Chapter III: Part 3

ANCIENT FIRE-ARMS IN THE TOWER OF LONDON ARMORY.

We have just now before us a drawing of an old piece of ordnance, formed of bars of iron, strongly hooped with the same material, which forms a striking contrast with the finely-wrought cannons which may be seen in store at Woolwich Arsenal, and elsewhere, at the present day. The exact date and manner of the introduction of cannon is a matter which has caused much dispute. The earliest mention of the use of cannon on shipboard is in Rymer's "Foedera." It is an order to Henry Somer, Keeper of the Private Wardrobe in the Tower, to deliver to Mr. Goveney, Treasurer to Queen Philippa, Queen of Sweeden, Denmark, and Norway, (who was then sent by her uncle, Henry the Fourth, to her husband, in the ship called the Queen's Hall,) the following military stores: 11 guns, 40 petras pro gunnes, 40 tumpers, 4 torches, 1 mallet, 2 fire-pans, 40 pavys, 24 bows, 40 sheaves of arrows.

After the old cannon composed of bars of iron, hooped together, had been some time in use, hand-cannon, a simple tube fixed on a straight stake, was used in warfare, charged with gunpowder and an iron bullet. This was made with trunnions and casabel precisely like the large cannon. In course of time, the touch-hole was improved, and the barrel cast in brass. This, fixed to a rod, had much the appearance of a large sky-rocket. What is now called the stock was originally called the frame of the gun.

Various improvements were from time to time made in the hand-gun, amongst which was a pan fixed for containing the touch-powder. In rainy weather, this became a receptacle for water; to obviate which, a small piece of brass made to turn on a pin was placed as a cover. This done, there was a difficulty in preserving the aim in consequence of the liability of the eye to be diverted from the sight by the motion of the right hand when conveying the lighted match to the priming. This was, to a certain extent, prevented by a piece of brass being fixed to the breech and perforated. The improved plan for holding the lighted match for firing the hand-guns is shown in the engraving of the Buckler and Pistol; it consists of a thin piece of metal something in shape of an S reversed, the upper part slit to hold the match, the lower pushed up by the hand when entended to ignite the powder.

After the invention of the hand-cannon, its use became general in a very short space of time in most parts of the civilized world.

Philip de Comines, in his account of the battle of Morat, in 1476, says he encountered in the confederate army 10,000 _arquebusiers_.

The arquebusiers in Hans Burgmain's plates of the "Triumph of Maximilian the First," have suspended from their necks large powder flasks or horns, a bullet bag on the right hip, and a sword on the left, while they carry the matchlock in their hands.

Henry the Eighth's Walking-stick, as the Yeomen of Guard at the Tower call it, is a short spiked mace, in the head of which are three short guns or pistols, which may be fired at very primitive touch-holes by a match.

The Revolver has four barrels, and although clumsy in construction, is not very different in principles from those recently introduced.

The use of the pistol inserted inside the buckler is obvious as the latter affords protection to the person while using the former.

WIGS.

Wigs.]

In 1772 the Maccaronies, as the exquisites of that time were called, wore wigs similar to 1, 2, 3, with a large toupee, noticed as early as 1731, in the play of the _Modern Husband_: "I meet with nothing but a parcel of _toupet_ coxcombs, who plaster up their brains upon their periwigs," alluding to the pometum with which they were covered. Those worn by the ladies in 1772 are given as 4, showing the rows of curls at the sides. The pig-tails were worn hanging down the back, or tied up in a knot behind, as in 5. About 1780 the hair which formed it was allowed to stream in a long lock down the back, as in 6, and soon afterwards was turned up in a knot behind. Towards the end of the century, the wig, as a general and indispensable article of attire to young and old, went out of fashion.

A FALSE FIND.

At Falmouth, some years ago, the sexton found coal in digging a grave; he concluded it must be a mine, and ran with the news and the specimen to the clergyman. The surgeon explained that they had stolen a French prisoner who died, and filled his coffin with coal that the bearers might not discover its emptiness.

BELLS.

As far back as the Anglo-Saxon times, before the conclusion of the seventh century, bells had been in use in the churches of this country, particularly in the monastic societies of Northumbria; and were, therefore, in use from the first erection of parish churches among us. Those of France and England appear to have been furnished with several bells. In the time of Clothaire II., King of France, and in the year 610, the army of that king was frightened from the siege of the city of Sens, by ringing the bells of St. Stephen's Church. They were sometimes composed of iron in France; and in England, as formerly at Rome, they were frequently made of brass. And as early as the ninth century many were cast of a large size and deep note.

Weever, in his work on funeral monuments, says--"In the little sanctuary at Westminster, King Edward III., erected a clochier, and placed therein three bells, for the use of St. Stephen's Chapel. About the biggest of them were cast in the metal these words:--

"King Edward made mee thirty thousand weight and three;
Take me down and wey mee, and more you shall find mee."

"But these bells being taken down in the reign of Henry VIII., one wrote underneath with a coal:--

"But Henry the Eight,
Will bait me of my weight."

This last distich alludes to a fact mentioned by Stow, in his survey of London--ward of Farringdon Within to wit--that near to St. Paul's School stood a clochier, in which were four bells, called _Jesus' bells_, the greatest in all England, against which Sir Miles Partridge staked an hundred pounds, and won them of Henry VIII., at a cast of dice.

Matthew Paris observes, that anciently the use of bells was prohibited in time of mourning. Mabillon adds, that it was an old practice to ring the bells for persons about to expire, to advertise the people to pray for them--whence our passing-bell. The passing-bell, indeed, was anciently for two purposes--one to bespeak the prayers of all good Christians for a soul just departing; the other to drive away the evil spirits who were supposed to stand at the bed's foot.

This dislike of spirits to bells is mentioned in the Golden Legend, by Wynkyn de Worde. "It is said, evill spirytes that ben in the regyon of thayre, doubte moche when they here the belles rongen; and this is the cause why the belles ben rongen when it thondreth, and when grete tempeste and outrages of wether happen; to the ende that the fiends and wycked spirytes shold be abashed and flee, and cease of the movynge of tempeste." Another author observes, that the custom of ringing bells at the approach of thunder is of some antiquity; but that the design was not so much to shake the air, and so dissipate the thunder, as to call the people to church, to pray that the parish might be preserved from the terrible effect of lightning.

Warner, in his history of Hampshire, enumerates the virtues of a bell, by translating the lines from the "Helpe to Discourse:--

"Men's death's I tell by doleful knell;
Lightning and thunder I break asunder.
On Sabbath all to church I call;
The sleepy head I raise from bed;
The winds so fierce I doe disperse;
Men's cruel rage I doe assuage."

Four of the bells of the ancient Abbey of Hexham were dedicated or baptised; and although the old bells no longer exist, the legends upon the whole six have been preserved, and a free translation given by Mr. Wright, is as follows:--

1. Even at our earliest sound,
The light of God is spread around.

2. At the echo of my voice,
Ocean, earth and air, rejoice.

3. Blend thy mellow tones with mine,
Silver voice of Catherine!

4. Till time on ruin's lap shall nod.
John shall sound the praise of God.

5. With John in heavenly harmony,
Andrew, pour thy melody.

6. Be mine to chant Jehovah's fame,
While Maria is my name.

These epigraphs or legends on bells, are not uncommon. The Rev. W. C. Lukis, in his notices on church bells, read at the Wilts Archaeological Meeting, gave the following instances:--

At Aldbourne, on the first bell, we read, "The gift of Jos. Pizzie and Wm. Gwynn.

"Music and ringing we like so well,
And for that reason we gave this bell."

On the fourth bell is,--

"Humphry Symsin gave xx pound to buy this bell,
And the parish gave xx more to make this ring go well."

A not uncommon epigraph is,--

"Come when I call
To serve God all."

At Chilton Foliatt, on the tenor, is,--

"Into the church the living I call,
And to the grave I summon all.
Attend the instruction which I give,
That so you may for ever live."

At Devizes, St. Mary, on the first bell, is,--

"I am the first, altho' but small.
I will be heard above you all."

And on the second bell is,--

"I am the second in this ring,
Therefore next to thee I will sing."

Which, at Broadchalk, is thus varied:--

"I in this place am second bell,
I'll surely do my part as well."

On the third bell at Coln is,--

"Robert Forman collected the money for casting this bell
Of well-disposed people, as I do you tell."

At Bath Abbey, on the tenth bell, is,--

"All you of Bath that hear me sound,
Thank Lady Hopton's hundred pound."

On the fifth bell at Amesbury is,--

"Be strong in faith, praise God well,
Frances Countess Hertford's bell."

And, on the tenor,--

"Altho' it be unto my loss,
I hope you will consider my cost."

At Stowe, Northamptonshire, and at St. Mary the Virgin, Oxford, we find,--

"Be it known to all that doth me see,
That Newcombe, of Leicester, made me."

At St. Michael's, Coventry, on the fourth bell, is,--

"I ring at six to let men know
When to and from their work to go."

On the seventh bell is,--

"I ring to Sermon with a lusty bome,
That all may come and none can stay at home."

On the eighth bell is--

"I am and have been called the common bell
To ring, when fire breaks out to tell."

At St. Peter's-le-Bailey, Oxford, four bells were sold towards finishing the tower, and in 1792 a large bell was put up, with this inscription:--

"With seven more I hope soon to be
For ages joined in harmony."

But this very reasonable wish has not yet been realized; whereas at St. Lawrence's, Reading, when two bells were added to form a peal of ten, on the second we find--

"By adding two our notes we'll raise,
And sound the good subscribers' praise."

The occasion of the erection of the Westminster Clock-tower, is said to have been as follows:--A certain poor man, in an action for debt, being fined the sum of 13s. 4d., Radulphus Ingham, Chief Justice of the King's Bench, commiserating his case, caused the court roll to be erased, and the fine reduced to 6s. 8d., which being soon after discovered, Ingham was amerced in a pecuniary mulct of eight hundred marks, which was employed in erecting the said bell-tower, in which was placed a bell and a clock, which, striking hourly, was to remind the judges in the hall of the offence of their brother. This bell was originally called Edward; "but," says a writer in the "Antiquarian Repertory," "when the Reformation caused St. Edward and his hours to be but little regarded; as other bells were frequently called Tom, as fancied to pronounce that name when stricken--that at Lincoln, for instance, and that at Oxford--this also followed the fashion, of which, to what I remember of it before it was hung up, I may add another proof from a catch made by the late Mr. Eccles, which begins--

"'Hark, Harry, 'tis late--'tis time to be gone,
For Westminster Tom, by my faith, strikes one."

Hawkins, in his "History of Music," says,--"The practice of ringing bells in change, or regular peals, is said to be peculiar to England: whence Britain has been termed the _ringing island_. The custom seems to have commenced in the time of the Saxons, and was common before the Conquest. The ringing of bells, although a recreation chiefly of the lower sort, is, in itself, not incurious. The tolling of a bell is nothing more than the producing of a sound by a stroke of the clapper against the side of the bell, the bell itself being in a pendant position, and at rest. In ringing, the bell, by means of a wheel and a rope, is elevated to a perpendicular; in its motion, the clapper strikes forcibly on one side, and in its return downwards, on the other side of the bell, producing at each stroke a sound." There are still in London several societies of ringers. There was one called the College Youths (bell-ringers, like post-boys, never seem to acquire old age). Of this it is said Sir Matthew Hale, Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench, was, in his youthful days, a member; and in the life of that upright judge, by Burnet, some facts are mentioned which favour this relation. In England the practice of ringing has been reduced to a science, and peals have been composed which bear the names of their inventors; some of the most celebrated of these were composed about fifty years ago by one Patrick. This man was a maker of barometers. In the year 1684, one Abraham Rudhall, of the city of Gloucester, brought the art of bell-founding to great perfection. His descendants in succession have continued the business of casting bells; and by a list published by them at Lady Day, 1774, the family, in peals and odd bells, had cast to the amount of 3,594. The peals of St. Dunstan's in the East, St. Bride's, London, and St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, are among the number. The following "Articles of Ringing" are upon the walls of the belfry in the pleasant village of Dunster, in Somersetshire. They are dated 1787:--

"1. You that in ringing take delight,
Be pleased to draw near;
These articles you must observe,
If you mean to ring here.

"2. And first, if any overturn
A bell, as that he may,
He forthwith for that only fault
In beer shall sixpence pay.

"3. If any one shall curse or swear
When come within the door,
He then shall forfeit for that fault
As mentioned before.

"4. If any one shall wear his hat
When he is ringing here,
He straightway then shall sixpence pay
In cyder or in beer.

"5. If any one these articles
Refuseth to obey,
Let him have nine strokes of the rope,
And so depart away."

BILL OF SALE FOR A NEGRO IN 1770.

"Know all Men by these Presents, That I, Elizabeth Treat, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk, widow, in consideration of the sum of L25 13s. 4d. to me in hand, paid before the ensealing hereof by Samuel Breck, of Boston aforesaid, merchant, the receipt whereof I do hereby acknowledge, have granted, bargained, and sold, and by these presents do fully and absolutely grant, bargain, and sell unto the said Samuel Breck, my Negro man named Harry, aged about forty years, with his apparel, to have and to hold the said Negro man Harry, with his apparel, unto the said Samuel Breck, his executors, administrators, and assigns, to his and their only proper use, benefit, and behoof for ever; And I, the said Elizabeth Treat, for myself, my heirs, executors, and administrators, do covenant, that at the time of ensealing, and until the delivery hereof, I am the true and lawful owner of the said Negro man, and that he is free from all former sales, charges, and incumbrances whatsoever, and that I will warrant and defend the said Negro man unto the said Samuel Breck, his heirs, and assigns for ever, against the lawful claims and demands of all persons whomsoever.

"Witness my hand and seal, this tenth day of October, Anno Domini, one thousand seven hundred and seventy, in the tenth year of His Majesty's reign.

"Signed, sealed, and delivered in presence of us.

"THOMAS MELVILLE.
"MARY WHITE.
"ELIZABETH TREAT."

THE AZTEC CHILDREN.

Among the animated curiosities which are occasionally exposed to the gaze of the wonder-loving public, we may prominently notice the AZTEC CHILDREN--two singular Lilliputians who were recently exhibited throughout the kingdom. Maximo and Bartolo (for by these names the two Aztec children have been baptized) are by some medical men supposed to be of the respective ages of twenty-two and sixteen. Professor Owen, stated them to be ten or twelve, and seven or nine in 1853. The height of the boy (the elder is about three feet, and the girl does not reach quite two feet six inches). Their limbs, though slender, are proportionate and well formed, and the general development of their figures is remarkably graceful. The cranium is peculiar, being narrower than that of any other races of beings known to the world; and though the face is somewhat prominent, the features are regular and the countenances agreeable, and, after a short acquaintance, highly interesting. Each has a beautiful head of jet black hair, which flows gracefully in curls. They are lively and intelligent, showing considerable aptitude for mental training, and have already learned to give utterance to several expressions which can be readily understood by visitors.

Since the arrival of these prodigies from the United States, they have been the objects of curious ethnological speculations. Dr. Latham does not consider them as a new species of the _genus homo_. Professor Owen regards them as instances of impeded development, and Dr. Conolly was struck with their resemblance to idiots.

NOTICES TO TAR AND FEATHER.

The original handbills of the committee for Tarring and Feathering subjoined, are of singular interest, as they were the earliest emanations of the spirit that led to England's losing her American colonies, and the consequent rise of the United States:--

_To the Delaware Pilots._

The Regard we have for your Characters, and our Desire to promote your future Peace and Safety, are the Occasion of this Third Address to you.

In our second Letter we acquainted you, that the Tea Ship was a Three Decker; We are now informed by good Authority, she is not a Three Decker, but an _old black Ship_, _without a Head_, or _any Ornaments_.

The _Captain_ is a _short fat_ Fellow, and a little _obstinate_ withal.--So much the worse for him.--For, so sure as he _rides rusty_, We shall heave him Keel out, and see that his Bottom be well fired, scrubb'd and paid.--His Upper-Works too, will have an Overhawling--and as it is said, he has a good deal of _Quick Work_ about him, We will take particular Care that such Part of him undergoes a thorough Rummaging.

We have a still _worse Account of his Owner_;--for it is said, the Ship POLLY was bought by him on Purpose, to make a Penny of us: and that _he_ and Captain _Ayres_ were well advised, of the Risque they would run, in thus daring to insult and abuse us.

_Captain Ayres_ was here in the Time of the Stamp-Act, and ought to have known our People better, than to have expected we would be so mean as to suffer his _rotten_ TEA to be funnel'd down our Throats, with the _Parliament's Duty_ mixed with it.

We know him well, and have calculated to a Gill and a Feather, how much it will require to fit him for an _American Exhibition_. And we hope, not one of your Body will behave so ill, as to oblige us to clap him in the Cart along Side of the _Captain_.

We must repeat, that the SHIP POLLY is an _old black Ship_, of about Two Hundred and Fifty Tons burthen, _without a Head_, and _without Ornaments_,--and, that CAPTAIN AYRES is a _thick chunky Fellow_.--As such, TAKE CARE TO AVOID THEM.

Your Old Friends,
THE COMMITTEE FOR TARRING AND FEATHERING.
_Philadelphia, December 7, 1773._

_To Capt. Ayres, of the Ship Polly, on a Voyage from London to Philadelphia._

SIR,

We are informed that you have, imprudently, taken Charge of a Quantity of Tea; which has been sent out by the _India_ Company, _under the Auspices of the Ministry_, as a Trial of _American_ Virtue and Resolution.

Now, as your Cargo, on your Arrival here, will most assuredly bring you into hot water; and as you are perhaps a Stranger _to these Parts_, we have concluded to advise you of the present Situation of Affairs in _Philadelphia_--that, taking Time by the Forelock, you may stop short in your dangerous Errand--secure your Ship against the Rafts of combustible Matter which may be set on Fire, and turned loose against her: and more than all this, that you may preserve your own Person, from the Pitch and Feathers that are prepared for you.

In the first Place, we must tell you, that the _Pennsylvanians_ are, _to a Man_, passionately fond of Freedom; the Birthright of _Americans_; and at all Events are determined to enjoy it.

That they sincerely believe, no Power on the Face of the Earth has a Right to tax them without their Consent.

That in their Opinion, the Tea in your Custody is designed by the Ministry to enforce such a Tax, which they will undoubtedly oppose; and in so doing, give you every possible Obstruction.

We are nominated to a very disagreeable, but necessary Service.--To our Care are committed all Offenders against the Rights of _America_; and hapless is he, whose evil Destiny has doomed him to suffer at our Hands.

You are sent out on a diabolical Service; and if you are so foolish and obstinate as to compleat your Voyage; by bringing your Ship to Anchor in this Port; you may run such a Gauntlet, as will induce you, in your last Moments, most heartily to curse those who have made you the Dupe of their Avarice and Ambition.

What think you Captain, of a Halter around your Neck--ten Gallons of liquid Tar decanted on your Pate--with the Feathers of a dozen wild Geese laid over that to enliven your Appearance?

Only think seriously of this--and fly to the Place from whence you came--fly without Hesitation--without the Formality of a Protest--and above all, Captain _Ayres_ let us advise you to fly without the wild Geese Feathers.

Your Friends _to serve_
THE COMMITTEE _as before subscribed_.
_Philadelphia, Nov. 27, 1773._

B. FRANKLIN'S CELEBRATED LETTER TO STRAHAN.

As a sequel to the foregoing notices, we give Dr. Franklin's celebrated letter, written in the actual heat of the first outbreak.

Philadelphia, July 5, 1775.

Mr. STRAHAN,--You are a member of Parliament, and one of that majority which has doomed my country to destruction. You have begun to burn our towns, and murder our people. Look upon your hands! They are stained with the blood of your relations! You and I were long friends; you are now my enemy, and

I am, yours,
B. FRANKLIN.

HENRY II. STRIPT WHEN DEAD.

1189. Immediately upon his death, those that were about him applied their market so busilie in catching and filching awaie things that laie readie for them, that the king's corps laie naked a long time, till a child covered the nether parts of his body with a short cloke, and then it seemed that his surname was fulfilled that he had from his childhood, which was Shortmantell, being so called, because he was the first who brought short clokes out of Anjou into England.

TRANSPLANTATION OF HAIR.

The Signor Dottore Domenico Nardo addressed a letter to the Academy of Padua, in 1826, on the subject of the growth of hair after death, and even after its separation from the body. The latter property had been previously observed by Krafft. The Signor Nardo recounts the results of experiments made on his own person in the transplantation of hair, and relates, that by transplanting quickly a hair, with its root, from a pore of his head, into a pore of his chest, easily to be accomplished by widening the pore somewhat with the point of a needle, introducing the root with nicety, and exciting within the pore itself, by friction, a slight degree of inflammation, the hair takes root, continues to vegetate, and grows; in due season changes colour, becomes white, and falls.

ANCIENT CANNON RAISED FROM THE SEA.

A fisherman of Calais some time since, drew up a cannon, of very ancient form, from the bottom of the sea, by means of his nets. M. de Rheims has since removed the rust from it, and on taking off the breech was much surprised to find the piece still charged. Specimens of the powder have been taken, from which, of course, all the saltpetre has disappeared after a submersion of three centuries. The ball was of lead, and was not oxidized to a depth greater than that of a line.

COFFEE-HOUSE ATTRACTIONS IN 1760.

The great attraction of Don Saltero's Coffee-house was its collection of rarities, a catalogue of which was published as a guide to the visitors. It comprehends almost every description of curiosity, natural and artificial. "Tigers' tusks; the Pope's candle; the skeleton of a Guinea-pig; a fly-cap monkey; a piece of the true Cross; the Four Evangelists' heads cut on a cherry-stone; the King of Morocco's tobacco-pipe; Mary Queen of Scot's pincushion; Queen Elizabeth's prayer-book; a pair of Nun's stockings; Job's ears, which grew on a tree; a frog in a tobacco-stopper;" and five hundred more odd relics! The Don had a rival, as appears by "A Catalogue of the Rarities to be seen at Adams's, at the Royal Swan, in Kingsland Road, leading from Shoreditch Church, 1756." Mr. Adams exhibited, for the entertainment of the curious, "Miss Jenny Cameron's shoes; Adam's eldest daughter's hat; the heart of the famous Bess Adams, that was hanged at Tyburn with Lawyer Carr, January 18, 1736-7; Sir Walter Raleigh's tobacco-pipe; Vicar of Bray's clogs; engine to shell green pease with; teeth that grew in a fish's belly; Black Jack's ribs; the very comb that Abraham combed his son Isaac and Jacob's head with; Wat Tyler's spurs; rope that cured Captain Lowry of the head-ach, ear-ach, tooth-ach and belly-ach; Adam's key of the fore and back door of the Garden of Eden, &c., &c." These are only a few out of five hundred others equally marvellous.

A WOMAN TAKES THE LIGHTED MATCH FROM A BOMB.

During the siege of Gibraltar, in 1782, the Count d'Artois came to St. Roch, to visit the place and works. While his highness was inspecting the lines, in company with the Duke de Crillon, they both alighted with their suite, and all lay flat upon the ground, to avoid the effects of a bomb that fell near a part of the barracks where a Frenchwoman had a canteen. This woman, who had two children in her arms at the time, rushed forth with them, and having seated herself, with the utmost _sang-froid_, on the bomb-shell, she put out the match, thus extricating from danger all that were around her, many of whom witnessed this courageous and devoted act. His highness rewarded this intrepid female by bestowing on her a pension of three francs a day, and engaged to promote her husband after the siege; while the Duke de Crillon, imitating the generous example of the prince, ensured to her likewise a daily payment of five francs.

THE SUMMERS MAGNET, OR LOADSTONE.

Summers Magnet.]

Among the great naval officers of Elizabeth's reign must be ranked Sir George Summers, the discoverer of the Bermudas, often called the Summers Islands from that circumstance. Here is a representation given of what the descendants of Sir George Summers call the "Summers magnet, or loadstone." It is in the possession of Peter Franklin Bellamy, Esq., surgeon, second son of Dr. Bellamy, of Plymouth. The tradition in the family is that the admiral before going to sea used to touch his needle with it. The stone is dark-coloured, the precise geological formation doubtful. This curious stone, with armature of iron, was probably an ancient talisman.

SWALLOWING LIZARDS.

Bertholin, the learned Swedish doctor, relates strange anecdotes of lizards, toads, and frogs; stating that a woman, thirty years of age, being thirsty, drank plentifully of water at a pond. At the end of a few months, she experienced singular movements in her stomach, as if something were crawling up and down; and alarmed by the sensation, consulted a medical man, who prescribed a dose of orvietan in a decoction of fumitory. Shortly afterwards, the irritation of the stomach increasing, she vomited three toads and two young lizards, after which, she became more at ease. In the spring following, however, her irritation of the stomach was renewed; and aloes and bezoar being administered, she vomited three female frogs, followed the next day by their numerous progeny. In the month of January following, she vomited five more living frogs, and in the course of seven years ejected as many as eighty. Dr. Bertholin protests that he heard them croak in her stomach!

IMMENSE SEA SERPENT.

A species of sea-serpent was thrown on shore near Bombay in 1819. It was about forty feet long, and must have weighed many tons. A violent gale of wind threw it high above the reach of ordinary tides, in which situation it took nine months to rot; during which process travellers were obliged to change the direction of the road for nearly a quarter of a mile, to avoid the offensive effluvia. It rotted so completely that not a vestige of bone remained.

THE ROYAL TOUCH.

For many ages one of the regal prerogatives in this country was to touch for the cure of _regius morbus_, or scrofula; a disease too well known to need any description. At different periods hundreds of persons assembled from all parts of the country annually to receive the royal interposition. Lists of the afflicted were published, to afford a criterion for determining as to its success; and from Edward the Confessor to the reign of Queen Anne, its efficacy appears to have obtained a ready and general belief.

The ceremony was announced by public proclamations; one of which we copy from "The Newes," of the 18th of May, 1664. "His Sacred Majesty" (Charles II.) "having declared it to be his royal will and purpose to continue the healing of his people for the Evil during the month of May, and then to give over until Michaelmas next, I am commanded to give notice thereof, that the people may not come up to town in the interim, and lose their labour."

An extract from the "Mercurius Politicus" affords additional information. "Saturday," says that paper, "being appointed by His Majesty to touch such as were troubled with the Evil, a great company of poor afflicted creatures were met together, many brought in chairs and flaskets, and being appointed by His Majesty to repair to the banqueting-house, His Majesty sat in a chair of state, where he stroked all that were brought unto him, and then put about each of their necks a white ribbon, with an angel of gold on it. In this manner His Majesty stroked above six hundred; and such was his princely patience and tenderness to the poor afflicted creatures, that, though it took up a very long time, His Majesty, who is never weary of well-doing, was pleased to make inquiry whether there were any more who had not yet been touched. After prayers were ended, the Duke of Buckingham brought a towel, and the Earl of Pembroke a basin and ewer, who, after they had made obeisance to His Majesty, kneeled down, till His Majesty had washed."

This sovereign is said to have touched nearly one hundred thousand patients.

With Queen Anne the practice was discontinued. But so late as the 28th of February, 1712, little more than two years before her death, the following proclamation appeared in the "Gazette":--"It being Her Majesty's royal intention to touch for the Evil on Wednesday, the 19th of March next, and so to continue weekly during Lent, it is Her Majesty's command that tickets be delivered the day before at the office in Whitehall; and that all persons shall bring a certificate signed by the Minister and Churchwardens of their respective parishes, that they have never received the royal touch." Dr. Johnson, when an infant, was brought, with others, for this purpose; "and when questioned upon the subject, confessed he had a faint recollection of an old lady with something black about her head."

A religious service, of which Dr. Heylin, Prebendary of Westminster, in his "Examen Historicum," has given us the particulars, accompanied the ceremony; which, as a document of pious interest, we transcribe:--"The first Gospel is the same as that on the Ascension-day, Mark xvi. 14, to the end. At the touching of every infirm person these words are repeated: 'They shall lay their hands on the sick, and they shall recover.' The second Gospel begins with the first of St. John, and ends a these words: (John i. 14:) 'Full of grace and truth.' At the putting the angel about their necks were repeated, 'That light was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.'

"'Lord, have mercy upon us.'

"'Christ have mercy upon us.'

"'Lord have mercy upon us. Our Father, &c.'

"'_Minister._--O Lord, save thy servants:'

"'_Response._--Which put their trust in thee.'

"'_M._--Send unto them help from above:'

"'_R._--And ever more defend them.'

"'_M._--Help us, O God, our Saviour!'

"'_R._--And for the glory of thy name sake deliver us: be merciful unto us, sinners, for thy name sake!'

"'_M._--O Lord, hear our prayer:'

"'_R._--And let our cry come unto thee.'

"'_The Collect._--Almighty God, the eternal health of all such as put their trust in thee, hear us, we beseech thee, on the behalf of these thy servants, for whom we call for thy merciful help; that they receiving health, may give thanks unto thee in thy holy Church, through Jesus Christ our Lord! Amen.'

"'The peace of God,' &c."

PEG TANKARDS.

The pegging, or marking the drinking cups, was introduced by St. Dunstan, to check the intemperate habits of the times, by preventing one man from taking a larger draught than his companions. But the device proved the means of increasing the evil it was intended to remedy; for, refining upon Dunstan's plan, the most abstemious were required to drink precisely to a peg or pin, whether they could soberly take such a quantity of liquor or not. To the use of such cups may be traced the origin of many of our popular phrases. When a person is much elated, we still say, "He is in a merry pin;" and, "He is a peg too low," when he is not in good spirits. On the same principle we talk of "taking a man down a peg," when we would check forwardness.

NORMAN CAPS.

There is nothing more amusing to the traveller on the continent, than to observe the extraordinary variety of those head-appendages, many of them heirlooms for generations in some families, all more or less prized according to the richness of materials employed upon them, and the peculiarity of shape. There is no article of dress more important to the _Normande_, whatever may be her means, than the cap which so jauntily and triumphantly asserts the dignity of the wearer. The wives of fermieres who can afford such luxuries as expensive lace and trimmings, spend a little income in the decoration of their caps. Many cost upwards of three thousand francs for the materials and manufacture; and these, as we have before observed, are handed from mother to daughter through successive years, and are highly prized.

Norman Caps.]

In the primitive villages of Normandy, on some holidays, it is a pleasing sight to see the dense army of caps, with flaps fanning the air, and following the gesticulatory movements of their talkative and volatile owners. When the weather is doubtful, the cap-wearers take care to be provided with a red umbrella of a clumsy construction, remarkably heavy, and somewhat similar, perhaps, to the original with which Jonas Hanway braved the jeers of a London populace in first introducing it.

NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN WAR DESPATCH.

The following is a _facsimile_ of a gazette of a tribe of North American Indians, who assisted the French forces in Canada, during the war between France and England:--

Gazette of North American Indians.]

_Explanation of the Gazette, giving an account of one of their expeditions. The following divisions explain those on the plate, as referred to by the numbers_:--

1. Each of these figures represents the number ten. They all signify, that 18 times 10, or 180 American Indians, took up the hatchet, or declared war, in favour of the French, which is represented by the hatchet placed over the arms of France.

2. They departed from Montreal--represented by the bird just taking wing from the top of a mountain. The moon and the buck show the time to have been in the first quarter of the buck-moon, answering to July.

3. They went by water--signified by the canoe. The number of huts, such as they raise to pass the night in, shows they were 21 days on their passage.

4. Then they came on shore, and travelled seven days by land--represented by the foot and the seven huts.

5. When they arrived near the habitations of their enemies, at sunrise--shown by the sun being to the eastward of them, beginning, as they think, its daily course, there they lay in wait three days--represented by the hand pointing, and the three huts.

6. After which, they surprised their enemies, in number 12 times 10, or 120. The man asleep shows how they surprised them, and the hole in the top of the building is supposed to signify that they broke into some of their habitations in that manner.

7. They killed with the club eleven of their enemies, and took five prisoners. The former represented by the club and the eleven heads, the latter by the figures on the little pedestals.

8. They lost nine of their own men in the action--represented by the nine heads within the bow, which is the emblem of honour among the Americans, but had none taken prisoners--a circumstance they lay great weight on, shown by all the pedestals being empty.

9. The heads of the arrows, pointing opposite ways, represent the battle.

10. The heads of the arrows all pointing the same way, signify the flight of the enemy.

RECEIPTS FROM ALBERTUS MAGNUS.

_If thou wylt make a Carbuckle stone, or a thyng shyning in the nyght._--Take verye many of the lyttle beastes shyninge by nyghte, and put them beaten smale in a bottel of glasse, and close it, and burye it in hoate horses doung, and let it tarye xv dayes, afterwarde thou shalte destyll water of them Peralembicum, which thou shalt put in a vessel of Christal or glasse. It giueth so great clearnesse, that euery man may reade and write in a darke place where it is. Some men make this water of the gall of a snale, the gal of a wesel, the gall of a feret, and of a water dogge: they burie them in doung and destyll water out of them.

_If thou wylt see that other men can not see._--Take the gall of a male cat, and the fat of a hen all whyte, and mixe them together, and anoint thy eyes, and thou shalt see it that others cannot see.

If the hart, eye, or brayne of a lapwyng or blacke plover be hanged vpon a mans necke it is profitable agaynste forgetfulnesse, and sharpeth mans vnderstanding.--"_Albertus Magnus._" _Black Letter: very old._

ADVERTISEMENT OF ROAST PIG IN 1726.

"On Tuesday next, being Shrove Tuesday, there will be a fine _hog barbyqu'd_ whole, at the house of Peter Brett, at the Rising Sun, in Islington Road, with other diversions.--_Note._ It is the house where the ox was roasted whole at Christmas last."

A hog barbecu'd is a West Indian term, and means a hog roasted whole, stuffed with spice, and basted with Madeira wine. Oldfield, an eminent glutton of former days, gormandised away a fortune of fifteen hundred pounds a-year. Pope thus alludes to him,--

"Oldfield, with more than harpy throat endu'd,
Cries, 'Send me, O, gods, a whole hog _barbecu'd!_'"

DYING OF OLD AGE AT SEVENTEEN YEARS.

March 19th, 1754, died, in Glamorganshire, of mere old age and a gradual decay of nature, at seventeen years and two months, Hopkins Hopkins, the little Welchman lately shown in London. He never weighed more than seventeen pounds, but for three years past no more than twelve. The parents have still six children left, all of whom no way differ from other children, except one girl of twelve years of age, who weighs only eighteen pounds, and bears upon her most of the marks of old age, and in all respects resembles her brother when at that age.

"WE HAE BEEN."

In Ayrshire there is a tradition, that the family motto of De Bruce--"We have been," originated from a lady named Fullarton, married to a cadet of the family of Cassilis. They had been gained to favour England during the chivalrous achievements of Wallace, and still continued zealous partisans of Edward. Before Bruce avowed his purpose to emancipate his country, he came, disguised as a palmer, to acquaint himself how far he could rely on aid from the people. A storm compelled him, and a few faithful adherents, to take shelter on the coast of Ayrshire. Extreme darkness, and the turbulence of the billows, deprived them of all knowledge where they landed; and as, in those unhappy times, the appearance of a few strangers would create alarm, the chiefs dispersed in different directions. Bruce chanced to go into the house of Mr. Kennedy, where the servants treated him with great reverence. The lady had gone to bed, and the prince wished they would not disturb her, but permit him to sit by the fire till day; however, one damsel had given her immediate notice of the visitor. He was ushered into her presence. She eyed him with scrutinizing earnestness. "We hae been--we hae been fause," said she, in the Scottish dialect, "but a royal ee takes me back to haly loyalty. I seid ye, mes royal de Bruce, I ken ye weel. We hae been baith untrue to Scotland, but rest ye safe: and albiet a' that's gane, Meg Fullarton wad dee in your cause."

ORIGIN OF THE PENNY POST.

The penny-post was devised in 1683, by one Mr. David Murray, an upholder in Paternoster Row. It soon became an object of attention to Government; but so low were its profits that one Dockwra, who succeeded Murray, had a pension of only L200 a year given him in lieu of it. This occurred in 1716.

A RAFFLE IN 1725.

May 8. The following copy of an advertisement, in the _Newcastle Courant_ of this date, may be considered curious:--"On Friday in the race week, being the 28th of May, at the Assembly House, in Westgate, will be raffled for, 12 fine Fans, the highest three guineas, the worst 5s., at half a Crown per Ticket. Note: the lowest throw is to have the second best Fan, value L3, the other according to the height of the numbers which shall be thrown. There will be an assembly after for those who raffle."

A VISIT TO THE RESIDENCE OF DR. JOHNSON, IN INNER TEMPLE LANE, LONDON.

In one of the dreary, old-fashioned houses leading from the arched entrance to the Temple, which almost every passenger through Temple Bar must have remarked, whether he is a stranger, or a resident in the metropolis, Dr. Johnson, who occupies one of the most distinguished positions in the literature of our country, resided for several years.

It was in this place that Dr. Johnson became acquainted with his future biographer, Boswell, who thus describes their first meeting:--

"A few days afterwards I called on Davies, and asked him if he thought I might take the liberty of waiting on Mr. Johnson at his chambers in the Temple. He said I certainly might, and that Mr. Johnson would take it as a compliment. His chambers were on the first floor of No. 1, Inner Temple Lane, and I entered them with an impression given me by the Rev. Dr. Blair, of Edinburgh, who described his having found the giant in his den. He received me very courteously; but it must be confessed, that his apartment, and furniture, and morning dress, were sufficiently uncouth. His brown suit of clothes looked very rusty; he had on a little, old, shrivelled, unpowdered wig, which was too small for his head; his shirt neck and knees of his breeches were loose, his black worsted stockings ill drawn up, and he had a pair of unbuckled shoes by way of slippers;--but all these slovenly particulars were forgotten the moment he began to talk."

The "den" in which the "giant" lived, the staircase leading to it, and indeed the whole appearance of the locality, has recently undergone demolition, and its interesting features knocked down to the highest bidder, to be, let us hope, preserved in some museum or other place of safety.

Dr. Johnson resided at various times in Holborn, the Strand, and other places, and died, as it is well known, in No. 8, Bolt Court, Fleet Street, in 1784. His remains were placed in a grave under the statue of Shakspere, in Westminster Abbey, and near the resting-place of his friend and companion, David Garrick.

ORIGIN OF THE STUFF BALL AT LINCOLN.

During the want of employment in the manufactories in 1801, Mrs. Chaplain, of Blankney, in Lincolnshire, formed a patriotic institution for the encouragement of the local trade of the district. A ball was given at Lincoln for the benefit of the stuff manufactory, at which ladies were admitted gratis, on their appearance in a stuff gown and petticoat, spun, wove, and finished within the county, and producing a ticket signed by the weaver and dyer at Louth, one of which tickets was delivered with every twelve yards of stuff. The gentlemen were required to appear without silk or cotton in their dress, stockings excepted. The impulse thus given to trade, was of the most signal service in relieving distress, and at the same time promoting habits of industry.

STEVENS'S SPECIFIC.

In the reign of Charles II., Dr. Jonathan Goddard obtained 5,000_l._ for disclosing his secret for making a medicine, called "_Guttae Anglicanae_." And in 1739, the Parliament of England voted 5,000_l._ to Mrs. Stevens for a solvent for stone.

The celebrated David Hartley was very instrumental in procuring this grant to Joanna Stevens. He obtained also a private subscription to the amount of L1,356, published one hundred and fifty-five _successful_ cases, and, by way of climax to the whole, after eating _two hundred pounds weight_ of soap! David himself died of the stone.

AN IMPOSTOR.

From the Testament of Jerome Sharp, printed in 1786:--"I entered," says the narrator, "with one of my friends, and found a man resembling an ourang-outang crouched upon a stool in the manner of a tailor. His complexion announced a distant climate, and his keeper stated that he found him in the island of Molucca. His body was bare to the hips, having a chain round the waist, seven or eight feet long, which was fastened to a pillar, and permitted him to circulate out of the reach of the spectators. His looks and gesticulations were frightful. His jaws never ceased snapping, except when sending forth discordant cries, which were said to be indicative of hunger. He swallowed flints when thrown to him, but preferred raw meat, which he rushed behind his pillar to devour. He groaned fearfully during his repast, and continued groaning until fully satiated. When unable to procure more meat, he would swallow stones with frightful avidity; which, upon examination of those which he accidentally dropped, proved to be partly dissolved by the acrid quality of his saliva. In jumping about, the undigested stones were heard rattling in his stomach."

The men of science quickly set to work to account for these feats, so completely at variance with the laws of nature. Before they had hit upon a theory, the pretended Molucca savage was discovered to be a peasant from the neighbourhood of Besancon, who chose to turn to account his natural deformities. When staining his face for the purpose, in the dread of hurting his eyes, he left the eyelids unstained, which completely puzzled the naturalists. By a clever sleight of hand, the raw meat was left behind the pillar, and cooked meat substituted in its place. Some asserted his passion for eating behind the pillar to be a proof of his savage origin; most polite persons, and more especially kings, being addicted to feeding in public. The stones swallowed by the pretended savage were taken from a vessel left purposely in the room full of them; small round stones, encrusted with plaster, which afterwards gave them the appearance of having been masticated in the mouth. Before the discovery of all this, the impostor had contrived to reap a plentiful harvest.

PERUVIAN BARK.

In 1693, the Emperor Kanghi (then in the thirty-second year of his reign, and fortieth of his age) had a malignant fever, which resisted the remedies given by his physicians; the emperor recollected that Tchang-tchin, (Father Gerbillon), and Pe-tsin, (Father Bouret) two jesuit missionaries, had extolled to him a remedy for intermittents, brought from Europe, and to which they had given the name of chin-yo (two Chinese words, which signify "_divine remedies_;") and he proposed to try it, but the physicians opposed it. The emperor, however, without their knowledge took it, and with good effect. Sometime afterwards, he experienced afresh several fits of an intermittent, which, though slight, made him uneasy; this led him to proclaim through the city, that any person possessed of a specific for this sort of fever, should apply without delay at the palace, where patients might also apply to get cured. Some of the great officers of his household were charged to receive such remedies as might be offered, and to administer them to the patients. The Europeans, Tchang-tching, (Gerbillon) Hang-jo, (Father de Fontenay, jesuit) and Pe-tsin, (Bouret) presented themselves among others, with a certain quantity of quinquina, offered it to the grandees, and instructed them in the manner of using it. The next day it was tried on several patients, who were kept in sight, and were cured by it. The officers, or grandees who had been appointed to superintend the experiment, gave an account to the Emperor of the astonishing effect of the remedy, and the monarch decided instantly on trying it himself, provided the hereditary prince gave his consent. The prince, however, not only refused, but was angry with the grandees for having spoken so favourably of a remedy, of which only one successful trial had been made; at last, after much persuasion, the Prince reluctantly grants his consent, and the emperor takes the bark without hesitation, and permanently recovers. A house is given by the emperor to the Europeans, who had made known the remedy, and through the means of Pe-tsin (Father Bouret) presents were conveyed to the King of France, accompanied with the information, that the Europeans (that is, the French jesuits) were in high favour.--_Histoire Generale de la Chine, &c._ tome xi. p. 168, 4to. Paris, 1780.

WHITE CATS.

In a number of "Loudon Gardener's Magazine," it is stated that white cats with blue eyes are always deaf, of which extraordinary fact there is the following confirmation in the "Magazine of Natural History," No. 2, likewise conducted by Mr. Loudon:--Some years ago, a white cat of the Persian kind (probably not a thorough-bred one), procured from Lord Dudley's at Hindley, was kept in a family as a favourite. The animal was a female, quite white, and perfectly deaf. She produced, at various times, many litters of kittens, of which, generally, some were quite white, others more or less mottled, tabby, &c. But the extraordinary circumstance is, that of the offspring produced at one and the same birth, such as, like the mother, were entirely white, were, like her, invariably deaf; while those that had the least speck of colour on their fur, as invariably possessed the usual faculty of hearing.

A WOMAN DEFENDS A FORT SINGLY.

Lord Kames in his "Sketches of the History of Man," relates an extraordinary instance of presence of mind united with courage.