Chapter VIII: Part 8

A singular custom, of matchless absurdity, formerly existed in the English Court. During Lent, an ancient officer of the crown, styled the King's Cock Crower, crowed the hour each night within the precincts of the Palace. On the Ash Wednesday, after the accession of the house of Hanover, as the Prince of Wales (afterwards George II) sat down to supper, this officer abruptly entered the apartment, and in a sound resembling the shrill pipe of a cock, crowed past ten o'clock! The astonished prince, at first conceiving it to be a premeditated insult, rose to resent the affront, but upon the nature of the ceremony being explained to him, he was satisfied. Since that period, this silly custom has been discontinued.

CHINESE DELICACIES.

The Chinese eat, indiscriminately, almost every living creature which comes in their way; dogs, cats, hawks, owls, eagles and storks, are regular marketable commodities: in default of which a dish of rats, field-mice, or snakes, is not objected to. Cockroaches, and other insects and reptiles are used for food or for medicine. Their taste for dogs' flesh is quite a passion. Young pups--plump, succulent, and tender--fetch good prices at the market-stalls, where a supply is always to be found. A dish of puppies, prepared by a skilful cook, is esteemed as a dish fit for the gods. At every grand banquet it makes its appearance as a hash or stew. A young Englishman attached to our Canton factory, dining one day with a wealthy Hong merchant, was determined to satisfy his curiosity in Chinese gastronomy by tasting all or most of the numerous dishes which were successively handed round. One dish pleased him so well that he ate nearly all that was put before him. On returning homewards some of his companions asked him how he liked the dinner, and how such and such dishes; and then began to imitate the whining and barking of half a dozen puppies. The poor young man then understood, for the first time, that he had been eating dog, and was very angry, and very sick at the stomach. Other Europeans, however, have been known to declare that they succeeded in conquering a prejudice, and that a six weeks old pup, properly fattened upon rice, and dressed _a la Chinoise_, was really a _bonne bouche_.

A GREAT MARVEL SEEN IN SCOTLAND.

The following strange and almost incredible account is given by Lindsay, of Pitscottie:--"About this time (the beginning of the sixteenth century) there was a great marvel seen in Scotland. A bairn was born, reckoned to be a man-child, but from the waist up was two fair persons, with all members pertayning to two bodies; to wit, two heads, well-eyed, well-eared, and well-handed. The two bodies, the one's back was fast to the other's, but from the waist down they were but one personage; and it could not be known by the ingene of men from which of the bodies the legs, &c., proceeded. Notwithstanding the King's Majesty caused great care and diligence on the up-bringing of both bodies; caused nourish them, and learn them to sing and play on instruments of music. Who within short time became very ingenious and cunning in the art of music, whereby they could play and sing two parts, the one the treble, and the other the tenor, which was very dulce and melodious to hear; the common people (who treated them also) wondered that they could speak diverse and sundry languages, that is to say, Latin, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, English, and Irish. Their two bodies long continued to the age of twenty-eight years, and the one continued long before the other, which was dolorous and heavy to the other; for which, when many required of the other to be merry, he answered, "How can I be merry which have my true marrow as a dead carrion about my back, which was wont to sing and play with me: when I was sad he would give me comfort, and I would do the like to him. But now I have nothing but dolour of the having so heavy a burthen, dead, cold, and unsavoury, on my back, which taketh all earthly pleasure from me in this present life; therefore I pray to God Allmighty to deliver me out of this present life, that we may be laid and dissolved in the earth, wherefrom we came, &c."

Buchanan, who relates the same strange tale, avers that he received it from "many honest and credible persons, who saw the prodigy with their own eyes." He adds that the two bodies discovered different tastes and appetites; that they would frequently disagree and quarrel, and sometimes would consult each other, and concert measures for the good of both; that when any hurt was done to the lower parts, each upper body felt pain; but that when the injury was above the junction, then one body only was affected. This monster, he writes, lived twenty-eight years, but died wretchedly; one part expiring some days before the other, which, half-putrified, pined away by degrees.

THE KING OF KIPPEN.

The following anecdote is valuable, inasmuch as it gives us an idea of the manners which a King of Scotland could practice without offence to his subjects:--

King James V. was a very sociable, _debonnaire_ prince. Residing at Stirling in Buchanan of Arnpryor's time, carriers were very frequently passing along the common road with necessaries for the use of the king's family. One of these being near Arnpryor's house, and he having some extraordinary occasion, ordered him to leave his load at his house and he would pay him for it; which the carrier refused to do, telling him he was the king's carrier, and his load was for his majesty's use. To which Arnpryor seemed to have small regard, compelling the carrier, in the end, to leave his load; telling him, if King James was King of Scotland, he was king of Kippen, so that it was reasonable he should share with his neighbour king in some of these loads so frequently carried that road. The carrier representing this usage, and telling the story as Arnpryor spoke it, to some of the king's servants, it came at length to his majesty's ears, who, shortly thereafter, with a few attendants, came to visit his neighbour king, who was, in the meantime, at dinner. King James having sent a servant to demand access, was denied the same by a tall fellow with a battle-axe, who stood porter at the gate, telling him there could be no access till dinner was over. This answer not satisfying the king, he sent to demand access a second time; upon which he was desired by the porter to desist, otherwise he would find cause to repent his rudeness. His majesty finding this method would not do, desired the porter to tell his master that the good man of Ballangeich desired to speak with the King of Kippen. The porter telling Arnpryor so much, he, in all humble manner, came and received the king, and having entertained him with much sumptuousness and jollity, became so agreeable to King James, that he allowed him to take so much of any provision he found carrying that road as he had occasion for; and, seeing he made the first visit, desired Arnpryor in a few days to return him a second at Stirling, which he performed, and continued in very much favour with the king, always thereafter being termed King of Kippen while he lived.

AN ECCENTRIC TOURIST.

Sir Hildebrand Jacob, of Yewhall, in Oxfordshire, died at Malvern in 1790. He succeeded his grandfather, Sir John, 1740, his father, Hildebrand, having died in 1739. He was a very extraordinary character. As a general scholar, he was exceeded by few; in his knowledge of the Hebrew language he scarcely had an equal. In the earlier part of his life, one custom which he constantly followed was very remarkable. As soon as the roads became pretty good, and the fine weather began to set in, his man was ordered to pack-up a few things in a portmanteau, and with these his master and himself set off, without knowing whither they were going. When it drew towards evening, they enquired at the first village they saw, whether the great man in it was a lover of books, and had a fine library. If the answer was in the negative, they went on farther; if in the affirmative, Sir Hildebrand sent his compliments, that he was come to see him; and there he used to stay till time or curiosity induced him to move elsewhere. In this manner Sir Hildebrand had, very early, passed through the greatest part of England, without scarcely ever sleeping at an inn, unless where the town or village did not afford one person in it civilized enough to be glad to see a gentleman and a scholar.

HANGING A MAYOR.

On the right of the road leading towards Caergwrle, and about a mile from Mold, is an old structure, which presents a singular specimen of the style of domestic architecture during the ages of lawless violence in which it was erected: it consists of an ancient square tower of three stories, and appears to have been designed as a place of fortified habitation. During the wars between the houses of York and Lancaster, it was inhabited by Reinallt ab Gruffydd ab Bleddyn, who was constantly engaged in feuds with the citizens of Chester. In 1495, a considerable number of the latter came to Mold fair, and a fray arising between the hostile parties, great slaughter ensued on both sides; but Reinallt, who obtained the victory, took the mayor of Chester prisoner, and conveyed him to his mansion, where he hung him on the staple in his great hall. To avenge this affront, a party of two hundred men was despatched from Chester to seize Reinallt, who, retiring from his house into the adjoining woods, permitted a few of them to enter the building, when, rushing from his concealment, he blocked up the door, and, setting fire to the house, destroyed them in the flames; he then attacked the remainder, whom he pursued with great slaughter; and such as escaped the sword were drowned in attempting to regain their homes. The staple on which the mayor was hung still remains fixed on the ceiling of the lower apartment.

MATERNAL AFFECTION IN A DUMB WOMAN.

Mary, Countess of Orkney, was both deaf and dumb; she was married in the year 1753, by signs. Shortly after the birth of her first child, the nurse, with considerable astonishment, saw the mother cautiously approach the cradle in which the infant was sleeping, evidently full of some deep design. The Countess, having perfectly assured herself that the child really slept, raised an immense stone which she had concealed under her shawl, and, to the horror of the nurse, (who was an Irishwoman, and like all persons of the lower orders in her country, and indeed in most countries, was fully impressed with an idea of the peculiar cunning and malignity of "dumbies,") lifted it with an apparent intent to fling it down vehemently. Before the nurse could interpose, the Countess had flung the stone,--not, however, as the servant had apprehended, at the child, but on the floor, where, of course, it made a great noise. The child immediately awoke, and cried. The Countess, who had looked with maternal eagerness to the result of her experiment, fell on her knees in a transport of joy. She had discovered that her child possessed the sense which was wanting in herself. She exhibited on many other occasions similar proofs of intelligence, but none so interesting.

THE PERILS OF INVENTORS.

The dangers which inventors have frequently to encounter are very great. Among many instances we may mention the following:--

Mr. Day perished in a diving bell, or diving boat of his own construction, at Plymouth, in June, 1774, in which he was to have continued for a wager, twelve hours, one hundred feet deep in water, and probably, perished from his not possessing all the hydrostatic knowledge that was necessary. Mr. Spalding was professionally ingenious in the art of constructing and managing the diving bell, he had practised the business many years with success. He went down, accompanied by one of his young men, twice to view the wreck of the Imperial East Indiaman, at Kish Bank, in Ireland; on descending the third time, in June, 1783, they remained about an hour under water, and had two barrels of air sent down to them, but on the signals from below not being repeated, after a certain time, they were drawn up by their assistants, and both found dead in the bell.

BRIBERY.

The triumphant exposure and punishments of corrupt bribe-takers on a grand scale belongs to the close of the seventeenth century. In 1695 Sir John Trevor, the Speaker of the House of Commons, was compelled to put the question himself that he should be expelled. A bill for securing the right application to poor orphans of freemen of London of funds belonging to them could not be carried without purchasing the support of influential members and of the Speaker himself, at a bribe for the latter of 1,000 guineas!

Sir Thomas Cook, the governor of the East India Company, paid L167,000 in one year for bribes to members of the House, of which Sir Basil Firebrace took for his share L40,000. Corruption was universal, therefore deemed venial.

LEGALISED GAMBLING.

The following statement shows the extent to which lotteries encouraged a spirit of gambling among the people, and we may hence appreciate the soundness of the policy which dictated their suppression:--

The _Post Boy_ of December 27, says:--"We are informed that the Parliamentary Lottery will be fixed in this manner:--150,000 tickets will be delivered out at 10_l._ each ticket, making in all the sum of 1,500,000_l._ sterling; the principal whereof is to be sunk, the Parliament allowing nine per cent. interest for the whole during the term of 32 years, which interest is to be divided as follows: 3,750 tickets will be prizes from 1,000_l._ to 5_l._ per annum during the said 32 years; all the other tickets will be blanks, so that there will be 39 of these to one prize, but then each blank ticket will be entitled to fourteen shillings a year for the term of 32 years, which is better than an annuity for life at ten per cent. over and above the chance of getting a prize." Such was the eagerness of the publick in subscribing to the above profitable scheme, that Mercers'-hall was literally crowded, and the Clerks were found incompetent to receive the influx of names. 600,000_l._ was subscribed January 21; and on the 28th of February, the sum of 1,500,000_l._ was completed.

ONE OF THE EFFECTS OF MANUFACTURES.

How greatly does the introduction of a manufacturing establishment into a town where none previously existed, alter its whole character and condition!

It is said that the burgh of Lanark was, till very recent times, so poor that the single butcher of the town, who also exercised the calling of a weaver, in order to fill up his spare time, would never venture upon the speculation of killing a sheep till every part of the animal was ordered beforehand. When he felt disposed to engage in such an enterprise, he usually prevailed upon the minister, the provost, and the town-council, to take shares; but when no person came forward to bespeak the fourth quarter, the sheep received a respite till better times should cast up. The bellman or _skellyman_, as he is there called, used often to go through the streets of Lanark with advertisements such as are embodied in the following popular rhyme:--

"Bell-ell-ell!
There's a fat sheep to kill!
A leg for the provost,
Another for the priest,
The bailies and deacons,
They'll tak the neist;
And if the fourth leg we connot sell,
The sheep it maun leeve and gae back to the hill!"

PATES DE FOIES GRAS.

Strasbourg is the great market for _pates de foies gras_, made, as it is known, of the livers of geese. These poor creatures are shut up in coops, so narrow they cannot turn round in them, and then stuffed twice a day with Indian corn, to enlarge their livers, which have been known to swell till they reached the enormous weight of two pounds and a half. Garlick, steeped in water, is given them, to increase their appetites. This invention is worthy of the French nation, where cooks are great as nobles.

INSCRIPTION IN CONWAY CHURCH.

Here lyeth the body of Nicholas Hookes, of Conway, gentleman, (who was the forty-first child of his father, Wm. Hookes, Esq., by Alice, his wife,) the father of twenty-seven children, who died the 27th day of March, 1637.

DROPPING-WELLS.

If you journey through Yorkshire, be sure to stop opposite the ruins of Knaresborough Castle, because, on the south-west bank of the river Nidd, you will observe the petrifying spring of Knaresborough,--the celebrated dropping-well--where the peasants and the needy crowd to make their humble fortunes by afterwards retailing small sprigs of trees, such as the elder or ash, or pieces of the elegant geranium, the wild angelica, or the lovely violet, turned into "obdurate stone."

The Petrifying Spring of Knaresborough.]

Every spring does not possess the petrifying properties of that of Knaresborough; but there are, doubtless, many dropping-wells distributed over the earth's crust; and some of these are well known to possess the property of petrifying various objects submitted to the action of their waters. For example: we have seen birds' nests, with the eggs, and delicate sprigs of moss surrounding them, and even the fibres of wool turned into stone, aye, and delicate flowers. Whence is this extraordinary power? From the soil over which the waters flow! The limpid streams absorb the silicious particles, and deposit them in the intimate structure of the materials submitted to the action of the waters; and thus we find the materials of which the earth's crust is composed, always undergoing a change.

Twenty gallons are poured forth every minute from the top of the Knaresborough cliff, and the beauty of the scene can only be appreciated by those who have stood upon the margin of those "stony waters" and beheld the crystal fluid descend from above with metallic fall.

CHINESE IVORY BALLS.

Nothing can afford a greater proof of the patience and perseverance, as well as of the taste of a Chinese handicraftsman, than one of these elegant baubles, each ball being exquisitely carved, and no two alike in pattern. Each of the balls rolls freely within that which encloses it, and is visible through apertures; so that however many there be, the beauties of each can be examined, and the number of the whole counted. Much time is spent upon the carving of these toys, for the cleverest artist will employ a whole month in the execution of each separate ball; consequently the labour of two years is not unfrequently bestowed on the production of a single toy, which is formed out of a solid globe of ivory, and has no junction in any part. The outside of this globe is first carved in some very open pattern, and is then carefully cut with a sharp, fine instrument, through the openings, till a complete coating is detached from the solid part inside, as the peel of an orange might be loosened with a scoop from the fruit, without being taken off. One hollow ball is thus formed, with a solid one inside of it. The surface of the inner ball is then carved through the interstices of the outer one, and when finished, is subjected to the same operation as the first; and thus a second hollow ball is produced, still with a solid one of smaller dimensions inside. This process is repeated again and again, the difficulties increasing as the work proceeds, till at length only a small ball, of the size of a marble, is left in the centre, which is also ornamented with figures cut upon it, and then the ingenious but useless bauble is complete. This process is said to be performed under water.

CREDULITY OF THE ANCIENTS.

The credulity of even the learned men in the early ages may be judged of by the following facts:--

Marcus Varro writeth, that there was a town in Spain undermined with rabbits; another likewise in Thessaly by moles or molewharps. In Africa the people were compelled by locusts to leave their habitations; and out of Gyaros, an island, one of the Cyclades, the islanders were forced by rats and mice to fly away; moreover in Italy the city of Amyclae was destroyed by serpents. In Ethiopia there is a great country lies waste and desert, by reason it was formerly dispeopled by scorpions; and if it be true that Theophrastus reporteth, the Treriens were chased away by certain worms called scolopendres. Annius writes, that an ancient city situate near the Volscian Lake, and called Contenebra, was in times past overthrown by pismires, and that the place is thereupon vulgarly called to this day, the Camp of Ants. In Media, saith Diodorus Siculus, there was such an infinite number of sparrows that eat up and devoured the seed which was cast into the ground, so that men were constrained to depart from their old habitations, and remove to other places.

CLOCK PRESENTED TO CHARLEMAGNE.

The French historians describe a clock sent to Charlemagne in the year 807, by the famous eastern caliph, Haroun al Raschid, which was evidently furnished with some kind of wheelwork, although the moving power appears to have been produced by the fall of water. This clock was a rather wonderful affair, and excited a great deal of attention at the French court. In the dial of it were twelve small doors forming the divisions for the hours, each door opened at the hour marked by the index, and let out small brass balls, which, falling on a bell, struck the hours--a great novelty at that time. The doors continued open until the hour of twelve, when twelve figures representing knights on horseback came out and paraded round the dial plate.

REMARKABLE EVENTS, INVENTIONS, &c.

Memnon, the Egyptian, invents the letters, in the year 1822, _before_ Christ.

The Alexandrian library, consisting of 400,000 valuable books, burnt by accident, B. C. 52.

Silk first brought from India, 274: the manufactory of it introduced into Europe by some monks, 551: first worn by the clergy in England, in 1534.

Glass invented in England by Benalt, a monk, A. C. 400.

The University of Cambridge founded A. C. 915.

Paper made of cotton rags was in use, 1000; that of linen rags in 1170: the manufactory introduced into England, at Dartford, 1588.

Musical notes invented, 1070.

Justices of the Peace first appointed in England in 1076.

Doomsday-book began to be compiled by order of William, from a survey of all the estates in England (and finished in 1086), 1080.

Glass windows began to be used in private houses in England in 1186.

Surnames now began to be used, first among the nobility, in 1200.

The houses of London and other cities in England, France, and Germany, still thatched with straw in 1233.

Tallow candles so great a luxury, that splinters of wood were used for lights, 1298.

Wine sold by apothecaries as a cordial, 1298.

Gunpowder and guns first invented by Swartz, a monk of Cologn, 1340; Edward 3rd had four pieces of cannon, which contributed to gain him the battle of Cressy, 1346; bombs and mortars were invented in the same year.

Cards invented in France for the king's amusement in 1391.

Windsor Castle built by Edward 3rd, 1386.

Guildhall, London, built 1410.

About 1430, Laurentius, of Haarlem, invented the art of Printing, which he practised with separate wooden types. Guttenburg afterwards invented cut metal types: but the art was carried to perfection by Peter Schoeffer, who invented the mode of casting the types in matrices. Frederick Corsellis began to print at Oxford, in 1468, with wooden types; but it was William Caxton who introduced into England the art of printing with fusile types, in 1474.

Shillings first coined in England, 1505.

Silk stockings first worn by the French King, 1543; first worn in England by Queen Elizabeth in 1561.

Tobacco first brought from Virginia into England, 1583.

Watches first brought into England from Germany, in 1597.

Regular Posts established from London to Scotland, Ireland, &c., 1635.

The Plague rages in London, and carries off 68,000 persons, 1665.

The great fire of London began, September 2nd, and continued three days, in which were destroyed 13,000 houses, and 400 streets, 1666.

Tea first used in England, 1666.

The Habeas Corpus act passed, 1678.

William Penn, a Quaker, receives a charter for planting Pennsylvania, 1680.

Bank of England established by King William 1693.

The first public Lottery was drawn same year.

The first British Parliament, 1707.

The Cathedral Church of St. Paul, London, rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren, in 37 years, at one million expense, by a duty on coals, 1710.

Westminster Bridge, consisting of 15 arches, begun 1738, finished in 1750, at the expense of 389,000_l._, defrayed by parliament.

Commodore Anson returns from his voyage round the world, 1774.

The British Museum erected at Montagu House, 1753.

149 Englishmen are confined in the black-hole at Calcutta, in the East Indies, by order of the Nabob, and 123 found dead next morning, 1755.

LEGENDS AMONG SAVAGE NATIONS.

It is curious to note how savages endeavour to account for the prodigies of nature. In the island of Samoa, one of the Sandwich group, there is the following legend.

Mafuie is their god of earthquakes, who was deemed to possess great power, but has, according to the Samoans, lost much of it. The way in which they say this occurred is as follows:--One Talago, who possessed a charm capable of causing the earth to divide, coming to a well-known spot, cried, "Rock, divide! I am Talago; come to work!" The earth separating at his command, he went down to cultivate his taro patch. His son, whose name was Tiitii, became acquainted with the charm, and watching his father, saw him descend, and the earth close after him. At the same spot, Tiitii said, "Rock, divide! I am Talago; come to work!" The rock did not open, but on repeating the words and stamping his foot violently, the earth separated, and he descended. Being a young man, he made a great noise and bustle, notwithstanding the advice of his father to be quiet, lest Mafuie would hear him. The son then asked, "Who is Mafuie, that I should be afraid of him?" Observing smoke at a distance, he inquired the cause of it. Talago said, "It is Mafuie heating his oven." Tiitii determined to go and see, notwithstanding all the persuasions of his father, and met Mafuie, who inquired who he was, "Are you a planter of taro, a builder, or a twister of ropes?" "I am a twister of ropes," said Tiitii; "give me your arm, and I shall show you." So, taking the arm of Mafuie, he twisted it off in a moment. Such a practical illustration of his powers soon made Mafuie cry out, "Na fia ola, na fia ola!"--I desire to live, I desire to live! Tiitii then took pity upon him, and let him go. The natives, on feeling an earthquake, exclaim, "Thanks that Mafuie has but one arm! if he had two, he would shake the earth to pieces."

ORIGIN OF THE WORD LADY.

It was the custom at the time of the Plantagenets, and previously, for ladies of distinction and wealth regularly to distribute money or food to the poor. The title of _lady_, is derived from the Anglo-Saxon, and literally signifies _giver of bread_. The purse, with similar meaning, was named as a receptacle for _alms_, and not as an invention for the preservation of money.

ANECDOTES IN SERMONS.

The fashion which once prevailed of introducing historical anecdotes into addresses from the pulpit, is illustrated by the following extract from a sermon by the Martyr Bishop Ridley:--

Cambyses was a great emperor, such another as our master is; he had many lord-deputies, lord-presidents, and lieutenants under him. It is a great while ago since I read the history. It chanced he had under him, in one of his dominions, a briber, a gift-taker, a gratifier of rich men; he followed gifts as fast as he that followed the pudding, a hand-maker in his office, to make his son a great man; as the old saying is, "Happy is the child whose father goeth to the devil." The cry of the poor widow came to the emperor's ear, and caused him to flay the judge quick, and laid his skin in his chair of judgment, that all judges that should give judgment afterward should sit in the same skin. Surely it was a goodly sign, a goodly monument, the sign of the judge's skin: I pray God we may once see the sign of the skin in England.

STATE OF LONDON IN 1756.

The state of the police regulations in the metropolis at the above date, is exhibited in the following extract from an old magazine:--

"At one o'clock this morning (Oct. 4, 1756), the Hon. Captain Brudenel was stopped in his chair, just as it entered Berkeley-square, from the Hay-hill, by two fellows with pistols, who demanded his money; he gave them five-sixpences, telling them he had no more, which having taken, they immediately made off. The captain then put his purse and watch under the cushion, got out, drew his sword, and being followed by one of the chairmen with his pole, and the watchman, pursued them up the hill, where the Hon. Captain West, who was walking, having joined them, one of the fellows having got off, they followed the other into Albemarle-mews, where finding himself closely beset, he drew a pistol, and presented it, upon which the captain made a lunge at him, and ran him through the body. The fellow at the same time fired his pistol, which, the captain being still stooping, went over his head and shot the watchman through the lungs; at the instant the pistol was discharged, while the fellow's arm was extended, the chairman struck it with his pole and broke it; he was then seized and carried with the watchman to the round-house in Dover-street, where Mr. Bromfield and Mr. Gataker, two eminent surgeons, came; but the captain would not suffer the villain to be dressed, till he discovered who he and his confederates were; when he acknowledged they were both grenadiers in Lord Howe's company. The poor watchman died in half an hour after he was shot; and the soldier was so disabled by his wound that he was carried in a chair to Justice Fielding, who sent him to New Prison, where he died."

FROM A HANDBILL OF BARTHOLOMEW FAIR IN 1700.

The following extract is worth notice, inasmuch as it shows that in the matter of amusement, the tastes of the lower orders of the present day are not much improved since the last century:--

"You will see a wonderful girl of ten years of age, who walks backwards up the sloping rope driving a wheelbarrow behind her; also you will see the great Italian Master, who not only passes all that has yet been seen upon the low rope, but he dances without a pole upon the head of a mast as high as the booth will permit, and afterwards stands upon his head on the same. You will be also entertained with the merry conceits of an Italian scaramouch, who dances on the rope with two children and a dog in a wheelbarrow, and a duck on his head."

PASSAGE THROUGH THE ISTHMUS OF PANAMA SUGGESTED THREE HUNDRED TEARS AGO.

_Ancient Globe._--In the Town Library (_Stadt Bibliothek_) of Nuremberg is preserved an interesting globe made by John Schoner, professor of mathematics in the Gymnasium there, A.D. 1520. It is very remarkable that the passage through the Isthmus of Panama, so much sought after in later times, is, on this old globe, carefully delineated.

HEIGHT OF MOUNTAINS.

The perpendicular height of Snowdon is, by late admeasurements, 1,190 yards above the level of the sea. This makes it, according to Pennant, 240 yards higher than Cader Idris. Some state Whernside, in Yorkshire to be the highest mountain in South Britain, and more than 4,000 feet. Helvellyn is 3,324 feet, Ben Lomond 3,262. Mont Blanc rises 15,680 feet; the American Chimborazo is 20,909 feet, the highest ground ever trodden by man; and the mountains of Thibet above 25,000 feet, the highest at present known.

INTRODUCTION OF THE WEEPING WILLOW INTO ENGLAND.

The _Salix Babylonica_, that is the Willow of Babylon, or our English weeping Willow, is a native of the Levant, the coast of Persia, and other places in the East. The manner of its introduction into England is curious; the account is as follows: Pope, the celebrated poet, having received a present of Turkey figs, observed a twig of the basket, in which they were packed, putting out a shoot. The twig he planted in his garden: it soon became a fine tree, and from this stock, all our weeping Willows have descended. This species of Willow is generally planted by a still pool, to which it is a beautiful appropriate ornament; and when in misty weather, drops of water are seen distilling from the extremities of its branches, nothing can be more descriptive than the title it has obtained of _the weeping Willow_.

FINE FOR INSULTING A KING.

The use of gold and silver was not unknown to the Welsh in 842, when their laws were collected. The man who dared to insult the King of Aberfraw, was to pay (besides certain cows and a silver rod) a cup, which would hold as much wine as his majesty could swallow at a draught; its cover was to be as broad as the king's face; and the whole as thick as a goose's egg, or a ploughman's thumb-nail.

CARRONADES.

This species of great gun, so much used on board of ships, is generally accounted a modern invention, taking its name from the Carron foundry where they were made. In the patent office, however, will be found a notice dated September, 1727, to the following effect: "That his Majesty was pleased to grant to Henry Brown, Esquire, a patent for the sole use and benefit of his new invention of making cannon and great guns, both in iron and brass, which will be much shorter and lighter, and with less powder will carry farther than those of equal bore now in use, and which, it is said, will save great expense to the public."

EXTRAVAGANCE AT ELECTIONS.

On the death of Sir James Lowther, his son William stood for the shire of Cumberland, and entertained 3,650 gentlemen freeholders at a dinner, at which were consumed 768 gallons of wine, 1,454 gallons of ale, and 5,814 bottles of punch. Sir James appears to have been eccentric in some of his habits, for after his decease L30,000 in bank notes were discovered in a closet, and L10,000 in the sleeve of an old coat.

MARTIN LUTHER'S TANKARD.

This interesting relic of the great Reformer is of ivory, very richly carved, and mounted in silver gilt. There are six medallions on its surface, which consist, however, of a repetition of two subjects. The upper one represents the agony in the garden, and the Saviour praying that the cup might pass from Him; the base represents the Lord's Supper, the centre dish being the incarnation of the bread. This tankard, now in the possession of Lord Londesborough, was formerly in the collection of Elkington of Birmingham, who had some copies of it made. On the lid, in old characters, is the following inscription--"C. M. L., MDXXIIII." This drinking vessel, which, independent of its artistic merit, was no doubt highly valued as a mere household possession, brings to mind many recollections of the life of him who raised himself from a very lowly position to one of great power and usefulness.

Martin Luther's Tankard.]

Martin Luther, who was the son of John Lotter or Lauther (which name our Reformer afterwards changed to Luther) and Margaret Lindenen, was born in the little town of Islebern, in Saxony, on November 10th, 1483. His father was a miner. Luther died in 1546, and princes, earls, nobles, and students without number, attended the funeral of the miner's son in the church of Islebern. On this occasion, Melancthon delivered the funeral oration.

HOT CROSS BUNS.

How strange the following reads from an old journal! and how odd the state of things to give rise to such an intimation!

1793.
_Wednesday, 27th March._
ROYAL BUN HOUSE, CHELSEA, GOOD FRIDAY.
_No Cross Buns._

Mrs. Hand respectfully informs her friends, and the public, that in consequence of the great concourse of people which assembled before her house at a very early hour, on the morning of Good Friday; by which her neighbours (with whom she has always lived in friendship and repute,) have been much alarmed and annoyed; it having also been intimated, that to encourage or countenance a tumultuous assembly at this particular period, might be attended with consequences more serious than have hitherto been apprehended; desirous, therefore, of testifying her regard and obedience to those laws by which she is happily protected, she is determined, though much to her loss, not to sell _Cross Buns_ on that day, to any person whatever; but Chelsea Buns as usual.

Mrs. Hand would be wanting in gratitude to a generous public, who, for more than fifty years past, have so warmly patronized and encouraged her shop, to omit so favourable an opportunity of offering her sincere acknowledgments for their favours; at the same time, to assure them she will, to the utmost of her power, endeavour to merit a continuance of them.

LOCUSTS.

The locusts are remarkable for the hieroglyphic that they bear upon the forehead. Their colour is green throughout the whole body, excepting a little yellow rim that surrounds their head, and which is lost at the eyes. This insect has two upper wings, pretty solid. They are green, like the rest of the body, except that there is in each a little white spot. The locust keeps them extended like great sails of a ship going before the wind. It has besides two other wings underneath the former, and which resemble a light transparent stuff pretty much like a cobweb, and which it makes use of in the manner of smack sails, that are along a vessel. But when the locust reposes herself, she does like a vessel that lies at anchor; for she keeps the second sails furled under the others.

QUEEN ELIZABETH'S LAWS.

The following extract from a very old book is truly curious:--

"Queene Elizabeth, in the xiiii and xviii yeres of hir gracious rayne, two Actes were made for ydle vagrante and maisterlesse persons, that vsed to loyter, and would not worke, should for the first offence haue a hole burned through the gristle of one of his eares of an ynch compasse. And for the second offence committed therein, to be hanged. If these and such lyke lawes were executed iustlye, treulye, and severelye (as they ought to be,) without any respect of persons, favour, or friendshippe, this dung and filth of ydlenesse woulde easily be reiected and cast oute of thys Commonwealth, there woulde not be so many loytering ydle persons, so many Ruffians, Blasphemers, Swinge-Buckelers, so many Drunkards, Tossepottes, Dauncers, Fydlers, and Minstrels, Dice-players, and Maskers, Fencers, Theeves, Enterlude-players, Cut-purses, Cosiners, Maisterlesse Seruantes, Jugglers, Roges, sturdye Beggars, counterfaite Egyptians, &c., as there are, nor yet so manye Plagues to bee amongst vs as there are, if these Dunghilles and filthe in Commonweales were remooued, looked into, and cleane caste oute, by the industrie, payne, and trauell of those that are sette in authoritie, and haue gouernment."--"_A Treatise against Dicing, Dauncing, Vaine playes or Enterluds._" _Black Letter; no date._

THE INVENTION OF TYPES.

The honour of the invention of movable types has been disputed by two cities, Haarlem and Mentz. The claims of Haarlem rest chiefly upon a statement of Hadrien Junius, who gave it upon the testimony of Cornelius, alleged to be a servant of Lawrence Coster, for whom the invention is claimed. The claims of Mentz, which appear to be more conclusive, are in favour of Peter Schaeffer, the assistant and son-in-law of John Faust, better known as Dr. Faustus. The first edition of the _Speculum humanae salvationis_ was printed by Coster at Haarlem, about the year 1440, and is one of the earliest productions of the press of which the printer is known. The celebrated Bible, commonly known as the Mentz Bible, without date, is the first important specimen of printing with moveable metal types. This was executed by Gutenberg and Faust, or Fust, as it is sometimes spelt, between the years 1450 and 1455. The secret of the method then becoming known, presses were speedily established in all parts of Europe, so that before the year 1500 there were printing-offices in upwards of 220 different places in Austria, Bavaria, Bohemia, Calabria, the Cremonese, Denmark, England, Flanders, France, Franconia, Frioul, Geneva, Genoa, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Italy, Lombardy, Mecklenburg, Moravia, Naples, the Palatinate, Piedmont, Poland, Portugal, Rome, Sardinia, Upper and Lower Saxony, Sicily, Silesia, Spain, Suabia, Switzerland, Thessalonica, Turkey, Tuscany, the Tyrol, Venice, Verona, Westphalia, Wurtemberg, &c.

This vast and rapid extension of the art, combined with the skill which the earlier printers displayed in it, seems to be totally incompatible with the date assigned to the invention, and it is more than probable, that the art having been long practised in private under continued attempts at secrecy, it at length broke into publicity after it had already attained a considerable degree of perfection.

THE PROTEUS ANGUINUS.

It has been satisfactorily proved that the polypus cannot see its prey, but is only aware of its presence by the actual agitation of the water, from its remaining altogether passive when a thin piece of glass is interposed between them. There are many Monads, which, without possessing any trace of an eye, are yet susceptible of light. An equally extraordinary phenomenon presents itself in the Proteus Anguinus. This singular animal is found in the subterranean lakes of the interminable stalactital caverns in the limestone range of the Carniolan Alps, where the author saw it. In appearance it is between a fish and a lizard; it is of a flesh-colour, and its respiratory organs, which are connected with lungs, so as to enable it to breathe above or below the water, form a red crest round the throat, like a cock's comb. It has no eyes, but small points in the place of them, and light is so obnoxious to it, that it uses every effort to exclude it, by thrusting its head under stones. It is reported also to exist in Sicily, but is known nowhere else.

BUMPER.

A Bumper.]

The jolly toper is so fond of the thing we call a _bumper_, that he troubles not himself about the name, and so long as the liquor is but fine and clear, cares not a farthing in how deep an obscurity the etymology is involved. The sober antiquarian, on the contrary, being prone to etymology, contemplates the sparkling contents of a full glass with much less delight than he does the meaning, the occasion, and the original of the name. The common opinion is, that the _bumper_ took its name from the _grace-cup_; our Roman Catholic ancestors, say they, after their meals, always drinking the Pope's health in this form, _au bon Pere_. But there are great objections to this; the Pope was not the _bon Pere_, but the _Saint Pere_; amongst the elder inhabitants of this kingdom, the attribute of sanctity being in a manner appropriated to the Pope of Rome, and his see. Again, the grace-cup, which went round of course, after every repast, did not imply anything extraordinary, or a full glass. Drinking-glasses were not in use at the time here supposed, for the grace-cup was a large vessel, proportioned to the number of the society, which went round the table, the guests drinking out of one cup, one after another.

COFFEE.

From a number of the "_Public Advertiser_," of May 19 to May 26, 1657, we have 'In Bartholomew-lane, on the back side of the Old Exchange, the drink called _Coffee_ is advertised as to be sold _in the morning_, and at _three of the clock_ in the afternoon.'

QUAINT RECEIPTS.

The following Receipts are taken from a work entitled, "_New Curiosities_ in _Art_ and _Nature_, or a _Collection_ of the most valuable _Secrets_ in all _Arts_ and _Sciences_. Composed and Experimented by Sieur Lemery, Apothecary to the French King. London: John King, Little Britain. 1711."

_To make one Wake or Sleep._--You must cut off dexterously the head of a toad alive, and at once, and let it dry, in observing that one eye be shut, and the other open; that which is found open makes one wake, and that shut causes sleep, by carrying it about one.

_Preservative against the Plague._--Take three or four great toads, seven or eight spiders, and as many scorpions, put them into a pot well stopp'd, and let them lye some time; then add virgin-wax, make a good fire till all become a liquor, then mingle them all with a spatula, and make an ointment, and put it into a silver box well stopp'd, the which carry about you, being well assured that while you carry it about you, you will never be infected with the plague.

We give the above as indicating the delusions which prevailed with respect to certain nostrums as late as the year 1711.

EXECUTION OF GOVERNOR WALL IN 1802.

As the following account, by a gentleman who witnessed the scene, avoids all disgusting details, we give it as containing a description of some of the circumstances which attended the execution, at the commencement of the present century, of a criminal of the higher class. The wretched man was hung for murder and barbarity: his victims were the men he had under his charge as Governor of the Island of Goree:--

"As we crossed the Press-yard, a cock crew; and the solitary clanking of a restless chain was dreadfully horrible.

"The prisoner entered. He was death's counterfeit, tall, shrivelled, and pale; and his soul shot so piercingly through the port-holes of his head that the first glance of him nearly petrified me. I said in my heart, putting my pencil in my pocket, God forbid that I should disturb thy last moments! His hands were clasped, and he was truly penitent. After the yeoman had requested him to stand up, 'he pinioned him,' as the Newgate phrase is, and tied the cord with so little feeling that the governor, who had not given the wretch the accustomed fee, observed 'You have tied me very tight;' upon which Dr. Ford, the chaplain, ordered him to slacken the cord, which he did, but not without muttering, 'Thank you, sir,' said the governor to the doctor: 'it is of little moment.' He then observed to the attendant, who had brought in an immense iron shovel-full of coals to throw on the fire, 'Ay, in one hour that will be a blazing fire,' then turning to the doctor, questioned him: 'Do tell me, sir: I am informed I shall go down with great force; is it so?' After the construction and action of the machine had been explained, the doctor questioned the governor as to what kind of men he had at Goree:--'Sir,' he answered, 'they sent me the very riff-raff.' The poor soul then joined the doctor in prayer; and never did I witness more contrition at any condemned sermon than he then evinced.

"The sheriff arrived, attended by his officers, to receive the prisoner from the keeper. A new hat was then partly flattened on his head, for owing to its being too small in the crown, it stood many inches too high behind. As we were crossing the Press Yard, the dreadful execrations of some of the felons so shook his frame that he observed, the clock had struck; and quickening his pace, he soon arrived at the room where the sheriff was to give a receipt for his body, according to the usual custom. Owing, however, to some informality in the wording of this receipt, he was not brought out as soon as the multitude expected; and it was this delay which occasioned a partial exultation from those who betted as to a reprieve, and not from any pleasure in seeing him executed.

"After the execution, as soon as I was permitted to leave the prison, I found the Yeoman selling the rope with which the malefactor had been suspended, at a shilling an inch; and no sooner had I entered Newgate-street, than a lath of a fellow, passed threescore years and ten, who had just arrived from the purlieus of Black Boy Alley, woe-begone as _Romeo's_ apothecary, exclaimed, 'Here is the identical rope at sixpence an inch.'"

STAGE-COACH IN 1760.

_Ayscough's Nottingham Courant_ of this date, contained the following advertisement:--The flying machines on steel springs set off from the Swan with Two Necks Inn, Lad-lane, London, and from the Angel Inn in Sheffield, every Monday and Thursday morning at five o'clock, and lies the first night from London at the Angel Inn in Northampton, the second at the Blackmoor's Head Inn, Nottingham, and the third at Sheffield. Each passenger to pay 1_l._ 17_s._, and to be allowed fourteen pounds of luggage. Performed (if God permit) by John Hanforth and Samuel Glanville.

BLIND WORKMAN.

A young man, in Greenock, of the name of Kid, who was blind from his infancy, finished the model of a sixty-four gun ship, of about five feet keel, planked from the keel, with carriages for the guns, and every necessary material and apparelling of a ship of that rate, without any assistance whatever, or other instrument than a small knife and hammer.

SPORTS OF THE LOWER CLASSES IN 1749.

The following handbill is curious, on account of the light it sheds on what was considered attractive to the million a hundred years ago:--

"_According to Law. September 22, 1749._ On Wednesday next, the 27th inst., will be run for by _Asses_ (!!) in _Tothill Fields_, a purse of gold, not exceeding the value of Fifty Pounds. The first will be entitled to the gold; the second to two pads; the third to thirteen pence half-penny; the last to a halter fit for the neck of any ass in Europe. Each ass must be subject to the following articles:--

"No person will be allowed to run but _Taylors_ and _Chimney-sweepers_; the former to have a cabbage-leaf fixed in his hat, the latter a plumage of white feathers; the one to use nothing but his yard-wand, and the other a brush.

"No jockey-tricks will be allowed upon any consideration.

"No one to strike an ass but the rider, lest he thereby cause a retrograde motion, under a penalty of being ducked three times in the river.

"No ass will be allowed to start above thirty years old, or under ten months, nor any that has won above the value of fifty pounds.

"No ass to run that has been six months in training, particularly above stairs, lest the same accident happen to it that did to one nigh a town ten miles from London, and that for reasons well known to that place.

"Each ass to pay sixpence entrance, three farthings of which are to be given to the old clerk of the race, for his due care and attendance.

"Every ass to carry weight for inches, if thought proper."

Then follow a variety of sports, with "an ordinary of _proper victuals_, particularly for the riders, if desired."

"_Run, lads, run! there's rare sport in Tothill Fields!_"

STATE COACH AT THE PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT IN 1796.

Never was a greater assemblage of persons collected together than on this occasion: in the Park and in Parliament-street there were at least 20,000 people. By the repair of the state coach, which has undergone several material alterations since the damage it received at the opening of the last session, the king is now secluded from the sight. Hitherto, the upper pannels of it had always been of glass, so that the multitude could see the king in all directions, through the front, through the sides, as well as through the windows in the doors: it has been newly glazed, and the whole of the carriage is lined with sheet copper, musket proof; between the crimson lining of the carriage is a wadding of fine wool, coated with buffalo skin, the nature of which is so close that no bullets can penetrate it.

HISTORICAL ANECDOTE.