Chapter IX: Part 9

On the dollars, stivers, &c., coined at the town of Dordrecht in Holland, is the figure of a milk-maid sitting under her cow, which figure is also exhibited in relievo on the water-gate of the place. The occasion was as follows: In the noble struggle of the United Provinces for their liberties, the Spaniards detached a body of forces from the main army, with the view of surprising Dordrecht. Certain milkmaids, belonging to a rich farmer in the vicinity of the town, perceived as they were going to milk, some soldiers concealed under the hedges. They had the presence of mind to pursue their occupation without any symptoms of alarm. On their return home they informed their master of what they had seen, who gave information to the Burgomaster, and the sluices were let loose, by which great numbers of the Spaniards were drowned, and the expedition defeated. The States ordered the farmer a handsome revenue for the loss he sustained by the overflowing of his lands, rewarded the women, and perpetuated the event in the manner described.

TOMB OF JOHN BUNYAN.

"Who has not read the "Pilgrim's Progress," "that wonderful book," writes Mr. Macaulay, "which, while it obtains admiration from the most fastidious critics, is loved by those who are too simple to admire it?" We can remember our own delight on reading, for the first time, the precious volume. This was in the days of our childhood, when we were deeply imbued with the fairy lore which at that time was so plentifully supplied, and so eagerly devoured.

John Bunyan was buried in Bunhill Fields burying-ground, City-road; and the tablet on his tomb, which the engraving very correctly represents is as follows:--"Mr. John Bunyan, author of the 'Pilgrim's Progress,' ob. 12 Aust. 1688, aet. 60." Formerly there were also the following lines:--

"The Pilgrim's Progress now is finished.
And death has laid him in his earthly bed."

Tomb of John Bunyan.]

Bunhill Fields burying-ground was opened as a suburban cemetery in 1665, in the time of the great plague, and was a favourite burying-place with the Dissenters. Here are buried Daniel Defoe; Dr. Isaac Watts; Joseph Ritson the antiquary; Dr. Thomas Goodwin, the chaplain who attended Cromwell's death-bed; George Fox, the founder of the Quakers; the mother of John Wesley; Lieut.-General Fleetwood, son-in-law of Oliver Cromwell; Thomas Stothard, R.A., and other eminent men.

SPIDERS FOND OF MUSIC.

Spiders hear with great acuteness, and it is affirmed that they are attracted by music. Disjonval relates the instance of a spider which used to place itself on the ceiling of a room over the spot where a lady played the harp, and which followed her if she removed to another part; and he also says that the celebrated violinist Berthome, when a boy, saw a spider habitually approach him as soon as he began to play, and which eventually became so familiar that it would fix itself on his desk, and on his arm. Bettina noticed the same effect with a guitar, on a spider which accidentally crossed over it as she was playing.

BREAKFASTING HUT IN 1745.

This quaint announcement, in a handbill of the time, shows how cheaply those who lived a century or so past could enjoy suburban pleasures in merrie Islington:--

"This is to give notice to all Ladies and Gentlemen, at Spencer's original Breakfasting-Hut, between Sir Hugh Middleton's Head and St. John Street Road, by the New River side, fronting Sadler's Wells, may be had every morning, except Sundays, fine tea, sugar, bread, butter, and milk, at fourpence per head; coffee at threepence a dish. And in the afternoon, tea, sugar, and milk, at threepence per head, with good attendance. Coaches may come up to the farthest garden-door next to the bridge in St. John Street Road, near Sadler's Wells back gate.--_Note._ Ladies, &c., are desired to take notice that there is another person set up in opposition to me, the next door, which is a brick-house, and faces the little gate by the Sir Hugh Middleton's, and therefore mistaken for mine; but mine is the _little boarded place_ by the river side, and my backdoor faces the same as usual; for

I am not dead, I am not gone,
Nor liquors do I sell;
But, as at first, I still go on,
Ladies, to use you well.

No passage to my hut I have,
The river runs before;
Therefore your care I humbly crave,
Pray don't mistake my door.

"Yours to serve,
S. SPENCER."

SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION.

In Leroux's Journal de Medicine, is an account of a very fat woman, twenty-eight years of age, who was found on fire in her chamber, where nothing else was burning. The neighbours heard a noise of something like frying, and when the body was removed it left a layer of black grease. The doctor conceives that the combustion began in the internal parts, and that the clothes were burnt secondarily.

MOTHER MAPP THE BONE-SETTER.

She was the daughter of a man named Wallis, a bone-setter at Hindon, in Wiltshire, and sister to the celebrated "Polly Peachem," who married the Duke of Bolton. Upon some _family quarrel_, Sally Wallis left her professional parent, and wandered up and down the country in a miserable manner, calling herself "Crazy Sally," and pursuing, in her perambulations, a course that fairly justified the title. Arriving at last at Epsom, she succeeded in humbugging the worthy bumkins of that place, so decidedly, that a subscription was set on foot to keep her among them; but her fame extending to the metropolis, the dupes of London, a numerous class then as well as now, thought it no trouble to go ten miles to see the conjuror, till at length, she was pleased to bless the afflicted of London with her presence, and once a week drove to the Grecian Coffee-house, in a coach and six with out-riders! and all the appearance of nobility. It was in one of these journeys, passing through Kent-street, in the Borough, that being taken for a certain woman of quality from the Electorate in Germany, a great mob followed and bestowed on her many bitter reproaches, till Madame, perceiving some mistake, looked out of the window, and accosted them in this gentle manner, "Confound you, don't you know me? I am Mrs. Mapp, the _bone-setter_!" upon which, they instantly changed their revilings into loud huzzas.

TWO CERTIFICATES OF GRETNA-GREEN MARRIAGES AT DIFFERENT DATES.

"This is to sartfay all persons that my be consernid, that A B from the parish of C in the County of D and E F from the parish of G and in the county of H and both comes before me and declayred themseless both to be single persons, and now mayried by the form of the Kirk of Scotland, and agreible to the Church of England, and givine ondre my hand, this 18{th} day of March 1793."

"Kingdom of Scotland
"County of Dumfries
"Parish of Gretna

"These are to certify, to all whom it may concern, that John N.... from the parish of Chatham in the County of Kent, and Rosa H.... from the Parish of St. Maries in the County of Nottingham, being both here now present and having declared to me that they are single persons, but have now been married conformable to the Laws of the Church of England, and agreeable to the Kirk of Scotland. As witness our hands at Springfield this 4th day of October 1822.

"Witness "Witness me.
Jane Rae David Lang.
John Ainslie." John N....
Rosa H...."

THE WOMEN OF ENGLAND.

The women here are generally more handsome than in other places, sufficiently endowed with natural beauties, without the addition of adulterate sophistications. In an absolute woman, say the Italians, are required the parts of a Dutch woman, from the girdle downwards; of a French woman, from the girdle to the shoulders: over which must be placed an English face. As their beauties, so also their prerogatives are greater than any nation; neither so servilely submissive as the French, nor so jealously guarded as the Italians; but keeping so true a decorum, that as England is termed the Pergatorie of Servants, and the Hell of Horses, so is it acknowledged the _Paradise_ of _Women_. And it is a common by-word amongst the Italians, that _if there were a bridge built across the narrow seas, all the women in Europe would run into England_. For here they have the upper hand in the streets, the upper place at the table, the thirds of their husband's estates, and their equal share of all lands; privileges with which other women are not acquainted. They were in high esteem in former times amongst foreign nations, for the modestie and gravitie of their conversation; but of late so much addicted to the light garb of the French, that they have lost much of their ancient honour and reputation amongst knowing and more sober men of foreign countries who before admired them.--_Peter Heylin's Cosmographie_, 1652.

PRICES FOR SEATS AT CORONATIONS.

On consulting Stowe, Speed, and other antiquaries, it appears that the price of a good place at the coronation of William the Conqueror was a _blank_; and probably the same at that of his son William Rufus. At that of Henry I. it was a _crocard_, and at King Stephen's and Henry the Second's a _pillard_. At King Richard's and King John's, it was a _fuskin_; and rose at Henry the Third's to a _dodkin_. In the reign of Edward I. the coins began to be more intelligible; and we find that for seeing his coronation a Q was given, or the half of a _ferling_, or farthing, which was, as now, the fourth part of a _sterling_, or penny. At the coronation of Edward II. it was a farthing; and at that of Edward III. a halfpenny, which was very generally given. In the reign of Richard II. it was a penny, and continued the same at that of Henry IV. But at that of Henry V. it was two pennies, or half of a _grossus_, or groat; and the same at that of Henry VI. and of Edward IV.; nor do we find it raised at the coronation of Richard III. or that of Henry VII.

At that of Henry VIII. it was the whole _grossus_, or groat, nor was the price altered at those of Edward VI. and Queen Mary; but at Queen Elizabeth's it was a _teston_, _tester_, or sixpence. At those of James I. and Charles I. a shilling was given; which sum was advanced to half a crown at the coronations of Charles and James II. At King William's and Queen Anne's, it was a crown; and at George the First's the show was seen by many at the same price.

At the coronation of George II. some gave half a guinea; but at that of George III. and Queen Charlotte, anno 1761, curiosity seems to have risen to an amazing height. On this occasion the price given for single seats were almost incredible; in some houses ten guineas, and in ordinary houses five guineas. Great and universal anxiety prevailed to see this grand spectacle, from the reflection how improbable it was that many who were there could ever have an opportunity of witnessing the like again. As an instance of this extreme anxiety, it is confidently related, that a gentleman was prevailed on to take a room for his lady, at the price of one hundred and forty guineas; but the appointment of the solemnity of the coronation falling unluckily at the exact time when she expected to be delivered, she actually further prevailed on her husband to let a skilful man-midwife, nurse, &c., attend her, and to hire another room, lest the hurry of the day should bring on her labour, when it might be impossible for her to be removed without endangering her life.

ANCIENT HOUSE AT BLACKWALL--SAID TO BE THE RESIDENCE OF SIR WALTER RALEIGH.

The house shown in the engraving is interesting from two causes; first, that it was the house in which Sir Walter Raleigh smoked his first pipe of tobacco in England, and secondly, that it is one of the few relics remaining of those picturesque old houses of the days of Queen Bess. The house is built of strongly framed timber, which, in recent years, has been plastered over; and the carved heads that ornament the gables, and which are good both in design and execution, show that this house is at least 350 years old.

Ancient House at Blackwall.]

At the present time a tavern has been built between this house and the river. Formerly, however, there was, no doubt, a trimmed garden and terrace towards the Thames, from which the inhabitants may have watched the progress of Queen Elizabeth from the Tower to her palace at Greenwich.

It is singular to notice the fashion of these old houses, arising from the value of space within walled towns; each floor projects over the other, so that the upper apartments have more room than the lower. While, in an artistic point of view, we cannot help regretting the disappearance of the venerable and quaint gables, for sanitary and other reasons we must be content with the change.

AMBASSADORS--WHY HELD BY THE ARMS AT THE OTTOMAN COURT.

A dervise addressed Bajazet, emperor of the Turks, 1495, for alms, and while the charitable Sultan searched for his money, the treacherous beggar wounded him with a dagger, and was instantly slain by the royal attendants. This incident is rendered memorable by its having occasioned the ungracious restraint under which even the ambassadors of Christian powers were subject to in former times when they received an audience from the Ottoman Emperor.

They were held by the arms by two attendants, when they approached the throne, nor were their arms loosed till they had quitted the presence.

TRAVELLING IN 1760.

The nobility and gentry were accustomed to make their long journeys in ponderous family-carriages, drawn by four horses. These vehicles would be laden at the top with an array of trunks and boxes, while perhaps six or seven persons, with a lapdog, would be stowed within. The danger of famine on the road was averted by a travelling larder of baskets of various condiments; the risk of thirst would be provided against by bottles of usquebaugh, black cherry-brandy, cinnamon-water, sack, port, or strong beer: while the convoy would be protected by a basket-hilted sword, an old blunderbuss, and a bag of bullets and a great horn of gunpowder.

OLD ST. PAUL'S.

In the old cathedral was a tower of stone, in height from the ground 260 feet, on which was a spire of wood, covered with lead, 274 feet high. In the tower was a celebrated peal of bells; and somewhat above the stone-work was a "faire dial," from which there was order taken in the eighteenth year of Edward III. that the rich chasing and gilding should be always kept in good preservation. On this dial was the figure of an angel pointing to the hours of both day and night--a device more appropriate than most of the clock-hands in present use. From this lofty steeple, which formed such an important feature of old London, the chimes rung merrily on saints' days and holidays; and at times the choristers mounted up aloft and chaunted forth their orisons at dawn and sunset--a custom still observed at Durham Cathedral. Before the fire of London, the spire of St. Paul's was more than once destroyed or damaged by fire and lightning.

On Candlemas Eve, 1444, about two o'clock in the afternoon, the lightning fired the steeple. The citizens came forth and succeeded in overcoming the fire; it, however, broke forth again at night, and but little of the spire was saved. In the year 1561, in the month of June, there fell a prodigious quantity of rain, attended with thunder and lightning. St. Paul's steeple was struck within a yard of the top. At first, a little fire appeared, resembling the light of a torch, and in eight minutes the weather-cock fell; and the wind rising high, the fire within an hour afterwards destroyed the steeple down to the very battlements, and then, in consequence of the mass of burning timber that fell from the spire, burnt so violently that the iron-work and the bells melted and fell upon the stairs in the church; the east and west roofs catching fire communicated with the north and south, and destroyed them all. Much damage was also done to other parts.

The spire was again reared, and the damaged bells properly replaced. In addition to the bells in the tower of old St. Paul's there was a common bell, the property of the city, hung in a suitable building, closely adjoining to the Cathedral, which was rung that the inhabitants might assemble at wardmotes and other important occasions. Another fire damaged the ancient church, and then the great fire of 1666, swept steeples, bells, churches, and all before it.

THE BEDFORD MISSAL.

In January, 1786, when the Bedford Missal was on sale, with the rest of the Duchess of Portland's collection, King George III. sent for his bookseller, and expressed his intention to become the purchaser. The bookseller ventured to submit to his majesty, that the article in question, as one highly curious, was likely to fetch a high price. "How high?" exclaimed the king. "Probably two hundred guineas," replied the bookseller. "Two hundred guineas for a Missal!" exclaimed the Queen, who was present, and lifted up her hands with astonishment. "Well, well," said his Majesty, "I'll have it still; but since the Queen thinks two hundred guineas so enormous a price for a Missal, I'll go no further." The biddings for the royal library did actually stop at that point; and Mr. Edwards carried off the prize by adding three pounds more. The same Missal was afterwards sold at Mr. Edwards's sale, in 1815, and purchased by the Duke of Marlborough, for L637 15s.

FORMATION OF THE VOLCANO OF JORULLO.

The Mexican volcanoes of Orizaba, Popocatepetl, Jorullo, and Colima appear to be connected with each other, being placed in the direction of a line running transverse to the former, and passing east and west from sea to sea.

As was first observed by Humboldt, these mountains are all situated between north latitude 18 deg. 59' and 19 deg. 12'. In an exact line of direction with the other volcanoes, and over the same transverse fissure, Jorullo was suddenly elevated on the 29th of September, 1759. The circumstances attending the production of this volcano are so remarkable, that we shall here notice them in some detail.

An extensive plain, called the Malpays, was covered by rich fields of cotton, sugar-cane, and indigo, irrigated by streams, and bounded by basaltic mountains, the nearest active volcano being at the distance of eighty miles. This district, situated at an elevation of about 2600 feet above the level of the sea, was celebrated for its beauty and extreme fertility. In June, 1759, alarming subterranean sounds were heard, and these were accompanied, by frequent earthquakes, which were succeeded by others for several weeks, to the great consternation of the neighbouring inhabitants. In September tranquillity appeared to be re-established, when, in the night of the 28th, the subterranean noise was again heard, and part of the plain of Malpays, from three to four miles in diameter, rose up like a mass of viscid fluid, in the shape of a bladder or dome, to a height of nearly 1700 feet; flames issued forth, fragments of red-hot stones were thrown to prodigious heights, and, through a thick cloud of ashes, illumined by volcanic fire, the softened surface of the earth was seen to swell up like an agitated sea. A huge cone, above 500 feet high, with five smaller conical mounds, suddenly appeared, and thousands of lesser cones (called by the natives _hornitos_, or ovens,) issued forth from the upraised plain. These consisted of clay intermingled with decomposed basalt, each cone being a _fumarolle_, or gaseous vent, from which issued thick vapour. The central cone of Jorullo is still burning, and on one side has thrown up an immense quantity of scoriaceous and basaltic lavas, containing fragments of primitive rocks. Two streams, of the temperature of 186 deg. of Fahrenheit, have since burst through the argillaceous vault of the hornitos, and now flow into the neighbouring plains. For many years after the first eruption, the plains of Jorullo were uninhabitable from the intense heat that prevailed.

CRATER OF VESUVIUS IN 1829.

Crater of Vesuvius.]

The crater Stromboli, which has been in activity since the most ancient times, presents at present the same appearances as those which were described by Spallanzani, in 1788. It is constantly filled with lava in a state of fusion, which alternately rises and falls in the cavity. Having ascended to ten or twelve yards below the summit of the walls, this boiling fluid is covered with large bubbles, which burst with noise, letting enormous quantities of gas escape from them, and projecting on all sides scoriaceous matter. After these explosions, it again subsides, but only to rise again and produce like effects--these alternations being repeated regularly at intervals of some minutes. In craters where the lava is less fluid than in that of Stromboli, new cones are sometimes formed in the midst of the Crater, which first rise in the form of a dome, and then burst out so as to form a small active volcano in the middle of the crater of the great one. This phenomenon is often presented within the crater of Vesuvius, and was more particularly witnessed in 1829.

LOAF SUGAR.

In 1553 a sugar-loaf was presented to Mr. Waldron, of Bovey House, which weighed 7 lbs., at 1s. 1d. per lb. (7s. 7d.)

The late Lord Rolle married the last of that branch of the Waldron family. The house remains about ten miles west of Lyme. The sugar-loaf was charged at a high rate, considering the greater value of money in Queen Mary's reign. This article began to be highly prized. The sugar-cane, which had been grown from the year 1148 in Sicily, had been imported into Madeira A.D. 1419. About the year 1503 the art of refining sugar, before called "blanch powdre," was discovered by a Venetian; before which the juice, when selected instead of honey for sweetening, was used as it came from the cane. Only twenty-seven years from this date, in 1526, it was imported from St. Lucar in Spain by Bristol merchants. Let not the present of the Mayor of Lyme be considered as a cheap article produced in abundance in the islands of the West Indies. The sugar-cane was not imported thither into Barbadoes from the Brazils till the year 1641. How surprising the result of official inquiries in the year 1853 into the consumption of sugar! It amounted to 7,523,187 cwts., or 30 lbs. each individual of the United Kingdom.

SUSPENSION BRIDGES AT FREYBOURG.

There are two suspension bridges in Freybourg; one remarkable for its great length, the other for its extreme beauty. The latter connects the top of two mountains, swinging over a frightful gulf that makes one dizzy to look down into. There are no buttresses or masonwork in sight at a little distance; shafts are sunk in the solid rock of the mountains, down which the wires that sustain it are dropped. There it stretches, a mere black line, nearly three hundred feet in the heavens, from summit to summit. It looks like a spider's web flung across a chasm; its delicate tracery showing clear and distinct against the sky. While you are looking at the fairy creation suspended in mid-heaven, almost expecting the next breeze will waft it away, you see a heavy waggon driven on it; you shrink back with horror at the rashness that could trust so frail a structure at that dizzy height; but the air-hung cobweb sustains the pressure, and the vehicle passes in safety. Indeed, weight steadies it; while the wind, as it sweeps down the gulf, makes it swing under you. The large suspension bridge is supported on four cables of iron wire, each one composed of one thousand and fifty-six wires. As the Menai bridge of Wales is often said to be longer than this, I give the dimensions of both as I find them in Mr. Murray:--Freybourg: length, nine hundred and five feet; height, one hundred and seventy-four feet; breadth, twenty eight feet. Menai: length, five hundred and eighty feet; height, one hundred and thirty feet; breadth, twenty-five feet. A span of nine hundred and five feet, without any intermediate pier, seems impossible at first, and one needs the testimony of his own eyes before he can fully believe it.

WONDERFUL CLOCK.

Towards the end of the last century, a clock was constructed by a Genevan mechanic named Droz, capable of performing a variety of surprising movements, which were effected by the figures of a negro, a shepherd, and a dog. When the clock struck, the shepherd played six tunes on his flute, and the dog approached and fawned upon him. This clock was exhibited to the King of Spain, who was highly delighted with the ingenuity of the artist. The king, at the request of Droz, took an apple from the shepherd's basket, when the dog started up and barked so loud that the king's dog, which was in the same room, began to bark also. We are moreover informed that the negro, on being asked what hour it was, answered the question in French, so that he could be understood by those present.

MANDRIN THE SMUGGLER, 1757.

Mandrin was the son of a peasant in Dauphiny who dealt in cattle. His first employment was buying and selling horses, by which he subsisted several years. But having on some occasion committed a murder, he was obliged to fly from justice, and in his absence was condemned by the Parliament of Grenoble to be broken on the wheel. Being now a fugitive, and destitute of employment, he learned to counterfeit money, and by this fraud made considerable gain, till, being discovered, the officers of the Mint at Lyons issued a warrant for apprehending him, and he was again obliged to quit the country. While he was wandering about from place to place, and hiding himself in caves and woods, he became acquainted with a gang of smugglers, and associating with them was, after some time, made their captain. As this gang was very numerous, he was less cautious of being seen, and having at length lost his sense of fear by habitual danger, he frequently entered towns and cities, raised contributions on the king's officers by force, and spread the same terror among others that others had brought upon him. But in proportion as he became more formidable he was, in fact, less secure; for the Government found it necessary to detach after him such a force as he could not resist, and the Farmers-General offered 48,000 livres reward for taking him. After many times attacking his party in a running fight, in which several were cut off, Mandrin, with eight of his men, took shelter in a castle on the frontiers of Savoy. They were closely pursued by several detachments, under the command of Colonel de Moliere, who entered the King of Sardinia's territory after him, without having first obtained leave. Moliere was immediately opposed by a great number of peasants: whether they were instigated by Mandrin, or whether they were jealous of their privilege, is not known; but all his expostulations being fruitless, and being determined not to relinquish his prey, for whom he hoped to receive so considerable a reward, he forced his way against them, killing twelve and wounding many others. Mandrin waited the issue of this contest in his castle, where he was soon besieged by 150 men, who attacked the place with great vigour. Mandrin and his partisans defended themselves like men who had nothing to fear in a battle equal to being taken alive; and after several of them were killed, and the castle gates burst open, they retreated, fighting from chamber to chamber, and from story to story, till, reaching the garret, and being able to proceed no further, they were at last overpowered by numbers, having killed twenty of their adversaries, and spent all their ammunition. Mandrin, with those that survived of his little party, were carried prisoners to Valence in Dauphiny. * * * Mandrin was examined every day from the 13th of May to the 25th, in order to discover his accomplices. In the mean time several of his associates were put to the torture to discover what they knew of him, and were afterwards broken on the wheel, that death might give a sanction to their testimony.

He himself was subjected to torture, but without eliciting anything further than he had previously revealed. Throughout he steadfastly refused to betray his comrades, and conducted himself with much dignity and heroism. On the day of his execution he received absolution from Father Gasperini, a Jesuit, who had administered to him the consolations of religion during his confinement.

Before he was led out of the prison, his shoes and stockings were taken from him; but, though barefooted, he walked along with great firmness and a good grace. When he came to the cathedral to perform the _amende honorable_, he asked forgiveness of the monks and priests for his want of respect to their order, and was then conducted to the scaffold. He mounted with great composure, and addressed himself in a short and pathetic exhortation to the spectators, especially the young persons of both sexes; he then sat down on the nave of the wheel, and loosened the buttons of his shirt-sleeves himself. Then he entreated pardon of the custom-house officers, whom he had so often and so grossly injured; and turning to the penitents who surrounded the scaffold--with his confessor and two other eminent persons of his order--he earnestly recommended himself as the object of their prayer, and immediately delivered himself up to the executioner. He received eight blows on his arms and legs, and one on his stomach, and was intended to have been left to expire of the wounds; but as the executioner was going down from the scaffold, an order came to strangle him; the bishop and all the considerable persons at Valence having interceded for this mitigation of his punishment. Mandrin was twenty-nine years of age, about five feet five inches high, well made, had a long visage, blue eyes, and sandy chesnut hair; he had something rough in his countenance, and a strong robust port; he was perpetually smoking tobacco, with which he drank plentifully of any liquor that was at hand, and ate till the last with a good appetite.

SUDDEN RECOVERY FROM MADNESS.

The following extraordinary account is taken from the _Gentleman's Magazine_ of 1784:--"About six years since, a seafaring person was taken into the Asylum for Maniacs at York; during the space of five years and six months he never expressed any desire for sustenance, and was fed in the manner of an infant. The servants undressed him at night, and dressed him in the morning; he never spoke, and remained with his body bent all day, and was regarded by all about him as an animal nearly converted into a vegetable. About the middle of May, 1783, he suddenly astonished the people round him with saying, 'Good morrow to you all.' He then thanked the servants for the care they had taken of him, and appeared perfectly sane. A few days after, he wrote a letter to his wife, in which he expressed himself with great propriety. On the 28th of May following he was allowed to leave the hospital, and return to his family; and has now the command of a ship in the Baltic trade, and is in full enjoyment of perfect health, both in mind and body. This very singular case is attested by Dr. Hunter, F.E.S., of York, in a letter to Dr. Percival, of Manchester, and by the servants now at the Asylum in York."

SUMMARY OF THE BIBLE.

The following table is published, as containing accurate particulars of the English version of the Bible:--

_In the Old Testament._| _In the New Testament._| _Total._
Books, 39 | Books, 27 | Books, 66
Chapters, 929 | Chapters, 260 | Chapters, 1,189
Verses, 23,214 | Verses, 7,959 | Verses, 31,173
Words, 592,493 | Words, 181,253 | Words, 773,746
Letters, 2,728,100 | Letters, 838,380 | Letters, 3,566,480

The middle chapter and the shortest in the Bible is the hundred and seventeenth Psalm; the middle verse is the eighth of the hundred and eighteenth Psalm. The twenty-first verse of the seventh chapter of Ezra, in the English version, has all the letters of the alphabet in it. The nineteenth chapter of the second book of Kings and the thirty-seventh chapter of Isaiah are alike.

THE LEPROSY.--LAZARS.--LAZAR-HOUSES.

That loathsome disorder, leprosy, was introduced into England in the reign of Henry I., and was supposed to have been brought out of Egypt, or perhaps the East, by means of the crusaders. To add to the horror, it was contagious, which enhanced the charity of a provision for such miserables, who were not only naturally shunned, but even chased by royal edict, from the society of their fellow-creatures.

Lepers, or Lazars, were sick persons removed out of monasteries to cells or hospitals, always built out of cities and towns. Their usual maintainence was, from liberty allowed them to go upon every market-day, to the market, where with a dish, called a _clap_ dish, they would beg corn.

Their sickness and loathsome appearance giving great disgust, many withheld their charity, upon which account they were afterwards restrained from begging at large, but permitted to send the proctor of the hospital, who came with his box one day in every month to the churches, and other religious houses, at time of service; and there received the voluntary charity of the congregations. This custom is said to be the origin of the present practice of collecting briefs.

The leprosy was much more common formerly, in this part of the globe, than at present. It is said, that there were in Europe fifteen thousand hospitals founded for them. Perhaps near half the hospitals that were in England were built for lepers.

Lepers were so numerous in the twelfth century, that by a decree of the Lateran Council under pope Alexander III., A.D. 1179, they were empowered to erect churches for themselves, and to have their own ministers to officiate in them. This shows at once how infectious and offensive their distemper was.

And on this account, "In England where a man was a leper, and was dwelling in a town, and would come into the churches, or among his neighbours when they were assembled, to talk to them to their annoyance or disturbance, a writ lay De Leproso amovendo."--What follows is remarkable. The writ is for those lepers "who appear to the sight of all men, they are lepers, by their voice and their sores, the putrefaction of their flesh, and by the smell of them."

And so late as the reign of Edward VI. multitudes of lepers seem to have been in England; for in 1 Edw. 6. c. 3. in which directions are given for carrying the poor to the places where they were born, &c. we read the following clause: "Provided always, that all _leprous_ and poor _bed-red_ creatures may, at their liberty, remain and continue in such houses appointed for lepers, or bed-red people, as they now be in."

1184 to 1191.--The leprosy was at this period, and long after, a cruel epidemic in our country, possibly brought by the crusaders from the Holy Land, and spread here by filth and bad diet. It was supposed to be infectious, and was shunned as the plague; so that, had it not been for these pious institutions, multitudes must have perished under this loathsome disorder.

Among other wild fancies of the age, it was imagined that the persons afflicted with leprosy, a disease at that time (1327, Edward II.) very common, probably from bad diet, had conspired with the Saracens to poison all springs and fountains; and men being glad of any pretence to get rid of those who were a burthen to them, many of those unhappy people were burnt alive on the chimerical imputation.

Every one of the lazar-houses had a person, called a _fore-goer_, who used to beg daily for them.

THE CONDOR IN PERU.

Dr. Pickering, of the United States Antarctic Expedition of 1839, being in the vicinity of the Andes, attempted the ascent of one of the summits; by noon he had reached a high elevation, and looking up, he espied a huge condor soaring down the valley. He stopped to observe the majestic bird as it sailed slowly along. To his surprise it took a turn around him, then a second and a third, the last time drawing so near that he began to apprehend that it meditated an attack. He describes himself as being in the worst possible condition for a fight, his strength being exhausted by climbing, and his right hand having been lamed for some days from a hurt. The nature of the ground, too, was anything but favourable for defence; but there was nothing left but to prepare for a fight, and with this intent he took a seat and drew his knife. At the instant, as if intimidated by the sight of the weapon, the bird whirled off in another direction. Dr. Pickering confessed, however humiliating the acknowledgment, that he was at the time very well satisfied with the condor's determination to let him alone.

COST OF SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN'S CHURCHES.

The following is an account of what the undermentioned churches cost building, the designs for which were furnished by Sir Christopher Wren:--

L s. d.
St. Paul's 736,752 2 3-1/4
Allhallows the Great 5,641 9 9
---- Bread-street 3,348 7 2
---- Lombard-street 8,058 15 6
St. Alban's, Wood-street 3,165 0 8
St. Anne and Agnes 2,448 0 10
St. Andrew's, Wardrobe 7,060 16 11
---- Holborn 9,000 0 0
St. Antholin's 5,685 5 10-3/4
St. Austin's 3,145 3 10
St. Benet, Grailchurch 3,583 9 5-1/4
---- Paul's Wharf 3,328 18 10
---- Fink 4,129 16 10
St. Bride's 11,430 5 11
St. Bartholomew's 5,077 1 1
Christ Church 11,778 9 6
St. Clement, Eastcheap 4,365 3 4-1/2
---- Danes 8,786 17 0-1/2
St. Dionis Back Church 5,737 10 8
St. Edmund the King 5,207 11 0
St. George, Botolph-lane 4,509 4 10
St. James, Garlick-hill 5,357 12 10
---- Westminster 8,500 0 0
St. Lawrence, Jewry 11,872 1 9
St. Michael, Basinghall 2,822 17 1
---- Royal 7,455 7 9
St. Michael, Queenhithe 4,354 3 8
---- Wood-street 2,554 2 11
---- Crooked-lane 4,641 5 11
---- Cornhill 4,686 5 11
St. Martin, Ludgate 5,378 18 8
St. Matthew, Friday-str 2,301 8 2
St. Margaret Pattens 4,986 10 4
---- Lothbury 5,340 8 1
St. Mary, Abchurch 4,922 2 4-1/2
---- Magdalen 4,291 12 9-1/4
---- Somerset 6,579 18 1-1/4
---- at Hill 3,980 12 3
---- Aldermanbury 5,237 3 6
---- le Bow 8,071 18 1
---- le Steeple 7,388 8 7-3/4
St. Magnus, Lond. bridge 9,579 19 10
St. Mildred, Bread-street 3,705 13 6-1/4
---- Poultry 4,654 9 7-3/4
St. Nicholas Cole Abbey 5,042 6 11
St. Olav, Jewry 5,580 4 10
St. Peter's, Cornhill 5,647 8 2
St. Swithin, Canon-street 4,687 4 6
St. Stephen, Wallbrook 7,652 13 8
---- Coleman-str 4,020 16 6
St. Vedast, Foster-lane 1,853 15 6

EARLY CLOCKS.

The first clock which appeared in Europe, was probably that which Eginhard (the secretary of Charlemagne), describes as sent to his royal master by Abdalla, King of Persia. "A horologe of brass, wonderfully constructed, for the course of the twelve hours, answered to the hourglass, with as many little brazen balls, which drop down on a sort of bells underneath, and sounded each other."--The Venetians had clocks in 872, and sent a specimen of them that year to Constantinople.

SINGULAR SPECIMEN OF ORTHOGRAPHY IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.

The following letter was written by the Duchess of Norfolk to Cromwell, Earl of Essex. It exhibits a curious instance of the monstrous anomalies of our orthography in the infancy of our literature, when a spelling book was yet a precious thing:--

"My ffary gode lord,--her I sand you in tokyn hoff the neweyer, a glasse hoff Setyl set in Sellfer gyld, I pra you tak hit in wort. An hy wer babel het showlde be bater. I woll hit war wort a m crone."

Thus _translated_:--

"My very good lord,--Here I send you, in token of the new year, a glass of setyll set in silver gilt; I pray you take it in worth. An I were able it should be better. I would it were worth a thousand crown."

DEATH OF THE EARL OF KILDARE.

In 1513, died the most powerful baron and active soldier of his age, Fitzgerald, Earl of Kildare. He had been, during thirty years, at different times, chief governor of Ireland, and was too potent to be set aside, otherwise his strong attachment to the house of York would probably have been his ruin. The untameable spirit of the earl sometimes involved him in trouble, from which he was extricated by a lucky bluntness; as when once, when charged before Henry VIII. with setting fire to the cathedral of Cashel, "I own it," said the earl, "but I never would have done it had I not believed that the archbishop was in it." The king laughed, and pardoned the ludicrous culprit. The Bishop of Meath was his bitterest foe. He accused him to Henry of divers misdeeds, and closed his accusation with "Thus, my liege, you see that all Ireland cannot rule the earl." "Then," said the perverse monarch, "the earl shall rule all Ireland," and instantly made him lord-deputy. The English loved the earl because he was brave and generous, and because his good humour equalled his valour. Once, when he was in a furious paroxysm, a domestic who knew his temper, whispered in his ear, "My lord, yonder fellow has betted me a fine horse, that I dare not take a hair from your lordship's beard; I pray, my lord, win me that wager." The earl's features relaxed, and he said to the petitioner, "Take the hair, then, but if thou exceedest thy demand, my fist shall meet thy head."

THE BRITANNIA TUBULAR BRIDGE.

This is one of the most remarkable structures in the world, the design of the celebrated architect, Sir R. Stephenson. This bridge is on the line of the Chester and Holyhead Railway, crossing the Menai Straits, within sight of Telford's Chain Suspension Bridge. It is made of cast iron of a tubular form, in the tube of which the railway passes. Four of these span the Strait, and are supported by piles of masonry; that on the Anglesea side is 143 feet 6 inches high, and from the front to the end of the wing walls is 173 feet. These wing walls terminate in pedestals, on which repose colossal lions of Egyptian character. The Anglesea pier is 196 feet high, 55 feet wide, and 32 feet long. In the middle of the Strait is the Britannia Rock, from which the bridge derives its name; on this the Britannia pier is raised. It is equi-distant from the Anglesea and Carnarvon piers, being 460 feet in the clear from each, and sustains the four ends of the four long tubes, which span the distance from shore to shore. There are two pairs of short and two of long tubes, the lengths of these pairs being 250 feet and 470 respectively. The Egyptian lions are 25 feet 6 inches long, 12 feet 6 inches high, 8 feet wide, and weigh 80 tons. Two thousand cubic feet of stone were required for each lion. The total quantity of stone in the bridge is 1,400,000 cubic feet. The weight of malleable iron in the tubes is 10,000 tons; of cast iron, 1,400 tons. The whole length of the entire bridge, measuring from the extreme front of the wing walls, is 1,833 feet, and its greatest elevation at Britannia pier, 240 feet above low-water-mark. The total cost of the structure is L601,865. This wonderful structure was begun April 13, 1846, and completed July 25, 1850; opened for traffic Oct. 21, 1850.

The Britannia Tubular Bridge.]

DAFFEY'S ELIXIR.

In the _Postboy_, Jan. 1, 1707-8, is the following curious advertisement:--"Daffey's famous _Elixir Salutis_ by Catherine Daffey, daughter of Mr. Thomas Daffy, late rector of Redmile, in the valley of Belvoir, who imparted it to his kinsman, Mr. Anthony Daffy, who published the same to the benefit of the community and his own great advantage. The original receipt is now in my possession, left to me by my father. My own brother, Mr. Daniel Daffy, apothecary in Nottingham, made the Elixir from the said receipt, and sold it there during his life. Those who know it, will believe what I declare; and those who do not, may be convinced that I am no counterfeit, by the colour, taste, smell, and operation of my Elixir. To be had at the Hand and Pen, Maiden-Lane, Covent Garden."

JENNY'S WHIM.

"This was a tea garden, situated, after passing over a wooden bridge on the left, previous to entering the long avenue, the coach way to where Ranelagh once stood. This place was much frequented, from its novelty, being an inducement to allure the curious, by its amusing deceptions, particularly on their first appearance there. Here was a large garden, in different parts of which were recesses; and if treading on a spring, taking you by surprise, up started different figures, some ugly enough to frighten you--a harlequin, a Mother Shipton, or some terrific animal. In a large piece of water, facing the tea alcoves, large fish or mermaids, were showing themselves above the surface. This queer spectacle was first kept by a famous mechanist, who had been employed at one of the winter theatres, there being then two."--Angelo's _Pic Nic or Table Talk_, p. 106.

Horace Walpole, more than once alludes to this place of entertainment in his Letters; and in 1755 a 4to. satirical tract appeared entitled _Jenny's Whim; or a Sure Guide to the Nobility, Gentry, and other Eminent Persons, in this Metropolis_.

ANECDOTE RELATIVE TO THE MASKED EXECUTIONER OF CHARLES I.

It is universally known, that, at the execution of King Charles I., a man in a vizor performed the office of executioner. This circumstance has given rise to a variety of conjectures and accounts. In the Gentleman's Magazine for November, 1767, and January, 1768, are accounts of one William Walker, who is said to be the executioner. In the same magazine for June, 1784, it is supposed to be a Richard Brandon, of whom a long account is copied from an Exeter newspaper. But William Lilly, in his "History of his Life and Times," has the following remarkable passage:--"Many have curiously inquired who it was that cut off his [the king's] head: I have no permission to speak of such things: only thus much I say, he that did it is as valiant and resolute a man as lives, and one of a competent fortune." To clear up this passage, we shall present our readers with Lilly's examination (as related by himself) before the first parliament of King Charles II. in June, 1660.

"At my first appearance, many of the young members affronted me highly, and demanded several scurrilous questions. Mr. Weston held a paper before his mouth; bade me answer nobody but Mr. Prinn; I obeyed his command, and saved myself much trouble thereby, and when Mr. Prinn put any difficult or doubtful query unto me, Mr. Weston prompted me with a fit question. At last, after almost one hour's tugging, I desired to be fully heard what I could say as to the person that cut Charles I.'s head off. Liberty being given me to speak, I related what follows, viz.:--

"That the next Sunday but one after Charles I. was beheaded, Robert Spavin, Secretary to Lieutenant-General Cromwell at that time, invited himself to dine with me, and brought Anthony Pearson, and several others, along with him to dinner. That their principal discourse all dinner-time was only who it was that beheaded the king; one said it was the common hangman; another, Hugh Peters; others were also nominated; but none concluded. Robert Spavin, so soon as dinner was done, took me by the hand, and carried me to the south window: saith he. 'These are all mistaken; they have not named the man that did the fact; it was Lieutenant-Colonel Joice. I was in the room when he fitted himself for the work, stood behind him when he did it; when done, went in with him again. There is no man knows this but my master, viz., Cromwell, Commissary Ireton, and myself.'--'Doth Mr. Rushworth know it?' saith I.--'No, he doth not know it,' saith Spavin. The same thing Spavin since has often related to me when we were alone."

WHIPPING PRISONERS.

Mr. Ellesdon, Mayor of Lyme, in 1595, paid for--

_s._ _d._
Four yards of canvas to make a coat to whip the rogues in 3 0

Making the same 0 6

Whipping of three of the ship boys for stealing of Mr.
Hassard's salmon fish in the Cobb 1 0

(N.B.--Salmon was plentiful in the west at this epoch.)

The charge of fourpence made for whipping a boy continued for many years the same. The whipping of a woman who was a stranger was little more costly; but the inflicting such a punishment upon a townswoman was remunerated at a higher rate, as may well be supposed, from a consideration of several circumstances. To take a violent, noisy woman from her chamber, tie madam to the tumbrel and whip her round the town, was an undertaking that demanded assistance and protection to the official or hireling that wielded the thong. In the Town Accompt Book are found such entries as those which are given in illustration:--

_s._ _d._
1625. For whipping William Wynter's boy 0 4
" Agnes Abbott twice 2 4
1644. Paid two soldiers to attend the whipping of a woman 2 6
Paid to whipping four women 4 0

THE INIQUITIES OF THE SLAVE TRADE.

We may form some idea of the temptations which the trade in human beings held out, even to people who held an honourable position in the world, from the fact that the captain of a frigate, within a few years before the slave trade was abolished, was known to purchase slaves in the West India market, have them entered as able seamen, and compel the artificers to teach them a trade; so that when the ship returned each was sold at a high rate as a valuable piece of property. The worst, however, has to be told. Upon sailing from Portsmouth, some of the best men were sent away upon duty in a ship's boat, in order that they might be returned "run," by which they lost pay and clothes, but made room for the negroes lately kidnapped, who were entered, though they did no work for the ship, as able seamen! We have all heard of a naval officer who had his pocket picked at a Westminster election, and who openly professed his vow, which he rigidly performed, of flogging every Londoner that joined his ship for this act. This, it is said, was no idle vow!

DISCOVERY OF THE BODY OF CANUTE THE GREAT.

In June 1766, some workmen who were repairing Winchester Cathedral discovered a monument, wherein was contained the body of King Canute. It was remarkably fresh, had a wreath round the head, and several other ornaments of gold and silver bands. On his finger was a ring, in which was set a large and remarkably fine stone; and in one of his hands a silver penny. _Archaeologia_, vol. iii. The penny found in the hand is a singular instance of a continuance of the pagan custom of always providing the dead with money to pay Charon.

M.P.'S AND MAYORS PRIVATEERS.

William Morfote, who represented Winchelsea in Parliament in 1428, was a privateer with a hundred men under him. He found it necessary to obtain the king's pardon in 1435, by the advice of Parliament, there being a legal difficulty about his having broken prison at Dover Castle.

Two merchants of Sherborne in Dorsetshire were robbed of their cargo, worth L80, A.D. 1322, by Robert de Battyle. This transaction did not lose him the good opinion of his townsmen, who chose him Mayor of Winchelsea a few years later.

ALGERINE INVASION OF IRELAND.

The Algerines landed in Ireland in 1627, killed 50 persons, and carried off about 400 into slavery. One vessel captured by them was worth L260,000. They made purchases of stores and provisions they wanted in the western parts of Ireland by Baltimore, and in 1631 carried off 100 captives from that town. They landed their poor captives at Rochelle, and marched them in chains to Marseilles. Twenty-six children are said to have been carried off at one time from Cornwall. In 1633, Lord Wentworth, appointed lord deputy of Ireland, named noted pirate vessels off the coast of Ireland and their captures. Persons in their wills used to leave sums of money for redeeming well-known captives from bondage in Algiers and other places.

WILLIAM JOY, THE ENGLISH SAMPSON.

William Joy.]