanced down the +columns of the newspaper, and hesitated. + +"Well--can't you go on? What's the use of sitting there looking like a +child of six years old, who's afraid of being whipped? If you can't, you +can't--if you haven't the sense you haven't, but for ---- sake get on." + +"'Mr. **** rose, and in a manner upon which we can not exactly bestow +our approbation, but which, nevertheless, seemed to us in an +unaccountable manner to obtain the ear and the attention of a very +crowded house, &c., &c.'" + +"There you are again! why the deuce can't you pass over all that, and +tell us what the confounded blockheads on that side did really say?" + +"I read this debate to you yesterday, you know. These are only the +editor's remarks upon it. Shall I give you the summary of last night's +debate?" + +"No, let's hear what the fool says upon this cursed sugar question. He's +against the measure, that's one comfort." + +"He does not seem to be so exactly," glancing down the page. + +"I'll take the liberty of judging that matter myself, Mrs. Melwyn, if +you'll only be so particularly obliging as to read on." + +Which she did. Now reproached for reading in such a low, cluttering +manner, with that d----d soft voice of hers, that it was impossible to +hear; and when she raised it, asked, "What the deuce was the use of +shouting so as to be heard by the fellows in the servants' hall?" + +In this style the newspaper was at last, for better for worse, blundered +through, in the most uncomfortable manner possible, by the terrified +reader. + +Lettice sat by, deeply attentive. She was a brave, high-spirited girl, +and she did not feel dismayed; her predominant sentiment was +self-congratulation that she should be able to spare that sweet, soft, +kind Mrs. Melwyn the ungrateful task. + +She sat observing, and laying down her own plans of proceeding. It was +not the first time in her life she had been exposed to what is called +scolding; a thing every day, I verily believe--and am most happy to do +so--going more and more out of fashion, though still retained, as a +_habit_, by many people otherwise well-meaning enough. It was retained +in its full vigor by the general, who was not well-meaning at all; he +usually meant nothing on earth by what he did, but the indulgence of the +present humor, good, bad, or indifferent. Lettice had lived in a sphere +of life where this sort of domestic violence used to be very common; and +she had learned to bear it, even from the lips of those she loved, with +patience. She knew this very well, and she thought to herself, "if I +could get into the habit of hardly caring for it from those very near +and dear to me, surely it will be easy enough to meet it with +indifference from a poor, cross, peevish, suffering old man, whom I +don't care for in the least. The way must be, to get into the habit of +it from the first, to let the words + + "Pass by me as the idle wind which I regard not." + +I must put all my vanity, all my spirit, all my own little tempers, +quietly out of the way; and never trouble myself with what he says, but +go reading on in the best way I can, to please him, but with the most +unruffled outward appearance of tranquillity; and the utmost secret +indifference as to whether I succeed or not. He shall be sooner tired of +scolding, than I of looking as if I never heard it. He'll give over if I +can persevere, instead of looking all colors and all ways, as that dear, +gentle Mrs. Melwyn does." + +The trial at backgammon was, if such a thing could be, worse. It seemed +as if it was impossible to give satisfaction here. The general not only +played his own game, but insisted upon playing that of his adversary; +and was by turns angry at her stupidity in missing an advantage through +want of skill, asking, "What could be the possible interest or pleasure +of playing with such a mere child?" and vexed, if the plan he pointed +out ended in his own discomfiture, for he could not bear to lose. + +Backgammon, too, was an unlucky game to be played with one of a temper +such as his. Every favorable throw of the dice, it is true, filled him +with a disagreeable sarcastic exultation; but a positively bad one, and +still more, a succession of bad ones, drove him furious. After a long +course of provoking throws, such as sometimes happen, he would seem half +mad, storm, curse, and swear, in the most ridiculous, if it had not been +blasphemous, manner; and sometimes end by banging the tables together, +and vowing he would never play at this confounded game again as long as +he lived. + +There was an exhibition of this sort that very evening. Mrs. Melwyn +looked much distressed, and almost ashamed, as she glanced at Lettice to +see how she took it; but Lettice appeared to be too much engaged with a +knot in her netting to seem to take it at all, which evidently relieved +Mrs. Melwyn. The scene had not, however, been lost upon our friend, who +had observed it with a smile of secret contempt. + +Mentally, however, congratulating herself upon her good, robust nerves; +such things, she well knew, being perilous to those cursed with +delicacy of that sort. The best endeavors, the best intentions, would +be without avail in such cases, such sufferers would find their powers +of endurance destroyed by these successive acts of violence, till it +would be impossible to meet them tolerably. Again she looked at Mrs. +Melwyn, and with great pity. Again she rejoiced in the idea of saving +her from what she perceived was indeed, to such a frame and temper as +hers, a source of very great suffering; and again she resolved to keep +up her own spirits, and maintain the only true defense, courage and +indifference. She felt sure, if she could only, by a little effort, do +this for a short time, the effort would terminate in a habit; after +which it would cost her little or nothing more. + +The general, though polite to Lettice in their first communications, +held her in far too little esteem to care one doit what he did or said +before her. He was an excessively proud man; and the idea that a girl, +so greatly his inferior in every way, should keep him in check, or +venture even to make a remark upon him, far less presume to judge his +conduct, never entered his head. I wonder what he would have felt, if he +could have been made aware of that secret smile. + +Now a tray with wine, spirits, and water, was introduced. The general +took his accustomed glass of whisky and water, then opened his +cigar-box, and began to smoke. This process invariably made Mrs. Melwyn +feel rather sick, and she rose this evening to go away; but being asked +what she was moving for, she resumed her seat, and sat till two cigars +had been smoked, and the clock told half-past ten; when, as the general +loved early hours, she was suffered to take her departure. + +The servant entered with lighted candles. Mrs. Melwyn took one, and bade +him give Miss Arnold another; and they went up stairs together. + +"Good night, my dear," said the lady of the house, with a wearied, worn +air, and a tone in which there was a good deal of sadness. + +She never could get used to these scenes, poor thing; every time the +general was cross she felt it acutely; he had grown dreadfully cross +since Catherine married. Mrs. Melwyn hardly knew what to do with him, or +how to bear it. + +"Good night, my dear, I hope you will sleep comfortably." + +"Can I be of any further use to you, madam, to-night." + +"Oh, no, thank you; don't come into my dressing-room--Randall is very +particular: she considers _that_ her own territory. She does not like +any one to come in, especially at night; but just let me look whether +your fire burns," she added, entering Lettice's room. + +The fire was blazing merrily; Mrs. Melwyn put her candle down upon the +chimney-piece, and stood there a little while before it, looking again +irresolute. It seemed as if she wished, and did not know how, to say +something. Lettice stood at a short distance, respectfully expectant. + +"I declare it's very cold to-night," with a little shiver. + +"I did not feel it cold, but then this is so thoroughly comfortable a +house." + +"Do you think so? Shall you find it so? The wind comes sharply down the +passages sometimes, but I wish, I hope, you won't care much for that ... +or ... or ... or ... any little painful things; they can't be helped, +you know, in this world." + +"Ah, madam! if I may venture to say so, there is one good thing one gets +out of great hardships--little things do seem so _very_ little +afterward." + +"Ay, if they are really little, but--" + +"Things that are ... that don't seem little to people of more gentle +nurture, who have lived in a different way, seem, and are, little to +those who have roughed it till they are themselves roughened. That was +what I intended to say. One is so very happy to escape dreadful, real, +positive distress, that all the rest is like mere play." + +Mrs. Melwyn looked at her in a pensive, anxious, inquiring manner. She +wanted to see if she was understood; she saw that she was. She saw +something truly heartening and encouraging in the young girl's +countenance. She shook hands with her and bade her good night very +affectionately, and went to her own dressing-room. + +Randall was as cross that night as it was possible for the most +tyrannical servant to be, but some way or other, Mrs. Melwyn did not +feel as if she cared for it _quite_ so much as usual; she had her mind +filled with the image of Lettice. Something so very nice about her--she +thought to herself--in one respect even better than Catherine. She +should not be so afraid of her being distressed by disagreeable things; +she should venture to tell her about Randall, and other vexations which +she had carefully concealed from Catherine, lest they should make her +unhappy. Thus she represented it to herself: the truth was, lest +Catherine should make a point of Randall being parted with, an effort +she knew herself quite incompetent to make. + +She should be able to complain of Randall, without feeling that she +should be urged to conquer her weakness, and part with her. There was +something very comfortable in this; so Randall pouted away, and Mrs. +Melwyn heeded it not very much, not nearly so much as usual; and when +Randall perceived this, she was excessively offended, and more and more +cross and disagreeable. She had quite quickness enough to perceive how +much her despotism must be weakened by the rule being thus divided, and +she saw even so early something of the effects she deprecated. The +observation, however, did not tend to soften her or to render her more +obliging, it was not the least in her plan to contend with the new comer +in this way; she meant to meet her, and her mistress, with open +defiance, and bear both down by main force. + + +CHAPTER VI. + + "Cowards die many times before their death." + + SHAKSPEARE. + + +The courage of Lettice, as I have told you, was strong, and her nerves +good, but in spite of this, assisted by the best resolutions in the +world, she _did_ find it a hard matter to stand the general. She was +very hopeful the first day or two--the habitual politeness, of which I +have spoken, came in aid. It exercised a sort of instinctive and +involuntary check upon the old man's rude intemperance of language when +irritated. Lettice did her very best to read the newspaper to his +satisfaction; skipping every unnecessary word, just as Catherine had +been accustomed to do, without hurting the sense in the least; and +getting over the ground with all the rapidity the old veteran desired. +This was a plan poor Mrs. Melwyn was far too nervous to adopt. If she +missed a word it was sure to be the wrong one to miss--one necessary to, +instead of encumbering the meaning. It was quite indispensable that she +should read simply and straightforwardly what was put before her, or she +was certain to get into confusion, and have herself scolded. Even the +dreaded and dreadful backgammon did tolerably well, while the general's +politeness to the stranger lasted. Lettice was surprised herself, to +find how easily the task, which had appeared so awful, was discharged; +but she had not long to congratulate herself. Gradually, at first by +slow degrees, but afterward like the accelerated descent of a stone down +the hill, acquired habit gave way to constitutional ill-humor. Alas, +they tell us nature expelled with a pitchfork will make her way back +again; most true of the unregenerated nature--most true of the poor +blind heathen--or the poor untutored Christian, to all intents and +purposes a heathen--too true even of those assisted by better +considerations, higher principles, and higher aids. + +First it was a little low grumbling; then a few impatient gestures; then +a few impatient words--words became sentences; sentences of +invective--soon it was with her, just as it had been with others. This +graduated progression assisted, however, gradually to harden and prepare +her. She was resolved not to look frightened, though her very knees +would knock together at times. She was determined never to allow herself +to feel provoked or hurt, or ill-used, let the general be ever so rude; +and to soften her heart by any such ideas she never allowed herself. +Steadily she kept in mind that he was a suffering, ill-disciplined, +irritable old man; and by keeping these considerations in view, she +actually achieved the most difficult--almost heroic effort. She managed +to attain a frame of mind in which she could pity his sufferings, feel +indulgence for his faults, and remain quite placid under their effects +as regarded herself. + +This conduct before a very long time had elapsed produced an effect far +more agreeable than she had ever ventured to anticipate. + +The general began to like her. + +Like many other cross people, he was excessively difficult to be pleased +in one article--the way people took his scoldings. He was offended if +they were received with cheerfulness--in the way Edgar had tried to +laugh them off--he was still more vexed if people seemed hurt or +suffering under them: if they cried, it was bad, indeed. Like many +others not absolutely wicked and cruel, though he could not control his +temper, he really did feel vexed at seeing the pain he had produced. His +conscience would cry out a little at such times. Now, nothing made him +so uncomfortable and irritable, as having a quarrel with his conscience; +a thing that did not very often happen, to be sure--the said conscience +being in his case not a very watchful guardian, but it was all the more +disagreeable when it spoke. The genuine good temper and habitual +self-possession--the calmness without disrespect--the cheerfulness +without carelessness--the respectful attention stripped of all meanness +or subservience which Lettice managed to preserve in her relations with +him--at last made its way quite to his heart, that is to say, to his +taste or fancy, for I don't think he had much of a heart. He began to +grow quite fond of her, and one day delighted, as much as he surprised +Mrs. Melwyn, by saying, that Miss Arnold really was a very pretty sort +of young woman, and he thought suited them very well. And so the grand +difficulty of managing with the general's faults was got over, but there +remained Mrs. Melwyn's and the servants'. + +Lettice had never laid her account at finding any faults in Mrs. Melwyn. +That lady from the first moment she beheld her, had quite won her heart. +Her elegance of appearance, the Jove-like softness of her countenance, +the gentle sweetness of her voice, all conspired to make the most +charming impression. Could there lie any thing under that sweet outside, +but the gentlest and most indulgent of temper? + +No, she was right there, nothing could be more gentle, more indulgent +than was Mrs. Melwyn's temper; and Lettice had seen so much of the +rough, the harsh, the captious, and the unamiable during her life, that +grant her the existence of those two qualities, and she could scarcely +desire any thing more. She had yet to learn what are the evils which +attend the timid and the weak. + +She had yet to know that there may be much concealed self-indulgence, +where there is a most yielding disposition; and that they who are too +cowardly to resist wrong and violence courageously, from a weak and +culpable indulgence of their own shyness and timidity, will afford a +poor defense to those they ought to protect, and expose them to +innumerable evils. + +Lettice had managed to become easy with the general; she could have been +perfectly happy with Mrs. Melwyn, but nothing could get over the +difficulties with the servants. Conscious of the misrule they exercised; +jealous of the newcomer--who soon showed herself to be a clever and +spirited girl--a sort of league was immediately instituted among them; +its declared object being either to break her spirit, or get rid of her +out of the house. The persecutions she endured; the daily minute +troubles and vexations; the difficulties cast in her path by these +dangerous yet contemptible foes, it would be endless to describe. + +Whatever she wanted she could not get done. Even Bridget, under the +influence of the upper-housemaid, proved a broken reed to lean upon. Her +fire would never be lighted; nor her room done at the proper time; and +when she came down with red hands, purple cheeks, and, worst of all, a +red nose, looking this cold spring the very picture of chill and misery, +the general would look cross, and Mrs. Melwyn not pleased, and would +wonder, "How she could get so starved, and why she did not make them +light her fire." + +She could make no reply but that she would ask Bridget to be more +punctual. + +It was worse, when do what she would--ring as she would--nobody would +come to fasten her dress for dinner till the last bell was sounding, and +when it was impossible for her to pay all those nice attentions to her +appearance which the general's critical eye demanded. Though he said +nothing he would upon such occasions look as if he thought her a sloven; +and Mrs. Melwyn, on her side, seemed excessively fretted and uneasy, +that her favorite would do herself so little justice, and run the risk +of forfeiting the general's favor; and this last piece of injustice, +Lettice did feel it hard to bear. + +It was the same in all the other minutiæ of domestic life. Every +trifling circumstance, like a midge's sting, though insignificant in +itself, was rendered in the sum total most troublesome. + +If they were going out walking, Miss Arnold's shoes were never cleaned. +She provided herself with several pairs, that one at least might always +be ready, and she not keep the general and Mrs. Melwyn waiting. It was +of no use. The shoes were never ready. If there were several pairs, they +were lost, or odd shoes brought up. + +She did not care for labor. She had no foolish pride about serving +herself, she had been used to that sort of thing; she had not the +slightest wish on earth to be a fine lady; but that was forbidden. It +was one of the things Mrs. Melwyn had made a point of, and continued to +make a point of; but then, why did she not take care she should be +better served? + +She, the mistress in her own house! Was it indifference to her guest's +comforts? No, her unremitting personal kindness forbade that idea. What +was it then, that left her helpless guest thus exposed to want and +insult? Yes, _want!_ I may use the word; for in her new sphere of +action, the things she required were absolute necessaries. The want in +its way was as great as she had ever known. Yes, insult--for every +little negligence was felt as an insult--Lettice knew too well that as +an insult it was intended. What made this kind Mrs. Melwyn permit such +things? Weakness, nothing but weakness--culpable weakness--horror of +that which would give her feeble spirit pain. + +Lettice found it extremely difficult to be candid in this instance. She +who had never experienced what this weakness of the spirit was, found it +almost impossible to be indulgent to it. She felt quite vexed and sore. +But when she looked so, poor Mrs. Melwyn would put on such a sad, +anxious, weary face, that it was impossible not to feel concerned for +her, and to forgive her at once. And so this good, generous, +kind-hearted being's temper achieved another victory. She was able to +love Mrs. Melwyn in spite of all her weakness, and the evils she in +consequence suffered; and this indulgent affection made every thing +easy. + +There were times, however, when she found it almost too difficult to get +on; but upon one occasion after another occurring of this nature, and +still more when she discovered that Mrs. Melwyn was a yet greater +sufferer from this servile tyranny than herself, she at last determined +to speak out, and see whether things could not be established upon a +more reasonable and proper footing. + +There was one day a terrible quarrel with Randall. It happened that +Randall was from home, drinking tea with a friend. She had either bound +up the general's ailing arm too tight, or the arm had swelled; however, +for some reason or other the injured part became extremely painful. The +general fidgeted and swore, but bore it for some time with the sort of +resolute determination, with which, to do him justice, he was accustomed +to meet pain. At last the aching became so intolerable that it was +scarcely to be endured; and after ringing twenty times to inquire +whether Randall was come home, and uttering a heavy imprecation each +time he was answered in the negative; what between pain and impatience +he became so fevered that he really seemed quite ill, and his sufferings +were evidently more than he could well endure. Poor Mrs. Melwyn, +helpless and feeble, dared not propose to do any thing for him, though +she suffered--soft, kind creature that she was--almost more in +witnessing his distress than he did in the midst of it. At last Lettice +ventured to say, that she thought it a great pity the general should +continue to suffer this agony, which she felt assured must be positively +dangerous, and modestly ventured to suggest that she should be allowed +to undo the bandage and relieve the pressure. + +"Dear me," said Mrs. Melwyn, in a harried, frightened way, "could you +venture? Suppose you should do mischief; better wait, perhaps." + +"Easily said, ma'am," cried the general. "It's not your arm that's +aching as if it would drop from your body, that's plain. What's that +you're saying, Miss Arnold?" + +"If you could trust me to do it, I was saying; if you would give me +leave, I would undo the bandage and endeavor to make it more +comfortable. I am afraid that this pain and tight binding may bring on +positive inflammation. I really should not be afraid to try; I have seen +Mrs. Randall do it hundreds of times. There is no difficulty in it." + +"Dear Lettice, how you talk!" said Mrs. Melwyn, as if she were afraid +Randall was behind the door. "No difficulty! How could Randall bear to +hear you say so?" + +"I don't know, ma'am; perhaps she would contradict me. But I think at +all events there is no difficulty that I could not manage." + +"Well, then, for Heaven's sake, try, child!" cried the general; "for +really the pain is as if all the dogs in Hockley were gnawing at it. +Come along; do something, for the love of--" + +He suffered Lettice to help him off with his coat, and to undo the +bandage, which she accomplished very handily; and then observed that +Mrs. Randall, in her haste to depart upon her visit, had bound up the +wound in a most careless manner; and the irritation had already produced +so serious an inflammation that she was quite alarmed, and suggested +that the doctor should be sent for. + +The general swore at the idea of the doctor, and yet more violently at +that old hag Randall's confounded carelessness. Mrs. Melwyn looked +miserable; she saw the case was bad, and yet she knew that to send for +the doctor, and take it out of Randall's hands, would be an insult never +to be forgiven. + +But Lettice was steady. She was not quite ignorant in these matters, and +she felt it her duty to be firm. She expostulated and remonstrated, and +was just carrying her point when Mrs. Randall came home; and, having +heard below how things were going on, hurried, uncalled for, into the +dining-room. + +She came in in a mighty pucker, as she would herself have called it, and +began asking who had dared to open the wound and expose it to the air: +and, seeing Miss Arnold preparing to apply a bread-and-water poultice, +which she had made, fell into such a passion of rage and jealousy that +she forgot herself so far as to snatch it from Lettice's hand, vowing, +if any body was to be allowed to meddle with _her_ arm, she would never +touch it again so long as she lived. + +Mrs. Melwyn turned pale, and began in her softest way, + +"Now, really, Randall. Don't be angry, Randall--do listen, Randall. The +bandage was too tight; I assure you, it was. We should not have thought +of touching it else." + +"What the devil, Randall, are you about to do now?" cried the general, +as she took possession of the arm, in no gentle fashion. + +"Bind it up again, to be sure, and keep that air out of it." + +"But you hurt me confoundedly. Ah! it's more than I can bear. Don't +touch it--it's as if it were on fire!" + +"But it must be bound up, I say," going on without the least regard to +the torture she was evidently putting him to. + +But Lettice interfered. + +"Indeed, Mrs. Randall," she said, "I do not think that you seem to be +aware of the state of inflammation that the arm is in. I assure you, you +had better apply the bread-and-water poultice, and send for Mr. Lysons." + +"You assure _me_. Much you know about the matter, I should fancy." + +"I think I know this much. Dear Mrs. Melwyn! Dear general! It is more +serious than you think. Pray, let me write for Mr. Lysons!" + +"I do believe she's right, Randall, for the infernal torture you put me +to is more than I can bear. Ach! Let it go, will you? Undo it! Undo it!" + +But Mrs. Randall, unrelentingly, bound on. + +"Have done, I say! Undo it! Will nobody undo it? Lettice Arnold, for +Heaven's sake!" His face was bathed with the sweat of agony. + +Randall persisted; Mrs. Melwyn stood pale, helpless, and aghast; but +Lettice hastened forward, scissors in hand, cut the bandage, and +liberated the tortured arm in a minute. + +Mrs. Randall was in an awful rage. She forgot herself entirely; she had +often forgotten herself before; but there was something in this, being +done in the presence of a third person, of one so right-minded and +spirited as Lettice, which made both the general and his wife view it in +a new light. A sort of vail seemed to fall from before their eyes; and +for the first time, they both seemed--and simultaneously--aware of the +impropriety and the degradation of submitting to it. + +"Randall! Randall!" remonstrated Mrs. Melwyn, still very gently, +however; but it was a great step to remonstrate at all--but Randall was +abusing Lettice most violently, and her master and mistress into the +bargain, for being governed by such as _her_! "Randall! Randall! +Don't--you forget yourself!" + +But the general, who had been silent a second or two, at last broke +forth, and roared, + +"Have done with your infernal noise! won't you, you beldam! Here, +Lettice, give me the poultice; put it on, and then write for Lysons, +will you?" + +In matters such as this, the first step is every thing. Mrs. Melwyn and +her fiery partner had both been passive as a poor bewitched hen, we are +told, is with a straw over her neck. Once shift her position and the +incubus is gone. + +The arrival of Mr. Lysons completed the victory. Mortification was upon +the eve of setting in. The relief from the bandage, and the emollient +poultice applied by Lettice, had in all probability saved the general's +life. + +Little Mrs. Randall cared for this demonstration of her mistaken +treatment; she had been too long accustomed to triumph, to yield the +field undisputed to a rival. She took refuge in sulky silence, and when +Mr. Lysons was gone, desired to speak with Mrs. Melwyn. + +The usual harangue was made. "As she could no longer give +satisfaction--would Mrs. Melwyn please to provide herself in a month." + +The blood run cold to Mrs. Melwyn's heart. What! Randall! Impossible! +What should she do! What would the general do? What would become of the +servants? Who would look after them? What could be done without the +faithful Randall? + +"Oh, Randall! you don't think of leaving me," she began. + +I am not going to repeat the dialogue, which was much the same as that +which usually ensues when the mistress entreats the maid to stay, thus +putting herself into an irremediably false position. The result of such +entreaties was the usual one. Randall, assured of victory, took the +matter with a high hand, and, most luckily for all parties, refused to +be mollified. + +Then poor Mrs. Melwyn, in dismay and despair, returned to the +drawing-room. She looked quite ill; she dared not tell the general what +had happened--positively dared not. She resolved to make one other +appeal to Randall first; to bribe her, as she had often done before, to +bribe high--higher than ever. Any thing, rather than part with her. + +But she was so nervous, so restless, so miserable, that Lettice observed +it with much compassion, and came and sat by her, which was her way of +comforting her friend when she saw she wanted comfort. Mrs. Melwyn took +her hand, and held it between both hers, and looked as if she greatly +wanted comfort, indeed. + +The general, soon after this, rose to go to bed. It was earlier than his +usual hour, for he was quite worn out with what he had suffered. + +So he left the two ladies sitting over the fire, and then Mrs. Melwyn at +last opened her heart, and disclosed to her friend the dismal +tidings--the cause of her present misery--and related in detail the +dreadful occurrence of Randall's resignation. + +It was time, Lettice thought, to speak out, and she determined to +venture upon it. She had long anxiously desired to emancipate the woman +she loved with all the intensity of a child, from the fearful yoke under +which she suffered: to dissolve the pernicious enchantment which +surrounded her. She spoke, and she did so with so much gentleness, +reason, firmness, good-nature; that Mrs. Melwyn yielded to the blessed +influence. In short, it was that night determined that Randall's +resignation, so far as Mrs. Melwyn was concerned, should be accepted. If +that potentate chose to communicate her resolution herself to the +general, it was well, and he must decide; otherwise Lettice would take +upon herself to do this, and, unless he opposed the measure, Randall +should go. + +With little difficulty Lettice persuaded Mrs. Melwyn not to ring for +Randall that night, saying that now she had resigned her position, her +mistress had better allow herself to be put to bed by her friend. This +was not a difficult task. That she should not meet Randall again was +what Mrs. Melwyn in her terror as much desired as Lettice did in her +prudence. In short, the general, under the influence of Lettice's +representations--she was beginning to gain great influence with +him--consented to part with the maid; and Lettice had the inconceivable +satisfaction of herself carrying to that personage her wages, and a +handsome gratuity, and of seeing her that very morning quit the house, +which was done with abundance of tears, and bitter lamentations over the +ingratitude of mankind. + +How the house felt after she was gone, those who have been visited with +a domestic plague of this nature will understand. To those who have not, +so great a result from so apparently insignificant a cause would be +utterly unimaginable. + +"And so they lived very happy ever afterward." + +Well--don't stare--they really _did_. + +A good genius was substituted for an evil one. Under her benign +influence it is astonishing how smoothly and merrily things went on. The +general was so comfortable that he very often forgot to be cross; Mrs. +Melwyn, content with every thing, but her power of showing her love for +Lettice--though she did this in every way she could think of. + +And so I will leave this good, sensible, God-fearing girl for the +present, + + "blessing and blest in all she does," + +and tell you how Myra went to Mrs. Fisher, and something about that +lady. + +(_To be continued._) + + + + +[From Guizot's Discourse on the English Revolution.] + +THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. + +BY GUIZOT. + + +George III. had been seated on the throne sixteen years, when, at +fourteen hundred leagues from his capital, more than two millions of his +subjects broke the ties which bound them to his throne, declared their +independence, and undertook the foundation of the republic of the United +States of America. After a contest of seven years, England was brought +to recognize that independence, and to treat upon equal terms with the +new state. Since that time sixty-seven years have elapsed, and, without +any violent effort, without extraordinary events, by the mere +development of their institutions and of the prosperity which is the +natural attendant on peace, the United States have taken an honorable +place among great nations. Never was so rapid an elevation, so little +costly at its origin, nor so little troubled in its progress. + +It is not merely to the absence of any powerful rival, or to the +boundless space open to their population, that the United States of +America have owed this singular good fortune. The rapidity and the +serenity of their rise to greatness are not the result of such fortunate +accidents alone, but are to be attributed in a great degree to moral +causes. + +They rose into existence as a state under the banner of right and +justice. In their case, too, the revolution from which their history +dates was an act of defense. They claimed guarantees and asserted +principles which were inscribed in their charters, and which the English +parliament itself, though it now refused them to its subjects, had +formerly triumphantly claimed and asserted in the mother-country, with +far greater violence and disorder than were occasioned by their +resistance. + +They did not, to speak strictly, attempt a revolution. Their enterprise +was, no doubt, great and perilous. To achieve the conquest of their +independence, they had to go through a war with a powerful enemy, and +the construction of a central government in the place of the distant +power whose yoke they threw off: but in their local institutions, and +those which regarded the daily affairs of life, they had no revolution +to make. Each of the colonies already enjoyed a free government as to +its internal affairs, and when it became a state found little change +necessary or desirable in the maxims and organization of power. There +was no ancient order of things to fear, to hate, to destroy; the +attachment to the ancient laws and manners, the affectionate reverence +for the past, were, on the contrary, the general sentiments of the +people. The colonial government under the patronage of a distant +monarchy, was easily transformed into a republican government under a +federation of states. + +Of all the forms or modes of government, the republican is +unquestionably that to which the general and spontaneous assent of the +country is the most indispensable. It is possible to conceive of an +absolute monarchy founded by violence, and indeed such have existed; but +a republic forced upon a nation, popular government established contrary +to the instinct and the wishes of a people--this is a spectacle +revolting equally to common sense and to justice. The Anglo-American +colonies, in their transition, into the republic of the United States, +had no such difficulty to surmount; the Republic was the full and free +choice of the people; and in adopting that form of government they did +but accomplish the national wish, and develop instead of overturning +their existing institutions. + +Nor was the perturbation greater in social than in political order. +There were no conflicts between different classes, no violent transfer +of influence from one order of men to another. Though the crown of +England had still partisans in the colonies, their attachment had +nothing to do with their position in the scale of society; indeed the +wealthy and important families were in general the most firmly resolved +on the conquest of their independence and the foundation of a new +system. Under their direction the people acted, and the event was +accomplished. And if society underwent no revolution, so neither did +men's minds. The philosophical ideas of the eighteenth century, its +moral skepticism and its religious unbelief, had no doubt penetrated +into the United States, and had obtained some circulation there; but the +minds to which they found entrance were not entirely carried away by +them; they did not take root there with their fundamental principles and +their ultimate consequences: the moral gravity and the practical good +sense of the old Puritans survived in most of the admirers of the French +philosophers in America. The mass of the population remained profoundly +Christian, as warmly attached to its creed as to its liberties. + +While they rebelled against the authority of the King and the Parliament +of England, they were submissive to the will of God and the precepts of +the Gospel, and while struggling for independence, they were governed by +the same faith which had conducted their ancestors to this land, where +they laid the foundations of what was now rising into a state. + +The ideas and passions which now convulse and disorganize society under +the name of democracy, have an extensive and powerful sway in the United +States, and ferment there with all the contagious errors and destructive +vices which they involve. But they have hitherto been controlled and +purified by Christianity, by the excellent political traditions, and the +strong habits of obedience to law, which, in the midst of liberty, +govern the population. Though anarchical principles are boldly +proclaimed on this vast theatre, principles of order and conservation +maintain their ground, and exercise a solid and energetic influence both +over society and over individual minds; their presence and their power +are every where felt, even in the party which especially claims the name +of democratic. They moderate its actions, and often save it, unknown to +itself, from its own intemperance. It is to these tutelary principles, +which presided over the origin of the American revolution, that it owes +it success. May Heaven grant that in the formidable struggle which they +have now to sustain on every side, they may continue to guide this +powerful people, and may be always at hand to warn them in time of the +abysses which lie so near their path! + +Three great men, Cromwell, William III., and Washington, stand forth in +history as the heads and representatives of those supreme crises which +have determined the fate of two great nations. For extent and energy of +natural talents, Cromwell is perhaps the most remarkable of the three. +His mind was wonderfully prompt, firm, just, supple, and inventive, and +he possessed a vigor of character which no obstacle could daunt, no +conflict weary; he pursued his designs with an ardor as exhaustless as +his patience, whether through the slowest and most tortuous ways, or the +most abrupt and daring. He excelled equally in winning men, and in +ruling them by personal and familiar intercourse; he displayed equal +ability in leading an army or a party. He had the instinct of popularity +and the gift of authority, and he let loose factions with as much +audacity as he subdued them. But born in the midst of a revolution, and +raised to sovereign power by a succession of violent shocks, his genius +was, from first to last, essentially revolutionary; and though he was +taught by experience the necessity of order and government, he was +incapable of either respecting or practicing the moral and permanent +laws on which alone government can rest. Whether it was the fault of his +nature, or the vice of his position, he wanted regularity and calmness +in the exercise of power; had instant recourse to extreme measures, like +a man constantly in dread of mortal dangers, and, by the violence of his +remedies, perpetuated or even aggravated the evils which he sought to +cure. The establishment of a government is a work which requires a more +regular course, and one more conformable to the eternal laws of moral +order. Cromwell was able to subjugate the revolution he had so largely +contributed to make, but he did not succeed in establishing any thing in +the place of what he had destroyed. + +Though less powerful than Cromwell by nature, William III., and +Washington succeeded in the undertaking in which he failed; they fixed +the destiny and founded the government of their country. Even in the +midst of a revolution they never accepted nor practiced a revolutionary +policy; they never placed themselves in that fatal situation in which a +man first uses anarchical violence as a stepping-stone to power, and +then despotic violence as a necessity entailed upon him by its +possession. They were naturally placed, or they placed themselves, in +the regular ways and under the permanent conditions of government. +William was an ambitious prince. It is puerile to believe that, up to +the moment of the appeal sent to him from London in 1688, he had been +insensible to the desire of ascending the throne of England, or ignorant +of the schemes long going on to raise him to it. William followed the +progress of these schemes step by step; he accepted no share in the +means, but he did not repel the end, and, without directly encouraging, +he protected its authors. His ambition was ennobled by the greatness and +justice of the cause to which it was attached--the cause of religious +liberty and of the balance of power in Europe. Never did man make a vast +political design more exclusively the thought and purpose of his life +than William did. The work which he accomplished on the field or in the +cabinet was his passion; his own aggrandizement was but the means to +that end. Whatever were his views on the crown of England, he never +attempted to realize them by violence and disorder. His mind was too +well regulated not to know the incurable vice of such means, and too +lofty to accept the yoke they impose. But when the career was opened to +him by England herself, he did not suffer himself to be deterred from +entering on it by the scruples of a private man; he wished his cause to +triumph, and he wished to reap the honor of the triumph. Rare and +glorious mixture of worldly ability and Christian faith, of personal +ambition and devotion to public ends! + +Washington had no ambition; his country wanted him to serve her, and he +became great rather from a sense of duty than from taste; sometimes even +with a painful effort. The trials of his public life were bitter to him; +he preferred independence and repose to the exercise of power. But he +accepted, without hesitation, the task which his country imposed on him, +and in fulfilling it did nothing to diminish its burden. Born to govern, +though he had no delight in governing, he told the American people what +he believed to be true, and persisted in doing what he thought wise, +with a firmness as unshaken as it was simple, and a sacrifice of +popularity the more meritorious as it was not compensated by the +pleasures of domination. The servant of an infant republic, in which the +democratic spirit prevailed, he won the confidence of the people by +maintaining its interests in opposition to its inclinations. While +founding a new government, he practiced that policy, at once modest and +severe, measured and independent, which seems to belong only to the head +of an aristocratic senate ruling over an ancient state. His success does +equal honor to Washington and to his country. + +Whether we consider the general destiny of nations, or the lives of the +great men whom they have produced; whether we are treating of a monarchy +or a republic, an aristocratic or a democratic society, we gather the +same light from facts; we see that the same laws determine the ultimate +success or failure of governments. The policy which preserves and +maintains a state in its ancient security and customary order is also +the only policy that can bring a revolution to a successful close, and +give stability to the institutions whose lasting excellence may justify +it to succeeding ages. + + + + +FIFTY YEARS AGO. + + +My father, whose manners were at once highbred and lively, had some +great acquaintances; but I recollect none of them personally, except an +old lady of quality, who (if memory does not strangely deceive me, and +give me a personal share in what I only heard talked of; for old +autobiographers of childhood must own themselves liable to such +confusions) astounded me one day by letting her false teeth slip out, +and clapping them in again. + +I had no idea of the existence of such phenomena, and could almost as +soon have expected her to take off her head and readjust it. She lived +in Red Lion-square, a quarter in different estimation from what it is +now. It was at her house, I believe, that my father one evening met +Wilkes. He did not know him by sight, and happening to fall into +conversation with him, while the latter sat looking down, he said +something in Wilkes's disparagement, on which the jovial demagogue +looked up in his face, and burst out a laughing. + +I do not exactly know how people dressed at that time; but I believe +that sacks, and negligées, and toupees were going out, and the pigtail +and the simpler modern style of dress coming in. I recollect hearing my +mother describe the misery of having her hair dressed two or three +stories high, and of lying in it all night ready for some visit or +spectacle next day. I think I also recollect seeing Wilkes himself in an +old-fashioned flap-waistcoated suit of scarlet and gold; and I am sure I +have seen Murphy, the dramatist, a good deal later, in a suit of a like +fashion, though soberer, and a large cocked-hat. The cocked-hat in +general survived till nearly the present century. It was superseded by +the round one during the French Revolution. I remember our steward at +school, a very solemn personage, making his appearance in one, to our +astonishment, and not a little to the diminution of his dignity. Some +years later, I saw Mr. Pitt in a blue coat, buckskin breeches and boots, +and a round hat, with powder and pigtail. He was thin and gaunt, with +his hat off his forehead, and his nose in the air. Much about the same +time I saw his friend, the first Lord Liverpool, a respectable looking +old gentleman, in a brown wig. Later still, I saw Mr. Fox, fat and +jovial, though he was then declining. He, who had been a "beau" in his +youth, then looked something quaker-like as to dress, with plain colored +clothes, a broad round hat, white waistcoat, and, if I am not mistaken, +white stockings. He was standing in Parliament-street, just where the +street commences as you leave Whitehall; and was making two young +gentlemen laugh heartily at something which he seemed to be relating. + +My father once took me--but I can not say at what period of my +juvenility--into both houses of Parliament. In the Commons, I saw Mr. +Pitt sawing the air, and occasionally turning to appeal to those about +him, while he spoke in a loud, important, and hollow voice. When the +persons he appealed to, said "Hear! hear!" I thought they said "Dear! +dear!" in objection; and I wondered that he did not seem in the least +degree disconcerted. The house of Lords, I must say (without meaning +disrespect to an assembly which must always have contained some of the +most accomplished men in the country), surprised me with the personally +insignificant look of its members. I had, to be sure, conceived +exaggerated notions of the magnates of all countries; and perhaps might +have expected to behold a set of conscript fathers; but in no respect, +real or ideal, did they appear to me in their corporate aspect, like any +thing which is understood by the word "noble." The Commons seemed to me +to have the advantage; though they surprised me with lounging on the +benches, and retaining their hats. I was not then informed enough to +know the difference between apparent and substantial importance; much +less aware of the positive exaltation, which that very simplicity, and +that absence of pretension, gave to the most potent assembly in +Europe.--_Leigh Hunt's Autobiography._ + + + + +[From Household Words.] + +A PARIS NEWSPAPER. + + +Within the precincts of that resort for foreigners and provincials in +Paris, the Palais Royal, is situate the Rue du 24 Fevrier. This +revolutionary name, given after the last outbreak, is still pronounced +with difficulty by those who, of old, were wont to call it the Rue de +Valois. People are becoming accustomed to call the royally named street +by its revolutionary title, although it is probable that no one will +ever succeed in calling the Palais Royal Palais National; the force of +habit being in this instance too great to efface old recollections. Few +foreigners have ever penetrated into the Rue de 24 Fevrier, though it +forms one of the external galleries of the Palais Royal, and one may see +there the smoky kitchens, dirty cooks, the night-side in fact, of the +splendid restaurants, whose gilt fronts attract attention inside. +Rubicund apples, splendid game, truffles, and ortolans, deck the one +side; smoke, dirty plates, rags, and smutty saucepans may be seen on the +other. + +It is from an office in the Rue de 24 Fevrier, almost opposite the dark +side of a gorgeous Palais Royal restaurant, that issue 40,000 copies of +a daily print, entitled the "Constitutionnel." + +Newspaper offices, be it remarked, are always to be found in odd holes +and corners. To the mass in London, Printing-house square, or +Lombard-street, Whitefriars, are mystical localities; yet they are the +daily birth-places of that fourth estate which fulminates anathemas on +all the follies and weaknesses of governments; and, without which, no +one can feel free or independent. The "Constitutionnel" office is about +as little known to the mass of its subscribers as either Printing-house +square or Whitefriars. + +There is always an old and respectable look about the interior of +newspaper establishments, in whatever country you may find them. For +rusty dinginess, perhaps, there is nothing to equal a London office, +with its floors strewed with newspapers from all parts of the world, +parliamentary reports, and its shelves creaking under books of all +sorts, thumbed to the last extremity. Notwithstanding these appearances, +however, there is discipline--there is real order in the apparent +disorder of things. Those newspapers that are lying in heaps have to be +accurately filed; those books of reference can be pounced upon when +wanted, on the instant; and as to reports, the place of each is as well +known as if all labeled and ticketed with the elaborate accuracy of a +public library. + +Not less rusty and not less disorderly is the appearance of a French +newspaper office; but how different the aspect of things from what you +see in England! + +Over the office of the "Constitutionnel" is a dingy tricolor flag. A few +broken steps lead to a pair of folding-doors. Inside is the sanctuary of +the office, guarded by that flag as if by the honor of the country: for +tricolor represents all Frenchmen, be he prince or proletarian. + +You enter through a narrow passage flanked with wire cages, in which are +confined for the day the clerks who take account of advertisements and +subscriptions. Melancholy objects seem these caged birds, whose hands +alone emerge at intervals through the pigeon-holes made for the purpose +of taking in money and advertisements. The universal beard and mustache +that ornament their chins, look, however, more unbusiness-like than are +the men really. They are shrewd and knowing birds that are inclosed in +these wire cages. + +At publishing time, boys rushing in for papers, as in London offices, +are not here to be seen. The reason of this is simple: French newspaper +proprietors prefer doing their work themselves--they will have no middle +men. They serve all their customers by quarterly, yearly, or half-yearly +subscriptions. In every town in France there are subscription offices +for this journal, as well, indeed, as for all great organs of the press +generally. There are regular forms set up like registers at the +post-office, and all of these are gathered at the periodical renewal of +subscriptions to the central office. The period of renewal is every +fortnight. + +Passing still further up the narrow and dim passage, one sees a +pigeon-hole, over which is written the word "Advertisements." This +superscription is now supererogatory, for there no advertisements are +received; that branch of the journal having been farmed out to a company +at 350,000 fr. a year. This is a system which evidently saves a vast +deal of trouble. The Advertising Company of Paris has secured almost a +monopoly of announcements and puffs. It has bought up the last page of +nearly every Paris journal which owns the patronage and confidence of +the advertising public of the French capital. At the end of the same +dark passages are the rooms specially used for the editors and writers. +In France, journals are bought for their polemics, and not for their +news: many of them have fallen considerably, however, from the high +estate which they held in public opinion previous to the last +revolution. There are men who wrote in them to advocate and enforce +principles, but in the chopping and changing times that France lives in, +it is not unusual to find the same men with different principles, +interest, or gain, being the object of each change. This result of +revolution might have been expected; and though it would be unfair to +involve the whole press in a sweeping accusation, cases in point have +been sufficiently numerous to cause a want of confidence in many +quarters against the entire press. + +The doings of newspaper editors are not catalogued in print at Paris, as +in America; but their influence being more occult, is not the less +powerful, and it is this feeling that leads people to pay more attention +to this or that leading article than to mere news. The announcement of a +treaty having been concluded between certain powers of Europe, may not +lower the funds; but if an influential journal expresses an opinion that +certain dangers are to be apprehended from the treaty in question, the +exchanges will be instantly affected. This is an instance among many +that the French people are to be led in masses. Singly they have +generally no ideas, either politically or commercially. + +The importance of a journal being chiefly centered in that portion +specially devoted to politics, the writers of which are supposed, right +or wrong, to possess certain influences, it is not astonishing the +editorial offices have few occupants. The editorial department of the +"Constitutionnel" wears a homely appearance, but borrows importance from +the influence that is wielded in it--writers decorated with the red +ribbon are not unfrequently seen at work in it. In others, and +especially in the editorial offices of some journals, may be seen, +besides the pen, more offensive weapons, such as swords and pistols. +This is another result of the personal system of journalism. As in +America, the editor may find himself in the necessity of defending his +arguments by arms. He is too notorious to be able to resort to the +stratagem of a well-known wit, who kept a noted boxer in his front +office to represent the editor in hostile encounters. He goes out, +therefore, to fight a duel, on which sometimes depends not only his own +fate, but that of his journal. + +With regard to the personal power of a newspaper name, it is only +necessary in order to show how frequently it still exists, to state that +the provisional government of February, 1848, was concocted in a +newspaper office, and the revolution of 1830 was carried on by the +editors of a popular journal--that among the lower orders in France, at +the present time, the names that are looked up to as those of chiefs, +belong to newspaper editors, whose leading articles are read and +listened to in cheap newspaper clubs, and whose "orders" are followed as +punctually and as certainly as those of a general by his troops. A +certain class of French politicians may be likened to sheep: they follow +their "leaders." + +The smallness of the number of officials in a French newspaper office is +to be accounted for from the fact that parliamentary debates are +transcribed on the spot where the speeches are made; and the reporting +staff never stirs from the legislative assembly. The divers corps of +reporters for Paris journals form a corporation, with its aldermen, or +syndici, and other minor officers. Each reporter is relieved every two +minutes; and while his colleagues are succeeding each other with the +same rapidity, he transcribes the notes taken during his two minutes' +"turn." The result of this revolving system is collated and arranged by +a gentleman selected for the purpose. This mode of proceeding insures, +if necessary, the most verbatim transmission of an important speech, and +more equably divides the work, than does the English system, where each +reporter takes notes for half or three quarters of an hour, and spends +two or three hours, and sometimes four or five, to transcribe his notes. +The French parliamentary reporter is not the dispassionate auditor which +the English one is. He applauds or condemns the orators, cheers or hoots +with all the vehemence of an excited partisan. + +"Penny-a-liners" are unknown in Paris; the foreign and home intelligence +being elaborated in general news' offices, independent of the +newspapers. It is there that all the provincial journals are received, +the news of the day gathered up, digested, and multiplied by means of +lithography; which is found more efficacious than the stylet and oiled +"flimsy" paper of our Penny-a-liners. It is from these latter places +too, that the country journals, as well as many of the foreign press, +the German, the Belgium, and the Spanish, are supplied with Paris news. +England is a good market, as most of our newspapers are wealthy enough +to have correspondents of their own. + +My first visit to the "Constitutionnel" was in the day-time, and I +caught the editor as he was looking over some of his proofs. Their +curious appearance led me to ask how they were struck off, and, in order +to satisfy me, he led the way up a dark stair, from which we entered +upon the composing-rooms of the premises. These, in appearance, were +like all other composing-rooms that I had seen; the forms, and cases for +the type, were similar to those in London; the men themselves had that +worn and pale look which characterizes the class to which they belong, +and their pallor was not diminished by their wearing of the long beard +and mustache. Their unbuttoned shirts and bare breasts, the short clay +pipe, reminded me of the heroes of the barricades; indeed, I have every +reason to know that these very compositors are generally foremost in +revolutions; and though they often print ministerial articles, they are +not sharers in the opinions which they help to spread. The head printer +contracts for the printing, and chooses his men where he can find them +best. As a body, these men were provident, I was told, and all +subscribed to a fund for their poor, their orphans and widows; they form +a sort of trade union, and have very strict regulations. + +I found a most remarkable want of convenience in the working of the +types. For instance, there were no galleys, or longtitudinal trays, on +which to place the type when it was set up; but when a small quantity +had been put together in column on a broad copper table, a string was +passed round it to keep it together. Nor was there any hand-press for +taking proofs; and here I found the explanation of the extraordinary +appearance of the proofs I had seen below. For when I asked to have one +struck off, the head printer placed a sheet of paper over the type, and +with a great brush beat it in, giving the proof a sunken and embossed +appearance, which it seemed to me would render correction exceedingly +difficult. The French, it seems, care not for improvement in this +respect, any more than the Chinese, whom the brush has served in place +of a printing-press for some three thousand years. + +This journal has, as I have said, from 40,000 to 50,000 subscribers, in +order to serve whom it was necessary that the presses should be at work +as early as eleven o'clock at night. But there is no difficulty in doing +this, where news not being the _sine quà non_ of journalism, provincial +and foreign intelligence is give as fresh, which in England would be +considered much behind in time. But even when commencing business at the +early hour above mentioned, I found that it had been necessary for the +paper to be composed twice over, in order to save time; and thus two +printers' establishments were required to bring out each number of the +journal in sufficient time for the country circulation by early morning +trains. The necessity for this double composition is still existing in +most of the French newspaper offices, but had been obviated here lately, +by the erection of a new printing-machine, which sufficed by the speed +of its working to print the given number of copies necessary for +satisfying the wants of each day. + +Having seen through the premises, and witnessed all that was interesting +in the day-time, I was politely requested to return in the evening, and +see the remaining process of printing the paper and getting it ready to +send out from the office. + +Punctually at eleven o'clock I was in the Rue du 24 Fevrier. Passing +through the offices which I had seen in the morning, I was led by a sort +of guide down to some passages dimly lighted with lamps. To the right +and to the left we turned, descending stone steps into the bowels of the +earth as it seemed to me; the walls oozing with slimy damp in some +parts; dry and saltpetry in others. A bundle of keys, which were +jingling in my guide's hand, made noises which reminded me of the +description of prisoners going down into the Bastile or Tower. At +another moment a sound of voices in the distance, reminded me of a scene +of desperate coiners in a cellar. + +These sounds grew louder, as we soon entered a vast stone cellar, in +which rudely dressed men, half-naked as to their breasts and arms, were +to be seen flitting to and fro at the command of a superior; their long +beards and grimy faces, their short pipes and dirty appearance, made +them look more like devils than men, and I bethought me that here, at +last, I had found that real animal--the printer's devil. + +There were two or three printing-presses in the room, only one of which +was going. Its rolling sound was like thunder in the cave, in which we +stood. As paper after paper flew out from the sides of this creaking +press, they were carried to a long table and piled up in heaps. + +Presently some of the stoutest men shouldered a mass of those, and my +conducter and myself following them, we entered a passage which led to +another cellar, contiguous to that in which the papers were printed. +There, sitting round a number of tables, were several young women. These +women seized upon a portion of the papers brought in, and with an +amazing rapidity folded them into a small compass. In a few minutes all +the papers I had seen printed were folded and numbered off by dozens. +Then comes another operation: a man came round and deposited before each +woman a bundle of little paper slips, which I found to be the addresses +of the subscribers. The women placed the labels and the paste on one +side, and commenced operations. A bundle of papers, folded, was placed +before each; the forefinger, dipped in the paste, immediately touched +the paper and the label simultaneously, and the "Constitutionnel" flew +out with a speed perfectly astonishing from the hands of these women, +ready to be distributed in down or country. They were then finishing the +labeling of the papers for Paris circulation; 20,000 copies scarcely +sufficing for the supply. + +This was the concluding sight in my visit to a Paris Newspaper-Office. + + + + +ON THE DEATH OF AN INFANT. + +TO A MOTHER. + +BY THE AUTHORESS OF "THE DISCIPLINE OF LIFE". + + + His languid eyes are closing, + On the pale, placid cheek, + The lashes dark reposing, + So wearily, so weak. + He gasps with failing breath, + A faint and feeble strife with death; + Fainter and fainter still--'tis past. + That one soft sigh--the last. + + Thy watching and thy fearing, + Mother, is over now; + The seal of death is bearing + That pale but angel brow, + And now in the deep calm + That follows days of wild alarm, + Thy heart sinks down, and weeps, and weeps, + O'er him who silent sleeps. + + Oh, Mother, hush thy crying, + The ill of life is o'er, + E'en now his wings are flying + Unto a happy shore; + Those wings of stainless white + Unfolded ne'er to earthly sight, + He spreads them now, they bear him high + Unto the angel company. + + From sight of evil shrinking, + From thought of grief like thine + At the first summons sinking + Into the arms divine. + Oh! thou who knowest life, + Temptation, trial, toil and strife, + Wilt thou not still thine aching breast + To bless his early rest? + + + + +[From the Autobiography of Leigh Hunt.] + +RECOLLECTIONS OF EMINENT MEN. + +BY LEIGH HUNT. + + +Just after this period I fell in with a new set of acquaintances, +accounts of whom may not be uninteresting. I forget what it was that +introduced me to Mr. Hill, proprietor of the _Monthly Mirror_; but at +his house at Sydenham I used to meet his editor, Du Bois; Thomas +Campbell, who was his neighbor; and the two Smiths, authors of _The +Rejected Addresses_. I saw also Theodore Hook, and Mathews, the +comedian. Our host was a jovial bachelor, plump and rosy as an abbot; +and no abbot could have presided over a more festive Sunday. The wine +flowed merrily and long; the discourse kept pace with it; and next +morning, in returning to town, we felt ourselves very thirsty. A pump by +the road-side, with a plash round it, was a bewitching sight. + +They who knew Mr. Campbell only as the author of _Gertrude of Wyoming_, +and the _Pleasures of Hope_, would not have suspected him to be a merry +companion, overflowing with humor and anecdote, and any thing but +fastidious. These Scotch poets have always something in reserve. It is +the only point in which the major part of them resemble their +countrymen. The mistaken character which the lady formed of Thomson from +his _Seasons_ is well known. He let part of the secret out in his +_Castle of Indolence_; and the more he let out, the more honor it did to +the simplicity and cordiality of the poet's nature, though not always to +the elegance of it. Allan Ramsay knew his friends Gay and Somerville as +well in their writings, as he did when he came to be personally +acquainted with them; but Allan, who had bustled up from a barber's shop +into a bookseller's, was "a cunning shaver;" and nobody would have +guessed the author of the _Gentle Shepherd_ to be penurious. Let none +suppose that any insinuation to that effect is intended against +Campbell. He was one of the few men whom I could at any time have walked +half a dozen miles through the snow to spend an evening with; and I +could no more do this with a penurious man than I could with a sulky +one. I know but of one fault he had, besides an extreme cautiousness in +his writings, and that one was national, a matter of words, and amply +overpaid by a stream of conversation, lively, piquant, and liberal, not +the less interesting for occasionally betraying an intimacy with pain, +and for a high and somewhat strained tone of voice, like a man speaking +with suspended breath, and in the habit of subduing his feelings. No man +felt more kindly toward his fellow-creatures, or took less credit for +it. When he indulged in doubt and sarcasm, and spoke contemptuously of +things in general, he did it, partly, no doubt, out of actual +dissatisfaction, but more perhaps than he suspected, out of a fear of +being thought weak and sensitive; which is a blind that the best men +very commonly practice. He professed to be hopeless and sarcastic, and +took pains all the while to set up a university (the London). + +When I first saw this eminent person, he gave me the idea of a French +Virgil. Not that he was like a Frenchman, much less the French +translator of Virgil. I found him as handsome, as the Abbé Delille is +said to have been ugly. But he seemed to me to embody a Frenchman's +ideal notion of the Latin poet; something a little more cut and dry than +I had looked for; compact and elegant, critical and acute, with a +consciousness of authorship upon him; a taste over-anxious not to commit +itself, and refining and diminishing nature as in a drawing-room mirror. +This fancy was strengthened in the course of conversation, by his +expatiating on the greatness of Racine. I think he had a volume of the +French poet in his hand. His skull was sharply cut and fine; with +plenty, according to the phrenologists, both of the reflective and +amative organs: and his poetry will bear them out. For a lettered +solitude, and a bridal properly got up, both according to law and +luxury, commend us to the lovely _Gertrude of Wyoming_. His face and +person were rather on a small scale; his features regular; his eye +lively and penetrating; and when he spoke, dimples played about his +mouth; which, nevertheless, had something restrained and close in it. +Some gentle puritan seemed to have crossed the breed, and to have left a +stamp on his face, such as we often see in the female Scotch face rather +than the male. But he appeared not at all grateful for this; and when +his critics and his Virgilianism were over, very unlike a puritan he +talked! He seemed to spite his restrictions; and, out of the natural +largeness of his sympathy with things high and low, to break at once out +of Delille's Virgil into Cotton's, like a boy let loose from school. +When I had the pleasure of hearing him afterward, I forgot his +Virgilianisms, and thought only of the delightful companion, the +unaffected philanthropist, and the creator of a beauty worth all the +heroines in Racine. + +Campbell tasted pretty sharply of the good and ill of the present state +of society, and, for a bookman, had beheld strange sights. He witnessed +a battle in Germany from the top of a convent (on which battle he has +left us a noble ode); and he saw the French cavalry enter a town, wiping +their bloody swords on the horses' manes. He was in Germany a second +time--I believe to purchase books; for in addition to his classical +scholarship, and his other languages, he was a reader of German. The +readers there, among whom he is popular, both for his poetry and his +love of freedom, crowded about him with affectionate zeal; and they gave +him, what he did not dislike, a good dinner. Like many of the great men +in Germany, Schiller, Wieland, and others, he did not scruple to become +editor of a magazine; and his name alone gave it a recommendation of the +greatest value, and such as made it a grace to write under him. + +I remember, one day at Sydenham, Mr. Theodore Hook coming in +unexpectedly to dinner, and amusing us very much with his talent at +extempore verse. He was then a youth, tall, dark, and of a good person, +with small eyes, and features more round than weak; a face that had +character and humor, but no refinement. His extempore verses were really +surprising. It is easy enough to extemporize in Italian--one only +wonders how, in a language in which every thing conspires to render +verse-making easy, and it is difficult to avoid rhyming, this talent +should be so much cried up--but in English it is another matter. I have +known but one other person besides Hook, who could extemporize in +English; and he wanted the confidence to do it in public. Of course, I +speak of rhyming. Extempore blank verse, with a little practice, would +be found as easy in English as rhyming is in Italian. In Hook the +faculty was very unequivocal. He could not have been aware of all the +visitors, still less of the subject of conversation when he came in, and +he talked his full share till called upon; yet he ran his jokes and his +verses upon us all in the easiest manner, saying something +characteristic of every body, or avoiding it with a pun; and he +introduced so agreeably a piece of village scandal upon which the party +had been rallying Campbell, that the poet, though not unjealous of his +dignity, was, perhaps, the most pleased of us all. Theodore afterward +sat down to the pianoforte, and enlarging upon this subject, made an +extempore parody of a modern opera, introducing sailors and their +clap-traps, rustics, &c., and making the poet and his supposed flame, +the hero and heroine. He parodied music as well as words, giving us the +most received cadences and flourishes, and calling to mind (not without +some hazard to his filial duties) the commonplaces of the pastoral songs +and duets of the last half century; so that if Mr. Dignum, the Damon of +Vauxhall, had been present, he would have doubted whether to take it as +an affront or a compliment. Campbell certainly took the theme of the +parody as a compliment; for having drank a little more wine than usual +that evening, and happening to wear a wig on account of having lost his +hair by a fever, he suddenly took off the wig, and dashed it at the head +of the performer, exclaiming, "You dog! I'll throw my laurels at you." + +Mathews, the comedian, I had the pleasure of seeing at Mr. Hill's +several times, and of witnessing his imitations, which, admirable as +they were on the stage, were still more so in private. His wife +occasionally came with him, with her handsome eyes, and charitably made +tea for us. Many years afterward I had the pleasure of seeing them at +their own table; and I thought that while Time, with unusual courtesy, +had spared the sweet countenance of the lady, he had given more force +and interest to that of the husband in the very plowing of it up. Strong +lines had been cut, and the face stood them well. I had seldom been more +surprised than on coming close to Mathews on that occasion, and seeing +the bust which he possessed in his gallery of his friend Liston. Some of +these comic actors, like comic writers, are as unfarcical as can be +imagined in their interior. The taste for humor comes to them by the +force of contrast. The last time I had seen Mathews, his face appeared +to me insignificant to what it was then. On the former occasion he +looked like an irritable in-door pet: on the latter, he seemed to have +been grappling with the world, and to have got vigor by it. His face had +looked out upon the Atlantic, and said to the old waves, "Buffet on; I +have seen trouble as well as you." The paralytic affection, or whatever +it was, that twisted his mouth when young, had formerly appeared to be +master of his face, and given it a character of indecision and alarm. It +now seemed a minor thing; a twist in a piece of old oak. And what a bust +was Liston's! The mouth and chin, with the throat under it, hung like an +old bag; but the upper part of the head was as fine as possible. There +was a speculation, a lookout, and even an elevation of character in it, +as unlike the Liston on the stage, as Lear is to King Pippin. One might +imagine Laberius to have had such a face. + +The reasons why Mathews's imitations were still better in private than +in public were, that he was more at his ease personally, more secure of +his audience ("fit though few"), and able to interest them with traits +of private character, which could not have been introduced on the stage. +He gave, for instance, to persons who he thought could take it rightly, +a picture of the manners and conversation of Sir Walter Scott, highly +creditable to that celebrated person, and calculated to add regard to +admiration. His commonest imitations were not superficial. Something of +the mind and character of the individual was always insinuated, often +with a dramatic dressing, and plenty of sauce piquante. At Sydenham he +used to give us a dialogue among the actors, each of whom found fault +with another for some defect or excess of his own. Kemble objecting to +stiffness, Munden to grimace, and so on. His representation of Incledon +was extraordinary: his nose seemed actually to become aquiline. It is a +pity I can not put upon paper, as represented by Mr. Mathews, the +singular gabblings of that actor, the lax and sailor-like twist of mind, +with which every thing hung upon him; and his profane pieties in quoting +the Bible; for which, and swearing, he seemed to have an equal +reverence. + +One morning, after stopping all night at this pleasant house, I was +getting up to breakfast, when I heard the noise of a little boy having +his face washed. Our host was a merry bachelor, and to the rosiness of a +priest might, for aught I knew, have added the paternity; but I had +never heard of it, and still less expected to find a child in his house. +More obvious and obstreperous proofs, however, of the existence of a boy +with a dirty face, could not have been met with. You heard the child +crying and objecting; then the woman remonstrating; then the cries of +the child snubbed and swallowed up in the hard towel; and at intervals +out came his voice bubbling and deploring, and was again swallowed up. +At breakfast, the child being pitied, I ventured to speak about it, and +was laughing and sympathizing in perfect good faith, when Mathews came +in, and I found that the little urchin was he. + +Of James Smith, a fair, stout, fresh-colored man, with round features, I +recollect little, except that he used to read to us trim verses, with +rhymes as pat as butter. The best of his verses are in the _Rejected +Addresses_; and they are excellent. Isaac Hawkins Browne with his _Pipe +of Tobacco_, and all the rhyming _jeux-d'esprit_ in all the Tracts, are +extinguished in the comparison; not excepting the _Probationary Odes_. +Mr. Fitzgerald found himself bankrupt in _non sequiturs_; Crabbe could +hardly have known which was which, himself or his parodist; and Lord +Byron confessed to me, that the summing up of his philosophy, to wit, +that + + "Naught is every thing, and every thing is naught," + +was very posing. Mr. Smith would sometimes repeat after dinner, with his +brother Horace, an imaginary dialogue, stuffed full of incongruities, +that made us roll with laughter. His ordinary verse and prose were too +full of the ridicule of city pretensions. To be superior to any thing, +it should not always be running in one's head. + +His brother Horace was delicious. Lord Byron used to say, that this +epithet should be applied only to eatables; and that he wondered a +friend of his (I forget who) that was critical in matters of eating, +should use it in any other sense. I know not what the present usage may +be in the circles, but classical authority is against his lordship, from +Cicero downward; and I am content with the modern warrant of another +noble wit, the famous Lord Peterborough, who, in his fine, open way, +said of Fenelon, that he was such a "delicious creature, he was forced +to get away from him, else he would have made him pious!" I grant there +is something in the word delicious which may be said to comprise a +reference to every species of pleasant taste. It is at once a +quintessence and a compound; and a friend, to deserve the epithet, +ought, perhaps, to be capable of delighting us as much over our wine, as +on graver occasions. Fenelon himself could do this, with all his piety; +or rather he could do it because his piety was of the true sort, and +relished of every thing that was sweet and affectionate. A finer nature +than Horace Smith's, except in the single instance of Shelley, I never +met with in man; nor even in that instance, all circumstances +considered, have I a right to say that those who knew him as intimately +as I did the other, would not have had the same reasons to love him. +Shelley himself had the highest regard for Horace Smith, as may be seen +by the following verses, the initials in which the reader has here the +pleasure of filling up: + + "Wit and sense, + Virtue and human knowledge, all that might + Make this dull world a business of delight, + Are all combined in H. S." + +Horace Smith differed with Shelley on some points; but on others, which +all the world agree to praise highly, and to practice very little, he +agreed so entirely, and showed unequivocally that he did agree, that, +with the exception of one person (Vincent Novello), too diffident to +gain such an honor from his friends, they were the only two men I had +then met with, from whom I could have received and did receive advice or +remonstrance with perfect comfort, because I could be sure of the +unmixed motives and entire absence of self-reflection, with which it +would come from them. Shelley said to me once, "I know not what Horace +Smith must take me for sometimes: I am afraid he must think me a strange +fellow: but is it not odd, that the only truly generous person I ever +knew, who had money to be generous with, should be a stockbroker! And he +writes poetry, too," continued Shelley, his voice rising in a fervor of +astonishment; "he writes poetry and pastoral dramas, and yet knows how +to make money, and does make it, and is still generous!" Shelley had +reason to like him. Horace Smith was one of the few men, who, through a +cloud of detraction, and through all that difference of conduct from the +rest of the world, which naturally excites obloquy, discerned the +greatness of my friend's character. Indeed, he became a witness to a +very unequivocal proof of it, which I shall mention by-and-by. The +mutual esteem was accordingly very great, and arose from circumstances +most honorable to both parties. "I believe," said Shelley on another +occasion, "that I have only to say to Horace Smith that I want a hundred +pounds or two, and he would send it me without any eye to its being +returned; such faith has he that I have something within me, beyond what +the world supposes, and that I could only ask his money for a good +purpose." And Shelley would have sent for it accordingly, if the person +for whom it was intended had not said Nay. I will now mention the +circumstance which first gave my friend a regard for Horace Smith. It +concerns the person just mentioned, who is a man of letters. It came to +Mr. Smith's knowledge, many years ago, that this person was suffering +under a pecuniary trouble. He knew little of him at the time, but had +met him occasionally; and he availed himself of this circumstance to +write him a letter as full of delicacy and cordiality as it could hold, +making it a matter of grace to accept a bank-note of £100 which he +inclosed. I speak on the best authority, that of the obliged person +himself; who adds that he not only did accept the money, but felt as +light and happy under the obligation, as he has felt miserable under the +very report of being obliged to some; and he says, that nothing could +induce him to withhold his name, but a reason, which the generous, +during his lifetime, would think becoming. + +I have said that Horace Smith was a stockbroker. He left business with a +fortune, and went to live in France, where, if he did not increase, he +did not seriously diminish it; and France added to the pleasant stock of +his knowledge. + +On returning to England, he set about exerting himself in a manner +equally creditable to his talents and interesting to the public. I would +not insult either the modesty or the understanding of my friend while he +was alive, by comparing him with the author of _Old Mortality_ and _Guy +Mannering_: but I ventured to say, and I repeat, that the earliest of +his novels, _Brambletye House_, ran a hard race with the novel of +_Woodstock_, and that it contained more than one character not unworthy +of the best volumes of Sir Walter. I allude to the ghastly troubles of +the Regicide in his lone house; the outward phlegm and merry inward +malice of Winky Boss (a happy name), who gravely smoked a pipe with his +mouth, and laughed with his eyes; and, above all, to the character of +the princely Dutch merchant, who would cry out that he should be ruined, +at seeing a few nutmegs dropped from a bag, and then go and give a +thousand ducats for an antique. This is hitting the high mercantile +character to a niceity--minute and careful in its means, princely in its +ends. If the ultimate effect of commerce (_permulti transibunt_, &c.) +were not something very different from what its pursuers imagine, the +character would be a dangerous one to society at large, because it +throws a gloss over the spirit of money-getting; but, meanwhile, nobody +could paint it better, or has a greater right to recommend it, than he +who has been the first to make it a handsome portrait. + +The personal appearance of Horace Smith, like that of most of the +individuals I have met with, was highly indicative of his character. His +figure was good and manly, inclining to the robust; and his countenance +extremely frank and cordial; sweet without weakness. I have been told he +was irascible. If so, it must have been no common offense that could +have irritated him. He had not a jot of it in his appearance. + +Another set of acquaintances which I made at this time used to assemble +at the hospitable table of Mr. Hunter, the bookseller, in St. Paul's +Church-yard. They were the survivors of the literary party that were +accustomed to dine with his predecessor, Mr. Johnson. They came, as of +old, on the Friday. The most regular were Fuseli and Bonnycastle. Now +and then, Godwin was present: oftener Mr. Kinnaird the magistrate, a +great lover of Horace. + +Fuseli was a small man, with energetic features, and a white head of +hair. Our host's daughter, then a little girl, used to call him the +white-headed lion. He combed his hair up from the forehead; and, as his +whiskers were large, his face was set in a kind of hairy frame, which, +in addition to the fierceness of his look, really gave him an aspect of +that sort. Otherwise, his features were rather sharp than round. He +would have looked much like an old military officer, if his face, +besides its real energy, had not affected more. There was the same +defect in it as in his pictures. Conscious of not having all the +strength he wished, he endeavored to make out for it by violence and +pretension. He carried this so far, as to look fiercer than usual when +he sat for his picture. His friend and engraver, Mr. Houghton, drew an +admirable likeness of him in this state of dignified extravagance. He is +sitting back in his chair, leaning on his hand, but looking ready to +pounce withal. His notion of repose was like that of Pistol: + + "Now, Pistol, lay thy head in Furies' lap." + +Agreeably to this over-wrought manner, he was reckoned, I believe, not +quite so bold as he might have been. He painted horrible pictures, as +children tell horrible stories; and was frightened at his own +lay-figures. Yet he would hardly have talked as he did about his +terrors, had he been as timid as some supposed him. With the affected, +impression is the main thing, let it be produced how it may. A student +of the Academy told me, that Mr. Fuseli coming in one night, when a +solitary candle had been put on the floor in a corner of the room, to +produce some effect or other, he said it looked "like a damned soul." +This was by way of being Dantesque, as Michael Angelo was. Fuseli was an +ingenious caricaturist of that master, making great bodily displays of +mental energy, and being ostentatious with his limbs and muscles, in +proportion as he could not draw them. A leg or an arm was to be thrust +down one's throat, because he knew we should dispute the truth of it. In +the indulgence of this willfulness of purpose, generated partly by +impatience of study, partly by want of sufficient genius, and, no doubt, +also by a sense of superiority to artists who could do nothing but draw +correctly, he cared for no time, place, or circumstance, in his +pictures. A set of prints, after his designs, for Shakspeare and Cowper, +exhibit a chaos of mingled genius and absurdity, such as, perhaps, was +never before seen. He endeavored to bring Michael Angelo's apostles and +prophets, with their superhuman ponderousness of intention, into the +common-places of modern life. A student reading in a garden, is all over +intensity of muscle; and the quiet tea-table scene in Cowper, he has +turned into a preposterous conspiracy of huge men and women, all bent on +showing their thews and postures, with dresses as fantastical as their +minds. One gentleman, of the existence of whose trowsers you are not +aware till you see the terminating line at the ankle, is sitting and +looking grim on a sofa, with his hat on and no waistcoat. Yet there is +real genius in his designs for Milton, though disturbed, as usual, by +strainings after the energetic. His most extraordinary mistake, after +all, is said to have been on the subject of his coloring. It was a sort +of livid green, like brass diseased. Yet they say, that when praised for +one of his pictures, he would modestly observe, "It is a pretty color." +This might have been thought a jest on his part, if remarkable stories +were not told of the mistakes made by other people with regard to color. +Sight seems the least agreed upon, of all the senses. + +Fuseli was lively and interesting in conversation, but not without his +usual faults of violence and pretension. Nor was he always as decorous +as an old man ought to be; especially one whose turn of mind is not of +the lighter and more pleasurable cast. The licenses he took were coarse, +and had not sufficient regard to his company. Certainly they went a +great deal beyond his friend Armstrong; to whose account, I believe, +Fuseli's passion for swearing was laid. The poet condescended to be a +great swearer, and Fuseli thought it energetic to swear like him. His +friendship with Bonnycastle had something child-like and agreeable in +it. They came and went away together, for years, like a couple of old +schoolboys. They, also, like boys, rallied one another, and sometimes +made a singular display of it--Fuseli, at least, for it was he that was +the aggressor. + +Bonnycastle was a good fellow. He was a tall, gaunt, long-headed man, +with large features and spectacles, and a deep, internal voice, with a +twang of rusticity in it; and he goggled over his plate, like a horse. I +often thought that a bag of corn would have hung well on him. His laugh +was equine, and showed his teeth upward at the sides. Wordsworth, who +notices similar mysterious manifestations on the part of donkeys, would +have thought it ominous. Bonnycastle was passionately fond of quoting +Shakspeare, and telling stories; and if the _Edinburgh Review_ had just +come out, would give us all the jokes in it. He had once an +hypochondriacal disorder of long duration; and he told us, that he +should never forget the comfortable sensation given him one night during +this disorder, by his knocking a landlord, that was insolent to him, +down the man's staircase. On the strength of this piece of energy +(having first ascertained that the offender was not killed) he went to +bed, and had a sleep of unusual soundness. Perhaps Bonnycastle thought +more highly of his talents than the amount of them strictly warranted; a +mistake to which scientific men appear to be more liable than others, +the universe they work in being so large, and their universality (in +Bacon's sense of the word) being often so small. But the delusion was +not only pardonable, but desirable, in a man so zealous in the +performance of his duties, and so much of a human being to all about +him, as Bonnycastle was. It was delightful one day to hear him speak +with complacency of a translation which had appeared of one of his books +in Arabic, and which began by saying, on the part of the translator, +that "it had pleased God, for the advancement of human knowledge, to +raise us up a Bonnycastle." Some of his stories were a little romantic, +and no less authentic. He had an anecdote of a Scotchman, who boasted of +being descended from the Admirable Crichton; in proof of which, the +Scotchman said he had "a grit quantity of table-leenen in his +possassion, marked A. C., Admirable Creechton." + +Kinnaird, the magistrate, was a stout, sanguine man, under the middle +height, with a fine, lamping black eye, lively to the last, and a person +that "had increased, was increasing, and ought to have been diminished;" +which is by no means what he thought of the prerogative. Next to his +bottle he was fond of his Horace; and, in the intervals of business at +the police-office, would enjoy both in his arm-chair. Between the vulgar +calls of this kind of magistracy, and the perusal of the urbane Horace, +there must have been a gusto of contradiction, which the bottle, +perhaps, was required to render quite palatable. Fielding did not love +his bottle the less for being obliged to lecture the drunken. Nor did +his son, who succeeded him in taste and office. I know not how a former +poet-laureat, Mr. Pye, managed; another man of letters who was fain to +accept a situation of this kind. Having been a man of fortune and a +member of Parliament, and loving his Horace to boot, he could hardly +have done without his wine. I saw him once in a state of scornful +indignation at being interrupted in the perusal of a manuscript by the +monitions of his police-officers, who were obliged to remind him, over +and over again, that he was a magistrate, and that the criminal +multitude were in waiting. Every time the door opened, he threatened and +he implored + + "Otium divos rogat in patenti + Prensus." + +Had you quoted this to Mr. Kinnaird, his eyes would have sparkled with +good-fellowship: he would have finished the verse and the bottle with +you, and proceeded to as many more as your head could stand. Poor +fellow, the last time I saw him, he was an apparition formidably +substantial. The door of our host's dining-room opened without my +hearing it, and, happening to turn round, I saw a figure in a great coat +literally almost as broad as it was long, and scarcely able to +articulate. He was dying of a dropsy, and was obliged to revive himself, +before he was fit to converse, by the wine that was killing him. But he +had cares besides, and cares of no ordinary description; and, for my +part, I will not blame even his wine for killing him, unless his cares +could have done it more agreeably. After dinner that day, he was +comparatively himself again, quoted his Horace as usual, talked of lords +and courts with a relish, and begged that _God save the King_ might be +played to him on the piano-forte; to which he listened, as if his soul +had taken its hat off. I believe he would have liked to die to _God save +the King_, and to have "waked and found those visions true." + + + + +[From Colburn's New Monthly Magazine.] + +ODE TO THE SUN. + +BY LEIGH HUNT. + + +The main object of this poem is to impress the beautiful and animating +fact, that the greatest visible agent in our universe, the Sun, is also +one of the most beneficent; and thus to lead to the inference, that +spiritual greatness and goodness are in like proportion, and its Maker +beneficence itself, through whatever apparent inconsistencies he may +work. The Sun is at once the greatest Might and Right that we behold. + +A secondary intention of the poem is to admonish the carelessness with +which people in general regard the divinest wonders of the creation, in +consequence of being used to their society--this great and glorious +mystery, the Sun, not excepted. "Familiarity," it is said, "breeds +contempt." To which somebody emphatically added, "With the +contemptible." I am far from meaning to say that all who behold the Sun +with too little thought are contemptible. Habit does strange things, +even with the most reflecting. But of this I am sure, that in proportion +as any body wishes to prove himself worthy of his familiarity with great +objects, he will not be sorry to be reminded of their greatness, +especially as reverence need not diminish delight; for a heavenly +"Father" can no more desire the admiration of him to be oppressive to +us, than an earthly one; else fatherliness would be unfatherly, and +sunshine itself a gloom. + +When the Florentines crowded to some lectures of Galileo, because they +were on a comet which had just made its appearance, the philosopher was +bold enough to rebuke them for showing such a childish desire to hear +him on this particular subject, when they were in the habit of +neglecting the marvels of creation which daily presented themselves to +their eyes. + + +ODE TO THE SUN. + + Presence divine! Great lord of this our sphere! + Bringer of light, and life, and joy, and beauty-- + God midst a million gods, that far and near + Hold each his orbs in rounds of rapturous duty;[A] + Oh, never may I, while I lift this brow, + Believe in any god _less_ like a god than thou. + + Thou art the mightiest of all things we see, + And thou, the mightiest, art among the kindest; + The planets, dreadfully and easily, + About thee, as in sacred sport, thou windest; + And thine illustrious hands, for all that power, + Light soft on the babe's cheek, and nurse the budding flower. + + They say that in thine orb is movement dire, + Tempest and flame, as on a million oceans: + Well may it be, thou heart of heavenly fire; + Such looks and smiles befit a god's emotions, + We know thee gentle in the midst of all, + By those smooth orbs in heaven, this sweet fruit on the wall. + + I feel thee, here, myself, soft on my hand; + Around me is thy mute, celestial presence, + Reverence and awe would make me fear to stand + Within thy beam, were not all Good its essence: + Were not all Good its essence, and from thence + All good, glad heart deriv'd, and child-like confidence. + + I know that there is Fear, and Grief, and Pain, + Strange foes, though stranger guardian friends of Pleasure: + I know that poor men lose, and rich men gain, + Though oft th' unseen adjusts the seeming measure; + I know that Guile may teach, while Truth must bow, + Or bear contempt and shame on his benignant brow. + + But while thou sit'st, mightier than all, O Sun, + And e'en when sharpest felt, still throned in kindness. + I see that greatest and that best are one, + And that all else works tow'rd it, though in blindness + Evil I see, and Fear, and Grief, and Pain, + Work under Good, their lord, embodied in thy reign. + + I see the molten gold darkly refine + O'er the great sea of human joy and sorrow, + I bear the deep voice of a grief divine + Calling sweet notes to some diviner morrow, + And though I know not how the two may part, + I feel thy rays, O Sun, write it upon my heart. + + Upon my heart thou writest it, as thou, + Heart of these worlds, art writ on by a greater: + Beam'd on with love from some still mightier brow, + Perhaps by that which waits some new relater; + Some amaz'd man, who sees new splendors driven + Thick round a Sun of suns, and fears he looks at heaven.[B] + + 'Tis easy for vain man, Time's growing child, + To dare pronounce on thy material seeming: + Heav'n, for its own good ends, is mute and mild + To many a wrong of man's presumptuous dreaming. + Matter, or mind, of either, what knows he? + Or how with more than both thine orb divine may be! + + Art thou a god, indeed? or thyself heaven? + And do we taste thee here in light and flowers? + Art thou the first sweet place, where hearts, made even, + Sing tender songs in earth-remembering bowers? + Enough, my soul. Enough through thee, O Sun, + To learn the sure good song--Greatest and Best are one. + + Enough for man to work, to hope, to love, + Copying thy zeal untir'd, thy smile unscorning: + Glad to see gods thick as the stars above, + Bright with the God of gods' eternal morning; + Round about whom perchance endless they go, + Ripening their earths to heavens, as love and wisdom grow. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[A] _Rapturous_--transporting, carrying away. The reader can take the +word either in its spiritual or material sense, or both; according as he +agrees or disagrees with Keppler and others respecting the nature of the +planetary bodies. + +[B] Alluding to a central sun; that is to say, a sun governing other +suns, which is supposed to exist in the Constellation Hercules. + + + + +[From Household Words.] + +TWO-HANDED DICK THE STOCKMAN. + +AN ADVENTURE IN THE BUSH. + + +Traveling in the Bush one rainy season, I put up for the night at a +small, weather-bound inn, perched half way up a mountain range, where +several Bush servants on the tramp had also taken refuge from the +down-pouring torrents. I had had a long and fatiguing ride over a very +bad country, so, after supper, retired into the furthest corner of the +one room, that served for "kitchen, and parlor, and all," and there, +curled up in my blanket, in preference to the bed offered by our host, +which was none of the cleanest; with half shut eyes, I glumly puffed at +my pipe in silence, allowing the hubble-bubble of the Bushmen's gossip +to flow through my unnoting ears. + +Fortunately for my peace, the publican's stock of rum had been some time +exhausted, and as I was the latest comer, all the broiling and frying +had ceased, but a party sat round the fire, evidently set in for a spell +at "yarning." At first the conversation ran in ordinary channels, such +as short reminiscences of old world rascality, perils in the Bush. Till +at length a topic arose which seemed to have a paramount interest for +all. This was the prowess of a certain Two-handed Dick the Stockman. + +"Yes, yes; I'll tell you what it is, mates," said one; "this confounded +reading and writing, that don't give plain fellows like you and me a +chance; now if it were to come to fighting for a living, I don't care +whether it was half-minute time and London rules, rough and tumble, or +single stick, or swords and bayonets, or tomahawks--I'm dashed if you +and me, and Two-handed Dick, wouldn't take the whole Legislative +Council, the Governor and Judges--one down t'other come on. Though, to +be sure, Dick could thrash any two of us." + +I was too tired to keep awake, and dozed off, to be again and again +disturbed with cries of "Bravo, Dick!" "That's your sort!" "Houray, +Dick!" all signifying approval of that individual's conduct in some +desperate encounter, which formed the subject of a stirring narrative. + +For months after that night this idea of Two-handed Dick haunted me, but +the bustle of establishing a new station at length drove it out of my +head. + +I suppose a year had elapsed from the night when the fame of the +double-fisted stockman first reached me. I had to take a three days' +journey to buy a score of fine-wooled rams, through a country quite new +to me, which I chose because it was a short-cut recently discovered. I +got over, the first day, forty-five miles comfortably. The second day, +in the evening, I met an ill-looking fellow walking with a broken +musket, and his arm in a sling. He seemed sulky, and I kept my hand on +my double-barreled pistol all the time I was talking to him; he begged a +little tea and sugar, which I could not spare, but I threw him a fig of +tobacco. In answer to my questions about his arm, he told me, with a +string of oaths, that a bull, down in some mimosa flats, a day's journey +ahead, had charged him, flung him into a water-hole, broken his arm, and +made him lose his sugar and tea bag. Bulls in Australia are generally +quiet, but this reminded me that some of the Highland black cattle +imported by the Australian Company, after being driven off by a party of +Gully Rakees (cattle stealers), had escaped into the mountains and +turned quite wild. Out of this herd, which was of a breed quite unsuited +to the country, a bull sometimes, when driven off by a stronger rival, +would descend to the mimosa flats, and wander about, solitary and +dangerously fierce. + +It struck me, as I rode off, that it was quite as well my friend's arm +and musket had been disabled, for he did not look the sort of man it +would be pleasant to meet in a thicket of scrub, if he fancied the horse +you rode. So, keeping one eye over my shoulder, and a sharp look-out for +any other traveler of the same breed, I rode off at a brisk pace. I made +out afterward that my foot friend was Jerry Johnson, hung for shooting a +bullock-driver the following year. + +At sun-down, when I reached the hut where I had intended to sleep, I +found it deserted, and so full of fleas, I thought it better to camp +out; so I hobbled out old Gray-tail on the best piece of grass I could +find, which was very poor indeed. + +The next morning, when I went to look for my horse, he was nowhere to be +found. I put the saddle on my head and tracked him for hours; it was +evident the poor beast had been traveling away in search of grass. I +walked until my feet were one mass of blisters; at length, when about to +give up the search in despair, having quite lost the track on stony +ground, I came upon the marks quite fresh in a bit of swampy ground, and +a few hundred yards further found Master Gray-tail rolling in the mud of +a nearly dry water-hole as comfortably as possible. I put down the +saddle and called him; at that moment I heard a loud roar and crash in a +scrub behind me, and out rushed, at a terrific pace, a black Highland +bull charging straight at me. I had only just time to throw myself on +one side flat on the ground as he thundered by me. My next move was to +scramble among a small clump of trees, one of great size, the rest were +mere saplings. + +The bull having missed his mark, turned again, and first revenged +himself by tossing my saddle up in the air, until, fortunately, it +lodged in some bushes; then, having smelt me out, he commenced a circuit +round the trees, stamping, pawing, and bellowing frightfully. With his +red eyes, and long, sharp horns, he looked like a demon; I was quite +unarmed, having broken my knife the day before; my pistols were in my +holsters, and I was wearied to death. My only chance consisted in +dodging him round the trees until he should be tired out. Deeply did I +regret having left my faithful dogs Boomer and Bounder behind. + +The bull charged again and again, sometimes coming with such force +against the tree that he fell on his knees, sometimes bending the +saplings behind which I stood until his horns almost touched me. There +was not a branch I could lay hold of to climb up. How long this awful +game of "_touchwood_" lasted, I know not; it seemed hours; after the +first excitement of self-preservation passed off, weariness again took +possession of me, and it required all the instinct of self-preservation +to keep me on my feet; several times the bull left me for a few seconds, +pacing suddenly away, bellowing his malignant discontent; but before I +could cross over to a better position he always came back at full speed. +My tongue clave to the roof of my mouth, my eyes grew hot and misty, my +knees trembled under me, I felt it impossible to hold out until dark. At +length I grew desperate, and determined to make a run for the opposite +covert the moment the bull turned toward the water-hole again. I felt +sure I was doomed, and thought of it until I grew indifferent. The bull +seemed to know I was worn out, and grew more fierce and rapid in his +charges, but just when I was going to sit down under the great tree, and +let him do his worst, I heard the rattle of a horse among the rocks +above, and a shout that sounded like the voice of an angel. Then came +the barking of a dog, and the loud reports of a stockwhip, but the bull, +with his devilish eyes fixed on me, never moved. + +Up came a horseman at full speed; crack fell the lash on the black +bull's hide; out spirted the blood in a long streak. The bull turned +savagely--charged the horseman. The horse wheeled round just enough to +baffle him--no more--again the lash descended, cutting like a long, +flexible razor, but the mad bull was not to be beaten off by a whip: he +charged again and again; but he had met his match; right and left, as +needed, the horse turned, sometimes pivoting on his hind, sometime on +his fore-legs. + +The stockman shouted something, leapt from his horse, and strode forward +to meet the bull with an open knife between his teeth. As the beast +lowered his head to charge, he seemed to catch him by the horns. There +was a struggle, a cloud of dust, a stamping like two strong men +wrestling--I could not see clearly; but the next moment the bull was on +his back, the blood welling from his throat, his limbs quivering in +death. + +The stranger, covered with mud and dust, came to me, saying as +unconcernedly as if he had been killing a calf in a slaughter-house, +"He's dead enough, young man; he won't trouble any body any more." + +I walked two or three paces toward the dead beast; my senses left me--I +fainted. + +When I came to myself, my horse was saddled, bridled, and tied up to a +bush. My stranger friend was busy flaying the bull. + +"I would like to have a pair of boots out of the old devil," he +observed, in answer to my inquiring look, "before the dingoes and the +eagle hawks dig into his carcase." + +We rode out of the flats up a gentle ascent, as night was closing in. I +was not in talking humor; but I said, "You have saved my life." + +"Well, I rather think I have," but this was muttered in an under tone; +"it's not the first I have saved, or taken either, for that matter." + +I was too much worn out for thanking much, but I pulled out a silver +hunting-watch and put it into his hand. He pushed it back, almost +roughly, saying, "No, sir, not now; I shalln't take money or money's +worth for that, though I may ask something some time. It's nothing, +after all. I owed the old black devil a grudge for spoiling a blood +filly of mine; besides, though I didn't know it when I rode up first, +and went at the beast to take the devil out of myself as much as any +thing--I rather think that you are the young gentleman that ran through +the Bush at night to Manchester Dan's hut, when his wife was bailed up +by the Blacks, and shot one-eyed Jackey, in spite of the Governor's +proclamation." + +"You seem to know me," I answered; "pray, may I ask who you are, if it +is a fair question, for I can not remember ever having seen you before." + +"Oh, they call me 'Two-handed Dick,' in this country." + +The scene in the roadside inn flashed on my recollection. Before I could +say another word, a sharp turn round the shoulder of the range we were +traversing, brought us in sight of the fire of a shepherd's hut. The +dogs ran out barking; we hallooed and cracked our whips, and the +hut-keeper came to meet us with a fire-stick in his hand. + +"Lord bless my heart and soul! Dick, is that thee at last? Well, I +thought thee were't never coming;" cried the hut-keeper, a little man, +who came limping forward very fast with the help of a crutch-handled +stick. "I say, Missis, Missis, here's Dick, here's Two-handed Dick." + +This was uttered in a shrill, hysterical sort of scream. Out came +"Missis" at the top of her speed, and began hugging Dick as he was +getting off his horse, her arms reached a little above his waist, +laughing and crying, both at the same time, while her husband kept fast +hold of the stockman's hand, muttering, "Lord, Dick I'm so glad to see +thee." Meanwhile, the dogs barking, and a flock of weaned lambs just +penned, ba'aing, made such a riot, that I was fairly bewildered. So, +feeling myself one too many, I slipped away, leading off both the horses +to the other side of the hut, where I found a shepherd, who showed me a +grass paddock to feed the nags a bit before turning them out for the +night. I said to him, "What _is_ the meaning of all this going on +between your mate and his wife, and the big stockman?" + +"The meaning, stranger: why, that's Two-handed Dick, and my mate is +little Jemmy that he saved, and Charley Anvils at the same time, when +the blacks slaughtered the rest of the party, near on a dozen of them." + +On returning, I found supper smoking on the table, and we had made a +regular "bush" meal. The stockman then told my adventure, and, when they +had exchanged all the news, I had little difficulty in getting the +hut-keeper to the point I wanted; the great difficulty lay in preventing +man and wife from telling the same story at the same time. However, by +judicious management, I was able to gather the following account of +_Two-handed Dick's Fight and Ride_. + +"When first I met Dick he was second stockman to Mr. Ronalds, and I took +a shepherd's place there; it was my second place in this country, for +you see I left the old country in a bad year for the weaving trade, and +was one of the first batch of free emigrants that came out, the rest +were chiefly Irish. I found shepherding suit me very well, and my missis +was hut-keeper. Well, Dick and I got very thick; I used to write his +letters for him, and read in an evening, and so on. Well, though I +undertook a shepherd's place, I soon found I could handle an ax pretty +well. Throwing the shuttle gives the use of the arms, you see, and Dick +put into my head that I could make more money if I took to making +fences; I sharpening the rails, and making the mortice-holes, and a +stranger man setting them. I did several jobs at odd times, and was +thought very handy. Well, Mr. Ronalds, during the time of the great +drought, five years ago, determined to send up a lot of cattle to the +north, where he had heard there was plenty of water and grass, and form +a station there. Dick was picked out as stockman; a young gentleman, a +relative of Mr. Ronalds, went as head of the party, a very foolish, +conceited young man, who knew very little of bush life, and would not be +taught. There were eight splitters and fencers, besides Charley Anvils, +the blacksmith, and two bullock drivers. + +"I got leave to go because I wanted to see the country, and Dick asked. +My missis was sorely against my going. I was to be storekeeper, as well +as do any farming and work, if wanted. + +"We had two drays, and were well armed. We were fifteen days going up +before we got into the new country, and then we traveled five days; +sometimes twenty-four hours without water, and sometimes had to unload +the drays two or three times a day, to get over creeks. The fifth day we +came to very fine land; the grass met over our horses' necks, and the +river was a chain of water-holes, all full, and as clear as crystal. The +kangaroos were hopping about as plentiful as rabbits in a warren; and +the grass by the river side had regular tracks of the emus, where they +went down to drink. + +"We had been among signs of the blacks, too, for five days, but had not +seen any thing of them, although we could hear the devils cooing at +nightfall, calling to each other. We kept regular watch and watch at +first--four sentinels, and every man sleeping with his gun at hand. + +"Now, as it was Dick's business to tail (follow) the cattle, five +hundred head, I advised him to have his musket sawed off in the barrel, +so as to be a more handy size for using on horseback. He took my advice; +and Charley Anvils made a very good job of it, so that he could bring it +under his arm when hanging at his back from a rope sling, and fire with +one hand. It was lucky I thought of it, as it turned out. + +"At length the overseer fixed on a spot for the station. It was very +well for water and grass, and a very pretty view, as he said, but it was +too near a thicket where the blacks would lie in ambush, for safety. The +old bushmen wanted it planted on a neck of land, where the waters +protected it all but one side, and there a row of fence would have made +it secure. + +"Well, we set to work, and soon had a lot of tall trees down. Charley +put up his forge and his grindstone, to keep the ax sharp, and I staid +with him. Dick went tailing the cattle, and the overseer sat on a log, +and looked on. The second day a mob of blacks came down on the opposite +side of the river. They were quite wild, regular _myals_, but some of +our men with green branches, went and made peace with them. They liked +our bread and sugar; and after a short time we had a lot of them helping +to draw rails, fishing for us, bringing wild honey, kangaroos, rats, and +firewood, in return for butter and food, so we began to be less careful +about our arms. We gave them iron tomahawks, and they soon found out +that they could cut out an opossum from a hollow in half-an-hour with +one of our tomahawks, while it took a day with one of their own stone +ones. + +"And so the time passed very pleasantly. We worked away. The young men +and gins worked for us. The chiefs adorned themselves with the trinkets +and clothes we gave them, and fished and hunted, and admired themselves +in the river. + +"Dick never trusted them; he stuck to his cattle; he warned us not to +trust them, and the overseer called him a blood-thirsty, murdering +blackguard for his pains. + +"One day, the whole party were at work, chopping and trimming +weather-boards for the hut; the blacks helping as usual. I was turning +the grindstone for Charley Anvils, and Dick was coming up to the dray to +get some tea, but there was a brow of a hill between him and us: the +muskets were all piled in one corner. I heard a howl, and then a +scream--our camp was full of armed blacks. When I raised my head, I saw +the chief, Captain Jack, we called him, with a broad ax in his hand, and +the next minute he had chopped the overseer's head clean off; in two +minutes all my mates were on the ground. Three or four came running up +to us; one threw a spear at me, which I half parried with a pannikin I +was using to wet the grindstone, but it fixed deep in my hip, and part +of it I believe is there still. Charley Anvils had an ax in his hand, +and cut down the first two fellows that came up to him, but he was +floored in a minute with twenty wounds. They were so eager to kill me, +that one of them, luckily, or I should not have been alive now, cut the +spear in my hip short off. Another, a young lad I had sharpened a +tomahawk for a few days before, chopped me across the head; you can see +the white hair. Down I fell, and nothing could have saved us, but the +other savages had got the tarpaulin off, and were screaming with +delight, plundering the drays, which called my enemies off. Just then, +Dick came in sight. He saw what was the matter; but although there were +more than a hundred black devils, all armed, painted, bloody, and +yelling, he never stopped or hesitated, but rode slap through the camp, +fired bang among them, killing two, and knocking out the brains of +another. As he passed by a top rail, where an ax was sticking, he caught +it up. The men in the camp were dead enough; the chief warriors had made +the rush there, and every one was pierced with several spears, or cut +down from close behind by axes in the hands of the chiefs. We, being +further off, had been attacked by the boys only. Dick turned toward us, +and shouted my name, I could not answer, but I managed to sit up an +instant; he turned toward me, leaned down, caught me by the jacket, and +dragged me on before him like a log. Just then Charley, who had crept +under the grindstone, cried, 'Oh, Dick, don't leave me!' As he said +that, a lot of them came running down, for they had seen enough to know +that, unless they killed us all, their job would not be half done. As +Dick turned to face them, they gave way, and flung spears, but they +could not hurt him: they managed to get between us and poor Charley. +Dick rode back a circuit, and dropped me among some bushes on a hill, +where I could see all. Four times he charged through and through a whole +mob, with an ax in one hand, and his short musket in the other. He cut +them down right and left, as if he had been mowing; he scared the +wretches, although the old women kept screeching and urging them on, as +they always do. At length, by help of his stirrup leather, he managed to +get Charley up behind him. He never could have done it, but his mare +fought, and bit, and turned when he bid her, so he threw the bridle on +her neck, and could use that terrible left arm of his. Well, he came up +to the hill, and lifted me on, and away we went for three or four miles, +but we knew the mare could not stand it long, so Dick got off, and +walked. When the blacks had pulled the drays' loads to pieces, they +began to follow us, but Dick never lost heart--" + +"Nay, mate," interrupted Dick, "once I did; shall never forget it, when +I came to put my last bullet in, it was too big." + +"Good Heavens!" I exclaimed, "what did you do?" + +"Why, I put the bullet in my mouth, and kept chawing and chawing it, +and threatening the black devils all the while, until at last it was +small enough, and then I rammed it down, and dropped on my knee, and +waited until they came within twenty yards, and then I picked off +Captain Jack, the biggest villain of them all." + +Here Dick, being warmed, continued the story: "We could not stop; we +marched all evening and all night, and when the two poor creturs cried +for water, as they did most of the night, as often as I could I filled +my boots, and gave them to drink. I led the horse, and traveled seventy +miles without halting for more than a minute or two. Toward the last +they were as helpless as worn-out sheep. I tied them on. We had the luck +to fall in with a party traveling just when the old mare was about +giving in, and then we must all have died for want of water. Charley +Anvils had eighteen wounds, but, except losing two fingers, is none the +worse. Poor Jemmy, there, will never be fit for any thing but a +hut-keeper; as for me, I had some scratches--nothing to hurt; and the +old mare lost an ear. I went back afterward with the police, and squared +accounts with the blacks. + +"And so, you see, stranger, the old woman thinks I saved her old man's +life, although I would have done as much for any one; but I believe +there are some gentlemen in Sydney think I ought to have been hung for +what I did. Any how, since that scrimmage in the bush, they always call +me 'TWO-HANDED DICK.'" + + + + +[From Household Words.] + +THE USES OF SORROW. + + + Oh, grieve not for the early dead, + Whom God himself hath taken; + But deck with flowers each holy bed-- + Nor deem thyself forsaken, + When one by one, they fall away, + Who were to thee as summer day. + + Weep for the babes of guilt, who sleep + With scanty rags stretch'd o'er them, + On the dark road, the downward steep + Of misery; while before them + Looms out afar the dreadful tree, + And solemn, sad Eternity! + + Nor weep alone; but when to Heaven + The cords of sorrow bind thee, + Let kindest help to such be given + As God shall teach to find thee; + And, for the sake of those above, + Do deeds of Wisdom, Mercy, Love. + + The child that sicken'd on thy knee, + Thou weeping Christian mother, + Had learn'd in this world, lispingly, + Words suited for another. + Oh, dost thou think, with pitying mind, + On untaught infants left behind? + + + + +BENJAMIN WEST. + +BY LEIGH HUNT. + + +The two principal houses at which I visited, till the arrival of our +relations from the West Indies, were Mr. West's (late President of the +Royal Academy), in Newman-street, and Mr. Godfrey Thornton's (of the +distinguished city family), in Austin-Friars. How I loved the Graces in +one, and every thing in the other! Mr. West (who, as I have already +mentioned, had married one of my relations) had bought his house, I +believe, not long after he came to England; and he had added a gallery +at the back of it, terminating in a couple of lofty rooms. The gallery +was a continuation of the house-passage, and, together with one of those +rooms and the parlor, formed three sides of a garden, very small but +elegant, with a grass-plot in the middle, and busts upon stands under an +arcade. The gallery, as you went up it, formed an angle at a little +distance to the left, then another to the right and then took a longer +stretch into the two rooms; and it was hung with the artist's sketches +all the way. In a corner between the two angles was a study-door, with +casts of Venus and Apollo, on each side of it. The two rooms contained +the largest of his pictures; and in the farther one, after stepping +softly down the gallery, as if reverencing the dumb life on the walls, +you generally found the mild and quiet artist at his work; happy, for he +thought himself immortal. + +I need not enter into the merits of an artist who is so well known, and +has been so often criticised. He was a man with regular, mild features; +and, though of Quaker origin, had the look of what he was, a painter to +a court. His appearance was so gentlemanly, that, the moment he changed +his gown for a coat, he seemed to be full-dressed. The simplicity and +self-possession of the young Quaker, not having time enough to grow +stiff (for he went early to study at Rome), took up, I suppose, with +more ease than most would have done, the urbanities of his new position. +And what simplicity helped him to, favor would retain. Yet this man, so +well bred, and so indisputably clever in his art (whatever might be the +amount of his genius), had received so careless, or so homely an +education when a boy, that he could hardly read. He pronounced also some +of his words, in reading, with a puritanical barbarism, such as _haive_ +for _have_, as some people pronounce when they sing psalms. But this was +perhaps an American custom. My mother, who both read and spoke +remarkably well, would say _haive_, and _shaul_ (for _shall_), when she +sung her hymns. But it was not so well in reading lectures at the +Academy. Mr. West would talk of his art all day long, painting all the +while. On other subjects he was not so fluent; and on political and +religious matters he tried hard to maintain the reserve common with +those about a court. He succeeded ill in both. There were always strong +suspicions of his leaning to his native side in politics; and daring +Bonaparte's triumph, he could not contain his enthusiasm for the +Republican chief, going even to Paris to pay him his homage, when First +Consul. The admiration of high colors and powerful effects, natural to a +painter, was too strong for him. How he managed this matter with the +higher powers in England, I can not say. Probably he was the less +heedful, inasmuch as he was not very carefully paid. I believe he did a +great deal for George the Third with little profit. Mr. West certainly +kept his love for Bonaparte no secret; and it was no wonder, for the +latter expressed admiration of his pictures. The artist thought the +conqueror's smile enchanting, and that he had the handsomest leg he had +ever seen. He was present when the "Venus de Medicis" was talked of, the +French having just taken possession of her. Bonaparte, Mr. West said, +turned round to those about him, and said, with his eyes lit up, "She's +coming!" as if he had been talking of a living person. I believe he +retained for the emperor the love that he had had for the First Consul, +a wedded love, "for better, for worse." However, I believe also that he +retained it after the emperor's downfall; which is not what every +painter did. + + + + +PEACE + + + Peace has a dwelling near a river + Where the darkened waters quiver. + Where the ripple we can hear + Bursting on the pebbly shore, + Making music soft and clear + For evermore, for evermore. + + Peace has a dwelling near a wood + Where the cooing pigeons brood, + Where the sweet-voiced nightingale + Unto the moon her song doth pour, + And songsters swell the echoing vale + For evermore, for evermore. + + Peace has a dwelling in the soul + That can its hopes and fears control; + In silent wood or city's din + Alike it may be found to dwell; + Its dearest home is that within + The chastened heart's profoundest cell. + + Peace has a dwelling where no more + The ear can hear the torrent roar, + Or lists the rippling of the river, + As softly it turns up its wave, + Where never more the moon-beams quiver + Within the silent grave. + + Peace--oh, thou white-garmented + Maiden, with the flower-decked head, + Come, make thy mansion in my heart! + A tenant thou shalt freely rest, + And thou shalt soothe each bitter smart + That racks the chambers of my breast + + CHARLES DRYDEN. + + + + +[From Household Words.] + +ALCHEMY AND GUNPOWDER. + + +The day-dream of mankind has ever been the Unattainable. To sigh for +what is beyond our reach is, from infancy to age, a fixed condition of +our nature. To it we owe all the improvement that distinguishes +civilized from savage life--to it we are indebted for all the great +discoveries which, at long intervals, have rewarded thought. + +Though the motives which stimulated the earliest inquiries were +frequently undefined, and, if curiously examined, would be found to be +sometimes questionable, it has rarely happened that the world has not +benefited by them in the end. Thus Astrology, which ascribed to the +stars an influence over the actions and destinies of man; Magic, which +attempted to reverse the laws of nature, and Alchemy, which aimed at +securing unlimited powers of self-reward; all tended to the final +establishment of useful science. + +Of none of the sciences whose laws are fully understood, is this +description truer than of that now called Chemistry, which once was +Alchemy. That "knowledge of the substance or composition of bodies," +which the Arabic root of both words implies, establishes a fact in place +of a chimera. Experimental philosophy has made Alchemy an impossible +belief, but the faith in it was natural in an age when reason was seldom +appealed to. The credulity which accepted witchcraft for a truth, was +not likely to reject the theory of the transmutation of metals, nor +strain at the dogma of perpetual youth and health; the concomitants of +the Philosopher's Stone. + +The Alchemists claim for their science the remotest antiquity possible, +but it was not until three or four centuries after the Christian era +that the doctrine of transmutation began to spread. It was among the +Arabian physicians that it took root. Those learned men, through whom +was transmitted so much that was useful in astronomy, in mathematics, +and in medicine, were deeply tinctured with the belief in an universal +elixir, whose properties gave the power of multiplying gold, of +prolonging life indefinitely, and of making youth perpetual. The +discoveries which they made of the successful application of mercury in +many diseases, led them to suppose that this agent contained within +itself the germ of all curative influences, and was the basis of all +other metals. An Eastern imagination, ever prone to heighten the effects +of nature, was not slow to ascribe a preternatural force to this +medicine, but not finding it in its simple state, the practitioners of +the new science had recourse to combination, in the hope, by that means, +of attaining their object. To fix mercury became their first endeavor, +and this fixation they described as "catching the flying bird of +Hermes." Once embarked in the illusory experiment, it is easy to +perceive how far the Alchemists might be led; nor need it excite any +wonder that in pursuit of the ideal, they accidentally hit upon a good +deal that was real. The labors, therefore, of the Arabian physicians +were not thrown away, though they entangled the feet of science in +mazes, from which escape was only effected, after the lapse of centuries +of misdirected efforts. + +From the period we have last spoken of, until the commencement of the +eleventh century, the only Alchemist of note is the Arabian Geber, who, +though he wrote on the perfections of metals, of the new-found art of +making gold, in a word, on the philosopher's stone, has only descended +to our times as the founder of that jargon which passes under the name +of "gibberish." He was, however, a great authority in the middle ages, +and allusions to "Geber's cooks," and "Geber's kitchen," are frequent +among those who at length saw the error of their ways, after wasting +their substance in the vain search for the elixir. + +A longer interval might have elapsed but for the voice of Peter the +Hermit, whose fanatical scheme for the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre +was the cause of that gradual absorption, by the nations of the West, of +the learning which had so long been buried in the East. The crusaders, +or those, rather, who visited the shores of Syria under their +protection--the men whose skill in medicine and letters rendered them +useful to the invading armies--acquired a knowledge of the Arabian +languages, and of the sciences cultivated by Arabian philosophers, and +this knowledge they disseminated through Europe. Some part of it, it is +true, was derived from the Moors in Spain, but it was all conveyed in a +common tongue which began now to be understood. To this era belong the +names of Alfonso the Wise, King of Castile; of Isaac Beimiram, the son +of Solomon the physician; of Hali Abbas, the scholar of Abimeher Moyses, +the son of Sejar; of Aben Sina, better known as Avicenna, and sometimes +called Abohali; of Averroes of Cordova, surnamed the Commentator; of +Rasis, who is also called Almanzor and Albumasar; and of John of +Damascus, whose name has been latinized into Johannes Damascenus. All +these, physicians by profession, were more or less professors of +alchemy; and besides these were such as Artephius, who wrote alchemical +tracts about the year 1130, but who deserves rather to be remembered for +the cool assertion which he makes in his "Wisdom of Secrets" that, at +the time he wrote he had reached the patriarchal--or fabulous--age of +one thousand and twenty-five years! + +The thirteenth century came, and with it came two men who stand first, +as they then stood alone, in literary and scientific knowledge. One was +a German, the other an Englishman; the first was Albertus Magnus, the +last Roger Bacon. + +Of the former, many wonderful stories are told: such, for instance, as +his having given a banquet to the king of the Romans, in the gardens of +his cloister at Cologne, when he converted the intensity of winter into +a season of summer, full of flowers and fruits, which disappeared when +the banquet was over; and his having constructed a marvelous automaton, +called "Androïs," which, like the invention of his contemporary, Roger +Bacon, was said to be capable of auguring all questions, past, present, +and to come. + +To know more than the rest of the world in any respect, but particularly +in natural philosophy, was a certain method by which to earn the name of +a necromancer in the middle ages, and there are few whose occult fame +has stood higher than that of Roger Bacon. He was afraid, therefore, to +speak plainly--indeed, it was the custom of the early philosophers to +couch their knowledge in what Bacon himself calls the "tricks of +obscurity;" and in his celebrated "_Epistola de Secretis_," he adverts +to the possibility of his being obliged to do the same thing, through +"_the greatness of the secrets_ which he shall handle." With regard to +the invention of his greatest secret, we shall give the words in which +he speaks of the properties of gunpowder, and afterward show in what +terms he concealed his knowledge. _"Noyses_," he says, "_may be made in +the aire like thunders_, yea, with greater horror than those that come +of nature; _for a little matter fitted to the quantity of a thimble, +maketh a horrible noise and wonderful lightning_. And this is done after +sundry fashions, _whereby any citie or armie may be destroyed_." A more +accurate description of the explosion of gunpowder could scarcely be +given, and it is not to be supposed that Bacon simply confined himself +to the theory of his art, when he knew so well the consequences arising +from a practical application of it. On this head there is a legend +extant, which has not, to our knowledge, been printed before, from which +we may clearly see why he contented himself with the cabalistic form in +which he conveyed his knowledge of what he deemed a fatal secret. + +Attached to Roger Bacon's laboratory, and a zealous assistant in the +manifold occupations with which the learned Franciscan occupied himself, +was a youthful student, whose name is stated to have been Hubert de +Dreux. He was a Norman, and many of the attributes of that people were +conspicuous in his character. He was of a quick intelligence, and hasty +courage, fertile in invention, and prompt in action, eloquent of +discourse, and ready of hand; all excellent qualities, to which was +superadded an insatiable curiosity. Docile to receive instruction, and +apt to profit by it, Hubert became a great favorite with the +philosopher, and to him Bacon expounded many of the secrets--or supposed +secrets--of the art which he strove to, bring to perfection. He +instructed him also in the composition of certain medicines, which Bacon +himself believed might be the means of prolonging life, though not to +the indefinite extent dreamed of by those who put their whole faith in +the Great Elixir. + +But there never yet was an adept in any art or science who freely +communicated to his pupil the full amount of his own knowledge; +something for experience to gather, or for ingenuity to discover, is +always kept in reserve, and the instructions of Roger Bacon stopped +short at one point. He was himself engaged in the prosecution of that +chemical secret which he rightly judged to be a dangerous one, and, +while he experimented with the compound of sulphur, saltpetre, and +charcoal, he kept himself apart from his general laboratory, and wrought +in a separate cell, to which not even Hubert had access. To know that +the friar had a mysterious occupation, which, more than the making of +gold or the universal medicine, engrossed him, was enough of itself to +rouse the young man's curiosity; but when to this was added the fact, +that, from time to time, strange and mysterious noises were heard, +accompanied by bright corruscations and a new and singular odor, +penetrating through the chinks close to which his eyes were stealthily +riveted, Hubert's eagerness to know all that his master concealed had no +limit. He resolved to discover the secret, even though he should perish +in the attempt; he feared that there was good reason for the accusation +of dealing in the Black Art, which, more than all others, the monks of +Bacon's own convent countenanced, but this apprehension only stimulated +him the more. For some time Hubert waited without an opportunity +occurring for gratifying the secret longing of his heart; at last it +presented itself. + +To afford medical assistance to the sick, was, perhaps, the most useful +practice of conventual life, and the monks had always among them +practitioners of the healing art, more or less skillful. Of this number, +Roger Bacon was the most eminent, not only in the monastery to which he +belonged, but in all Oxford. + +It was about the hour of noon on a gloomy day toward the end of +November, in the year 1282, while the Friar and his pupil were severally +employed, the former in his secret cell, and the latter in the general +laboratory, that there arrived at the gate of the Franciscan convent a +messenger on horseback, the bearer of news from Abingdon, that Walter de +Losely, the sheriff of Berkshire, had that morning met with a serious +accident by a hurt from a lance, and was then lying dangerously wounded +at the hostelry of the Checkers in Abingdon, whither he had been hastily +conveyed. The messenger added, that the leech who had been called in was +most anxious for the assistance of the skillful Friar, Roger Bacon, and +urgently prayed that he would lose no time in coming to the aid of the +wounded knight. + +Great excitement prevailed among the monks on the receipt of this +intelligence, for Walter de Losely was not only a man of power and +influence, but moreover, a great benefactor to their order. Friar Bacon +was immediately sought and speedily made his appearance, the urgency of +the message admitting of no delay. He hastily enjoined Hubert to +continue the preparation of an amalgam which he was desirous of getting +into a forward state, and taking with him his case of instruments with +the bandages and salves which he thought needful, was soon mounted on an +easy, ambling palfrey on his way toward Abingdon, the impatient +messenger riding before him to announce his approach. + +When he was gone, quiet again reigned in the convent, and Hubert de +Dreux resumed his occupation. But it did not attract him long. Suddenly +he raised his head from the work and his eyes were lit up with a gleam +in which joy and fear seemed equally blended. For the first time, for +months, he was quite alone. What if he could obtain access to his +master's cell and penetrate the mystery in which his labors had been so +long enveloped! He cautiously stole to the door of the laboratory, and +peeped out into a long passage, at the further extremity of which a door +opened into a small court where, detached from the main edifice and +screened from all observation, was a small building which the Friar had +recently caused to be constructed. He looked about him timorously, +fearing lest he might be observed; but there was no cause for +apprehension, scarcely any inducement could have prevailed with the +superstitious Franciscans to turn their steps willingly in the direction +of Roger Bacon's solitary cell. + +Reassured by the silence, Hubert stole noiselessly onward, and +tremblingly approached the forbidden spot. His quick eye saw at a glance +that the key was not in the door, and his countenance fell. The Friar's +treasure was locked up! He might see something, however, if he could not +enter the chamber. He knelt down, therefore, at the door, and peered +through the keyhole. As he pressed against the door, in doing so, it +yielded to his touch. In the haste with which Friar Bacon had closed the +entrance, the bolt had not been shot. Herbert rose hastily to his feet, +and the next moment he was in the cell, looking eagerly round upon the +crucibles and alembics, which bore witness to his master's labors. But +beyond a general impression of work in hand, there was nothing to be +gleaned from this survey. An open parchment volume, in which the Friar +had recently been writing, next caught his attention. If the secret +should be there in any known language. Hubert knew something of the +Hebrew, but nothing yet of Arabic. He was reassured; the characters were +familiar to him; the language Latin. He seized the volume, and read the +few lines which the Friar had just traced on the last page. + +They ran thus: + +"Videas tamen utrum loquar in ænigmate vel secundum veritatem." And, +further (which we translate): "He that would see these things shall have +the key that openeth and no man shutteth, and when he shall shut no man +is able to open again." + +"But the secret--the secret!" cried Hubert, impatiently, "let me know +what 'these things' are!" + +He hastily turned the leaf back and read again. The passage was that one +in the "_Epistola de Secretis_" which spoke of the artificial thunder +and lightning, and beneath it was the full and precise receipt for its +composition. This at once explained the strange noises and the flashes +of light which he had so anxiously noticed. Surprising and gratifying as +this discovery might be, there was, Hubert thought, something beyond. +Roger Bacon, he reasoned, was not one to practice an experiment like +this for mere amusement. It was, he felt certain, a new form of +invocation, more potent, doubtless, over the beings of another world, +than any charm yet recorded. Be it as it might, he would try whether, +from the materials around him, it were not in his power to produce the +same result. + +"Here are all the necessary ingredients," he exclaimed; "this yellowish +powder is the well known sulphur, in which I daily bathe the +argent-vive; this bitter, glistening substance is the salt of the rock, +the _salis petræ_; and this black calcination, the third agent. But the +proportions are given, and here stands a glass cucurbit in which they +should be mingled. It is of the form my master mostly uses--round, with +a small neck and a narrow mouth, to be luted closely, without doubt. He +has often told me that the sole regenerating power of the universe is +heat; yonder furnace shall supply it, and then Hubert de Dreux is his +master's equal!" + + * * * * * + +The short November day was drawing to a close, when, after carefully +tending the wounded sheriff, and leaving such instructions with the +Abingdon leech as he judged sufficient for his patient's well-doing, +Roger Bacon again mounted his palfrey, and turned its head in the +direction of Oxford. He was unwilling to be a loiterer after dark, and +his beast was equally desirous to be once more comfortably housed, so +that his homeward journey was accomplished even more rapidly than his +morning excursion; and barely an hour had elapsed when the Friar drew +the rein at the foot of the last gentle eminence, close to which lay the +walls of the cloistered city. To give the animal breathing-space, he +rode quietly up the ascent, and then paused for a few moments before he +proceeded, his mind intent on subjects foreign to the speculations of +all his daily associations. + +Suddenly, as he mused on his latest discovery and calculated to what +principal object it might be devoted, a stream of fiery light shot +rapidly athwart the dark, drear sky, and before he had space to think +what the meteor might portend, a roar as of thunder shook the air, and +simultaneous with it, a shrill, piercing scream, mingled with the +fearful sound; then burst forth a volume of flame, and on the wind came +floating a sulphurous vapor which, to him alone, revealed the nature of +the explosion he had just witnessed. + +"Gracious God!" he exclaimed, while the cold sweat poured like +rain-drops down his forehead, "the fire has caught the fulminating +powder! But what meant that dreadful cry? Surely nothing of human life +has suffered! The boy Hubert--but, no--he was at work at the further +extremity of the building. But this is no time for vain, conjecture--let +me learn the worst at once!" + +And with these words he urged his affrighted steed to its best pace, and +rode rapidly into the city. + +All was consternation there: the tremendous noise had roused every +inhabitant, and people were hurrying to and fro, some hastening toward +the place from whence the sound had proceeded, others rushing wildly +from it. It was but too evident that a dreadful catastrophe, worse even +than Bacon dreaded, had happened. It was with difficulty he made his way +through the crowd, and came upon the ruin which still blazed fiercely, +appalling the stoutest of heart. There was a tumult of voices, but above +the outcries of the affrighted monks, and of the scared multitude, rose +the loud voice of the Friar, calling upon them to extinguish the flames. +This appeal turned all eyes toward him, and then associating him with an +evil, the cause of which they were unable to comprehend, the +maledictions of the monks broke forth. + +"Seize the accursed magician," they shouted; "he has made a fiery +compact with the demon! Already one victim is sacrificed--our turn will +come next! See, here are the mangled limbs of his pupil, Hubert de +Dreux! The fiend has claimed his reward, and borne away his soul. Seize +on the wicked sorcerer, and take him to a dungeon!" + +Roger Bacon sate stupefied by the unexpected blow; he had no power, if +he had possessed the will, to offer the slightest resistance to the fury +of the enraged Franciscans, who, in the true spirit of ignorance, had +ever hated him for his acquirements. With a deep sigh for the fate of +the young man, whose imprudence he now saw had been the cause of this +dreadful event, he yielded himself up to his enemies; they tore him from +his palfrey, and with many a curse, and many a buffet, dragged him to +the castle, and lodged him in one of its deepest dungeons. + +The flames from the ruined cell died out of themselves; but those which +the envy and dread of Bacon's genius had kindled, were never +extinguished, but with his life. + +In the long years of imprisonment which followed--the doom of the stake +being averted only by powerful intercession with the Pope--Bacon had +leisure to meditate on the value of all he had done to enlarge the +understanding and extend the knowledge of his species. "The prelates and +friars," he wrote in a letter which still remains, "have kept me +starving in close prison, nor will they suffer any one to come to me, +fearing lest my writings should come to any other than the Pope and +themselves." + +He reflected that of all living men he stood well-nigh alone in the +consciousness that in the greatest of his inventions he had produced a +discovery of incalculable value, but one for which on every account the +time was not ripe. + +"I will not die," he said, "without leaving to the world the evidence +that the secret was known to me whose marvelous power future ages shall +acknowledge. But not yet shall it be revealed. Generations must pass +away and the minds of men become better able to endure the light of +science, before they can profit by my discovery. Let him who already +possesses knowledge, guess the truth these words convey." + +And in place of the directions by which Hubert de Dreux had been guided, +he altered the sentence as follows: + + "Sed tamen salis petre, + LURU MONE CAP UBRE + et sulphuris." + +The learned have found that these mystical words conceal the anagram of +_Carbonum pulvere_, the third ingredient in the composition of +Gunpowder. + + + + +[From a Month at Constantinople.] + +GLIMPSES OF THE EAST. + +BY ALBERT SMITH. + + +A TURKISH BATH.--The second day I was at Constantinople I had a bath, in +the proper Turkish fashion; and this was quite as novel in its way as +every thing else had been. The establishment patronized was the head one +in Stamboul; and we went from the street into a very large hall, +entirety of marble, with a gallery round the walls, in which were +couches, as well as down below. On these different visitors were +reposing: some covered up and lying quite still, others smoking +narghilés, and drinking coffee. Towels and cloths were drying on lines, +and in the corner was a little shed, serving as a Câfé. + +We went up-stairs and undressed, giving our watches and money to the +attendant, who tied our clothes up in a bundle. He then tucked a colored +wrapper round our waists, and threw a towel over our shoulders, after +which we walked down stairs, and put on some wooden clogs at the door of +the next apartment. The first thing these did was to send me head over +heels, to the great discomfiture of my temporary costume, and equal +delight of the bathers there assembled. We remained in this room, which +was of an increased temperature, idling upon other couches, until we +were pronounced ready to go into the second chamber. I contrived, with +great care and anxiety, to totter into it upon my clogs, and found +another apartment of marble, very warm indeed, and lighted from the top +by a dome of glass "bull's-eyes." In the middle of this chamber was a +hot, raised octagon platform, also of marble, and in the recesses of the +sides were marble vases, and tanks, with taps for hot and cold water, +and channels in the floor to carry off the suds. Two savage, unearthly +boys, their heads all shaved, with the exception of a tuft on the top, +and in their scant costume of a towel only, looking more like wild +Indians than Turks, now seized hold of me, and forcing me back upon the +hot marble floor commenced a dreadful series of tortures, such as I had +only read of as pertaining to the dark ages. It was of no use to resist. +They clutched hold of the back of my neck, and I thought they were going +to strangle me; then they pulled at my arms and legs, and I thought +again they were going to put me on the rack; and lastly, when they both +began to roll backward and forward on my chest, doubling my cracking +elbows underneath them, I thought, finally, that my last minute was +come, and that death by suffocation would finish me. They were fiends, +and evidently delighted in my agony; not allowing me to look to the +right or left after my companions, and throwing themselves on me again, +whenever they conceived I was going to call the dragoman to my +assistance. I do not know that I ever passed such a frightful five +minutes, connected with bathing, nervous as are some of the feelings +which that pastime gives rise to. It is very terrible to take the first +summer plunge into a deep, dark river and when you are at the bottom, +and the water is roaring in your ears, to think of dead bodies and +crocodiles; it is almost worse to make that frightful journey down a +steep beach, in a bathing machine, with a vague incertitude as to where +you will find yourself when the doors open again: but nothing can come +up to what I suffered in my last extremity, in this Constantinople bath. +Thoughts of Turkish cruelty and the sacks of the Bosphorus; of home, and +friends, and my childhood's bowers--of the sadness of being murdered in +a foreign bath--and the probability of my Giaour body being eaten by the +wild dogs, crowded rapidly on me, as these demons increased their +tortures; until, collecting all my strength for one last effort, I +contrived to throw them off, one to the right and the other to the left, +some half dozen feet--and regained my legs. + +The worst was now over, certainly; but the persecution still continued +sufficiently exciting. They seized on me again, and led me to the tanks, +where they almost flayed me with horse-hair gloves, and drowned me with +bowls of warm water, poured continuously on my head. I could not see, +and if I again tried to cry out, they thrust a large soapy swab, made of +the fibres that grow at the foot of the date palm, into my mouth, +accompanying each renewed act of cruelty with a demand for _baksheesh_. +At last, being fairly exhausted, themselves, they swathed me in a great +many towels; and I was then half carried, half pushed, up stairs again, +where I took my place upon my couch with feelings of great joy and +thankfulness. + +I now began to think that all the horrors I had undergone were balanced +by the delicious feeling of repose that stole over me. I felt that I +could have stopped there forever, with the fragrant coffee steaming at +my side, and the soothing bubble of the _narghilés_ sounding in every +direction. I went off into a day dream--my last clear vision being that +of a man having his head shaved all but a top knot, which was long +enough to twist round and round, under his fez--and could scarcely +believe that an hour had elapsed, when the dragoman suggested our return +to the bustling world without. + + * * * * * + +THE SLAVE MARKET AT CONSTANTINOPLE.--No European goes to the East with a +clear idea of a Slave-market. He has seen fanciful French lithographs, +and attractive scenes in Eastern ballets, where the pretty girls +appeared ready, on the shortest notice, and in the most bewitching +costumes, to dance the Gitana, Romaika, Tarantella, Redowa, or any other +characteristic _pas_ that might be required of them. Or if not schooled +into these impressions, he takes the indignant view of the subject, and +thinks of nothing but chains and lashes, and finds, at last, that one is +just as false as the other. + +There is now no regular slave-market at Constantinople. The fair +Circassians and Georgians reside in the houses of the merchants, to whom +many of them are regularly consigned by their friends, and of these it +is impossible for a Frank to obtain a glimpse, for the usual privacy of +the harem is granted to them. The chief dépôt of the blacks is in a +large court-yard attached to the Mosque of Suleyman. In a street +immediately outside the wall was a row of coffee-houses, where opium, +was also to be procured for smoking, which is by no means so general a +practice as is imagined; and over and behind these were buildings in +which the slaves were kept. It is true that these were grated, but the +lattices through which only the Turkish women can look abroad, gave a +far greater notion of imprisonment. + +There were a great many women and children grouped about in the +court-yard, and all those who appeared to possess any degree of +intelligence were chatting and laughing. Some were wrapped up in +blankets and crouching about in corners: but in these, sense and feeling +seemed to be at the lowest ebb. I should be very sorry to run against +any proper feelings on the subject, but I do honestly believe that if +any person of average propriety and right-mindedness were shown these +creatures, and told that their lot was to become the property of others, +and work in return for food and lodging, he would come to the conclusion +that it was all they were fit for--indeed, he might think that they had +gained in exchanging their wretched savage life for one of comparative +civilization. I would not pretend, upon the strength of a hurried visit +to a city, to offer the slightest opinion upon the native domestic and +social economy; but I can say, that whenever I have seen the black +slaves abroad, they have been neatly dressed, and apparently well kept; +and that, if shopping with their mistresses in the bazaars, the +conversation and laughing that passed between them was like that between +two companions. The truth is that the "virtuous indignation" side of the +question holds out grander opportunities to an author for fine writing +than the practical fact. But this style of composition should not always +be implicitly relied upon; I knew a man who was said by certain reviews +and literary _cliques_ to be "a creature of large sympathies for the +poor and oppressed," because he wrote touching things about them; but +who would abuse his wife, and brutally treat his children, and harass +his family, and then go and drink until his large heart was sufficiently +full to take up the "man-and-brother" line of literary business, and +suggest that a tipsy chartist was as good as a quiet gentleman. Of this +class are the writers who even call livery "a badge of slavery," and +yet, in truth, if the real slave felt as proud of his costume and calves +as John feels, he might be considerably envied for his content by many +of us. + +As we entered the court-yard, a girl rose and asked Demetri if I wanted +to buy her. I told him to say that I did, and would take her to England. +She asked Demetri where that was, and on being told that it was so many +days' journey, she ran away, declaring that she would never go so far +with any body. We next went up to a circle of black females, who had +clustered under the shade of a tree. A Turkish woman in her vail was +talking to them. I made Demetri tell them that we had no slaves in +England, as our queen did not allow it, but that every one was free as +soon as they touched the land. This statement excited a laugh of the +loudest derision from all the party, and they ran to tell it to their +companions, who screamed with laughter as well; so that I unwittingly +started a fine joke that day in the slave-market. + + * * * * * + +DOGS IN CONSTANTINOPLE.--After an hour's doze I woke up again, and went +and sat by the window. The noise I then heard I shall never forget. + +To say that if all the sheep-dogs going to Smithfield on a market-day +had been kept on the constant bark, and pitted against the yelping curs +upon all the carts in London, they could have given any idea of the +canine uproar that now first astonished me, would be to make the +feeblest of images. The whole city rang with one vast riot. Down below +me at Tophané--over at Stamboul--far away at Scutari--the whole eighty +thousand dogs that are said to overrun Constantinople, appeared engaged +in the most active extermination of each other, without a moment's +cessation. The yelping, howling, barking, growling, and snarling, were +all merged into one uniform and continuous, even sound, as the noise of +frogs becomes when heard at a distance. For hours there was no lull. I +went to sleep, and woke again, and still, with my windows open, I heard +the same tumult going on: nor was it until daybreak that any thing like +tranquillity was restored. In spite of my early instruction, the dogs +delight to bark and bite, and should be allowed to do so, it being their +nature, I could not help wishing that, for a short season, the power was +vested in me to carry out the most palpable service for which brickbats +and the Bosphorus could be made conjointly available. + +Going out in the day-time, it is not difficult to find traces of the +fights of the night, about the limbs of all the street-dogs. There is +not one, among their vast number, in the enjoyment of a perfect skin. +Some have their ears gnawed away or pulled off; others have had their +eyes taken out; from the backs and haunches of others, perfect steaks of +flesh have been torn away; and all bear the scars of desperate combats. + +Wild and desperate as is their nature, these poor animals are +susceptible of kindness. If a scrap of bread is thrown to one of them +now and then, he does not forget it; for they have, at times, a hard +matter to live--not the dogs among the shops of Galata or Stamboul, but +those whose "parish" lies in the large burying-grounds and desert-places +without the city; for each keeps, or rather is kept, to his district; +and if he chanced to venture into a strange one, the odds against his +return would be very large. One battered old animal, to whom I used +occasionally to toss a scrap of food, always followed me from the hotel +to the cross-street at Pera, where the two soldiers stand on guard, but +would never come beyond this point. He knew the fate that awaited him +had he done so; and therefore, when I left him, he would lie down in the +road and go to sleep until I came back. When a horse or camel dies, and +is left about the roads near the city, the bones are soon picked very +clean by these dogs, and they will carry the skulls or pelves to great +distances. I was told that they will eat their dead fellows--a curious +fact, I believe, in canine economy. They are always troublesome--not to +say dangerous--at night; and are especially irritated by Europeans, whom +they will single out among a crowd of Levantines. + + + + +[From the Autobiography of Leigh Hunt.] + +CHRIST-HOSPITAL WORTHIES. + + +Christ-Hospital is a nursery of tradesmen, of merchants, of naval +officers, of scholars; it has produced some of the greatest ornaments of +their time; and the feeling among the boys themselves is, that it is a +medium, between the patrician pretension of such schools as Eton the +Westminster, and the plebeian submission of and charity schools. In +point of University honors, it claims to be equal with the best; and +though other schools can show a greater abundance of eminent names, I +know not where many will be found who are a greater host in themselves. +One original author is worth a hundred transmitters of elegance; and +such a one is to be found in Richardson, who here received what +education he possessed. Here Camden also received the rudiments of his. +Bishop Stillingfleet, according to the memoirs of Pepys, lately +published, was brought up in the school. We have had many eminent +scholars, two of them Greek professors, to wit, Barnes, and the present +Mr. Scholefield, the latter of whom attained an extraordinary succession +of University honors. The rest are Markland; Middleton, late Bishop of +Calcutta; and Mitchell, the translator of "Aristophanes." +Christ-Hospital, I believe, toward the close of the last century, and +the beginning of the present, sent out more living writers, in its +proportion, than any other school. There was Dr. Richards, author of the +"Aboriginal Britons;" Dyer, whose life was one unbroken dream of +learning and goodness, and who used to make us wonder with passing +through the school-room (where no other person in "town-clothes" ever +appeared) to consult books in the library; Le Grice, the translator of +"Longus;" Horne, author of some well-known productions in controversial +divinity; Surr, the novelist (not in the Grammar school); James White, +the friend of Charles Lamb, and not unworthy of him, author of +"Falstaff's Letters" (this was he who used to give an anniversary dinner +to the chimney-sweepers, merrier than, though not so magnificent as Mrs. +Montague's); Pitman, a celebrated preacher, editor of some school-books, +and religious classics; Mitchell, before mentioned; myself, who stood +next him; Barnes, who came next, the editor of the "Times," than whom no +man (if he had cared for it) could have been more certain of obtaining +celebrity for wit and literature; Townsend, a prebendary of Durham, +author of "Armageddon," and several theological works; Gilly, another of +the Durham prebendaries, who wrote the "Narrative of the Waldenses;" +Seargill, a Unitarian minister, author of some tracts on Peace and War, +&c.; and lastly, whom I have kept by way of climax, Coleridge and +Charles Lamb, two of the most original geniuses, not only of the day, +but of the country. We have had an embassador among us; but as he, I +understand, is ashamed of us, we are hereby more ashamed of him, and +accordingly omit him. + +Coleridge I never saw till he was old. Lamb I recollect coming to see +the boys, with a pensive, brown, handsome, and kindly face, and a gait +advancing with a motion from side to side, between involuntary +consciousness and attempted ease. His brown complexion may have been +owing to a visit in the country; his air of uneasiness to a great burden +of sorrow. He dressed with a quaker-like plainness. I did not know him +as Lamb: I took him for a Mr. "Guy," having heard somebody address him +by that appellative, I suppose in jest. + +Every upper boy at school appears a giant to a little one. "Big boy" and +senior are synonymous. Now and then, however, extreme smallness in a +senior scholar gives a new kind of dignity, by reason of the testimony +it bears to the ascendency of the intellect. It was the custom for the +monitors at Christ-Hospital, during prayers before meat, to stand +fronting the tenants of their respective wards, while the objects of +their attention were kneeling. Looking up, on one of these occasions, +toward a new monitor who was thus standing, and whose face was unknown +to me (for there were six hundred of us, and his ward was not mine), I +thought him the smallest boy that could ever have attained to so +distinguished an eminence. He was little in person, little in face, and +he had a singularly juvenile cast of features, even for one so _petite_. + +It was MITCHELL, the translator of Aristophanes. He had really attained +his position prematurely. I rose afterward to be next to him in the +school; and from a grudge that existed between us, owing probably to a +reserve, which I thought pride, on his part, and to an ardency which he +may have considered frivolous on mine, we became friends. Circumstances +parted us in after life: I became a reformist, and he a quarterly +reviewer; but he sent me kindly remembrances not long before he died. I +did not know he was declining; and it will ever be a pain to me to +reflect, that delay conspired with accident to hinder my sense of it +from being known to him, especially as I learned that he had not been so +prosperous as I supposed. He had his weaknesses as well as myself, but +they were mixed with conscientious and noble qualities. Zealous as he +was for aristocratical government, he was no indiscriminate admirer of +persons in high places; and, though it would have bettered his views in +life, he had declined taking orders, from nicety of religious scruple. +Of his admirable scholarship I need say nothing. + +Equally good scholar, but of a less zealous temperament was BARNES, who +stood next me on the deputy-Grecian form, and who was afterward +identified with the sudden and striking increase of the _Times_ +newspaper in fame and influence. He was very handsome when young, with a +profile of Grecian regularity; and was famous among us for a certain +dispassionate humor, for his admiration of the works of Fielding, and +for his delight, nevertheless, in pushing a narrative to its utmost, and +drawing upon his stores of fancy for intensifying it; an amusement for +which he possessed an understood privilege. It was painful in after life +to see his good looks swallowed up in corpulency, and his once handsome +mouth thrusting its under lip out, and panting with asthma. I believe he +was originally so well constituted, in point of health and bodily +feeling, that he fancied he could go on all his life without taking any +of the usual methods to preserve his comfort. The editorship of the +_Times_, which turned his night into day, and would have been a trying +burden to any man, completed the bad consequences of his negligence, and +he died painfully before he was old. Barnes wrote elegant Latin verse, a +classical English style, and might assuredly have made himself a name in +wit and literature, had he cared much for any thing beyond his glass of +wine and his Fielding. + +What pleasant days have I not passed with him, and other schoolfellows, +bathing in the New River, and boating on the Thames. He and I began to +learn Italian together; and any body not within the pale of the +enthusiastic, might have thought us mad, as we went shouting the +beginning of Metastasio's ode to Venus, as loud as we could bawl, over +the Hornsey-fields. + + + + +LEIGH HUNT DROWNING. + + +At Oxford, my love of boating had nearly cost me my life. I had already +had a bit of a taste of drowning in the river Thames, in consequence of +running a boat too hastily on shore; but it was nothing to what I +experienced on this occasion. The schoolfellow whom I was visiting was +the friend whose family lived in Spring Gardens. We had gone out in a +little decked skiff, and not expecting disasters in the gentle Isis, I +had fastened the sail-line, of which I had the direction, in order that +I might read a volume which I had with me, of Mr. Cumberland's novel +called "Henry." My friend was at the helm. The wind grew a little +strong, and we had just got into Iffley Reach, when I heard him exclaim, +"Hunt, we are over!" The next moment I was under the water, gulping it, +and giving myself up for lost. The boat had a small opening in the +middle of the deck, under which I had thrust my feet; this circumstance +had carried me over with the boat, and the worst of it was, I found I +had got the sail-line round my neck. My friend, who sat on the deck +itself, had been swept off, and got comfortably to shore, which was at a +little distance. + +My bodily sensations were not so painful as I should have fancied they +would have been. My mental reflections were very different, though one +of them, by a singular meeting of extremes, was of a comic nature. I +thought that I should never see the sky again, that I had parted with +all my friends, and that I was about to contradict the proverb which +said that a man who was born to be hung would never be drowned; for the +sail-line, in which I felt entangled, seemed destined to perform for me +both the offices. On a sudden, I found an oar in my hand, and the next +minute I was climbing, with assistance, into a wherry, in which there +sat two Oxonians, one of them helping me, and loudly and laughingly +differing with the other, who did not at all like the rocking of the +boat, and who assured me, to the manifest contradiction of such senses +as I had left, that there was no room. This gentleman is now no more, +and I shall not mention his name, because I might do injustice to the +memory of a brave man struck with a panic. The name of his companion, if +I mistake not, was Russell. I hope he was related to an illustrious +person of the same name, to whom I have lately been indebted for what +may have been another prolongation of my life. + +On returning to town, which I did on the top of an Oxford coach, I was +relating this story to the singular person who then drove it (Bobart, +who had been a collegian), when a man who was sitting behind surprised +us with the excess of his laughter. On asking him the reason, he touched +his hat, and said, "Sir, I'm his footman." Such were the delicacies of +the livery, and the glorifications of their masters with which they +entertain the kitchen.--_From the Autobiography of Leigh Hunt._ + + + + +WILLIAM PITT. + +BY S. T. COLERIDGE. + + +The following very graphic and very severe critical estimate of WILLIAM +PITT, the great Prime Minister of England during the stormy era of the +French Revolution, was written by COLERIDGE for the London Morning Post, +with which he was then connected. It appeared in the number of that +paper, dated Wednesday, March 19, 1800. We copy it from COLERIDGE'S +"Essays on His Own Times," just published in London. + + * * * * * + +PLUTARCH, in his comparative biography of Rome and Greece, has generally +chosen for each pair of lives the two contemporaries who most nearly +resemble each other. His work would, perhaps have been more interesting, +if he had adopted the contrary arrangement and selected those rather, +who had attained to the possession of similar influence or similar fame, +by means, actions, and talents, the most dissimilar. For power is the +sole object of philosophical attention in man, as in inanimate nature: +and in the one equally as in the other, we understand it more +intimately, the more diverse the circumstances are with which we have +observed it co-exist. In our days the two persons, who appear to have +influenced the interests and actions of men the most deeply and the most +diffusively are beyond doubt the Chief Consul of France, and the Prime +Minister of Great Britain; and in these two are presented to us similar +situations with the greatest dissimilitude of characters. + +William Pitt was the younger son of Lord Chatham; a fact of no ordinary +importance in the solution of his character, of no mean significance in +the heraldry of morals and intellect. His father's rank, fame, political +connections, and parental ambition were his mould; he was cast, rather +than grew. A palpable election, a conscious predestination controlled +the free agency, and transfigured the individuality of his mind; and +that, which he _might have been_, was compelled into that, which he _was +to be_. From his early childhood it was his father's custom to make him +stand up on a chair, and declaim before a large company; by which +exercise, practiced so frequently, and continued for so many years, he +acquired a premature and unnatural dexterity in the combination of +words, which must of necessity have diverted his attention from present +objects, obscured his impressions, and deadened his genuine feelings. +Not the _thing_ on which he was speaking, but the praises to be gained +by the speech, were present to his intuition; hence he associated all +the operations of his faculties with words, and his pleasures with the +surprise excited by them. + +But an inconceivably large portion of human knowledge and human power is +involved in the science and management of _words_; and an education of +words, though it destroys genius, will often create, and always foster, +talent. The young Pitt was conspicuous far beyond his fellows, both at +school and at college. He was always full grown: he had neither the +promise nor the awkwardness of a growing intellect. Vanity, early +satiated, formed and elevated itself into a love of power; and in losing +this colloquial vanity he lost one of the prime links that connect the +individual with the species, too early for the affections, though not +too early for the understanding. At college he was a severe student; his +mind was founded and elemented in words and generalities, and these too +formed all the superstructure. That revelry and that debauchery, which +are so often fatal to the powers of intellect, would probably have been +serviceable to him; they would have given him a closer communion with +realities, they would have induced a greater presentness to present +objects. But Mr. Pitt's conduct was correct, unimpressibly correct. His +after-discipline in the special pleader's office, and at the bar, +carried on the scheme of his education with unbroken uniformity. His +first political connections were with the Reformers, but those who +accuse him of sympathizing or coalescing with their intemperate or +visionary plans, misunderstand his character, and are ignorant of the +historical facts. Imaginary situations in an imaginary state of things +rise up in minds that possess a power and facility in combining images. +Mr. Pitt's ambition was conversant with old situations in the old state +of things, which furnish nothing to the imagination, though much to the +wishes. In his endeavors to realize his father's plan of reform, he was +probably as sincere as a being, who had derived so little knowledge from +actual impressions, could be. But his sincerity had no living root of +affection; while it was propped up by his love of praise and immediate +power, so long it stood erect and no longer. He became a member of the +Parliament--supported the popular opinions, and in a few years, by the +influence of the popular party, was placed in that high and awful rank +in which he now is. The fortunes of his country, we had almost said, the +fates of the world, were placed in his wardship--we sink in prostration +before the inscrutable dispensations of Providence, when we reflect in +whose wardship the fates of the world were placed! + +The influencer of his country and of his species was a young man, the +creature of another's predetermination, sheltered and weather-fended +from all the elements of experience; a young man, whose feet had never +wandered; whose very eye had never turned to the right or to the left; +whose whole track had been as curveless as the motion of a fascinated +reptile! It was a young man, whose heart was solitary, because he had +existed always amidst objects of futurity, and whose imagination, too, +was unpopulous, because those objects of hope, to which his habitual +wishes had transferred, and as it were _projected_, his existence, were +all familiar and long established objects! A plant sown and reared in a +hot-house, for whom the very air that surrounded him, had been regulated +by the thermometer of previous purpose; to whom the light of nature had +penetrated only through glasses and covers; who had had the sun without +the breeze; whom no storm had shaken; on whom no rain had pattered; on +whom the dews of heaven had not fallen! A being, who had had no feelings +connected with man or nature, no spontaneous impulses, no unbiased and +desultory studies, no genuine science, nothing that constitutes +individuality in intellect, nothing that teaches brotherhood in +affection! Such was the man--such, and so denaturalized the spirit--on +whose wisdom and philanthropy the lives and living enjoyments of so many +millions of human beings were made unavoidably dependent. From this time +a real enlargement of mind became almost impossible. Pre-occupations, +intrigue, the undue passion and anxiety with which all facts must be +surveyed; the crowd and confusion of those facts, none of them seen, but +all communicated, and by that very circumstance, and by the necessity of +perpetually classifying them, transmuted into words and generalities; +pride, flattery, irritation, artificial power; these, and circumstances +resembling these, necessarily render the heights of office barren +heights, which command, indeed, a vast and extensive prospect, but +attract so many clouds and vapors, that most often all prospect is +precluded. Still, however, Mr. Pitt's situation, however inauspicious +for his real being, was favorable to his fame. He heaped period on +period; persuaded himself and the nation, that extemporaneous +arrangement of sentences was eloquence; and that eloquence implied +wisdom. His father's struggles for freedom, and his own attempts, gave +him an almost unexampled popularity; and his office necessarily +associated with his name all the great events, that happened during his +administration. There were not, however, wanting men, who saw through +this delusion; and refusing to attribute the industry, integrity, and +enterprising spirit of our merchants, the agricultural improvements of +our land-holders, the great inventions of our manufacturers, or the +valor and skillfulness of our sailors to the merits of a minister, they +have continued to decide on his character from those acts and those +merits, which belong to him and to him alone. Judging him by this +standard, they have been able to discover in him no one proof or symptom +of a commanding genius. They have discovered him never controlling, +never creating events, but always yielding to them with rapid change, +and sheltering himself from inconsistency by perpetual indefiniteness. +In the Russian war, they saw him abandoning meanly what he had planned +weakly, and threatened insolently. In the debates on the Regency, they +detected the laxity of his constitutional principles, and received +proofs that his eloquence consisted not in the ready application of a +general system to particular questions, but in the facility of arguing +for or against any question by specious generalities, without reference +to any system. In these debates, he combined what is most dangerous in +democracy, with all that is most degrading in the old superstitions of +monarchy; and taught an inherency of the office in the person, in order +to make the office itself a nullity, and the Premiership, with its +accompanying majority, the sole and permanent power of the State. And +now came the French Revolution. This was a new event; the old routine of +reasoning, the common trade of politics were to become obsolete. He +appeared wholly unprepared for it: half favoring, half condemning, +ignorant of what he favored, and why he condemned, he neither displayed +the honest enthusiasm and fixed principle of Mr. Fox, nor the intimate +acquaintance with the general nature of man, and the consequent. +_prescience_ of Mr. Burke. + +After the declaration of war, long did he continue in the common cant of +office, in declamation about the Scheldt and Holland, and all the vulgar +causes of common contests! and when at last the immense genius of his +new supporter had beat him out of these _words_ (words signifying +_places_ and _dead objects_, and signifying nothing more), he adopted +other words in their places, other generalities--Atheism and +Jacobinism--phrases, which he learned from Mr. Burke, but without +learning the philosophical definitions and involved consequences, with +which that great man accompanied those words. Since the death of Mr. +Burke, the forms and the sentiments, and the tone of the French have +undergone many and important changes: how, indeed, is it possible that +it should be otherwise, while man is the creature of experience! But +still Mr. Pitt proceeds in an endless repetition of the same _general +phrases_. This is his element; deprive him of general and abstract +phrases, and you reduce him to silence. But you can not deprive him of +them. Press him to specify an _individual_ fact of advantage to be +derived from a war, and he answers, Security! Call upon him to +particularize a crime, and he exclaims, Jacobinism! Abstractions defined +by abstractions! Generalities defined by generalities! As a minister of +finance, he is still, as ever, the man of words and abstractions! +Figures, custom-house reports, imports and exports, commerce and +revenue--all flourishing, all splendid! Never was such a prosperous +country, as England, under his administration! Let it be objected, that +the agriculture of the country is, by the overbalance of commerce, and +by various and complex causes, in such a state, that the country hangs +as a pensioner for bread on its neighbors, and a bad season uniformly +threatens us with famine. This (it is replied) is owing to our +PROSPERITY--all _prosperous_ nations are in great distress for +food!--still PROSPERITY, still GENERAL PHRASES, uninforced by one +_single image_, one _single fact_ of real national amelioration; of any +one comfort enjoyed, where it was not before enjoyed; of any one class +of society becoming healthier, wiser, or happier. These are _things_, +these are realities; and these Mr. Pitt has neither the imagination to +body forth, nor the sensibility to feel for. Once, indeed, in an evil +hour, intriguing for popularity, he suffered himself to be persuaded to +evince a talent for the Real, the Individual; and he brought in his POOR +BILL!! When we hear the minister's talent for finance so loudly +trumpeted, we turn involuntarily to his POOR BILL--to that acknowledged +abortion--that unanswerable evidence of his ignorance respecting all the +fundamental relations and actions of property, and of the social union! + +As his reasonings, even so is his eloquence. One character pervades his +whole being. Words on words, finely arranged, and so dexterously +consequent, that the whole bears the semblance of argument, and still +keeps awake a sense of surprise; but when all is done, nothing +rememberable has been said; no one philosophical remark, no one image, +not even a pointed aphorism. Not a sentence of Mr. Pitt's has ever been +quoted, or formed the favorite phrase of the day--a thing unexampled in +any man of equal reputation. But while he speaks, the effect varies +according to the character of his auditor. The man of no talent is +swallowed up in surprise; and when the speech is ended, he remembers his +feelings, but nothing distinct of that which produced them--(how +opposite an effect to that of nature and genius, from whose works the +idea still remains, when the feeling is passed away--remains to connect +itself with the other feelings, and combine with new impressions!) The +mere man of talent hears him with admiration--the mere man of genius +with contempt--the philosopher neither admires nor contemns, but listens +to him with a deep and solemn interest, tracing in the effects of his +eloquence the power of words and phrases, and that peculiar constitution +of human affairs in their present state, which so eminently favors this +power. + +Such appears to us to be the prime minister of Great Britain, whether we +consider him as a statesman or as an orator. The same character betrays +itself in his private life; the same coldness to realities, and to all +whose excellence relates to reality. He has patronized no science, he +has raised no man of genius from obscurity; he counts no one prime work +of God among his friends. From the same source he has no attachment to +female society, no fondness for children, no perceptions of beauty in +natural scenery; but he is fond of convivial indulgences, of that +stimulation, which, keeping up the glow of self-importance and the sense +of internal power, gives feelings without the mediation of ideas. + +These are the elements of his mind; the accidents of his fortune, the +circumstances that enabled such a mind to acquire and retain such a +power, would form a subject of a philosophical history, and that, too, +of no scanty size. We can scarcely furnish the chapter of contents to a +work, which would comprise subjects so important and delicate, as the +causes of the diffusion and intensity of secret influence; the machinery +and state intrigue of marriages; the overbalance of the commercial +interest; the panic of property struck by the late revolution; the +short-sightedness of the careful; the carelessness of the fat-sighted; +and all those many and various events which have given to a decorous +profession of religion, and a seemliness of private morals, such an +unwonted weight in the attainment and preservation of public power. We +are unable to determine whether it be more consolatary or humiliating to +human nature, that so many complexities of event, situation, character, +age, and country, should be necessary in order to the production of a +Mr. Pitt. + + + + +[From Household Words.] + +IGNORANCE OF THE ENGLISH. + + +The lamentable deficiency of the commonest rudiments of education, which +still exists among the humbler classes of the nation, is never so darkly +apparent as when we compare their condition with that of people of +similar rank in other countries. When we do so, we find that England +stands the lowest in the scale of what truly must be looked upon as +_Civilization_; for she provides fewer means for promoting it than any +of her neighbors. With us, education is a commodity to be trafficked in: +abroad, it is a duty. Here, schoolmasters are perfectly irresponsible +except to their paymasters; in other countries, teachers are appointed +by the state, and a rigid supervision is maintained over the trainers of +youth, both as regards competency and moral conduct. In England, whoever +is too poor to buy the article education, can get none of it for himself +or his offspring; in other parts of Europe, either the government (as in +Germany), or public opinion (as in America), enforces it upon the +youthful population. + +What are the consequences? One is revealed by a comparison between the +proportion of scholars in elementary schools to the entire population of +other countries, and that in our own. Taking the whole of northern +Europe--including Scotland, and France, and Belgium (where education is +at a low ebb), we find that to every 2-1/4 of the population, there is +one child acquiring the rudiments of knowledge; while in England there +is only one such pupil to every _fourteen_ inhabitants. + +It has been calculated that there are, at the present day in England and +Wales, nearly 8,000,000 persons who can neither read nor write--that is +to say, nearly one quarter of the population. Also, that of all the +children between five and fourteen, more than one half attend no place +of instruction. These statements--compiled by Mr. Kay, from official and +other authentic sources, for his work on the Social Condition and +Education of the Poor in England and Europe, would be hard to believe, +if we had not to encounter in our every-day life degrees of illiteracy +which would be startling, if we were not thoroughly used to it. Wherever +we turn, ignorance, not always allied to poverty, stares us in the face. +If we look in the Gazette, at the list of partnerships dissolved, not a +month passes but some unhappy man, rolling perhaps in wealth, but +wallowing in ignorance, is put to the _experimentum crucis_ of "his +mark." The number of petty jurors--in rural districts especially--who +can only sign with a cross is enormous. It is not unusual to see parish +documents of great local importance defaced with the same humiliating +symbol by persons whose office shows them to be not only "men of mark," +but men of substance. We have printed already specimens of the partial +ignorance which passes under the ken of the Post Office authorities, and +we may venture to assert, that such specimens of penmanship and +orthography are not to be matched in any other country in Europe. A +housewife in humble life need only turn to the file of her tradesmen's +bills to discover hieroglyphics which render them so many arithmetical +puzzles. In short, the practical evidences of the low ebb to which the +plainest rudiments of education in this country has fallen, are too +common to bear repetition. We can not pass through the streets, we can +not enter a place of public assembly, or ramble in the fields, without +the gloomy shadow of Ignorance sweeping over us. The rural population is +indeed in a worse plight than the other classes. We quote--with the +attestation of our own experience--the following passage from one of a +series of articles which have recently appeared in a morning newspaper: +"Taking the adult class of agricultural laborers, it is almost +impossible to exaggerate the ignorance in which they live and move and +have their being. As they work in the fields, the external world has +some hold upon them through the medium of their senses; but to all the +higher exercises of intellect, they are perfect strangers. You can not +address one of them without being at once painfully struck with the +intellectual darkness which enshrouds him. There is in general neither +speculation in his eyes, nor intelligence in his countenance. The whole +expression is more that of an animal than of a man. He is wanting, too, +in the erect and independent bearing of a man. When you, accost him, if +he is not insolent--which he seldom is--he is timid and shrinking, his +whole manner showing that he feels himself at a distance from you, +greater than should separate any two classes of men. He is often +doubtful when you address, and suspicious when you question him; he is +seemingly oppressed with the interview, while it lasts, and obviously +relieved when it is over. These are the traits which I can affirm them +to possess as a class, after having come in contact with many hundreds +of farm laborers. They belong to a generation for whose intellectual +culture little or nothing was done. As a class, they have no amusements +beyond the indulgence of sense. In nine cases out of ten, recreation is +associated in their minds with nothing higher than sensuality. I have +frequently asked clergymen and others, if they often find the adult +peasant reading for his own or others' amusement? The invariable answer +is, that such a sight is seldom or never witnessed. In the first place, +_the great bulk of them can not read_. In the next, a large proportion +of those who can do so with too much difficulty to admit of the exercise +being an amusement to them. Again, few of those who can read with +comparative ease, have the taste for doing so. It is but justice to them +to say, that many of those who can not read, have bitterly regretted, in +my hearing, their inability to do so. I shall never forget the tone in +which an old woman in Cornwall intimated to me what a comfort it would +now be to her, could she only read her Bible in her lonely hours." + +We now turn to the high lights of the picture as presented abroad, and +which, from their very brightness, throw our own intellectual gloom into +deeper shade. Mr. Kay observes in the work we have already cited: + +"It is a great fact, however much, we may be inclined to doubt it, that +throughout Prussia, Saxony, Bavaria, Bohemia, Wirtemberg, Baden, Hesse +Darmstadt, Hesse Cassel, Gotha, Nassau, Hanover, Denmark, Switzerland, +Norway, and the Austrian Empire, ALL the children are actually at this +present time attending school, and are receiving a careful, religious, +moral, and intellectual education, from highly educated and efficient +teachers. Over the vast tract of country which I have mentioned, as well +as in Holland, and the greater part of France, _all_ the children above +six years of age are daily acquiring useful knowledge and good habits +under the _influence_ of moral, religious, and learned teachers. ALL the +youth of the greater part of these countries, below the age of +twenty-one years, can read, write, and cipher, and know the Bible +History, and the history of their own country. No children are left idle +and dirty in the streets of the towns--there is no class of children to +be compared in any respect to the children who frequent our "ragged +schools"--all the children, even of the poorest parents, are, in a great +part of these countries, in dress, appearance, cleanliness, and manners, +as polished and civilized as the children of our middle classes; the +children of the poor in Germany are so civilized that the rich often +send their children to the schools intended for the poor; and, lastly, +in a great part of Germany and Switzerland, the children of the poor are +receiving a _better_ education than that given in England to the +children of the greater part of our middle classes." + +"I remember one day," says Mr. Kay in another page, "when walking near +Berlin in the company of Herr Hintz, a professor in Dr. Diesterweg's +Normal College, and of another teacher, we saw a poor woman cutting up, +in the road, logs of wood for winter use. My companions pointed her out +to me, and said, 'Perhaps you will scarcely believe it, but in the +neighborhood of Berlin, poor women, like that one, read translations of +Sir Walter Scott's Novels, and many of the interesting works of your +language, besides those of the principal writers of Germany.' This +account was afterward confirmed by the testimony of several other +persons. Often and often have I seen the poor cab-drivers of Berlin, +while waiting for a fare, amusing themselves by reading German books, +which they had brought with them in the morning, expressly for the +purpose of supplying amusement and occupation for their leisure hours. +In many parts of these countries, the peasants and the workmen of the +towns attend regular weekly lectures or weekly classes, where they +practice singing or chanting, or learn mechanical drawing, history, or +science. The intelligence of the poorer classes of these countries is +shown by their manners. The whole appearance of a German peasant who has +been brought up under this system, _i. e._, of any of the poor who have +not attained the age of thirty-five years, is very different to that of +our own peasantry. The German, Swiss, or Dutch peasant, who has grown up +to manhood under the new system, and since the old feudal system was +overthrown, is not nearly so often, as with us, distinguished by an +uncouth dialect. On the contrary, they speak as their teachers speak, +clearly, without hesitation, and grammatically. They answer questions +politely, readily, and with the ease which shows they have been +accustomed to mingle with men of greater wealth and of better education +than themselves. They do not appear embarrased, still less do they +appear gawkish or stupid, when addressed. If, in asking a peasant a +question, a stranger, according to the polite custom of the country, +raises his hat, the first words of reply are the quietly uttered ones, +'I pray you, sir, be covered.' A Prussian peasant is always polite and +respectful to a stranger, but quite as much at his ease as when speaking +to one of his own fellows." + +Surely the contrast presented between the efforts of the schoolmaster +abroad and his inactivity at home--refuting, as it does, our hourly +boastings of "intellectual progress"--should arouse us, energetically +and practically, to the work of educational extension. + + + + +LINES BY ROBERT SOUTHEY. + +(FROM AN UNPUBLISHED AUTOGRAPH.) + + + The days of Infancy are all a dream, + How fair, but oh! how short they seem-- + 'Tis Life's sweet opening SPRING! + + The days of Youth advance: + The bounding limb, the ardent glance. + The kindling soul they bring-- + It is Life's burning SUMMER time. + + Manhood--matured with wisdom's fruit, + Reward of learning's deep pursuit-- + Succeeds, as AUTUMN follows Summer's prime. + + And that, and that, alas! goes by; + And what ensues? The languid eye, + The failing frame, the soul o'ercast; + 'Tis WINTER'S sickening, withering blast, + Life's blessed season--for it is the last. + + + + +[From the Autobiography of Leigh Hunt.] + +THE SCHOOLMASTER OF COLERIDGE AND LAMB. + +BY LEIGH HUNT. + + +Boyer, the upper master of Christ-Hospital--famous for the mention of +him by COLERIDGE and LAMB--was a short, stout man, inclining to +punchiness, with large face and hands, an aquiline nose, long upper lip, +and a sharp mouth. His eye was close and cruel. The spectacles which he +wore threw a balm over it. Being a clergyman, he dressed in black, with +a powdered wig. His clothes were cut short; his hands hung out of the +sleeves, with tight wristbands, as if ready for execution; and as he +generally wore gray worsted stockings, very tight, with a little +balustrade leg, his whole appearance presented something formidably +succinct, hard, and mechanical. In fact, his weak side, and undoubtedly +his natural destination, lay in carpentry; and he accordingly carried, +in a side-pocket made on purpose, a carpenter's rule. + +The merits of BOYER consisted in his being a good verbal scholar, and +conscientiously acting up to the letter of time and attention. I have +seen him nod at the close of the long summer school-hours, wearied out; +and I should have pitied him, if he had taught us any thing but to fear. +Though a clergyman, very orthodox, and of rigid morals, he indulged +himself in an oath, which was "God's-my-life!" When you were out in your +lesson, he turned upon you a round, staring eye like a fish; and he had +a trick of pinching you under the chin, and by the lobes of the ears, +till he would make the blood come. He has many times lifted a boy off +the ground in this way. He was, indeed, a proper tyrant, passionate and +capricious; would take violent likes and dislikes to the same boys; +fondle some without any apparent reason, though he had a leaning to the +servile, and, perhaps, to the sons of rich people; and he would +persecute others in a manner truly frightful. I have seen him beat a +sickly-looking, melancholy boy (C----n) about the head and ears, till +the poor fellow, hot, dry-eyed, and confused, seemed lost in +bewilderment. C----n, not long after he took orders, died out of his +senses. I do not attribute that catastrophe to the master; and of course +he could not wish to do him any lasting mischief. He had no imagination +of any sort. But there is no saying how far his treatment of the boy +might have contributed to prevent a cure. Tyrannical schoolmasters +nowadays are to be found, perhaps, exclusively in such inferior schools +as those described with such masterly and indignant edification by my +friend Charles Dickens; but they formerly seemed to have abounded in +all; and masters, as well as boys, have escaped the chance of many +bitter reflections, since a wiser and more generous intercourse has come +up between them. + +I have some stories of Boyer, that will completely show his character, +and at the same time relieve the reader's indignation by something +ludicrous in their excess. We had a few boarders at the school; boys, +whose parents were too rich to let them go on the foundation. Among +them, in my time, was Carlton, a son of Lord Dorchester; Macdonald, one +of the Lord Chief Baron's sons; and R----, the son of a rich merchant. +Carlton, who was a fine fellow, manly, and fall of good sense, took his +new master and his caresses very coolly, and did not want them. Little +Macdonald also could dispense with them, and would put on his delicate +gloves after lesson, with an air as if he resumed his patrician plumage. +R---- was meeker, and willing to be encouraged; and there would the +master sit, with his arm round his tall waist, helping him to his Greek +verbs, as a nurse does bread and milk to an infant; and repeating them, +when he missed, with a fond patience, that astonished us criminals in +drugget. + +Very different was the treatment of a boy on the foundation, whose +friends, by some means or other, had prevailed on the master to pay him +an extra attention, and try to get him on. He had come into the school +at an age later than usual, and could hardly read. There was a book used +by the learners in reading, called "Dialogues between a Missionary and +an Indian." It was a poor performance, full of inconclusive arguments +and other commonplaces. The boy in question used to appear with this +book in his hand in the middle of the school, the master standing behind +him. The lesson was to begin. Poor ----, whose great fault lay in a +deep-toned drawl of his syllables and the omission of his stops, stood +half-looking at the book, and half-casting his eye toward the right of +him, whence the blows were to proceed. The master looked over him; and +his hand was ready. I am not exact in my quotation at this distance of +time; but the _spirit_ of one of the passages that I recollect was to +the following purport, and thus did the teacher and his pupil proceed: + +_Master._ "Now, young man, have a care; or I'll set you a _swinging_ +task." (A common phrase of his.) + +_Pupil._ (Making a sort of heavy bolt at his calamity, and never +remembering his stop at the word Missionary.) "_Missionary_ Can you see +the wind?" + +(Master gives him a slap on the cheek.) + +_Pupil._ (Raising his voice to a cry, and still forgetting his stop.) +"_Indian_ No!" + +_Master._ "God's-my-life, young man! have a care how you provoke me." + +_Pupil._ (Always forgetting the stop.) "_Missionary_ How then do you +know that there is such a thing?" + +(Here a terrible thump.) + +_Pupil._ (With a shout of agony.) "_Indian_ Because I feel it." + +One anecdote of his injustice will suffice for all. It is of ludicrous +enormity; nor do I believe any thing more flagrantly willful was ever +done by himself. I heard Mr. C----, the sufferer, now a most respectable +person in a government office, relate it with a due relish, long after +quitting the school. The master was in the habit of "spiting" C----; +that is to say, of taking every opportunity to be severe with him, +nobody knew why. One day he comes into the school, and finds him placed +in the middle of it with three other boys. He was not in one of his +worst humors, and did not teem inclined to punish them, till he saw his +antagonist. "Oh, oh, sir!" said he; "what! you are among them, are you?" +and gave him an exclusive thump on the face. He then turned to one of +the Grecians, and said, "I have not time to flog all these boys; make +them draw lots, and I'll punish one." The lots were drawn, and C----'s +was favorable. "Oh, oh!" returned the master, when he saw them, "you +have escaped, have you, sir?" and pulling out his watch, and turning +again to the Grecian, observed, that he found he _had_ time to punish +the whole three; "and, sir," added he to C----, with another slap, "I'll +begin with _you_." He then took the boy into the library and flogged +him; and, on issuing forth again, had the face to say, with an air of +indifference, "I have not time, after all, to punish these two other +boys; let them take care how they provoke me another time." + +Often did I wish that I was a fairy, in order to play him tricks like a +Caliban. We used to sit and fancy what we should do with his wig; how we +would hamper and vex him; "put knives in his pillow, and halters in his +pew." To venture on a joke in our own mortal persons, was like playing +with Polyphemus. One afternoon, when he was nodding with sleep over a +lesson, a boy of the name of Meaer, who stood behind him, ventured to +take a pin, and begin advancing with it up his wig. The hollow, +exhibited between the wig and the nape of the neck, invited him. The +boys encouraged this daring act of gallantry. Nods and becks, and then +whispers of "Go it, M.!" gave more and more valor to his hand. On a +sudden, the master's head falls back; he starts, with eyes like a shark; +and seizing the unfortunate culprit, who stood helpless in the act of +holding the pin, caught hold of him, fiery with passion. A "swinging +task" ensued, which kept him at home all the holidays. One of these +tasks would consist of an impossible quantity of Virgil, which the +learner, unable to retain it at once, wasted his heart and soul out "to +get up," till it was too late. + +Sometimes, however, our despot got into a dilemma, and then he did not +know how to get out of it. A boy, now and then, would be roused into +open and fierce remonstrance. I recollect S., afterward one of the +mildest of preachers, starting up in his place, and pouring forth on his +astonished hearer a torrent of invectives and threats, which the other +could only answer by looking pale, and uttering a few threats in return. +Nothing came of it. He did not like such matters to go before the +governors. Another time, Favell, a Grecian, a youth of high spirit, whom +he had struck, went to the school-door, opened it, and, turning round +with the handle in his grasp, told him he would never set foot again in +the place, unless he promised to treat him with more delicacy. "Come +back, child--come back!" said the other, pale, and in a faint voice. +There was a dead silence. Favell came back, and nothing mere was done. + +A sentiment, unaccompanied with something practical, would have been +lost upon him D----, who went afterward to the Military College at +Woolwich, played him a trick, apparently between jest and earnest, which +amused us exceedingly. He was to be flogged; and the dreadful door of +the library was approached. (They did not invest the books with flowers, +as Montaigne recommends.) Down falls the criminal, and, twisting himself +about the master's legs, which he does the more when the other attempts +to move, repeats without ceasing, "Oh, good God! consider my father, +sir; my father, sir; you know my father!" The point was felt to be +getting ludicrous, and was given up. P----, now a popular preacher, was +in the habit of entertaining the boys that way. He was a regular wag; +and would snatch his jokes out of the very flame and fury of the master, +like snap-dragon. Whenever the other struck him, P. would get up; and, +half to avoid the blows, and half render them ridiculous, begin moving +about the school-room, making all sorts of antics. When he was struck in +the face, he would clap his hand with affected vehemence to the place, +and cry as rapidly, "_Oh_, Lord!" If the blow came on the arm, he would +grasp his arm, with a similar exclamation. The master would then go, +driving and kicking him; while the patient accompanied every blow with +the same comments and illustrations, making faces to us by way of index. + +What a bit of a golden age was it, when the Rev. Mr. Steevens, one of +the under grammar-masters, took his place, on some occasion, for a short +time! Steevens was short and fat, with a handsome, cordial face. You +loved him as you looked at him; and seemed as if you should love him the +more, the fatter he became. I stammered when I was at that time of life; +which was an infirmity that used to get me into terrible trouble with +the master. Steevens used to say, on the other hand, "Here comes our +little black-haired friend, who stammers so. Now, let us see what we can +do for him." The consequence was, I did not hesitate half so much as +with the other. When I did, it was out of impatience to please him. + +Such of us were not liked the better by the master, as were in favor +with his wife. She was a sprightly, good-looking woman, with black eyes, +and was beheld with transport by the boys, whenever she appeared at the +school-door. Her husband's name, uttered in a mingled tone of +good-nature and imperativeness, brought him down from his seat with +smiling haste. Sometimes he did not return. On entering the school one +day, he found a boy eating cherries. "Where did you get those cherries?" +exclaimed he, thinking the boy had nothing to say for himself. "Mrs. +Boyer gave them me, sir." He turned away, scowling with disappointment. + +Speaking of fruit, reminds me of a pleasant trait on the part of a +Grecian of the name of Le Grice. He was the maddest of all the great +boys in my time; clever, full of address, and not hampered with modesty. +Remote rumors, not lightly to be heard, fell on our ears, respecting +pranks of his among the nurses' daughters. He had a fair, handsome face, +with delicate, aquiline nose, and twinkling eyes. I remember his +astonishing me, when I was "a new boy," with sending me for a bottle of +water, which he proceeded to pour down the back of G., a grave Deputy +Grecian. On the master asking him one day, why he, of all the boys, had +given up no exercise (it was a particular exercise that they were bound +to do in the course of a long set of holidays), he said he had had "a +lethargy." The extreme impudence of this puzzled the master; and I +believe nothing came of it. But what I alluded to about the fruit was +this: Le Grice was in the habit of eating apples in school-time, for +which he had been often rebuked. One day, having particularly pleased +the master, the latter, who was eating apples himself, and who would now +and then with great ostentation present a boy with some half-penny token +of his mansuetude, called out to his favorite of the moment: "Le Grice, +here is an apple for you." Le Grice, who felt his dignity hurt as a +Grecian, but was more pleased at having this opportunity of mortifying +his reprover, replied, with an exquisite tranquillity of assurance, +"Sir, I never eat apples." For this, among other things, the boy's +adored him. Poor fellow! He and Favell (who, though very generous, was +said to be a little too sensible of an humble origin) wrote to the Duke +of York, when they were at college, for commissions in the army. The +duke good-naturedly sent them. Le Grice died in the West Indies. Favell +was Killed in one of the battles in Spain, but not before he had +distinguished himself as an officer and a gentleman. + + + + +EDUCATION IN AMERICA + + +What is the enterprise and general prosperity of the Americans to be +attributed to (their country is not naturally so rich or fruitful as +Mexico), except to their general enlightenment? The oldest manufacturers +of cotton in the world are the Hindoos; labor with them is cheaper than +it is in any other part of the world: yet we take the cotton that grows +at the doors of their factories, bring it 13,000 miles to this country, +manufacture it here where labor is so expensive, take it back 13,000 +miles, and undersell the native manufacturer. Labor is dearer in America +than in any part of the world, and yet we dread and fear their +competition more than that of any other nation. The reason of all this +is obvious. All the advantages which the Hindoo possesses are far more +than counterbalanced by his intellectual inferiority to ourselves; while +we dread the American, with reason, because he is, intellectually at +least, our equal, and, considering the general intelligence and good +conduct of the hands he employs, our superior. To what cause, except +that of a decided superiority in captains and crews, can we attribute +the fact that the Americans have deprived us of so large a portion of +the whale fishery, as in a measure to have monopolized it? American +clocks, which we now see in almost every hall and cottage, ought to set +us thinking. We may be sure of this, the commerce of the world will fall +into the hands of those who are most deserving of it. If political or +philanthropic considerations should fail to show us the necessity of +educating our people, commercial considerations will one day remind us +of what we ought to have done. We can only hope that the reminder may +not come too late. + +Enlightenment is the great necessity and the great glory of our age; +ignorance is the most expensive, and most dangerous, and most pressing +of all our evils. Among ourselves we find a variety of motives +converging upon this conclusion. The statesman has become aware that an +enlightened population is more orderly, more submissive, in times of +public distress, to the necessity of their circumstances; not so easily +led away by agitators; in short, more easily and more cheaply governed. +The political economist is well aware of the close connection between +general intelligence and successful enterprise and industry. The greater +the number of enlightened and intelligent persons, the greater is the +number of those whose thoughts are at work in subduing nature, improving +arts, and increasing national wealth. The benevolent man is anxious that +all should share those enjoyments and advantages which he himself finds +to be the greatest. Both Churchman and Dissenter know well enough that +they are under the necessity of educating. And the manufacturer, too, +who is employing, perhaps, many more hands than the colonel of a +regiment commands, is now becoming well aware how much to his advantage +it is that his men should prefer a book or a reading-room to the parlor +of a public house; should understand what they are about, instead of +being merely able to go through their allotted task as so many beasts of +burden; and that they should have the strong motive of making their +homes decent and respectable, and of bettering their condition. All +these motives are now working--strongly, too--in the public mind, and +have begun to bear fruit.--_Frazer's Magazine._ + + + + +[From Bartlett's "Nile Boat."] + +SCENES IN EGYPT. + + +The Egyptian Pyramids.--How many illustrious travelers in all ages have +sat and gazed upon the scene around! and how endless are the +speculations in which they have indulged! "The epochs, the builders, and +the objects of the pyramids," says Gliddon, "had, for two thousand +years, been dreams, fallacies, or mysteries." To begin at the beginning, +some have supposed them to be antediluvian; others, that they were built +by the children of Noah to escape from a second flood--by Nimrod, by the +Pali of Hindostan, and even the ancient Irish. It was a favorite theory +until very lately, that they were the work of the captive Israelites. +The Arabians attributed them to the Jins or Genii; others to a race of +Titans. Some have supposed them to have been the granaries built by +Joseph; others, intended for his tomb, or those of the Pharaoh drowned +in the Red Sea, or of the bull Apis. Yeates thinks they soon followed +the Tower of Babel, and both had the same common design; while, +according to others, they were built with the spoils of Solomon's temple +and the riches of the queen of Sheba. They have been regarded as temples +of Venus, as reservoirs for purifying the waters of the Nile, as erected +for astronomical or mathematical purposes, or intended to protect the +valley of the Nile from the encroachments of the sands of the desert +(this notable theory, too, is quite recent); in short, for every +conceivable and inconceivable purpose that could be imagined by +superstitious awe, by erudition groping without data in the dark, or +reasoning upon the scanty and suspicious evidence of Grecian writers. At +length, after a silence of thousands of years, the discoveries of +Champollion have enabled the monuments to tell their own tale; their +mystery has been, in great measure, unraveled, and the names of their +founders ascertained. The explorations of Colonel Vyse, Perring, and +recently of Lepsius, have brought to light the remains of no less than +_sixty-nine_ pyramids, extending in a line from Abouroash to Dashoor. +These, by the discovery of the names of their founders, are proved to +have been a succession of royal mausolea, forming the most sublime +Necropolis in the world. The size of each different pyramid is supposed +to bear relation to the length of the reign of its builder, being +commenced with the delving of a tomb in the rock for him at his +accession, over which a fresh layer of stones was added every year until +his decease, when the monument was finished and closed up. Taking the +number of these Memiphite sovereigns and the average length of their +reigns, the gradual construction of the pyramids would, therefore, it is +presumed, extend over a period, in round numbers, of some _sixteen +hundred years!_ Imagination is left to conceive the antecedent period +required for the slow formation of the alluvial valley of the Nile until +it became fit for human habitation, whether it was first peopled by an +indigenous race, or by an Asiatic immigration, already bringing with +them from their Asiatic birth-place the elements of civilization, or +whether they grew up on the spot, and the long, long ages that might +have elapsed, and the progress that must have been made, before +monuments so wonderful could have been erected. + +[Illustration: THE PYRAMIDS.] + +Such is the latest theory, we believe, of the construction and import of +the pyramids. + +The entrance to the great pyramid is about forty feet from the ground. +At the entrance, the stones follow the inclination of the passage: +there are a few foot-holes to aid you in descending the slippery blocks. +Stooping down at the entrance of the low passage, four feet high, we +began the sloping descent into the interior. This first passage +continues on a slope, down to a subterranean room; but at the distance +of 106 feet, a block of granite closes it; and an upper passage ascends +from this point at an angle of 27°. Climbing by a few steps into the +second passage, you ascend to the entrance of the great gallery. From +this point a horizontal passage leads into what is called the Queen's +Chamber, which is small, and roofed by long blocks, resting against each +other, and forming an angle: its height to this point is about twenty +feet. There is a niche in the east end, where the Arabs have broken the +stones in search for treasure; and Sir G. Wilkinson thinks, that "if the +pit where the king's body was deposited does exist in any of these +rooms, it should be looked for beneath this niche." He remarks besides, +that this chamber stands under the apex of the pyramid. At the base of +the great gallery, to which we now return, is the mouth of what is +called the well, a narrow funnel-shaped passage, leading down to the +chamber at the base of the edifice, hollowed in the rock, and if the +theory of Dr. Lepsius is correct, originally containing the body of the +founder. The long ascending slope of the great gallery, six feet wide, +is formed by successive courses of masonry overlaying each other, and +thus narrowing the passage toward the top. + +[Illustration] + +Advancing 158 feet up this impressive avenue, we come to a horizontal +passage, where four granite portcullises, descending through grooves, +once opposed additional obstacles to the rash curiosity or avarice which +might tempt any to invade the eternal silence of the sepulchral chamber, +which they besides concealed, but the cunning of the spoiler has been +there of old, the device was vain, and you are now enabled to enter +this, the principal apartment in the pyramid, and called the King's +Chamber, entirely constructed of red granite, as is also the +sarcophagus, the lid and contents of which had been removed. This is +entirely plain, and without hieroglyphics; the more singular, as it +seems to be ascertained that they were then in use. The sarcophagus +rests upon an enormous granite block, which may, as suggested by Mrs. +Poole, in her minute account of the interior, have been placed to mark +the entrance to a deep vault or pit beneath. There are some small holes +in the walls of the chamber, the purpose of which was for ventilation, +as at length discovered by Col. Howard Vyse. + +Above the King's Chamber, and only to be reached by a narrow passage, +ascending at the south-east corner of the great gallery, having notches +in which pieces of wood were formerly inserted, and from the top of +that, along another passage, is the small chamber discovered by Mr. +Davison; its height is only three feet six inches; above it are four +other similar niches, discovered by Colonel Howard Vyse, the topmost of +which is angular. Wilkinson supposes that the sole purpose of these +chambers is to relieve the pressure on the King's Chamber, and here was +discovered the cartouche containing the name of the founder, Suphis, +identical with that found upon the tablets in Wady Maghara, in the +desert of Mount Sinai. + +The second pyramid, generally attributed, though without hieroglyphical +confirmation, to Cephrenes, is more ancient and ruder in its masonry +than that of Cheops. Standing on higher ground, it has from some points +an appearance of greater height than that of the great pyramid, and its +dimensions are hardly less stupendous. It is distinguished by having a +portion of the smooth casing yet remaining, with which all the pyramids +were once covered, and it is a great feat to climb up this dangerous, +slippery surface to the summit. Yet there are plenty of Arabs who for a +trifling beckshish will dash "down Cheops and up Cephrenes" with +incredible celerity. Its interior arrangements differ from those of the +great pyramid, in that in accordance with Lepsius's theory, the +sarcophagus of the builder is sunk in the floor, and not placed in the +centre of the edifice. The glory of opening this pyramid is due to the +enterprising Belzoni. + +The third pyramid is of much smaller dimensions than the two others, but +beautifully constructed. It was the work, as is proved by the discovery +of his name, of Mycerinus or Mencheres, whose wooden coffin in the +British Museum, very simple, and unornamented, as well as the desiccated +body, supposed to be that of the monarch himself, has probably attracted +the notice of our readers. This pyramid is double, _i. e._, eased over +with a distinct covering. Besides these principal ones, there are still +standing other and smaller pyramids, more or less entire, grouped about +these larger ones, and forming a portion of this stupendous Necropolis +of Memphis. + + * * * * * + +THE GREAT HALL AT KARNAK.--We had spent so much time in the examination +of Luxor, and of the other portions of Karnak, that the evening was +advanced when we arrived at the Great Hall. The shadows were creeping +solemnly through the intricate recesses of its forest of columns, but +the red light rested for a while upon their beautiful flower-shaped +capitals, the paintings upon which, scarred and worn as they are by the +accidents of 3000 years, still display, under a strong light, much of +their original vividness. It is a perfect wilderness of ruin, almost +outrunning the wildest imagination or the most fantastic dream. We paced +slowly down the central avenue. The bases of the columns are buried +among the fallen fragments of the roof and a mass of superincumbent +earth; from his hiding-place, amidst which the jackal began to steal +forth, and wake the echoes of the ruins with his blood-curdling shriek; +while the shadowy bat flitted, spirit-like, from dusky pillar to pillar. +From the centre of the hall, whichever way we looked through the +deepening gloom, there seemed no end to the labyrinthine ruins. Obelisks +and columns, some erect in their pristine beauty, others fallen across, +and hurled together in hideous confusion, forming wild arcades of ruin; +enormous masses of prostrate walls and propylæa, seemed to have required +either to construct or to destroy them the power of a fabled race of +giants. Pillars, obelisks, and walls of this immense hall, were covered +with the forms of monarchs who reigned, and of the gods who were once +worshiped within it. Involuntarily the mind goes back, in gazing on +them, to the period of its original splendor, when Rameses in triumph +returned from his oriental conquests--pictures the pile in all its +completeness, the hall of a hundred and thirty columns with its superb +roof, glittering in all the vivid beauty of its paintings, thronged with +monarchs, and priests, and worshipers, and devoted to splendid and +gorgeous ceremonies. + +[Illustration: GREAT HALL AT KARNAK.] + +Next morning, after an early breakfast, I was again among the ruins of +the Great Hall, which I had but imperfectly surveyed the previous +evening. I give its dimensions from Wilkinson, with a description of the +rest of the temple. "It measures 170 feet by 329, supported by a +central avenue of twelve massive columns, 66 feet high (without the +pedestal and abacus) and 12 in diameter, besides a hundred and +twenty-two of smaller, or rather less gigantic dimensions, 41 feet 9 +inches in height, and 27 feet 6 inches in circumference, distributed in +seven lines on either side of the former. The twelve central columns +were originally fourteen, but the two northernmost have been inclosed +within the front towers or popylæa, apparently in the time of Osirei +himself, the founder of the hall. The two at the other end were also +partly built into the projecting wall of the doorway, as appears from +their rough sides, which were left uneven for that purpose. Attached to +this are two other towers, closing the inner extremity of the hall, +beyond which are two obelisks, one still standing on its original site, +the other having been thrown down and broken by human violence. Similar +but smaller propylæa succeed to this court, of which they form the inner +side." This is the spot which I have selected for a retrospective view +of the Great Hall, the obelisk still standing, but the propylæa in the +fore-ground a mass of utter ruin. Still following the intricate plan of +the great temple through the ruined propylæa in the fore-ground, we +reach another court with two obelisks of larger dimensions, the one now +standing being 92 feet high and 8 square, surrounded by a peristyle, if +I may be allowed the expression, of Osiride figures. Passing between two +dilapidated propylæa, you enter another smaller area, ornamented in a +similar manner, and succeeded by a vestibule, in front of the granite +gateways that form the façade of the court before the sanctuary. This +last is also of red granite, divided into two apartments, and surrounded +by numerous chambers of small dimensions, varying from 29 feet by 16, to +16 feet by 8. The walls of this small sanctuary, standing on the site of +a more ancient one, are highly polished, sculptured, and painted, and +the ceiling of stars on a blue ground, the whole exquisitely finished. +The entire height of the hall, _i. e._, the central portion, is not less +than 80 feet, the propylæa still higher. + +The imagination is no doubt bewildered in following these numerous +details, and yet much is left undescribed and even unnoticed, and the +eye, even of the visitor, more than satisfied with seeing, will return +to the prominent objects, those alone, of which he can expect to retain +a vivid recollection. The Great Hall will attract his attention above +every thing else. + + + + +SCENERY ON THE ERIE RAILROAD. + + +[Illustration: VIEW FROM PIERMONT, LOOKING NORTH.] + +The construction of the Erie railroad through the hitherto secluded +valleys of the Delaware and Susquehanna rivers, and reaching now almost +to the Allegany, has opened to access new fields for the tourist, +abounding with the loveliest and the grandest works of Nature. From the +Hudson to the Lakes, the scenery is constantly changing from the +romantic and beautiful to the bold and rugged; and again from the +sublime and fearfully grand to the sweetest pictures of gentle beauty. +There is probably no road in the world that passes through such a +variety of scenery as does the Erie, and there is certainly none that +can present to the traveler such a succession of triumphs of art over +the formidable obstacles which nature has, at almost every step, raised +against the iron-clad intruders into her loveliest recesses. The +enchanting magnificence of the scenery keeps the attention alive, while +its varying character at every turn, continually opens new sources of +enjoyment. Immense rocky excavations salute you upon every side. Miles +of mountain acclivities of solid rock have been borne away by the +Herculean arm of persevering industry. You see where the lofty cliff has +been beaten down; the huge mountain-barrier leveled; rough and rugged +precipices overcome; chasms spanned, and wide valleys and rivers +crossed. + +The scenery in the valley of the Delaware is grand beyond description; +and in the valley of the Susquehanna, after passing out of a wilderness, +where every portion is stamped with the impress of grandeur, a truly +agricultural region, in a high state of cultivation, and smiling with +abundance, meets the eye. At the point where the road first strikes the +Susquehanna, that noble river is seen in the plenitude of its +magnificent beauty. + +[Illustration: VALLEY OF THE NEVERSINK. + +From the Slate Rock Cutting. Port Jervis in the distance.] + +It is not our purpose to point out the particular objects most worthy +of examination, or to describe any one of the numerous landscapes which +lie all along the track; but we will venture to assert, that nowhere +between sun and sun can such a combination and variety of the wonderful +in nature and art, with the beautiful be seen, as in a day's ride on the +Erie railroad. Sketches of some of these views accompany this article, +and we may, from time to time, give such others as we think will prove +interesting to our readers. + +The reader is familiar with the geography of the road: commencing at +Piermont, on the Hudson, twenty-four miles from New York, on the long +pier that projects a mile into the river, it winds its way westward +among the hills along the course of the Sparkill. Just before leaving +the pier, looking north, the view on the preceding page is presented. + +From the Sparkill the road leads over to the Ramapo, where the first +lovely scenery commences, in a wild and broken, but picturesque region; +thence through Orange county, beautiful mostly from its fertility and +high cultivation. Passing on, the road approaches the Shawangunk +mountains, which are seen stretching away to the northeast, where the +eye catches a misty glimpse of the distant Catskills. The appearance of +these mountains from the east is truly sublime; and ascending toward the +summit the country is as rugged as the wildest steeps of the Appenines +or Styrian Alps. After passing the summit of the mountain through a +rock-cutting, half a mile in length, the road winds by a gentle slope of +a dozen miles along the mountain side to the valley below. About half +way down, another deep cutting through the rock is passed, on emerging +from which, a view of remarkable loveliness meets the eye. At this point +the traveler has an unbroken view of the enchanting valley of the +Neversink in all its cultivated beauty. The accompanying view represents +the scene from the spot where the road boldly sweeps toward the south, +and shows the western verge of the valley bordered by a chain of +mountains, at the foot of which gleams the village of Port Jervis and +its level fields, losing themselves far in the south where rolls the +Delaware, beyond which again the distant town of Milford may be seen in +the misty light. Running south through this beautiful area is a winding +grove of trees, marking the course of the Neversink to where it unites +with the Delaware. + +[Illustration: STARRUCCA VIADUCT.] + +We will present only one other view, which represents one of the +imposing structures which characterize the Erie road. This is the +viaduct over the valley of the Starrucca, built of stone. It is elevated +one hundred feet above the valley, is over twelve hundred feet long, and +twenty-five wide, and is composed of eighteen heavy piers, with arches +of fifty feet span. It is simple in its design, but symmetrical and +beautiful, and is altogether the noblest piece of work upon the whole +line of the road. It is one of the most interesting objects which invite +the notice of the traveler, and gives dignity and grandeur, as well as a +picturesque character to the work. In this immediate neighborhood is +some of the finest scenery to be found on the whole line of the road, +and will tempt many a traveler to repeat his visit, and linger to +explore new beauties, which the eye in the rolling car does not detect. + + + + +[From Dr. Moore's new work on "Health, Disease, and Remedy."] + +BATHING--ITS UTILITY. + + +The effects of cold and heat recall to my mind the words that I heard in +my youth from the lips of Abernethy, "Cold is bracing, heat +relaxing--that is the notion, but only consider its absurdity. Heat +excites, how then can it relax? There is a difference between heat and +moisture and mere heat. They say a cold bath is bracing. Ah! a man jumps +into a cold bath, and he feels chilled; he jumps out again, and rubs +himself with a coarse cloth; he is invigorated, refreshed, and cheery; +he feels as if he could jump over the moon. So, if a man takes a glass +of brandy, he feels vigorous enough for a little while, but the brandy +is any thing but bracing. Keep the man in the cold water, and see what a +poor, shivering mortal he would be; you might almost knock him down with +a feather; and add more brandy to the man, and he becomes a lump." Heat +and cold, in fact, both operate in the same manner, by exciting the +vital powers into action, but to use either to excess as surely +debilitates, disorders, and overpowers the system as an abuse of brandy +would do. All things that cause action of course must act as stimuli, +and whatever rouses the heart and nerves must be proportioned to the +degree of power existing in the patient, or it can not be safe; it is +spurring the jaded horse that kills him. Moderation is the course +prescribed in the law of nature and of God, and it needs no exquisite +discernment to distinguish right from wrong in a general way, or to see +when the system needs rest, and when rousing. + +_Sea-bathing_ is serviceable only as a stimulus to all the functions by +rousing the nerves, and hence the heart and arteries, to greater +activity. In this manner, I have seen vast benefit in a multitude of +cases, more particularly those in which the lymphatic system and the +glands were diseased, as in scrofula, tumid abdomen, and harsh skin, +with deficient appetite, and indisposition to take exercise. It does +mischief if it does not at once improve power. In such cases, however, +great care is required to avoid too long a chill, which always +aggravates the glandular congestion. Salt stimulates the skin, but a +certain degree of cold, and, perhaps, of shock, is necessary for the +beneficial effects, a warm bath very often increasing the malady. I +speak from my experience of the effects of sea-bathing, and would +strongly urge the propriety of preparing children for plunging in the +sea, by getting them accustomed to cold sponging at home, as this plan +will often supersede the need of visiting the sea for their benefit, and +enable them to bear the sea the better when advisable. + +Sea-air and sea-water exert a very decided influence upon children, and, +indeed, upon all who are not accustomed to it, whether in health or +disease. Young persons coming from inland situations are very apt to +become somewhat fevered by the change, and bilious disorder is a common +consequence of their approaching the sea; and in almost all persons +sea-bathing begets after a while a slight intermittent disorder, which +seldom goes quite off in less than a fortnight from the last bath. If +the bath be resorted to daily, this disorder usually comes on in about a +week; if only twice or thrice a week, it may not appear for a month, and +those who bathe only now and then, without regularity, do not seem to be +subject to it. I am disposed to think that this new action of the system +promotes the cure of glandular disease, but it may, if neglected, +conduce to internal disorder of a worse kind, and I have frequently seen +a dangerous remittent fever supervene upon it in delicate and excitable +children. These results prove the stimulating operation of sea-water, +and sufficiently show the necessity of caution in its use. Instead of +improving the powers of the body, it may produce debility by +over-exciting them; hence it is prudent in most cases not to bathe +oftener than every other day, and to use milder measures if, after the +second or third occasion, there is not a visible increase of vigor. +Where exercise can not be taken immediately after the bath, friction of +the body, especially over the back and stomach, is desirable. The best +time for cold bathing, where there is any debility, is about two hours +after breakfast. Early bathing is best for the robust. Let it be +remembered that cold acts always as a stimulant; whenever it does good, +it rouses the nervous system; it makes a greater demand for oxygen; it +enables the body to absorb more of the vital air, and thus it +facilitates the changes on which the energy of life depends. In this +respect it acts like all other stimulants proper to the body, and not +like alcoholic stimuli, which excite the brain, while they diminish the +influence of the vital air upon the blood, and favor capillary +obstructions and inflammations. + +The influence of cold on the nervous system is no new discovery, for +ever since man has felt and inferred from his feeling, he must have +known that influence alike from experience and observation. Used as a +bath, we have seen that it may produce very contrary effects; like any +other powerful agent, it both excites and depresses. The first action of +nearly all remedies is to excite; from fire to frost, from aqua fortis +to aqua fontis, the influence is always more or less stimulating, and it +is capable of depressing the vital powers in proportion to its power of +exciting them. Thus the hydropathists have in their hands the power of +producing all the stages of the most vehement fever, from the rigor of +the severest cold fit to the fiercest excitement which the heart and +brain will bear, succeeded by a perspiration proportionately violent; +and hence sometimes inadvertently they lose a patient by the production +of a sudden sinking like the collapse of cholera. Some tact and skill, +therefore, are requisite for the safe employment of such an agency as +cold water. + +Paracelsus treated that form of St. Vitus' Dance which prevailed in his +day, and which he called _chorea lasciva_, by cooling his patients in +tubs of cold water; and Priesnitz brings his patients also to the right +point by baths that allow no idleness to whatever function of nature may +remain capable of action within them, and thus he often removes partial +complaints by a general diversion. Aubrey, in his account of the great +Harvey, informs us of a bold piece of practice with cold water. He says, +that when Harvey had a fit of the gout that interfered with his studies, +"He would sitt with his legges bare, though it were frosty, on the leads +of Cockayne-house, put them into a payle of water till he was almost +dead with cold, and betake himself to his stove, and so 'twas gone." +Harvey doubtless knew how to balance matters in his own mind between the +risk and the remedy, and he might feel justified in treating himself +with less gentleness than his patients; but, perhaps, physicians should +try such extreme remedies only on themselves. Since Harvey's day, the +virtues of cold water in fever and inflammation have been abundantly +tested, and we find it is capable of producing contrary effects, +according to the condition of the body at the time. Thus, if it be long +applied, or applied when the vital action is low, it dangerously +depresses the vascular system, to be followed by a more or less +dangerous and obstinate reaction; but if the system be tolerably strong, +without being very excitable, the use of cold in a moderate degree +always safely increases vigor. It is therefore always safe so far to +employ cold, as will help to maintain the ordinary temperature of the +body. Thus, in fever, when the skin is hot, sponging it with cold water +is both most refreshing and curative; while a free use of cold water as +drink is almost always in such cases highly advantageous. + +It has been well shown by Dr. R. B. Todd, in his Lumleian Lectures at +the College of Physicians, on what principle cold may be employed to +modify and control a great number of diseases, especially those of a +convulsive character. But these things are of course known, or ought to +be known, by professional men; and as they are not of a character to +admit of practical application, except by those accustomed to treat +disease, it will answer no good purpose to enlarge on the subject in +this place. + +The _warm-bath_ is among the most useful of remedial measures. One who +has experienced the delicious refreshment of a warm-bath at about the +temperature of the blood (100°), after exhausting fatigue and want of +sleep, whether from disease or exertion, will need no arguments in its +favor. It is exactly under such conditions that it is most useful. From +time immemorial, thermal springs of tepid warmth have been lauded for +their virtues in relieving nervous disorders, and diseases dependent on +insufficiency of blood, and exhaustion of the brain, such as the +dyspepsy of anxious persons, and individuals debilitated by excitement, +bad habits, and hot climates. The mode in which it acts seems +evident--it checks waste of warmth from the skin, invigorates its +vessels without producing perspiration, admits a little pure water into +the blood by absorption, and by its tranquillizing influence on the +nerves, favors the action of any function that may have been checked or +disturbed. The body becomes highly electric in warm water, and probably +all the conditions of increased power are present for the time at least; +and of course, so far as warm bathing promotes appetite, digestion, +assimilation, and sound sleep, it contributes to the establishment of +increased vigor. Thus we find, that hypochondriacal patients have often +found new hopes in the genial lymph as it embraced and laved their naked +limbs; they have felt the elements were still in their favor; they have +rejoiced in the sunny air, and taken their homely meals as if they were +ambrosia, with hearts grateful to the Hand that helped them. The +blessing may, however, be abused--the remedy may be made a luxury, the +means of health a cause of weakness. When continually resorted to by +persons well nourished, but inactive, it is apt to produce a flaccidity +of the system, and to encourage that relaxation of the veins which +predisposes to excessive formation of fat. For the same reason, it is +generally injurious where there is a tendency to dropsy, and in some +such cases I have known it immediately followed by great lymphatic +effusion in the cellular tissue, which has been quickly removed, +however, by saline aperients and tonics. + +As it is the combination of heat and moisture that renders the thermal +bath so efficacious, it frequently happens that a thoroughly hot bath +most effectually facilitates the cure, and we are not astonished that +the parboiling waters of Emmaus, at 148°, on the shores of Tiberias, are +as famous for their cures as any of the German baths. The +semi-barbarians about the sea of Galilee, the inhabitants of Iceland, +and the savages of America, know how to employ the hot bath skillfully; +and if we were equally accustomed with them to exercise our natural +instinct and common sense, we also might bathe in hot water without +consulting the doctor; but as it is, we had better take advantage of a +better opinion than our own. I the more earnestly urge this course, +because I know the danger of all hot baths, wherever there is acute +disease of an inflammatory kind affecting internal organs, more +especially of the lungs, heart, and bowels. Even _acute_ rheumatism is +more likely to attack the heart when the hot bath is employed; and where +there is any considerable structural disorder of that organ, the use of +the bath in any form is at all times attended with risk. + +Warm baths are useful in all nervous disorders attended with debility, +in all cases in which there is dryness of the skin and a tendency to +feverish less, in mental fidgetiness, in irregular circulation, as when +a person can not take due exercise, and is subject to coldness of the +feet or hands, and in many forms of congestion and dyspepsia, with +tenderness over the stomach. It is serviceable in the convulsive +diseases of children, and in painful diseases, especially of a spasmodic +kind, but more particularly in cases of chronic irritation from local +causes, whether of the skin or of internal parts. It is injurious to +plethoric persons, to persons subject to hæmorrhage of any kind, and in +the active stage of fever. But whether it would be good or bad in any +individual case, can be determined only by one who has ability to +examine and judge of that case. + +As a general rule, mineral and salt-water warm baths are less relaxing +than those of pure water. The vapor bath, when the vapor is not +breathed, acts more powerfully, though much in the same manner as the +warm bath, but it is more useful in common cold and rheumatism. The +warm-air bath, at from 100° to 120°, is highly convenient and useful, +where it is desirable to excite perspiration, as in rheumatism, scaly +eruptions, and certain stages of fever and cholera. The plan most +readily adopted is that of Dr. Gower: A lamp is placed under the end of +a metallic tube, which is introduced under the bed-clothes, which are +raised from the body by a wicker frame-work, and the degree of heat +regulated by moving the lamp. + +The _cold bath_ is unsafe in infancy and old age, in plethoric habits, +in spitting of blood, in eruptive diseases, in great debility, during +pregnancy, and in case of weakness from any existing local disease of an +acute nature; but in nearly all other states of the body, cold water is +the best stimulant of the nerves, the finest quickener of every +function, the most delightful invigorator of the whole frame, qualifying +both brain and muscles for their utmost activity, and clearing alike the +features and the fancy from clouds and gloom. + +Cold may always be safely applied when the surface is heated by warmth +from without, as from hot water or the vapor bath, and, indeed, whenever +the body is hot without previous exercise of an exhausting kind. +Probably, the method adopted by the Romans, in their palmiest days, of +plunging into the _baptisterium_, or cold bath, immediately after the +vapor or hot bath, or, as a substitute, the pouring of cold water over +the head, was well calculated to invigorate the system, and give a high +enjoyment of existence. The Russian practice of plunging into a cold +stream, or rolling in the snow, after the vapor-bath, is said to be +favorable to longevity. The Finlanders are accustomed to leave their +bathing-houses, heated to 167°, and to pass into the open air without +any covering whatever, even when the thermometer indicates a temperature +24° below zero, and that without any ill effect, but, on the contrary, +it is said that by this habit they are quite exempted from rheumatism. +Would that the luxury of bathing, so cheaply enjoyed by all classes of +old Rome, were equally available among ourselves. The conquerors of the +world introduced their baths wherever they established their power; but +we have repudiated the blessings of water in such a form, and now the +Russian boor and the Finnish peasant, the Turk, the Egyptian, the basest +of people, and the barbarians of Africa, shame even the inhabitants of +England's metropolis; for every where but in our land, though the duty +of cleanliness may not be enjoined as next to godliness, as with us, yet +the benefit and the luxury of the bath are freely enjoyed, as the +natural means of ablution and of health. + + "With us the man of no complaint demands + The warm ablution, just enough to clear + The sluices of the skin, enough to keep + The body sacred from indecent soil. + Still to be pure, even did it not conduce + (As much it does) to health, were greatly worth + Your daily pains."--ARMSTRONG. + + + + +POVERTY OF THE ENGLISH BAR. + + +With the exception, perhaps, of the lower order of the working clergy, +there is no class of the community, as a body, so desperately poor as +the bar. If it were not for extrinsic aids, one-half, at least, of its +members must necessarily starve. Of course a considerable number of them +have private property or income, and in point of fact, as a general +rule, he who goes to the bar without some such assistance and resource +is a fool--and probably a vanity-stricken fool--a fond dreamer about the + + Eloquium ac famam Demosthenis aut Ciceronis; + +forgetting that at the outset these worthies had the leisure to acquire, +and the ample means to pay for the best education that the world could +afford. The aspirant for forensic fame who can not do this is dreadfully +overweighted for the race, and can scarcely hope to come in a winner; +for the want of all facilities of tuition and of one's own library, +which is a thing of great cost, must be severely felt, and the necessity +of working in some extraneous occupation for his daily bread must +engross much of that time which should be devoted to study, and the +furtherance otherwise of the cardinal object he has in view. We have +read of many cases in which men have struggled triumphantly against all +such obstacles, and no doubt some there were--but for the most part, as +in Lord Eldon's instance, they were grossly exaggerated. Next, of those +who have no patrimony or private allowance from friends, the press, in +its various departments, supports a very large number. Some are editors +or contributors to magazines or reviews--daily, weekly, monthly, +quarterly; some are parliamentary reporters; some shorthand writers; +some reporters of the proceedings in the courts of law for the daily +journals and the now almost innumerous legal publications, from the +recognized reports down to the two-penny pamphlet; then some are +secretaries to public boards or bodies, some to private individuals. All +these are comparatively well off in the world, and may "bide their +time," though that time very rarely comes in any prolific shape, and +meanwhile devote their _tempora subseciva_ to the profession without the +physical necessity of doing any thing ungentlemanly. But there are +hundreds of others hanging on to the profession in a most precarious +position from day to day, who would do any thing for business, and who +taint the whole mass with the disgrace of their proceedings. These are +the persons who resort to the arts of the lowest tradesmen, such as +under-working, touting for employment, sneaking, cringing, lying, and +the like. These are the persons who, in such shabby or fraudulent cases +as may succeed, share the fees with low attorneys, and who sign +habitually, for the same pettifogging practitioners, half-guinea motions +in the batch, for half-a-crown or eighteenpence apiece; and, in short, +do any thing and every thing that is mean and infamous. Alas for the +_dignity_ of the bar! The common mechanic, who earns his regular thirty +shillings a week, the scene-shifter, the paltry play actor, enjoys more +of the comforts and real respectability of human life than one of those +miserable aspirants to the wool-sack, who spends his day in the +desperate quest for a brief, and sits at night in his garret shivering +over a shovel-full of coals and an old edition of Coke upon +Littleton.--_Frazer's Magazine._ + + + + +SONNET ON THE DEATH OF WORDSWORTH. + +_23d April, 1850._ + + + Beneath the solemn shadow he doth sleep + Of his own mountains! closed the poet's eyes + To all earth's beauty--wood, and lake, and skies, + And golden mists that up the valleys creep. + Sweet Duddon's stream and Rydal's grassy steep, + The "snow-white lamb," his cottage-maiden's prize, + The cuckoo's note, and flowers, in which his wise + And gentle mind found "thoughts for tears too deep"-- + These, Wordsworth! thou hast left; but oh, on these, + And the deep human sympathies that flow + Link'd with their beauty, an immortal train, + Thy benediction rests; and as the breeze + Sweeping the cloud-capp'd hills is heard below. + Descends to us a rich undying strain! + + H. M. R. + + + + +[From the Dublin University Magazine.] + +MAURICE TIERNAY, + +THE SOLDIER OF FORTUNE. + +[_Continued from Page 10._] + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE RESTAURANT "AU SCÉLÉRAT." + +As I gained the street, at a considerable distance from the "Place," I +was able to increase my speed; and I did so with an eagerness as if the +world depended on my haste. At any other time I would have bethought me +of my disobedience to the Père's commands, and looked forward to meeting +him with shame and sorrow, but now I felt a kind of importance in the +charge intrusted to me. I regarded my mission as something superior to +any petty consideration of self, while the very proximity in which I had +stood to peril and death made me seem a hero in my own eyes. + +At last I reached the street where we lived, and, almost breathless with +exertion, gained the door. What was my amazement, however, to find it +guarded by a sentry, a large, solemn-looking fellow, with a tattered +cocked hat on his head, and a pair of worn striped trowsers on his legs, +who cried out, as I appeared, "_Halte là!_" in a voice that at once +arrested my steps. + +"Where to, youngster?" said he, in a somewhat melted tone, seeing the +shock his first words had caused me. + +"I am going home, sir," said I, submissively. "I live at the third +story, in the apartment of the Père Michel." + +"The Père Michel will live there no longer, my boy; his apartment is now +in the Temple," said he, slowly. + +"In the Temple!" said I, whose memory at once recalled my father's fate; +and then, unable to control my feelings, I sat down upon the steps, and +burst into tears. + +"There, there, child, you must not cry thus," said he; "these are not +days when one should weep over misfortunes; they come too fast and too +thick on all of us for that. The Père was your tutor, I suppose?" + +I nodded. + +"And your father--where is he?" + +"Dead." + +He made a sign to imitate the guillotine, and I assented by another nod. + +"Was he a royalist, boy?" + +"He was an officer in the _gardes du corps_," said I, proudly. The +soldier shook his head mournfully, but with what meaning I know not. + +"And your mother, boy?" + +"I do not know where she is," said I, again relapsing into tears at the +thought of my utter desolation. The old soldier leaned upon his musket +in profound thought, and for some time did not utter a word. At last he +said, + +"There is nothing but the Hotel de Ville for you, my child. They say +that the Republic adopts all the orphans of France. What she does with +them I can not tell." + +"But I can, though," replied I, fiercely: "the Noyades or the Seine are +a quick and sure provision; I saw eighty drowned one morning below the +Pont Neuf myself." + +"That tongue of yours will bring you into trouble, youngster," said he, +reprovingly: "mind that you say not such things as these." + +"What worse fortune can betide me, than to see my father die at the +guillotine, and my last, my only friend, carried away to prison." + +"You have no care for your own neck, then?" + +"Why should I--what value has life for me?" + +"Then it will be spared to you," said he, sententiously; "mark my words, +lad. You need never fear death till you begin to love life. Get up, my +poor boy, you must not be found there when the relief comes, and that +will be soon. This is all that I have," said he, placing three sous in +my palm, "which will buy a loaf; to-morrow there may be better luck in +store for you." + +I shook the rough hand he offered, with cordial gratitude, and resolved +to bear myself as like a man as I could. I drew myself up, touched my +cap in soldier-like fashion, and cried out. "Adieu;" and then, +descending into the street, hurried away to hide the tears that were +almost suffocating me. + +Hour after hour I walked the streets; the mere act of motion seemed to +divert my grief, and it was only when foot-sore and weary, that I could +march no longer, and my sorrows came back in full force, and overwhelmed +me in their flow. It was less pride or shame than a sense of my utter +helplessness, that prevented me addressing any one of the hundreds who +passed me. I bethought me of my inability to do any thing for my own +support, and it was this consciousness that served to weigh me down more +than all else; and yet I felt with what devotion I could serve him who +would but treat me with the kindness he might bestow upon his dog; I +fancied with what zeal I could descend to very slavery for one word of +affection. The streets were crowded with people; groups were gathered +here and there, either listening to some mob orator of the day, or +hearing the newspapers read aloud. I tried, by forcing my way into the +crowd, to feel myself "one of them," and to think that I had my share of +interest in what was going forward, but in vain. Of the topics discussed +I knew nothing, and of the bystanders none even noticed me. +High-swelling phrases met the ear at every moment, that sounded +strangely enough to me. They spoke of Fraternity--of that brotherhood +which linked man to man in close affection; of Equality--that made all +sharers in this world's goods; of Liberty--that gave freedom to every +noble aspiration and generous thought; and, for an instant, carried away +by the glorious illusion, I even forgot my solitary condition, and felt +proud of my heritage as a youth of France I looked around me, however, +and what faces met my gaze! The same fearful countenances I had seen +around the scaffold: the wretches, blood-stained, and influenced by +passion, their bloated cheeks and strained eye-balls glowing with +intemperance; their oaths, their gestures, their very voices having +something terrible in them. The mockery soon disgusted me, and I moved +away, again to wander about without object or direction through the +weary streets. It was past midnight when I found myself, without knowing +where I was, in a large open space, in the midst of which a solitary +lamp was burning. I approached it, and, to my horror, saw that it was +the guillotine, over which, in mournful cadence, a lantern swung, +creaking its chain as the night-wind stirred it. The dim outline of the +fearful scaffold, the fitful light that fell upon the platform, and the +silence, all conspired to strike terror into my heart; all I had so +lately witnessed seemed to rise up again before me, and the victims +seemed to stand up again, pale, and livid, and shuddering as last I saw +them. + +I knelt down, and tried to pray, but terror was too powerful to suffer +my thoughts to take this direction, and, half-fainting with fear and +exhaustion, I lay down upon the ground and slept--slept beneath the +platform of the guillotine. Not a dream crossed my slumber, nor did I +awake till dawn of day, when the low rumbling of the peasants' carts +aroused me, as they were proceeding to the market. I know not why or +whence, but I arose from the damp earth, and looked about me with a more +daring and courageous spirit than I had hitherto felt. It was May; the +first bright rays of sunshine were slanting along the "Place," and the +fresh, brisk air felt invigorating and cheering. Whither to? asked I of +myself, and my eyes turned from the dense streets and thoroughfares of +the great city to the far-off hills beyond the barrier, and for a moment +I hesitated which road to take. I almost seemed to feel as if the +decision involved my whole future fortune--whether I should live and die +in the humble condition of a peasant, or play for a great stake in life. +"Yes," said I, after a short hesitation, "I will remain here; in the +terrible conflict going forward many must be new adventurers, and never +was any one more greedy to learn the trade than myself. I will throw +sorrow behind me. Yesterday's tears are the last I shall shed. Now for a +bold heart and a ready will, and here goes for the world!" With these +stout words I placed my cap jauntily on one side of my head, and, with a +fearless air marched off for the very centre of the city. + +For some hours I amused myself gazing at the splendid shops, or staring +in at the richly-decorated cafés, where the young celebrities of the day +were assembled at breakfast, in all the extravagance of the new-fangled +costume. Then I followed the guard to the parade at the "Carousel," and +listened to the band; quitting which, I wandered along the quays, +watching the boats, as they dragged the river, in search of murdered +bodies or suicides. Thence I returned to the Palais Royal, and listened +to the news of the day, as read out by some elected enlightener of his +countrymen. + +By what chance I know not, but at last my rambling steps brought me +opposite to the great, solemn-looking towers of the "Temple." The gloomy +prison, within whose walls hundreds were then awaiting the fate which +already their friends had suffered; little groups, gathered here and +there in the open Place, were communicating to the prisoners by signs +and gestures, and from many a small-grated window, at an immense height, +handkerchiefs were seen to wave in recognition of those below. These +signals seemed to excite neither watchfulness nor prevention; indeed, +they needed none, and perhaps the very suspense they excited was a +torture that pleased the inhuman jailers. Whatever the reason, the +custom was tolerated, and was apparently enjoyed at that moment by +several of the turnkeys, who sat at the windows, much amused at the +efforts made to communicate. Interested by the sight, I sat down upon a +stone bench to watch the scene, and fancied that I could read something +of the rank and condition of those who signalled from below their +messages of hope or fear. At last a deep bell within the prison tolled +the hour of noon, and now every window was suddenly deserted. It was the +hour for the muster of the prisoners, which always took place before the +dinner at one o'clock. The curious groups soon after broke up. A few +lingered round the gate, with, perhaps some hope of admission to visit +their friends but the greater number departed. + +My hunger was now such, that I could no longer deny myself the +long-promised meal, and I looked about me for a shop where I might buy a +loaf of bread. In my search, I suddenly found myself opposite an immense +shop, where viands of every tempting description were ranged with all +that artistic skill so purely Parisian, making up a picture whose +composition Snyders would not have despised. Over the door was a +painting of a miserable wretch, with hands bound behind him, and his +hair cut close in the well-known crop for the scaffold, and underneath +was written, "Au Scélérat;" while on a larger board, in gilt letters, +ran the inscription: + + "Boivin Père et Fils, Traiteurs pour M. lea Condammées." + +I could scarcely credit my eyes as I read and re-read this infamous +announcement; but there it stood, and in the crowd that poured +incessantly to and from the door, I saw the success that attended the +traffic. A ragged knot were gathered around the window, eagerly gazing +at something, which, by their exclamations, seemed to claim all their +admiration. I pressed forward to see what it was, and beheld a miniature +guillotine, which, turned by a wheel, was employed to chop the meat for +sausages. This it was that formed the great object of attraction, even +to those to whom the prototype had grown flat and uninteresting. + +Disgusted as I was by this shocking sight, I stood watching all that +went forward within with a strange interest. It was a scene of incessant +bustle and movement, for now, as one o'clock drew nigh, various dinners +were getting ready for the prisoners, while parties of their friends +were assembling inside. Of these latter, there seemed persons of every +rank and condition: some, dressed in all the brilliancy of the _mode_; +others, whose garments bespoke direst poverty. There were women, too, +whose costume emulated the classic drapery of the ancients, and who +displayed, in their looped togas, no niggard share of their forms; while +others, in shabby mourning, sat in obscure corners, not noticing the +scene before them, nor noticed themselves. A strange equipage, with two +horses extravagantly bedizened with rosettes and bouquets, stood at the +door; and as I looked, a pale, haggard-looking man, whose foppery in +dress contrasted oddly with his care-worn expression, hurried from the +shop, and sprung into the carriage. In doing so, a pocket-book fell from +his pocket. I took it up, but as I did so, the carriage was already +away, and far beyond my power to overtake it. + +Without stopping to examine my prize, or hesitating for a second, I +entered the _restaurant_, and asked for M. Boivin. + +"Give your orders to me, boy," said a man busily at work behind the +counter. + +"My business is with himself," said I, stoutly. + +"Then you'll have to wait with some patience," said he, sneeringly. + +"I can do so," was my answer, and I sat down in the shop. + +I might have been half-an-hour thus seated, when an enormously fat man, +with a huge "_bonnet rouge_" on his head, entered from an inner room, +and, passing close to where I was, caught sight of me. + +"Who are you, sirrah--what brings you here?" + +"I want to speak with M. Boivin." + +"Then speak," said he, placing his hand upon his immense chest. + +"It must be alone," said I. + +"How so, alone, sirrah?" said he, growing suddenly pale; "I have no +secrets--I know of nothing that may not be told before all the world." + +Though he said this in a kind of appeal to all around, the dubious looks +and glances interchanged seemed to make him far from comfortable. + +"So you refuse me, then," said I, taking up my cap, and preparing to +depart. + +"Come hither," said he, leading the way into the room from which he had +emerged. It was a very small chamber; the most conspicuous ornaments of +which were busts and pictures of the various celebrities of the +revolution. Some of these latter were framed ostentatiously, and one, +occupying the post of honor above the chimney, at once attracted me, for +in a glance I saw that it was a portrait of him who owned the +pocket-book, and bore beneath it the name "Robespierre." + +"Now, sir, for your communication," said Boivin; "and take care that it +is of sufficient importance to warrant the interview you have asked +for." + +"I have no fears on that score," said I, calmly, still scanning the +features of the portrait, and satisfying myself of their identity. + +"Look at me, sir, and not at that picture," said Boivin. + +"And yet it is of M. Robespierre I have to speak," said I, coolly. + +"How so--of M. Robespierre, boy? What is the meaning of this? If it be a +snare--if this be a trick, you never leave this spot living," cried he, +as he placed a massive hand on each of my shoulders, and shook me +violently. + +"I am not so easily to be terrified, Citoyen," said I; "nor have I any +secret cause for fear--whatever you may have. My business is of another +kind. This morning, in passing out to his carriage, he dropped his +pocket-book, which I picked up. Its contents may well be of a kind that +should not be read by other eyes than his own. My request is, then, that +you will seal it up before me, and then send some one along with me, +while I restore it to its owner." + +"Is this a snare--what secret mischief have we here?" said Boivin, half +aloud, as he wiped the cold drops of perspiration from his forehead. + +"Any mishap that follows will depend upon your refusal to do what I +ask." + +"How so--I never refused it; you dare not tell M. Robespierre that I +refused, sirrah?" + +"I will tell him nothing that is untrue," said I, calmly; for already a +sense of power had gifted me with composure. "If M. Robespierre--" + +"Who speaks of me here?" cried that identical personage, as he dashed +hurriedly into the room, and then, not waiting for the reply, went on, +"You must send out your scouts on every side--I lost my pocket-book as I +left this a while ago." + +"It is here, sir," said I, presenting it at once. + +"How--where was it found--in whose keeping has it been, boy?" + +"In mine only; I took it from the ground the same moment that you +dropped it, and then came here to place it in M. Boivin's hands." + +"Who has taken care of it since that time," continued Robespierre, with +a slow and sneering accentuation on every word. + +"The pocket-book has never left my possession since it quitted yours," +was my reply. + +"Just so," broke in Boivin, now slowly recovering from his terror. "Of +its contents I know nothing; nor have I sought to know any thing." + +Robespierre looked at me, as if to corroborate this statement, and I +nodded my head in acquiescence. + +"Who is your father, boy?" + +"I have none--he was guillotined." + +"His name?" + +"Tiernay." + +"Ah, I remember; he was called L'Irlandais." + +"The same." + +"A famous Royalist was that same Tiernay, and, doubtless, contrived to +leave a heritage of his opinions to his son." + +"He left me nothing--I have neither house, nor home, nor even bread to +eat." + +"But you have a head to plan, and a heart to feel, youngster; and it is +better that fellows like you should not want a dinner. Boivin, look to +it that he is taken care of. In a few days I will relieve you of the +charge. You will remain here, boy; there are worse resting-places, I +promise you. There are men who call themselves teachers of the people, +who would ask no better life than free quarters on Boivin. And so +saying, he hurriedly withdrew, leaving me face to face with my host. + +"So then, youngster," said Boivin, as he scratched his ear thoughtfully, +"I have gained a pensioner! _Parbleu!_ if life were not an uncertain +thing in these times, there's no saying how long we might not be blessed +with your amiable company." + +"You shall not be burthened heavily, _Citoyen_" said I; "Let me have my +dinner--I have not eaten since yesterday morning, and I will go my ways +peacefully." + +"Which means straight to Robespierre's dwelling, to tell him that I have +turned you out of doors--eh, sirrah?" + +"You mistake me much," said I; "this would be sorry gratitude for eaten +bread; I meant what I said--that I will not be an unwelcome guest, even +though the alternative be, as it is, something very nigh starvation." + +Boivin did not seem clearly to comprehend the meaning of what I said; or +perhaps my whole conduct and bearing puzzled him, for he made no reply +for several seconds. At last, with a kind of sigh, he said, + +"Well well, it can not be helped; it must be even as he wished, though +the odds are, he'll never think more about him Come, lad, you shall have +your dinner." + +I followed him through a narrow, unlighted passage, which opened into a +room, where, at a long table, were seated a number of men and boys at +dinner. Some were dressed as cooks--others wore a kind of gray blouse, +with a badge upon the arm bearing the name "Boivin" in large letters, +and were, as I afterward learned, the messengers employed to carry +refreshments into the prison, and who, by virtue of this sign, were +freely admitted within the gates. + +Taking my place at the board, I proceeded to eat with a voracity that +only a long fast could have excused; and thus took but little heed of my +companions, whose solecisms in table etiquette might otherwise have +amused me. + +"Art a _marmiton_, thou?" asked an elderly man in a cook's cap, as he +stared fixedly at me for some seconds. + +"No," said I, helping myself, and eating away as before. + +"Thou can'st never be a commissionaire, friend, with an appetite like +that," cried another; "I wouldn't trust thee to carry a casserole to +the fire." + +"Nor shall I be," said I, coolly. + +"What trade, then, has the good fortune to possess your shining +abilities?" + +"A trade that thrives well just now, friend-pass me the flask." + +"Indeed, and what may it be?" + +"Can you not guess, _Citoyen_," said I, "if I tell you that it was never +more in vogue; and, if there be some who will not follow it, they'll +wear their heads just as safely by holding their peace." + +_"Parbleu!_ thou hast puzzled me," said the chief cook; "and if thou +hast not a coffin-maker--." A roar of merriment cut short his speech, in +which I myself could not but join heartily. + +"That is, I know," said I, "a thriving business; but mine is even +better; and, not to mystify you longer, I'll just tell you what I +am--which is, simply, a friend of the _Citoyen_ Robespierre." + +The blow told with full force; and I saw, in the terrified looks that +were interchanged around the table, that my sojourn among them, whether +destined to be of short or long duration, would not be disturbed by +further liberties. It was truly a reign of terror that same period! The +great agent of every thing was the vague and shadowy dread of some +terrible vengeance, against which precautions were all in vain. Men met +each other with secret misgivings, and parted with the same dreadful +distrust. The ties of kindred were all broken; brotherly affection died +out. Existence was become like the struggle for life upon some +shipwrecked raft, where each sought safety by his neighbor's doom! At +such a time--with such terrible teachings--children became men in all +the sterner features of character: cruelty is a lesson so easily +learned. + +As for myself, energetic and ambitious by nature, the ascendency my +first assumption of power suggested was too grateful a passion to be +relinquished. The name--whose spell was like a talisman, because now the +secret engine by which I determined to work out my fortune--Robespierre +had become to my imagination like the slave of Aladdin's lamp; and to +conjure him up was to be all-powerful. Even to Boivin himself this +influence extended; and it was easy to perceive that he regarded the +whole narrative of the pocket-book as a mere fable, invented to obtain a +position as a spy over his household. + +I was not unwilling to encourage the belief--it added to my importance, +by increasing the fear I inspired; and thus I walked indolently about, +giving myself those airs of "mouchard" that I deemed most fitting, and +taking a mischievous delight in the tenor I was inspiring. + +The indolence of my life, however, soon wearied me, and I began to long +for some occupation, or some pursuit. Teeming with excitement as the +world was--every day, every hour, brimful of events--it was impossible +to sit calmly on the beach, and watch the great, foaming current of +human passions, without longing to be in the stream. Had I been a man at +that time, I should have become a furious orator of the Mountain--an +impassioned leader of the people. The impulse to stand foremost, to take +a bold and prominent position, would have carried me to any lengths. I +had caught up enough of the horrid fanaticism of the time, to think that +there was something grand and heroic in contempt for human suffering; +that a man rose proudly above all the weakness of his nature, when, in +the pursuit of some great object, he stifled within his breast every +throb of affection--every sentiment of kindness and mercy. Such were the +teachings rife at the time--such the first lessons that boyhood learned; +and oh! what a terrible hour had that been for humanity if the +generation then born had grown up to manhood, unchastened and +unconverted! + +But to return to my daily life. As I perceived that a week had now +elapsed, and the Citizen Robespierre had not revisited the "restaurant," +nor taken any interest in my fate or fortunes, I began to fear lest +Boivin should master his terror regarding me, and take heart to put me +out of doors--an event which, in my present incertitude, would have been +sorely inconvenient. I resolved, therefore, to practice a petty +deception on my host, to sustain the influence of terror over him. This +was, to absent myself every day at a certain hour, under the pretense of +visiting my patron--letting fall, from time to time, certain indications +to show in what part of the city I had been, and occasionally, as if in +an unguarded moment, condescending to relate some piece of popular +gossip. None ventured to inquire the source of my information--not one +dared to impugn its veracity. Whatever their misgivings in secret, to +myself they displayed the most credulous faith. Nor was their trust so +much misplaced, for I had, in reality, become a perfect chronicle of all +that went forward in Paris--never missing a debate in the Convention, +where my retentive memory could carry away almost verbally all that I +heard--ever present at every public fête or procession, whether the +occasions were some insulting desecration of their former faith, or some +tasteless mockery of heathen ceremonial. + +My powers of mimicry, too, enabled me to imitate all the famous +characters of the period; and in my assumed inviolability, I used to +exhibit the uncouth gestures and spluttering utterance of Marat--the +wild and terrible ravings of Danton--and even the reedy treble of my own +patron, Robespierre, as he screamed denunciations against the enemies of +the people. It is true these exhibitions of mine were only given in +secret to certain parties, who, by a kind of instinct, I felt could be +trusted. + +Such was my life, as one day, returning from the Convention, I beheld a +man affixing to a wall a great placard, to which the passing crowd +seemed to pay deep attention. It was a decree of the Committee of Public +Safety, containing the names of above seven hundred royalists, who were +condemned to death, and who were to be executed in three "tournées," on +three successive days. + +For some time back the mob had not been gratified with a spectacle of +this nature. In the ribald language of the day, the "holy guillotine had +grown thirsty from long drought;" and they read the announcement with +greedy eyes, commenting as they went upon those whose names were +familiar to them. There were many of noble birth among the proscribed, +but by far the greater number were priests, the whole sum of whose +offending seemed written in the simple and touching words, "_ancien +curé_," of such a parish! It was strange to mark the bitterness of +invective with which the people loaded these poor and innocent men, as +though they were the source of all their misfortunes. The lazy indolence +with which they reproached them, seemed ten times more offensive in +their eyes than the lives of ease and affluence led by the nobility. The +fact was, they could not forgive men of their own rank and condition +what they pardoned in the well-born and the noble! an inconsistency that +has characterized democracy in other situations besides this. + +As I ran my eyes down the list of those confined in the Temple, I came +to a name which smote my heart with a pang of ingratitude as well as +sorrow--the "Père Michel Delannois, soi disant curé de St. Blois"--my +poor friend and protector was there among the doomed! If up to that +moment, I had made no effort to see him, I must own the reason lay in my +own selfish feeling of shame--the dread that he should mark the change +that had taken place in me--a change that I felt extended to all about +me, and showed itself in my manner, as it influenced my every action. It +was not alone that I lost the obedient air and quiet submissiveness of +the child, but I had assumed the very extravagance of that democratic +insolence which was the mode among the leading characters of the time. + +How should I present myself before him, the very impersonation of all +the vices against which he used to warn me--how exhibit the utter +failure of all his teachings and his hopes? What would this be but to +imbitter his reflections needlessly. Such were the specious reasons with +which I fed my self-love, and satisfied my conscience; but now, as I +read his name in that terrible catalogue, their plausibility served me +no longer, and at last I forgot myself to remember only him. + +"I will see him at once," thought I, "whatever it may cost me--I will +stay beside him for his last few hours of life; and when he carries with +him from this world many an evil memory of shame and treachery, +ingratitude from me shall not increase the burden." And with this +resolve I turned my steps homeward. + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE "TEMPLE." + +At the time of which I write, there was but one motive-principle +throughout France--"TERROR." By the agency of terror and the threat of +denunciation was every thing carried on, not only in the public +departments of the state, but in all the common occurrences of every-day +life. Fathers used it toward their children--children toward their +parents; mothers coerced their daughters--daughters, in turn, braved the +authority of their mothers. The tribunal of public opinion, open to all, +scattered its decrees with a reckless cruelty--denying to-day what it +had decreed but yesterday, and at last obliterating every trace of +"right" or "principle," in a people who now only lived for the passing +hour, and who had no faith in the future, even of this world. + +Among the very children at play, this horrible doctrine had gained a +footing; the tyrant urchin, whose ingenuity enabled him to terrorize, +became the master of his playfellows. I was not slow in acquiring the +popular education of the period, and soon learned that fear was a "Bank" +on which one might draw at will. Already the domineering habit had given +to my air and manner all the insolence of seeming power; and, while a +mere boy in years, I was a man in all the easy assumption of a certain +importance. + +It was with a bold and resolute air I entered the restaurant, and +calling Boivin aside, said, + +"I have business in the Temple this morning, Boivin; see to it that I +shall not be denied admittance." + +"I am not governor of the jail," grunted Boivin, sulkily, "nor have I +the privilege to pass any one." + +"But your boys have the entree; the 'rats' (so were they called) are +free to pass in and out." + +"Ay, and I'm responsible for the young rascals, too, and for any thing +that may be laid to their charge." + +"And you shall extend this same protection to _me_, Master Boivin, for +one day, at least. Nay, my good friend, there's no use in sulking about +it. A certain friend of ours, whose name I need not speak aloud, is +little in the habit of being denied any thing: are you prepared for the +consequence of disobeying his orders?" + +"Let me see that they are his orders," said he, sturdily; "who tells me +that such is his will?" + +"I do," was my brief reply, as, with a look of consummate effrontery, I +drew myself up, and stared him insolently in the face. + +"Suppose, then, that I have my doubts on the matter; suppose--" + +"I will suppose all you wish, Boivin," said I, interrupting, "and even +something more; for I will suppose myself returning to the quarter +whence I have just come, and within one hour--ay, within one hour, +Boivin--bringing back with me a written order, not to pass me into the +Temple, but to receive the charge of the Citizen Jean Baptiste Boivin, +and be accountable for the same to the Committee of Public Safety." + +He trembled from head to foot as I said these words, and in his shaking +cheeks and fallen jaw I saw that my spell was working. + +"And now, I ask for the last time, do you consent or not?" + +"How is it to be done?" cried he, in a voice of downright wretchedness. +"You are not 'inscribed' at the sécretaries' office as one of the +'rats.'" + +"I should hope not," said I, cutting him short; "but I may take the +place of one for an hour or so. Tristan is about my own size; his blouse +and badge will just suit me." + +"Ay, leave me to a fine of a thousand francs, if you should be found +out," muttered Boivin, "not to speak of a worse mayhap." + +"Exactly so--far worse in case of your refusing: but there sounds the +bell for mustering the prisoners; it is now too late." + +"Not so--not so," cried Boivin, eagerly, as he saw me prepared to leave +the house. "You shall go in Tristan's place. Send him here, that he may +tell you every thing about the 'service,' and give you his blouse and +badge." + +I was not slow in availing myself of the permission; nor was Tristan +sorry to find a substitute. He was a dull, depressed-looking boy, not +over communicative as to his functions, merely telling me that I was to +follow the others--that I came fourth in the line--to answer when my +name was called "Tristan," and to put the money I received in my +leathern pocket, without uttering a word, lest the jailers should notice +it. + +To accoutre myself in the white cotton night-cap and the blouse of the +craft, was the work of a few seconds, and then, with a great knife in my +girdle, and a capacious pocket slung at my side, I looked every inch a +"_Marmiton_." + +In the kitchen, the bustle had already begun; and half a dozen cooks, +with as many under-cooks, were dealing out "portions" with all the speed +of a well-practiced performance. Nothing short of great habit could have +prevented the confusion degenerating into downright anarchy. The +"service" was, indeed, effected with a wonderful rapidity, and certain +phrases, uttered with speed, showed how it progressed. "_Maigre des +Curés_"--"finished." "Bouillon for the 'expectants'"--"ready here." +"Canards aux olives des condamnés"--"all served." "Red partridges for +the reprieved at the upper table"--"dispatched." Such were the quick +demands, and no less quick replies, that rung out, amidst the crash of +plates, knifes, and glasses, and the incessant movement of feet, until, +at last, we were all marshaled in a long line, and, preceded by a drum, +set out for the prison. + +As we drew near, the heavy gates opened to receive, and closed behind us +with a loud bang, that I could not help feeling must have smote heavily +on many a heart that had passed there. We were now in a large +court-yard, where several doors led off, each guarded by a sentinel, +whose ragged clothes and rusty accoutrements proclaimed a true soldier +of the republic. One of the large hurdles used for carrying the +prisoners to the "Place" stood in one corner, and two or three workmen +were busied in repairing it for the coming occasion. + +So much I had time to observe, as we passed along; and now we entered a +dimly-lighted corridor, of great extent, passing down which, we emerged +into a second "Cour," traversed by a species of canal or river, over +which a bridge led. In the middle of this was a strongly-barred iron +gate, guarded by two sentries. As we arrived here, our names were called +aloud by a species of turnkey, and at the call "Tristan" I advanced, +and, removing the covers from the different dishes, submitted them for +inspection to an old, savage-looking fellow, who, with a long steel +fork, prodded the pieces of meat, as though any thing could have been +concealed within them. Meanwhile another fellow examined my cotton cap +and pocket, and passed his hands along my arms and body. The whole did +not last more than a few minutes, and the word "forward" was given to +pass on. The gloom of the place--the silence, only broken by the heavy +bang of an iron-barred door, or the clank of chains--the sad thoughts of +the many who trod these corridors on their way to death, depressed me +greatly, and equally unprepared me for what was to come; for as we drew +near the great hall, the busy hum of voices, the sound of laughter, and +the noises of a large assembly in full converse, suddenly burst upon the +ear, and as the wide doors were thrown open, I beheld above a hundred +people, who, either gathered in single groups, or walking up and down in +parties, seemed all in the fullest enjoyment of social intercourse. + +A great table, with here and there a large flagon of water, or a huge +loaf of the coarse bread used by the peasantry, ran from end to end of +the chamber. A few had already taken their places at this; but some were +satisfied with laying a cap or a kerchief on the bench opposite their +accustomed seat; while others again had retired into windows and +corners, as if to escape the general gaze, and partake of their humble +meal in solitude. + +Whatever restrictions prison discipline might have exercised elsewhere, +here the widest liberty seemed to prevail. The talk was loud, and even +boisterous; the manner to the turnkeys exhibited nothing of fear: the +whole assemblage presented rather the aspect of a gathering of riotous +republicans, than of a band of prisoners under sentence. And yet such +were the greater number; and the terrible slip of paper attached to the +back of each, with a date, told the day on which he was to die. + +As I lingered to gaze on this strange gathering, I was admonished to +move on, and now perceived that my companion had advanced to the end of +the hall, by which a small flight of stone steps led out upon a terrace, +at the end of which we entered another, and not less spacious chamber, +equally crowded and noisy. Here the company were of both sexes, and of +every grade and condition of rank, from the highest noble of the once +court, to the humblest peasant of La Vendée. If the sounds of mirth and +levity were less frequent, the buzz of conversation was, to the full, as +loud as in the lower hall, where, from difference of condition in life, +the scenes passing presented stranger and more curious contrasts. In one +corner a group of peasants were gathered around a white-haired priest, +who, in a low but earnest voice, was uttering his last exhortation to +them; in another, some young and fashionably-dressed men were exhibiting +to a party of ladies the very airs and graces by which they would have +adorned a saloon; here, was a party at piquet; there, a little group +arranging, for the last time, their household cares, and settling, with +a few small coins, the account of mutual expenditure. Of the ladies, +several were engaged at needlework, some little preparation for the +morrow--the last demand that ever vanity was to make of them! + +Although there was matter of curiosity in all around me, my eyes sought +for but one object, the curé of St. Blois. Twice or thrice, from the +similarity of dress, I was deceived, and at last, when I really did +behold him, as he sat alone in a window, reading, I could scarcely +satisfy myself of the reality. He was lividly pale; his eyes deep sunk, +and surrounded with two dark circles, while along his worn cheek the +tears had marked two channels of purple color. What need of the +guillotine there; the lamp of life was in its last flicker without it. + +Our names were called, and the meats placed upon the table. Just as the +head turnkey was about to give the order to be seated, a loud commotion, +and a terrible uproar in the court beneath, drew every one to the +window. It was a hurdle which, emerging from an archway, broke down from +overcrowding; and now the confusion of prisoners, jailors, and sentries, +with plunging horses and screaming sufferers, made a scene of the +wildest uproar. Chained two by two, the prisoners were almost helpless, +and in their efforts to escape injury made the most terrific struggles. +Such were the instincts of life in those on the very road to death! + +Resolving to profit by the moment of confusion, I hastened to the +window, where alone, unmoved by the general commotion, sat the Père +Michel. He lifted his glassy eyes as I came near, and, in a low, mild +voice, said, + +"Thanks, my good boy, but I have no money to pay thee; nor does it +matter much now, it is but another day." + +I could have cried as I heard these sad words, but mastering emotions +which would have lost time so precious, I drew close, and whispered, + +"Père Michel, it is I, your own Maurice!" + +He started, and a deep flush suffused his cheek, and then stretching out +his hand, he pushed back my cap, and parted the hair off my forehead, as +if doubting the reality of what he saw, when, with a weak voice, he +said, + +"No, no, thou art not my own Maurice. _His_ eyes shone not with that +worldly lustre thine do; _his_ brow was calm and fair as children's +should be--_thine_ is marked with manhood's craft and subtlety; and yet +thou art like him." + +A low sob broke from me as I listened to his words, and the tears gushed +forth, and rolled in torrents down my cheeks. + +"Yes," cried he, clasping me in his arms, "thou art my own dear boy. I +know thee now: but how art thou here, and thus?" and he touched my +"blouse" as he spoke. + +"I came to see and to save you, Père," said I. "Nay, do not try to +discourage me, but rather give me all your aid. I saw _her_--I was with +her in her last moments at the guillotine; she gave me a message for +you, but this you shall never hear till we are without these walls." + +"It can not be, it can not be," said he, sorrowfully. + +"It can, and shall be," said I, resolutely. "I have merely assumed this +dress for the occasion; I have friends, powerful and willing to protect +me. Let us change robes; give me that 'soutane,' and put on the blouse. +When you leave this, hasten to the old garden of the chapel, and wait +for my coming; I will join you there before night." + +"It can not be," replied he, again. + +"Again I say, it shall, and must be. Nay, if you still refuse, there +shall be two victims, for I will tear off the dress here where I stand, +and openly declare myself the son of the royalist Tiernay." + +Already the commotion in the court beneath was beginning to subside, and +even now the turnkeys' voices were heard in the refectory, recalling the +prisoners to table, another moment and it would have been too late; it +was, then, less by persuasion than by actual force I compelled him to +yield, and pulling off his black serge gown, drew over his shoulders my +yellow blouse, and placed upon his head the white cap of the "Marmiton." +The look of shame and sorrow of the poor curé would have betrayed him at +once, if any had given themselves the trouble to look at him. + +"And thou, my poor child," said he, as he saw me array myself in his +priestly dress, "what is to be thy fate." + +"All will depend upon you, Père Michel," said I, holding him by the arm, +and trying to fix his wandering attention. "Once out of the prison, +write to Boivin, the _restaurateur_ of the '_Scélérat_,' and tell him +that an escaped convict has scruples for the danger into which he has +brought a poor boy, one of his 'Marmitons,' and whom, by a noxious drug, +he has lulled into insensibility, while having exchanged clothes, he has +managed his escape. Boivin will comprehend the danger he himself runs by +leaving me here. All will go well--and now there's not a moment to lose. +Take up your basket, and follow the others." + +"But the falsehood of all this," cried the Père. + +"But, your life and mine, too, lost, if you refuse," said I, pushing him +away. + +"Oh, Maurice, how changed have you become!" cried he, sorrowfully. + +"You will see a greater change in me yet, as I lie in the sawdust +beneath the scaffold," said I, hastily. "Go, go." + +There was, indeed, no more time to lose. The muster of the prisoners was +forming at one end of the chamber, while the "Marmitons" were gathering +up their plates and dishes, previous to departure, at the other; and it +was only by the decisive step of laying myself down within the recesses +of the window, in the attitude of one overcome by sleep, that I could +force him to obey my direction. I could feel his presence as he bent +over me, and muttered something that must have been a prayer. I could +know, without seeing, that he still lingered near me, but as I never +stirred, he seemed to feel that my resolve was not to be shaken, and at +last he moved slowly away. + +At first the noise and clamor sounded like the crash of some desperate +conflict, but by degrees this subsided, and I could hear the names +called aloud, and the responses of the prisoners, as they were "told +off" in parties from the different parts of the prison. Tender +leave-takings and affectionate farewells from many who never expected to +meet again accompanied these, and the low sobs of anguish were mingled +with the terrible chaos of voices; and at last I heard the name of +"Michel Delannois:" I felt as if my death-summons was in the words +"Michel Delannois." + +"That crazy priest can neither hear nor see, I believe," said the +jailor, savagely. "Will no one answer for him?" + +"He is asleep yonder in the window," replied a voice from the crowd. + +"Let him sleep, then," said the turnkey "when awake he gives us no peace +with his prayers and exhortations." + +"He has eaten nothing for three days," observed another; "he is, +perhaps, overcome by weakness more than by sleep." + +"Be it so! if he only lie quiet, I care not," rejoined the jailor, and +proceeded to the next name on the list. + +The monotonous roll-call, the heat, the attitude in which I was lying, +all conspired to make me drowsy; even the very press of sensations that +crowded to my brain lent their aid, and at last I slept as soundly as +ever I had done in my bed at night. I was dreaming of the dark alleys in +the wood of Belleville, where so often I had strolled of an evening with +Père Michel; I was fancying that we were gathering the fresh violets +beneath the old trees, when a rude hand shook my shoulder, and I awoke. +One of the turnkeys and Boivin stood over me, and I saw at once that my +plan had worked well. + +"Is this the fellow?" said the turnkey, pushing me rudely with his foot. + +"Yes," replied Boivin, white with fear; "this is the boy; his name is +Tristan." The latter words were accompanied with a look of great +significance toward me. + +"What care we how he is called; let us hear in what manner he came +here." + +"I can tell you little," said I, staring and looking wildly around; "I +must have been asleep and dreaming, too." + +"The letter," whispered Boivin to the turnkey--"the letter says that he +was made to inhale some poisonous drug, and that while insensible--" + +"Bah!" said the other, derisively, "this will not gain credit here; +there has been complicity in the affair, Master Boivin. The +_commissaire_ is not the man to believe a trumped-up tale of the sort; +besides, you are well aware that you are responsible for these 'rats' of +yours. It is a private arrangement between you and the _commissaire_, +and it is not very probable that he'll get himself into a scrape for +you." + +"Then what are we to do?" cried Boivin, passionately, as he wrung his +hands in despair. + +"I know what I should, in a like case," was the dry reply. + +"And that is--?" + +"Laisser aller!" was the curt rejoinder. "The young rogue has passed for +a curé for the last afternoon; I'd even let him keep up the disguise a +little longer, and it will be all the same by this time to-morrow." + +"You'd send me to the guillotine for another?" said I, boldly; "thanks +for the good intention my friend; but Boivin knows better than to follow +your counsel. Hear me one moment," said I, addressing the latter, and +drawing him to one side--"if you don't liberate me within a quarter of +an hour, I'll denounce you and yours to the commissary. I know well +enough what goes on at the Scélérat--you understand me well. If a priest +has really made his escape from the prison, you are not clean-handed +enough to meet the accusation; see to it then, Boivin, that I may be +free at once." + +"Imp of Satan," exclaimed Boivin, grinding his teeth, "I have never +enjoyed ease or quietness since the first hour I saw you." + +"It may cost a couple of thousand francs, Boivin," said I, calmly; "but +what then? Better that than take your seat along with us to-morrow in +the 'Charrette rouge.'" + +"Maybe he's right, after all," muttered the turnkey in a half whisper; +"speak to the commissary." + +"Yes," said I, affecting an air of great innocence and simplicity--"tell +him that a poor orphan boy, without friends or home, claims his pity." + +"_Scélérat infame_!" cried Boivin, as he shook his fist at me, and then +followed the turnkey to the commissary's apartment. + +In less time than I could have believed possible, Boivin returned with +one of the upper jailors, and told me in a few dry words that I was +free. "But, mark me," added he, "we part here--come what may, you never +shall plant foot within my doors again." + +"Agreed," said I, gayly; "the world has other dupes as easy to play +upon, and I was getting well nigh weary of you." + +"Listen to the scoundrel!" muttered Boivin; "what will he say next?" + +"Simply this," rejoined I--"that as these are not becoming garments for +me to wear--for I'm neither 'Père' nor 'Frère'--I must have others ere I +quit this." + +If the insolence of my demand occasioned some surprise at first, a +little cool persistence on my part showed that compliance would be the +better policy; and, after conferring together for a few minutes, during +which I heard the sound of money, the turnkey retired, and came back +speedily with a jacket and cap belonging to one of the drummers of the +"Republican Guard"--a gaudy, tasteless affair enough, but, as a +disguise, nothing could have been more perfect. + +"Have you not a drum to give him?" said Boivin, with a most malignant +sneer at my equipment. + +"He'll make a noise in the world without that!" muttered the jailor, +half soliloquizing; and the words fell upon my heart with a strange +significance. + +"Your blessing, Boivin," said I, "and we part." + +"_Te te--_" + +"No, no; don't curse the boy," interposed the jailor, good humoredly. + +"Then, move off, youngster; I've lost too much time with you already." + +The next moment I was in the "Place"--a light, misty rain was falling, +and the night was dark and starless; the "_Scélérat_" was brilliant with +lamps and candles, and crowds were passing in and out, but it was no +longer a home for me--so I passed on, and continued my way toward the +Boulevard. + + +CHAPTER IV. + +"THE NIGHT OF THE NINTH THERMIDOR." + +I had agreed with the Père Michel to rendezvous at the garden of the +little chapel of St. Blois, and thitherward I now turned my steps. + +The success which followed this my first enterprise in life had already +worked a wondrous change in all my feelings. Instead of looking up to +the poor Curé for advice and guidance, I felt as though our parts were +exchanged, and that it was _I_ who was now the protector of the other. +The oft-repeated sneers at "les bons Prêtres," who were good for +nothing, must have had a share in this new estimate of my friend; but a +certain self-reliance just then springing up in my heart, effectually +completed the change. + +The period was essentially one of action and not of reflection. Events +seemed to fashion themselves at the will of him who had daring and +courage to confront them, and they alone appeared weak and poor-spirited +who would not stem the tide of fortune. Sentiments like these were not, +as may be supposed, best calculated to elevate the worthy Père in my +esteem, and I already began to feel how unsuited was such companionship +for me, whose secret promptings whispered ever, "go forward." + +The very vagueness of my hopes served but to extend the horizon of +futurity before me, and I fancied a thousand situations of distinction +that might yet be mine. Fame--or its poor counterfeit, notoriety--seemed +the most enviable of all possessions. It mattered little by what merits +it were won, for, in that fickle mood of popular opinion, great vices +were as highly prized as transcendent abilities, and one might be as +illustrious by crime as by genius. Such were not the teachings of the +Père; but they were the lessons that Paris dinned into my ears +unceasingly. Reputation, character, was of no avail, in a social +condition where all was change and vacillation. What was idolized one +day, was execrated the next. The hero of yesterday, was the object of +popular vengeance to-day. The success of the passing hour was every +thing. + +The streets were crowded as I passed along; although a drizzling rain +was falling, groups and knots of people were gathered together at every +corner, and, by their eager looks and gestures, showed that some event +of great moment had occurred. I stopped to ask what it meant, and +learned that Robespierre had been denounced in the Assembly, and that +his followers were hastening, in arms, to the Place de Grêve. As yet, +men spoke in whispers, or broken phrases. Many were seen affectionately +embracing and clasping each other's hands in passionate emotion, but few +dared to trust themselves to words, for none knew if the peril were +really passed, or if the power of the tyrant might not become greater +than ever. While I yet listened to the tidings which, in half sentences +and broken words, reached my ears, the roll of drums, beating the +"générale," was heard, and suddenly the head of a column appeared, +carrying torches, and seated upon ammunition-wagons and caissons, and +chanting in wild chorus the words of the "Marseillaise." On they came, a +terrible host of half-naked wretches, their heads bound in +handkerchiefs, and their brawny arms bare to the shoulders. + +The artillery of the Municipale followed, many of the magistrates riding +among them dressed in the tricolored scarfs of officers. As the +procession advanced, the crowds receded, and gradually the streets were +left free to the armed force. + +While, terror-struck, I continued to gaze at the countenances over which +the lurid torchlight cast a horrid glare, a strong hand grasped my +collar, and by a jerk swung me up to a seat on one of the caissons; and +at the same time a deep voice said, "Come, youngster, this is more in +thy way than mine," and a black-bearded "sapeur" pushed a drum before +me, and ordered me to beat the générale. Such was the din and uproar +that my performance did not belie my uniform, and I beat away manfully, +scarcely sorry, amid all my fears, at the elevated position from which +I now surveyed the exciting scene around me. + +As we passed, the shops were closed on either side in haste, and across +the windows of the upper stories beds and mattresses were speedily +drawn, in preparation for the state of siege now so imminent. Lights +flickered from room to room, and all betokened a degree of alarm and +terror. Louder and louder pealed the "Marseillaise," as the columns +deployed into the open Place, from which every street and lane now +poured its _tributaires_ of armed men. The line was now formed by the +artillery, which, to the number of sixteen pieces, ranged from end to +end of the square, the dense crowd of horse and foot forming behind, the +mass dimly lighted by the waving torches that here and there marked the +presence of an officer. Gradually the sounds of the "Marseillaise" grew +fainter and fainter, and soon a dreary silence pervaded that varied +host, more terrible now, as they stood speechless, than in all the +tumultuous din of the wildest uproar. Meanwhile, from the streets which +opened into the Place at the furthest end, the columns of the National +Guard began to move up, the leading files carrying torches; behind them +came ten pieces of artillery, which, as they issued, were speedily +placed in battery, and flanked by the heavy dragoons of the Guard; and +now, in breathless silence, the two forces stood regarding each other, +the cannoniers with lighted matches in their hands, the dragoons firmly +clasping their sabres--all but waiting for the word to plunge into the +deadliest strife. It was a terrible moment--the slightest stir in the +ranks--the rattling of a horse's panoply--the clank of a sabre--fell +upon the heart like the toll of a death-bell. It was then that two or +three horsemen were seen to advance from the troops of the Convention, +and approaching the others, were speedily lost among their ranks. A low +and indistinct murmur ran along the lines, which each moment grew +louder, till at last it burst forth into a cry of "Vive la Convention." +Quitting their ranks, the men gathered around a general of the National +Guard, who addressed them in words of passionate eloquence, but of which +I was too distant to hear any thing. Suddenly the ranks began to thin; +some were seen to pile their arms, and move away in silence; others +marched across the Place, and took up their position beside the troops +of the National Guard: of the cannoniers many threw down their matches, +and extinguished the flame with their feet, while others again, +limbering up their guns, slowly retired to the barracks. + +As for myself, too much interested in the scene to remember that I was, +in some sort, an actor in it, I sat upon the caisson, watching all that +went forward so eagerly, that I never noticed the departure of my +companions, nor perceived that I was left by myself. I know not how much +later this discovery might have been deferred to me, had not an officer +of the "Guard" ridden up to where I was, and said "Move up, move up, my +lad; keep close to the battery." He pointed at the same time with his +sabre in the direction where a number of guns and carriages were already +proceeding. + +Not a little flattered by the order, I gathered up reins and whip, and, +thanks to the good drilling of the beasts, who readily took their proper +places, soon found myself in the line, which now drew up in the rear of +the artillery of the Guard, separated from the front by a great mass of +horse and foot. I knew nothing of what went forward in the Place; from +what I gathered, however, I could learn that the artillery was in +position, the matches burning, and every thing in readiness for a +cannonade. Thus we remained for above an hour, when the order was given +to march. Little knew I that, in that brief interval, the whole fortunes +of France--ay, of humanity itself--had undergone a mighty change--that +the terrible reign of blood, the Tyranny of Robespierre had closed, and +that he who had sent so many to the scaffold, now lay bleeding and +mutilated upon the very table where he had signed the death-warrants. + +The day was just beginning to dawn as we entered the barracks of the +Conciergerie, and drew up in a double line along its spacious square. +The men dismounted, and stood "at ease," awaiting the arrival of the +staff of the National Guard, which, it was said, was coming; and now the +thought occurred to me, of what I should best do, whether make my escape +while it was yet time, or remain to see by what accident I had come +there. If a sense of duty to the Père Michel urged me on one side, the +glimmering hope of some opening to fortune swayed me on the other. I +tried to persuade myself that my fate was bound up with his, and that he +should be my guide through the wild waste before me; but these +convictions could not stand against the very scene in which I stood. The +glorious panoply of war--the harnessed team--the helmeted dragoon--the +proud steed in all the trappings of battle! How faint were the pleadings +of duty against such arguments. The Père, too, designed me for a priest. +The life of a "seminarist" in a convent was to be mine! I was to wear +the red gown and the white cape of an "acolyte!"--to be taught how to +swing a censer, or snuff the candles of the high altar--to be a +train-bearer in a procession, or carry a relic in a glass-case! The +hoarse bray of a trumpet that then rung through the court routed these +ignoble fancies, and as the staff rode proudly in, my resolve was taken. +I was determined to be a soldier. + +The day, I have said, was just breaking, and the officers wore their +dark gray capotes over their uniforms. One, however, had his coat partly +open, and I could see the blue and silver beneath, which, tarnished and +worn as it was, had to my eyes all the brilliancy of a splendid uniform. +He was an old man, and by his position in advance of the others, showed +that he was the chief of the staff. This was General Lacoste, at that +time "en mission" from the army of the Rhine, and now sent by the +Convention to report upon the state of events among the troops. Slowly +passing along the line, the old general halted before each gun, +pointing, out to his staff certain minutiæ, which, from his gestures and +manner, it was easy to see were not the subject of eulogy. Many of the +pieces were ill slung, and badly balanced on the trucks; the wheels, in +some cases, were carelessly put on, their tires worn, and the iron +shoeing defective. The harnessing, too, was patched and mended in a +slovenly fashion; the horses lean and out of condition; the drivers +awkward and inexperienced. + +"This is all bad, gentlemen," said he, addressing the officers, but in a +tone to be easily heard all around him; "and reflects but little credit +upon the state of your discipline in the capital. We have been now +seventeen months in the field before the enemy, and not idle either; and +yet I would take shame to myself if the worst battery in our artillery +were not better equipped, better horsed, better driven, and better +served, than any I see here." + +One, who seemed a superior officer, here appeared to interpose some +explanation or excuse, but the general would not listen to him, and +continued his way along the line, passing around which he now entered +the space between the guns and the caissons. At last he stopped directly +in front of where I was, and fixed his dark and penetrating eyes +steadily on me. Such was their fascination, that I could not look from +him, but continued to stare as fixedly at him. + +"Look here, for instance," cried he, as he pointed to me with his sword, +"is that 'gamin' yonder like an artillery-driver? or is it to a +drummer-boy you intrust the caisson of an eight-pounder gun? Dismount, +sirrah, and come hither," cried he to me, in a voice that sounded like +an order for instant execution. "This popinjay dress of yours must have +been the fancy of some worthy shop-keeper of the 'Quai Lepelletier;' it +never could belong to any regular corps. Who are you?" + +"Maurice Tiernay, sir," said I, bringing my hand to my cap in military +salute. + +"Maurice Tiernay," repeated he, slowly, after me. "And have you no more +to say for yourself than your name?" + +"Very little, sir," said I, taking courage from the difficulty in which +I found myself. + +"What of your father, boy?--is he a soldier?" + +"He was, sir," replied I, with firmness. + +"Then he is dead? In what corps did he serve?" + +"In the Garde du Corps," said I, proudly. + +The old general gave a short cough, and seemed to search for his +snuff-box, to cover his confusion; the next moment, however, he had +regained his self-possession, and continued: "And since that event--I +mean, since you lost your father--what have you been doing? How have you +supported yourself?" + +"In various ways, sir," said I, with a shrug of the shoulders, to imply +that the answer might be too tedious to listen to. "I have studied to be +a priest, and I have served as a 'rat' in the Prison du Temple." + +"You have certainly tried the extremes of life," said he, laughing; "and +now you wish, probably, to hit the 'juste milieu,' by becoming a +soldier?" + +"Even so, sir," said I, easily. "It was a mere accident that mounted me +upon this caisson; but I am quite ready to believe that fortune intended +me kindly when she did so." + +"These 'gredins' fancy that they are all born to be generals of France," +said the old man, laughing; "but, after all, it is a harmless delusion, +and easily curable by a campaign or two. Come, sirrah, I'll find out a +place for you, where, if you can not serve the republic better, you +will, at least, do her less injury, than as a driver in her artillery. +Bertholet, let him be enrolled in your detachment of the gendarme, and +give him my address: I wish to speak to him to-morrow." + +"At what hour, general?" said I, promptly. + +"At eight, or half-past--after breakfast," replied he. + +"It may easily be before mine," muttered I to myself. + +"What says he?" cried the general, sharply. + +The aid-de-camp whispered a few words in answer, at which the other +smiled, and said, "Let him come somewhat earlier--say eight o'clock." + +"You hear that, boy?" said the aid-de-camp to me, while, with a slight +gesture, he intimated that I might retire. Then, as if suddenly +remembering that he had not given me the address of the general, he took +a scrap of crumpled paper from his pocket-book, and wrote a few words +hastily on it with his pencil. "There," cried he, throwing it toward me, +"there is your billet for this day at least." I caught the scrap of +paper, and after deciphering the words, perceived that they were written +on the back of an "assignat" for forty sous. + +It was a large sum to one who had not wherewithal to buy a morsel of +bread; and as I looked at it over and over, I fancied there would be no +end to the pleasures such wealth could purchase. I can breakfast on the +Quai Voltaire, thought I, ay, and sumptuously too, with coffee, and +chestnuts, and a slice of melon, and another of cheese, and a "petite +goutte" to finish, for five sous. The panther, at the corner of the Pont +Neuf, costs but a sou; and for three one can see the brown bear of +America, the hyena, and another beast whose name I forget, but whose +image, as he is represented outside, carrying off a man in his teeth, I +shall retain to my last hour. Then, there is the panorama of Dunkirk, at +the Rue Chopart, with the Duke of York begging his life from a +terrible-looking soldier in a red cap and a tri-colored scarf. After +that, there's the parade at the "Carousel," and mayhaps something more +solemn still at the "Grève;" but there was no limit to the throng of +enjoyments which came rushing to my imagination, and it was in a kind of +ecstasy of delight I set forth on my voyage of pleasure. + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE CHOICE OF A LIFE. + +In looking back, after a long lapse of years, I can not refrain from a +feeling of astonishment, to think how little remembrance I possess of +the occurrences of that day--one of the most memorable that ever dawned +for France--the eventful 29th of July, that closed the reign of terror +by the death of the tyrant! It is true that all Paris was astir at +daybreak; that a sense of national vengeance seemed to pervade the vast +masses that filled the streets, which now were scenes of the most +exciting emotion. I can only account for the strange indifference that I +felt about these stirring themes, by the frequency with which similar, +or what, to me, at least, appeared similar scenes had already passed +before my eyes. + +One of the most remarkable phases of the revolution was, the change it +produced in all the social relations, by substituting an assumed +nationality for the closer and dearer ties of kindred and affection. +France was every thing--the family nothing; every generous wish, every +proud thought, every high ambition or noble endeavor belonged to the +country. In this way, whatever patriotism may have gained, certainly all +the home affections were utterly wrecked; the humble and unobtrusive +virtues of domestic life seemed mean and insignificant beside the grand +displays of patriotic devotion which each day exhibited. + +Hence grew the taste for that "life of the streets," then so popular; +every thing should be "en évidence." All the emotions which delicacy +would render sacred to the seclusion of home, were now to be paraded to +the noonday. Fathers were reconciled to rebellious children before the +eyes of multitudes; wives received forgiveness from their husbands in +the midst of approving crowds; leave-takings, the most affecting, +partings, for those never to meet again, the last utterings of the +death-bed, the faint whispers of expiring affection, the imprecations of +undying hate, all, all were exhibited in public, and the gaze of the +low, the vulgar, and the debauched, associated with the most agonizing +griefs that ever the heart endured. The scenes, which now are shrouded +in all the secrecy of domestic privacy, were then the daily life of +Paris; and to this cause alone can I attribute the hardened indifference +with which events the most terrible and heart-rending were witnessed. +Bred up amidst such examples, I saw little matter for emotion in scenes +of harrowing interest. An air of mockery was on every thing, and a +bastard classicality destroyed every semblance of truth in whatever +would have been touching and affecting. + +The commotion of Paris on that memorable morning was, then, to my +thinking, little more than usual. If the crowds who pressed their way to +"The Place de la Révolution" were greater; if the cries of vengeance +were in louder utterance; if the imprecations were deeper and more +terrible, the ready answer, that satisfied all curiosity, was--it was +Robespierre, who was on his way to be executed. Little knew I what hung +upon that life! and now the fate of millions depended upon the blood +that morning was to shed. Too full of myself and my own projects, I +disengaged myself from the crowds that pressed eagerly toward the +Tuileries, and took my way by less frequented streets in the direction +of the Boulevard Mont Parnasse. + +I wished, if possible, to see the Père once more, to take a last +farewell of him, and ask his blessing, too; for still a lingering faith +in the lessons he had taught me, continued to haunt my mind, amidst all +the evil influences with which my wayward life surrounded me. The +further I went from the quarter of the Tuileries, the more deserted and +solitary grew the streets. Not a carriage or horseman was to be seen; +scarcely a foot-passenger. All Paris had, apparently, assembled on the +"Place de la Révolution;" and the very beggars had quitted their +accustomed haunts to repair thither. Even the distant hum of the vast +multitude faded away, and it was only as the wind bore them, that I +could catch the sounds of the hoarse cries that bespoke a people's +vengeance; and now I found myself in the little silent street which once +had been my home. I stood opposite the house where we used to live, +afraid to enter it, lest I might compromise the safety of her I wished +to save, and yet longing once more to see the little chamber where we +once sat together--the chimney-corner where, in the dark nights of +winter, I nestled, with my hymn-book, and tried to learn the rhymes that +every plash of the falling hail against the windows routed; to lie down +once more in the little bed, where so often I had passed whole nights of +happy imaginings--bright thoughts of a peaceful future, that were never +to be realized! + +Half-choking with my emotion, I passed on, and soon saw the green +fields, and the windmill-covered hill of Montmartre, rising above the +embankment of the Boulevards; and now the ivy-clothed wall of the +garden, within which stood the chapel of St. Blois. The gate lay ajar, +as of old, and pushing it open, I entered. Every thing was exactly as I +had left it--the same desolation and desertion every where--so much so, +that I almost fancied no human foot had crossed its dreary precincts +since last I was there. On drawing nigh to the chapel, I found the door +fast barred and barricaded, as before; but a window lay open, and on +examining it closer, I discovered the marks of a recent foot-track on +the ground and the window-sill. Could the Père Michel have been there? +was the question that at once occurred to my mind. Had the poor priest +come to take a last look and a farewell of a spot so dear to him? It +could scarcely have been any other. There was nothing to tempt cupidity +in that humble little church; an image of the "Virgin and Child" in wax +was the only ornament of the altar. No, no; pillage had never been the +motive of him who entered here. + +Thus reasoning, I climbed up to the window, and entered the chapel. As +my footsteps echoed through the silent building, I felt that sense of +awe and reverence so inseparably connected with a place of worship, and +which is ever more impressive still, as we stand in it alone. The +present, however, was less before me than the past, of which every thing +reminded me. There was the seat the marquise used to sit in; there the +footstool I had so often placed at her feet. How different was the last +service I had rendered her! There the pillar, beside which I have stood +spell-bound, gazing at that fair face, whose beauty arrested the +thoughts that should have wended heavenward, and made my muttered +prayers like offerings to herself. The very bouquet of flowers--some +peri's hand had placed beneath the shrine--withered and faded, was there +still. But where were they whose beating hearts had throbbed with deep +devotion? How many had died upon the scaffold!--how many were still +lingering in imprisonment, some in exile, some in concealment, dragging +out lives of misery and anxiety. What was the sustaining spirit of such +martyrdom? I asked myself again and again. Was it the zeal of true +religion, or was it the energy of loyalty, that bore them up against +every danger, and enabled them to brave death itself with firmness?--and +if this faith of theirs was thus ennobling, why could not France be of +one mind and heart? There came no answer to these doubts of mine, and I +slowly advanced toward the altar, still deeply buried in thought. What +was my surprise to see that two candles stood there, which bore signs of +having been recently lighted. At once the whole truth flashed across +me--the Père had been there; he had come to celebrate a mass--the last, +perhaps, he was ever to offer up at that altar. I knew with what warm +affection he loved every object and every spot endeared to him by long +time, and I fancied to myself the overflowing of his heart, as he +entered once more, and for the last time, the little temple, associated +with all the joys and sorrows of his existence. Doubtless, too, he had +waited anxiously for my coming; mayhap, in the prayers he offered, I was +not forgotten. I thought of him kneeling there, in the silence of the +night, alone, as he was, his gentle voice the only sound in the +stillness of the hour; his pure heart throbbing with gratitude for his +deliverance, and prayerful hopes for those who had been his persecutors. +I thought over all this, and, in a torrent of emotions, I knelt down +before the altar to pray. I know not what words I uttered, but his name +must some how have escaped my lips; for suddenly a door opened beside +the altar, and the Père Michel, dressed in his full vestments, stood +before me. His features, wan and wasted as they were, had regained their +wonted expression of calm dignity; and by his look I saw that he would +not suffer the sacred spot to be profaned by any outburst of feeling on +either side. + +"Those dreadful shouts tell of another massacre," said he, solemnly, as +the wind bore toward us the deafening cries of the angry multitude. "Let +us pray for the souls' rest of the departed." + +"Then will your prayers be offered for Robespierre, for Couthon, and St. +Just," said I, boldly. + +"And who are they who need more the saints' intercession--who have ever +been called to judgment with such crimes to expiate--who have ever so +widowed France, and so desecrated her altars? Happily a few yet remain +where piety may kneel to implore pardon for their iniquity. Let us +recite the Litany for the Dead," said he, solemnly, and at once began +the impressive service. + +As I knelt beside the rails of the altar, and heard the prayers which, +with deep devotion, he uttered. I could not help feeling the contrast +between that touching evidence of Christian charity, and the tumultuous +joy of the populace, whose frantic bursts of triumph were borne on the +air. + +"And now come with me, Maurice," said he, as the mass was concluded. +"Here, in this little sacristy, we are safe from all molestation; none +will think of us on such a day as this." + +And as he spoke, he drew his arm around me, and led me into the little +chamber where once the precious vessels and the decorations of the +church were kept. + +"Here we are safe," said he, as he drew me to his side on the oaken +bench, which formed all the furniture of the room. "To-morrow, Maurice, +we must leave this, and seek an asylum in another land; but we are not +friendless, my child--the brothers of the 'Sacred Heart' will receive +us. Their convent is in the wilds of the Ardennes, beyond the frontiers +of France, and there, beloved by the faithful peasantry, they live in +security and peace. We need not take the vows of their order, which is +one of the strictest of all religious houses; but we may claim their +hospitality and protection, and neither will be denied us. Think what a +blessed existence will that be, Maurice, my son, to dwell under the same +roof with these holy men, and to imbibe from them the peace of mind that +holiness alone bestows; to awake at the solemn notes of the pealing +organ, and to sink to rest with the solemn liturgies still chanting +around you; to feel an atmosphere of devotion on every side, and to see +the sacred relics whose miracles have attested the true faith in ages +long past. Does it not stir thy heart, my child, to know that such +blessed privileges may be thine?" + +I hung my head in silence, for in truth, I felt nothing of the +enthusiasm with which he sought to inspire me. The Père quickly saw +what passed in my mind, and endeavored to depict the life of the +monastery as a delicious existence, embellished by all the graces of +literature, and adorned by the pleasures of intellectual converse. +Poetry, romance, scenery, all were pressed into the service of his +persuasions; but how weak were such arguments to one like me, the boy +whose only education had been what the streets of Paris afforded--whose +notions of eloquence were formed on the insane ravings of "The +Mountain," and whose idea of greatness were centred in mere notoriety. + +My dreamy look of inattention showed him again that he had failed; and I +could see in the increased pallor of his face, the quivering motion of +his lip, the agitation the defeat was costing him. + +"Alas! alas!" cried he, passionately, "the work of ruin is perfect; the +mind of youth is corrupted, and the fountain of virtue defiled at the +very source. Oh! Maurice, I had never thought this possible of thee, the +child of my heart!" + +A burst of grief here overcame him; for some minutes he could not speak. +At last he arose from his seat, and wiping off the tears that covered +his cheeks, with his robe, spoke, but in a voice whose full round tones +contrasted strongly with his former weak accents. + +"The life I have pictured seems to thee ignoble and unworthy, boy. So +did it not appear to Chrysostom, to Origen, and to Augustin, to the +blessed saints of our church, the eldest born of Christianity. Be it so. +Thine, mayhap is not the age, nor this the era in which to hope for +better things. Thy heart yearns for heroic actions--thy spirit is set +upon high ambitions--be it so. I say, never was the time more fitting +for thee. The enemy is up; his armies are in the field; thousands and +tens of thousands swell the ranks, already flushed with victory. Be a +soldier, then. Ay, Maurice, buckle on the sword--the battle-field is +before thee. Thou hast made choice to seek the enemy in the far-away +countries of heathen darkness, or here in our own native France, where +his camp is already spread. If danger be the lure that tempts thee--if +to confront peril be thy wish--there is enough of it. Be a soldier, +then, and gird thee for the great battle that is at hand. Ay! boy, if +thou feelest within thee the proud darings that foreshadow success, +speak the word, and thou shalt be a standard-bearer in the very van." + +I waited not for more; but springing up, I clasped my arms around his +neck, and cried, in ecstasy, "Yes! Père Michel, you have guessed aright; +my heart's ambition is to be a soldier and I want but your blessing to +be a brave one." + +"And thou shalt have it. A thousand blessings follow those who go forth +to the good fight. But thou art yet young, Maurice--too young for this. +Thou needest time and much teaching, too. He who would brave the enemy +before us, must be skillful as well as courageous. Thou art as yet but a +child." + +"The general said he liked boy-soldiers," said I, promptly; "he told me +so himself." + +"What general--who told thee?" cried the Père in trembling eagerness. + +"General Lacoste, the Chef-d'-Etat, major of the army of the Rhine; the +same who gave me a rendezvous for to-morrow at his quarters." + +It was not till I had repeated my explanation again and again, nor, +indeed, until I had recounted all the circumstances of my last night's +adventure, that the poor Père could be brought to see his way through a +mystery that had almost become equally embarrassing to myself. When he +did, however, detect the clew, and when he had perceived the different +tracks on which our minds were traveling, his grief burst all bounds. He +inveighed against the armies of the Republic as hordes of pillagers and +bandits, the sworn enemies of the church, the desecrators of her altars. +Their patriotism he called a mere pretense to shroud their infidelity. +Their heroism was the bloodthirstiness of democratic cruelty. Seeing me +still unmoved by all this passionate declamation, he adopted another +tactic, and suddenly asked me if it were for such a cause as this my +father had been a soldier? + +"No!" replied I, firmly; "for when my father was alive, the soil of +France had not been desecrated by the foot of the invader. The Austrian, +the Prussian, the Englishman had not yet dared to dictate the laws under +which we were to live." + +He appeared thunderstruck at my reply, repealing, as it seemed to him, +the extent of those teachings, whose corruptions he trembled at. + +"I knew it, I knew it," cried he, bitterly, as he wrung his hands. "The +seed of the iniquity is sown--the harvest-time will not be long in +coming! And so, boy, thou hast spoken with one of these men--these +generals, as they call themselves, of that republican horde?" + +"The officer who commands the artillery of the army of the Rhine may +write himself general with little presumption," said I, almost angrily. + +"They who once led our armies to battle were the nobles of France--men +whose proud station was the pledge for their chivalrous devotion. But +why do I discuss the question with thee? He who deserts his faith may +well forget that his birth was noble. Go, boy, join those with whom your +heart is already linked. Your lesson will be an easy one--you have +nothing to unlearn. The songs of the Girondins are already more grateful +to your ear than our sacred canticles. Go, I say, since between us, +henceforth, there can be no companionship. + +"Will you not bless me, Père," said I, approaching him in deep humility; +"will you not let me carry with me thy benediction?" + +"How shall I bless the arm that is lifted to wound the Holy Church? how +shall I pray for one whose place is in the ranks of the infidel? Hadst +thou faith in my blessing, boy, thou hadst never implored it in such a +cause. Renounce thy treason--and not alone my blessing, but thou shalt +have a 'Novena' to celebrate thy fidelity. Be of us, Maurice, and thy +name shall be honored, where honor is immortality." + +The look of beaming affection with which he uttered this, more than the +words themselves, now shook my courage, and, in a conflict of doubt and +indecision, I held down my head without speaking. What might have been +my ultimate resolve, if left completely to myself, I know not; but at +that very moment a detachment of soldiers marched past in the street +without. They were setting off to join the army of the Rhine, and were +singing in joyous chorus the celebrated song of the day, "Le chant du +depart." The tramp of their feet--the clank of their weapons--their +mellow voices--but, more than all, the associations that thronged to my +mind, routed every other thought, and I darted from the spot, and never +stopped till I reached the street. + +A great crowd followed the detachment, composed partly of friends of the +soldiers, partly of the idle loungers of the capital. Mixing with these, +I moved onward, and speedily passed the outer boulevard, and gained the +open country. + +(_To be continued._) + + + + +[From Household Words.] + +THE PLANET-WATCHERS OF GREENWICH. + + +There is a morsel of Greenwich Park, which has, for now nearly two +centuries, been held sacred from intrusion. It is the portion inclosed +by the walls of the Observatory. Certainly a hundred thousand visitors +must ramble over the surrounding lawns, and look with curious eye upon +the towers and outer boundaries of that little citadel of science, for +one who finds admission to the interior of the building. Its brick +towers, with flanking turrets and picturesque roofs, perched on the side +of the gravelly hill, and sheltered round about by groups of fine old +trees, are as well known as Greenwich Hospital itself. But what work +goes on inside its carefully preserved boundary, and under those +movable, black-domed roofs, is a popular mystery. Many a holiday-maker's +wonder has been excited by the fall, at one o'clock, of the huge, black +ball, high up there, by the weather vane on the topmost point of the +eastern turret. He knows, or is told if he asks a loitering pensioner, +that the descent of the ball tells the time as truly as the sun; and +that all the ships in the river watch it to set their chronometers by, +before they sail; and, that, all the railway clocks, and all the railway +trains over the kingdom are arranged punctually by its indications. But +how the heavens are watched to secure this punctual definition of the +flight of time, and what other curious labors are going on inside the +Observatory, is a sealed book. The public have always been, of +necessity, excluded from the Observatory walls, for the place is devoted +to the prosecution of a science whose operations are inconsistent with +the bustle, the interruptions, the talk, and the anxieties of popular +curiosity and examination. + +But when public information and instruction are the objects, the doors +are widely opened, and the press and its _attachés_ find a way into +this, as into many other sacred and forbidden spots. Only last week one +of "our own contributors" was seen in a carriage on the Greenwich +railway, poring over the paper in the last Edinburgh Review that +describes our national astronomical establishment, and was known +afterward to have climbed the Observatory hill, and to have rung and +gained admission at the little, black, mysterious gate in the +Observatory wall. Let us see what is told in his report of what he saw +within that sacred portal. + +In the park on a fine day all seems life and gayety--once within the +Observatory boundary, the first feeling is that of isolation. There is a +curious stillness about the place, and the foot-step of the old +pensioner, who closes the gate upon a visitor, echoes again on the +pavement as he goes away to wake up from his astronomical or +meteorological trance one of the officers of this sanctum. Soon, under +the guidance of the good genius so invoked, the secrets of the place +begin to reveal themselves. + +The part of the Observatory so conspicuous from without is the portion +least used within. When it was designed by Christopher Wren, the general +belief was that such buildings should be lofty, that the observer might +be raised toward the heavenly bodies whose motions he was to watch. More +modern science has taught its disciples better; and in Greenwich--which +is an eminently practical Observatory--the working part of the building +is found crouching behind the loftier towers. These are now occupied as +subsidiary to the modern practical building. The ground floor is used as +a residence by the chief astronomer; above is the large hall originally +built to contain huge moveable telescopes and quadrants--such as are not +now employed. Nowadays, this hall occasionally becomes a sort of +scientific counting-house--irreverent but descriptive term--in which, +from time to time, a band of scientific clerks are congregated to post +up the books, in which the daily business of the planets has been jotted +down by the astronomers who watch those marvelous bodies. Another +portion is a kind of museum of astronomical curiosities. Flamstead and +Halley, and their immediate successors, worked in these towers, and here +still rest some of the old, rude tools with which their discoveries were +completed, and their reputation, and the reputation of Greenwich, were +established. As time has gone on, astronomers and opticians have +invented new, and more perfect, and more luxurious instruments. Greater +accuracy is thus obtainable, at a less expenditure of human patience and +labor; and so the old tools are cast aside. One of them belonged to +Halley, and was put up by him a hundred and thirty years ago; another +is an old brazen quadrant, with which many valuable observations were +made in by-gone times; and another, an old iron quadrant, still fixed in +the stone pier to which it was first attached. Some of the huge +telescopes that once found place in this old Observatory, have been sent +away. One went to the Cape of Good Hope, and has been useful there. +Another of the unsatisfactory, and now unused instruments, had a tube +twenty-five feet long, whose cool and dark interior was so pleasant to +the spiders that, do what they would, the astronomers could not +altogether banish the persevering insects from it. Spin they would; and, +spite of dusting and cleaning, and spider-killing, spin they did; and, +at length, the savans got more instruments and less patience, and the +spiders were left in quiet possession. This has been pleasantly spoken +of as an instance of poetical justice. It is but fair that spiders +should, at times, have the best of astronomers, for astronomers rob +spiders for the completion of their choicest instruments. No fabric of +human construction is fine enough to strain across the eyepiece of an +important telescope, and opticians preserve a particular race of +spiders, that their webs may be taken for that purpose. The spider lines +are strained across the best instruments at Greenwich and elsewhere; and +when the spinners of these beautifully fine threads disturbed the +accuracy of the tube in the western wing of the old Observatory, it was +said to be but fair retaliation for the robberies the industrious +insects had endured. + +A narrow stair leads from the unused rooms of the old Observatory to its +leaded roof, whence a magnificent view is obtained; the park, the +hospital, the town of Greenwich, and the windings of the Thames, and, +gazing further, London itself comes grandly into the prospect. The most +inveterate astronomer could scarcely fail to turn for a moment from the +wonders of the heavens to admire these glories of the earth. From the +leads, two turrets are reached, where the first constantly active +operations in this portion of the building, are in progress. + +At the present time, indeed, these turrets are the most useful portions +of the old building. In one is placed the well-known contrivance for +registering, hour after hour, and day after day, the force and direction +of the wind. To keep such a watch by human vigilance, and to make such a +register by human labor, would be a tedious, expensive, and irksome +task; and human ingenuity taxed itself to make a machine for perfecting +such work. The wind turns a weather-cock, and, by aid of cog-wheels the +motion is transferred to a lead pencil fixed over a sheet of paper, and +thus the wind is made to write down the direction which itself is +blowing. Not far distant is a piece of metal, the flat side of which is +ever turned by the weather-cock to meet the full force of the wind, +which, blowing upon it, drives it back against a spring. To this spring +is affixed a chain passing over, pullies toward another pencil, fixed +above a sheet of paper, and moving faithfully, more or less, as the +wind blows harder or softer. And thus the "gentle zephyr" and the fresh +breeze, and the heavy gale, and, when it comes, the furious hurricane, +are made to note down their character and force. The sheet of paper on +which the uncertain element, the wind, is bearing witness against +itself, is fixed upon a frame moved by clock-work. Steady as the +progress of time, this ingenious mechanism draws the paper under the +suspended pencils. Thus each minute and each hour has its written +record, without human help or inspection. Once a day only, an assistant +comes to put a new blank sheet in the place of that which has been +covered by the moving pencils, and the latter is taken away to be bound +up in a volume. The book might with truth be lettered, "The History of +the Wind; written by Itself"--an Æolian autobiography. + +Close by is another contrivance for registering in decimals of an inch +the quantity of rain that falls. The drops are caught, and passing down +a tube, a permanent mark is made by which the quantity is determined. + +The eastern turret is devoted to the Time Ball and its mechanism. Far +out at sea--away from all sources of information but those to be asked +of the planets, his compass, his quadrant, his chronometer, and his +almanack, the mariner feels the value of _time_ in a way which the +landsman can scarcely conceive. If his chronometer is right, he may feel +safe; let him have reason to doubt its accuracy, and he knows how the +perils surrounding him are increased. An error of a few seconds in his +time may place him in danger--an error of a few minutes may lead him to +steer blindly to his certain wreck. Hence his desire when he is leaving +port to have his time-pieces right to a second; and hence the +expenditure of thought, and labor, and money, at the Greenwich +Observatory, to afford the shipping of the great port of London, and the +English navy, the exact time--true to the tenth of a second, or six +hundredth of a minute--and to afford them also a book, the Nautical +Almanack, containing a mass of astronomical facts, on which they may +base their calculations, with full reliance as to their accuracy. Every +day for the last seventeen years, at five minutes before one o'clock, +the black ball five feet across and stuffed with cork, is raised halfway +up its shaft above the eastern turret of the observatory--at +two-and-a-half minutes before that hour, it rises to the top. Telescopes +from many a point, both up and down the river, are now pointed to this +dark spot above the Greenwich trees, and many an anxious mariner has his +time-pieces beside him, that their indications may be made true. Watch +the ball as you stand in the Park. It is now just raised. You must wait +two minutes and a half, and as you do so, you feel what a minute may be. +It seems a long, palpable, appreciable time, indeed. In the turret +below, stands a clock telling the true time, gained by a laborious +watching of the _clock-stars_; and beside the clock, is a man with a +practiced hand upon a trigger, and a practiced eye upon the face of the +dial. One minute--two minutes pass. Thirty seconds more, and the trigger +has released the Ball. As it leaves the top of the shaft, it is one +o'clock to the tenth of a second By the time it has reached the bottom +it is some five seconds later. + +Leaving the Ball Turret, and the old building which it surmounts, the +new Observatory, where the chief work of the establishment is done, +claims our notice. This attention would scarcely be given to its outward +appearance for it is a long, low building, scarcely seen beyond its own +boundaries. The Greenwich Observatory is not a _show_ place, but an +eminently practical establishment. St. Petersburg and other cities have +much more gorgeous buildings devoted to astronomical purposes, and +Russia and other countries spend much more money on astronomy than +England does, yet the Greenwich Tables have a world-wide reputation, and +some of them are used as the groundwork for calculations in all +Observatories at home and abroad. The astronomer does not want marble +halls or grand saloons for his work. Galileo used a bell-tower at +Venice, and Kepler stood on the bridge at Prague to watch the stars. The +men, not the buildings, do the work. No disappointment, need be felt, +then, to find the modern Observatory a range of unadorned buildings +running east and west, with slits in the roof and in some of the walls. +Within these simple buildings are the instruments now used, displaying +almost the perfection of mechanical skill in their construction and +finish--beautifully adapted to the object they have to fulfill, and in +perfect order. They are fixed on solid piers of masonry, deeply imbedded +in the earth, to secure freedom from vibration--a quality better +obtained when the foundations are on sand or gravel than when on rock. + +To describe the instruments by their technical names, and to go into any +particulars of the instruments they have superseded, would take space, +only to do the work of a scientific treatise. Enough, therefore, to say, +that there are the telescopes best adapted to the chief duty of the +place, which is, watching the moon whenever she is visible; watching the +_clock-stars_, by which the true time is calculated more exactly than it +could be from observations of the sun alone; and watching other +planetary bodies as they pass the meridian. Eclipses, occultations, and +other phenomena, of course, have their share of attention, and add to +the burden of the observer's duties. + +The staff of the Observatory includes a chief astronomer, Mr. Airy, with +a salary of £800 a year; and six assistants who are paid, £470, £290, +£240, £150, £130, and £130, respectively. This does not include the +officers of the Meteorological branch of the establishment, to be spoken +of hereafter; and which consists of Mr. Glaisher, with £240 a year, one +assistant at £120, and two additional computers. At times, when these +scientific laborers have collected more observations than they are able +to work out; additional help is summoned, in shape of the body of +scientific clerks before spoken of; who, seated at desks, cast up the +accounts the planetary bodies, including such regular old friends as the +moon and fixed stars, but not forgetting those wandering celestial +existences that rush, from time to time, over the meridian, and may be +fairly called the chance customers of the astronomer. + +Though the interior of the Observatory seems so still, the life of those +employed there has its excitements. Looking through telescopes forms a +small part only of their duty--and that duty can not be done when the +weather is unfavorable. On cloudy days the observer is idle; in bright +weather he is busy; and a long continuance of clear days and nights +gives him more employment than he can well complete. Summer, therefore, +is his time of labor; winter his time of rest. It appears that in our +climate the nights, on the whole, are clearer than the days, and +evenings less cloudy than mornings. Every assistant takes his turn as an +observer, and a chain of duty is kept up night and day; at other +periods, the busiest portion of the twenty-four hours at the +Observatory, is between nine in the morning and two in the afternoon. +During this time they work in silence, the task being to complete the +records of the observations made, by filling in the requisite columns of +figures upon printed forms, and then adding and subtracting them as the +case requires. While thus engaged, the assistant who has charge of an +instrument looks, from time to time, at his star regulated clock, and +when it warns him that his expected planet is nearly due, he leaves his +companions, and quietly repairs to the room where the telescope is +ready. The adjustment of this has previously been arranged with the +greatest nicety. The shutter is moved from the slit in the roof, the +astronomer sits upon an easy chair with a movable back. If the object he +seeks is high in the heavens, this chair-back is lowered till its +occupant almost lies down; if the star is lower, the chair-back is +raised in proportion. He has his note-book and metallic pencil in hand. +Across the eye-piece of the telescope are stretched seven lines of +spider-web, dividing the field of view. If his seat requires change, the +least motion arranges it to his satisfaction, for it rests upon a +railway of its own. Beside him is one of the star-clocks, and as the +moment approaches for the appearance of the planet, the excitement of +the moment increases. "The tremble of impatience for the entrance of the +star on the field of view," says an Edinburgh Reviewer, "is like that of +a sportsman whose dog has just made a full point, and who awaits the +rising of the game. When a star appears, the observer, in technical +language, _takes a second from the clock face_; that is, he reads the +second with his eye, and counts on by the ear the succeeding beats of +the clock, naming the seconds mentally. As the star passes each wire of +the transit, he marks down in his jotting-book with a metallic pencil +the second, _and the second only_, of his observation, with such a +fraction of a second as corresponds, in his judgment, to the interval of +time between the passage of the star, and the beat of the clock which +preceded such passage." + +An experienced observer will never commit an error in this mental +calculation, exceeding the tenth of a second, or six hundredth of a +minute. When the star has been thus watched over the seven cobweb lines +(or wires), the observer jots down the hour and minute, in addition to +the second, and the task is done. Stars, not very near the sun, may be +seen in broad daylight, but, at night, it is requisite to direct a ray +of light from a lamp, so far to enlighten the field of the telescope, as +to permit the spider lines to be seen running across the brighter ground +on which the expected star is to be visible. + +The adjustment of the instruments is a task of great nicety. If they are +out of trim only a shadow of a shade of a hair's-breadth, the desired +accuracy is interfered with, and they have to be re-adjusted. +Temperature is of course an important element in their condition, and a +slight sensibility may do mischief. The warmth of the observer's body, +when approaching the instruments, has been known to affect their +accuracy; and to avoid such sources of error, instruments have at times +been cased in flannel, that the non-conducting powers of that homely +fabric might screen the too-sensitive metal. + +Sunday is a comparative holiday at the Observatory, for then, except +when any extraordinary phenomena are expected, the only duty done is to +drop the Time Ball, and observe the moon's place. The moon is never +neglected, and her motions have been here watched, during the last +hundred and seventy years, with the most pertinacious care--to the great +service of astronomy, and the great benefit of navigation. + +The library should not pass unnoticed. It is small; but being devoted to +works upon astronomy, and the kindred sciences, there is ample room for +all that has hitherto been written on the subject, or that can, for many +generations, be produced. The observations of a lifetime spent in +watching the stars may be printed in marvelously few pages. A glance +through the Greenwich Astronomical Library gives a rough general idea of +what the world has done and is doing for the promotion of this science. +Russia contributes large, imperial-looking tomes, that tell of extended +observations made under the munificent patronage of a despot; Germany +sends from different points a variety of smaller, cheaper-looking, yet +valuable contributions; France gives proofs of her genius and her +discoveries; but _her_ forte is not in observation. The French are bad +observers. They have no such proofs of unremitting, patient toil in +search of facts, as those afforded in the records of the Greenwich +Tables of the Moon. Indeed, Greenwich, as we have already said, is a +working Observatory; and those who go into its library, and its +fire-proof manuscript-room, and see how its volumes of observations have +been growing from the small beginnings of the days of Flamstead and +Halley, to those of our later and more, liberal times, will have good +reason to acknowledge that the money devoted to this establishment has +been well employed. + +One other spot must be noticed as among the notable things in this +astronomical sanctum. It is the Chronometer-room, to which, during the +first three Mondays in the year, the chief watch-makers of London send +in their choicest instruments for examination and trial. The watches +remain for a good portion of a year; their rates being noted, day by +day, by two persons; and then the makers of the best receive prizes, and +their instruments are purchased for the navy. Other competitors obtain +certificates of excellence, which bring customers from the merchant +service; while others pass unrewarded. To enter the room where these +admirable instruments are kept, suggests the idea of going into a +Brobdingnag watch-factory. Round the place are ranged shelves, on which +the large watches are placed, all ticking in the most distinct and +formidable way one against another. When they first arrive, in January, +they are left to the ordinary atmospheric temperature for some months. +Their rates being taken under these circumstances, a large stove in the +center of the apartment is lighted, and heat got up to a sort of +artificial East India or Gold Coast point. Tried under these influences, +they are placed in an iron tray over the stove, like so many watch-pies +in a baker's dish, and the fire being encouraged, they are literally +kept baking, to see how their metal will stand that style of treatment. +While thus hot, their rates are once more taken; and then, after this +fiery ordeal, such of them as their owners like to trust to an opposite +test, are put into freezing mixtures! Yet, so beautifully made are these +triumphs of human ingenuity--so well is their mechanism 'corrected' for +compensating the expansion caused by the heat, and the contraction +induced by the cold--that an even rate of going is established, so +nearly, that its variation under opposite circumstances becomes a matter +of close and certain estimate. + +The rates of chronometers on trial for purchase by the Board of +Admirality, at the Observatory, are posted up and printed in an official +form. Upon looking to the document for last year, we find a statement of +their performances during six months of 1849, with memoranda of the +exact weeks during which the chronometers were exposed to the open air +at a north window; the weeks the Chronometer-room was heated by a stove, +the chronometers being dispersed on the surrounding shelves; and the +weeks during which they were placed in the tray above the stove. The +rate given during the first week of trial is in every case omitted; like +newly entered schoolboys their early vagaries are not taken into +account; but after that, every merit and every fault is watched with +jealous care, and, when the day of judgment comes, the order of the +arrangement of the chronometers in the list is determined solely by +consideration of their irregularities of rate as expressed in the +columns, "Difference between greatest and least," and, "Greatest +difference between one week and the next." + +The Royal Observatory, according to a superstition not wholly extinct, +is the head-quarters, not only of Astronomy, but of Astrology. The +structure is awfully regarded, by a small section of the community which +ignorance has still left among us, as a manufactory of horoscopes, and a +repository for magic mirrors and divining-rods. Not long ago a +well-dressed woman called at the Observatory gate to request a hint as +to the means of recovering a lost sum of money; and recently, somebody +at Brighton dispatched the liberal sum of five shillings in a +post-office order to the same place, with a request to have his nativity +cast in return! Another, only last year, wrote as follows: "I have been +informed that there are persons at the Observatory who will, by my +inclosing a remittance and the hour of my birth, give me to understand +_who is to be my wife_? An early answer, stating all particulars, will +oblige," &c. + +This sketch descriptive of its real duties and uses are not necessary to +relieve the Greenwich Observatory from the charge of being an abode of +sorcerers and astrologers. A few only of the most ignorant can yet +entertain such notions of its character; but they are not wholly +unfounded. Magicians, whose symbols are the Arabic numerals, and whose +_arcana_ are mathematical computations, daily foretell events in that +building with unerring certainty. They pre-discover the future of the +stars down to their minutest evolution and eccentricity. From data +furnished from the Royal Observatory, is compiled an extraordinary +prophetic Almanack from which all other almanacks are copied. It +foretells to a second when and where each of the planets may be seen in +the heavens at any minute for the next three years. The current number +of the Nautical Almanack is for the Year of Grace 1853. + +In this quiet sanctuary, then, the winds are made to register their own +course and force, and the rain to gauge its own quantity as it falls; +the planets are watched to help the mariner to steer more safely over +the seas; and the heavens themselves are investigated for materials from +which their future as well as their past history may be written. + + + + +RAPID GROWTH OF AMERICA. + + +Every one who visits America has something to say of the rapidity with +which towns spring up in the West. Sir Charles Lyell, however, mentions +some facts which remind us very forcibly how close to our own times was +the settlement of the first English colony upon the continent. At +Plymouth he sees the tombs of the first pilgrims, who came out in the +Mayflower. Some of the houses which they built of brick brought from +Holland, are still remaining, with their low rooms and paneled walls. In +some private houses he saw many venerated heir-looms, kept as relics of +the first settlers; among others, an antique chair of carved wood, which +came over in the Mayflower, and which still retains the marks of the +staples which fixed it to the floor of the cabin. He also saw a chest, +or cabinet, which had belonged to Peregrine White, the first child born +in the colony. Part of the rock upon which the pilgrim fathers landed +has been removed to the centre of the town, and, with the names of +forty-two of their number inscribed upon it, inclosed within an iron +railing. This is the American _Roll of Battle Abbey_. But to return to +Peregrine White, the first child born in the colony: Colonel Perkins, +the munificent founder of the asylum for the blind, where we found our +friend Laura Bridgman, informed Sir Charles Lyell, in 1846, "that there +was but one link wanting in the chain of personal communication between +himself and Peregrine White." White was known to a man of the name of +Cobb, whom Colonel Perkins visited, in 1807, with some friends, who +still survive. This Cobb remembered when there were many Indians near +Plymouth; the inhabitants of the town frequently firing a cannon to +frighten them, to which cannon the Indians gave the name of "Old +Speakum." So that, in this case, one link is sufficient to connect men +now alive with the first whites born in New England, and with the time +when Indians were in the neighborhood of the first town that was +settled. + +As a pendant to this, we may mention something connected with the +originals of that other continent which our race is peopling at the +antipodes. A few weeks ago, we were dining at the table of a naval +officer, well known in the scientific and literary world, upon which +occasion he mentioned, that being off the infant town of Sydney, in New +South Wales, in the year 1806, he ate some of the first home-bred +bullock which was killed in the colony. The son of the first governor +having just returned from the colony, which he had now made his home, +happening to be of our party, added, that "since that time their +progress had been so rapid, that this year they were to melt down two +million sheep for their tallow." + +There are three events in the history of the world which will bear +comparison with this rapid extension of the English race. The first--and +this has always appeared to us to be the most striking occurrence in +history--is the marvelous manner in which a handful of Greeks, under +Alexander and his successors, overran and held for a long period the +whole of the East. The wonder is increased when we consider the +difficulty of maintaining communications in that part of the world. +They, in a great measure, changed the language and ideas of the East. +The Gospel was written in Greek; and the law of Moses, the writings of +the Hebrew prophets, were translated into Greek on the banks of the +Nile. A Greek kingdom was ever able to maintain itself for a long period +of time on the very confines of Tartary; and specimens of the +Græco-Bactrian coinage are even to this day abundant in that part of the +world. All this, however, passed away, and has not left any very obvious +traces on the present state of things. The second event was the +establishment of the Roman empire. Strongly as we are disposed to +maintain that, on a general view of human affairs, every thing happens +for the best, yet we may say of the Roman empire that it was in many +respects a giant evil. No man of great original genius ever spoke the +Roman language; in the sense in which many Greeks, and among ourselves +Bacon, Shakspeare, and Newton, were men of original genius. There was a +time when there were men of spirit and ability in every Greek city: +there was a time when the Roman empire governed the world and there was +not one great man from Britain to the Euphrates. Having fulfilled its +destiny--which seems to have been the introduction into the Western +World of the ideas of unity, law, and order, though unintentionally on +its part, for it was nothing but a military despotism--it perished as it +deserved, and its language is now nowhere spoken. + +The third event was the irruption of the Barbarians. That a higher +civilization followed this every body knows; but how many centuries did +it take to civilize the Barbarians? + +Now these, the three great events of past history, are all dwarfed very +much when compared with what we are now, doing. We are sending out every +year, literally, hundreds of thousands of civilized men to people two +continents in opposite hemispheres, and on opposite sides of the globe. +In North America there are already twenty millions of our race. This +population doubles every twenty-two years. Australia will inevitably +become "the Queen of the South." Now that literature has given +permanency to language, no other tongue than ours will ever be spoken +upon these continents. We can see no limit to the spread of our laws, +literature, and language. Greek and Roman greatness are really, in +comparison, nothing to this. And, compared with the millions of +civilized men which we have sent and are sending to occupy so large a +portion of the earth's surface, how insignificant becomes the irruption +of some savage, or half-savage hordes, into Italy, France, Spain, and +England! + +At a time when civilization is at a standstill, if not retrograding, +upon the continent of Europe, it is very delightful, particularly to an +Englishman, to have such a picture to contemplate.--_Frazer's +Magazine._ + + + + +[From the London Times.] + +LORD COKE AND LORD BACON. + + +Lord Campbell has devoted a considerable portion of his first volume of +the Lives of the Chief Justices of England to the biography of Sir +Edward Coke. The theme is worthy of the space afforded it. Independently +of the professional renown of this great man, there are circumstances +connected with his career that render it, perhaps, more deeply +interesting than that of any other legal functionary. He began the world +with the immortal Bacon; the two were rivals during life; they fought +together for distinction, and were even competitors in love. Both were +devoured by a raging desire for wealth and honors, both gained the +objects of their fiery ambition, and neither found happiness when they +were acquired. If Bacon was more unscrupulous than Coke in the ignoble +race, his fall also was more fatal and ignominious. Both represent to +our minds distinct forms of undoubted greatness. _The Body of the Common +Law of England_ is the type that speaks for Coke. The glory of human +wisdom shines forever around the drooping head of Bacon. Both teach +posterity how much intellectual grandeur may co-exist with the most +glaring moral turpitude; both pay homage to virtue by seeking refuge in +disgrace in the tranquil pursuits that have since immortalized them. +Bacon, with a genius only less than angelic, condescends to paltry +crime, and dies branded. Coke, with a profound contempt for the arts +that Bacon loved, enraged by disappointment, takes revenge for neglect, +and dies a patriot. In the days of Coke there would seem to have been a +general understanding on the part of royal sycophants to mislead the +monarch, and all became his sycophants who received his favors. Coke is +no exception to the rule. It is true enough that to him we are mainly +indebted for the movement which, beginning on the 30th of January, 1621, +ended that very day eight-and-twenty years with the decapitation of the +king; but it is likewise undeniable that the nation's difficulties would +have waited some time longer for solution had not the defender of the +people's rights been inoculated with a love of liberty by the sudden +application of the royal lancet, whose sharp edge his judicious +self-love would never have provoked. Coke was born in what a Royalist of +the days of Charles the First might well have called "the good old +times," when Queens were gentle despots and Parliaments the most devoted +of self-constituted slaves; when Mr. Speaker "upon his allegiance was +commanded, if a certain bill be exhibited, not to read it," and when +"Mr. Vice-Chamberlain, to the great comfort of the Speaker and the +House, brought answer of Her Majesty's acceptance of the submission" of +legislators who had presumed to speak of matters "not proper and +pertinent for the house to deal in." Elizabeth was on her splendid +throne when Coke, having quitted the University of Cambridge without a +degree, was working like a horse at Clifford's-inn. Stony-hearted and +stony-minded, he loved neither poetry nor pleasure. From the moment he +began the appointed task of his life, he dreamed of nothing but fame, +and of that only for the sake of the sterling recompense it brings. +Friendships not convertible to cash, Coke resolutely foreswore at the +commencement of his career, and he was blessed with none at the close of +it. Spenser yielded him no delight, Shakespeare no seduction. The study +of law began at three in the morning, and, with short intervals of rest, +ceased at nine in the evening, at which hour the indefatigable student +at last took repose. Fortified by such discipline, and brim full of law, +Coke was called to the bar in the year 1578, being then twenty-seven +years of age, and he rose in his profession as rapidly as he had all +along resolved to rise. + +In pursuance of his design Coke married well in 1582; the lady was +young, beautiful, and accomplished; virtues thrown, as it were, into the +bargain, since the lawyer had been well satisfied with the ample fortune +by which they were accompanied. Before he was thirty years old the +desperate money-seeker had made himself master of manor upon manor, and +laid the foundation of the enormous possessions which at length alarmed +the Crown, lest they should prove too magnificent for a subject. In 1585 +he was elected Recorder of Coventry, in 1586 of Norwich, and in 1592 of +London itself. In the last-named year he was also appointed Reader in +the Inner Temple by the Benchers, and in 1592, being in his forty-first +year, by the influence of Burleigh, he was made Solicitor-General to the +Queen. The solicitorship secured the Speakership of the House of +Commons, according to custom. Coke in his address to the Queen upon his +appointment compared himself to a star in the heavens, "which is but +_opacum corpus_ until it receiveth light from the sun." Her Majesty in +answer graciously condescended to accept the metaphor, for she informed +her humble Speaker that liberty of speech was granted him, "but you must +know what privilege you have; not to speak every one what he listeth, or +what cometh in his brain to utter, but your privilege is ay or no; +wherefore, Mr. Speaker, Her Majesty's pleasure is, that if you perceive +any idle heads which will meddle with reforming the church and +transforming the commonwealth, and do exhibit bills to such purpose, you +receive them not until they be viewed and considered by those who it is +fitter should consider of such things, and can better judge of them." +The times were sweetly Arcadian. Elizabeth should be painted a +shepherdess, and her faithful Parliament a meek and timid flock about +her. + +The obsequiousness of Coke to his Royal mistress was in perfect keeping +with his character. Nothing exceeds his abject servility while in the +sunshine, save his fixed malignity when dismissed to the shade. In 1594 +the office of Attorney-General became vacant; Coke regarded the prize as +his own until he found one ready to dispute it with him. Bacon, eager +to outstrip his rival, had made interest at Court, and, had his age been +as ripe as his genius, Coke might have been thrust aside in the +encounter. Intrigues failed, because "one precedent of so raw a youth +being promoted to so great a place" it was impossible to find. Coke was +left master of the field, but neither combatant forgot the result of the +contest. The new Attorney-General declined his marvelous opponent for +Solicitor-General, and Bacon resolved to take unmeasured revenge both +for the disappointment and the insult. + +A fitter tool for its melancholy work prerogative never found than in +Attorney-General Coke, who, for his punishment, lived to destroy the +foul abuses he had been paid to nourish. The liberty of the subject is +identified with the name of the individual who, as much as any of his +time, sought to crush it. The perversions of criminal law to which this +man condescended, as prosecutor for the Crown, are familiar to the +readers of history. His cruel arrogance and atrocious bearing toward the +unfortunate (we do not speak of the guilty) can never be forgotten. Lord +Campbell tells us that Coke, in his age, "made noble amends" for the +licentious and unscrupulous dealings of his earlier life. We can not +admit the term; for repentance to be noble, the motive must be pure. The +gain to society by the stand made by Coke, in the name of the people, +against the encroachments of the Crown is not to be overestimated; but +respect does not attach to the soiled instrument by which our blessings +were secured. A singular instance of the brutality of the +Attorney-General, and of his overstrained duty to the Crown, occurred at +the trial of the unfortunate and gallant Essex. Well may the present +biographer exclaim, "This was a humiliating day for our _order_!" Essex +had striven hard to obtain for Bacon the office then held by his +accuser. The insurrection in the city might sooner be pardoned than that +offense, which, indeed, received no mercy. For once, Bacon and Coke +ceased to be rivals, but only that they might be co-partners in +inexpiable guilt. Divines may preach even to the infidel of the inherent +rottenness of our fallen nature, when they can point to Bacon, the pride +of humanity, the wonder of the civilized world, imploring to be counsel +_against_ his best friend and benefactor, and leaving no base means +untried to bring that high and chivalrous spirit to the scaffold. +Prerogative never boasted so rare a sacrifice; the might of kings never +extorted so signal an acknowledgment. + +On the 27th of June, 1598, Coke lost his wife, who had borne him ten +children. His memorandum-book feelingly describes the virtues of the +departed; but within four months of her burial the disconsolate widower +had taken unto himself a second mate, whose beauty, though +extraordinary, was still surpassed, as before, by the brilliancy of the +marriage portion. Lady Hatton, daughter of Thomas Cecil, was the widow +of the nephew of Lord Chancellor Hatton, and but 20 years of age when +she agreed to become the wife of a man whom she disliked on her +wedding-day and hated ever afterward. Bacon, her cousin, had preferred +his suit to be rejected, although Lord Essex, then powerful enough, had +declared to the lady that "if he had a daughter of his own he would +rather match her with the accomplished lawyer than with a man of far +greater titles." To spite Bacon, and to add to his heaps, Coke consented +to a private marriage, to break the law, and to listen complacently to +the openly declared aversion of his bride. He enjoyed all the happiness +he had earned. The lady refused to adopt her husband's name, spurned his +company and dry pursuits, took her pleasure abroad, and, giving birth to +a daughter, flatly refused to live with him any longer; and greater +punishment came hereafter. + +Upon the death of Elizabeth, James I. conferred upon Coke the dignity of +knighthood, and continued him in his office. The first appearance of the +Attorney-General as public prosecutor in the new reign was at the trial +of the adventurous Raleigh, the judge upon the occasion being the +reformed highway-robber, Popham, who made amends for the delinquencies +of his youth by hanging every criminal within his reach. Raleigh laid +down the law as Coke himself years afterward knew how to define it; but +the legal tools of the Court were neither to be shamed nor argued from +their purpose. Coke disgracefully bullied the high-souled prisoner. +Popham shrunk from his calm and unanswerable defense; but both contrived +to prove him guilty. The instance is one of a hundred. So long as Coke +could find payment for unclean work, he betrayed no uneasy desire to +wash his fingers. It was not until all hope of turning sycophancy to +further account was gone that he took up with patriotism. + +Coke's last prosecution as Attorney-General was a famous one; for the +objects of his malevolence were no other than Guy Faux and his +accomplices. It would have been sufficient to dismiss in silence to the +scaffold men upon whom the brand of guilt was so deeply fixed. Justice +required no more than their death; much more readily satisfied the +officious love of the king's devoted servant. While the Attorney-General +was hurling insult at the heads of the culprits, one of them, Sir +Everard Digby, interrupted him, confessing "that he deserved the vilest +death, and the most severe punishment that might be," but humbly +petitioned "for mercy and some moderation of justice." Coke, overflowing +with mercy, promised him such moderation as he might discover in the +Psalms, where it is written, "Let his wife be a widow and his children +vagabonds--let his posterity be destroyed, and in the next generation +let his name be quite put out." Digby's pathetic appeal upon the rising +of the Court may well stand side by side with this brutality. "If I may +but hear any of your lordships," exclaimed the doomed man, "say you +forgive me, I shall go more cheerfully to the gallows." The lords +answered in Coke's presence, "The Lord forgive you, and we do." + +The gunpowder plot disposed of, Coke, in the year 1606, became Chief +Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, "fatigued," as Lord Campbell has +it, "if not satiated, with amassing money at the bar." The new judge was +as fully alive to the rights of his office as he had been before to the +prerogatives of the king. The pedantic presumption of James was safe +till it rubbed against the more stubborn pride of Coke. The monarch was +of opinion that the constitution and the law allowed him personally to +try causes between his loyal subjects. "By my soul," he said pettishly +to Coke, who begged leave to differ, "I have often heard the boast that +your English law was founded upon reason. If that be so, why have not I +and others reason as well as you, the judges?" Coke explained why and by +the manner of his explanation compelled the king to think no more of his +folly. Unfortunately for all parties His Majesty at the same time +remembered the affront. + +Had he been disposed to forget it there was one at his side eager enough +to jog his memory. Bacon's advancement depended upon the downfall of +Coke, and the sublimest yet meanest of men gave his whole heart to the +accomplishment of either work. By the elevation of the Attorney-General, +Bacon had become Solicitor-General, and a more servile spirit never +filled the office. The first triumph of Coke over the king encouraged +him to more open war against despotism and abuse. The monarchs before +the Revolution loved to repair laws by royal proclamation, and none were +busier at that trade than the silly James. Coke asserted his authority +again, and again defeated him. To console His Majesty and to help +himself, Bacon recommended the _promotion_ of the incorrigable +assailant. Coke was made, accordingly, Chief Justice of the King's +Bench. The profits of the office were much less than those of the +Justice of the Common Pleas, although the rank was higher. Hence Coke's +disgust at the bettering of his condition, which also helped Bacon on a +step, by furnishing Attorney-General Hobart with the chiefship of the +Common Pleas. + +Coke continued to display his independence during the three years that +he presided in the Court of King's Bench, but he had stopped short of +committing an act that might deprive him of the reversion of the +Chancellorship, to which his great acquirements and reputation well +entitled him. Bacon, always alive to his master's interests, urged upon +the king the danger of elevating the Chief Justice to the woolsack, long +before the vacancy occurred. "If you take my Lord Coke," said he, "this +will follow: first, your Majesty shall put an overruling nature into an +overruling place, which may breed an extreme; next, you shall blunt his +industries in the matter of your finances, which seemeth to aim at +another place (the office of Lord Treasurer); and, lastly, popular men +are no sure mounters for your Majesty's saddle." His Majesty, easily +frightened, cherished the warning, while Coke took no pains to disarm +suspicion. His triumphs gave him courage, and he went from bad to worse. +A question arose as to the power of the king to grant ecclesiastical +preferments to be held along with a bishopric. A learned counsel at the +bar denied the power. Bacon, the Attorney-General, not caring to defend +it, mentioned another power of the king's--viz., his right to prohibit +the hearing of any cause in which his prerogative is concerned until he +should intimate his pleasure on the matter to his judges; and advised +such a prohibition to be issued in the case in question. Coke treated +the advice with disdain, proceeded as with an ordinary cause, heard it, +and judicially determined it. Bacon could have wished for nothing more +suicidal. + +Coke was summoned before the Privy Council. It was suddenly discovered +that he had been guilty of a breach of duty while Attorney-General, in +concealing a bond given to the Crown by Sir Christopher Hatton. He had +also misconducted himself in a dispute with the Lord Chancellor +respecting injunctions; moreover, he had insulted the king when called +before him in the case of _commendams_. In addition, many extravagant +and exorbitant opinions had been set down and published in his reports +for positive and good law. So heinous an offender could not go +unpunished. By royal mandate the delinquent was suspended from his +office of Chief Justice. Simple suspension, however, brought no +consolation to Bacon, who goaded the king to downright persecution. On +the 16th of November, 1616, the Chief Justice received his dismissal. +Lord Campbell pleads for the fallen man, who heard his sentence with +"dejection and tears." We must, nevertheless, not forget the weakness +when we reflect upon his abject submission to royalty during his days of +dependence, and as we approach the more stormy times when the spirit of +vengeance incited him to grapple with royalty in the temper of a rebel. +Magnanimity is wanting throughout. + +As Coke tumbled down Bacon rose to his zenith. While the former was +shedding tears for his dismissal, the latter was intoxicated with joy by +his elevation to the Chancellorship. The defeated judge, however, was +not the man to submit without a struggle to his fate. By his second wife +he had a daughter: she had reached a marriageable age and was heiress to +a princely fortune. Coke resolved that she should marry Sir John +Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham's eldest brother. Sir John was very +poor, and the Duke of Buckingham all powerful. The union effected, what +should hinder his return to favor? Bacon, terrified at the plot, +encouraged mother and daughter to resist the will of the father; but Sir +John and the duke were more than a match for the counter-conspirators. +After a gallant opposition the ladies yielded, and the marriage was +celebrated at Hampton Court, "in the presence of the king and queen and +all the chief nobility of England." Sir John was old enough to be his +wife's father, but that was a trifle. The results of the match were such +as might be expected. Coke was restored to the Privy Council, but +received no judicial promotion. Sir John Villiers and his wife never +passed a happy day together, and before long the lady eloped with Sir +John Howard. "After traveling abroad in man's attire she died young, +leaving a son, who, on the ground of illegitimacy, was not allowed to +inherit the estate and honors of her husband." + +The last blow decided the ex-Chief Justice. Rejected as a friend, he +gave himself up to the warfare of relentless enmity. The fame and glory +acquired at this juncture by his rival in consequence of the publication +of the _Novum Organum_ gave venom to his hate. A Parliament was called +in 1620. Coke then in his 70th year, was elected for the borough of +Liskeard. Just after his election the office of Lord Treasurer fell +vacant. Coke had looked for it, but it was given elsewhere. All things +served to fan the fire of his indignation. The Puritans were returned to +the House in great numbers. Coke, hitherto a high churchman, placed +himself at their head, and prepared for deadly opposition. Opportunities +came to him as thick as summer leaves upon a tree. The nation had rare +cause for discontent, and no man knew better than he how to turn popular +grievances to personal account. + +He set to work at once. A motion was made by Mr. Secretary Calvert for a +supply. Sir Edward Coke moved as an amendment, "That supply and +_grievances_ should be referred together to a committee of the whole +House." The amendment was carried, and business forthwith commenced with +an attack upon the monopolists. A report was drawn up directed against +the king's prerogative, in virtue of which monopolies flourished, and +Coke himself carried it to the bar of the Upper House, where Bacon, as +Chancellor received him. The second effort must have been a labor of +love indeed. The Lord Chancellor himself had been accused of a king +bribes. A committee of the House was appointed to investigate the +charges, and Coke, with a willing heart, guided its proceedings. The +king sent a message to the Commons with the view of saving Bacon from +the odium of an inquiry thus vindictively pursued, but Coke had fastened +on his prey and was not to be cajoled or frightened off. He besought the +Commons not to stand between justice and a huge delinquent, and he +procured Bacon's impeachment. The impeachment being voted, Coke, to his +intense delight, was ordered to conduct it. Bacon, conscious of the +spirit with which his rival would settle to his task, disappointed his +vengence by pleading guilty to the charge; but it was the deep +humiliation of the chancellor, in the presence of his foe, to hear in +one breath both judgement and destruction pronounced. The battle was +over. Bacon made restitution to society by withdrawing from public life +and devoting himself to the dignified occupations which have since +induced his countrymen to forget the failings that compelled the +fortunate seclusion. Coke having brought his victim to the dust left him +there to linger. He never visited his fallen enemy. The two never met +again. + +Revenge called for further sacrifice. Coke's fierceness against the +Court increased rather than abated with Bacon's removal. The +Chancellorship which might have made him a royalist and high churchman +again was bestowed upon another. The shortsightedness of monarchs is +even more unpardonable than their crimes. After a struggle against +adjournment, led on by Coke, Parliament was adjourned in May to meet +again in November. In a letter to the Speaker the king desired it to be +made known in his name unto the House, "that none therein shall presume +henceforth to meddle with any thing concerning our Government or deep +matters of state." Coke, leading the opposition, moved "a protestation," +which was carried and entered on the journals. The king, with his own +hand, tore the protestation out of the Journal Book, and declaring it +"an usurpation which the majesty of a king can by no means endure" at +once dissolved the Parliament. + +Coke for his pains was committed to the Tower, but after a few months' +imprisonment was released at the intercession of the Prince of Wales. +Before the popular leader was fairly in harness again, that Prince was +on the throne. Charles's first Parliament was called in 1625, and Coke +was returned for Coventry. A motion for supply being submitted, Coke +moved as an amendment for a committee to inquire into the expenditure of +the Crown. The amendment was carried, and His Majesty, according to +custom in such cases, dissolved the Parliament. Supply being, however, +indispensable to monarchs as to meaner men, a new Parliament was +summoned, and Coke, now 75 years old, was returned without solicitation +for Norfolk. This Parliament fared no better than its predecessor, and +upon another attempt being made the king suffered the extreme +mortification of seeing his unappeasable pursuer returned for two +counties. His Majesty opened the session with a stern rebuke. He did not +call it a threatening, "for he scorned to threaten any but his equals, +but an admonition from him who by nature and duty has most care of his +people's preservation and prosperity." Whatever it might be, whether +menace or reproof, it had no effect upon the sturdy veteran. "What a +word," exclaimed Coke in his speech upon the usual motion for supply "is +that _franchise_! The lord may tax his villein, high or low; but it is +against the franchise of the land for freemen to be taxed but by their +consent in Parliament;" and the speaker implored his listeners to +withhold that consent while there remained one legitimate grievance for +the king to remedy. Having made his speech he brought forward and +carried resolutions that are memorable in the annals of our +constitutional history, and which, indeed, were made the foundation of +the Habeas Corpus Act fifty years afterward. His next step was his +greatest. He formed the famous _Petition of Right_, the second _Magna +Charta_, as it has been aptly called, of the nation's liberties. The +petition enumerated all the abuses of prerogative under which the +country groaned, and after declaring them all to be contrary to law +"assumed the form of an act of the Legislature, and in the most express +and stringent terms protected the people in all time to come from +similar oppressions." The king attempted to evade the obligation about +to be forced upon him, but his adversary was as inflexible as iron, "not +that he distrusted the king, but that he could not take his trust save +in a Parliamentary way." The lords passed the bill, but loyally +introduced a proviso that completely nullified its operation. "This," +exclaimed Coke, "turns all about again," and at his instigation the +accommodating proviso was at once rejected. The Lords agreed "not to +insist upon it," and nothing was left for His Majesty but to resort, +under the direction of Buckingham, to fraudulent dealing. The trick did +not answer. Buckingham was denounced, the Petition of Right, in spite of +the king, received the royal assent in due form, and bonfires throughout +London testified to the happiness of the people at the restoration of +their liberty. King Charles would never have died on the scaffold had he +not violated in later years the solemn pledge he gave on this occasion +to his trusting subjects. + +With this achievement ended Coke's political career. The _Petition of +Right_ was carried in 1628. He was absent from Parliament during the +short and violent session of 1629, and before another Parliament was +called he had quitted life. He died in 1634, in the eighty-third year of +his age and in the full possession of his faculties. What he performed +for public liberty is seen; his claims to esteem as a lawyer were +recognized in his own time, and are still acknowledged. His publications +are the hand-books of our legal men. His general character may be +gathered from our short record. It is further to be noted that he had a +sublime contempt for science and literature of every kind. Upon the +title-page of his copy of the _Novum Organum_, presented to him by the +author, he wrote, + + "It deserves not to be read in schooles, + But to be freighted in the _Ship of Fools_." + +Shakspeare and Ben Jonson were _vagrants_, deserving of the stocks; +poetry was foolishness; law, politics, and money-making the sole +occupations worthy of a masculine and vigorous mind. "For a profound +knowledge of the common law of England," says the biographer, "he stands +unrivaled. As a judge he was above all suspicion of corruption; yet most +men," adds Lord Campbell, "I am afraid, would rather have been Bacon +than Coke." We participate in his Lordship's fear. Aware of the lax +period in which both flourished, we are willing to attribute many of +the faults of both to the age in which their lot was cast. Their virtues +and intellectual prowess were all then own; and let us once enter upon a +comparison of these, and the lofty, universal genius of Bacon will shine +as the noonday sun in the firmament where the duller orb of Coke shall +cease to be visible. + + + + +[From Household Words.] + +FATHER AND SON. + + +One evening in the month of March, 1798--that dark time in Ireland's +annals whose memory (overlooking all minor subsequent _émeutes_) is +still preserved among us, as "the year of the rebellion"--a lady and +gentleman were seated near a blazing fire in the old-fashioned +dining-room of a large, lonely mansion. They had just dined; wine and +fruit were on the table, both untouched, while Mr. Hewson and his wife +sat silently gazing at the fire, watching its flickering light becoming +gradually more vivid as the short spring twilight faded into darkness. + +At length the husband poured out a glass of wine, drank it off, and then +broke silence, by saying, + +"Well, well, Charlotte, these are awful times; there were ten men taken +up to-day for burning Cotter's house at Knockane; and Tom Dycer says +that every magistrate in the country is a marked man." + +Mrs. Hewson cast a frightened glance toward the windows, which opened +nearly to the ground, and gave a view of a wide, tree-besprinkled lawn, +through whose centre a long straight avenue led to the high-road. There +was also a footpath at either side of the house, branching off through +close thickets of trees, and reaching the road by a circuitous route. + +"Listen, James!" she said, after a pause, "what noise is that?" + +"Nothing but the sighing of the wind among the trees. Come, wife, you +must not give way to imaginary fears." + +"But really I heard something like footsteps on the gravel, round the +gable-end--I wish--" + +A knock at the parlor door interrupted her. + +"Come in." + +The door opened, and Tim Gahan, Mr. Hewson's confidential steward and +right-hand man, entered, followed by a fair-haired, delicate-looking boy +of six years' old, dressed in deep mourning. + +"Well, Gahan, what do you want?" + +"I ask your honor's pardon for disturbing you and the mistress; but I +thought it right to come and tell you the bad news I heard." + +"Something about the rebels, I suppose?" + +"Yes, sir; I got a whisper just now that there's going to be a great +rising entirely, to-morrow; thousands are to gather before daybreak at +Kilcrean bog, where I'm told they've a power of pikes hiding; and then +they're to march on and sack every house in the country. I'll engage, +when I heard it, I didn't let grass grow under my feet, but came off +straight to your honor, thinking maybe you'd like to walk over this fine +evening to Mr. Warren's, and settle with him what's best to be done." + +"Oh, James! I beseech you, don't think of going." + +"Make your mind easy, Charlotte; I don't intend it: not that I suppose +there would be much risk; but, all things considered, I think I'm just +as comfortable at home." + +The steward's brow darkened, as he glanced nervously toward the end +window, which jutting out in the gable, formed a deep angle in the outer +wall. + +"Of course, 'tis just as your honor plases, but I'll warrant you there +would be no harm in going. Come, Billy," he added, addressing the child, +who by this time was standing close to Mrs. Hewson, "make your bow, and +bid good-night to master and mistress." + +The boy did not stir, and Mrs. Hewson taking his little hand in hers, +said, + +"You need not go home for half-an-hour, Gahan; stay and have a chat with +the servants in the kitchen, and leave little Billy with me--and with +the apples and nuts," she added, smiling as she filled the child's hands +with fruit. + +"Thank you, ma'am," said the steward, hastily. "I can't stop--I'm in a +hurry home, where I wanted to leave this brat to-night; but he _would_ +follow me. Come, Billy; come this minute, you young rogue." + +Still the child looked reluctant, and Mr. Hewson said, peremptorily, + +"Don't go yet, Gahan: I want to speak to you by-and-by; and you know the +mistress always likes to pet little Billy." + +Without replying, the steward left the room; and the next moment his +hasty footsteps resounded through the long flagged passage that led to +the offices. + +"There's something strange about Gahan, since his wife died," remarked +Mrs. Hewson. "I suppose 'tis grief for her that makes him look so +darkly, and seem almost jealous when any one speaks to his child. Poor +little Billy! your mother was a sore loss to you." + +The child's blue eyes filled with tears, and pressing closer to the +lady's side, he said, + +"Old Peggy doesn't wash and dress me as nicely as mammy used." + +"But your father is good to you?" + +"Oh, yes, ma'am, but he's out all day busy, and I've no one to talk to +me as mammy used; for Peggy is quite deaf, and besides she's always busy +with the pigs and chickens." + +"I wish I had you, Billy, to take care of and to teach, for your poor +mother's sake." + +"And so you may, Charlotte," said her husband. "I'm sure Gahan, with all +his odd ways, is too sensible a fellow not to know how much it would be +for his child's benefit to be brought up and educated by us, and the boy +would be an amusement to us in this lonely house. I'll speak to him +about it before he goes home. Billy, my fine fellow, come here," he +continued, "jump up on my knee, and tell me if you'd like to live here +always and learn to read and write." + +"I would, sir, if I could be with father, too." + +"So you shall; and what about old Peggy?" + +The child paused. + +"I like to give her a pen'north of snuff and a piece of tobacco every +week, for she said the other day that _that_ would make her quite +happy." + +Mr. Hewson laughed, and Billy prattled on, still seated on his knee; +when a noise of footsteps on the ground, mingled with low suppressed +talking, was heard outside. + +"James, listen! there's the noise again." + +It was now nearly dark, but Mr. Hewson, still holding the boy in his +arms, walked toward the window and looked out. + +"I can see nothing," he said; "stay, there are figures moving off among +the trees, and a man running round to the back of the house--very like +Gahan he is, too." + +Seizing the bell-rope, he rang it loudly, and said to the servant who +answered his summons, + +"Fasten the shutters and put up the bars, Connell; and then tell Gahan I +want to see him." + +The man obeyed; candles were brought, and Gahan entered the room. + +Mr. Hewson remarked that, though his cheeks were flushed, his lips were +very white, and his bold dark eyes were cast on the ground. + +"What took you round the house just now, Tim?" asked his master, in a +careless manner. + +"What took me round the house, is it? Why, then, nothing in life, sir, +but that just as I went outside the kitchen door to take a smoke, I saw +the pigs, that Shaneen forgot to put up in their stye, making right for +the mistress's flower-garden; so I just put my _dudheen_, lighted as it +was, into my pocket, and ran after them. I caught them on the grand walk +under the end window, and, indeed, ma'am, I had my own share of work +turning them back to their proper spear." + +Gahan spoke with unusual volubility, but without raising his eyes from +the ground. + +"Who were the people," asked his master, "whom I saw moving through the +western grove?" + +"People! your honor--not a sign of any people moving there, I'll be +bound, barring the pigs." + +"Then," said Mr. Hewson, smiling, to his wife, "the miracle of Circe +must have been reversed, and swine turned into men; for, undoubtedly, +the dark figures I saw were human beings." + +"Come, Billy," said Gahan, anxious to turn the conversation, "will you +come home with me now? I am sure 'twas very good of the mistress to give +you all them fine apples." + +Mrs. Hewson was going to propose Billy's remaining, but her husband +whispered, "Wait till to-morrow." So Gahan and his child were allowed to +depart. + +Next morning the magistrates of the district were on the alert, and +several suspicious-looking men found lurking about, were taken up. A hat +which fitted one of them was picked up in Mr. Hewson's grove; the gravel +under the end window bore many signs of trampling feet; and there were +marks on the wall as if guns had rested against it. Gahan's information +touching the intended meeting at Kilerean bog proved to be totally +without foundation; and after a careful search, not a single pike or +weapon of any description could be found there. All these circumstances +combined certainly looked suspicious; but, after a prolonged +investigation, as no guilt could be actually brought home to Gahan, he +was dismissed. One of his examiners, however, said privately, "I advise +you take care of that fellow, Hewson. If I were in your place, I'd just +trust him as far as I could throw him, and not an inch beyond." + +An indolent, hospitable Irish country gentleman, such as Mr. Hewson, is +never without an always shrewd and often roguish prime minister, who +saves his master the trouble of looking after his own affairs, and +manages every thing that is to be done in both the home and foreign +departments--from putting a new door on the pig-stye, to letting a farm +of an hundred acres on lease. Now in this, or rather these capacities, +Gahan had long served Mr. Hewson; and some seven years previous to the +evening on which our story commences, he had strengthened the tie and +increased his influence considerably by marrying Mrs. Hewson's favorite +and faithful maid. One child was the result of this union; and Mrs. +Hewson, who had no family of her own, took much interest in little +Billy--more especially after the death of his mother, who, poor thing! +the neighbors said, was not very happy, and would gladly, if she dared, +have exchanged her lonely cottage for the easy service of her former +mistress. + +Thus, though for a time Mr. and Mrs. Hewson regarded Gahan with some +doubt, the feeling gradually wore away, and the steward regained his +former influence. + +After the lapse of a few stormy months, the rebellion was quelled: all +the prisoners taken up were severally disposed of by hanging, +transportation, or acquittal, according to the nature and amount of the +evidence brought against them; and the country became as peaceful as it +is in the volcanic nature of our Irish soil ever to be. + +The Hewsons' kindness toward Gahan's child was steady and unchanged. +They took him into their house, and gave him a plain but solid +education; so that William, while yet a boy, was enabled to be of some +use to his patron, and daily enjoyed more and more of his confidence. + + * * * * * + +Another evening, the twentieth anniversary of that with which this +narrative commenced, came round. Mr. and Mrs. Hewson were still hale and +active, dwelling in their hospitable home. About eight o'clock at night, +Tim Gahan, now a stooping, gray-haired man, entered Mr. Hewson's +kitchen, and took his seat on the corner of the settle next the fire. + +The cook, directing a silent, significant glance of compassion toward +her fellow-servants, said, + +"Would you like a drink of cider, Tim, or will you wait and take a cup +of tay with myself and Kitty?" + +The old man's eyes were fixed on the fire, and a wrinkled hand was +planted firmly on each knee, as if to check their involuntary trembling. +"I'll not drink any thing this night, thank you kindly, Nelly," he said, +in a slow, musing manner, dwelling long on each word. + +"Where's Billy?" he asked, after a pause, in a quick, hurried tone, +looking up suddenly at the cook, with an expression in his eyes which, +as she afterward said, took away her breath. + +"Oh, never heed Billy! I suppose he's busy with the master." + +"Where's the use, Nelly," said the coachman, "in hiding it from him? +Sure, sooner or later, he must know it. Tim," he continued, "God knows +'tis sorrow to my heart this blessed night to make yours sore--but the +truth is, that William has done what he oughtn't to do to the man that +was all one as a father to him." + +"What has he done? what will you _dar_ say again my boy?" + +"Taken money, then," replied the coachman, "that the master had marked +and put by in his desk; for he suspected this some time past that gold +was missing. This morning 'twas gone; a search was made, and the marked +guineas were found with your son William." + +The old man covered his face with his hands, and rocked himself to and +fro. + +"Where is he now?" at length he asked, in a hoarse voice. + +"Locked up safe in the inner store-room; the master intends sending him +to jail early to-morrow morning." + +"He will not," said Gahan, slowly. "Kill the boy that saved his +life!--no, no." + +"Poor fellow! the grief is setting his mind astray--and sure no wonder!" +said the cook, compassionately. + +"I'm not astray!" cried the old man, fiercely. "Where's the +master?--take me to him." + +"Come with me," said the butler, "and I'll ask him will he see you." + +With faltering steps the father complied: and when they reached the +parlor, he trembled exceedingly, and leant against the wall for support, +while the butler opened the door, and said, + +"Gahan is here, sir, and wants to know will you let him speak to you for +a minute." + +"Tell him to come in," said Mr. Hewson, in a solemn tone of sorrow, very +different from his ordinary cheerful voice. + +"Sir," said the steward, advancing, "they tell me you are going to send +my boy to prison--is it true?" + +"Too true, indeed, Gahan. The lad who was reared in my house, whom my +wife watched over in health, and nursed in sickness--whom we loved +almost as if he were our own, has _robbed_ us, and that not once or +twice, but many times. He is silent and sullen, too, and refuses to tell +why he stole the money, which was never withheld from him when he wanted +it. I can make nothing of him, and must only give him up to justice in +the morning." + +"No, sir, no. The boy saved your life; you can't take his." + +"You're raving, Gahan." + +"Listen to me, sir, and you won't say so. You remember this, night +twenty years? I came here with my motherless child, and yourself and the +mistress pitied us, and spoke loving words to him. Well for us all you +did so! That night--little you thought it!--I was banded with them that +were sworn to take your life. They were watching you outside the window, +and I was sent to inveigle you out, that they might shoot you. A faint +heart I had for the bloody business, for you were ever and always a good +master to me; but I was under an oath to them that I darn't break, +supposing they ordered me to shoot my own mother. Well! the hand of God +was over you, and you wouldn't come with me. I ran out to them, and I +said, 'Boys, if you want to shoot him, you must do it through the +window,' thinking they'd be afeard of that; but they weren't--they were +daring fellows, and one of them, sheltered by the angle of the window, +took deadly aim at you. That very moment you took Billy on your knee, +and I saw his fair head in a line with the musket. I don't know exactly +then what I said or did, but I remember I caught the man's band, threw +it up, and pointed to the child. Knowing I was a determined man. I +believe they didn't wish to provoke me; so they watched you for a while, +and when you didn't put him down, they got daunted, hearing the sound of +soldiers riding by the road, and they stole away through the grove. Most +of that gang swung on the gallows, but the last of them died this +morning quietly in his bed. Up to yesterday he used to make me give him +money--sums of money to buy his silence--and it was for that I made my +boy a thief. It was wearing out his very life. Often he went down on his +knees to me, and said, 'Father, I'd die myself sooner than rob my +master, but I can't see _you_ disgraced. Oh, let us fly the country!' +Now, sir, I have told you all--do what you like with me--send me to +jail, I deserve it, but spare my poor, deluded, innocent boy!" + +It would be difficult to describe Mr. Hewson's feelings, but his wife's +first impulse was to hasten to liberate the prisoner. With a few +incoherent words of explanation, she led him into the presence of his +master, who, looking at him sorrowfully but kindly, said, + +"William, you have erred deeply, but not so deeply as I supposed. Your +father has told me every thing. I forgive him freely, and you also." + +The young man covered his face with his hands, and wept tears more +bitter and abundant than he had ever shed since the day when he +followed his mother to the grave. He could say little, but he knelt on +the ground, and clasping the kind hand of her who had supplied to him +that mother's place, he murmured, + +"Will _you_ tell him I would rather die than sin again?" + +Old Gahan died two years afterward, truly penitent, invoking blessings +on his son and on his benefactors; and the young man's conduct, now no +longer under evil influence, was so steady and so upright, that his +adopted parents felt that their pious work was rewarded, and that, in +William Gahan, they had indeed a son. + + + + +[From Fraser's Magazine.] + +DIPLOMACY--LORD CHESTERFIELD. + + +The qualifications required for the diplomatic career, we need hardly +say, are many and various. To a perfect knowledge of history and the law +of nations should be united a knowledge of the privileges and duties of +diplomatic agents, an acquaintance with the conduct and management of +negotiations, the physical and moral statistics, the political, +military, and social history of the powers with which the embasssador's +nation comes into most frequent intercommunication. To this varied +knowledge, it is needless to state, the negotiator should join +moderation, dexterity, temper, and tact. An embassador should be a man +of learning and a man of the world; a man of books and a man of men, a +man of the drawing-room and a man of the counting-house; a _preux +chevalieur_, and a man of labor and of business. He should possess quick +faculties, active powers of observation, and that which military men +call the _coup d'oeil_. He should be of urbane, pleasant, and affable +manners; of cheerful temper, of good humor, and of good sense. He should +know when and where to yield, to retreat, or to advance; when to press +his suit strongly, or when merely gently to insinuate it indirectly, +and, as it were, by inuendo. He should know how to unbend and how to +uphold his dignity, or rather the dignity of his sovereign; for it his +business, in whatever quarter of the world he may be placed, to maintain +the rights and dignities of his sovereign with vigor and effect. It is +the union of these diverse, and yet not repugnant qualities, that gives +to an embassador _prestige_, ascendency, and power over the minds of +others, that acquires for him that reputation of wisdom, +straightforwardness, and sagacity, which is the rarest and most valuable +gift of a statesman. One part of the science of diplomacy may be, by +even a dull man, mastered without any wonderful difficulties. It is that +positive, fundamental, and juridical portion of the study which may be +found in books, in treatises; in the history of treaties and of wars; in +treatises on international law; in memoirs, letters, and negotiations of +embassadors; in historical and statistical works concerning the states +of Europe, the balance of power, and the science of politics generally. + +But the abstract, hypothetical, and variable portions of the craft--or, +if you will, of the science--depending on ten thousand varying and +variable circumstances--depending on persons, passions, fancies, whims; +caprices royal, national, parliamentary, and personal, is above theory, +and beyond the reach of books; and can only be learned by experience, by +practice, and by the most perfect and intuitive tact. The traditional +political maxims, the character of the loading sovereigns, statesmen, +and public men in any given court, as well as the conduct of +negotiations, may be acquired by study, by observation, by a residence +as secretary, as _attaché_; but who, unless a man of real genius for his +art--who, unless a man of real ability and talent, shall seize on, fix, +and turn to his purpose, the ever-mobile, the ever-varying phases of +courts, of camps, of councils, of senators, of parliaments, and of +public bodies? No doubt there are certain great cardinal and leading +principles with which the mind of every aspirant should be stored. But +the mere knowledge of principles, and of the history of the science can +never alone make a great embassador, any more than the reading of +treatises on the art of war can make a great commander. + +An embassador at a first-rate court should, indeed, be the minister of +foreign affairs for his country on a small scale; and we know well +enough that the duties devolving on a minister for foreign affairs are +grave, are delicate, are all important. + +The functions appertaining to the ministry for foreign affairs have been +in England during the last two years, and certainly also were from 1793 +to 1815, the most important and the most difficult connected with the +public administration. A man to fill such a post properly, requires not +merely elevation and uprightness of character, but experience, tried +discretion, the highest capacity, the most extensive and varied +knowledge and accomplishments. Yet how few embassadors (we can scarcely +name one) have been in our day, or, indeed, for the last century, +elevated into Principal Secretaries of State for Foreign Affairs! Such +promotions in France have been matters of every-day occurrence since and +previous to 1792. Dumouriez, Talleyrand, Reinhard, Champagny, Maret, +Bignon, Montmorency, Chauteaubriand, Polignac, Sebastiani, De Broglie, +Guizot, Soult, had all been embassadors before they were elevated into +the higher, the more responsible, and the more onerous office. In +England, since the accession of George I., we can scarcely cite, +speaking off-hand, above four instances. + +In 1716 there was Paul Methuen, who had been embassador to Portugal in +the reign of Queen Anne, named Secretary of State, for a short time, in +the absence of Earl Stanhope; there was Philip Dormer, earl of +Chesterfield, in 1746; there was John, duke of Bedford, who succeeded +Lord Chesterfield in 1748, and who had previously been embassador to +Paris; and there was Sir Thomas Robinson in 1754, who had been an +embassador to Vienna. In our own day there is scarcely an instance. For +though George Canning was embassador for a short time to Lisbon, and the +Marquis of Wellesley to Spain; though the Duke of Wellington was +embassador to Paris, was charged with a special mission to Russia, was +plenipotentiary at Verona, yet none of these noblemen and gentlemen ever +regularly belonged to the diplomatic corps. The most illustrious and +striking instance of an embassador raised into a Secretary of State is +the case of Philip Dormer Stanhope, earl of Chesterfield The character +of no man within a century and a half has been so misrepresented and +misunderstood. Lord John Russell, in the _Bedford Correspondence_, which +he edited, charges this nobleman with conducting the French nobility to +the guillotine and to emigration. But Lord Chesterfield died on the 24th +March, 1773, sixteen years before 1789, and nineteen years before 1792. +To any man of reading and research--to any man of a decent acquaintance +with literature, it is unnecessary now to vindicate the character of the +Earl of Chesterfield. He was unequaled in his time for the solidity and +variety of his attainments; for the brilliancy of his wit; for the +graces of his conversation, and the polish of his style. His embassy to +Holland marks his skill, his dexterity, and his address, as an able +negotiator; and his administration of Ireland indicates his integrity, +his vigilance, and his sound policy as a statesman and as a politician. +He was at once the most accomplished, the most learned, and the most +far-seeing of the men of his day; and in our own, these is not one +public man to compare with him. He foresaw and foretold, in 1756, that +French Revolution whose outbreak he did not live to witness. In 1744 he +was admitted into the cabinet, on his own terms, and was soon after +intrusted with a second embassy to Holland, in which his skill and +dexterity were universally admitted. He was not more remarkable for a +quick insight into the temper of others, than for a command of his own. +In history, in literature, in foreign languages, he was equally a +proficient. With classical literature he had been from his boyhood +familiar. He wrote Latin prose with correctness, ease, and purity; and +spoke that tongue with a fluency and facility of the rarest among +Englishmen, and not very common even among foreigners. In the House of +Lords his speeches were more admired and extolled than any others of the +day. Horace Walpole had heard his own father, had heard Pitt, had heard +Pulteney, had heard Wyndham, had heard Carteret; yet he in 1743 +declared, as is recorded by Lord Mahon, that the finest speech he had +ever listened to was one from Chesterfield. + +For the diplomatic career, Chesterfield prepared himself in a manner not +often practiced in his own, and never practiced by Englishmen in our +day. Not content, as an undergraduate of Cambridge, with assiduously +attending a course of lectures on civil law at Trinity Hall, he +applied--as the laws and customs of other countries, and the general +law of Europe, were not comprehended in that course--to Vitriarius, a +celebrated professor of the University of Leyden and, at the +recommendation of the professor, took into his house a gentleman +qualified to instruct him. Instead of pirouetting it in the _coulisses_ +of the opera, or in the Redouten Saal of Vienna, instead of graduating +at the Jardin Mabille, or the Salle Ventadour, instead of breakfasting +at the Café Anglais, instead of dining at the Café de Paris, or +swallowing his ices, after the Italiens or Académie Royale, at +Tortoni's, instead of attending a _funcion_ or bull-fight at Madrid, or +spending his mornings and evenings at Jägers's Unter den Linden at +Berlin, instead of swallowing Beaune for a bet against Russian Boyars at +Petersburgh or Moscow, at Andrieux's French Restaurant, or spending his +nights at the San Carlos at Naples, or the Scala at Milan, Chesterfield, +eschewing _prima donnas_, and the delights of French cookery, and the +charms of French vaudevilles, set himself down in the town, and in the +university in which Joseph Scaliger was a professor, and from whence +those famous Elzevir editions of classical works issued, to learn the +public law of Europe. These are the arts by which to attain the eminence +of a Walsingham and a Burghley, of a D'Ossat and a Jeannin, of a Temple +and a De Witt. + + Qui cupit optatam cursu contingere metam, + Multa tulit fecitque puer, sudavit et alsit. + + + + +[From the Dublin University Magazine.] + +THOMAS MOORE. + + +How many associations rise to the mind at the name of MOORE! The +brilliant wit, the elegant scholar, the most charming poet of +_sentiment_ our literature possesses! His vivacity and versatility were +quite as remarkable as his fancy and command of melody. He has been +admitted, by rare judges of personal merit, to have been, with the +single exception of the late Chief Justice Bushe, the most attractive of +companions. An attempt has, in some quarters, we have heard, been made +to represent Moore as sacrificing to society talents meant for graver +pursuits than convivial enjoyments; and it has been insinuated that he +wanted that manly sternness of character, without which there can be no +personal dignity or political consistency. The facts of Moore's life +overthrow, of themselves, such insinuations. It would be difficult, +indeed, to point to any literary character who has, during the +vicissitudes of an eventful age, more honorably and steadfastly adhered +to the same standard of opinion--_qualis ab incepto_. His honorable +conduct, when compelled to pay several thousand pounds, incurred by the +error of his deputy at Bermuda (for whose acts he was _legally_ +responsible), exhibits the manliness of his nature. He determined, by +honest labor, to pay off the vast demand upon him, even though it made +him a beggar! Several of the Whig party came forward and offered in a +manner most creditable to them, to effect a subscription for the +purpose of paying off the poet's debt. Foremost among them was a +delicate young nobleman, with sunken cheek and intellectual aspect, who, +while traveling for his health on the Continent, had met Moore, with +whom he journeyed for a considerable time, and from whom he parted with +an intense admiration of the poet's genius and manly character. The +young nobleman--then far from being a rich man--headed the list with +eleven hundred pounds. The fact deserves to be recorded to the honor of +that young nobleman, who, by slow and sure degrees, has risen to be +prime minister of England--Lord John Russell. + +Of the fact of Moore's steadfastly refusing to accept the subscription +offered to be raised for him by his aristocratic Whig friends, there can +be no doubt whatever; and the matter is more creditable to him when the +fact is remembered that it was not he himself who committed the error by +which he was rendered liable to the judgment given against him. He might +also have sheltered himself under the example of Charles James Fox, who +consented to accept a provision made for him by the leaders of his +party. But Moore detested all eleemosynary aid. He speaks in one of his +most vigorous poems with contempt of that class of "_patriots_" (to what +vile uses can language be profaned!), + + "Who hawk their country's wrongs as beggars do their sores." + +While sojourning at Paris upon that occasion Moore received a very +remarkable offer. Barnes, the editor of the _Times_, became severely +ill, and was obliged to recruit his health by a year's rest, and the +editorship of the _Times_ was actually offered to Moore, who, in telling +the story to a brilliant living Irishman, said, "I had great difficulty +in refusing. The offer was so tempting--_to be the Times for a +twelvemonth!_" The offering him the editorship of "the daily miracle" +(as Mr. Justice Talfourd called it) might, however, have been only a +_ruse de guerre_ of his aristocratic and political friends to bring him +back to London, where, for a variety of reasons social and political, +his company was then very desirable. + +There is a very interesting circumstance connected with the birth of +Moore, which deserves record. The fact of the birth, as every one knows, +took place at Aungier-street, and its occasion was at a moment +singularly appropriate for the lyric poet being ushered into the world. +Jerry Keller, the wit and humorist, rented apartments in the house of +Moore's brother, in Aungier-street, and had a dinner-party on the very +day of the poet's birth. Just as the guests were assembled, and the +dinner on the table, it was announced to them that Mrs. Moore's +_accouchement_ had taken place, and that she was in a precarious state, +the physicians particularly enjoining that no noise should be made in +the house: a difficult matter, when Keller, Lysaght, and other convivial +spirits were assembled. What was to be done? One of the company, who +lodged near him, solved the difficulty by proposing that the feast +should be adjourned to his house close by, and that the viands and wine +should be transferred thither. "Ay!" cried Jerry Keller, "be it so; let +us adjourn _pro re nata."_ Thus, in the hour of feasting, just as Keller +dropped one of his best witticisms, was Moore's birth registered by a +classic pun. + +Moore had few friends whom he loved more than Mr. Corry, and he has left +upon record an exquisite proof of his friendship in the following lines, +which are very affecting to read at the present time. + +On one occasion, Moore and Corry were ordered, by medical advice, to +drink port wine, while they were sojourning for their health at +Brighton. The _idem velle atque idem nolle_ was perfectly applicable to +their friendship, and they detested port wine with perfect antipathy. +However, they were under advice which required obedience. Moore got the +port-wine from his wine-merchant, Ewart; but in traveling from London it +had been shaken about so much, and was so muddy, that it required a +strainer. Mr. Corry bought a very handsome wine-strainer, prettily +ornamented with Bacchanalian emblems, and presented it, with a friendly +inscription, to Moore, who wrote in reply, the following lines, never, +we believe, before printed: + + +TO JAMES CORRY, ESQ., + +ON HIS MAKING ME A PRESENT OF A WINE-STRAINER. + + This life, dear Corry, who can doubt, + Resembles much friend Ewart's wine-- + When first the rosy drops come out, + How beautiful, how clear they shine! + And thus, a while they keep their tint + So free from even a shade with some, + That they would smile, did you but hint, + That darker drops would ever come. + + But soon the ruby tide runs short, + Each moment makes the sad truth plainer-- + Till life, like old and crusty port, + When near its close, requires a strainer. + + _This_ friendship can alone confer, + Alone can teach the drops to pass-- + If not as bright as once they were, + At least unclouded through the glass. + Nor, Corry, could a boon be mine, + Of which my heart were fonder, vainer, + Than thus, if life grew like old wine, + To have _thy_ friendship for its strainer! + + THOMAS MOORE. + Brighton, June, 1825. + + + + +[From Household Words.] + +THE APPETITE FOR NEWS. + + +The last great work of that great philosopher and friend of the modern +housewife, Monsieur Alexis Soyer, is remarkable for a curious omission. +Although the author--a foreigner--has abundantly proved his extensive +knowledge of the weakness of his adopted nation; yet there is one of our +peculiarities which he has not probed. Had he left out all mention of +cold punch in connection with turtle; had his receipt for curry +contained no cayenne; had he forgotten to send up tongues with +asparagus, or to order a service of artichokes without napkins, he would +have been thought forgetful; but when--with the unction of a gastronome, +and the thoughtful skill of an artist--he marshals forth all the +luxuries of the British breakfast-table, and forgets to mention its +first necessity, he shows a sort of ignorance. We put it to his already +extensive knowledge of English character, whether he thinks it possible +for any English subject whose means bring him under the screw of the +income-tax, to break his fast without--a newspaper. + +The city clerk emerging through folding doors from bed to sitting-room, +though thirsting for tea, and hungering for toast, darts upon that +morning's journal with an eagerness, and unfolds it with a satisfaction, +which show that all his wants are gratified at once. Exactly at the same +hour, his master, the M.P., crosses the hall of his mansion. As he +enters the breakfast parlor, he fixes his eye on the fender, where he +knows his favorite damp sheet will be hung up to dry. When the noble +lord first rings his bell, does not his valet know that, however tardy +the still-room-maid may be with the early coffee, he dares not appear +before his lordship without the "Morning Post?" Would the minister of +state presume to commence the day in town till he has opened the +"Times," or in the country till he has perused the "Globe?" Could the +oppressed farmer handle the massive spoon for his first sip out of his +Sèvres cup till he has read of ruin in the "Herald" or "Standard?" Might +the juvenile Conservative open his lips to imbibe old English fare or to +utter Young England opinions, till he has glanced over the "Chronicle?" +Can the financial reformer know breakfast-table happiness till he has +digested the "Daily News," or skimmed the "Express?" And how would it be +possible for mine host to commence the day without keeping his customers +waiting till he has perused the "Advertiser" or the "Sun?" + +In like manner the provinces can not--once a week at least--satisfy +their digestive organs till their local organ has satisfied their minds. + +Else, what became of the 67,476,768 newspaper stamps which were issued +in 1848 (the latest year of which a return has been made) to the 150 +London and the 238 provincial English journals: of the 7,497,064 stamps +impressed on the corners of the 97 Scottish, and of the 7,028,956 which +adorned the 117 Irish newspapers? A professor of the new science of +literary mensuration has applied his foot-rule to this mass of print, +and publishes the result in "Bentley's Miscellany." According to him, +the press sent forth, in daily papers alone, a printed surface amounting +in twelve months to 349,308,000 superficial feet. If to these are added +all the papers printed weekly and fortnightly in London and the +provinces the whole amounts to 1,446,150,000 square feet of printed +surface, which was, in 1849, placed before the comprehensive vision of +John Bull. The area of a single morning paper--the Times say--is more +than nineteen and a half square feet, or nearly five feet by four, +compared with an ordinary octavo volume, the quantity of matter daily +issued is equal to three hundred pages. There are four morning papers +whose superficies are nearly as great, without supplements, which they +seldom publish. A fifth is only half the size. We may reckon, therefore, +that the constant craving of Londoners for news is supplied every +morning with as much as would fill about twelve hundred pages of an +ordinary novel; or not less than five volumes. + +These acres of print sown broad-cast, produce a daily crop to suit every +appetite and every taste. It has winged its way from every spot on the +earth's surface, and at last settled down and arranged itself into +intelligible meaning, made instinct with ink. Now it tells of a +next-door neighbor; then of dwellers in the utter-most corners of the +earth. The black side of this black and white daily history, consists of +battle, murder, and sudden death; of lightning and tempest; of plague, +pestilence, and famine; of sedition, privy conspiracy, and rebellion; of +false doctrine, heresy, and schism; of all other crimes, casualities, +and falsities, which we are enjoined to pray to be defended from. The +white side chronicles heroism, charitableness, high purpose, and lofty +deeds; it advocates the truest doctrines, and the practice of the most +exalted virtue: it records the spread of commerce, religion, and +science; it expresses the wisdom of the few sages and shows the +ignorance of the neglected many--in fine, good and evil, as broadly +defined or as inextricably mixed in the newspapers, as they are over the +great globe itself. + +With this variety of temptation for all tastes, it is no wonder that +those who have the power have also the will to read newspapers. The +former are not very many in this country where, among the great bulk of +the population, reading still remains an accomplishment. It was so in +Addison's time. "There is no humor of my countrymen," says the +Spectator, "which I am more inclined to wonder at, than their great +thirst for news." This was written at the time of imposition of the tax +on newspapers, when the indulgence in the appetite received a check from +increased costliness. From that date (1712) the statistical history of +the public appetite for news is written in the Stamp Office. For half a +century from the days of the Spectator, the number of British and Irish +newspapers was few. In 1782 there were only seventy-nine, but in the +succeeding eight years they increased rapidly. There was "great news" +stirring in the world in that interval--the American War, the French +Revolution; beside which, the practice had sprung up of giving domestic +occurrences in fuller detail than heretofore, and journals became more +interesting from that cause. In 1790 they had nearly doubled in number, +having reached one hundred and forty six. This augmentation took place +partly in consequence of the establishment of weekly papers--which +originated in that year--and of which thirty-two had been commenced +before the end of it. In 1809, twenty-nine and a half millions of stamps +were issued to newspapers in Great Britain. The circulation of journals +naturally depends upon the materials existing to fill them. While wars +and rumors of wars were rife they were extensively read, but with the +peace their sale fell off. Hence we find, that in 1821 no more than +twenty-four millions of newspapers were disposed of. Since then the +spread of education--slow as it has been--has increased the +productiveness of journalism. During the succeeding eight-and-twenty +years, the increase may be judged of by reference to the figures we have +already jotted down; the sum of which is, that during the year 1848 +there were issued, for English, Irish, and Scotch newspapers, eighty-two +millions of stamps--more than thrice as many as were paid for in 1821. +The cause of this increase was chiefly the reduction of the duty from an +average of three-pence to one penny per stamp. + +A curious comparison of the quantity of news devoured by an +Englishman and a Frenchman, was made in 1819, in the _Edinburgh +Review_--"thirty-four thousand papers," says the writer, are "dispatched +daily from Paris to the departments, among a population of about +twenty-six millions, making one journal among 776 persons. By this, the +number of newspaper readers in England would be to those in France as +twenty to one. But the number and circulation of country papers in +England are so much greater than in France, that they raise the +proportion of English readers to about twenty-five to one, and our +papers contain about three times as much letter-press as a French paper. +The result of all this is that an Englishman reads about seventy-five +times as much of the newspapers of his country in a given time, as a +Frenchman does of his. But in the towns of England, most of the papers +are distributed by means of porters, not by post; on the other hand, on +account of the number of coffee-houses, public gardens, and other modes +of communication, less usual in England, it is possible that each French +paper may be read, or listened to, by a greater number of persons, and +thus the English mode of distribution may be compensated. To be quite +within bounds, however, the final result is, that every Englishman reads +daily fifty times as much as the Frenchman does, of the newspapers of +his country." + +From this it might be inferred that the craving for news is peculiarly +English. But the above comparison is chiefly affected by the +restrictions put upon the French press, which, in 1819, were very great. +In this country, the only restrictions were of a fiscal character; for +opinion and news there was, as now, perfect liberty. It is proved, at +the present day, that Frenchmen love news as much as the English; for +now that all restriction is nominally taken off, there are as many +newspapers circulated in France in proportion to its population, as +there are in England. + +The appetite for news is, in truth, universal; but is naturally +disappointed, rather than bounded, by the ability to read. Hence it is +that the circulation of newspapers is proportioned in various countries +to the spread of letters; and if their sale is proportionately less in +this empire, than it is among better taught populations, it is because +there exist among us fewer persons who are able to read them;--either at +all, or so imperfectly, that attempts to spell them give the tyro more +pain than pleasure. In America, where a system of national education has +made a nation of readers (whose taste is perhaps susceptible of vast +improvement, but who are readers still) the sale of newspapers greatly +exceeds that of Great Britain. All over the continent there are also +more newspaper _readers_, in proportion to the number of people, though +perhaps, fewer buyers, from the facilities afforded by coffee-houses and +reading-rooms, which all frequent. In support of this fact, we need go +no farther than the three kingdoms. Scotland--where national education +has largely given the ability to read--a population of three millions +demands yearly from the Stamp Office seven and a half millions of +stamps; while in Ireland, where national education has had no time for +development, eight millions of people take half a million of stamps +_less_ than Scotland. + +Although it can not be said that the appetite for mere news is one of an +elevated character; yet as we have before hinted, the dissemination of +news takes place side by side with some of the most sound, practical, +and ennobling sentiments and precepts that issue from any other channels +of the press. As an engine of public liberty, the newspaper press is +more effectual than the Magna Charta, because its powers are wielded +with more ease, and exercised with more promptitude and adaptiveness to +each particular case. + +Mr. F. K. Hunt in his "Fourth Estate" remarks, "The moral of the history +of the press seems to be, that when any large proportion of a people +have been taught to read, and when upon this possession of the tools of +knowledge, there has grown up a habit of perusing public prints, the +state is virtually powerless if it attempts to check the press. James +the Second in old times, and Charles the Tenth, and Louis Philippe, more +recently, tried to trample down the Newspapers, and everybody knows how +the attempt resulted. The prevalence or scarcity of newspapers in a +country affords a sort of index to its social state. Where journals are +numerous, the people have power, intelligence, and wealth; where +journals are few, the many are in reality mere slaves. In the United +States every village has its newspaper, and every city a dozen of these +organs of popular sentiment. In England we know how numerous and how +influential for good the papers are; while in France they have perhaps +still greater power. Turn to Russia, where newspapers are comparatively +unknown, and we see the people sold with the earth they are compelled to +till. Austria, Italy, Spain, occupy positions between the extremes--the +rule holding good in all, that in proportion to the freedom of the press +is the freedom and prosperity of the people." + + + + +[From Sharpe's Magazine] + +A FEW WORDS ON CORALS. + + +It is the object of the following papers to illustrate the natural +history of the ocean, and to introduce to the reader a few of the forms +of life which the naturalist meets with in the deep sea. The sea that +bathes the globe contains as countless multitudes of living beings as +does the land we tread, and each possesses an organization as +interesting and as peculiar to itself, as any of the higher forms of the +animal creation. But the interest does not cease here, for these marine +invertebrata play an important part in the vast economy of nature, some +living but to afford food for the larger kinds, others devouring all +matter devoid of vitality, and so removing all putrescent materials, +with which the sea would otherwise be surcharged; while others, again, +living in large communities, surely and slowly, by their gradual growth, +so alter the physical construction of the globe as to render seas and +harbors unnavigable, and in many eases even to give rise in course of +ages to those islands, apparently of spontaneous growth, which are so +common in the Southern Seas. + +Corals and Madrepores first claim our attention, because they occupy the +lowest place, with the exception of sponges, in the animal scale! +Indeed, so low is their organization, that former naturalists denied +their animal character, and from superficial examination of their +external appearance, placed them among the wonders of the vegetable +world. And from the arborescent and plant-like form assumed by many +kinds, in the Flustra and others, in which the resemblance to sea-weeds +is so strong as generally to cause them to be confounded together under +the same group, and being fixed to submarine rocks, or marine shells, +observers might easily have been led to the mistake, had not modern +research rectified the error. Corals and Madrepores, as they are known +to us, consist but of the stony skeletons of the animals themselves, for +in the living state, while dwelling in the ocean, each portion of the +stony framework was covered with an animal coating of gelatinous matter, +which, closely investing it, was the living portion of the animal. But +the structure of the animal is not simply this, for attached to +different portions of it in the living state are to be found a countless +number of little cells, which, armed with tentacles of great prehensile +and tactile powers, are the apertures through which the particles of +food are conveyed for the sustenance of the animal These bodies as they +may be called, are the analogues of that simple polyp, the common hydra, +which, abounding in almost every pond, has been long known to +naturalists. It consists of a single dilated gelatinous vesicle, which +is terminated at one extremity by a sucker, and at the other by a number +of contractile filaments, which serve as the tentaculæ, by which it +seizes its prey. This is all that represents the animal, the dilated +portion of the tube being the part in which the process of digestion is +carried on, and where the food is assimilated to the wants of the little +creature. These hydrae live singly, each animal being independent of +another, and each possesses the power of self-reparation; so that, +should it happen that a tentacle is lost, another sprouts to supply its +place, or should the naturalist by way of experiment divide it in half, +each portion immediately reproduces the wanting section. Such, then, is +briefly the structure of the simple fresh-water hydra, a polyp of common +occurrence, and from this description the reader will gain some idea of +the polyps of the Coral family before us; but he must remember that in +the case now under discussion, the polyps are aggregated together, a +number on one common stem, each possessing independent life, but all +ministering to the support of the compound animal. + +The hydra, then, of the Coral and Madrepore, thus explained, would +appear to be the parts through which food is absorbed for the general +nourishment of the body, which, as before observed, consists simply of a +gelatinous film of animal matter, possessing but little evidence of +vitality. Here, then, is a community of nourishment, and with it also a +community of sensation, for if one portion be irritated, contiguous +portions of the animal are apt to sympathize. When the Coral polyps are +not in an active state, or in other words, when they are not in want of +food, these hydra-form polyps may not be visible, but being retracted +into cells found as depressions in the skeletons of the Madrepores, they +are lost to observation, and it is only when in quest of food and +nourishment that their contractile tentacles are expanded, and +distinctly prominent. + +The physiology of the growth of the skeleton, both in the Madrepores and +the Coral, is the same. The entire skeleton, however ramified it may be, +or whatever form it may assume, is secreted by the living matter with +which it is invested, the materials for its formation being derived from +the element in which it lives; and as its deposition takes place at +different times, the central stem of some corals is apt to assume a +beautiful concentric arrangement of laminæ. But the material deposited +or secreted need not necessarily be hard or calcareous, but even may +partake of the character of horn or other flexible materials, as is the +case with some of the coral family. In other cases there is an +alternation of each material; and the necessity of this change in the +character of the skeleton will now demand our attention. + +The common coral of the Mediterranean, possessing a stony skeleton, is +found in situations where its stunted form and its extreme hardness +sufficiently preserve it from the violence of the waves; but place a +coral under other circumstances, and expose it to the storms of the +Indian Ocean, where the waves rage with fury, dashing on and uprooting +all things within their power, and the structure of the simple coralium +would fail to withstand their violence. Here, then, under such +circumstances, in the case of the Gorgonia, nature has provided a horny +and flexible skeleton, which, spreading majestically in the sea, shall +be capable of bending beneath the weight of the superincumbent waves, +and so yielding to the storms. Nature has thus adapted herself to each +contingent circumstance. + +The next point to which we shall advert will be coral formations, which +form so interesting a study to the naturalist and geologist. When we +consider that we have at hand only a soft, gelatinous covering, +stretched on a hard, stony frame-work--that the material on which this +animal substance exists is furnished by the sea in which it lives--we +can not but be surprised at the smallness of the means which nature uses +for the execution of her great designs. But time compensates for the +insignificance of the means employed, and the continued activity of +nature's architects, during continuous ages, accomplishes these +stupendous results, which have at various times excited the wonder of +the navigator, and aroused the attention of the naturalist. Many +examples of these are to be found in the Pacific Archipelago. Seas and +shallows, once navigable, become in the process of time so filled by +these living animals, as to become impassable, their stony skeletons +forming hard, massy rocks and impenetrable barriers, which, rising from +the bottom of the sea and shallows, constitute solid masonry of living +stones. + +But besides thus aggregating in the neighborhood of land and continents, +formations similarly produced are constantly met with during the +circumnavigation of the globe. Not only barriers and reefs owe their +origin to these humble means, but large lands, stretching for miles in +the centre of the ocean, rise gradually from beneath the surface of the +sea, and, becoming clothed with verdure and vegetation, at last offer a +resting-place for the daring seafarer. But now occurs the interesting +question, How happens it that these islands are found in situations +where the sea is too deep to allow of any animal life to exist? And yet +these corals must have grown upward from some resting-place. The +researches of Darwin have shown that the greatest depth in which corals +live, is between thirty and forty fathoms beneath the surface of the +sea; hence it is absolutely certain that for every island some +foundation must exist in the sea for these reef-building animals to +attach themselves to. Such foundation, from the observation of Darwin, +would appear to be provided by submarine mountains which have gradually +subsided into the sea, having originally existed above its surface. Upon +these foundations the reef-building saxigenous corals have become +attached, and slowly accumulating in large numbers, and gradually +depositing their carbonate of lime, during the lapse of ages, by degrees +construct these large piles, which, at last emerging from the ocean's +bosom, appear as newly-formed continents and islands. Once above the +surface, the work of the corals is at an end; no longer exposed to the +salt water, the emerged portion dies, and then new agencies are called +into play, before its surface can be clothed with vegetable life. The +storms of the ocean and the rising waves gradually deposit on its +surface the sand and mud torn up from the bottom of the sea, and the +sea-weed, too, that is cast upon its tenantless shores soon crumbles +into mould, and unites with the debris of the former polyps. At last, +some seeds from the neighboring lands are driven to its strand, and +there finding a soil united for their growth, soon sprout, under the +influence of a tropical sun, into fresh life, and clothe the ocean isle +with verdure and vegetation. + +Then, _last_, man comes, and taking possession of the land, erects him a +house to dwell in, and cultivating the soil he finds, soon converts the +ocean-rescued land into cultivated plains. Islands thus formed are +constantly increased in circumference by the same means as those that +gave them birth; the same agency is ever at work, adding particle on +particle to the rising land. But is it not strange that such simple +means can resist the ever-flowing and roaring ocean--that such simple +animals can uprear a masonry which shall resist the violence of the +waves and defy the power of the breakers? Is it not strange that a +single polyp can form a structure in the bosom of the ocean, which shall +stand, a victorious antagonist to the storm when works of man and other +"inanimate works of nature" would have crumbled into nothing before the +relentless fury of a disturbed ocean? "Let the hurricane tear up its +thousand huge fragments, yet what will that tell against the accumulated +labor of myriads of architects at work day and night, month after +month?" for here organic force is opposed to the raging elements, and +opposing, is victorious. + + + + +[From the Dublin University Magazine] + +A NIGHT IN THE BELL INN. + + +Though few men are themselves on visiting terms with their ancestors, +most are furnished with one or two decently-authenticated ghost stories. +I myself am a firm believer in spectral phenomena, for reasons which I +may, perhaps, be tempted to give to the public whenever the custom of +printing in folio shall have been happily revived; meanwhile, as they +will not bear compression, I keep them by me, and content myself with +now and then stating a fact saving the theory to suggest itself. Now it +has always appeared to me that the apostles of spectres (if the phrase +will be allowed me) have, like other men with a mission, been, perhaps, +a little precipitate in assuming their facts, and sometimes find "true +ghosts" upon evidence much too slender to satisfy the hard-hearted and +unbelieving generation we live in. They have thus brought scandal not +only upon the useful class to which they belong, but upon the world of +spirits itself--causing ghosts to be so generally discredited, that +fifty visits made in their usual private and confidential way, will now +hardly make a single convert beyond the individual favored with the +interview; and, in order to reinstate themselves in their former +position, they will be obliged henceforward to appear at noon-day, and +in places of public resort. + +The reader will perceive, then, that I am convinced of the equal +impolicy and impropriety of resting the claims of my clients (ghosts in +general) upon facts which will not stand the test of an impartial, and +even a skeptical scrutiny. And, perhaps, I can not give a happier +illustration of the temper of my philosophy, at once candid and +cautious, than is afforded by the following relation, for every tittle +of which I solemnly pledge my character at once as a gentleman and as a +metaphysician. + +There is a very agreeable book by Mrs. Crowe, entitled "The Night Side +of Nature," and which among a _dubia cæna_ of authentic tales of terror, +contains several which go to show the very trivial causes which have +from time to time caused the reappearance of departed spirits in this +grosser world. A certain German professor, who, for instance, actually +_persecuted_ an old college friend with preternatural visitations for no +other purpose, as it turned out, than to procure a settlement of some +small six-and-eightpenny accounts, which he owed among his trades-people +at the time of his death. I could multiply, from my own notes, cases +still odder, in which sensible and rather indolent men, too, have been +at the trouble to re-cross the awful interval between us and the +invisible, for purposes apparently still less important--so trivial, +indeed, that for the present I had rather not mention them, lest I +should expose their memories to the ridicule of the unreflecting. I +shall now proceed to my narrative, with the repeated assurance, that the +reader will no where find in it a single syllable that is not most +accurately and positively true. + +About four-and-thirty years ago I was traveling through Denbighshire +upon a mission which needed dispatch. I had, in fact, in my charge, some +papers which were required for the legal preliminaries to a marriage, +which was about to take place in a family of consideration, upon the +borders of that county. + +The season was winter, but the weather delightful--that is to say, clear +and frosty; and, even without foliage, the country through which I +posted was beautiful. The subject of my journey was a pleasant one. I +anticipated an agreeable visit, and a cordial welcome; and the weather +and scenery were precisely of the sort to second the cheerful +associations with which my excursion had been undertaken. Let no one, +therefore, suggest that I was predisposed for the reception of gloomy or +horrible impressions. When the sun set we had a splendid moon, at once +soft and brilliant; and I pleased myself with watching the altered, and, +if possible, more beautiful effects of the scenery through which we were +smoothly rolling. I was to put up for the night at the little town of +----; and on reaching the hill--over which the approach to it is +conducted, about a short mile from its quaint little street--I +dismounted, and directing the postillion to walk his jaded horses +leisurely up the winding road, I trod on before him in the pleasant +moonlight, and sharp, bracing air. A little by-path led directly up the +steep acclivity, while the carriage-road more gradually ascended by a +wide sweep--this little path, leading through fields and hedgerows, I +followed, intending to anticipate the arrival of my conveyance at the +summit of the hill. + +I had not proceeded very far when I found myself close to a pretty old +church, whose ivied tower, and countless diamond window panes, were +glittering in the moonbeams--a high, irregular hedge, overtopped by tall +and ancient trees inclosed it; and rows of funereal yews showed black +and mournful among the wan array of headstones that kept watch over the +village dead. I was so struck with the glimpse I had caught of the old +church-yard, that I could not forbear mounting the little stile that +commanded it--no scene could be imagined more still and solitary. Not a +human habitation was near--every sign and sound of life was reverently +remote; and this old church, with its silent congregation of the dead +marshaled under its walls, seemed to have spread round it a circle of +stillness and desertion that pleased, while it thrilled me. + +No sound was here audible but the softened rush of waters, and that +sweet note of home and safety, the distant baying of the watch-dog, now +and then broken by the sharper rattle of the carriage-wheels upon the +dry road. But while I looked upon the sad and solemn scene before me, +these sounds were interrupted by one which startled, and, indeed, for a +moment, froze me with horror. The sound was a cry, or rather a howl of +despairing terror, such as I have never heard before or since uttered by +human voice. It broke from the stillness of the church-yard; but I saw +no figure from which it proceeded--though this circumstance, indeed, was +scarcely wonderful, as the broken ground, the trees, tall weeds, and +tomb-stones afforded abundant cover for any person who might have sought +concealment. This cry of unspeakable agony was succeeded by a silence; +and, I confess, my heart throbbed strangely, when the same voice +articulated, in the same tone of agony, + +"Why will you trouble the dead? Who can torment us before the time? I +will come to you in my flesh, though after my skin worms destroy this +body--and you shall speak to me, lace to face." + +This strange address was followed by another cry of despair, which died +away as suddenly as it was raised. + +I never could tell why it was I was not more horror-stricken than I +really was by this mysterious, and, all things considered, even terrible +interpellation. It was not until the silence had again returned, and the +faint rustling of the frosty breeze among the crisp weeds crept toward +me like the stealthy approach of some unearthly influence, that I felt a +superstitious terror gradually inspire me, which hurried me at an +accelerated pace from the place. A few minutes, and I heard the friendly +voice of my charioteer hallooing to me from the summit of the hill. + +Reassured, as I approached him, I abated my speed. + +"I saw you standing on the stile, sir, by the church-yard," he said, as +I drew near, "and I ask your pardon for not giving you the hint before, +but they say it is not lucky; and I called to you loud and lusty to come +away, sir; but I see you are nothing the worse of it." + +"Why, what is there to be afraid of there, my good fellow?" I asked, +affecting as much indifference as I was able. + +"Why, sir," said the man, throwing an uneasy look in the direction, +"they do say there's a bad spirit haunts it; and nobody in these parts +would go near it after dark for love or money." + +"Haunted!" I repeated; "and how does the spirit show himself?" I asked. + +"Oh! lawk, sir, in all sorts of shapes--sometimes like an old woman +almost doubled in two with years," he answered, "sometimes like a little +child agoing along a full foot high above the grass of the graves; and +sometimes like a big black ram, strutting on his hind legs, and with a +pair of eyes like live coals; and some have seen him in the shape of a +man, with his arm raised up toward the sky, and his head hanging down, +as if his neck was broke. I can't think of half the shapes he has took +at different times; but they're all bad: the very child, they say, when +he comes in that shape, has the face of Satan--God bless us! and +nobody's ever the same again that sees him once." + +By this time I was again seated in my vehicle, and some six or eight +minutes' quick driving whirled us into the old-fashioned street, and +brought the chaise to a full stop before the open door and well-lighted +hall of the Bell Inn. To me there has always been an air of +indescribable cheer and comfort about a substantial country hostelrie, +especially when one arrives, as I did, upon a keen winter's night, with +an appetite as sharp, and something of that sense of adventure and +excitement which, before the days of down-trains and tickets, always in +a greater or less degree, gave a zest to traveling. Greeted with that +warmest of welcomes for which inns, alas! are celebrated, I had soon +satisfied the importunities of a keen appetite; and having for some +hours taken mine ease in a comfortable parlor before a blazing fire, I +began to feel sleepy, and betook myself to my no less comfortable +bed-chamber. + +It is not to be supposed that the adventure of the church-yard had been +obliterated from my recollection by the suppressed bustle and good cheer +of the "Bell." On the contrary, it had occupied me almost incessantly +during my solitary ruminations; and as the night advanced, and the +stillness of repose and desertion stole over the old mansion, the +sensations with which this train of remembrance and speculation was +accompanied became any thing but purely pleasant. + +I felt, I confess, fidgety and queer--I searched the corners and +recesses of the oddly-shaped and roomy old apartment--I turned the face +of the looking-glass to the wall--I poked the fire into a roaring +blaze--I looked behind the window-curtains, with a vague anxiety, to +assure myself that nothing could be lurking there. The shutter was a +little open, and the ivied tower of the little church, and the tufted +tops of the trees that surrounded it, were visible over the slope of the +intervening hill. I hastily shut out the unwelcome object, and in a mood +of mind, I must confess, favorable enough to any freak my nerves might +please to play me, I hurried through my dispositions for the night, +humming a gay air all the time, to re-assure myself, and plunged into +bed, extinguishing the candle, and--shall I acknowledge the weakness? +nearly burying my head under the blankets. + +I lay awake some time, as men will do under such circumstances, but at +length fatigue overcame me, and I fell into a profound sleep. From this +repose I was, however, aroused in the manner I am about to describe. A +very considerable interval must have intervened. There was a cold air in +the room very unlike the comfortable atmosphere in which I had composed +myself to sleep. The fire, though much lower than when I had gone to +bed, was still emitting flame enough to throw a flickering light over +the chamber. My curtains were, however, closely drawn, and I could not +see beyond the narrow tent in which I lay. + +There had been as I awaked a clanking among the fire-irons, as if a +palsied hand was striving to arrange the fire, and this rather +unaccountable noise continued for some seconds after I had become +completely awake. + +Under the impression that I was subjected to an accidental intrusion, I +called out, first in a gentle and afterward in a sharper tone, + +"Who's there?" + +At the second summons the sound ceased, and I heard instead the tread of +naked feet, as it seemed to me, upon the floor, pacing to and fro, +between the hearth and the bed in which I lay. A superstitious terror, +which I could not combat, stole over me; with an effort I repeated my +question, and drawing myself upright in the bed, expected the answer +with a strange sort of trepidation. It came in terms and accompanied +with accessories which I shall not soon forget. + +The very same tones which had so startled me in the church-yard the +evening before, the very sounds which I had heard then and there, were +now filling my ears, and spoken in the chamber where I lay. + +"Why will you trouble the dead? Who can torment us before the time? I +will come to you in my flesh, 'though after my skin worms destroy this +body,' and you shall speak with me face to face." + +As I live. I can swear the words and the voice were the very same I had +heard on the occasion I have mentioned, but (and mark this) repeated to +_no one_. With feelings which I shall not attempt to describe, I heard +the speaker approach the bed--a hand parted the bed-curtains and drew +them open, revealing a form more horrible than my fancy had ever +seen--an almost gigantic figure--naked, except for what might well have +been the rotten remnant of a shroud--stood close beside my bed--livid +and cadaverous--grimed as it seemed with the dust of the grave, and +staring on me with a gaze of despair, malignity, and fury, too intense +almost for human endurance. + +I can not say whether I spoke or not, but this infernal spectre answered +me as if I had. + +"I am dead and yet alive," it said, "the child of perdition--in the +grave I am a murderer, but here I am APOLLYON. Fall down and worship +me." + +Having thus spoken, it stood for a moment at the bedside, and then +turned away with a shuddering moan, and I lost sight of it, but after a +few seconds it came again to the bedside as before. + +"When I died they put me under Mervyn's tombstone, and they did not bury +me. My feet lie toward the _west_--turn them to the east and I will +rest--maybe I will rest--I will rest--rest--rest." + +Again the figure was gone, and once again it returned, and said, + +"I am your master--I am your resurrection and your life, and therefore, +fall down and worship me." + +It made a motion to mount upon the bed, but what further passed I know +not, for I fainted. + +I must have lain in this state for a long time, for when I became +conscious the fire was almost extinct. For hours that seemed +interminable I lay, scarcely daring to breathe, and afraid to get up +lest I should encounter the hideous apparition, for aught I knew, +lurking close beside me. I lay, therefore, in an agony of expectation +such as I will not attempt to describe, awaiting the appearance of the +daylight. + +Gradually it came, and with it the cheerful and reassuring sounds of +life and occupation. At length I mustered courage to reach the +bell-rope, and having rung lustily, I plunged again into bed. + +"Draw the window-curtains--open the shutters," I exclaimed as the man +entered, and, these orders executed, "look about the room," I added, +"and see whether a cat or any other animal has got in." + +There was nothing of the sort; and satisfied that my visitant was no +longer in the chamber, I dismissed the man, and hurried through my +toilet with breathless precipitation. + +Hastening from the hated scene of my terrors, I escaped to the parlor, +whither I instantly summoned the proprietor of "the Bell" in _propria +persona_. I suppose I looked scared and haggard enough, for mine host +looked upon me with an expression of surprise and inquiry. + +"Shut the door," said I. + +It was done. + +"I have had an uneasy night in the room you assigned me, sir; I may say +indeed, a _miserable_ night," I said. + +"Pray," resumed I, interrupting his apologetic expressions of surprise, +"has any person but myself ever complained of--of being _disturbed_ in +that room?" + +"Never," he assured me. + +I had suspected the ghastly old practical joke, so often played off by +landlords in story-books, and fancied I might have been deliberately +exposed to the chances of a "haunted chamber." But there was no acting +in the frank look and honest denial of mine host. + +"It is a very strange thing," said I hesitating; and "I do not see why I +should not tell you what has occurred. And as I could swear, if +necessary, to the perfect reality of the entire scene, it behoves you, I +think, to sift the matter carefully. For myself, I can not entertain a +doubt as to the nature of the truly terrible visitation to which I have +been subjected; and, were I in your position, I should transfer my +establishment at once to some other house as well suited to the purpose, +and free from the dreadful liabilities of this." + +I proceeded to detail the particulars of the occurence of the past +night, to which he listened with nearly as much horror as I recited them +with. + +"Mervyn's tomb!" he repeated after me; "why that's down there in L----r: +the churchyard you can see from the window of the room you slept in." + +"Let us go there instantly," I exclaimed, with an almost feverish +anxiety to ascertain whether we should discover in the place indicated +any thing corroborative of the authenticity of my vision. + +"Well, I shan't say no," said he, obviously bracing himself for an +effort of courage; "but we'll take Faukes, and James the helper, with +us; and please, sir, you'll not mention the circumstance as has occurred +to either on 'em." + +I gave him the assurance he asked for, and in a few minutes our little +party were in full march upon the point of interest. + +There had been an intense black frost, and the ground, reverberating to +our tread with the hollow sound of a vault, emitted the only noise that +accompanied our rapid advance. I and my host were too much preoccupied +for conversation, and our attendants maintained a respectful silence. A +few minutes brought us to the low, gray walls and bleak hedgerows that +surrounded the pretty old church, and all its melancholy and picturesque +memorials. + +"Mervyn's tomb lies there, I think, sir," he said, pointing to a corner +of the church-yard, in which piles of rubbish, withered weeds, and +brambles were thickly accumulated under the solemn, though imperfect +shelter of the wintry trees. + +He exchanged some sentences with our attendants in Welsh. + +"Yes, sir, that's the place," he added, turning to me. + +And as we all approached it, I bethought me that the direction in which, +as I stood upon the stile, I had heard the voice on the night preceding, +corresponded accurately with that indicated by my guides. The tomb in +question was a huge slab of black marble, supported, as was made +apparent when the surrounding brambles were removed, upon six pillars, +little more than two feet high each. There was ample room for a human +body to lie inside this funeral penthouse; and, on stooping to look +beneath, I was unspeakably shocked to see that something like a human +figure was actually extended there. + +It was, indeed, a corpse, and, what is more, corresponded in every trait +with the infernal phantom which, on the preceding night, had visited and +appalled me. + +The body, though miserably emaciated, was that of a large-boned, +athletic man, of fully six feet four in height; and it was, therefore, +no easy task to withdraw it from the receptacle where it had been +deposited, and lay it, as our assistants did, upon the tombstone which +had covered it. Strange to say, moreover, the feet of the body, as we +found it, had been placed toward the west. + +As I looked upon this corpse, and recognized, but too surely, in its +proportions and lineaments, every trait of the apparition that had stood +at my bed-side, with a countenance animated by the despair and malignity +of the damned, my heart fluttered and sank within me, and I recoiled +from the effigy of the demon with terror; second only to that which had +thrilled me on the night preceding. + + * * * * * + +Now, reader--_honest_ reader--I appeal to your own appreciation of +testimony, and ask you, having these facts in evidence, and upon the +deposition of an eye and ear witness, whose veracity, through a long +life, has never once been compromised or questioned, have you, or have +you not, in the foregoing story, a well-authenticated ghost story? + +Before you answer the above question, however, it may be convenient to +let you know certain other facts which were clearly established upon +the inquest that was very properly held upon the body which in so +strange a manner we had discovered. + +I purposely avoid details, and without assigning the depositions +respectively to the witnesses who made them, shall restrict myself to a +naked outline of the evidence as it appeared. + +The body I have described was identified as that of Abraham Smith, an +unfortunate lunatic, who had, upon the day but one preceding, made his +escape from the neighboring parish workhouse, where he had been for many +years confined. His hallucination was a strange, but not by any means an +unprecedented one. He fancied that he had died, and was condemned; and, +as these ideas alternately predominated, sometimes spoke of himself as +an "evil spirit," and sometimes importuned his keepers to "bury him;" +using habitually certain phrases, which I had no difficulty in +recognizing as among those which he had addressed to me. He had been +traced to the neighborhood where his body was found, and had been seen +and relieved scarcely half a mile from it, about two hours before my +visit to the church-yard! There were, further, unmistakable evidences of +some person's having climbed up the trellis-work to my window on the +previous night, the shutter of which had been left unbarred, and, as the +window might have been easily opened with a push, the cold which I +experienced, as an accompaniment of the nocturnal visit, was easily +accounted for. There was a mark of blood upon the window-stool, and a +scrape upon the knee of the body corresponded with it. A multiplicity of +other slight circumstances, and the positive assertion of the +chamber-maid that the window had been opened, and was but imperfectly +closed again, came in support of the conclusion, which was to my mind +satisfactorily settled by the concurrent evidence of the medical men, to +the effect that the unhappy man could not have been many hours dead when +the body was found. + +Taken in the mass, the evidence convinced me; and though I might still +have clung to the preternatural theory, which, in the opinion of some +persons, the facts of the case might still have sustained, I candidly +decided with the weight of evidence, "gave up the ghost," and accepted +the natural, but still somewhat horrible explanation of the occurrence. +For this candor I take credit to myself. I might have stopped short at +the discovery of the corpse, but I am no friend to "spurious gospels;" +let our faith, whatever it is, be founded in honest fact. For my part, I +steadfastly believe in ghosts, and have dozens of stories to support +that belief; but this is not among them. Should I ever come, therefore, +to tell you one, pray remember that you have to deal with a candid +narrator. + + + + +DEATH OF CROMWELL. + + + The flowers of autumn, withering fast. + Before the bitter Northern blast; + The earth with hoary frost o'erspread, + And Nature's leafy mantle shed, + Proclaimed abroad through earth and sky + That winter's gloomy reign drew nigh. + + And he, whose hand, with mighty stroke, + Oppression's chains had often broke, + Whose patriot heart and fearless voice + Had made oppression's slaves rejoice, + Like autumn's beauty, day by day, + Was passing rapidly away. + + Life's spring had brought him hopes and fears, + Its summer many toils and cares; + Autumn had brought him power and fame, + But autumn passed--life's winter came; + And then, like nature, seeking rest, + His head a dying pillow pressed. + + A furious storm, with dreadful roar, + Shook Britain's isle from shore to shore, + The raging sea, with thundering sound, + Spread ruin, fear, and death around; + And seem'd to tell throughout the land + Some dire event was near at hand. + + Surrounded by the howling blast, + His tide of life was ebbing fast; + But he was calm as evening air, + And raised on high a voice of prayer, + For neither storm nor death's fierce dart + Could shake the faith that nerv'd his heart. + + He knew the hand that kept his life + Throughout a long, protracted strife, + Could never fail or know decay, + Though earth itself should pass away; + And as the stormy night rolled on, + His spirit hasted to be gone. + + But morning dawn'd at length, and brought + That day's[C] return on which he fought + So often--till the evening sun + Set o'er the mighty victories won: + And darkness, like the warrior's shield, + Spread o'er the bloody battle-field. + + That day brought victory no more; + His earthly triumphs then were o'er: + The battle of his life had pass'd, + And Death claim'd Victory at last; + For when the evening shades came down + His wearied spirit thence had flown. + + WILLIAM ILOTT. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[C] 3d September, the anniversary of his greatest victories. + + + + +[From Household Words.] + +MY WONDERFUL ADVENTURES IN SKITZLAND. + + +CHAPTER THE FIRST. + +THE BEGINNING IS A BORE--I FALL INTO MISFORTUNE. + +I am fond of gardening. I like to dig. If among the operations of the +garden any need for such a work can be at any time discovered or +invented, I like to dig a hole. On the third of March, 1848, I began a +hole behind the kitchen wall, whereinto it was originally intended to +transplant a plum-tree. The exercise was so much to my taste, that a +strange humor impelled me to dig on. A fascination held me to the task. +I neglected my business. I disappeared from the earth's surface. A boy +who worked a basket by means of a rope and pulley, aided me; so aided, I +confined my whole attention to spade labor. The centripetal force seemed +to have made me its especial victim. I dug on until autumn. In the +beginning of November I observed that, upon percussion, the sound given +by the floor of my pit was resonant. I did not intermit my labor, urged +as I was by a mysterious instinct downward. On applying my ear, I +occasionally heard a subdued sort of rattle, which caused me to form a +theory that the centre of the earth might be composed of mucus. In +November, the ground broke beneath me into a hollow and I fell a +considerable distance. I alighted on the box-seat of a four-horse coach, +which happened to be running at that time immediately underneath. The +coachman took no notice whatever of my sudden arrival by his side. He +was so completely muffled up, that I could observe only the skillful way +in which he manipulated reins and whip. The horses were yellow. I had +seen no more than this, when the guard's horn blew, and presently we +pulled up at an inn. A waiter came out, and appeared to collect four +bags from the passengers inside the coach. He then came round to me. + +"Dine here, sir?" + +"Yes, certainly," said I. I like to dine--not the sole point of +resemblance between myself and the great Johnson. + +"Trouble you for your stomach, sir." + +While the waiter was looking up with a polite stare into my puzzled +face, my neighbor, the coachman, put one hand within his outer coat, as +if to feel for money in his waistcoat-pocket. Directly afterward his +fingers come again to light, and pulled forth an enormous sack. +Notwithstanding that is was abnormally enlarged, I knew by observation +of its form and texture that this was a stomach, with the oesophagus +attached. This, then, the waiter caught as it was thrown down to him, +and hung it carelessly over his arm, together with the four smaller bags +(which I now knew to be also stomachs) collected from the passengers +within the coach. I started up, and as I happened to look round, +observed a skeleton face upon the shoulders of a gentleman who sat +immediately behind my back. My own features were noticed at the same +time by the guard, who now came forward, touching his hat. + +"Beg your pardon, sir, but you've been and done it." + +"Done what?" + +"Why, sir, you should have booked your place, and not come up in this +clandestine way. However, you've been and done it!" + +"My good man, what have I done?" + +"Why, sir, the Baron Terroro's eyes had the box-seat, and I strongly +suspect you've been and sat upon them." + +I looked involuntarily to see whether I had been sitting upon any thing +except the simple cushion. Truly enough, there was an eye, which I had +crushed and flattened. + +"Only one," I said. + +"Worse for you, and better for him. The other eye had time to escape, +and it will know you again, that's certain. Well, it's no business of +mine. Of course you've no appetite now for dinner? Better pay your fare, +sir. To the Green Hippopotamus and Spectacles, where we put up, it's +ten-and-six." + +"Is there room inside?" I inquired. It was advisable to shrink from +observation. + +"Yes, sir. The inside passengers are mostly skeleton. There's room for +three, sir. Inside, one-pound-one." + +I paid the money, and became an inside passenger. + + +CHAPTER THE SECOND. + +OF DIVISIONS WHICH OCCUR IN SKITZLAND--I AM TAKEN UP + +Professor Essig's Lectures on Anatomy had so fortified me, that I did +not shrink from entering the Skitzton coach. It contained living limbs, +loose or attached to skeletons in other respects bare, except that they +were clothed with broadcloth garments, cut after the English fashion. +One passenger only had a complete face of flesh, he had also one living +hand; the other hand I guessed was bony, because it was concealed in a +glove obviously padded. By observing the fit of his clothes, I came to a +conclusion that this gentleman was stuffed throughout; that all his +limbs, except the head and hand, were artificial. Two pairs of Legs, in +woolen stockings, and a pair of Ears, were in a corner of the coach, and +in another corner there were nineteen or twenty Scalps. + +I thought it well to look astonished at nothing, and, having pointed in +a careless manner to the scalps, asked what might be their destination? +The person with the Face and Hand replied to me; and although evidently +himself a gentleman, he addressed me with a tone of unconcealed respect. + +"They are going to Skitzton, sir, to the hair dresser's." + +"Yes, to be sure," I said. "They are to make Natural Skin Wigs. I might +have known." + +"I beg your pardon, sir. There is a ball to-morrow night at Culmsey. +But the gentry do not like to employ village barbers, and therefore many +of the better class of people send their hair to Skitzton, and receive +it back by the return coach, properly cut and curled." + +"Oh," said I. "Ah! Oh, indeed!" + +"Dinners, gentlemen!" said a voice at the window, and the waiter handed +in four stomachs, now tolerably well filled. Each passenger received his +property, and pulling open his chest with as much composure as if he +were unbuttoning his waistcoat, restored his stomach, with a dinner in +it, to the right position. Then the reckonings were paid, and the coach +started. + +I thought of my garden, and much wished that somebody could throw +Professor Essig down the hole that I had dug. A few things were to be +met with in Skitzland which would rather puzzle him. They puzzled me; +but I took refuge in silence, and so fortified, protected my ignorance +from an exposure. + +"You are going to Court, sir, I presume?" said my Face and Hand friend, +after a short pause. His was the only mouth in the coach, excepting +mine, so that he was the only passenger able to enter into conversation. + +"My dear sir," I replied, "let me be frank with you. I have arrived here +unexpectedly out of another world. Of the manners and customs, nay, of +the very nature of the people who inhabit this country, I know nothing. +For any information you can give me, I shall be very grateful." + +My friend smiled incredulity, and said, + +"Whatever you are pleased to profess, I will believe. What you are +pleased to feign a wish for, I am proud to furnish. In Skitzland, the +inhabitants, until they come of age, retain that illustrious appearance +which you have been so fortunate as never to have lost. During the night +of his twenty-first birthday, each Skitzlander loses the limbs which up +to that period have received from him no care, no education. Of those +neglected parts the skeletons alone remain, but all those organs which +he has employed sufficiently continue unimpaired. I, for example, +devoted to the study of the law, forgot all occupation but to think, to +use my senses, and to write. I rarely used my legs, and therefore Nature +has deprived me of them." + +"But," I observed, "it seems that in Skitzland you are able to take +yourselves to pieces." + +"No one has that power, sir, more largely than yourself. What organs we +have we can detach on any service. When dispersed, a simple force of +Nature directs all corresponding members whither to fly that they may +re-assemble." + +"If they can fly," I asked, "why are they sent in coaches? There were a +pair of eyes on the box seat." + +"Simply for safety against accidents. Eyes flying alone are likely to be +seized by birds, and incur many dangers. They are sent, therefore, +usually under protection, like any other valuable parcel." + +"Do many accidents occur?" + +"Very few. For mutual protection, and also because a single member is +often all that has been left existing of a fellow Skitzlander, our laws, +as you, sir, know much better than myself, estimate the destruction of +any part absent on duty from its skeleton as a crime equivalent to +murder--" + +After this I held my tongue. Presently my friend again inquired whether +I was going up to Court? + +"Why should I go to Court?" + +"Oh, sir, it pleases you to be facetious. You must be aware that any +Skitzlander who has been left by nature in possession of every limb, +sits in the Assembly of the Perfect, or the Upper House, and receives +many state emoluments and dignities." + +"Are there many members of that Upper Assembly?" + +"Sir, there were forty-two. But if you are now traveling to claim your +seat, the number will be raised to forty-three." + +"The Baron Terroro--" I hinted. + +"My brother, sir. His eyes are on the box-seat under my care. +Undoubtedly he is a member of the Upper House." + +I was now anxious to get out of the coach as soon as possible. My wish +was fulfilled after the next pause. One eye, followed by six pairs of +arms, with strong hard hands belonging to them, flew in at the window. I +was collared; the door was opened, and all hands were at work to drag me +out and away. The twelve hands wisked me through the air, while the one +eye sailed before us, like an old bird, leader of the flight. + + +CHAPTER THE THIRD. + +MY IMPRISONMENT AND TRIAL FOR MURDER. + +What sort of sky have they in Skitzland? Our earth overarches them, and, +as the sunlight filters through, it causes a subdued illumination with +very pure rays. Skitzland is situated nearly in the centre of our globe, +it hangs there like a shrunken kernel in the middle of a nutshell. The +height from Skitzland to the over-arching canopy is great; so great, +that if I had not fallen personally from above the firmament, I should +have considered it to be a blue sky similar to ours. At night it is +quite dark; but during the day there is an appearance in the heaven of +white spots; their glistening reminded me of stars. I noticed them as I +was being conveyed to prison by the strong arms of justice, for it was +by a detachment of members from the Skitzton police that I was now +hurried along. The air was very warm, and corroborated the common +observation of an increase of heat as you get into the pith of our +planet. The theory of central fire, however, is, you perceive, quite +overturned by my experience. + +We alighted near the outskirts of a large and busy town. Through its +streets I was dragged publicly, much stared at and much staring. The +street life was one busy nightmare of disjointed limbs. Professor Essig, +could he have been dragged through Skitzton, would have delivered his +farewell lecture upon his return. "Gentlemen--Fuit Ilium, Fuit Ischium, +Fuit Sacrum, anatomy has lost her seat among the sciences. My +occupation's gone." Professor Owen's book "On the Nature of Limbs," must +contain, in the next edition, an Appendix "Upon Limbs in Skitzland." I +was dragged through the streets, and all that I saw there, in the +present age of little faith, I dare not tell you. I was dragged through +the streets to prison, and there duly chained, after having been +subjected to the scrutiny of about fifty couples of eyes drawn up in a +line within the prison door. I was chained in a dark cell, a cell so +dark that I could very faintly perceive the figure of some being who was +my companion. Whether this individual had ears wherewith to hear, and +mouth wherewith to answer me, I could not see, but at a venture I +addressed him. My thirst for information was unconquerable; I began, +therefore, immediately with a question: + +"Friend, what are those stars which we see shining in the sky at +mid-day?" + +An awful groan being an unsatisfactory reply, I asked again. + +"Man, do not mock at misery. You will yourself be one of them." + +"The teachers shall shine like stars in the firmament." I had a +propensity for teaching, but was puzzled to discover how I could give so +practical an illustration of the text of Fichte. + +"Believe me," I said, "I am strangely ignorant. Explain yourself." + +He answered with a hollow voice: + +"Murderers are shot up out of mortars into the sky, and stick there. +Those white, glistening specks, they are their skeletons." + +Justice is prompt in Skitland. I was tried incredibly fast by a jury of +twelve men, who had absolutely heads. The judges had nothing but brain, +mouth, and ear. Three powerful tongues defended me, but as they were not +suffered to talk nonsense, they had little to say. The whole case was +too clear to be talked into cloudiness. Baron Terroro, in person, +deposed that he had sent his eyes to see a friend at Culmsey, and that +they were returning on the Skitzton coach, when I, illegally, came with +my whole bulk upon the box-seat, which he occupied. That one of his eyes +was, in that manner, totally destroyed, but that the other eye, having +escaped, identified me, and brought to his brain intelligence of the +calamity which had befallen. He deposed further, that having received +this information, he dispatched his uncrushed eye with arms from the +police-office, and accompanied with several members of the detective +force to capture the offender, and to procure the full proofs of my +crime. A sub-inspector of Skitzton police then deposed that he sent +three of his faculties, with his mouth, eye, and ear, to meet the coach. +That the driver, consisting only of a stomach and hands, had been +unable to observe what passed. That the guard, on the contrary, had +taxed me with my deed, that he had seen me rise from my seat upon the +murdered eye, and that he had heard me make confession of my guilt. The +guard was brought next into court, and told his tale. Then I was called +upon for my defense. If a man wearing a cloth coat and trowsers, and +talking excellent English, were to plead at the Old Bailey that he had +broken into some citizen's premises accidentally by falling from the +moon, his tale would be received in London as mine was in Skitzton. I +was severely reprimanded for my levity, and ordered to be silent. The +judge summed up, and the jury found me guilty. The judge, who had put on +the black cap before the verdict was pronounced, held out no hope of +mercy, and straightway sentenced me to death, according to the laws and +usage of the realm. + + +CHAPTER THE FOURTH. + +THE LAST HOURS OF THE CONDEMNED IN SKITZLAND--I AM EXECUTED. + +The period which intervenes between the sentence and execution of a +criminal in Skitzland, is not longer than three hours. In order to +increase the terror of death by contrast, the condemned man is suffered +to taste at the table of life from which he is banished, the most +luscious viands. All the attainable enjoyment that his wit can ask for, +he is allowed to have, during the three hours before he is shot like +rubbish off the fields of Skitzland. + +Under guard, of course, I was now to be led whithersoever I desired. + +Several churches were open. They never are all shut in Skitzton. I was +taken into one. A man with heart and life was preaching. People with +hearts were in some pews; people with brains, in others; people with +ears only, in some. In a neighboring church, there was a popular +preacher, a skeleton with life. His congregation was a crowd of ears, +and nothing more. + +There was a day-performance at the Opera I went to that. Fine lungs and +mouths possessed the stage, and afterward there was a great bewilderment +with legs. I was surprised to notice that many of the most beautiful +ladies were carried in and out, and lifted about like dolls. My guides +sneered at my pretense of ignorance, when I asked why this was. But they +were bound to please me in all practicable ways, so they informed me, +although somewhat pettishly. It seems that in Skitzland, ladies who +possess and have cultivated only their good looks, lose at the age of +twenty-one all other endowments. So they become literally dolls, but +dolls of a superior kind; for they can not only open and shut their +eyes, but also sigh; wag slowly with their heads, and sometimes take a +pocket handkerchief out of a bag, and drop it. But as their limbs are +powerless, they have to be lifted and dragged about after the fashion +that excited my astonishment. + +I said then, "Let me see the poor." They took me to a Workhouse. The +men, there, were all yellow; and they wore a dress which looked as +though it were composed of asphalte; it also had a smell like that of +pitch. I asked for explanation of these things. + +A Superintendent of Police remarked that I was losing opportunities of +real enjoyment for the idle purpose of persisting in my fable of having +dropped down from the sky. However, I compelled him to explain to me +what was the reason of these things. The information I obtained was +briefly this: that Nature, in Skitzland, never removes the stomach. +Every man has to feed himself; and the necessity for finding food, +joined to the necessity for buying clothes, is a mainspring whereby the +whole clockwork of civilized life is kept in motion. Now, if a man +positively can not feed and clothe himself, he becomes a pauper. He then +goes to the Workhouse, where he has his stomach filled with a cement. +That stopping lasts a life-time, and he thereafter needs no food. His +body, however, becomes yellow by the superfluity of bile. The +yellow-boy, which is the Skitzland epithet for pauper, is at the same +time provided with a suit of clothes. The clothes are of a material so +tough that they can be worn unrepaired for more than eighty years. The +pauper is now freed from care, but were he in this state cast loose upon +society, since he has not that stimulus to labor which excites industry +in other men, he would become an element of danger in the state. Nature +no longer compelling him to work, the law compels him. The remainder of +his life is forfeit to the uses of his country. He labors at the +workhouse, costing nothing more than the expense of lodging, after the +first inconsiderable outlay for cement wherewith to plug his stomach, +and for the one suit of apparel. + +When we came out of the workhouse, all the bells in the town were +tolling. The superintendent told me that I had sadly frittered away +time, for I had now no more than half an hour to live. Upon that I +leaned my back against a post, and asked him to prepare me for my part +in the impending ceremony by giving me a little information on the +subject of executions. + +I found that it was usual for a man to be executed with great ceremony +upon the spot whereon his crime had been committed. That in case of +rebellions or tumults in the provinces, when large numbers were not +unfrequently condemned to death, the sentence of the law was carried out +in the chief towns of the disturbed districts. That large numbers of +people were thus sometimes discharged from a single market-place, and +that the repeated strokes appeared to shake, or crack, or pierce in some +degree that portion of the sky toward which the artillery had been +directed. I here at once saw that I had discovered the true cause of +earthquakes and volcanoes; and this shows how great light may be thrown +upon theories concerning the hidden constitution of this earth, by going +more deeply into the matter of it than had been done by any one before I +dug my hole. Our volcanoes, it is now proved, are situated over the +market-places of various provincial towns in Skitzland. When a +revolution happens, the rebels are shot up--discharged from mortars by +means of an explosive material evidently far more powerful than our +gun-powder or gun-cotton; and they are pulverized by the friction in +grinding their way through the earth. How simple and easy truth appears, +when we have once arrived at it. + +The sound of muffled drums approached us, and a long procession turned +the corner of a street. I was placed in the middle of it--Baron Terroro +by my side. All then began to float so rapidly away, that I was nearly +left alone, when forty arms came back and collared me. It was considered +to be a proof of my refractory disposition, that I would make no use of +my innate power, of flight. I was therefore dragged in this procession +swiftly through the air, drums playing, fifes lamenting. + +We alighted on the spot where I had fallen, and the hole through which I +had come I saw above me. It was very small, but the light from above +shining more vividly through it made it look, with its rough edges, like +a crumpled moon. A quantity of some explosive liquid was poured into a +large mortar, which had been erected (under the eye of Baron Terroro) +exactly where my misfortune happened. I was then thrust in, the baron +ramming me down, and pounding with a long stock or pestle upon my head +in a noticeably vicious manner. The baron then cried "Fire!" and as I +shot out, in the midst of a blaze, I saw him looking upward. + + +CHAPTER THE FIFTH. + +MY REVENGE ON THE SKITZLANDERS. + +By great good fortune, they had planted their artillery so well, that I +was fired up through my hole again, and alighted in my own garden, just +a little singed. My first thought was to run to an adjoining bed of +vegetable marrows. Thirty vegetable marrows and two pumpkins I rained +down to astonish the Skitzlanders, and I fervently hope that one of them +may have knocked out the remaining eye of my vindictive enemy, the +baron. I then went into the pantry, and obtained a basket full of eggs, +and having rained these down upon the Skitzlanders, I left them. + +It was after breakfast when I went down to Skitzland, and I came back +while the dinner bell was ringing. + + + + +[From the People's Journal.] + +CHARLOTTE CORDAY. + + +Perhaps the event that lingers longest in the memory, among all the +appalling episodes and startling passages of the French Revolution, is +the assassination of the tyrant Marat, by Charlotte Corday. With the +blood of old Corneille running in her veins, and possessing something of +his stern and masculine love of liberty, this simple child of nature +hears in her distant home that her friends, the Girondists, are +proscribed, and that a hated triumvirate in Paris, tramples on the +feelings and liberties of the people. Full of one idea, she purchases a +knife, and, without a single confidant, sets out for the metropolis, +where, procuring an interview with Marat, she stabs him to the heart, +and with one blow accomplishes her revenge, and what she vainly supposed +to be the people's redemption. + +In Miss Julia Kavanagh's charming volumes she gives us a pretty faithful +memoir of this extraordinary woman. Among the women of the French +Revolution, there is one, says the gifted authoress, who stands +essentially apart: a solitary episode of the eventful story. She appears +for a moment, performs a deed--heroic as to the intention, criminal as +to the means--and disappears forever; lost in the shadow of time--an +unfathomed mystery. + +The greatest portion of the youth of Charlotte Corday--to give her the +name by which she is generally known--was spent in the calm obscurity of +her convent solitude. Many high visions, many burning dreams and lofty +aspirations, already haunted her imaginative and enthusiastic mind, as +she slowly paced the silent cloisters, or rested, lost in thought, +beneath the shadow of the ancient elms. It is said that, like Madame +Roland, she contemplated secluding herself for ever from the world in +her monastic retreat; but, affected by the skepticism of the age, which +penetrated even beyond convent walls, she gave up the project.... + +All the austerity and republican enthusiasm of her illustrious ancestor, +Pierre Corneille, seemed to have come down to his young descendant. Even +Rousseau and Raynal, the apostles of democracy, had no pages that could +absorb her so deeply as those of ancient history, with its stirring +deeds and immortal recollections. Often, like Manon Philipon in the +recess of her father's workshop, might Charlotte Corday be seen in her +convent cell, thoughtfully bending over an open volume of Plutarch, that +powerful and eloquent historian of all heroic sacrifices. + +When the Abbaye aux Dames was closed, in consequence of the Revolution, +Charlotte was in her twentieth year, in the prime of life, and of +wonderful beauty; and never, perhaps, did a vision of more dazzling +loveliness step forth from beneath the dark convent portal into the +light of the free and open world. She was rather tall, but admirably +proportioned, with a figure full of native grace and dignity: her +hands, arms, and shoulders were models of pure sculptural beauty. An +expression of singular gentleness and serenity characterized her fair, +oval countenance and regular features. Her open forehead, dark and +well-arched eyebrows, and eyes of a gray so deep that it was often +mistaken for blue, added to her natural grave and meditative appearance; +her nose was straight and well formed, her mouth serious but exquisitely +beautiful. + +On leaving the convent in which she had been educated, Charlotte Corday +went to reside with her aunt, Madame Coutellier de Bretteville Gouville, +an old royalist lady, who inhabited an ancient-looking house in one of +the principal streets of Caën. There the young girl, who had inherited a +little property, spent several years, chiefly engaged in watching the +progress of the Revolution. + +A silent reserve characterized this epoch of Charlotte Corday's life; +her enthusiasm was not external but inward; she listened to the +discussions which were carried on around her without taking a part in +them herself. She seemed to feel instinctively that great thoughts are +always better nursed in the heart's solitude: that they can only lose +their native depth and intensity by being revealed too freely before the +indifferent gaze of the world. Those with whom she then occasionally +conversed took little heed of the substance of her discourse, and could +remember nothing of it when she afterward became celebrated; but all +recollected well her voice, and spoke with strange enthusiasm of its +pure, silvery sound. + +The fall of the Girondists, on the 31st of May, first suggested to +Charlotte Corday the possibility of giving an active shape to her +hitherto passive feelings. She watched with intense, though still silent +interest, the progress of events, concealing her secret indignation and +thoughts of vengeance under her habitually calm aspect. Those feelings +were heightened in her soul by the presence of the fugitive Girondists, +who had found a refuge in Caën, and were urging the Normans to raise an +army to march on Paris. She found a pretense to call upon Barbaroux, +then with his friends at the Intendance. She came twice, accompanied by +an old servant, and protected by her own modest dignity. Péthion saw her +in the hall, where she was waiting for the handsome Girondist, and +observed with a smile, "So the beautiful aristocrat is come to see +republicans." "Citizen Péthion," she replied, "you now judge me without +knowing me, but a time will come when you shall learn who I am." With +Barbaroux, Charlotte chiefly conversed of the imprisoned Girondists; of +Madame Roland and Marat. The name of this man had long haunted her with +a mingled feeling of dread and horror. To Marat she ascribed the +proscription of the Girondists, the woes of the Republic, and on him she +resolved to avenge her ill-fated country. Charlotte was not aware that +Marat was but the tool of Danton and Robespierre. "If such actions +could be counseled," afterward said Barbaroux, "it is not Marat whom we +would have advised her to strike." + +While this deadly thought was daily strengthening itself in Charlotte's +mind, she received several offers of marriage. She declined them, on the +plea of wishing to remain free: but strange indeed must have seemed to +her, at that moment, those proposals of earthly love. One of those whom +her beauty had enamored, M. de Franquelin, a young volunteer in the +cause of the Girondists, died of grief on learning her fate; his last +request was, that her portrait, and a few letters he had formerly +received from her, might be buried with him in his grave. + +For several days after her last interview with Barbaroux, Charlotte +brooded silently over her great thought; often meditating on the history +of Judith. Her aunt subsequently remembered that, on entering her room +one morning, she found an old Bible open on her bed: the verse in which +it is recorded that "the Lord had gifted Judith with a special beauty +and fairness," for the deliverance of Israel, was underlined with a +pencil. + +On another occasion Madame de Bretteville found her niece weeping alone; +she inquired into the cause of her tears. "They flow," replied +Charlotte, "for the misfortunes of my country." Heroic and devoted as +she was, she then also wept, perchance, over her own youth and beauty, +so soon to be sacrificed forever. No personal considerations altered her +resolve: she procured a passport, provided herself with money, and paid +a farewell visit to her father, to inform him that, considering the +unsettled condition of France, she thought it best to retire to England. +He approved of her intention, and bade her adieu. On returning to Caën, +Charlotte told the same tale to Madame de Bretteville, left a secret +provision for an old nurse, and distributed the little property she +possessed among her friends. + +It was on the morning of the 9th of July, 1793, that she left the house +of her aunt, without trusting herself with a last farewell. Her most +earnest wish was, when her deed should have been accomplished, to +perish, wholly unknown, by the hands of an infuriated multitude. The +woman who could contemplate such a fate, and calmly devote herself to +it, without one selfish thought of future renown, had indeed the heroic +soul of a martyr. + +Her journey to Paris was marked by no other event than the unwelcome +attentions of some Jacobins with whom she traveled. One of them, struck +by her modest and gentle beauty, made her a very serious proposal of +marriage: she playfully evaded his request, but promised that he should +learn who and what she was at some future period. On entering Paris, she +proceeded immediately to the Hotel de la Providence, Rue ties Vieux +Augustins, not far from Marat's dwelling. Here she rested for two days +before calling on her intended victim. Nothing can mark more forcibly +the singular calmness of her mind: she felt no hurry to accomplish the +deed for which she had journeyed so far, and over which she had +meditated so deeply: her soul remained serene and undaunted to the last. +The room which she occupied, and which has often been pointed out to +inquiring strangers, was a dark and wretched attic, into which light +scarcely ever penetrated. There she read again the volume of Plutarch +she had brought with her--unwilling to part from her favorite author, +even in her last hours--and probably composed that energetic address to +the people which was found upon her after her apprehension. + +Charlotte perceived that to call on Marat was the only means by which +she might accomplish her purpose. She did so on the morning of the 13th +of July, having first purchased a knife in the Palais Royal, and written +him a note, in which she requested an interview. She was refused +admittance. She then wrote him a second note, more pressing than the +first, and in which she represented herself as persecuted for the cause +of freedom. Without waiting to see what effect this note might produce, +she called again at half-past seven the same evening. + +Marat then resided in the Rue des Cordeliers, in a gloomy-looking house, +which has since been demolished. His constant fears of assassination +were shared by those around him; the porter seeing a strange woman pass +by his lodge, without pausing to make any inquiry, ran out and called +her back. She did not heed his remonstrance, but swiftly ascended the +old stone staircase, until she had reached the door of Marat's +apartment. It was cautiously opened by Albertine, a woman with whom +Marat cohabited, and who passed for his wife. Recognizing the same young +and handsome girl who had already called on her husband, and animated, +perhaps by a feeling of jealous mistrust, Albertine refused to admit +her; Charlotte insisted with great earnestness. The sound of their +altercation reached Marat: he immediately ordered his wife to admit the +stranger, whom he recognized as the author of the two letters he had +received in the course of the day. Albertine obeyed reluctantly; she +allowed Charlotte to enter; and after crossing with her an ante chamber, +where she had been occupied with a man named Laurent Basse in folding +some numbers of the "Ami du Peuple," she ushered her through two other +rooms, until they came to a narrow closet where Marat was then in a +bath. He gave a look at Charlotte, and ordered his wife to leave them +alone: she complied, but allowed the door of the closet to remain half +open, and kept within call. + +According to his usual custom, Marat wore a soiled handkerchief bound +round his head, increasing his natural hideousness. A coarse covering +was thrown across the bath; a board, likewise, placed transversely, +supported his papers. Laying down his pen, he asked Charlotte the +purport of her visit. The closet was so narrow that she touched the bath +near which she stood. She gazed on him with ill-disguised horror and +disgust, but answered as composedly as she could, that she had come from +Caën, in order to give him correct intelligence concerning the +proceedings of the Girondists there. He listened, questioned her +eagerly, wrote down the names of the Girondists, then added, with a +smile of triumph: "Before a week they shall have perished on the +guillotine." "These words," afterward said Charlotte, "sealed his fate." +Drawing from beneath the handkerchief which covered her bosom the knife +she had kept there all along, she plunged it to the hilt in Marat's +heart. He gave one loud, expiring cry for help, and sank back dead, in +the bath. By an instinctive impulse, Charlotte had instantly drawn out +the knife from the breast of her victim, but she did not strike again; +casting it down at his feet, she left the closet, and sat down in the +neighboring room, thoughtfully passing her hand across her brow: her +task was done. + +The wife of Marat had rushed to his aid on hearing his cry for help. +Laurent Basse, seeing that all was over, turned round toward Charlotte, +and, with a blow of a chair, felled her to the floor; while the +infuriated Albertine trampled her under her feet. The tumult aroused the +other tenants of the house; the alarm spread, and a crowd gathered in +the apartment, who learned with stupor that Marat, the Friend of the +People, had been murdered. Deeper still was their wonder when they gazed +on the murderess. She stood there before them with still disordered +garments, and her disheveled hair, loosely bound by a broad green ribbon +falling around her; but so calm, so serenely lovely, that those who most +abhorred her crime gazed on her with involuntary admiration. "Was she +then so beautiful?" was the question addressed, many years afterward, to +an old man, one of the few remaining witnesses of this scene. +"Beautiful!" he echoed, enthusiastically; adding, with the eternal +regrets of old age: "Ay, there are none such now!" + +On the morning of the 17th, she was led before her judges. She was +dressed with care, and had never looked more lovely. Her bearing was so +imposing and dignified, that the spectators and the judges seemed to +stand arraigned before her. She interrupted the first witness, by +declaring that it was she who had killed Marat. "Who inspired you with +so much hatred against him?" asked the President. + +"I needed not the hatred of others, I had enough of my own," she +energetically replied; "besides, we do not execute well that which we +have not ourselves conceived." + +"What, then, did you hate in Marat?" + +"His crimes." + +"Do you think that you have assassinated all the Marats?" + +"No; but now that he is dead, the rest may fear." + +She answered other questions with equal firmness and laconism. Her +project, she declared, had been formed since the 31st of May. "She had +killed one man to save a hundred thousand She was a republican long +before the Revolution, and had never failed in energy." + +"What do you understand by energy?" asked the President. + +"That feeling," she replied, "which induces us to east aside selfish +considerations, and sacrifice ourselves for our country." + +Fouquier Tinville here observed, alluding to the sure blow she had +given, that she must be well practiced in crime. "The monster takes me +for an assassin!" she exclaimed, in a tone thrilling with indignation. +This closed the debates, and her defender rose. It was not Doulcet de +Pontécoulant--who had not received her letter--but Chauveau de la Garde, +chosen by the President. Charlotte gave him an anxious look, as though +she feared he might seek to save her at the expense of honor. He spoke, +and she perceived that her apprehensions were unfounded. Without +excusing her crime, or attributing it to insanity, he pleaded for the +fervor of her conviction; which he had the courage to call sublime. The +appeal proved unavailing. Charlotte Corday was condemned. Without +deigning to answer the President, who asked her if she had aught to +object to the penalty of death being carried out against her, she rose, +and walking up to her defender, thanked him gracefully. "These +gentlemen," said she, pointing to the judges, "have just informed me +that the whole of my property is confiscated. I owe something in the +prison: as a proof of my friendship and esteem, I request you to pay +this little debt." + +On returning to the conciergerie, she found an artist, named Hauër, +waiting for her, to finish her portrait, which he had begun at the +tribunal. They conversed freely together, until the executioner, +carrying the red chemise destined for assassins, and the scissors with +which he was to cut her hair off, made his appearance. "What, so soon!" +exclaimed Charlotte Corday, slightly turning pale; but rallying her +courage, she resumed her composure, and presented a look of her hair to +M. Hauër, as the only reward in her power to offer. A priest came to +offer her his ministry. She thanked him and the persons by whom he had +been sent, but declined his spiritual aid. The executioner cut her hair, +bound her hands, and threw the red chemise over her. M. Hauër was struck +with the almost unearthly loveliness which the crimson hue of this +garment imparted to the ill-fated maiden. "This toilet of death, though +performed by rude hands, leads to immortality," said Charlotte, with a +smile. + +A heavy storm broke forth as the car of the condemned left the +conciergerie for the Place de la Revolution. An immense crowd lined +every street through which Charlotte Corday passed. Hootings and +execrations at first rose on her path; but as her pure and serene beauty +dawned on the multitude, as the exquisite loveliness of her countenance +and the sculptural beauty of her figure became more fully revealed, +pity and admiration superseded every other feeling. Her bearing was so +admirably calm and dignified, as to rouse sympathy in the breasts of +those who detested not only her crime, but the cause for which it had +been committed. Many men of every party took off their hats and bowed as +the cart passed before them. Among those who waited its approach, was a +young German, normed Adam Luz, who stood at the entrance of the Rue +Saint Honoré, and followed Charlotte to the scaffold. He gazed on the +lovely and heroic maiden with all the enthusiasm of his imaginative +race. A love, unexampled perhaps in the history of the human heart, took +possession of his soul. + +Unconscious of the passionate love she had awakened, Charlotte now stood +near the guillotine. She turned pale on first beholding it, but soon +resumed her serenity. A deep blush suffused her face when the +executioner removed the handkerchief that covered her neck and +shoulders, but she calmly laid her head upon the block. The executioner +touched a spring and the ax came down. One of Samson's assistants +immediately stepped forward, and holding up the lifeless head to the +gaze of the crowd, struck it on either cheek. The brutal act only +excited a feeling of horror; and it is said that--as though even in +death her indignant spirit protested against this outrage--an angry and +crimson flush passed over the features of Charlotte Corday. + + + + +[From Household Words.] + +GREENWICH WEATHER-WISDOM. + + +In England every body notices the weather, and talks about the weather, +and suffers by the weather, yet very few of us _know_ any thing about +it. The changes of our climate have given us a constant and an +insatiable national disease--consumption; the density of our winter fog +has gained an European celebrity; while the general haziness of our +atmosphere induces an Italian or an American to doubt whether we are +ever indulged with a real blue sky. "Good day" has become the national +salutation; umbrellas, water-proof clothes, and cough mixtures are +almost necessities of English life; yet, despite these daily and hourly +proofs of the importance of the weather to each and all of us, it is +only within the last ten years that any effectual steps have been taken +in England to watch the weather and the proximate elements which +regulate its course and variations. + +Yet, in those ten years positive wonders have been done, and good hope +established that a continuance of patient inquiry will be rewarded by +still further discoveries. To take a single result, it may be mentioned, +that a careful study of the thermometer has shown that a descent of the +temperature of London from forty-five to thirty-two degrees, generally +kills about 300 persons. They may not all die in the very week when the +loss of warmth takes place, but the number of deaths is found to +increase to that extent over the previous average within a short period +after the change. The fall of temperature, in truth, kills them as +certainly as a well-aimed cannon-shot. Our changing climate, or +deficient food and shelter, has prepared them for the final stroke, but +they actually die at last of the weather. + +Before 1838, several European states, less apt than ourselves to talk +about the weather, had taken it up as a study, and had made various +contributions to the general knowledge of the subject; but in that year +England began to act. The officials who now and then emerge from the +Admiralty under the title of the "Board of Visitors," to see what is in +progress at the Greenwich Observatory, were reminded by Mr. Airy, the +astronomer royal, that much good might be done by pursuing a course of +magnetic and meteorological observations. The officials "listened and +believed." + +The following year saw a wooden fence pushed out behind the Observatory +walls, in the direction of Blackheath, and soon afterward a few +low-roofed, unpainted, wooden buildings were dotted over the inclosure. +These structures are small enough and humble enough to outward view, yet +they contain some most beautifully-constructed instruments, and have +been the scene of a series of observations and discoveries of the +greatest interest and value. The stray holiday visitor to Greenwich +Park, who feels tempted to look over the wooden paling, sees only a +series of deal sheds, upon a rough grass-plat; a mast some eighty feet +high, steadied by ropes, and having a lantern at the top, and a windlass +below; and if he looks closer, he perceives a small inner inclosure, +surrounded by a dwarf fence; an upright stand, with a movable top, +sheltering a collection of thermometers; and here and there a pile of +planks and unused partitioning, that helps to give the place an +appearance of temporary expediency, an aspect something between a +collection of emigrants' cottages and the yard of a dealer in +second-hand building materials. But--as was said when speaking of the +Astronomical Observatory--Greenwich is a practical place, and not one +prepared for show. Science, like virtue, does not require a palace for a +dwelling-place. In this collection of deal houses, during the last ten +years, Nature has been constantly watched, and interrogated with the +zeal and patience which alone can glean a knowledge of her secrets. And +the results of those watches, kept at all hours, and in all weathers, +are curious in the extreme; but before we ask what they are, let us +cross the barrier, and see with what tools the weather-students work. + +The main building is built in the form of a cross, with its chief front +to the magnetic north. It is formed of wood, all iron and other metals +being carefully excluded; for its purpose is to contain three large +magnets, which have to be isolated from all influence likely to +interfere with their truthful action. In three arms of the cross these +magnets are suspended by bands of unwrought, untwisted silk. In the +fourth arm is a sort of double window, filled with apparatus for +receiving the electricity collected at the top of the mast which stands +close by. Thus, in this wooden shed, we find one portion devoted to; +electricity--to the detection and registry of the stray lightning of the +atmosphere--and the other three to a set of instruments that feel the +influence and register the variations of the magnetic changes in the +conditions of the air. "True as the needle to the pole," is the burden +of an old song, which now shows how little our forefathers knew about +this same needle, which, in truth, has a much steadier character than it +deserves. Let all who still have faith in the legend go to the +magnet-house, and when they have seen the vagaries there displayed, they +will have but a poor idea of Mr. Charles Dibdin's sea-heroes, whose +constancy is declared to have been as true as their compasses were to +the north. + +Upon entering the magnet-house, the first object that attracts attention +are the jars to which the electricity is brought down. The fluid is +collected, as just stated, by a conductor running from the top of the +mast outside. In order that not the slightest portion may be lost in its +progress down, a lamp is kept constantly burning near the top of the +pole, the light of which keeps warm and dry a body of glass that cuts +off all communication between the conductor and the machinery which +supports it. Another light, for the purpose of collecting the +electricity by its flame, is placed above the top of the pole. This +light, burning at night, has given rise to many a strange supposition in +the neighborhood. It is too high up to be serviceable as a lantern to +those below. Besides, who walks in Greenwich Park after the gates are +closed? It can light only the birds or the deer. "Then, surely," says +another popular legend, "it is to guide the ships on the river, when on +their way up at night; a sort of landmark to tell where-abouts the +Observatory is when the moon and stars are clouded, and refuse to show +where their watchers are." + +All these speculations are idle, for the lights burn when the sun is +shining, as well as at night; and the object of the lower one is that no +trace of moisture, and no approach of cold, shall give the electricity a +chance of slipping down the mast, or the ropes, to the earth, but shall +leave it no way of escape from the wise men below, who want it, and will +have it, whether it likes or no, in their jars, that they may measure +its quantity and its quality, and write both down in their journals. It +is thus that electricity comes down the wires into those jars on our +right as we enter. If very slight, its presence there is indicated by +tiny morsels of pendent gold-leaf; if stronger, the divergence of two +straws show it; if stronger still, the third jar holds its greater +force, while neighboring instruments measure the length of the electric +sparks, or mark the amount of the electric force. At the desk, close by, +sits the observer, who jots down the successive indications. In his +book he registers from day to day, throughout the year, how much +electricity has been in the air, and what was its character, even to +such particulars as to whether its sparks were blue, violet, or purple +in color. At times, however, he has to exercise great care, and it is +not always that he even then escapes receiving severe shocks. + +Passing on, we approach the magnets. They are three in number; of large +size, and differently suspended, to show the various ways in which such +bodies are acted upon. All hang by bands of unwrought silk. If the silk +were twisted, it would twist the magnets, and the accuracy of their +position would be disturbed. Magnets, like telescopes, must be true in +their adjustment to the hundredth part of a hair's breadth. One magnet +hangs north and south; another east and west; and a third, like a +scale-beam, is balanced on knife-edges and agate planes, so beautifully, +that when once adjusted and inclosed in its case, it is opened only once +a year, lest one grain of dust, or one small spider, should destroy its +truth; for spiders are as troublesome to the weather-student as to the +astronomer. These insects like the perfect quiet that reigns about the +instruments of the philosopher, and with heroic perseverance persist in +spinning their fine threads among his machines. Indeed, spiders +occasionally betray the magnetic observer into very odd behavior At +times he may be seen bowing in the sunshine, like a Persian +fire-worshiper; now stooping in this direction, now dodging in that, but +always gazing through the sun's rays up toward that luminary. He seems +demented, staring at nothing. At last he lifts his hand; he snatches +apparently at vacancy to pull nothing down In truth his eye had at last +caught the gleam of light reflected from an almost invisible spider line +running from the electrical wire to the neighboring planks. The spider +who had ventured on the charged wire paid the penalty of such daring +with his life long ago, but he had left his web behind him, and that +beautifully minute thread has been carrying off to the earth a portion +of the electric fluid, before it had been received, and tested, and +registered by the mechanism below. Such facts show the exceeding +delicacy of the observations. + +For seven years, the magnets suspended in this building were constantly +watched every two hours--every even hour--day and night, except on +Sundays, the object being that some light might be thrown upon the laws +regulating the movements of the mariner's compass; hence, that while men +became wiser, navigation might be rendered safer. The chief +observer--the _genius loci_--is Mr. Glaisher, whose name figures in the +reports of the Register-General. He, with two assistants, from year to +year, went on making these tedious examinations of the variations of the +magnets, by means of small telescopes, fixed with great precision upon +pedestals of masonry or wood fixed on the earth, and unconnected with +the floor of the building, occupying a position exactly between the +three magnets. This mode of proceeding had continued for some years with +almost unerring regularity, and certain large quarto volumes full of +figures were the results, when an ingenious medical man, Mr. Brooke, hit +upon a photographic plan for removing the necessity for this perpetual +watchfulness. Now, in the magnet-house, we see light and chemistry doing +the tasks before performed by human labor; and doing them more +faithfully than even the most vigilant of human eyes and hands. Around +the magnets are cases of zinc, so perfect that they exclude all light +from without. Inside those cases, in one place, is a lamp giving a +single ray of prepared light, which, falling upon a mirror soldered to +the magnet, moves with its motions. This wandering ray, directed toward +a sheet of sensitive photographic paper, records the magnet's slightest +motion! The paper moves on by clock-work, and once in four-and-twenty +hours an assistant, having closed the shutters of the building, lights a +lantern of _yellow glass_, opens the magnet-boxes, removes the paper on +which the magnets have been enabled to record their own motions, and +then, having put in a fresh sheet of sensitive paper, he shuts it +securely in, winds up the clock-work, puts out his yellow light, and +lets in the sunshine. His lantern glass is yellow, because the yellow +rays are the only ones which can be safely allowed to fall upon the +photographic paper during its removal from the instrument, to the dish +in which its magnetic picture is to be _fixed_ by a further chemical +process. It is the blue ray of the light that gives the daguerrotypic +likeness--as most persons who have had their heads off, under the hands +of M. Claudet, or Mr. Beard, or any of their numerous competitors in the +art of preparing sun-pictures, well know. + +Since the apparatus of Mr. Brooke for the self-registration of the +magnetic changes has been in operation at Greenwich, the time of Mr. +Glaisher and his assistants has been more at liberty for other branches +of their duties. These are numerous enough. Thermometers and barometers +have to be watched as well as magnets. To these instruments the same +ingenious photographic contrivance is applied. + +The wooden building next to the magnet-house on the southwest contains a +modification of Mr. Brooke's ingenious plan, by which the rise and fall +of the temperature of the air is self-registered. Outside the building +are the bulbs of thermometers freely exposed to the weather. Their +shafts run through a zinc case, and as the mercury rises or falls, it +moves a float having a projecting arm. Across this arm is thrown the ray +of prepared light which falls then upon the sensitive paper. Thus we see +the variations of the needle and the variations in heat and cold both +recording their own story, within these humble-looking wooden sheds, as +completely as the wind and the rain are made to do the same thing, on +the top of the towers of the Observatory. The reward given to the +inventor of this ingenious mode of self-registration has been recently +revealed in a parliamentary paper, thus: "To Mr. Charles Brooke for his +invention and establishment at the Royal Observatory, of the apparatus +for the self-registration of magnetical and meteorological phenomena, +£500." Every year the invention will save fully £500 worth of human +toil; and the reward seems small when we see every year millions voted +for warlike, sinecure, and other worse than useless purposes. + +Photography, however, can not do all the work. Its records have to be +cheeked by independent observations every day, and then both have to be +brought to their practical value by comparison with certain tables which +test their accuracy, and make them available for disclosing certain +scientific results. The preparation of such tables is one of the +practical triumphs of Greenwich. Many a quiet country gentleman amuses +his leisure by noting day by day the variations of his thermometer and +barometer. Heretofore such observations were isolated and of no general +value, but now, by the tables completed by Mr. Glaisher, and published +by the Royal Society, they may all be converted into scientific values, +and be made available for the increase of our weather-wisdom. For nearly +seventy years the Royal Society had observations made at Somerset House, +but they were a dead letter--mere long columns of figures--till these +tables gave them significance. And the same tables now knit into one +scientific whole, the observations taken by forty scientific volunteers, +who, from day to day, record for the Registrar-General of births and +deaths, the temperature, moisture, &c., of their different localities, +which vary from Glasgow to Guernsey, and from Cornwall to Norwich. + +What the Rosetta stone is to the history of the Pharaohs, these +Greenwich tables have been to the weather-hieroglyphics. They have +afforded something like a key to the language in which the secrets are +written; and it remains for industrious observation and scientific zeal +to complete the modern victory over ancient ignorance. Already the +results of the Greenwich studies of the weather have given us a number +of curious morsels of knowledge. The wholesale destruction of human life +induced by a fall in the temperature of London has just been noticed. +Besides the manifestation of that fact, we are shown, that instead of a +warm summer being followed by a cold winter, the tendency of the law of +the weather is to group warm seasons together, and cold seasons +together. Mr. Glaisher has made out, that the character of the weather +seems to follow certain curves, so to speak, each extending over periods +of fifteen years. During the first half of each of these periods, the +seasons become warmer and warmer, till they reach their warmest point, +and then they sink again, becoming colder and colder, till they reach +the lowest point, whence they rise again. His tables range over the +last seventy-nine years--from 1771 to 1849. Periods shown to be the +coldest, were years memorable for high-priced food, increased mortality, +popular discontent, and political changes. In his diagrams, the warm +years are tinted brown, and the cold years gray, and as the sheets are +turned over and the dates scanned, the fact suggest itself that a gray +period saw Lord George Gordon's riots; a gray period was marked by the +Reform Bill excitement; and a gray period saw the Corn Laws repealed. + +A few more morsels culled from the experience of these weather-seers, +and we have done. + +Those seasons have been best which have enjoyed an average +temperature--not too hot nor too cold. + +The indications are that the climate of England is becoming warmer, and, +consequently, healthier; a fact to be partly accounted for by the +improved drainage and the removal of an excess of timber from the land. + +The intensity of cholera was found greatest in those places where the +air was stagnant; and, therefore, any means for causing its motion, as +lighting fires and improving ventilation, are thus proved to be of the +utmost consequence. + +Some day near the 20th of January--the lucky guess, in 1838, of Murphy's +Weather Almanac--will, upon the average of years, be found to be the +coldest of the whole year. + +In the middle of May there are generally some days of cold, so severe as +to be unexplainable. Humboldt mentions this fact in his Cosmos; and +various authors have tried to account for it--at present in vain. The +favorite notion, perhaps, is that which attributes this period of cold +to the loosening of the icebergs of the north. Another weather +eccentricity is the usual advent of some warm days at the beginning of +November. + +Certain experiments in progress to test the difference between the +temperature of the Thames, and of the surrounding atmosphere, are +expected to show the cause of the famous London fog. During the night +the Thames is often from ten to seventeen degrees warmer, and in the day +time from eight to ten degrees colder than the air above it. + +If the theory of weather-cycles holds good, we are to have seasons +colder than the average from this time till 1853, when warmth will begin +again to predominate over cold. A chilly prophecy this to close with, +and therefore, rather let an anecdote complete this chapter on the +Weather-Watchers of Greenwich. + +Among other experiments going on some time ago in the observatory +inclosure, were some by which Mr. Glaisher sought to discover how much +warmth the earth lost during the hours of night, and how much moisture +the air would take up in a day from a given surface. Upon the long +grass, within the dwarf fence already mentioned were placed all sorts of +odd substances, in little distinct qualities. Ashes wood, leather, +linen, cotton, glass, lead, copper and stone, among other things, were +there to show how each affected the question of radiation. Close by upon +a post was a dish six inches across, in which every day there was +punctually poured one ounce of water, and at the same hour next day, as +punctually was this fluid remeasured to see what had been lost by +evaporation. For three years this latter experiment had been going on, +and the results were posted up in a book; but the figures gave most +contradictory results. There was either something very irregular in the +air, or something very wrong in the apparatus. It was watched for +leakage, but none was found, when one day Mr. Glaisher stepped out of +the magnet-house, and looking toward the stand, the mystery was +revealed. The evaporating dish of the philosopher was being used as a +bath by an irreverent bird! a sparrow was scattering from his wings the +water left to be drunk by the winds of Heaven. Only one thing remained +to be done; and the next minute saw a pen run through the tables that +had taken three years to compile. The labor was lost--the work had to be +begun again. + + + + +DOING. + + + Oh, friend, whoe'er thou art, who dost rejoice + In the sweet tones of thy melodious voice; + Which to thy fancy are so rich and clear, + Falling like music, on the list'ning ear, + Of thee I ask, + What hast thou done of that thou hast to do? + Art silent? Then I say, + Until thy deeds are many let thy words be few. + + Oh, man, whoe'er thou art, within whose breast + The glowing thoughts disdain ignoble rest; + Whose soul is laboring with a monstrous birth + Of winged words, to scatter through the earth + Of thee I ask, + What hast thou done of that thou hast to do? + Art silent? Then I say, + Until thy deeds are many let thy words be few. + + Oh, brother mine, who would'st reform mankind + Purging the dross, and leaving all refined; + Preaching of sinless love, sobriety, + Of goodness, endless peace, and charity, + Of thee I ask, + What hast thou done of that thou hast to do? + Art silent? Then I say, + Until thy deeds are many let thy words be few. + + Speech without action is a moral dearth, + And to advance the world is little worth: + Let us think much, say little, and much do, + If to ourselves and God we will be true; + And ask within, + What have I done of that I have to do? + Is conscience silent--say, + Oh! let my deeds be many and my words be few. + + J. G. L. BULLEID. + + + + +[From Household Words.] + +YOUNG RUSSIA. + + +Certain social theorists have, of late years, proclaimed themselves to +the puzzled public under the name and signification of "Young." Young +France, Young Germany, and Young England have had their day, and having +now grown older, and by consequence wiser, are comparatively mute. In +accordance with what seems a natural law, it is only when a fashion is +being forgotten where it originated--in the west--that is reaches +Russia, which rigidly keeps a century or so behind the rest of the +Continent. It is only recently, therefore, that we hear of "Young +Russia." + +The main principles of all these national youths are alike. They are +pleasingly picturesque--simperingly amiable; with a pretty and piquant +dash of paradox. What they propose is not new birth, or dashing out into +new systems, and taking advantage of new ideas; but reverting to old +systems, and furbishing them up so as to look as good as new. +Re-juvenescence is their aim; the middle ages their motto. Young +England, to wit, desires to replace things as they were in the days of +the pack-horse, the thumb-screw, the monastery, the ducking-stool, the +knight errant, trial by battle, and the donjon-keep. To these he wishes +to apply all possible modern improvements, to adapt them to present +ideas, and to present events. Though he would have no objection to his +mailed knight traveling per first-class railway, he would abolish +luggage-trains to encourage intestine trade and the breed of that noble +animal the pack-horse. He has, indeed, done something in this monastic +line; but his efforts for the dissemination of superstition, and his +denunciations of a certain sort of witchcraft, have signally failed. In +truth, the task he has set himself--that of re-constructing society anew +out of old materials--though highly archæological, historical, and +poetic, has the fatal disadvantage of being simply impossible. It is +telling the people of the nineteenth century to carry their minds, +habits, and sentiments back, so as to become people of the thirteenth +century; it is trying to make new muslin out of mummy cloth, or razors +out of rusty nails. + +"Young Russia" is an equal absurdity, but from a precisely opposite +cause; for, indeed, this sort of youth out of age is a series of +paradoxes. The Russian of the present day _is_ the Russian of past ages. +He exists by rule--the rule of despotism--which is as old as the Medes +and Persians; and which forces him into an iron mould that shapes his +appearance, his mind, and his actions to one pattern, from one +generation to another Hence every thing that lives and breathes in +Russia being antique, there is no appreciable antiquity. The new school, +therefore--even if amateur politics were allowable in Russia, which they +are not, as a large population of exiles in Siberia can testify--has no +materials to work upon. Stagnation is the political law, and "Young +Russia" dies in its babyhood for want of sustenance. What goes by the +name of civilization, is no advance in wealth, morals, or social +happiness. It is merely a tinsel coating over the rottenness and rust +with which Russian life is "sicklied o'er." It has nothing to do with a +single soul below the rank of a noble; and with him it means Champagne, +bad pictures, Parisian tailors, operas, gaming, and other expenses and +elegancies imported from the West. Hundreds of provincial noblemen are +ruined every year in St. Petersburg, in undergoing this process of +civilization. The fortunes thus wasted are enormous; yet there is only +one railroad now in operation throughout the whole empire, and that +belongs to the Emperor, and leads to one of his palaces a few miles from +the capital. Such is Russian civilization. What then is "Young Russia" +to do? Ask one of its youngest apostles, Ivan Vassilievitsch. + +This young gentleman--for an introduction to whom we are indebted to +Count Sollogub--was, not long ago, parading the Iverskoy boulevard--one +of the thirteen which half encircle Moscow--when he met a neighbor from +the province of Kazan. Ivan had lately returned from abroad. He was a +perfect specimen of the new school, inside and out. Within, he had +imbibed all the ideas of the juvenile or verdant schools of Germany, +France, and England. Without, he displayed a London macintosh; his coat +and trowsers had been designed and executed by Parisian artists; his +hair was cut in the style of the middle ages; and his chin showed the +remnants of a Vandyke beard. He also resembled the new school in another +respect: he had spent all his money, yet he was separated from home by +the distance of a long--a Russian--journey. + +To meet with a neighbor--which he did--who traveled in his own carriage, +in which he offered a seat, was the height of good fortune. The more so, +as Ivan wished to see as much of Russian life on the road as possible, +and to note down his _impressions_ in a journal, whose white leaves were +as yet unsullied with ink. From the information he intended to collect, +he intended to commence helping to re-construct Russian society after +the order of the new Russiaites. + +The vehicle in which this great mission was to be performed, was a +humble family affair called a _Tarantas_. After a series of +adventures--but which did not furnish Ivan a single _impression_ for his +note-book--they arrive at Vladimir, the capital of a province or +"government." Here the younger traveler meets with a friend, to whom he +confides his intention of visiting all the other Government towns for +"Young Russia" purposes. His friend's reply is dispiriting to the last +degree. + +"There is no difference between our government towns. See one, and +you'll know them all!" + +"Is it possible?" + +"It is so, I assure you. Every one has a High-street one principal shop, +where the country gentlemen buy silks for their wives, and Champagne +for themselves; then there are the Courts of Justice, the +assembly-rooms, an apothecary's shop, a river, a square, a bazaar, two +or three street-lamps, sentry-boxes for the watchmen, and the governor's +house." + +"The society, however, in the government towns must be different?" + +"On the contrary. The society is still more uniform than the buildings." + +"You astonish me: how is that?" + +"Listen. There is, of course, in every government town a governor. These +do not always resemble each other; but as soon as any one of them +appears, police and secretaries immediately become active, merchants and +tradesmen bow, and the gentry draw themselves up, with, however, some +little awe. Wherever the governor goes, he is sure to find Champagne, +the wine so much patronized in the province, and every body drinks a +bumper to the health of the '_father of the province_.' Governors +generally are well-bred, and sometimes very proud. They like to give +dinner-parties, and benevolently condescend to play a game of whist with +rich brandy-contractors and landowners." + +"That's a common thing," remarked Ivan Vassilievitsch. + +"Do not interrupt me. Besides the governor, there is in nearly every +government town the governor's lady. She is rather a peculiar personage; +generally brought up in one of the two capitals, and spoiled with the +cringing attentions of her company. On her husband's first entry into +office, she is polite and affable; later, she begins to feel weary of +the ordinary provincial intrigues and gossips; she gets accustomed to +the slavish attentions she receives, and lays claim to them. At this +period she surrounds herself with a parasitical suite; she quarrels with +the lady of the vice-governor; she brags of St. Petersburg; speaks with +disdain of her provincial circle, and finally draws upon herself the +utmost universal ill-feeling, which is kept up till the day of her +departure, when all goes into oblivion, every thing is pardoned, and +every body bids her farewell with tears." + +"Two persons do not form the whole society of a town," interrupted again +Ivan Vassilievitsch. + +"Patience, brother, patience! Certainly there are other persons besides +the two I have just spoken of: there is the vice-governor and his lady; +several presidents, with their respective ladies, and an innumerable +crowd of functionaries serving under their leadership. The ladies are +ever quarreling in words, while their husbands do the same thing upon +foolscap. The presidents, for the most part, are men of advanced age and +business-like habits, with great crosses hanging from their necks, and +are, during the day time, to be seen out of their courts only on +holidays. The government attorney is generally a single man, and an +enviable match. The superior officer of the _gens-d'armes_ is a 'good +fellow.' The nobility-marshal a great sportsman. Besides the government +and the local officers, there live in a government town stingy +landowners, or those who have squandered away their property; they +gamble from evening to morning, nay, from morning to evening too, +without getting the least bit tired of their exercise." + +"Now, about their mode of living?" asked Ivan Vassilievitsch. + +"The mode of living is a very dull one. At exchange of ceremonious +visits. Intrigues, cards--cards, intrigues. Now and then, perchance, you +may meet with a kind, hospitable family, but such a case is very rare; +you much oftener find a ludicrous affectation to imitate the manners of +an imaginary high life. There are no public amusements in a government +town. During winter a series of balls are announced to take place at the +Assembly-rooms; however from an absurd primness, these balls are little +frequented, because no one wants to be the first in the room. The '_bon +genre_' remains at home and plays whist. In general, I have remarked, +that on arriving in a government town, it seems as if you were too early +or too late for some extraordinary event. You are ever welcomed: 'What a +pity you were not here yesterday!' or, 'You should stay here till +to-morrow.'" + +In process of time Ivan Vassilievitsch and his good-natured fat +companion, Vassily Ivanovitsch, reach a borough town, where the Tarantas +breaks down. There is a tavern, and here is a description of it. + +"The tavern was like any other tavern--a large wooden hut, with the +usual out-buildings. At the entrance stood an empty cart. The staircase +was crooked and shaky, and at the top of it, like a moving candelabrum, +stood a waiter with a tallow candle in his hand. To the right was the +tap-room, painted from time immemorial to imitate a grove. Tumblers, +tea-pots, decanters, three silver and a great number of pewter spoons, +adorned the shelves of a cup-board; a couple of lads in chintz shirts, +with dirty napkins over their shoulders, busied themselves at the bar. +Through an open door you saw in the next room a billiard-table, and a +hen gravely promenading upon it. + +"Our travelers were conducted into the principal room of this elegant +establishment, where they found, seated round a boiling tea-urn, three +merchants--one gray-haired, one red-haired, and one dark-haired. Each of +these was armed with a steaming tumbler; each of them sipped, smacked +his lips, stroked his beard, and sipped again the fragrant beverage. + +"The red-haired man was saying, + +"'I made, last summer, a splendid bargain. I had bought from a company +of Samara-Tartars, some five hundred bags of prime quality, which I +purchased from a nobleman who was in want of money, but such dreadful +stuff it was, that if it had not been for the very low price, I would +never have thought of looking at it. What did I do? I mixed these two +cargoes and sold the whole lot to a brandy-contractor at Ribna, for +prime quality.' + +"'It was a clever speculation,' remarked the dark-haired. + +"'A commercial trick!' added the gray-haired. + +"While this conversation was proceeding, Vassily Ivanovitsch and Ivan +Vassilievitsch had taken seats at a separate little table; they had +ordered their tea, and were listening to what the three merchants were +saying. + +"A poor-looking fellow came in, and took from his breast-pocket an +incredibly dirty sheet of paper, in which were wrapped up bank-notes and +some gold, and handed it over to the gray-haired merchant, who, having +counted them over, said, + +"'Five thousand two hundred and seventeen roubles. Is it right?' + +"'Quite right, sir.' + +"'It shall be delivered according to your wish.' + +"'Ivan asked why the sender had not taken a receipt?' + +"The red and dark-haired merchants burst out laughing; the gray-haired +got into a passion. + +"'A receipt!' he cried out, furiously, 'a receipt! I would have broken +his jaw with his own money, had he dared to ask me for a receipt. I have +been a merchant now more than fifty years, and I have never yet been +insulted by being asked to give a receipt.' + +"'You see, sir,' said the red-haired merchant, it is only with noblemen +that such things as receipts and bills of exchange exist. We commercial +people do not make use of them. Our simple word suffices. We have no +time to spare for writing. For instance, sir: here is Sidor Avdeivitsch, +who has millions of roubles in his trade, and his whole writing consists +of a few scraps of paper, for memory's sake, sir.' + +"'I don't understand that,' interrupted Ivan Vassilievitsch. + +"'How could you, sir? It is mere commercial business, without plan or +_façade_. We ourselves learn it from our childhood: first as errand +boys, then as clerks, till we become partners in the business. I confess +it is hard work.'" + +Upon this text Ivan preaches a "Young Russia discourse." + +"'Allow me a few words,' he said with fervor. 'It appears to me that we +have in Russia a great number of persons buying and selling, but yet, I +must say, we have no systematic commerce. For commerce, science, and +learning, are indispensable; a conflux of civilized men, clever +mathematical calculations--but not, as seems to be the case with you, +dependence upon mere chance. You earn millions, because you convert the +consumer into a victim, against whom every kind of cheat is pardonable, +and then you lay by farthing by farthing, refusing yourselves not only +all the enjoyments of life, but even the most necessary comforts.... You +brag of your threadbare clothes; but surely this extreme parsimony is a +thousand times more blamable than the opposite prodigality of those of +your comrades who spend their time among gipsies, and their money in +feasting. You boast of your ignorance, because you do not know what +civilization is. Civilization, according to your notions, consists in +shorter laps of a coat, foreign furniture, bronzes, and champagne--in a +word, in outward trifles and silly customs. Trust me, not such is +civilization.... Unite yourselves! Be it your vocation to lay open all +the hidden riches of our great country; to diffuse life and vigor into +all its veins; to take the whole management of its material interests +into your hands. Unite your endeavors in this beautiful deed, and you +may be certain of success! Why should Russia be worse than England? +Comprehend only your calling; let the beam of civilization fall upon +you, and your love for your fatherland will strengthen such a union; and +you will see that not only the whole of Russia, but even the whole world +will be in your hands.' + +"At this eloquent conclusion, the red and the dark-haired merchants +opened wide their eyes. They, of course, did not understand a single +word of Ivan Vassilievitsch's speech. + +"'Alas, for Young Russia!' Ivan dolefully remarks in another place: + +"I thought to study life in the provinces: there is no life in the +provinces; every one there is said to be of the same cut. Life in the +capitals is not a Russian life, but a weak imitation of the petty +perfections and gross vices of modern civilization. Where am I then to +find Russia? In the lower classes, perhaps, in the every-day life of the +Russian peasant? But have I not been now for five days chiefly among +this class? I prick up my ears and listen; I open wide my eyes and look, +and do what I may, I find not the least trifle worth noting in my +'_Impressions_.' The country is dead; there is nothing but land, land, +land; so much land, indeed, that my eyes get tired of looking at it: a +dreadful road, wagons of goods, swearing carriers, drunken stage +inspectors; beetles creeping on every wall; soups with the smell of +tallow candles! How is it possible for any respectable person to occupy +himself with such nasty stuff? And what is yet more provoking, is the +doleful uniformity which tires you so much, and affords you no rest +whatever. Nothing new, nothing unexpected! To-morrow what has been +to-day; to-day what has been yesterday. Here, a post-stage, there a +post-stage, and further the same post-stage again; here, a village elder +asking for drink-money, and again to infinity village elders all asking +for drink-money. What can I write? I begin to agree with Vassily +Ivanovitsch; he is right in saying that we do not travel, and that there +is no traveling in Russia. We simply are going to Mordassy. Alas! for my +'_Impressions_.'" + +Whoever wants to know more of this amusing Young Russian, must consult +"The _Tarantas_." We can assure the reader that the book is fraught with +a store of amusement--chiefly descriptions of town and country life in +Russia--not often compressed into the modest and inexpensive compass of +a thin duodecimo. + + + + +[From Household Words.] + +THE ORPHAN'S VOYAGE HOME. + + + The men could hardly keep the deck, + So bitter was the night; + Keen northeast winds sang through the shrouds, + The deck was frosty white; + While overhead the glistening stars + Put forth their points of light. + + On deck, behind a bale of goods, + Two orphans crouch'd, to sleep; + But 'twas so cold, the youngest boy + In vain tried not to weep: + They were so poor, they had no right + Near cabin doors to creep. + + The elder round the younger wrapt + His little ragged cloak, + To shield him from the freezing sleet, + And surf that o'er them broke; + Then drew him closer to his side, + And softly to him spoke: + + "The night will not be long"--he said, + "And if the cold winds blow, + We shall the sooner reach our home, + And see the peat-fire glow; + But now the stars are beautiful-- + Oh, do not tremble so! + + "Come closer!--sleep--forget the frost-- + Think of the morning red-- + Our father and our mother soon + Will take us to their bed; + And in their warm arms we shall sleep." + He knew not they were dead. + + For them no father to the ship + Shall with the morning come; + For them no mother's loving arms + Are spread to take them home: + Meanwhile the cabin passengers + In dreams of pleasure roam. + + At length the orphans sank to sleep + All on the freezing deck; + Close huddled side to side--each arm + Clasp'd round the other's neck. + With heads bent down, they dream'd the earth + Was fading to a speck. + + The steerage passengers have all + Been taken down below, + And round the stove they warm their limbs + Into a drowsy glow; + And soon within their berths forget + The icy wind and snow. + + Now morning dawns: the land in sight + Smiles beam on every face! + The pale and qualmy passengers + Begin the deck to pace, + Seeking along the sun-lit cliffs + Some well known spot to trace. + + Only the orphans do not stir, + Of all this bustling train: + They reached their _home_ this starry night! + They will not stir again! + The winter's breath proved kind to them, + And ended all their pain. + + But in their deep and freezing sleep, + Clasp'd rigid to each other, + In dreams they cried, "The bright morn breaks, + Home! home! is here, my brother! + The Angel Death has been our friend-- + We come! dear Father! Mother!" + + + + +[From the Autobiography of Leigh Hunt.] + +LORD BYRON, WORDSWORTH, AND CHARLES LAMB. + + +In this house, Lord Byron continued the visits which he made me in +prison. Unfortunately, I was too ill to return them. He pressed me very +much to go to the theatre with him; but illness, and the dread of +committing my critical independence, alike prevented me. His lordship +was one of a management that governed Drury-lane Theatre at that time, +and that were not successful. He got nothing by it, but petty vexations +and a good deal of scandal. + +Lord Byron's appearance at that time was the finest I ever saw it. He +was fatter than before his marriage, but only just enough so to complete +the elegance of his person; and the turn of his head and countenance had +a spirit and elevation in it, which, though not unmixed with disquiet, +gave him altogether a very noble look. His dress, which was black, with +white trowsers, and which he wore buttoned close over the body, +completed the succinctness and gentlemanliness of his appearance. I +remember one day, as he stood looking out of the window, he resembled in +a lively manner the portrait of him by Phillips, by far the best that +has appeared; I mean the best of him at his best time of life, and the +most like him in features as well as expression. He sat one morning so +long, that Lady Byron sent up twice to let him know she was waiting. Her +ladyship used to go on in the carriage to Henderson's nursery ground, to +get flowers. I had not the honor of knowing her, nor ever saw her but +once, when I caught a glimpse of her at the door. I thought she had a +pretty, earnest look, with her "pippin" face; an epithet by which she +playfully designated herself. + + * * * * * + +It was here also I had the honor of a visit from Mr. Wordsworth. He came +to thank me for the zeal I had shown in advocating the cause of his +genius. I had the pleasure of showing him his book on my shelves by the +side of Milton; a sight which must have been the more agreeable, +inasmuch as the visit was unexpected. He favored me, in return, with +giving his opinion of some of the poets his contemporaries, who would +assuredly not have paid him a visit on the same grounds on which he was +pleased to honor myself. Nor do I believe, that from that day to this, +he thought it becoming in him to reciprocate the least part of any +benefit which a word in good season may have done for him. Lord Byron, +in resentment for my having called him the "prince of the bards of his +time," would not allow him to be even the "one-eyed monarch of the +blind." He said he was the "blind monarch of the one-eyed." I must still +differ with his lordship on that point; but I must own, that, after all +which I have seen and read, posterity, in my opinion, will differ not a +little with one person respecting the amount of merit to be ascribed to +Mr. Wordsworth; though who that one person is, I shall leave the reader +to discover. + +Mr. Wordsworth, whom Mr. Hazlitt designated as one who would have had +the wide circle of his humanities made still wider, and a good deal more +pleasant, by dividing a little more of his time between his lakes in +Westmoreland and the hotels of the metropolis, had a dignified manner, +with a deep and roughish, but not unpleasing voice, and an exalted mode +of speaking. He had a habit of keeping his left hand in the bosom of his +waistcoat; and in this attitude, except when he turned round to take one +of the subjects of his criticism from the shelves (for his +contemporaries were there also), he sat dealing forth his eloquent but +hardly catholic judgments. In his "fathers house," there were not "many +mansions." He was as skeptical on the merits of all kinds of poetry but +one, as Richardson was on those of the novels of Fielding. + +Under the study in which my visitor and I were sitting was an archway, +leading to a nursery-ground; a cart happened to go through it while I +was inquiring whether he would take any refreshment; and he uttered, in +so lofty a voice, the words, "Any thing which is _going forward_," that +I felt inclined to ask him whether he would take a piece of the cart. +Lamb would certainly have done it. But this was a levity which would +neither have been so proper on my part, after so short an acquaintance, +nor very intelligible perhaps, in any sense of the word, to the serious +poet. There are good-humored warrants for smiling, which lie deeper even +than Mr. Wordsworth's thoughts for tears. + +I did not see this distinguished person again till thirty years +afterward; when, I should venture to say, his manner was greatly +superior to what it was in the former instance; indeed, quite natural +and noble, with a cheerful air of animal as well as spiritual +confidence; a gallant bearing, curiously reminding one of a certain +illustrious duke, as I have seen him walking some dozen years ago by a +lady's side, with no unbecoming oblivion of his time of life. I +observed, also, that he no longer committed himself in scornful +criticisms, or, indeed, in any criticisms whatever, at least as far as I +knew. He had found out that he could, at least, afford to be silent. +Indeed, he spoke very little of any thing. + +Walter Scott said, that the eyes of Burns were the finest he ever saw. I +can not say the same of Mr. Wordsworth; that is, not in the sense of the +beautiful, or even of the profound. But certainly I never beheld eyes +that looked so inspired or supernatural. They were like fires half +burning, half smouldering, with a sort of acrid fixture of regard, and +seated at the further end of two caverns. One might imagine Ezekiel or +Isaiah to have had such eyes. + + * * * * * + +Charles Lamb had a head worthy of Aristotle, with as fine a heart as +ever beat in human bosom, and limbs very fragile to sustain it. There +was a caricature of him sold in the shops, which pretended to be a +likeness. Procter went into the shop in a passion, and asked the man +what he meant by putting forth such a libel. The man apologized, and +said that the artist meant no offense. There never was a true portrait +of Lamb. His features were strongly yet delicately cut: he had a fine +eye as well as forehead; and no face carried in it greater marks of +thought and feeling. It resembled that of Bacon, with less worldly vigor +and more sensibility. + +As his frame, so was his genius. It was as fit for thought as could be, +and equally as unfit for action; and this rendered him melancholy, +apprehensive, humorous, and willing to make the best of every thing as +it was, both from tenderness of heart and abhorrence of alteration. His +understanding was too great to admit an absurdity; his frame was not +strong enough to deliver it from a fear. His sensibility to strong +contrasts was the foundation of his humor, which was that of a wit at +once melancholy and willing to be pleased. He would beard a +superstition, and shudder at the old phantasm while he did it. One could +have imagined him cracking a jest in the teeth of a ghost, and then +melting into thin air himself, out of a sympathy with the awful. His +humor and his knowledge both, were those of Hamlet, of Molière, of +Carlin, who shook a city with laughter, and, in order to divert his +melancholy, was recommended to go and hear himself. Yet he extracted a +real pleasure out of his jokes, because good-heartedness retains that +privilege when it fails in every thing else. I should say he +condescended to be a punster, if condescension had been a word befitting +wisdom like his. Being told that somebody had lampooned him, he said, +"Very well, I'll Lamb-pun him." His puns were admirable, and often +contained as deep things as the wisdom of some who have greater names; +such a man, for instance, as Nicole the Frenchman, who was a baby to +him. He would have cracked a score of jokes at him, worth his whole book +of sentences; pelted his head with pearls. Nicole would not have +understood him, but Rochefoucault would, and Pascal, too; and some of +our old Englishmen would have understood him still better. He would have +been worthy of hearing Shakspeare read one of his scenes to him, hot +from the brain. Commonplace found a great comforter in him as long as +it was good-natured; it was to the ill-natured or the dictatorial only +that he was startling. Willing to see society go on as it did, because +he despaired of seeing it otherwise, but not at all agreeing in his +interior with the common notions of crime and punishment, he +"_dumb-founded_" a long tirade one evening, by taking the pipe out of +his mouth, and asking the speaker, "Whether he meant to say that a thief +was not a good man?" To a person abusing Voltaire, and indiscreetly +opposing his character to that of Jesus Christ, he said admirably well +(though he by no means overrated Voltaire, nor wanted reverence in the +other quarter), that "Voltaire was a very good Jesus Christ _for the +French_." He liked to see the church-goers continue to go to church, and +wrote a tale in his sister's admirable little book (_Mrs. Leicester's +School_) to encourage the rising generation to do so; but to a +conscientious deist he had nothing to object; and if an atheist had +found every other door shut against him, he would assuredly not have +found his. I believe he would have had the world remain precisely as it +was, provided it innovated no farther; but this spirit in him was any +thing but a worldly one, or for his own interest. He hardly contemplated +with patience the new buildings in the Regent's Park: and, privately +speaking, he had a grudge against _official_ heaven-expounders, or +clergymen. He would rather, however, have been with a crowd that he +disliked, than felt himself alone. He said to me one day, with a face of +great solemnity, "What must have been that man's feelings, who thought +himself _the first deist_?" Finding no footing in certainty, he +delighted to confound the borders of theoretical truth and falsehood. He +was fond of telling wild stories to children, engrafted on things about +them; wrote letters to people abroad, telling them that a friend of +theirs had come out in genteel comedy; and persuaded George Dyer that +_Lord Castlereagh_ was the author of Waverley! The same excellent person +walking one evening out of his friend's house into the New River, Lamb +(who was from home at the time) wrote a paper under his signature of +Elia, stating, that common friends would have stood dallying on the +bank, have sent for neighbors, &c., but that _he_, in his magnanimity, +jumped in, and rescued his friend after the old noble fashion. He wrote +in the same magazine two lives of Liston and Munden, which the public +took for serious, and which exhibit an extraordinary jumble of imaginary +facts and truth of by-painting. Munden he made born at "Stoke Pogeis:" +the very sound of which was like the actor speaking and digging his +words. He knew how many false conclusions and pretensions are made by +men who profess to be guided by facts only, as if facts could not be +misconceived, or figments taken for them; and, therefore, one day, when +somebody was speaking of a person who valued himself on being a +matter-of-fact man, "Now," said he, "I value myself on being a +matter-of-lie man." This did not hinder his being a man of the greatest +veracity, in the ordinary sense of the word; but "Truth," he said, "was +precious, and not to be wasted on every body." + +Lamb had seen strange faces of calamity; but they did not make him love +those of his fellow-creatures the less. Few persons guessed what he had +suffered in the course of his life, till his friend Talfourd wrote an +account of it, and showed the hapless warping that disease had given to +the fine brain of his sister. + + + + +AMERICAN VANITY. + + +We are not at all surprised at what in this country is most foolishly +called the conceit and vanity of the Americans. What people in the world +have so fine, so magnificent a country? Besides that, they have some +reason to be proud of themselves. We have given the chief features of +their eastern and inland territory; if the reader has any imagination +for ideas of this kind, let him picture to himself what will be the +aspect of things when the tide of population has crossed the long range +of the Rocky Mountains, and, occupying the valleys of the western coast, +has built other Bostons and New Yorks in the harbors of Oregon and +California. This tide of population is now advancing along a line of +more than a thousand miles, at the rate of eighteen miles a year; and +each year, as the population behind becomes larger, the number of new +settlers is increased, and the rate of advance is accelerated. This vast +crowd of ever-onward-pressing settlers is not formed of the same +materials as the inhabitants of an European province: that is, there are +not at its head a few intelligent, but delicately-brought-up men of +capital, while all the rest are ignorant laborers; but every one of +these pioneers of civilization can handle the ax and the rifle, and can +"calculate." If ever these magnificent dreams of the American people are +realized--and all that is wanted for their realization is that things +should only go on as they have been going on for the last two +centuries--there will be seated upon that vast continent a population +greater than that of all Europe, all speaking the same language, all +active-minded, intelligent, and well off. They will stand, as it were, +the centre of the world, between the two great oceans, with Europe on +one hand and Asia on the other. With such a future before him, we must +pardon the Yankee if we find a little dash of self-complacency in his +composition; and bear with the surprise and annoyance which he expresses +at finding that we know so little of himself or of his country. Our +humble opinion is that we ought to know better. + +Great as is the influence which America has already had upon Europe, we +conceive that this is a mere intimation of the influence which it is +destined to have upon the world.--_Frazer's Mag._ + + + + +MONTHLY RECORD OF CURRENT EVENTS. + + +The domestic events of the month (which, in accordance with requests +from many quarters, this Magazine will hereafter regularly record) have +not been numerous or very important. The _Invasion of Cuba_, by a force +collected, organized, armed, officered, and disciplined within the +United States, and the successful repulse of that invasion, have been +the leading topic of comment. The expedition, 300 in number, left New +Orleans, under command of General LOPEZ, on the 25th of April and the 2d +of May, and landed at Cardenas on the morning of the 19th of May. A +brief struggle ensued between the invaders and the troops, in which the +latter were repulsed, the governor captured, his palace plundered, and a +large quantity of public money seized. The invaders had counted upon +accessions to their ranks from the Spanish army, and from the +disaffected inhabitants. In this, however, they were entirely +disappointed, and LOPEZ accordingly re-embarked on the steamer which had +taken him thither, and with a few of his followers, made his escape to +the United States, leaving the great body of his adherents to the tender +mercies of the authorities of Cuba. Lopez has been arrested at New +Orleans, and awaits trial on charge of having violated the United States +neutrality act of 1818: and a good deal of interest is felt in the +disposition which the Cuban authorities will make of the prisoners who +have fallen into their hands. It seems that a Spanish steamer captured +two vessels in the Mexican waters, laden with men whom they suspected of +having intended to join the invading expedition, and took them into +Havana. The President of the United States has made a peremptory demand +for the release of these prisoners, and declares that a clear +distinction must be made between those proved guilty of actual +participation, and those suspected of an intention to join, in the +invasion. The result of this demand is not yet known. It is not +believed, however, that the Cuban authorities will pursue a course of +unnecessary or unjust rigor, as it could scarcely fail to involve them +in serious difficulties with the United States. + +Both Houses of CONGRESS are still engaged in debating the various +questions growing out of slavery. In the House a bill for the immediate +admission of California is pending, and debate upon it has been closed; +but a decisive vote is evaded from day to day. Whenever that can be +reached, there will probably be found to be a majority in favor of the +bill. In the Senate a bill is pending which provides: 1. For the +admission of California; 2. For organizing territorial governments for +New Mexico and Utah, without any provision on the subject of slavery; +and 3. For paying Texas a sum not specified, for relinquishing her claim +to a part of New Mexico. The bill has been very fully and very ably +discussed, and votes have been taken upon a great number of amendments +to it, the most important of which was one prohibiting slavery forever +from these territories. This was offered by Senator Seward of New York, +and rejected, 33 to 23. It is believed that the final vote will be taken +upon the hill before many days: the chances are in favor of its passage. + +The attention of Congress has been so thoroughly occupied with these +bills, that no other business of any importance has been transacted or +even entertained. The general subject of slavery, which gives to them +all their interest, has entered largely into the public discussions of +the month. Mr. WEBSTER has written a letter to the citizens of +Newburyport, Mass., upon the wrong done to the South by refusing to +surrender their fugitive slaves, urging the necessity for a more +stringent law, and expressing the opinion, that there is nothing, either +in the spirit or the letter of the Constitution, requiring a jury trial +to determine the question of slavery, when an alleged fugitive is +seized. This letter has elicited a reply from Hon. HORACE MANN, of the +House, also from Massachusetts, which enforces the contrary opinion, +with abundant and vehement rhetoric and cogent argument. Prof. STUART, +of Andover, has also published a pamphlet in support of Mr. Webster's +views on the general subject.--The convention of delegates intended to +represent the slave-holding states, called some months since, met at +Nashville, Tenn., on the 3d of June, and adjourned after a session of +ten days. Judge SHARKEY, of Mississippi, presided. The attendance was +thin, delegates being present from less than half the districts +interested, and they having been elected by less than a tenth of the +popular vote. Resolutions were adopted, affirming the claims of the +slave-holding states, and the convention adjourned to meet again six +weeks after the adjournment of Congress, then to take such action as the +legislation of the present session may render necessary.--A new paper +called "The Southern Press" has been established at Washington, for the +express purpose of advocating the interests of slavery. It is under the +patronage of 57 southern members of Congress, and is intended to abstain +from partisan discussions.--The subject of slavery also influences the +action of the State Legislatures, which are in session, to a great +extent. In the Connecticut Senate, resolutions approving of the bill +pending in the U.S. Senate were rejected, 16 to 6. The Legislature has +made two unsuccessful efforts to elect a U. S. Senator, in place of Mr. +Baldwin, whose term expires with this session.--Senator DICKINSON, of +New York, received from his political friends the compliment of a +public dinner in the city of New York, on the 17th ult.--Hon. EDWARD +GILBERT, Member of Congress elect from California, attended a public +dinner at Albany, the place of his early residence, on the 4th. In an +eloquent speech which he made upon that occasion, he expressed the +ardent attachment of California to the Union, and the determination of +her people not to permit slavery to be introduced within her limits.--A +convention in Ohio, to revise the Constitution of that state, is now in +session. The tendency of its action, so far as it is developed, has been +toward greater equality and democratic freedom.--A similar convention is +also in session in Michigan.--Gov. CRITTENDEN of Kentucky, recently +visited Indiana by special invitation of Gov. Wright, of that state. The +two being political opponents, and the visit being in some sense of an +official character, the circumstance has attracted a good deal of +attention. The reception of Gov. Crittenden was public, and very happy +greetings were exchanged on both sides. Gov. C. made a very eloquent +speech, expressing the value of the American Union and the devotion of +the American people to its preservation.--The anniversary of the Battle +of Bunker Hill was celebrated with great _éclat_ at Boston, on the 17th. +The Oration was delivered by the Hon. Edward Everett, and was one of his +most finished and eloquent efforts.--The treaty between Great Britain +and the United States, negotiated at Washington, has been ratified by +the Senate. It is highly honorable to both countries, and advantageous +to the interests of commerce throughout the world. The neutrality of the +Isthmus, in case of war, is mutually guaranteed.--The war between +Faustin and the Dominicans is still continued: a vessel fitted out at +New York, and laden with cannon and munitions of war, for the emperor, +has been seized by the U. S. authorities, and detained for violation of +the neutrality act of 1818. + + * * * * * + +Our intelligence from CALIFORNIA is to the 1st of May. Trade was dull +but was receiving an impulse from the reopening of the season for +mining. The Legislature had adjourned after passing a large number of +bills. One of its most important acts was one imposing a tax of $25 per +month upon every foreigner who should dig for gold in the mines. The +measure was vindicated on grounds of justice as well as from the +necessities of the state treasury: difficulty was apprehended in some +quarters in attempting to carry it out.--Public meetings had been held +in regard to the unjust delay to which the application of the state for +admission into the Union, is subjected by Congress. Intimations were +thrown out that the state would withdraw her application and maintain +her independence, unless action should be had: but they do not express +any thing like the general sentiment of the people.--New veins of gold +had been discovered--new towns commenced, and emigrants continued to +arrive. Several heavy failures had occurred, but business generally was +good. + +From the Isthmus of Panama we have news to the 1st of June. A serious +riot had occurred there between the emigrants and the natives in which +two or three were killed on each side. It grew out of the arrest of a +negro boy on charge of theft, and a supposition on the part of the +natives that the Americans intended to hang him. Such an incident, +however, indicates an unpleasant state of feeling between the parties. +Quiet, however, had been restored. + + * * * * * + +Of LITERARY and SCIENTIFIC Intelligence there is not much. Notices of +the most important books published during the month will be found in +another department of this Magazine. The question of the _Unity of the +Human Race_ has been recently revived by some incidental remarks made at +Charleston, S. C., by Prof. Agassiz of Harvard, which were opposed to +that theory. Dr. Smyth, a learned divine of that city, wrote a book in +refutation of the Professor; and we observe that the latter has pursued +the matter still farther in a lecture subsequently delivered at Boston. +He does not enter, however, into any full discussion of the subject, but +takes occasion to disavow the intention imputed to him, of designing to +question the authenticity or authority of the Mosaic Record. + +Prof. LEWIS, of Union College, has published an Address delivered there +some months since, in which he reviews with great ability the theories +and schemes so abundant at the present day, of which Nature, Progress, +and Ideas are the common watchwords. He treats them all as branches of +_Naturalism_ and as in direct hostility to the Scriptural doctrine of +the Divine government. The discourse is marked by the scholarship, +vigor, and clear analysis which characterize all the productions of this +distinguished writer.--Bishop HUGHES has also entered the lists against +the prevalent Socialism of the day; not, however, in an original work +but by causing to be reprinted the French work of the Abbé Martinet, +entitled "Religion in Society," and by writing an introduction to it.--A +new book on _California_, by Rev. WALTER COLTON, is soon to be issued. +Even in the multiplicity of books upon this subject that have recently +been given to the public, one from Mr. Colton's pen can hardly fail to +attract and reward attention.--A work on the _Logic and Utility of +Mathematics_, by Prof. DAVIES, is announced by Barnes & Co. Prof. D. is +singularly happy in presenting mathematical truth clearly and +attractively to the mind, and we anticipate, in this new work upon the +characteristic advantages of his favorite studies, a production that +will be widely useful, in promoting juster views of Education and better +modes for its successful prosecution.--Prof. BARTLETT of the West Point +Academy, announces a new work on _Natural Philosophy_, for the use of +Colleges, which will be of value.--Mr. E. D. MANSFIELD of Cincinnati, a +clear, strong and judicious writer, has also in press, a Treatise on +_American Education_, which will be pretty certain to contain a good +many practical suggestions worthy of attention.--The Reader of the +opening article in this number of the New Monthly Magazine, will be glad +to learn that an edition of the writings of DE QUINCEY is soon to be +issued from the Boston press of Ticknor, Reed and Fields. No living +English writer equals De Quincey in his peculiar department; in acute +analytical power, and in the precision with which he uses language. He +does not write for the masses--but to literary men, persons of +cultivated taste and a critical habit, an edition of his Essays and +multifarious sketches will be exceedingly acceptable. We presume, +however, that nothing like a complete collection of his writings can be +made.--An illustrated Edition of LONGFELLOW'S _Evangeline_ is also +announced, and a new volume of Poems by JOHN G. WHITTIER, one of the +most vigorous and masculine of living poets. Like other poets of the +day, Mr. Whittier addicts himself somewhat overmuch to hobbies, and his +present volume is to be mainly made up of Poems upon Labor.--LOWELL, +also, has a new Poem in press, called _The Nooning_.--A new volume by +Rev. HENRY GILES, entitled _Christian Thoughts on Life_, is announced. +Mr. Giles is an exceedingly fluent, vigorous and brilliant writer.--A +spicy controversy has grown out of a needless fling at the memory of +John Jacob Astor, in a lecture delivered some months since by the Hon. +Horace Mann. Mr. C. A. Bristed, grandson of the deceased Mr. Astor, has +replied to it in a pungent letter, vindicating his kinsman's character +and assailing with a good degree of vigor and success some of the +radical theories propounded by Mr. Mann.--A new play, entitled _The Very +Age_, by E. S. GOULD, is in press, and will soon be issued by the +Appletons. It is said to be a sharp and successful hit at sundry follies +which have too mush currency in society.--A good deal of public interest +has been excited by the announcement of an alleged scientific discovery +made by Mr. HENRY M. PAINE, of Massachusetts. He claims to have +established the positions that Water is a simple substance: that +hydrogen gas is produced by the combination of positive electricity, and +oxygen by the combination of negative electricity, with water; and that +by passing the hydrogen thus obtained through spirits of turpentine in +its natural state, it becomes carbonized and will support combustion. +The practical result claimed from the discovery is the ability to +furnish _light_ and _heat_ indefinitely at a merely nominal expense. The +importance of it, if it prove to be real, can not well be overrated. The +possibility of the thing, however, is peremptorily denied by scientific +men, and it must be evident to all that it directly contradicts +scientific principles that have been regarded as fundamental. Practical +experiment alone, made under proper restrictions and scientific +supervision, can determine its reality. If established the revolution +it would produce in the economy of life would not be greater than that +which would result from it in the received theories of science. + + * * * * * + +THE FOREIGN events of the past month have not been of striking interest +or importance. A diplomatic quarrel between England and France is the +only incident which has attracted any general attention. This +misunderstanding has grown out of the demands of British subjects, +supported by their government, against the government of Greece, for +losses sustained through its agency; but it is so entirely a matter of +form that no serious result can well be apprehended. For some years past +the English government has been pressing King Otho to an adjustment of +these claims. One of the most important of them is that of Mr. George +Finlay, who, when the Turks were leaving Greece on the formation of the +Hellenic Kingdom, purchased certain portions of land from some of these +emigrants. This was as long ago as in 1830, and his right to the +property thus purchased and paid for was never disputed. But six years +afterward King Otho seized upon these lands in order to inclose them in +the royal gardens, and he has never paid for the property to this day. +Another claim is that of Mr. Pacifico, a British subject, born at +Gibraltar, and occupying at Athens the office of Portuguese Consul. It +has been the custom for some years at Athens, on Easter-day, to burn an +effigy of Judas Iscariot; but, in 1847, in consequence of the presence +of Baron Rothschild, the government prevented the ceremony. The idle and +reckless portion of the people, to whom such public spectacles are +always matters of most interest, spread the report that Mr. Pacifico, +being a Jew, had occasioned the discontinuance of this custom. A mob was +soon raised by this report, which went to the house of the obnoxious +consul, beat in the door, plundered the house of money to the amount of +9800 drachmas, and destroyed papers proving claims upon the Portuguese +government to the amount of £21,295. For these losses Mr. Pacifico +claimed restitution, and invoked the protection and aid of the British +government in securing it. + +These are the leading claims which have given occasion to the pending +difficulties. The British government took up the subject and pressed the +Greek authorities for payment of the claims. This was refused, and force +was resorted to. The ports of Greece were blockaded and a bombardment +threatened. This led France to offer her mediation, and Baron Gros was +dispatched by the French government to Athens to arrange the dispute +with Mr. Wyse, the British agent. The British government, for a long +time, refused to allow the intervention of France, as the question in +controversy was one which did not require or allow such interference But +M. Drouyn de Lhuys being sent to London, a negotiation was prosecuted +for three or four months, which resulted in an agreement between the +two governments. Meantime Baron Gros at Athens, having interrupted +proceedings there, Mr. Wyse resumes his demands upon the government of +Greece, and, by strenuous coercion, secures all he had demanded. And +Lord Palmerston decided that his proceedings must hold good. The French +government was, of course, indignant at this disregard of the London +convention, and withdrew her Minister from London. The dispute, at the +latest dates, had not been settled, but it is not likely to lead to any +thing more serious than a temporary estrangement between the two +nations. It is generally believed that the quarrel is kept open by the +French government, because it serves to divert public attention somewhat +from the unpopular and unconstitutional abridgment of the suffrage, and +because it has created an excitement favorable to the views and purposes +of Louis Napoleon. + +Not the least important result of this controversy has been the new +position which it has induced Russia and Austria to take, in regard to +the rights of British subjects residing within their dominions. The +sympathies of these two nations, as well as of France, are, of course, +with Greece: and the attempt of England to extend full protection to its +subjects residing at Athens, has led the Emperor of Russia to address a +note to Lord Palmerston, stating that he utterly rejects the principle +on which British subjects or any other foreign residents in his own +states, or those of any other government, had a right to be treated more +favorably than the native subjects of such state; and he added, that for +his part, he should expect such strangers, the moment they came to +reside in his dominions, to conform themselves to the laws and usages +practiced by Russians. An old law or custom had existed in Russia to +this effect; it had long fallen into desuetude; but on the present +occasion it has been revived by the emperor, and is now in force. The +note of the Emperor of Austria is to the same effect; and though +separate from that of Russia, runs concurrently with it. Lord Palmerston +replied to this note, and received an answer couched in still stronger +language and concluding in the following emphatic clause: "As the manner +in which Lord Palmerston understands the protection due to English +subjects in foreign countries carries with it such serious +inconvenience, Russia and Austria will not henceforth grant the liberty +of residence to English subjects, except on condition of their +renouncing the protection of their Government." These documents have not +been published, but their substance is given, on the authority of the +London Times. + +The doings of the British Parliament have not been of special +importance, though they have involved the discussion of important +measures. The misunderstanding with France gave rise to repeated demands +on the part of Lord Brougham and others, and explanations by the +ministers, in which the latter have been vehemently, and with apparent +justice, charged with prevarication and concealment.--The Subject of +University Reform has been incidentally discussed in the House of Lords +but without decisive results. + +In the House of Commons attention was called to the case of the black +steward of a British vessel who had been taken out of the ship at +Charleston, S. C. and imprisoned for two months simply because he was _a +Man of Color_.--LORD PALMERSTON said that the case was not new; that +such a law as that mentioned existed in the State of Carolina; and that +the British government had remonstrated against it as a violation of the +principles of international law, as well as of the treaty of 1815: but +the reply had been that the Federal government was unable to revoke the +law, and that, if England insisted, the American government would be +compelled to terminate the treaty of 1815. The English government, +therefore, had not thought it expedient to press the matter further; but +it should be remembered that the law is known, and that those who go +there expose themselves to it voluntarily. This acquiescence of the +British government in a law and practice of one of the United States, +directly in violation of the rights of British subjects, has not escaped +severe animadversion. + +The subject of a sinecure office in the Archdiocese of Canterbury has +attracted some attention. It seems that the emoluments of the office of +Register of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, have been from £9000 to +£12,000 per annum, and that the office itself is a sinecure. The usage +has been, that the archbishop for the time being should nominate the +incumbent of the office and two successors. Archbishop Moore appointed +his two sons, and they in succession held the office. Dr. Manners Sutton +appointed his grandson, the present Lord Canterbury, to the reversion of +the office--that grandson being then ten or twelve years old. The late +Dr. Howley made a communication to the government, that, in the +conscientious fulfillment of his duty he could not fill up the reversion +of this sinecure when it became vacant in 1845; and it remained vacant +at his death. When Dr. Sumner, the present archbishop, succeeded, he +found the reversion of the office vacant, and immediately filled it up, +by appointing his son, a young gentleman studying in the Temple. Lord +John Russell stated that the matter was under inquiry and that the +office would either be abolished or greatly altered.--The general +subject of reducing the salaries and wages paid in every department of +the public service, has also been discussed. The general sentiment +seemed to be that the servants of government were not overpaid, and the +motion for an address upon the subject was negatived. + +While the bill for the government of the Australian Colonies was up, an +amendment was submitted to deprive the Colonial office of all +interference with the local administration of the colonies, and to give +them the uncontrolled management of their own affairs. Sir W. +Molesworth, who moved the amendment, closed a speech in support of it by +saying that there was a striking analogy between the government of the +United States and that which ought to be the system of government in +their colonial empire. "For," he said, "the United States form a system +of states clustered round a central republic; our colonial empire ought +to be a system of colonies clustered round the hereditary monarchy of +England. The hereditary monarchy should possess the powers of +government, with the exception of that of taxation, which the central +republic possesses. If it possessed less, the empire would cease to be +one body politic; if it continue to possess more, the colonies will be +discontented at the want of self-government, and on the first occasion +will imitate their brethren in America." The motion was negatived by 165 +to 42. This vote is important as an indication of the sentiment of +Parliament in regard to Colonial government.--A motion to form an +ecclesiastical Constitution for the Australian Colonies was defeated. + +The bill reducing the franchise required to constitute a Parliamentary +voter in Ireland to £8, has been passed. The discussion of this bill, +and the action upon it, is important as showing the tendency of public +sentiment in England toward a greater infusion of the democratic element +into the government. The bill was opposed expressly upon the ground of +its democratic tendencies by Lord Bernard, Mr. Napier, Lord Jocelyn, Mr. +Disraeli, and others, and its principal supporters were Mr. Shell, Sir +James Graham, and Lord John Russell. Sir JAMES GRAHAM'S speech was +remarkable for the broad ground on which he supported the measure; +alluding to the objection that the bill would unduly enlarge the +constituent body, he said, "I do not object to it on that ground. I must +say, considering the increase of the democratic element in our +institutions, that I see the greatest danger in erecting an immense +superstructure upon a narrow electoral basis. Sir, if that +superstructure can not stand upon an extended electoral basis, I am sure +that a narrow basis can not long sustain it. On principle, therefore, I +can not object to this bill as it extends that basis. Allusion has been +made to what has lately been witnessed elsewhere, and I think it is not +good policy to neglect examples which are patent and before our eyes. If +I were to mention what in my humble judgment was the immediate cause of +the fall of the kingly power of Louis Philippe, it would be, that he +attempted to maintain the semblance of representative government with a +constituent body, which, as compared with the great bulk of the +population, was dangerously narrow, and utterly inadequate. What was the +consequence? A tumult arose in the metropolis, and the government was +overthrown without a struggle. His power was buried in this ruin; and +the consequence has been, that for the last two years the nation has +been plunged into anarchy, and property and life have been rendered +insecure. But what is the return of the wave, and the reaction from that +state of things following the universal extension of the suffrage in +France? The return is a desire to base the suffrage, restricted as +compared with universal suffrage, on household suffrage, on permanent +residence, and the payment of local taxation. And, I am sure that that +is a safe basis on which to rest the franchise." These remarks were +loudly cheered throughout. The result of the division was that the third +reading was carried by 254 to 186, and the bill passed. + +Other questions not directly political, but involving interests of +importance, have been brought in various ways into discussion, of which +we find a summary notice in the "Household Narrative." The Metropolitan +Interments bill has made no further progress in the House of Commons. +Lord Ashley has withdrawn his opposition to the government proposal for +giving practical efficacy to the Ten Hours Act; and all the more +rational of the Ten Hours champions have signified acquiescence in the +compromise. When the bill shall have passed, factories will be worked +from six to six on five days in the week, and between six and two on +Saturdays, with perfect leisure after two on the latter day, and with an +hour and a half for meals and leisure on each of the former. A measure +not less interesting to masses of the most industrious part of the +population, is the scheme for securing more direct responsibility in the +management of Savings Banks, and for extending the power of government +to grant annuities and life assurances of small amounts through the +medium of those institutions, which is now before the House of Commons +for discussion. Various projects of law reform have been started. A +commission has been issued, preparatory to a reform of the system of +special pleading. Lord Campbell has introduced a bill to simplify +criminal pleadings, and prevent the lamentable and too notorious defects +of justice on small technical points; the same dignitary has declared, +in judgment on a case in the Queen's Bench, that the intervention of an +attorney is not essential in the employment of a barrister, but that the +latter may receive his instructions directly from the party to the suit. +A spirited attempt is in progress, by Mr. Keogh, to reform the +Ecclesiastical Courts in Ireland; and the Lord High Chancellor Cottenham +has issued a series of orders which will have the effect of dispensing, +in a large class of suits, with the formality of bill and answer, and of +providing for the reference to the master, on a mere observance of +certain very simple forms. A motion to repeal the advertisement duty was +lost, 208 to 39. A motion to inquire into the sanitary condition of the +journeymen bakers was negatived, 90 to 44. A bill, the principal object +of which was to place in the hands of the Board of Commissioners the +regulation of all the Irish fisheries, was lost by a majority of 197 to +37. A bill proposing to allow railway companies to buy waste lands on +the margins of their railways and establish cemeteries on them, was +thrown out by 123 to 4. Lord John Russell has introduced a bill to +abolish the _Viceregal Office in Ireland_. The bill gives power to the +Queen to abolish the office by order in Council; to appoint a fourth +Secretary of State, chargeable, like the others, with any of the +functions of a Secretary of State, but in practice with Irish affairs: +some of the functions of the Lord Lieutenant will be transferred to the +Secretary for the Home Department, others be given to Her Majesty in +Council. The Lord Chancellor of Ireland will be President of the Privy +Council in Ireland. The bill was opposed by several Irish members, but +leave was given to bring it in by 107 to 13. + +An official correspondence on the intention of Ministers to issue a +Royal Commission of inquiry into the state and revenues of the +UNIVERSITIES of Oxford and Cambridge has appeared in the newspapers. +Lord John Russell, after announcing the Ministerial intention in his +place in Parliament, wrote to the Chancellor of the two Universities "to +explain the views of her Majesty's confidential servants in recommending +this measure to her Majesty's approbation." His letter is now published; +and the other portion of the correspondence given to the public, is the +letter of the Duke of Wellington to the authorities of the University of +Oxford, requesting them to take the Premier's letter into consideration, +and give him the assistance of their opinions in a report; and the +report of the University authorities rendered in compliance with that +request. Lord John Russell, in his letter, after alluding briefly to the +legality of the Commission, puts forward the following general +considerations: "No one will now deny, that in the course of three +centuries the increase of general knowledge, the growth of modern +literature, the discoveries of physical and chemical science, have +rendered changes in the course of study at our national Universities +highly expedient. The Universities themselves have acknowledged this +expediency, and very large reforms of this nature have been adopted both +at Oxford and at Cambridge. These improvements, so wisely conceived, +reflect the highest credit on those learned bodies." He then proceeds to +state the general line of the limitations of the proposed action of the +government, saying that it is not to obstruct, but only to facilitate +the changes and improvements already in progress. Both the Universities +have warmly protested against the Commission. + +Preparations for the INDUSTRIAL EXHIBITION of 1851 continue to be made. +It is stated that about £50,000 has been subscribed toward the grand +Industrial Exhibition, and nearly 200 local committees formed to +promote. A project has been started to connect with it a religious +congress of the Christians of all nations. To questioning in Parliament, +it has been answered by the Minister that no government supply was +contemplated beyond the expenses of the Royal Commission. The various +German Powers have united, and the Commission in London has apportioned +100,000 square feet of space to the service of the German exhibitors +generally, 60,000 square feet being reserved for the States of the +Zoll-Verein 30,000 for Austria, and 10,000 for the North German States +and the Hanse Towns. + + * * * * * + +The transactions of the London SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES for the month +present nothing worthy of record. The Zoological Society has received a +new and valuable collection of animals, and among them the first live +hippopotamus ever brought to Europe.--Letters from Mr. LAYARD, who is +prosecuting his researches in the East, have been received to the 18th +of March, in which he mentions the Arab reports of remarkable +antiquities in the desert of Khabour, which have never been visited by +European footsteps, and toward the exploration of which he was just +setting out, with an escort of Arab Sheiks and their followers, in all, +to the number of seventy or eighty in company. During his absence on +this new track, the excavations at Nimrood are to be continued by the +parties employed on that work, which has recently furnished interesting +acquisitions to Mr. Layard's collection. One important inscription is +mentioned, and more winged-lions and bulls. + +The Times has an account of a new invention for extinguishing fires, the +work of Mr. Phillips--the agent used being a mixture of gas and vapor. A +public experiment was made with it, at which a compartment of a large +open building, quite twenty feet high inside, was fitted up with +partitions and temporary joisting of light wood, well soaked with pitch +and turpentine, and overhung besides with rags and shavings soaked in +the like manner. The torch was applied to this erection, and the flames, +which ascended immediately, at length roared with a vehemence which +drove the spectators back to a distance of forty feet, and were already +beyond the power of water. The inventor then brought forward one of his +hand machines, and threw out a volume of gaseous vapor, which in half a +minute entirely suppressed all flame and combustion; and to show that +the vapor which now filled the space was quite innoxious, Mr. Phillips +mounted into the loft, and passed and repassed through the midst of it +with a lighted candle in his hand. The machine with which this effect +was accomplished, was rather larger than a good sized coffee-pot, and +consisted of three tin cases, one within another, and mutually +communicating. There was a small quantity of water in the bottom of the +machine, and in the centre case was a composite cake, of the size and +color of peat, containing in the middle of it a phial of sulphuric acid +and chlorate of potash. In order to put the machine into action this +phial is broken, and a gaseous vapor is generated so rapidly and in such +quantity that it immediately rushes out from a lateral spout with great +impetuosity Mr. Phillips explained that a machine of any size could be +made according to the purpose for which it was intended. + +Some recent experiments on light, in Paris, have attracted a good deal +of attention in the scientific circles. M. Foucault is said to have +practically demonstrated that light travels less rapidly through water +than through air, though he made his experiments with instruments +devised by M. Arago, and mainly under his direction. The importance of +the discovery may be judged of from the fact that for the last twelve +years M. Arago has been pondering over it, and on the means of effecting +it. + +Experiments have been made on the means of protecting the hands against +molten metal. M. Corne, in a paper submitted to the Academy of Sciences, +thus details them: + +"Having determined on investigating the question, whether the employment +of liquid sulphurous acid for moistening the hands would produce a +sensation of coldness, when they are immersed in the melted metal, I +immersed my hands, previously moistened with sulphurous acid, in the +melted lead, and experienced a sensation of decided cold. I repeated the +experiment of immersing the hand in melted lead and in fused cast-iron. +Before experimenting with the melted iron, I placed a stick, previously +moistened with water, in the stream of liquid metal, and on withdrawing +it found it to be almost as wet as it was before, scarcely any of the +moisture was evaporated. The moment a dry piece of wood was placed in +contact with the heated metal, combustion took place. M. Covlet and I +then dipped our hands into vessels of the liquid metal, and passed our +fingers several times backward and forward through a stream of metal +flowing from the furnace, the heat from the radiation of the fused metal +being at the same time almost unbearable. We varied these experiments +for upward of two hours; and Madame Covlet, who assisted at these +experiments, permitted her child, a girl of nine years of age, to dip +her hand in a crucible of red hot metal with impunity. We experimented +on the melted iron, both with our hands quite dry, and also when +moistened with water, alcohol, and ether. The same results were obtained +as with melted lead, and each of us experienced a sensation of cold when +employing sulphurous acid." + +A circular from Prof. Schumacher has brought an announcement of the +discovery of a new telescopic comet, by Dr. Peterson, at the Royal +Observatory of Altona, on the 1st of May. "Unfavorable weather," says +Mr. Hind, writing to the _Times_, "prevented any accurate observation +that evening, but on the following morning at 11 o'clock, mean time, the +position was in right ascension 19h 24m 8s, and north +declination 71° 19' 34". The comet is therefore situate in the +constellation Draco. The right ascension diminishes about 48" and the +declination increases about 8' in the space of one day. + +The LITERARY INTELLIGENCE of the month comprises the issue of no books +of very great pretensions. The _Autobiography of Leigh Hunt_ was just +ready for publication, and from the extracts given in the preceding +pages of this Magazine, our readers will readily judge it to be a book +of more than ordinary interest. It is full of anecdote and incident, +often trivial in themselves, but sketched with that _naiveté_ and warmth +of manner which constitute the charm of whatever HUNT writes. It will be +a favorite with summer readers. Two octavo volumes of Selections from +_Modern State Trials_, by Mr. TOWNSEND, have been published: they +comprise only five state trials properly so called, the rest being +trials for murder, forgery, dueling, &c. The book is interesting and +eminently readable. General KLAPKA'S _Memoirs of the War in Hungary_ +have been published, and attract the attention of the critical pen. The +author was one of the leading generals in that gallant but unsuccessful +struggle; and his opinions of the men engaged in it, and the causes of +its failure, are therefore entitled to notice and respect. He regards +the raising of the siege of Komorn as the turning point in the campaign. +He speaks of KOSSUTH and GÖRGEY as the two great spirits of the war--the +one a civilian, the other a soldier. The Athenæum condenses his views +concerning them very successfully. Kossuth, according to him was a great +and generous man, of noble heart and fervid patriotism, at once an +enthusiast and a statesman, gifted with "a mysterious power" over "the +hearts of his countrymen;" possibly, however, of too melancholic and +spiritual a temperament for the crisis, and unfortunately a civilian, so +that notwithstanding his "marvelous influence to rouse and bring into +action the hidden energies of the masses," he could not "give them a +military organization;" Görgey, on the other hand, an able, hard-headed +soldier, believing only in battalions, and capable of using them well, +but wanting enthusiasm, without great principle, without even +patriotism, taciturn and suspicious, chafing against authority, and +aiming throughout chiefly at his own ends in the struggle, wanting that +breadth of intellect or strength of courage that might have made his +selfishness splendid in its achievement. Had Kossuth had the military +training of Görgey, or had Görgey had the heart of Kossuth; or, finally, +had there been a perfect co-operation between the two men and the +parties which they represented, Hungary might have been saved. Nor, so +far as Kossuth was concerned, was there any obstacle to such +co-operation. His disinterestedness, as it led him at last to resign all +into the hands of Görgey, would have led him to do so, had it been +necessary, at first. But Perezel and the other generals, who were +friends of Kossuth, disliked Görgey; never had full trust in him, and +even accused him from the first of treachery. Görgey is alive and rich; +the earth covers the dead bodies of many of his former comrades, pierced +by the bullet or strangled by the ignominious rope, others live exiles +in various lands. Of these last is Kossuth. There is something striking +in the unanimity with which all testimonies combine as to the nobility +of this man. Even Görgey, his foe, once wrote to General +Klapka--"Kossuth alone is a classical and generous character. It is a +pity he is not a soldier." General Klapka's own book is an involuntary +commentary on this one text--"O that Kossuth had been a soldier!" + +A volume of selections from papers contributed to the _Edinburgh +Review_, by Mr. HENRY ROGERS, has been published. They relate chiefly to +questions of religious interest, or have an indirect bearing upon +religious philosophy. Comparing them with the similar papers of Sir +James Stephen, a critical journal says, the author is less wide and +comprehensive in his range, in expression less eloquent and original, +but more practical in his views. He attacks the two extremes of +Tractarianism and Skepticism; gives large and sound expositions of Dr. +Whately's views of criminal jurisprudence; and attempts special +biographical sketches, such as Fuller's, Luther's, Pascal's, and +Plato's. + +The fourth volume of SOUTHEY'S _Life and Correspondence_ has been +issued, and sustains the interest of this very attractive work. +Southey's Letters are among the best in the language, easy, unaffected, +full of genial, intelligent criticisms upon men, books, and things; and +abounding in attractive glimpses of the lives and characters of the +eminent literary men who were his contemporaries. The new volume +mentions that after Southey's acrimonious letters to Mr. William Smith, +M.P. for Norwich, appeared, he was offered the editorship of the London +Times, with a salary of £2000, and a share of the paper, but declined +it. + +The readers of the _Excursion_ will remember that it was announced as +the second part of a poem in three parts, called the _Recluse_. The +first part was biographical, "conducting the history of the author's +mind to the point when he was emboldened to hope that his faculties were +sufficiently matured for entering upon the arduous labor which he had +proposed to himself;" and the third part consisted mainly of meditations +in the author's own person. It is now stated that the poem has been left +in the hands of the author's nephew, Rev. Dr. Christopher Wordsworth, +with directions that it should be published after his decease, together +with such biographical notices as may be requisite to illustrate his +writings. It is in fourteen cantos. A meeting of the personal friends +and admirers of Wordsworth has been held, to take steps to erect a +monument to his memory. + +There have been published a large number of books of travel, among which +the following are mentioned:--Lord Chesney has issued the first portion +of his narrative of the Government _Expedition to the Euphrates_; and a +certain Count Sollogub has recorded his traveling impressions of Young +Russia, in a lively little book called _The Tarantas_. An English +artist, lately resident in America, has described his _Adventures in +California_; and Mr. Robert Baird, a Scotch invalid traveling for +health, with strong party prepossessions, but shrewd observant habits, +has published two volumes on the _West Indies and North America in +1849_. Also, pictures of travel in the Canadas, in a book called the +_Shoe and Canoe_, by the Secretary to the Boundary Commissioners, Dr. +Bagley; a very curious and complete revelation of Eastern life, in a +_Two Years' Residence in a Levantine Family_, described by Mr. Bayle St. +John; a peep into _Nuremberg and Franconia_, by Mr. Whiting; a summer +ramble through _Auvergne and Piedmont_, by the intelligent Secretary of +the Royal Society, Mr. Weld; the record of a brief holiday in Spain, +_Gazpacho_, by a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge; _Notes from +Nineveh_, by a clergyman who has lately had religious duties in the +East; and a satisfactory and compendious compilation called _Nineveh, +and Persepolis_, by one of the officials of the British Museum. + +An article in the Quarterly Review, on the _Flight of Louis Philippe and +his Family_, in the Revolution, has attracted a good deal of attention +in Paris. It was written by Mr. Croker, from materials supplied by the +ex-king himself, and denounces Lamartine and the leading actors of the +revolution, with the utmost bitterness. Lamartine has written a reply to +it, the chief object of which is to refute one of the principal +assertions of Mr. Croker, by proving that he, Lamartine, not only did +not take measures to prevent the flight of Louis Philippe and the +members of his family, but that he actually exerted himself actively to +have them placed out of the reach of danger. LEDRU ROLLIN has occupied +his leisure, during his exile in London, by writing a book on the +_Decadence of England_, which abounds in the most extravagant statements +and predictions. It is denounced, in the strongest terms, as a worthless +compound of malice and credulity. + + * * * * * + +The OBITUARY for the month embraces the name of M. GAY-LUSSAC, one of +the great scientific men of Paris. The _Presse_ says that few men have +led a life so useful, and marked by so many labors. There is no branch +of the physical and chemical sciences which is not indebted to him for +some important discovery. Alone, or in conjunction with other eminent +men, particularly with M. Thénard and M. de Humboldt, he carried his +spirit of investigation into them all. At a very early age he was +elected a member of the Academy of Sciences. In 1810, says M. Pouillet, +speaking in the name of that academy, when the university opened, at +length, its public courses of high teaching, it sought to associate in +that object the most eminent scientific men of France, and M. +Gay-Lussac, though very young, recommended himself to it by the double +title of chemist and natural philosopher. "M. Gay-Lussac was already +famous by his discovery of the fundamental laws of the expansion of gas +and vapors; by a balloon ascent the most important and almost the only +one of which the history of science has any record to keep; and for many +works on chemistry which tended to lay the bases on which that science +was soon afterward to be established." M. Gay-Lussac was a peer of +France. + +The Brussels papers mention the premature death of M. P. SOUYET, the +eminent chemist, at the early age of thirty-two. M. Souyet was professor +of chemistry at the _Musée de l'Industrie_, and at the Royal Veterinary +School at Brussels. His funeral, on the 6th inst., was attended by the +most eminent scientific men in Brussels; and M. Quetelet delivered an +address, in which he briefly enumerated the important discoveries and +chemical investigations that have rendered the name of M. Souyet so well +known. M. Souyet had written several valuable chemical works. + +The EMPEROR OF CHINA, TAU-KWANG (the Lustre of Reason), "departed upon +the great journey, and mounted upward on the dragon, to be a guest on +high"--in other words died, on the 25th of February, in the sixty-ninth +year of his age, and thirtieth of his reign. His death is said to have +been caused by the fatigue he underwent at the funeral ceremonies of the +late Empress-Dowager, his mother-in-law. The nomination of a successor +in China rests always with the Emperor, and before his death Tau-Kwang +decreed that his fourth and only surviving son should succeed him. He +ascended the throne the day of the Emperor's death, and is to reign +under the title of Sze-hing. He is only nineteen years of age. Keying, +the former Viceroy at Canton, is appointed his principal guardian, and +will no doubt hold a high and an influential position in the Cabinet. It +is not likely that any material change in the policy of the Government +will take place, but from the enlightened character of Keying and his +knowledge of foreigners, the tendency of any new measures will probably +be toward a more liberal course. + +The EARL OF ROSCOMMON died on the 15th inst. at Blackrock, near Dublin, +in the fifty-second year of his age. + +MAJOR-GENERAL SIR JAMES SUTHERLAND, of the East India Company's Service, +died suddenly on the 15th, at his house. He had enjoyed perfect health +up to the day of his death, when he invited a large number of friends to +dinner. He was giving instructions to his butler with respect to the +wines in his drawing-room, and Lady Sutherland was standing near him. He +suddenly grasped her shoulder, fell to the ground, and died in a few +minutes. He was in the sixty-sixth year of his age, and had seen a great +deal of service in India. + +The "Scottish Press" records the demise of MRS. JEFFREY, the widow of +one whose death was so recently the cause of an almost universal sorrow. +Shortly after Lord Jeffrey's decease, his widow, affected in a more than +ordinary degree by the sad event, broke up her establishment, and took +up her abode with Mr. and Mrs. Empson, her son-in-law and daughter. +Though naturally cheerful, her spirits never recovered the shock she +sustained by the death of her distinguished partner, whom she has not +survived four months. Mrs. Jeffrey was born in America, and was the +grandniece of the celebrated John Wilkes, and second wife of the late +Lord Jeffrey, to whom she was married in 1813. + + * * * * * + +Affairs in FRANCE are without change. The Assembly was proceeding with +the bill for restricting the suffrage, and some of its sections had been +adopted. No doubt was entertained of its final passage. It meets, +however, with stern opposition, and will lay the foundation for a +settled popular discontent, highly unfavorable to the permanence of the +government or the tranquillity of the Republic. No immediate outbreak is +apprehended, as the preparations of the government are too formidable to +allow it the least chance of success. The government has adopted very +stringent measures against the opposition press. On the 14th, M. Boulé, +the great printer of the Rue de Coq-Heron, was deprived of his license +as a printer. He was the printer of the "Voix du Peuple," the +"République," the "Estafette," and several other papers. The authorities +seized all the presses, and placed seals on them. In consequence of this +step, the Editors issued a joint letter explaining how their papers were +prevented from appearing. The editor of the "Voix du Peuple" was brought +again before the tribunals on the same day for attacks on the +government. In the one case the sentence previously pronounced against +him of a year's imprisonment and a fine of 4000f. for an attack on M. +Fould's budget was confirmed, and for the other he was sentenced to a +year's imprisonment and a fine of 5000f. Courtois and the Abbé Chatel +have been convicted by juries, of inflammatory speeches at electoral +meetings. The former was condemned to a year's imprisonment and 1000f. +fine, and two years' more imprisonment if the fine be not paid. The Abbé +Chatel has a year's imprisonment and 500f. fine. It seems rather +surprising that the government should obtain verdicts against the +Socialists, considering how Socialism has spread in Paris. + +The French Embassador having been recalled from St. James's, General la +Hitte, the Minister of War, read to the National Assembly on the 16th, a +letter he had written to the French Embassador at London, in consequence +of infraction, by England, of the conditions on which France had agreed +to act as mediator in the affairs of Greece. The letter, after a summary +of the circumstances of the misunderstanding, and the demand that it +should be set to rights, proceeded to say: "This demand not having been +listened to, it has appeared to us that the prolongation of your sojourn +at London is not compatible with the dignity of the Republic. The +President has ordered me to invite you to return to France, after having +accredited M. Marescalchi in quality of Chargé d'Affaires," and +concludes, "You will have the goodness to read this present dispatch to +Lord Palmerston." This announcement was received by the Right with loud +acclamations, the Left, or Mountain party remaining silent. + + * * * * * + +In GERMANY the Erfurt Parliament, having finished the revisal of its +proposed Constitution for the German Union, dissolved itself, and has +been succeeded by two separate Convocations. The one is held in +Frankfort, and consists of the representatives of the old Germanic +confederation, convoked by the Emperor of Austria, with the object of +re-organizing that confederation. This conference includes all the +secondary States of the old confederation except Oldenburg and Frankfort +itself, though the assembly is held within its own walls. The other, +held at Berlin, was assembled by the king of Prussia, and consisted of +twenty-one heads of sovereign houses, with representatives of the three +Hanse towns, Hamburg, Bremen, and Lubeck. This last convention has +finished its sittings, and the members, previous to separating, were +entertained by the king at a banquet on the 16th, when his majesty +addressed them in a speech expressive of his satisfaction with their +proceedings. + +On the 22d _An Attempt was Made on the Life_ of the King of Prussia, by +a Serjeant of artillery named Sesseloge, who fired a pistol at him as he +was setting out for Potsdam, and wounded him slightly in the arm. The +assassin was immediately apprehended. + + * * * * * + +The only political news from SPAIN during the month, related to some +palace intrigues, in which the Queen, King-Consort, and General Narvaez +were concerned. One evening in the last week of April the King suddenly +notified to General Narvaez and the rest of the cabinet his intention of +quitting Madrid in order not to be present at the accouchement of the +Queen. After exhausting all means of persuasion to induce him to change +his purpose, but which were of no avail, a council of ministers was +held, in which it was decided to oppose by force the King's departure. +His Majesty was placed under arrest. Sentries were stationed at the door +of his apartment, and the King remained a prisoner during four hours, at +the end of which time his Majesty capitulated, and even consented to +accompany the Queen in an open carriage in her usual evening drive on +the Prado. + +After a _Drought of Five Years_, the province of Murcia has been visited +by a copious rain. It was curious to observe the young children who had +never seen rain in their lives, evince as much alarm as if some +frightful accident had happened. Rain also has fallen in the vast +"Huerta," or garden-land of Valencia: the simple inhabitants of the +villages, in the height of their joy, have carried their tutelary saints +about the streets with bands of rustic music. + +At about a league from Saragossa a _Powder-mill exploded_ and many lives +were lost. Parts of human bodies, remnants of clothing, and the remains +of beasts of burden, were found scattered in every direction. The +edifice was shattered to pieces. + + * * * * * + +Since the Pope has established himself in ROME, that capital has been +very quiet. The French commandant, General Baraguay d'Hilliers, has +returned to Paris, but the French troops remain. The Pope adheres to his +high-handed measures of reaction. Rome is full of mysterious rumors, not +entitled, however, to much credit. The Pope is accused of an attempt to +escape from that city, and his continuance there is only attributed to +the vigilance with which his movements are watched by the French. +Tuscany is about to be occupied by 14,000 Austrian troops, the time of +occupation to be determined by the will and convenience of the Cabinet +of Vienna. There is a rumor that, as a counterbalance. Savoy is to be +occupied by a French army. It is feared that plans are in agitation for +the political enthrallment of all Italy. + + + + +LITERARY NOTICES. + + + THE UNITY OF THE HUMAN RACES PROVED TO BE THE DOCTRINE OF + SCRIPTURE, REASON, AND SCIENCE. By the Rev. Thomas Smyth, D.D. + New York: George P. Putnam. 12mo, pp. 404. + +The question discussed in the present volume, is one that has excited +great attention among modern savans, and more recently, has obtained a +fresh interest from the speculations concerning it by the popular +scientific lecturer Professor Agassiz of Harvard University. In many +respects, Dr. Smyth has shown himself admirably qualified for the task +he has undertaken. He brings to the discussion of the subject, the +resources of great and various learning, the mature results of elaborate +investigation, a familiarity with the labors of previous writers, and a +lively and attractive style of composition. The argument from Scripture +is dwelt upon at considerable length, and though presented in a forcible +manner, betrays the presence of a certain tincture of professional zeal, +which will tend to vitiate the effect on the mind of the scientific +reader. Under the head of the Former Civilization of Black Races of Men, +a great variety of curious facts are adduced, showing the original +sagacity and advancement in all worldly knowledge and science, by which +the family of Ham was distinguished. The testimony of a southern divine +of such high eminence as Dr. Smyth, to the primitive equality in the +intellectual faculties of the negro and European races, is not a little +remarkable, and speaks well for his candor and breadth of comprehension. +The discussion of the origin of the varieties in the human race is +conducted with great ingenuity and copious erudition, but it must be +admitted, hardly succeeds in making out a case to the satisfaction of +the inquirer, who regards the subject only in the light of history and +philosophy. + +The influence of the theory which he opposes, on the relations of the +Southern States, is considered by Dr. Smyth to be of a different +character from that set forth by many writers. He believes that it would +be suicidal to the South in the maintenance of her true position toward +her colored population. The diversity of the Black and White races was +never admitted by the fathers of the country. They always recognized the +colored race which had been providentially among them for two centuries +and a half as fellow-beings with the same original attributes, the same +essential character, and the same immortal destiny. The introduction of +a novel theory on the subject, Dr. Smyth maintains, would be in the +highest degree impolitic and dangerous, removing from both master and +servant the strongest bonds which now unite them, and by which they are +restrained from licentious, immoral, and cruel purposes. + +Without reference to many statements, which will produce the widest +latitude of opinion in regard both to their soundness and their +accuracy, the work of Dr. Smyth may be commended as a treatise of the +highest importance in the scientific discussion to which it is devoted, +abounding in materials of inestimable value to the student, filled with +the proofs of rare cultivation and scholar-like refinement, and every +way creditable to the attainments and the ability of the author and to +the literature of the South. + + + HISTORICAL VIEW OF THE LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE OF THE SLAVIC + NATIONS; WITH A SKETCH OF THEIR POPULAR POETRY. By Talvi. With + a preface by Edward Robinson, D.D., LL.D. New York: George P. + Putnam. 12mo., pp. 412. + +It is rarely that a subject is treated with the profound investigation, +vigorous analysis, and intelligent comprehensiveness which are exhibited +in the discussion of the interesting literary topics to which the +present work is devoted. The authoress, whose name is concealed in the +mystic word Talvi, is understood to be the lady of Rev. Professor +Robinson, and her rare accomplishments in various departments of +learning have long since established her intellectual reputation in the +most cultivated European circles. Usually written in her native German +language, her productions are perhaps not so extensively known in this +country, although few of our educated scholars are ignorant of her +researches in a province of literature with which her name has become, +to a great degree, identified. + +The volume now published is characterized by the extent and thoroughness +of its investigations, its acute and judicious criticisms, its +warm-hearted recognition of true poetry, even in an humble garb, and the +force and facility of its style. The last trait is quite remarkable, +considering the writer is using a foreign language. There is little, +either in the translations or the original portion of the work, to +remind us that it is the production of one to whom the language is not +native. + +After describing the old, ecclesiastical Slavic Literature, the +authoress proceeds to the literary monuments of the Eastern and Western +Slavi, giving an elaborate account of the Russian, Servian, Bohemian, +and Polish literatures, with glances at the achievements of several less +important branches of the great Slavic race. In the course of this +discussion, a great variety of rare and curious information is +presented, of high importance to the student of ethnography and history, +and accompanied with complete and lucid references to the original +sources. The most attractive feature of the work to the general reader +will doubtless be the sketch of the popular poetry of the Slavic +nations, illustrated with abundant specimens of songs and ballads, many +of which are marked with a strong natural pathos and tenderness, and all +of them possessing a certain rustic simplicity, which is usually of a +very pleasing character, and seldom offensive. + + + HINTS TOWARD REFORMS, in Lectures, Addresses, and other + Writings. By Horace Greeley. New York: Harper and Brothers. + 12mo pp. 400. + +A handsome volume, consisting principally of Lectures delivered before +popular Lyceums and Young Men's Associations, with several brief Essays +on subjects of popular interest. The distinguished author presents his +views on the various topics which come under discussion with inimitable +frankness and good humor, and in the fresh, flowing, unaffected style, +which gives such a charm to the productions of his pen, even with +readers who most strongly dissent from his conclusions. Among the +questions considered in this volume are The Emancipation of Labor, The +Ideal and the Actual of Life, The Formation of Character, The Social +Architects, Alcoholic Liquors, Tobacco, The Trade Reform, The Church and +the Age, Humanity, and several others of perhaps still more general +interest. The admirers of the author, as well as all who are interested +in the question of Social Reform, whether ranking themselves among the +Conservatives or Progressives, will welcome this work as the only +compact and systematic expression of his peculiar theories, now before +the public, and as a valuable manual for reference on many points which +engage a large share of attention at the present day. + + + ANTONINA; OR, THE FALL OF ROME. A Romance of the Fifth Century. + By W. Wilkie Collins. New York: Harper and Brothers. 8vo, pp. + 160. + +It is long since the English press has sent forth a more truly classical +and magnificent romance, than the present narrative of some of the +thrilling scenes which attended the downfall of the Roman Empire. The +author has been known heretofore by the biography of his father, the +celebrated historical and landscape painter, the friend of Coleridge and +Allston; but that work gives no promise of the splendor of imagination, +and the rare constructive power which are shown in the composition of +Antonina. It is one of those rich and gorgeous portraitures, glowing +with life and radiant with beauty, which make a profound impression on +their first exhibition, and long continue to haunt the memory with their +images of mingled loveliness and terror. + + * * * * * + +D. and J. Sadlier have issued a translation of the Abbé Martinet's +celebrated _Solution of Great Problems placed within the Reach of every +Mind_, with a preface by the Rt. Rev. Bishop of New York, Dr. Hughes. +This work holds a high rank in modern Catholic literature, and is +brought before the American public by Bishop Hughes in a warm +introductory encomium. It discusses many of the leading religious +questions of the day in a racy and pointed style, and while opposing +what the author deems the errors of Protestantism in general, reserves +its hottest fire for modern Pantheism, Socialism, Rationalism, and other +kindred innovations, which he regards as gaseous exhalations from the +bottomless pit, taking a visible form in these latter days. From the +well-known ability of the author, and the spicy relish of his pen, the +work is adapted to make a sensation beyond the pale of the Catholic +Church, without taking in account the high-toned sarcasm of the preface, +in which department of composition the talents of Bishop Hughes are +unquestionable. + +Harper and Brothers have issued the second number of Lossing's _Field +Book of the Revolution_, a work, which from the novelty of its plan and +the ability of its execution, has already proved a general favorite with +the reading public. It combines the authenticity of history with the +freshness of personal narrative, and in the richness and beauty of its +embellishments is hardly surpassed by any of the serials of the day. + +The same house have published an original translation of Lamartine's +_Past, Present, and Future of the French Republic_, which will be read +with interest on account of the character of the author, and the light +it throws on the practical workings of Democracy in France, though it +has little of the fiery rhetoric of most of his former writings. + +Harper and Brothers have issued a reprint of Dr. Lardner's _Railway +Economy in Europe and America_, a work overflowing with scientific, +statistical, and practical details, and which will be considered as +essential to all who wish to comprehend the subject, in its various +bearings whether engineers, stockholders, or travelers, as fire and +water to the locomotive. Dr. Lardner has brought together the results of +long and laborious research, and many portions of his descriptive +narrative are as entertaining as a novel, and more so. + +D. Appleton & Co. have published _The Lone Dove_, an Indian story of the +revolutionary period, redolent of sentimentality and romance run wild, +betraying a great waste of power on the part of the anonymous writer, +who has evidently more talent than is made use of to advantage in the +present work. + +_Mezzofanti's Method applied to the Study of the French Language_, by J. +Romer, published by the same house, is a work of great philological +interest, on account of the curious analogies which it describes, and +contains an excellent collection of specimens from French poets and +prose writers, but its value as a practical manual for the teacher can +be determined only by use. + +The _Ojibway Conquest_, by Kah-ge-gah-gah-bowh, or George Copway, issued +by G. Putnam, will find a place among the curiosities of literature as +the production of a native Indian Chief, whose muse has been inspired by +the forest and stream of his original haunts, without having incurred a +large debt to the influence of civilization. Copway is an exemplary +Christian and an intelligent man, but he will get less fame from his +poetry than from his descent. + +_Six Months in the Gold Mines_, by E. Gould Buffum, from the press of +Lea and Blanchard, is one of the most readable books which have sprung +up under the California excitement, the author having been familiar with +the country before the gold fever had broken out. His style is +straight-forward and pleasant, showing more of the soldier and +adventurer than the scholar, but none the worse for that. His +information appears to have been collected with great care, when it was +not gained by personal observation, and has the outward and inward signs +of authenticity, to a very satisfactory degree. The book can not fail to +be acceptable to all who have one foot in California, as well as to the +few readers who are not in that condition. + +Crocker and Brewster, Boston, have published an admirable treatise, +entitled _Astronomy, or the World as It Is and as It Appears_, +understood to be from the pen of a highly intelligent lady of that city. +It is equally excellent for the chaste beauty of its style, the +clearness of its scientific expositions, and the completeness and +accuracy of the information which it presents. + +W. B. Smith and Co., Cincinnati, have published a large _Treatise on the +Principal Diseases of the Interior Valley of North America_, by Daniel +Drake, M.D., which discusses the subject with great learning, and in a +popular style. It can hardly fail to take the rank of a standard +authority in the important department which it treats. + + + + +Summer Fashions. + + +[Illustration: FIG. 1] + +FIG. 1. CARRIAGE COSTUME.--Dress of bright apple-green silk; the skirt +with three deep flounces pinked at the edges. The corsage high and +plain. Mantelet of very pale lilac silk, trimmed with two rows of lace +de laine of the same color, and each row of lace surmounted by +passementerie. The lace extends merely round the back part of the +mantelet, and the fronts are trimmed with passementerie only. Bonnet of +white crinoline, with rows of lilac ribbon set on in bouillonnées. The +bonnet is lined with white crape, and the under-trimming consists of +bouquets of lilac and white flowers. Straw-colored kid gloves. White +silk parasol. + +FIG. 2. BRIDAL DRESS FOR THE MARRIAGE CEREMONY.--Robe of white poult de +soie. The skirt very full, and ornamented in front with five rows of +lace, finished at each end with bows of white satin. The rows of lace +are of graduated lengths, the lower row being about a quarter and a half +long, and the upper one not more than five or six inches. The corsage is +high at the back, but open in front nearly as low as the waist, and +edged round with a fall of lace, narrowing to a point in front. Within +the corsage is worn a chemisette, composed of rows of lace falling +downward, and finished at the throat by a band of insertion and an +edging standing up. The sleeves are demi-long and loose at the lower +part, and the under-sleeves are composed of three broad rows of lace. +The hair in waved bandeaux on the forehead, and the back hair partly +plaited and partly curled, two long ringlets dropping on each side of +the neck. Wreath of orange blossom, jasmine, and white roses. Long +bridal vail of Brussels net. + +FIG. 3.--The revival of an old fashion has recently excited the +attention of the _haut ton_ abroad. A specimen of the style is given in +the Engraving, _fig._ 3. It is designed chiefly for a rich riding-dress, +it being too long in the skirt for the promenade, and not convenient for +the drawing-room. It is called the Moldavian Style; a _petite veste_ of +dark green cloth entirely covered with an embroidery of lace imitating +_guipure_ royal, and displaying the shape to the greatest perfection. +The skirt is very ample and cut in a novel manner so as to fall in long +folds like an antique drapery. The front is ornamented with an +apron-trimming of deep lace. The sleeves are demi-long; the hands and +wrists covered by long white gloves. When in full dress for the saddle, +a gray beaver hat is worn, the brim low in front, and turned up at the +sides, and ornamented with a long, twisted ostrich feather; cambric +collar and _manchettes_ (ruffles) each closed by a double button of +rubies or other precious stones. + +[Illustration: FIG. 2.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 3.] + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Volume +1, No. 2, July, 1850., by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY, JULY 1850 *** + +***** This file should be named 31187-8.txt or 31187-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/1/8/31187/ + +Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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