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-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature,
-Science, and Art, No. 728, December 8, 1877, by Various
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world 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.  If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-Title: Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, No. 728, December 8, 1877
-
-Author: Various
-
-Editor: William Chambers
-        Robert Chambers
-
-Release Date: April 18, 2016 [EBook #51785]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL, DEC 8, 1877 ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Susan Skinner and the Online Distributed
-Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
-
-
-
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-
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-
-
-[Illustration: CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL
-
-OF
-
-POPULAR
-
-LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART.
-
-Fourth Series
-
-CONDUCTED BY WILLIAM AND ROBERT CHAMBERS.
-
-NO. 728.      SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1877.      PRICE 1½_d._]
-
-
-
-
-THE HIDDEN BOX.
-
-A TALE OF THE COVENANTERS.
-
-
-Something like two centuries ago, while the persecution against the
-Covenanters was raging in Scotland, many were forced, for conscience'
-sake, to give up all and retire to out-of-the-way places, to be out of
-the reach of their enemies. Among others, a well-to-do farmer of the
-name of MacWilliam, reduced to penury by the fines imposed upon him and
-the confiscation of his lands, withdrew from the home of his youth;
-and having rented a moorland farm in a remote parish of a neighbouring
-county, he settled down there with his wife and family. Hillfoot--for
-such was the name of the farm--lay in a hollow between two hills of
-moderate elevation, which rose with a gentle slope on each side. A burn
-ran through the farm, and about two miles farther on, joined a river of
-some importance. Almost at the confluence of the two the glen took a
-sharp turn to the left, and thus rendered Hillfoot invisible from the
-main road, which followed the course of the larger stream.
-
-Though the farm was of considerable extent, little more than a living
-for the family could be made about it, for heather was more abundant on
-the hills than grass; and good arable land was out of the question, for
-the district was so late that cereals could barely ripen, and even the
-meadows along the holms by the burn-side yielded but scanty crops. It
-was in this place, however, that James MacWilliam had elected to spend
-his latter days. All around the house the outlook was no doubt bleak
-and bare and far from encouraging; but all that he loved most dearly
-were with him, and if he had not the comfort and luxury of former days,
-he had what he prized more than all earthly things--freedom to worship
-God in the way it seemed best to himself. At the time of his removal
-to Hillfoot he was about forty years of age, and his wife two or three
-years his junior. They had been married some fifteen years, and two
-children--a son and daughter--had blessed their union. John, a lad of
-fourteen, assisted his father in the tending of their flocks and in the
-working of the farm; while their daughter Barbara, two years younger,
-helped her mother in the house; and although she was not strong enough
-yet to do the heavy work, by the sweetness of her temper and the
-blitheness of her nature her presence enlivened all about her and made
-the heavy task seem light.
-
-Years rolled on; and though they often heard of the persecution
-and dreadful punishment their fellow-countrymen, nay even their
-fellow-parishioners were suffering, still in their remote and
-unsuspected retreat they were allowed to live on in peace. Ten years
-had passed, and with them many changes had come over Hillfoot and its
-inmates. Death had not left it inviolate, for the wife and mother, not
-strong at best, had been ill able to stand the privations and hardships
-which the family had endured since settling there. It was with sad
-hearts that her husband and family saw her pining away; and although
-they put forth every effort and tried every expedient that love could
-devise to prolong her life, she sank lower and lower; and when autumn
-was merging into winter, and the heather-bells were beginning to
-wither, she passed away. Barbara, on whose shoulders the household
-duties had long before this fallen, was now no longer a girl, but a
-comely lass of twenty-two. Her tall graceful figure, kindly manner, and
-sweet disposition made her beloved by all who knew her, and brought her
-many admirers. She had become betrothed to a young man, a shepherd on a
-neighbouring farm, and but for the ailing health and subsequent death
-of her mother, was to have been married the following summer.
-
-John, on whom, from the decrepitude of his father, the management of
-the farm had now devolved, had applied himself with so much earnestness
-to his task, and things had so prospered in his hands, that the family
-were in a much better condition than they had ever been since their
-coming there.
-
-Of all the neighbours they had come in contact with, James Morton of
-Burnfoothill was the one with whom they had the most dealings. Morton's
-wife had been dead for many years; but his only daughter Janet, a young
-woman about Barbara's age, kept house for her father. At bottom, Morton
-was an honourable enough man, but he was grasping and worldly, and
-cared little for those things which his neighbour MacWilliam regarded
-as most sacred. Between the old folks accordingly there had been little
-coming and going; but Barbara and Janet were fast friends, for the two
-girls had forgathered among the braes shortly after the former had come
-to Hillfoot, and an intimacy was then formed which grew closer as they
-grew older, and which now rendered the two almost inseparable.
-
-John MacWilliam had also found something of a kindred spirit in Janet,
-and from taking a deep interest in her welfare, he gradually awoke to
-the consciousness of regarding her with a true and honest affection. He
-had long worshipped at a distance; but now that his mother was dead,
-and his sister betrothed to a neighbouring swain, he determined to
-approach the object of his love and tell her the state of his feelings.
-An opportunity was not long in presenting itself. Janet came on a visit
-to Hillfoot one lovely June afternoon, and in the evening, as she was
-preparing to go home, John volunteered to accompany her. They sallied
-out and wended their way down the burn-side. The sun was sinking behind
-the hills; the sky was bright and clear and peaceful overhead, and as
-the shadows lengthened, a dead calm seemed to descend on all things
-around. Nothing was to be heard save the purling of the brook at their
-feet, or the bleat of the lambs far up the hillside. The quiet beauty
-touched the hearts of both as they tripped along, and caused them to
-linger by the way, that they might the longer gaze on the tranquil
-scene. Seating themselves on a grassy knowe, with the maiden's hand
-clasped in his, he told in simple yet passionate language how he had
-long regarded her with the deepest affection and that she alone could
-make him happy. Need more be said? They rose to go, for the shadows
-were deepening; and as they sauntered down the glen hand in hand, it
-was agreed that he should ask her father's consent that very night.
-
-When they entered Burnfoothill, Morton was much surprised to see John
-at such an unusual hour; and when he learned his errand, was not
-overpleased, for he had calculated that his daughter, of whom he was
-justly proud, would make a better match, since he was rich, and she
-being his only child, was the heiress-apparent to all his possessions.
-Accordingly, he would give his consent only on two conditions, and
-these were, that John should buy Hillfoot and portion it to his
-daughter! When John heard these conditions, his heart died within
-him; and he parted that night from Janet like a man in a dream; and,
-despairing of ever being able to fulfil the conditions, he retraced his
-steps up the glen with a heavier heart and less elastic step than when
-an hour or two before he had come down. When he reached home, he knelt
-by his bedside and prayed to the Father of all mercies for help to
-enable him to bear up with his trouble.
-
-Throughout the long night he pondered and racked his brain for some
-expedient whereby he might raise the necessary funds and remove the
-only obstacle between himself and his happiness, and carry Janet home
-in triumph--his reward and joy. The day dawned; and as he prepared to
-go forth to his first duty in the morning, that of looking after the
-sheep, he felt as if there was no life in him--as if there was nothing
-to live for now. But the old adage says truly--the darkest hour is
-just before the dawn. Seizing his staff, he stalked forth and began
-to ascend the hill. He had hardly reached the top when he saw right
-in front of him a man looking carefully amongst the heather as if for
-something he had lost. He appeared to be a stranger to the place; and
-his dress shewed him to be no shepherd; and John, surprised that such a
-person should be there at so early an hour, went forward and accosted
-him. The stranger started when he heard a voice, for he had not noticed
-any one approaching, but answered cheerily the 'Good-morrow' addressed
-to him. At first he regarded his interrogator with some suspicion; but
-the frank open countenance of the latter soon dispelled all doubt; and
-when John asked whether he had lost anything, the stranger proceeded to
-tell him the following story.
-
-He began: 'I am a captain in the Scottish army; and the other day while
-sitting in my house in Edinburgh I received a message to come to the
-Tolbooth jail, as an old friend desired very particularly to see me.
-Wondering who this friend in the Tolbooth could be, I set out, and
-having arrived there you can judge of my surprise when I recognised in
-the prisoner before me an old comrade and fellow-officer, Bertram by
-name. We had served together under Leslie, and had been fast friends.
-After some years, Captain Bertram left his regiment and went up to
-London. What he went for I could never learn, but I lost sight of
-him from that time, until he sent for me to come to the Tolbooth.
-His history he told me had been an eventful one; and he had passed
-through much since I had seen him last. Amongst other things, he had
-allied himself with the ringleaders in the Ryehouse Plot; and when
-that conspiracy had become known to the government, my friend the
-captain fled with all haste from London and made the best of his way
-to Scotland. Though he had made many narrow escapes, he got across the
-Border safe enough, and was congratulating himself on having at last
-reached a haven of safety, when he learned to his surprise that the
-limbs of the law were still on his track, and that even there he was
-not safe. He hurried north as fast as possible, thinking to find refuge
-in the Highland glens; but his pursuers had been gaining on him, and as
-he was traversing this part of the country--I take it to be on the top
-of this very hill--he saw his pursuers, a party of red-coats, come over
-the top of yonder hill on the other side of the valley. He had carried
-with him from England a small box of extremely valuable jewellery, by
-selling which he would have as much as keep him in his old age and
-forced retirement. But when he saw the soldiers so close on him, he
-hid the box in a tuft of heather, so that if he were taken it might
-not fall into the hands of his enemies; and if he did escape he might
-have an opportunity of coming back and recovering it. He was, however,
-captured before he reached Glasgow, which I believe is not more than
-twelve miles from here; thence he was taken to Edinburgh and confined
-in the Tolbooth, where I saw him. I interested myself in his case, and
-used all my influence to get him set free; but the evidence of his
-guilt was too decided to admit of a doubt, and the government was in
-no forgiving mood. He was tried, condemned, and has been executed. The
-night before his execution he sent for me and described the place where
-he had left his box of valuables, and asked me to go and search for
-them and take the use of them. From the description I got of the hill,
-I think this must be the one, and my errand here this morning is to
-find this lost treasure.'
-
-When he had finished his story, John immediately volunteered to help
-him in his search for the box; and the stranger being nothing loath,
-the two started to look, and continued the search until the sun had
-mounted high in the heavens. The stranger, unused to the rough and
-uneven ground of the hill, was completely knocked up, and determined
-to give up the search as useless, remarking that it reminded him
-of looking for a needle in a haystack. After being pressed to go
-down and partake of some refreshments--which, however, the stranger
-declined--and as they were on the point of parting, John asked him to
-leave his address, so that if he did find the box, he would be able to
-let him know. The stranger did so, and promised a handsome reward if
-the box was found and brought to Edinburgh. They parted, the stranger
-to make the best of his way to the village, which lay some four miles
-off, and thence take horse to Glasgow; John to go his rounds amongst
-the sheep, which had been neglected while the search was going on.
-
-Whilst he was thus occupied, he kept turning over in his mind what had
-passed between the stranger and himself, and it suddenly occurred to
-him that here was an opportunity of raising at least a little money,
-for should he find the box, the stranger had promised a handsome
-reward. At the thought, a wild tumultuous joy filled his breast, and
-he eagerly hastened to finish his round and get back home, so that
-when he had breakfasted he might renew the search. He was, however,
-so far behind his usual time of arrival that he found his kinsfolk
-in consternation at his protracted stay. Fearing some accident had
-befallen his son, the old man was on the point of going out to seek for
-him when he made his appearance. John told them the cause of his delay;
-and also declared his intention of going out to continue the search as
-soon as he had satisfied his hunger.
-
-The story told by her brother made a great impression on Barbara, and
-she, after sitting wrapt in thought for a few minutes, exclaimed: 'It
-_must_ have been him!' Her brother in surprise asked what she meant;
-and then she told how, one afternoon two or three months before, she
-had wandered up the burn-side with her seam in her hand, and had seen
-a man running along the hill as fast as the nature of the ground would
-permit; and as he ran she saw him halt, and as it were bend down
-amongst the heather, and then start off to run again. She stood and
-watched him till he went out of sight, thinking it was perhaps some
-poor Covenanter chased by 'Kirke's Lambs,' who at that time were the
-terror of the country; but having watched some time longer, and seeing
-no one in pursuit, she concluded it would simply be a shepherd on
-some errand of despatch, and thought no more about it. Her brother's
-recital, however, had brought the circumstance to her memory; and
-laying the two things together, she inferred that it must have been
-Captain Bertram she had seen, and that when she saw him stoop, he had
-concealed the box of valuables.
-
-When John heard his sister's story, he eagerly questioned her whether
-she could trace the man's course along the hill or point out the place
-where she had seen him stoop. Barbara was uncertain, but volunteered
-to accompany her brother and indicate, so far as she could remember,
-the spot he was so anxious to find. Hurriedly partaking of the food
-his sister had prepared for him, in a very few minutes the two issued
-forth to begin the search. They agreed that it would be better to go
-to the place where she had been standing when she saw the fugitive, so
-that she might have a better idea of where to look. They accordingly
-held their way up the valley, and as they were going he told her all
-that had passed the night before, and explained how it was that he was
-so eager to fall in with the concealed treasure. She, with all the
-ready sympathy of a sister, entered into his spirit; and when they
-had reached the place where she thought she had been standing, she
-proposed that he should go up the hill, and in that way she might be
-more able to tell definitely at what distance the man had been out.
-The suggestion seemed good, and was immediately carried out; and at
-the distance of nearly half a mile from where she was standing, she
-signalled him to stop. She immediately ascended, and as soon as she
-had reached him the search began in earnest. Sticking his staff in
-the ground where he had been standing, he hung his plaid upon it; and
-then Barbara and he going out something like fifty yards, and taking
-different directions, each described a semicircle with the plaid as
-centre, meeting on the opposite side. They continued the process,
-narrowing the circle every round, till they had come within five yards
-of the plaid; but all to no purpose. The task seemed hopeless, and
-they were on the point of abandoning the search in the space they had
-inclosed with the first round, when Barbara, with a joyful cry, drew
-forth the box from a thick bunch of heather!
-
-The two then hurried home to make known their good fortune to their
-father, and also to consult how they should let Captain Hamilton,
-John's friend of the morning, know that they had found the box. There
-were no telegraph wires in those days which could flash the news to its
-destination in a few minutes; nor were there even mails from so remote
-a place, by which letters could be carried with anything like safety
-or precision. The only way therefore that seemed to be advisable was
-that John should take the box and carry it all the way to Edinburgh
-and hand it over to the rightful owner. It was accordingly resolved
-that he should start very early next morning, which would enable him
-to reach Edinburgh that day, and take the box with him. To effectually
-conceal it, Barbara put up two pairs of blankets of her own weaving
-into a bundle, with the box inside; and when the east was beginning
-to turn gray, John set out with his bundle on his back, and some
-cakes and cheese in his pocket. On he trudged with a light step and
-lighter heart, for he felt he was on the eve of having his dearest
-wish fulfilled. Long before its inhabitants had begun to stir, he
-passed through Glasgow, then an insignificant city compared with its
-present grandeur and prosperity. While it was still early, halting
-by the wayside he quenched his thirst at a neighbouring spring, and
-then walked on, passing many villages by the way. By midday he reached
-Falkirk, and having there done justice to his cakes and cheese, he
-pushed on; and as the sun was sinking in the west he reached Edinburgh,
-and with little difficulty sought out the address given him by his
-friend the captain.
-
-He found that that gentleman lived in one of the most fashionable
-houses in the town; and when he knocked at the door and asked to see
-Captain Hamilton, the page told him in a very rough manner that his
-master had no time to waste on such as he. John felt nettled at this
-impertinence, but respectfully desired him to tell his master that
-the shepherd with whom he had been speaking the morning before, was
-at the door, and wished to see him. The page very reluctantly went;
-and when he delivered his message, was not a little surprised to see
-the alacrity with which his master obeyed the summons. The captain
-took John into his private room, and there eagerly asked him if he
-had found the box. For an answer, John quietly drew the article asked
-for from his bundle and handed it to the captain, who took it, and
-having produced the key which Bertram had given him when he told him
-the story, opened the box and found the contents all safe. He did not
-tell John what was the value of the jewels it contained; but after
-having been made acquainted with the mode in which the treasure had
-been recovered, he produced a bag containing one thousand guineas, and
-handed it to the faithful shepherd, as the reward of his honesty and
-fidelity. He at the same time pressed him to accept of his hospitality
-for that night; to which John readily consented, being thoroughly worn
-out by his long and tiresome journey. Ordering meat to be set before
-his guest, he waited till he had had enough, and then conducted him to
-a bedroom for the night.
-
-It would hardly be possible to describe the feelings of John when he
-found himself alone. An overpowering sense of gratitude to his heavenly
-Father filled his breast, and falling on his knees, he poured forth
-a fervent prayer of thanksgiving for what he had received. In the
-munificent reward he had earned, he saw the highest aim of his ambition
-won, and his dearest hopes consummated. Having at length retired to
-rest, his thoughts kept him awake for some time; but tired Nature soon
-asserted herself, and he sunk into a deep and refreshing slumber, and
-slept until the beams of the rising sun shining into his room roused
-him, and warned him that it was time to be taking the road. He rose,
-dressed himself, and was on the point of leaving, when the butler
-knocked at the door and told him breakfast was laid for him in the
-hall. Gratefully partaking of the offered cheer, he then set forth on
-his journey homeward, where he arrived as the gloaming was deepening
-into night. His story was soon told; and when he held forth the bag
-of gold and declared how much it contained, and assured them that it
-was all his own, his sister fairly broke down and wept for very joy.
-John then told his father the whole story of how he had trudged to
-the Scottish metropolis, and what he had there found; and he in the
-fullness of his heart embraced his children, and thanked God who had
-been so bountiful to them.
-
-There is little more to tell. The muirland farm changed owners, and the
-house was repaired. James Morton was no longer opposed to the marriage
-of his daughter Janet with John MacWilliam, for his son-in-law elect
-was no longer a poor tenant farmer, but an independent laird; and
-before another summer had come and gone, a new mistress had begun to
-rule at Hillfoot, and Barbara had been wedded to her shepherd-swain. It
-is unnecessary to follow them further in detail; suffice it to say that
-John and Janet lived long and happily together, and had the pleasure of
-seeing their sons and daughters grow up around them; and when he died,
-he left Hillfoot to his eldest son, charging him neither to sell it nor
-to leave it. Well and faithfully has that injunction been carried out,
-for to this day a descendant of the MacWilliams is in possession of
-Hillfoot.
-
-
-
-
-FIRES AND THEIR CAUSES.
-
-
-The oft-repeated words, 'Cause unknown,' appended to the daily reports
-of the conflagrations which occur all over the country--such as that,
-for instance, which lately occurred at Inveraray Castle, but which is
-now supposed to have been caused by lightning--furnish matter for grave
-reflection. A glance at the report of one of the largest fire brigades
-will shew us that the causes (when ascertained) are of the most varied
-description. It appears that the candle is the most destructive weapon
-to be found in an ordinary household, for conflagrations lighted by its
-help far outnumber those credited to any other cause. Curtains come
-next on the black list. The next large figures are given to 'Spark
-from fire,' followed by 'Foul flues.' Next in order may be noticed
-'Gas,' 'Children playing with fire,' 'Tobacco-smoking,' 'Spontaneous
-ignition,' and lastly 'Incendiarism.'
-
-There is no doubt that many a fire owes its origin to causes quite
-beyond the control of the tenant of the house in which it occurs, and
-that the scamping manner in which builders' work is often done is the
-prime cause of many a fire which is put down as unaccounted for. The
-ends of joists are left protruding into chimneys, or a thin hearthstone
-is set upon a bed of timber. In both cases the wood becomes so dry and
-hot that it is ready to take fire from the first spark that settles
-near it. Overheated flues represent a source of danger which is also
-attributable to the careless builder; for if the flue were so placed
-that its heat could not affect adjacent woodwork, it would be always
-as safe when hot as when cold. It is true that by act of parliament
-builders are obliged to preserve a certain distance between flues and
-timber; but surveyors cannot always reckon on their instructions being
-carried out, and cases are unfortunately rare nowadays where workmen
-will do their duty in such matters without constant supervision. Lath
-and plaster divisions between houses are also illegal; but buildings,
-and more especially warehouses, are now of such vast extent, that they
-really represent aggregations of small houses in which the act of
-parliament concerning party-walls becomes a dead-letter.
-
-Among the ascertained causes of fire are those which occur in the
-various workshops where hazardous trades are carried on. These
-naturally shew an increase since steam-power has become such a
-universal aid to nearly every kind of human labour; necessitating
-furnaces which remain kindled for weeks or months together. Apart from
-this source of risk, there are numerous trades where such inflammables
-as turpentine, naphtha, spirits of wine, and combinations of them in
-the form of varnishes, are in daily use to a very large extent. The
-familiarity which such constant use provokes breeds a contempt which
-often resolves itself into a negligence almost criminal in its nature.
-Drying-stoves afford another dangerous item in the list of fires
-connected with the trades; japanners, cabinet-makers, and hosts of
-others using such stoves as a necessity of their business. Hot-water
-pipes for heating purposes also represent the cause of a large number
-of fires, the most dangerous kind being those which are charged with
-water and hermetically sealed. The reason of this is easily explained.
-Water boils at a temperature far below that necessary to ignite
-woodwork; but when confined in such pipes as we have described, it will
-rise in temperature to an extent only measured by the strength of the
-material which holds it. A soft metal plug is sometimes inserted in
-these pipes, so that should any unusual degree of heat be approached,
-it will melt out, and thus relieve the pressure; but such a good
-precaution is by no means universal.
-
-The pipes which are used for carrying off heated air, and which are
-placed above gas-burners, are too often allowed to pass between the
-ceiling and the floor above without any regard to the obvious danger
-incurred. The various close stoves which were introduced to public
-notice at the time when the price of coal was suddenly doubled,
-although no doubt economical, are not so safe as the old form of
-kitchen range, which many a careful housewife has likened to a cavern.
-The whole of the air which rises through the flue of a closed stove
-actually passes through the fire, and thus attains a very exalted
-temperature. In the old stoves, on the other hand, the hot air is
-always largely diluted with that which is attracted to the chimney from
-all quarters. It is evident therefore that the chances of fire in the
-flue of the former are much greater than in that of the latter.
-
-Theatres may be said to combine within their walls all the risks which
-we have as yet alluded to, for they represent factories where work of
-a most diversified kind is carried on, and where both open and closed
-fires are in constant use. At pantomime time especially, the number
-of persons employed in the various workshops of a large theatre is to
-the uninitiated quite marvellous. Carpenters and 'property-men' (those
-clever workmen who can make everything from a bunch of carrots to a
-parish pump) represent a constant source of danger from fire, in that
-they deal with inflammable material, and require the aid of heat for
-their size and glue. It is obviously important in a little kingdom
-where all is make-believe--where the most solid masonry is wood and
-canvas, where the greenest trees are dry as tinder, where even limpid
-streams are flimsy muslin, nay, where the moon itself is but a piece
-of oiled calico--that there should be no mistake about the reality of
-the precautions against accidental fire. In most theatres, rules are in
-force of the most stringent character, extending even to such details
-as clearing so many times a day the accumulated shavings from the
-carpenters' shops. If such a sensible law were enforced in other places
-besides theatres, it would be a preventive measure of very great value.
-
-Shavings are perhaps the most dangerously inflammable things to be
-found about a building. A block of wood is a difficult thing to set on
-fire; but when reduced to the form of shavings, a mere spark will turn
-it into a roaring fire. The same thing may be said in a minor degree
-of a lump of iron, which when reduced to filings can be burnt in the
-flame of a common candle. It is often this difference of bulk which
-will decide whether a material is practically inflammable or not. Paper
-affords another example of the same principle; tied tightly in bundles
-it may smoulder, while in loose sheets its inflammability is evident.
-
-It is stated upon good authority that in one-third of the number of
-fires which occur the cause is not ascertained. The plan long ago
-adopted in New York, and which has led to a sensible diminution in
-the number of fires there, has not, for some reason, found favour
-with the authorities in this country. We allude to the custom of
-convening a coroner's court to inquire into the origin of every fire
-which takes place. There is little doubt that such inquiries would
-educate thoughtful householders into taking precautions which might not
-otherwise strike them as being at all necessary. The importance of such
-precautions is manifest when we learn that in London alone there are on
-the average three fires in every twenty-four hours. If this wholesale
-destruction were reported of an Eastern city, where the houses are of
-wood, and are sun-dried by incessant tropical heat, there would be some
-excuse for it. But here at home, where bricks and mortar are so common,
-it is certainly astonishing that fires should be so prevalent.
-
-It would seem that it is a much easier task to set an entire house
-on fire, than it is with deliberate intention, and with proper
-combustibles, to light a stove for the purpose of boiling a kettle.
-This latter operation is not so simple as it appears to be, as any one
-may prove who has not already tried his, or her, hand at it. In fact,
-an efficient or bad house-servant may be almost at once detected by the
-ease or difficulty with which she lights her fires. The inefficient
-servant will place some crumpled paper in the grate, and will throw
-the best part of a bundle of wood on the top of it, crowning the whole
-with a smothering mass of coal; and will expect the fire to burn.
-The good servant will, on the other hand, first clear her grate, so
-as to insure a good draught; she will then place the wood above the
-paper, crossing the sticks again and again; then the coals are put
-in deftly one by one, affording interstices through which the flames
-will love to linger; a light is applied; and the kettle will soon be
-singing acknowledgments of the warm ardour with which it has been
-wooed. Contrast this with the other picture, where double the fuel
-is wasted, and where smoke and dirt make their appearance in lieu of
-tea and toast. We venture to say that a badly managed kitchen fire,
-with its train of unpunctual meals, leads to more general loss of
-temper than all the other minor domestic troubles put together. The
-stove is usually the scapegoat on which the offending servant lays
-her incompetence (the cat clearly could establish an _alibi_); but
-the most perfect of ranges would not remedy the fault. The only real
-reason for such a state of things is the prevalence of sheer stupidity.
-Molly's mother was taught by Molly's grandmother to light a fire in a
-certain way, and Molly's descendants will, from persistence of habit,
-continue to light fires in that manner, be it good or evil, until the
-end of time. It is quite clear that the same stupidity which causes
-an intentional fire to fail, will occasionally lead to a pyrotechnic
-exhibition which has been quite unlooked for. For instance, cases are
-not unknown where servants have used the contents of a powder-horn
-for coaxing an obstinate fire to burn; the loss of a finger or two
-generally giving them sufficient hint not to repeat the experiment.
-
-The general use of gas has done much to reduce the number of
-conflagrations, for it has replaced other illuminators far more
-dangerous; but it has at the same time contributed a cause of accident
-which before its use could not exist. So long as people will insist on
-looking for an escape of gas with a lighted candle, so long will their
-rashness be rewarded with an explosion. It is not customary, where
-there is a doubt as to whether a cask contains gunpowder or not, to
-insert a red-hot poker into the bung-hole. Yet such a proceeding would
-be scarcely less foolhardy than the detection of the presence of gas
-by means of flame. The test in both cases is most thorough, but it is
-too energetic in its action to be of any value but to those who wish to
-rise in the world too suddenly.
-
-Drunkenness is a well-known source of burnt-out dwellings, the
-habitual tippler being too often left to his own devices in the
-matter of matches and candles. The usual faculty of double vision
-with which an inebriated man is gifted, leads to a divided claim upon
-the extinguisher, which naturally points to a disastrous sequel. Even
-sober people will be guilty of the most hazardous habits, such as
-novel-reading in bed with a candle placed near them on a chair; for
-novels, like some other graver compositions, are occasionally apt to
-induce slumber; and the first movement of the careless sleeper may
-imperil his life, as well as the lives of others who may be under the
-same roof with him.
-
-The caprices of female dress have also often led to fatal accidents
-from fire, and crinoline skirts had in their day much to answer for.
-But at the present time petticoats seem to have shrunk in volume to
-the more moderate dimensions of an ordinary sack, so that we are not
-likely to hear of accidents from this particular cause until some
-fresh enormity is perpetrated in the name of fashion. We may mention
-in this connection that tungstate of soda (a cheap salt) will render
-muslins, &c. uninflammable. But strange to say, it is not generally
-adopted, even on the stage, where the risks are so multiplied, because
-it is said to prevent the starch drying with due stiffness! We have
-all heard of what female courage is capable when little ones are in
-danger, but we hardly thought that it was equal to the task of risking
-precious life for the appearance of a muslin dress. We can only bow,
-and say--nothing.
-
-Where fires have been traced to spontaneous combustion, it has
-generally been found that some kind of decomposing vegetable matter
-has been the active instrument in their production. Cotton-waste which
-has been used for cleaning oily machinery and then thrown aside in some
-forgotten corner, sawdust on which vegetable oil has been spilt, and
-hemp, have each in its turn been convicted of incendiarism. The simple
-remedy is _to avoid the accumulation of lumber and rubbish in places
-where valuable goods and still more valuable lives are at stake_.
-Occasionally fires have been accidentally caused by the concentration
-of the sun's rays by means of a lens or of a globe of water, and
-opticians have for this reason to be very careful in the arrangement of
-their shop-windows. A case lately occurred where a fire was occasioned,
-it was supposed, by a carafe of water that stood on the centre of a
-table. The sun's rays had turned it into a burning-glass! It is stated,
-with what amount of truth we cannot say, that fires in tropical forests
-are sometimes caused by the heavy dewdrops attached to the foliage
-acting the part of lenses.
-
-The advance which has been made during the last twenty years in all
-appliances connected with the art of extinguishing fires, has done
-much to limit or rather localise the dangers of such catastrophes; for
-whereas in the old days the lumbering 'parish squirt' was the only
-means of defence, we have now in all large towns steam fire-engines
-capable of throwing an immense stream of water with force enough to
-reach the topmost floors of very high buildings. The aforesaid 'squirt'
-was capable of little more than wetting the outside of contiguous
-buildings, with a view to prevent the spread of the original fire,
-which generally burnt itself out. But now our engines furnish a power
-which will often smother a large fire in the course of half an hour
-or less. Moreover, our well organised fire brigades are trained to
-convey the hose to the nucleus of the flames, and much heroism is shewn
-in the carrying out of this dangerous duty. It will be especially
-interesting to the readers of this _Journal_ to note that the first
-really efficient brigade was formed in Edinburgh by the late lamented
-Superintendent Braidwood. He was afterwards employed in a like service
-for London, where his devotion to duty eventually cost him his life.
-Like a true soldier, he died 'under fire.'
-
-And now for a few simple precautions.
-
-Let some member of the family visit every portion of the house before
-it is shut up for the night. (While he is seeing to the safety of
-the fires and lights, he can also give an eye to bolts and bars, and
-thus fulfil another most necessary precaution.) See that there is no
-glimmering of light beneath the bedroom doors for any unreasonable time
-after the inmates have retired to rest. Insist on ascertaining the
-cause of any smell of burning. It may be only a piece of rag safely
-smouldering in a grate, but satisfy yourself upon the point without
-delay. Do not rake out a fire at night, but allow it to burn itself out
-in the grate. (We have already referred to the danger of hearthstones
-set upon timber.) Do not allow an unused fireplace to be closed up with
-a screen unless it is first ascertained that there is no collection
-of soot in the chimney, and no communication with any other flue from
-which a spark may come. Caution servants not to throw _hot_ ashes into
-the dust-bin. Let the slightest escape of gas be remedied as soon as
-possible, and remember that the common form of telescope gasalier
-requires water at certain intervals, or it will become a source of
-danger. Finally, forbid all kinds of petroleum and benzoline lamps to
-be trimmed except by daylight. (A lamp was the initial cause of the
-great Chicago fire.)
-
-Many other precautions will suggest themselves to the careful
-housekeeper. But after all, the best precaution is common-sense, which,
-however, is the least available, being the misnomer for a faculty which
-is far from common.
-
-
-
-
-A CAST OF THE NET.
-
-THE STORY OF A DETECTIVE OFFICER.
-
-
-IN FOUR CHAPTERS.--CHAPTER II.
-
-By ten o'clock on the following morning I had sketched out my plan,
-and more than that, I was down at the water-side and looking after
-a lodging, for I never let the grass grow under my feet. I must
-say, however, that I very much disliked the east end of London, and
-especially the river-side part of it; everything was so dirty and
-miserable and crowded, that to a man of really decent tastes like
-myself, it was almost purgatory to pass a day in it. And on this
-particular occasion the weather changed the very day I went there; it
-was getting on towards late autumn (October in point of fact), and
-we had been having most beautiful weather; but this very morning it
-came on to rain, a close thick rain, and we didn't have three hours of
-continuous fine weather while I stopped in the east.
-
-I was not likely to be very particular about my lodgings in one sense,
-though in another I was more particular than any lodger that ever
-came into the neighbourhood; and after a little trouble I pitched
-upon a public-house again, chiefly because my going in and out would
-attract less attention there than at a private house; so I secured a
-small second-floor back room at the _Anchor and Five Mermaids_, or the
-_Anchor_ as it was generally called, for shortness.
-
-The great recommendation of the _Anchor and Five Mermaids_ was that
-it was nearly opposite to Byrle & Co.'s engineering shops, a ferry
-existing between the two places; this ferry was reached by a narrow
-dirty lane, which ran by the side of the _Anchor_, and I could see
-that numbers of the workmen came across at dinner-time. The _Anchor_
-stood at the corner, one front looking on the lane, the other upon the
-river; and once upon a time there had been, not exactly a tea-garden,
-but arbours or 'boxes' in front of the house, where the customers used
-to sit and watch the shipping; but this was all past now, and only the
-miserable remains of the arbours were there; and it was as dull and
-cheerless a place as the tavern to which Quilp took Sampson and Sally
-Brass in the _Old Curiosity Shop_, of which indeed it reminded me every
-time I looked at it.
-
-I always had a readiness for scraping acquaintances; in fact it is not
-much use of your being a detective if you can't do this. If you can't
-be jonnick with the biggest stranger or lowest rough, you are no use on
-that lay. I really must avoid slang terms; but 'jonnick' means hearty
-and jovial; on a 'lay' means being up to some game or business. Before
-the first dinner-time had passed, I had got quite friendly with two
-or three of Byrle's hands who came into the _Anchor_ to have their
-beer; and I learned some particulars about the firm and then about the
-gatekeeper, that helped me in my ideas.
-
-Directly after they had all gone back, I went over too, and the
-dinner-traffic having ceased, I was the only passenger. The ferryman
-did not like taking me alone, but he was bound to do it; and he looked
-as sulky as if he was going to be flogged at a cart's tail. He was a
-tall, bony-headed fellow, between fifty and sixty I should say; and I
-noticed him particularly because of an uncommonly ugly squint in his
-left eye. In accordance with my plan, I began talking cheerfully to
-him while he was pushing off from the shore; but he didn't answer me
-beyond a growl. Then I offered him some splendid chewing tobacco, which
-a 'friend just over from America had given me.' Really and truly I had
-bought it within a quarter of a mile of the _Anchor and Five Mermaids_,
-but he wasn't to know that. _I_ can't chew; I hate the idea; but I put
-a piece of the tobacco in my mouth, knowing how fond these waterside
-men are of the practice, and how friendly they get with one of the same
-tastes. To my surprise, he would not have it, and I was glad to pitch
-my plug into the river when he turned his head away. But confound these
-cock-eyed men! there is never any knowing where to have them. He had
-not turned far enough, I suppose, or I didn't make proper allowances
-for his squint; for as I threw my plug away with a shudder--it had
-already turned me almost sick--I caught his plaguy cross-eye staring
-full at me. I knew it was, by the expression on his face; that was my
-only guide, for an astronomer could not have told by his eye in which
-direction he was looking.
-
-The ferryman pulled well, however; and just as we got athwart the bows
-of a short thick-looking craft--it is of no use my trying to say what
-kind of a craft she was; I can't tell one from another--a voice hailed
-us. 'Ay, ay,' says the boatman, lifting his sculls; 'do you want to go
-ashore, captain?' 'Yes,' returned a voice; and I looked up and saw a
-man leaning over the side of the vessel; and the boatman sending his
-wherry close under the ship, the stranger slid down by a rope very
-cleverly, and got in. Though the boatman had called him 'captain,' and
-though he was very clever with the rope, he didn't look altogether like
-a regular sailor; he was a dark full-faced man, with black eyes, a dark
-moustache, and curly greasy-looking hair.
-
-The stranger said a few words in a very low tone to the boatman,
-evidently to prevent my overhearing, and then nothing passed until we
-landed. The sulky ferryman took his fee without a word; and I went
-straight to the wicket-gate of Byrle's factory, where of course I found
-the gatekeeper. I stated that I was in want of employment, and had
-heard they were taking on labourers, and so had applied for a job.
-
-'No; I don't know as we want any more hands,' said the man, who was
-sitting down in a little sentry-box; 'and we have had plenty of people
-here; besides, you're lame, ain't you?'
-
-'A little,' I said, limping as I moved; 'not very bad: a kick from a
-horse some years ago.'
-
-'Ah! you won't do for us then,' he said; 'but I'm sorry for you. _I'm_
-lame too, from a kick of a horse; I can't stand without my stick;' here
-he rose up to let me see him; 'but you see I was hurt in the service,
-and the firm have provided for me. I'm very sorry for you, for it's
-hard to be slighted because you are a cripple. Here is sixpence, old
-fellow, to get half a pint with, and I wish I could make it more.'
-
-I took the sixpence, and thanked him for his kindness; he deserved my
-thanks, because he wasn't getting more than a pound a week, and had
-four or five little children. I found this out afterwards.
-
-I was satisfied at having made a friend who might prove useful; but I
-had one or two more questions to ask him, and was thinking how I could
-best bring them in, when he said hurriedly: 'If you could get hold of
-Mr Byrle by himself, he might do something for you, for he is a very
-good sort; and you seem strong enough in every other way, and would
-make a good watchman, I should think.'
-
-Yes; he did not know how good a one!
-
-'Mr Byrle senior or junior?' I asked, on the strength of my information
-from the hands at the _Anchor_.
-
-'Junior! O lor! that wouldn't do at all!' exclaimed he with quite a
-gasp, as if the idea took his breath away. 'It's a case of "O no, we
-never mention it" with him. He's seldom at home, and when he is, he and
-the old gentleman lead the very---- Here you have it! Here's Mr Forey,
-the only foreman in the place who would listen to you. Now, speak up!'
-
-Mr Forey, a dark-whiskered, stoutly built man, came up, glancing keenly
-at me as a stranger; so touching my cap, I again preferred my request
-to be taken on as a labourer.
-
-'I don't like lame men,' he said; 'but there does not seem to be a
-great deal the matter with you. You say you can have a first-rate
-character. We shall be making changes next week, and there's no harm in
-your looking round on Monday morning at nine sharp.--Stop! I can give
-you a job now. Do you know how to get to T----?'
-
-'Yes, sir,' I said.
-
-'Then take this letter to Mr Byrle, and bring back an answer,' said Mr
-Forey. 'If he is not at home, ask for Miss Doyle, who may open it. I
-want an answer this afternoon; so cut off! Stay! here's a shilling for
-your fare; it's only tenpence, you know; and I'll leave eighteenpence
-with Bob here at the gate for your trouble.'
-
-I took the shilling, Bob winking triumphantly at me, as if to say it
-was as good as done, and I left the yard.
-
-I was amused at having the commission, for I wondered what Mr Byrle
-would say when he saw me, and whether my disguise was so complete
-that he would not recognise me at all. That would be something like
-a triumph, and I almost made up my mind that it would be so. Had Mr
-Forey seen me hurrying to the station, he might again have said that
-there did not seem much the matter with me; but I walked slowly enough
-through the street in which the _Yarmouth Smack_ was situated, and had
-a pretty good trial of my disguise and my nerves as I passed it. Peter
-Tilley, dressed in a blue slop and cord trousers, so as to look like
-a dock labourer or something of that kind, was leaning against the
-door-post, lazily watching the passers-by. I made up my mind to try
-him; so stopping at a lamp-post just opposite to him, I took out my
-pipe, struck a match on the iron, coolly lit the tobacco, and after
-one or two puffs, threw the match into the road and walked on. He never
-knew me. It was all right.
-
-The drizzling rain came down again as I got out at T----; but luckily
-Mr Byrle's house was not more than a quarter of a mile from the
-station; and so resuming my limp, I got there without delay. The
-man-servant who answered the door took my letter, but told me that the
-old gentleman was not at home; then on finding Miss Doyle was to open
-the letter and send an answer, told me to wait in a little room which
-looked as if it was used as an office, having floor-cloth instead of
-carpet, wooden chairs, and so forth. He was a careful servant, and
-would not ask a stranger to wait in the hall, where coats and umbrellas
-might be had by a sharp party.
-
-I had not waited long, when the door opened, and a young lady, whom I
-of course judged to be Miss Doyle, came into the room. She was a dark,
-keen-looking young party, and spoke rather sharply. 'You are to take an
-answer back, I believe?' she said.
-
-'Yes, miss,' I answered, touching my forehead, for as you may suppose,
-I held my cap in my hand.
-
-'Mr Forey only wishes me to send word; I am not to write,' she went on;
-'he wants to know if Mr Byrle will be at the works to-morrow. He will
-not. Tell Mr Forey he will leave town to-night, and not return until
-the day after to-morrow. You understand?' She spoke very sharply; so I
-said: 'Yes, miss,' sharply too, and touched my forehead again.
-
-'You need not wait,' she said; and opening the door, I saw the servant
-waiting to let me out. I knuckled my forehead again, and putting on
-rather a clumsier limp than before, got out of the house into the rain
-and mud. Rain and mud! What did I care for rain and mud now?
-
-'Sergeant Nickham,' says I, when I got fairly out of range of her
-windows, for I wouldn't trust _her_ with so much as a wink of
-mine--'Sergeant Nickham,' I said, 'you are the boy! If you can't
-command your face, there isn't a man in the force as can. If you
-haven't got a memory for faces, find me the man who has, that's all
-about it!'
-
-Why, of all the extraordinary capers that I ever tumbled to in my
-life, I never came near such a caper as this. Miss Doyle! _That_ was
-Miss Doyle, was it? Right enough, no doubt; but if she wasn't also the
-sham clerk who came and found that I was put on the watch by Mr Byrle,
-I didn't know a horse from a hedgehog--that's all. The quick look of
-her eye, her sharp quick voice, the shape of her face, the very way
-she stood--lor! it was all as clear as daylight. But then I thought,
-and I kept on thinking till I had got back to the works, what could
-_she_ have to do with stealing engine-fittings? 'Twasn't likely as she
-had anything to do with that. It was past all question in my mind as
-to her being the same party. I knew it for certain; and then came the
-point--What did she dress herself up for and come a-spying on me and
-her uncle?--for she was Mr Byrle's niece.
-
-I hadn't got to the bottom of this by any means, by the time I got back
-to the works; however, I gave my message very respectfully to Mr Forey;
-and offered Bob the gatekeeper his sixpence back, with many thanks.
-
-'No, old chap,' he says; 'keep it at present. If you get on regular,
-I'll take it off you and a pint into the bargain the day you draw
-your first week's cash; but a fellow out of work knows the vally of a
-sixpence.'
-
-The same ferryman took me back; and his temper hadn't improved, I
-found. I fancied too that he was particular watchful of me, and so
-I was particular watchful of him; and from long practice I could do
-it better and more secretly than he could, although he _had_ got a
-cross-eye. Lor! I could tell when we were nearing that same ship that
-the man climbed out of; I could tell it by the cunning way in which the
-boatman looked at me, to see if I would take any special notice of it.
-I didn't know what his little game might be, but I determined to spoil
-it; so I stooped down, and was tying up my shoe, making quite a long
-job of it, till after we had fairly passed the craft, and then I looked
-up with an innocent face that quite settled him.
-
-Just as we pushed up to the hard (that's the landing-place), he says to
-me: 'Do you often cross here?'
-
-'Not often,' I said; 'at anyrate, not yet. I generally cross a little
-higher up.' (That was very true; about Westminster Bridge was my
-place; if he liked to think I meant somewhere about Tooley Street or
-Billingsgate, of course I couldn't help it.) 'But I have left my old
-quarters, and so I shall often go this way.'
-
-'Ah,' he says, 'you live at the _Yarmouth Smack_, don't you?'
-
-'The what?' I said. 'Where's that?'
-
-'The _Yarmouth Smack_,' he says again, pointing to the side we had come
-from. I knew where the _Yarmouth Smack_ was well enough; but I shook my
-head, and said: 'No; I live on this side of the water; but I shall live
-anywhere when I can get work.'
-
-He didn't say any more; I did not suppose he would; but there was
-something uncommonly suspicious in his talking about the _Yarmouth
-Smack_, something more than I could believe came from chance.
-
-In the lane, just as I was about to turn into the side door of the
-_Anchor_, I met the foreign-looking captain, who must have crossed the
-river before me, as I had last seen him on the other side. He knew
-me, I could tell well enough, and I knew him; but I was not going to
-let him see where I was going, so I passed the door of the _Anchor_,
-limping on till he was clear; then I hurried in, went upstairs at once,
-and was out in the old ruined arbours I have spoken of in a minute.
-These overhung the river at high-water (it was nearly high-tide now),
-and the landing-place of the ferry was close to them. The ferryman and
-the captain were talking, as I expected they would be, while the boat
-was waiting for passengers; and by standing in the corner box, I could
-have heard every word they said, if they had spoken out, as honest
-people should speak. But they were that artful and suspicious, although
-they could not have known there was anybody listening, that they talked
-almost in whispers, and I only caught the last bit from the ferryman.
-'No,' he says; 'he's not the party; but I'll go up to the _Smack_
-to-night and make sure of the man.'
-
-Ah! as I thought; they were both in it somehow. But what a most
-extraordinary fuss and Gunpowder Plot sort of business there was about
-stealing a few bits of metal. I actually should have felt ashamed of
-the East-enders, who are really some of the sharpest folks I ever came
-across, if I had not felt there was a something behind, and that, by a
-lucky accident, I seemed upon the point of finding it out.
-
-The night--my first night in the east too--was not to pass without
-an adventure, and I had not seen the last of my new acquaintance the
-captain. I got very tired of the company in the _Anchor_--not that I
-mind who I mix with, and if there had been any of the factory hands
-about the place, I would have sat with them until the house closed; but
-they only came there at meal-times it seemed, or on their road home. So
-I walked about the neighbourhood a bit; not because it was pleasant,
-for it was a wet night; and what with the rain and the mud and the
-drunken sailors and the fried-fish shops and the quarrelling there was
-going on, it was anything but agreeable. The fact is I like to know
-every court and alley in my district, and there _were_ some pretty
-courts and alleys here. However, nobody thought me worth robbing, and
-besides, I am always civil, so I never get interfered with. It's a
-capital rule; the best I know; and costs nothing.
-
-When I was coming back, and had got pretty nearly to the _Anchor and
-Five Mermaids_ again (it is very absurd to give such long signs to
-public-houses), I saw a very pretty girl whom I had noticed before,
-standing at a corner out of the rain; but it was not raining very much
-now. She wasn't--well, I won't say what she was not, or what she was.
-She was very pretty, I say, and was doing no harm there; but two or
-three fellows coming by at the moment, one of them took hold of her
-roughly, and finished by almost pushing her down. She got away from
-him, and drew a door or two off; but his companions laughing at him
-for being bested by a woman, he followed her, and on her pushing him
-from her, gave her a back-handed smack in the face. There were several
-men loitering about, smoking and so forth, and I heard one or two say
-it was a shame; but none of them interfered; and I, being a little way
-off, and not wanting to get into a row, might have passed this over;
-but she called him a brute and a coward, and he went at her to strike
-her again. She ran across the road to where I stood, to avoid him, and
-he followed her. Then I saw it was my acquaintance the captain.
-
-He swore more horribly than ever I heard any one swear, and springing
-forward, would certainly have hit her down; but I jumped between
-them and knocked up his arm. 'Brayvo!' said some women, who had been
-attracted by the girl's scream; and 'Brayvo!' said the men who hadn't
-interfered. At once the captain turned on me, and let fly desperately
-at my head; but I was not to be had in that way, and I stopped him and
-returned a hit that I know must have loosened a couple of teeth; and
-then he swore again, and began to pull off his coat. So did I.
-
-'Don't fight wid him, my darlin',' said an old Irishwoman, who was
-selling herrings, laying her hand on my arm. 'You 're an honest English
-boy, and these fellows will have a knife in ye if they can't bate ye
-fair.'
-
-'No, Biddy, they shan't,' said one of the men coming forward, followed
-by half-a-dozen more. 'If there's to be a fight, it shall be a fair
-one; and mates, we'll put any fellow into six feet of mud who only
-shews a knife.'
-
-His mates said so too, and they were a rough and likely lot for it,
-and the river was within a score or so of yards. So with a scowl at
-them (for I do believe now he meant murder; I didn't think of it then,
-although I was a policeman), he rolled up his sleeves and came at me.
-
-He was a strong fellow, not so tall perhaps, but certainly heavier than
-I was, and I daresay, from his manner, fancied he could fight. But
-fight _me_! Why, a gent once offered through Alec Keene (he had seen
-me spar in private at Alec's), to make it worth my while to leave the
-police, and he would back me against any ten-stone-four man I fancied,
-for a hundred; and I was half inclined to take it too, only something
-important turned up just then. Well, in two rounds I settled the
-captain. He tried to catch hold of me and throw me; but I knocked him
-clean off his legs each round; and then his friends took him away.
-
-'There's one comfort at any rate in having had the row,' I thought:
-'he'll never suppose I'm a detective after this.'
-
-I wished, however, it had never come off, there was such a fuss. Why,
-if I could have drunk shillings and sixpences, I might have had them, I
-do believe. In a place like that you get a crowd directly; and although
-the affair did not last three minutes, there was a hundred men and as
-many women too, anxious to treat me; and I was naturally obliged to
-drink with one or two; not at the _Anchor_ though.
-
-The affair made such a stir, that I read in one of the local papers the
-next week how Jem Mace had been down in the neighbourhood of the Docks,
-incog.; and that for once the brute strength of a boxer had been used
-in a good cause, and all that sort of nonsense. I know I have always
-found the best class of boxers very good fellows.
-
-Of course I was vexed at this shindy having taken place so early, as
-the quieter I kept myself the better; and I would have given five
-pounds to have been out of it. My wishing this only shews you never
-know what is coming; and something came out of this street fight that I
-never expected.
-
-
-
-
-SEA-LIONS.
-
-
-The domestication of a pair of 'sea-lions' at the Brighton Aquarium,
-and the subsequent addition, some few months ago, of a 'little
-stranger' to this interesting family circle, afford an opportunity
-for a brief description of some of the more prominent points in
-the structure and habits of these little-known animals. The name
-'sea-lion,' to begin with, is by no means so inappropriate or far
-fetched as popular designations are usually found to be, when submitted
-to scientific criticism. For the 'sea-lion' is included by zoologists
-along with the seals and walruses in the great Carnivorous order of
-quadrupeds, to which, it need hardly be remarked, the lions, tigers,
-bears, dogs, and other flesh-eaters belong. The sea-lion is in fact a
-large seal, and seals and walruses are simply marine bears; and if we
-can imagine the body of a familiar bear to be somewhat elongated, and
-that the limbs were converted into swimming paddles, we should obtain
-a rough but essentially correct idea of the zoological position of the
-seals and their neighbours.
-
-But whilst the seals and sea-lions are united with the walruses to form
-a special group of carnivorous quadrupeds, adapted to lead a life in
-the sea, there exist some very prominent points of difference between
-the common seals and the less familiar sea-lions. The sea-lions and
-their nearest allies are thus sometimes named 'Eared' seals, from the
-possession of an outer ear; the latter appendage being absent in the
-common or True seals. And whilst the common seals waddle in a most
-ungainly fashion on land, the sea-lions are able to 'walk,' if not
-elegantly, at least with a better show of comfort than their more
-familiar neighbours. A glance at the structure of the sea-lion's feet,
-or better still, a comparison of its members with those of the seal,
-shews the reason of its greater skill and ability in progression on
-the land. The fore-limbs of the seal are, so to speak buried in the
-skin, below the elbow; only a small part of the fore-arm and hand being
-thus free from the body. The hind-limbs of the seals, again, exist
-in a permanently extended condition, and are disposed backwards in a
-line with the tail and body. The hind-limbs, moreover, are frequently
-united with the tail by means of a connecting fold of skin, and the
-whole hinder extremity of the body in a seal may thus be regarded as
-forming a large tail-fin. In swimming, the fore-limbs of the seal are
-applied closely to the sides of the body, and serve as rudders; whilst
-the hinder portion of the body, hinder limbs, and tail, constitute the
-swimming-organs--a work for which by their great flexibility they are
-perfectly adapted.
-
-In the sea-lions on the other hand the fore-limbs are free from the
-skin and body to a much greater extent than in the seals. The 'hand'
-itself in the sea-lion is exceedingly flexible, although completely
-enclosed in a horny or leathery skin. The thumbs of this hand further
-exist in a well developed state; all five fingers being of nearly the
-same length in the seal. As regards the hind-feet of the sea-lion,
-these members, like the fore-limbs, are freely separated from the
-body, at least as far as the ankle and foot are concerned, and the
-foot is turned outwards, forcibly reminding one of the conformation
-of that organ in the bear. But we may only note by way of conclusion
-to these zoological characters that the teeth of the sea-lion are
-decidedly of a carnivorous type. Any one regarding the skull of a
-sea-lion could readily form the idea that the animal which possessed
-it was a flesh-eater. These animals usually possess thirty-six teeth;
-the 'eye' teeth being of very large size, and so placed in the jaws
-that any substance entering the mouth is firmly held by these teeth
-and the adjoining front teeth. The 'grinders' of the sea-lion are
-small, and do not appear to be of any very great use to the animal.
-These creatures swallow their food--consisting of fishes, molluscs, and
-sea-birds--whole, and when a large fish is divided in two, the portion
-retained in the mouth is swallowed; the portion which tumbles into the
-water being afterwards seized and duly swallowed in its turn.
-
-That the sea-lions are by no means destitute of the craft and cunning
-of their land-neighbours, is proved by the fact that they capture such
-birds as the penguins by lying motionless in the water, allowing merely
-the tip of the nose to appear at the surface. The unwary bird, swooping
-down upon the floating object, presumed to consist of something
-eatable, is then seized and devoured by the concealed enemy.
-
-Sea-lions may be regarded as the unknown, or at anyrate unrecognised
-benefactors of the fair sex, inasmuch as, from the rich _under-fur_
-which they possess, the favourite material known as 'seal-skin' is
-obtained. This latter name is entirely misleading in its nature; the
-much prized material being the produce of the sea-lion and not of a
-true seal. The possession of this valuable under-fur has contributed
-very largely to the causes of the indiscriminate attack which has for
-years past been made upon the sea-lions. The spirit of commercial
-enterprise has resulted in a war of extermination against these animals
-in certain regions, from the effects of which it is doubtful if the
-species can ultimately recover.
-
-The sea-lions differ materially from the seals in their geographical
-distribution. The latter animals, as every casual reader of a natural
-history text-book knows, inhabit temperate and northern seas. The
-sea-lions, on the other hand, are found to be absent from all parts of
-the Atlantic Ocean save its most southern portions. They are common
-on the South American coasts, and are found inhabiting island-groups
-which may be regarded as belonging to the same zoological province
-as the latter continent. The mouth of the River Plate is stated as
-the most northern boundary of these animals on the eastern side of
-South America, whilst on the western or Pacific side of the New World
-they are found on the Californian coasts, and are even met with on
-the coasts of the Aleutian Isles and of Japan. The Pribylov Islands,
-included in the Alaska group, are regarded as forming the most
-northerly point of the sea-lions' distribution; and these islands--now
-in the possession of the United States--together with the Falkland
-Islands and the Cape of Good Hope, still form the three chief sources
-from which the seal-fur or seal-skin of commerce is obtained. It is
-also well ascertained that sea-lions occur at Kerguelen's Land, on the
-New Zealand coasts, on the Tasmanian shores, and the east and south
-coasts of Australia.
-
-The average length of a large male sea-lion ranges from six to seven
-or eight feet, his weight averaging six hundred pounds. The females
-are of much smaller size than the males, and measure from four and a
-half to five feet in length; their weight being from one hundred to
-one hundred and fifty pounds. These animals, as might be expected,
-grow slowly, and attain their full dimensions the males in six, and
-the females in four years. The habits of these animals are not only of
-curious and interesting nature, but evince a decidedly high order of
-intelligence. The haunts of the sea-lions are, in whalers' _parlance_,
-named 'rookeries;' and in the disposition of what may be termed
-their domestic arrangements, as well as in the regulation of their
-family and personal matters, these creatures appear to be guided by
-instincts which, like the social order of the ants and bees, are duly
-perpetuated, and have become of hereditary character. The sea-lions
-are migratory in habits, and disappear from the majority of the haunts
-and breeding-places in winter. The males are few in number as compared
-with the females or 'cows,' as they are termed; and each male receives
-under his protection a larger or smaller number of females; the oldest
-males possessing the largest number of dependants. In the early spring,
-some old males appear to return first to the haunts and do duty as
-reconnoitring parties; the advance-guard swimming about for several
-days, then landing and cautiously investigating the state of the land;
-their shore-visits being spent in a state of perpetual sniffing, and in
-the careful examination of their old haunt. About a month or six weeks
-after the arrival of the advance-guard, and after the inspection of the
-land has been duly carried out, sure signs of the coming race begin
-to appear in the form of hundreds of males, who select advantageous
-positions on the beach, and await the arrival of their partners. Nor
-is the period of waiting an uneventful one. The best situations on
-the beach are fought for with eagerness, not to say ferocity. The
-descriptions given of the combats of the males indicate that they are
-of the most sanguinary description; frequent mutilations being the
-results of this fight for a place on the reception-ground.
-
-On the arrival of the females, the younger males appear to do duty as
-ushers, in marshalling the 'cows' to their places on the rocks and
-cliffs above the beach; and the work of the selection of mates by the
-males proceeds apace, until each happy family, consisting of a male
-with a dozen or fifteen cows, has been duly constituted. The progress
-of selection and sea-lion courtship is frequently, we regret to say,
-attended with disastrous consequences to the lady-members of the
-community. When a male, envious of the choice of his neighbour, sees
-an opportunity, he does not hesitate to avail himself of the chance,
-and not only to covet but literally to steal his neighbour's mate. The
-desired 'cow' is unceremoniously lifted in the mouth of the captor, and
-transferred with all possible expedition to his own family group. Great
-is the sorrow of the bereaved male; but woe to both intruder and female
-should the thief be discovered in the act! A fierce and sanguinary
-fight ensues, and the hapless, passive, and altogether innocent cause
-of the combat, may get dreadfully injured while the combat lasts.
-
-The young sea-lions usually appear to be born almost immediately
-after the parents have landed and been allocated to their respective
-establishments. One young is produced at a birth; the infant sea-lion
-being of black colour and attaining the length of a foot. When they
-are four weeks old, they enter the water, and speedily become expert
-in swimming and diving; but it is alleged, and on good authority, that
-occasionally the females encounter refractory offspring, and have to
-exercise great patience in coaxing unwilling youngsters to enter the
-sea. The families have settled down to their wonted existence by the
-beginning of August; and we are informed that during the whole of the
-period which intervenes between the arrival of the females and the
-period last mentioned, the males have not only been most assiduous in
-their attendance upon their families, but that they have also been
-existing independently of any nutriment. The males exemplify a case of
-living upon self, and appear to subsist by the reabsorption of their
-fatty matters; in the same fashion as the bears, which retire fat and
-well nourished to their winter-quarters, and appear in the succeeding
-spring in a lean and emaciated condition.
-
-Regarding the sea-lions and their young at present in captivity in the
-Brighton Aquarium, it is interesting to note the incidents connected
-with the first 'bath' of baby _Otaria_. This prodigy in the way of an
-aquarium specimen, tumbled accidentally into the water of his tank, and
-apparently caused his mamma much anxiety. It is stated that he plunged
-voluntarily into the water on a subsequent occasion, and appeared to
-be perfectly at home in his native element; swimming and diving with
-all the dexterity of an accomplished professor of the art of natation.
-Being startled by some sound, the young otaria dived beneath the
-surface of the water, the mother seizing her progeny by the neck, and
-swimming ashore with it in her mouth. On the occasion of the writer's
-visit to the Brighton Aquarium, the mother and young were disporting
-themselves in the water; the male sitting up in the tank, and giving
-vent to repeated sounds, resembling exactly the hoarse bark of a dog.
-We may heartily re-echo the wish, that the happiness and amenity of
-this interesting family may be disturbed by no untoward accident, if
-for no other reason that they exist among us as the representatives of
-a most interesting and now comparatively scarce group of quadrupeds.
-
-It has often been disputed by naturalists whether or not the sea-lions
-possess a mane. There can be no doubt that the old males of one
-species at anyrate, the _Otaria jubata_ or Cook's sea-lion, the most
-common form on the South American coasts, possess a mane on the neck
-and shoulders. Nine or ten different species of sea-lions are known
-to zoologists, these species being distinguished from each other by
-very distinct variations in the form and structure of the skull, in
-the fur, &c. It must, however, be borne in mind, that the recognition
-of the exact species to which a sea-lion belongs is frequently a very
-difficult matter, owing to the differences perceptible in the fur of
-the two sexes and in the fur of either sex, at different ages.
-
-The complaints of zoologists regarding the ill-regulated and
-indiscriminate slaughter of the sea-lions are, it is to be feared, as
-well founded as have been our own repeated remonstrances against the
-wholesale slaughter of seals. The United States government, however, it
-is satisfactory to learn, still regulate their sea-lion fisheries at
-the Pribylov Islands in a methodical manner. Thus the young males alone
-are killed, and the period during which they are taken extends from
-June to October; whilst the total number of sea-lions killed annually
-is limited. In the South Sea Islands, these animals were killed
-in such numbers that they are now exceedingly scarce; British and
-Americans alike, slaying the sea-lions without in the slightest degree
-discriminating between the sexes, or between young and old seals. It
-is to be hoped, for the sake of science as well as of commerce, that
-time has taught us wisdom in this respect. We have seen how necessary
-legislation has become to insure the prosperity of our home-fisheries;
-and now that the Royal Commissioners have finished their labours in
-behalf of crabs and lobsters, salmon and herring, it would be well
-for the public interests if Mr Frank Buckland and his coadjutors were
-empowered to look after the sea-lion and the seal.
-
-
-
-
-ANCIENT STREETS AND HOMESTEADS OF ENGLAND.
-
-
-With kindly regard for the names, the places, and the landmarks of our
-forefathers, which may be called the sentimental side of our national
-stability, are usually, but unfortunately not invariably combined the
-good sense which improves but does not destroy, and the good taste
-which recognises the intrinsic beauty of antiquity, its harmony with
-our history, and the dignity which it lends to the present. Foreigners
-are always deeply impressed by the 'ancientness' of England, by the
-maintenance of the old names, and the blending together in our cities
-of the convenience and luxury of modern life, with the memorials of a
-past as grand as any country has to boast of, and marked by far less
-vicissitude.
-
-Among the evidences of the stability of England to which the attention
-of her own students of her history and that of foreign visitors may
-most worthily be directed, is the minor monumental history which Mr
-Alfred Rimmer illustrates, and whose value and interest the Dean of
-Chester points out in an interesting volume entitled _Ancient Streets
-and Homesteads of England_ (London: Macmillan & Co.); the history of
-the old buildings which still remain in the old streets of our old
-cities, in our villages and in our hamlets.
-
-It is pleasant to ramble with Mr Rimmer from county to county of
-the old land, gathering as we go a great company from the past; and
-assuredly all will agree that no better starting-point can be found
-than Chester, the pride of archæologists, the boast of historians,
-the city whose renown has been touched into equal brilliance and
-tenderness by the genius of Sir Walter Scott. An American traveller
-has well described the charm of the city. 'It is full,' he says, 'of
-that delightful element of the crooked, the accidental, the unforeseen,
-which, to eyes accustomed to eternal right angles and straight lines,
-is the striking feature of European street scenery. The Chester streets
-give us a perfect feast of crookedness--of those random corners,
-projections, and recesses, those innumerable architectural surprises
-and caprices and fantasies which offer such a delicious holiday to a
-vision nourished upon brown stone fronts.' Shrewsbury perhaps gives at
-first sight a more vivid picture of a fine old English town, but it
-has not so many treasures hidden away under modern exteriors. It is
-likely, Mr Rimmer tells us, that even the oldest inhabitant of Chester
-is ignorant of the ancient relics which the city contains. Though the
-origin of the famous 'Rows' is disputed--some antiquaries holding
-them to belong to the Roman era of the city, and to have been simply
-an extension of the vestibule of Roman architecture; while others
-consider that they were built as a refuge for the citizens during any
-sudden attack of the Welsh--there is but one estimate of their quaint
-old-world beauty; and perhaps there is no relic of the past in all
-England which has more stirring memories to arouse than Chester Castle,
-with its Julius Cæsar's tower still standing firm against the influence
-of time, and its tradition of Hugh Lupus Hall.
-
-Next to the completeness of the ancient walls of Chester, its carved
-woodwork strikes the visitor as an instance of conservation. The carved
-front of the house which belonged to Randal Holme, who left valuable
-records of the city, is much more ancient than the date it bears
-(1664); and though the house called Bishop Lloyd's is now divided into
-tenements, the splendid remains of its ceilings and fireplaces are
-preserved. A little beyond it stand the beautiful cottages, with their
-carving intact, into which Stanley House has been divided. Here the
-Earl of Derby, who was executed at Bolton in 1657, passed his last day.
-Some of the famous carved oak furniture of this historic mansion found
-its way a few years ago into the possession of Mr Sly, the landlord
-of the celebrated _King's Arms Inn_ at Lancaster, and was sold in
-the spring of the present year at the dispersion of his collection.
-One magnificent black oak bedstead splendidly carved is now in the
-possession of the Duke of Norfolk. Looking at the beautiful carved
-fronts of the cottages, and thinking of the terrible time in which the
-chief of the great House of Stanley left his ancestral home for ever,
-we are reminded of the quaint story which the earl's gentleman, Mr
-Bagaley, related concerning that departure. 'One Lieutenant Smith, a
-rude fellow,' he says, 'came in with his hat on, and told my lord he
-came from Colonel Duckenfield the governor, to tell his lordship he
-must be ready for his journey to Bolton. My lord replied: "When would
-have me to go?" "To-morrow, about six in the morning," said Smith.
-"Well," said my lord, "commend me to the governor, and tell him I shall
-be ready by that time." Then said Smith: "Doth your lordship know any
-friend or servant that would do the thing your lordship knows of? It
-would do well if you had a friend." My lord replied: "What do you
-mean--to cut off my head?" Smith said: "Yes, my lord; if you could have
-a friend." My lord said: "Nay, sir; if those men that would have my
-head will not find one to cut it off, let it stand where it is."'
-
-The Blue Posts, 'God's Providence' House, with its inscription of
-thanksgiving that its inmates had been spared from the plague; the
-beautiful gabled house in Whitefriars, with its fine mouldings and
-traceries, are but a few of the memorials of the past over which one
-lingers in Chester, before passing on to the eastern part of the
-county, where one finds a special treat in the old town of Congleton,
-which presents features of successive periods of antiquity in its still
-and picturesque streets, and is surrounded on all sides by venerable
-family seats. Mr Rimmer's drawing of the old _Lion Inn_ gives a
-charming idea of a black-and-white gabled hostelry, with a vast porch
-resting on stone pillars, and supporting a room above it. The interior
-preserves all its old characteristics, and has a quiet ponderousness
-about it, as of an inn to which wayfarers came in coaches with armed
-outriders on horseback, with led-horses charged with baggage, or in
-heavy wagons. The idea of railways or smart dog-carts, or the pertness
-of all modern vehicles in fact, in connection with the _Lion Inn_, has
-a kind of impertinence about it.
-
-Over the Cheshire border in Shropshire there is a great deal of
-interest for the student of the street architecture of the past; and in
-that county picturesque old inns abound. We find one at Ellesmere, with
-the grass growing in the vast courtyard, built round by the now empty
-stables, which were so full of life and bustle in the old coaching
-days. Mr Rimmer's very brief mention of Ellesmere implies that it is
-a much less important place than in reality it is; and all he says
-about Shropshire conveys an impression that he has not studied the
-antiquarian aspect of his subject at all so deeply as its artistic.
-
-Two miles from Oswestry lies Whittington village, a perfect example of
-the solid and beautiful in village architecture, with the gateway of
-Peveril's Castle opening into it, and the birthplace of Sir Richard
-Whittington left to the choice of the visitor. Oswestry itself is an
-exceedingly interesting town; portions of the old wall still remain,
-with several stone and half-timbered houses of great antiquity; but it
-is seldom thoroughly explored, because the tourist is generally anxious
-to reach the county town of Shropshire, that famous city of Shrewsbury,
-which we know better perhaps through Shakspeare than through the
-historical chronicles of its life. The author might, however, have
-accorded more lengthened notice to Oswestry, which, if tradition may be
-relied upon, dates from the fourth century of the Christian era, and
-which undoubtedly derives its name from the overthrow and martyrdom of
-Oswald, the Christian king of Northumberland, who was vanquished there
-by Penda, the pagan king of Mercia.
-
-Oswestry is stated to have been the site of a castle built in 1149 by
-Magod, one of the princes of Powys. It then passed, by marriage, into
-the hands of a Norman lord of Cher; and it was here that in 1164 Henry
-II. assembled the army with which he marched to Chirk, in his vain
-attempt to subjugate the principality. In 1277 Edward I. surrounded the
-town by a wall which was a mile in circumference, had four gates, and
-was further defended by a moat. In the thirteenth century both castle
-and town were destroyed by fire. Many scenes of our martial history
-pass before the mind's eye of the visitor to Oswestry. In 1403, Owen
-Glyndyr (or Glendower) marched from thence towards Shrewsbury at the
-head of twelve thousand men, intending there to unite his forces to
-those of the Earl of Northumberland and his son. Tradition, however,
-alleges that by the time he reached Shelton, two miles from Shrewsbury,
-he found the royal forces were engaged in battle with their enemy. The
-story of that eventful day is one out of which to make a mental picture
-as one contemplates the approach to Shrewsbury. Hotspur and his father
-had encamped on the previous night at a place called Berwick, nearly
-opposite Shelton, and they calculated on being joined there by Glendyr.
-They sorely needed his aid; the rebel army numbered only fourteen
-thousand men, while that of the king numbered twenty-six thousand. In
-vain they waited; in vain a few unsuccessful attempts were made at a
-compromise, and then at a place still known as Battlefield, and in a
-field yet called 'the King's Croft,' the battle was joined. Before,
-however, the first blow was struck, Harry Hotspur called for his sword,
-and was informed by his attendant that he had left it at Berwick. The
-iron warrior, who was about cheerfully to encounter a force greatly
-outnumbering his own, turned pale. 'I perceive,' he said, 'that my
-plough is drawing its last furrow, for a wizard told me that I should
-perish at Berwick, which I vainly interpreted of that town in the
-north.'
-
-The Welsh chieftain climbed into the tree and beheld the conflict; at
-what period of the engagement is not told; but as he concluded the
-king would be victorious, he quietly came down again, and leaving
-Percy to defeat and death, marched back to his mountains. The old oak
-yet remains; but for the forty years during which we have known it,
-it has been in a failing condition. One by one its great boughs have
-yielded to the storm, or broken beneath their own weight; and it is now
-propped up with crutches and bound together with iron hoops. Probably
-in another half-century the place which has known it for at least six
-centuries will know it no more.
-
-One of Mr Rimmer's illustrations shews us a street in Shrewsbury
-which may justly claim to be one of the most perfect examples of
-English streets yet remaining, if not the most perfect. The beautiful
-old gabled houses with their projecting richly carved fronts are in
-excellent preservation, and for a considerable distance a person
-walking down the middle of the street can touch them on each side;
-such was the economy of room in walled cities, which renders their
-physiognomy just the opposite to that of villages, in which the
-wide spaces constitute an especial beauty. Behind the city rise the
-Haughmond hills, clear and sharp, and wooded to their summits. Mr
-Rimmer tells us, that when the sun rises red over these hills, and
-especially if this red rising be accompanied by noise of wind, it is a
-certain sign of a stormy day; thus proving the truth of Shakspeare's
-description of how 'bloodily the sun began to peer above yon bosky
-hill,' upon the fatal day of the battle of Shrewsbury. Says Prince
-Henry to his father:
-
-                            The southern wind
-    Doth play the trumpet to his purposes;
-    And by the hollow whistling in the leaves
-    Foretells a tempest and a blustering day.
-
-We wish we could find in the facts a sanction for the author's
-statement, that in no town in England are the interesting remains,
-dear to the antiquary and the student, more scrupulously taken care of
-than in Shrewsbury; but we have before us the eloquent and pleading
-testimony to the contrary of Mr Ansell Day, the enthusiastic and
-indefatigable champion of the rights and the dignity of the old city;
-and on comparing his description of Shrewsbury a hundred years ago
-with Shrewsbury as it now is, we learn how much has been lost within
-a century. A hundred years ago, Shrewsbury boasted five churches
-of renowned beauty. The Abbey and the collegiate church of St Mary
-still remain, deeply interesting to the antiquary and to the visitor.
-But what has been the fate of the three others--of St Chad's, of
-St Alkmond's (so spacious, so beautiful, famous for its exquisite
-tower, and built by a sister of King Alfred), and of St Julian's? St
-Chad's requiring reparation, a country builder was employed, whose
-well-intentioned performance caused the tower to fall in and destroy a
-portion of the church. Instead of the damage being repaired, the old
-church was pulled down, and an expensive, hideous, and inconvenient
-structure was erected in its place. The other two churches were
-destroyed, without even the excuse of preliminary damage; indeed so
-strong and in such perfect repair were they, that their demolition
-was an exceedingly costly process; and the buildings which replace
-them are curiosities of ugliness. A hundred years ago, the ancient
-town was surrounded by walls with square towers at intervals, alike
-interesting and characteristic; only a few hundred yards of the wall
-now remain, and one tower alone stands, the solitary memento of the
-past. The ancient Abbey buildings too have been swept away; the Guesten
-House, formerly the scene of splendid and historical hospitality; the
-Refectory, where a parliament once assembled to meet its king; and
-of all the grandeur of the past, only the ancient pulpit remains, a
-beautiful object indeed, but an unmeaning one in its isolation.
-
-Wenlock, Bridgenorth, Ross, and Monmouth with its ancient massive
-gate, bridge, and market-place, are full of beautiful remains; and
-Worcester brings many a remembrance of the historic past before our
-minds while we gaze on Mr Rimmer's drawings of the Corn-market, Friar
-Street, and the Close of the beautiful cathedral, where Henry II. and
-his queen were crowned, and King John is buried. In old Worcester,
-the days of the Great Rebellion seem quite modern, and Charles II.
-and his unlucky brother, men of only the recent past. A beautiful
-and impressive drawing is that of the _New Inn_, Gloucester, that
-hostelry of a strange history, for it was designed to accommodate the
-pilgrims who used to go in crowds to the shrine raised in the Abbey
-Church of Gloucester over the remains of the murdered King Edward II.
-The vast old hostelry is enormously strong and massive, and covers an
-immense area. It is fully half of timber, principally chestnut-wood.
-Tewkesbury, Exeter, and Glastonbury are full of beautiful remains,
-finely rendered in this book. The Abbot's Kitchen at Glastonbury is one
-of the relics of the past best known in all England; here St Patrick
-passed the last years of his life, and here King Arthur is said to have
-been buried.
-
-At Winchester are found grand examples of the domestic architecture
-of the fifteenth century, in addition to the superb ecclesiastical
-edifices of the city; Cardinal Beaufort's Tower, and St Cross,
-whose noble gateway, approached from the Southampton Road, is seen
-through great elms and walnut-trees, where the long lines of quaint
-high chimneys form with the church and the foliage an exquisitely
-picturesque combination. We pass on in the artist's company to
-Guildford, where the gateway of Esher Palace still remains to remind
-us of Wolsey's residence there after his downfall; to Salisbury, which
-differs from other old cities in having nothing Roman, Saxon, or Norman
-about it, but being purely English and unique; to Canterbury, with
-its wonderful wealth of antiquities, ecclesiastical, domestic, and
-military, all preserved with jealous care; to Rochester, with its grand
-and gloomy castle, and the noble cathedral, around which there hangs an
-atmosphere of romance; to Rye, with its ancient grass-grown streets,
-gabled houses, and church clock, said to be the oldest in England; to
-St Albans, which has just been raised by the Queen to the dignity of
-a city; and from whose abbey the first books printed in England were
-issued; to Banbury, with its Old Parliament House, where Cromwell's
-fateful parliament sat, and the _Roebuck Inn_, which contains a room
-accounted the most beautiful Elizabethan apartment of the early style
-in existence. This was Oliver's council-chamber, after the taking of
-Banbury Castle.
-
-After visiting Ely, Ipswich, Norwich, Lady Jane Grey's house at
-Leicester, and the crumbling ruins which only remain of the Abbey, we
-are bidden to the Fen counties, whose picturesqueness few are aware of,
-though their architectural beauties, especially those of Lincolnshire,
-are well known; and we are shewn among many other curious things the
-market-place at Oakham, all roofed and shingled with solid old oak.
-There is a singular custom at Oakham: every peer of the realm on
-first passing through the town has either to pay a fine or to present
-the town with a shoe from his horse; the shoe is then nailed up on
-the castle gate, or in some conspicuous part of the building. Queen
-Elizabeth has left a memento of this nature at Oakham, as also have
-George IV. and Queen Victoria. These shoes are often gilt, and stamped
-with the name and arms of the donor.
-
-The county of Nottingham is also amply illustrated; and we find a
-drawing of the famous _Saracen's Head Inn_ at Southwell, which dates
-from the time of Henry IV., and where Charles I. gave himself up to the
-Scotch commissioners. The beautiful Minster, and the splendid ruins of
-the palace, once the residence of the archbishops of York, and many an
-old house and quiet glimpse of the home-life of the long past, are to
-be seen at Southwell, the place which monarchs and nobles vied with
-each other to endow and adorn. Warwickshire is but little noticed in
-this book beyond the inevitable Warwick Castle and Kenilworth; and
-yet how rich the land of the elm is in village, street, and homestead
-antiquity.
-
-We would have welcomed further details of Coventry, that most
-interesting ancient city, the scene of the first days of the triumph
-of Henry VII., and of one term of the dreary imprisonment of Mary,
-Queen of Scots; the city of the wonderful church of St Michael, which
-may truly be called a dream--a poem in stone. York, Beverley, Durham,
-Lancaster, and Carlisle, all these the artist-author sets before us
-with their treasures of architecture and illustration of the social
-life of the past. Perhaps we linger longest over the noble views of
-Durham Castle, and the majestic cathedral with its three grand towers,
-which occupies one of the finest sites in England, and with the wooded
-bluff beneath it, is reflected in the broad bosom of the Wear. The
-author leads us so far north as Carlisle, but has not much to point
-to there of great antiquity. The Border city had to fight too hard
-for ages for her mere existence, to have means or leisure for the
-beautifying or refining arts. Her name is otherwise writ in history.
-
-We are grateful to Mr Rimmer for this work, which will, we hope, give
-the impulse to much more literature of a similar order. There is a
-great need of closely studied and well-written histories of the old
-cities and towns of the United Kingdom, which, if not conceived merely
-in the dry antiquarian, nor yet in the simply picturesque artistic
-spirit, would induce readers to recognise, and lead them to explore the
-archæological treasures of their own countries, which may be reached
-with ease, and might, with the assistance of books of this kind, be
-studied with equal pleasure and profit.
-
-
-
-
-JAPANESE FANS.
-
-
-During the past few years, Japanese fans have become so popular in this
-country, that a few brief remarks respecting them and the manner in
-which they are manufactured--culled from the published Report by Her
-Majesty's Consul on the trade of Hiogo and Osaka--may perhaps prove
-acceptable to our readers.
-
-Osaka, we learn, is the principal city for the manufacture of the
-_ogi_ or folding fans, which are those almost exclusively exported,
-all descriptions of the bamboo kind being made there; the figures,
-writing, &c. required for their adornment are executed at Kioto. The
-prices vary from a few pence up to six pounds sterling per hundred, and
-occasionally even higher prices are given, though the bulk consists
-of the cheaper sorts. The superior kinds of fans, it may be mentioned
-parenthetically, which are termed _uchiwa_ by the Japanese, are
-manufactured at Kioto, and are extensively used by the better classes
-of the natives.
-
-The following are the principal features in the account which Mr Consul
-Annesley gives of the details connected with _ogi_ or folding fans.
-As in many other branches of industry, the principle of division of
-labour is carried out in the fan-making trade. The bamboo ribs are
-made in Osaka and Kioto by private individuals in their own houses,
-and combinations of the various notches cut in the lower part are left
-to one of the finishing workmen, who forms the various patterns of the
-handle according to plans prepared by the designer. In like manner the
-designer gives out to the engravers the patterns which his experience
-teaches him will be most likely to be saleable during the ensuing
-season; and when the different blocks have been cut, it still rests
-with him to say what colours are to be used for the two sides of each
-fan. In fact, this official holds, if not the best paid, at anyrate
-the most important position on the staff in ordinary. When the printed
-sheets which are to form the two sides of the fans have been handed
-over to the workman, together with the sets of bamboo slips which are
-to form the ribs, his first business is to fold the two sheets of
-which the fan is to be composed, so that they will retain the crease,
-and this is done by putting them between two pieces of paper, well
-saturated with oil, and properly creased. The four are then folded
-together and placed under a heavy weight.
-
-When sufficient time has elapsed, the sheets are taken out, and the
-moulds used again, the released sheets being packed up for at least
-twenty-four hours in their folds. The next process is to take the
-ribs, which are temporarily arranged in order on a wire, and 'set'
-them into their places on one of the sheets, after it has been spread
-out on a block and pasted. A dash of paste then gives the woodwork
-adhesive powers, and that part of the process is finished by affixing
-the remaining sheet of paper. The fan has to be folded up and opened
-three or four times before the folds take the proper shape; and by the
-time the fan is put by to dry, it has received far more handling than
-any foreign paper could stand; indeed foreign paper has been tried, and
-had to be given up, as unsuitable for the work; but with great care the
-Osaka fan-makers had been able to make some fans with printed pictures
-which had been sent over from America, though they were invariably
-obliged to use one face of Japanese paper.
-
-The qualities of native paper now used are not nearly so good as those
-of which the old fans were made, and in consequence, the style of
-manufacture has had to be changed. Instead of first pasting the two
-faces of the fan together and then running in pointed ribs, the ribs
-are square and are pasted in their places in the manner described
-above. The outside lacquered pieces and the fancy-work are all done in
-Osaka and Kioto, and some of the designs in gold lacquer on bone are
-really artistic; but the demand for the highly ornamented description
-of fans is not sufficient to encourage the production of large
-quantities of first-class work. When the insides are dry, the riveting
-of the pieces together, including the outer covering, is rapidly done,
-and a dash of varnish quickly finishes the fan.
-
-The highest price that was ever given for a fan in the days of
-seclusion from the outer world rarely exceeded a sovereign; but since
-the arrival of foreigners in the country, some few have been made to
-order at prices varying from two to three pounds sterling. The general
-prices of ordinary fans range from two or three shillings to three
-pounds per hundred, though an extraordinarily expensive fan is turned
-out at ten pounds per hundred. The sale of fans in olden times seldom
-exceeded ten thousand a year for the whole country; but in recent years
-no less than three millions per annum have been exported from the ports
-of Osaka and Yokohama alone. In concluding these brief notes, it may be
-interesting to mention that the number of fans ordered in Japan for the
-Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia reached the large figure of eight
-hundred thousand, the estimated cost of which was ten thousand pounds,
-and that these were over and above the ordinary annual export alluded
-to before.
-
-
-
-
-THE PIXIES.
-
-
-Among the superstitions still far from being extirpated in Wales and
-some parts of Devonshire, is a belief in exceedingly small beings
-known as pixies. From anything we can learn, the pixies resemble the
-fairies of old English superstition, but with this difference, that
-pixies possess that love of fun and mischief which reminds us of the
-Puck of Shakspeare. When a pixy has been successful in any trick upon
-travellers, it is said to send forth a peal of laughter and to tumble
-head over heels to shew its delight; this has become proverbial in
-Devonshire; so that if any one laughs immoderately, he is said to laugh
-'like a pixy.' The following pixy story is still current.
-
-In a little country-place in the prettiest part of Devonshire there
-lived a miller's daughter, who was betrothed to a young farmer of the
-neighbourhood. For some time their course ran as smoothly as could be
-desired. But the young man began to cast looks of suspicion on another
-admirer of his betrothed, and to let a jealous demon rankle within
-him, whispering to him that he no longer held the first place in the
-damsel's affections.
-
-The miller's daughter, besides possessing considerable personal
-attractions, had the reputation of being the neatest and most
-industrious housewife in the place; and so the pixies, who invariably
-tried to aid the industrious, took her under their especial protection.
-They removed everything harmful from her path, and were always at hand
-to do her a service; she herself meanwhile being quite unconscious of
-the presence of the small people. One pixy used to place flowers on
-her window-sill every morning, and the maiden innocently dreamt that
-they were offerings from her lover, and prized them accordingly. One
-morning early about this time the young man passed before her house,
-and noticed the flowers upon the window-sill. Jealousy immediately
-took possession of him, and he saw in the simple flowers the offerings
-of a more favoured admirer. Just then the window was opened gently,
-and the miller's daughter appeared; and unconscious of the watcher
-lurking behind the hedge, she took up the rosebuds which formed her
-morning's gift and pressed them to her lips. Then she withdrew, taking
-the flowers with her, and leaving him to rage inwardly at what he
-considered her perfidy.
-
-From that morning his behaviour towards her was changed, and he became
-gloomy and morose, throwing out hints of his suspicions from time to
-time, which troubled the gentle maiden, without her being able to
-comprehend any reason for it all. But the pixies, seeing how matters
-stood, determined to convince the moody fellow of her truth, and at the
-same time to punish him for his unreasonable jealousy. So one evening,
-when he was coming home from a market-town (perhaps top-heavy), he
-was pixy-led in a meadow just below the miller's house, through which
-he had to pass. Hosts of pixies gathered for the occasion, armed
-with nettles, thistles, and small bushes of thorn-trees. With these
-formidable weapons they pricked, stung, and mercilessly belaboured the
-unfortunate young man, dancing around him with mocking gestures, and
-chasing him from one end of the field to another.
-
-Thus harassed, they kept him until the morning dawned, when one pixy
-came forward with a beautiful bunch of flowers, which he delivered
-to another pixy, who carried it off, and climbing up the vine that
-covered the side of the miller's house, laid the bouquet on the
-maiden's window-sill. Then he disappeared, followed quickly by the rest
-of the pixies, leaving the young man (who now saw from what quarter
-the flowers had come) to meditate on the matter. The result of his
-meditations was, that before another day was gone, he went to his
-betrothed and told her the doubts he had gone through, and the manner
-in which the pixies had freed him from those doubts; and the whole
-affair was then settled to the satisfaction of everybody concerned,
-including the pixies.
-
-Stories of this sort are wonderfully poetical, and may amuse young
-folks, but they are two centuries out of date, and we may hope that
-matters are educationally in train to supersede them by materials quite
-as droll and a little more rational.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Printed and Published by W. & R. CHAMBERS, 47 Paternoster Row, LONDON,
-and 339 High Street, EDINBURGH.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-_All Rights Reserved._
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-[Transcriber's Note--the following changes have been made to this text:
-
-Page 770: daugher changed to daughter.]
-
-
-
-
-
-End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Chambers's Journal of Popular
-Literature, Science, and Art, No. 728, December 8, 1877, by Various
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