Ten Thousand Wonderful Things
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Title: Ten Thousand Wonderful Things
Editor: E. F. King
Release date: May 31, 2014 [eBook #45849]
Language: English
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Credits: Produced by Chris Curnow, Christian Boissonnas and the
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ***
Produced by Chris Curnow, Christian Boissonnas and the
Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
(This file was produced from images generously made
available by The Internet Archive)
TEN THOUSAND
WONDERFUL THINGS
COMPRISING
WHATEVER IS MARVELLOUS AND RARE, CURIOUS
ECCENTRIC AND EXTRAORDINARY
IN ALL AGES AND NATIONS
ENRICHED WITH
_HUNDREDS OF AUTHENTIC ILLUSTRATIONS_
EDITED BY
EDMUND FILLINGHAM KING, M.A.
LONDON
GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS, LIMITED
BROADWAY, LUDGATE HILL
MANCHESTER AND NEW YORK
1894
STANDARD WORKS OF REFERENCE.
_UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME._
LEMPRIERE'S CLASSICAL DICTIONARY.
WALKER'S RHYMING DICTIONARY.
MACKAY'S THOUSAND AND ONE GEMS OF ENGLISH POETRY.
D'ISRAELI'S CURIOSITIES OF LITERATURE.
BARTLETT'S FAMILIAR QUOTATIONS.
CRUDEN'S CONCORDANCE TO THE BIBLE.
THE FAMILY DOCTOR.
PREFACE.
A BOOK OF WONDERS requires but a brief introduction. Our title-page
tells its own tale and forms the best exposition of the contents of the
volume.
Everything that is marvellous carries with it much that is instructive,
and, in this sense, "Ten Thousand Wonderful Things," may be made useful
for the highest educational purposes. Events which happen in the
regular course have no claim to a place in any work that professes to
be a register of what is uncommon; and were we to select such Wonders
only as are capable of familiar demonstration, we should destroy their
right to be deemed wondrous, and, at the same time, defeat the very
object which we profess to have in view. A marvel once explained away
ceases to be a marvel. For this reason, while rejecting everything that
is obviously fictitious and untrue, we have not hesitated to insert
many incidents which appear at first sight to be wholly incredible.
In the present work, interesting Scenes from Nature, Curiosities
of Art, Costume and Customs of a bygone period rather predominate;
but we have devoted many of its pages to descriptions of remarkable
Occurrences, beautiful Landscapes, stupendous Water-falls, and sublime
Sea-pieces. It is true that some of our illustrations may not be
beautiful according to the sense in which the word is generally used;
but they are all the more curious and characteristic, as well as
truthful, on that account; for whatever is lost of beauty, is gained by
accuracy. What is odd or quaint, strange or startling, rarely possesses
much claim to the picturesque and refined. Scrape the rust off an
antique coin, and, while you make it look more shining, you invariably
render it worthless in the eyes of a collector. To polish up a fact
which derives its value either from the strangeness of its nature, or
from the quaintness of its narration, is like the obliterating process
of scrubbing up a painting by one of the old masters. It looks all the
cleaner for the operation, but, the chances are, it is spoilt as a work
of art.
We trust it is needless to say that we have closed our pages against
everything that can be considered objectionable in its tendency; and,
while every statement in this volume has been culled with conscientious
care from authentic, although not generally accessible, sources, we
have scrupulously rejected every line that could give offence, and
endeavoured, in accordance with what we profess in our title-page, to
amuse by the eccentric, to startle by the unexpected, and to astonish
by the marvellous.
INDEX TO ENGRAVINGS
PAGE
ABYSSINIAN ARMS, 509
---- LADIES, 492
---- ORNAMENTS OF, 493
---- LADY TATTOOED, 496
ALTAR-PIECE OF SAN MINIATO, 601
AMULET WORN BY EGYPTIAN FEMALES, 452
AMULET BROTCHE, 332
ANCIENT METHOD OF KEEPING A WASHING ACCOUNT, 3
---- NUT-CRACKERS, 236
---- SNUFF-BOXES, 210
ANGLO-SAXONS, SEPULCHRAL BARROW OF THE, 27
APTERYX, THE, OR WINGLESS BIRD, 308
ARCH, A BEAUTIFUL, IN CANNISTOWN CHURCH, 433
---- OF TRAJAN AT BENEVENTUM, 445
ARCHITECTURE FOR EARTHQUAKES, 324
ARMLET, AN ANCIENT, 425
ARMOUR, ANCIENT, CURIOUS PIECE OF, 341
ASH, THE SHREW, 397
AZTEC CHILDREN, THE, 37
BAGPIPES, 505
BANDOLIERS, 560
BANNERS AND STANDARDS, ANCIENT, 584, 585
BASTILLE, STORMING OF THE, 195
BEAU BRUMMELL (A), OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY, 61
BECTIVE ABBEY, 392
BEDESMEN IN THE TIME OF HENRY VII, 593
BELLOWS, A PRIMITIVE PAIR OF, 637
BELL SHRINE, AN ANCIENT, 348
---- OF SAINT MURA, 412
BIBLE USED BY CHARLES I. ON THE SCAFFOLD, 271
BILLY IN THE SALT BOX, 181
BLACKFRIARS, PARIS GARDEN AT, 465
BLIND GRANNY, 70
---- JACK, 23
BOAT, A BURMESE, 668
BOOK-SHAPED WATCH, 328
BRACELET, A MAGICIAN'S, 345
BRAMA, THE HINDOO DEITY, 556
BRANK, THE, 2
BRASS MEDAL OF OUR SAVIOUR, 241
BRITANNIA TUBULAR BRIDGE, 173
BROOCH, ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN, 401
BRICKS OF BABYLON, 613
BRIDGE OVER THE THAMES, THE FIRST, 428
---- A CHINESE, 440
---- CROMWELL'S, AT GLENGARIFF, 648
BUCKINGER, MATTHEW, 53
BUCKLER OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY, WITH PISTOL INSERTED, 30
BUNYAN'S (JOHN) TOMB, 157
BURMESE PRIEST PREACHING, 266
BUST, AN ANCIENT ETRURIAN, 677
CAMDEN CUP, THE, 250
CANDLESTICK, A REMARKABLE, IN FAYENCE, 592
---- OF MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS, 436
CARFAX CONDUIT, 333
CARRIAGE, A TURKISH, 656
CASCADE DES PELERINES, 135
CATACOMBS AT ROME, 87
CAVE, PORT COON, 516
---- THE TIGER, AT CUTTACK, 361
CHAIR BROUGHT OVER TO AMERICA BY THE PILGRIM FATHERS, 186
---- DAGOBERT'S, ANCIENT, 421
---- HENRY VIII.'S, 488
---- THE DUCHESS OF LAUDERDALE'S, 401
CHAPTER-HOUSE, A, IN THE TIME OF HENRY VII., 600
CHARLEMAGNE, CROWN OF, 377
CHIEFTAIN, ANCIENT SCOTTISH, 500
CHINESE METHOD OF FISHING, 316
---- PUNISHMENT OF THE KANG, OR WOODEN COLLAR, 134
CHRISTMAS, PROCLAIMING THE NON-OBSERVANCE OF, 19
CISTERN OF MAJOLICA WARE, 597
COFFEE POT, IN STONEWARE, A CURIOUS, 649
COIN, THE FIRST, WITH BRITANNIA ON IT, 468
COLLARS, ANCIENT STONE, 665
COLUMN AT CUSSI, 533
COMB, A CURIOUS INDIAN, 657
CORAL REEFS, 74
CORPSE BEARER DURING THE PLAGUE, 284
COSTUMES, ANCIENT, 18, 71, 78, 86, 212, 213, 220, 296, 297
---- GERMAN, OF THE 16TH CENTURY, 548
COSTUME, FOREIGN, IN 1492, 543
---- OF A GERMAN NOBLE, 536
COUTEAU-DE-CHASSE, 633
CRADLE OF MOSS, 325
---- HENRY V., 416
CROSBY, SIR JOHN, HELMET OF, 520
CROSS OF CONG, 457
---- MUIREDACH, 369
CUCKING STOOL, 1
CUPID OF THE HINDOOS, THE, 552
CURFEW BELL, THE, 33
CURIOUS FIGURES ON A SMALL SHRINE, 203
DAGGER OF RAOUL DE COURCY, 263
---- AN ANCIENT, 673
DAGOBERT, ANCIENT CHAIR OF, 421
DANCING NATIVES OF NEW SOUTH WALES, 225
DARNEY (JENNY), A HARMLESS ECCENTRIC OF THE YEAR 1790, 187
DERVISHES DANCING, 669
DIAL AND FOUNTAIN IN LEADENHALL STREET, 553
DINNER PARTY IN THE 17TH CENTURY, 609
---- TABLE, AN EGYPTIAN, 537
DIOGENES IN A PITHOS--NOT TUB, 524
DOG-WHEEL, THE OLD, 101
DRINKING CUP, A CURIOUSLY SHAPED, 413
---- EARLY GERMAN, 460
---- VESSEL, A DECORATIVE, 336
---- GLASS, ANCIENT, 153
DROPPING WELL OF KNARESBOROUGH, 143
DRUID'S SEAT, THE, 464
DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS, OR ORNITHORYNCHUS PARADOXUS, 273
DYAK WITH HEADS, SKULL HOUSE, AND HOUSE OF SEA DYAKS, 276, 277
---- WAR BOAT IN BORNEO, 540
DYAKS OF BORNEO, WAR DANCE OF THE, 541
EAST INDIA HOUSE, THE FIRST, 206
EDDYSTONE LIGHTHOUSE, 109
EGYPTIAN TOYS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM, 130
EMBROIDERED GLOVE, PRESENTED BY MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTLAND,
TO AN ATTENDANT ON THE MORNING OF HER EXECUTION, 263
EXTRAORDINARY CATARACT, 224
---- SITUATION FOR A TREE, 313
---- TREE, 183
FASHIONABLE DISFIGUREMENT OF THE TIME OF CHARLES I., 213
FAWKES HALL, OLD MANOR HOUSE OF, 380
FETE OF THE FEDERATION OF THE NATIONAL GUARDS OF
FRANCE, 1790, 289
FIGG (JAMES), THE CHAMPION PRIZE-FIGHTER OF 1733, 113
FISH, SHOOTING, 432
FISHERMAN, BULGARIAN, 497
FLOATING CITY OF BANKOK, 309
FONT AT KILCARN, THE, 417
FRENCH ASSIGNATS, FAC-SIMILE OF THE FORMS IN WHICH THEY
WERE ISSUED TO THE PUBLIC, 254
FULLERTON'S (COLONEL) DEVICE FOR PASSING A MOUNTAIN TORRENT, 194
FUNEREAL JAR, 481
GARDEN, EGYPTIAN, 349
GARRICK'S CUP, 232
GATE, THE, ON OLD LONDON BRIDGE, 561
GAUNTLET OF HENRY, PRINCE OF WALES, 661
GIANT TREE, 229
GLAIVE, A, 504
GRACE KNIVES, 641
GRAVES OF THE STONE PERIOD, 364
GREAT WALL OF CHINA, 233
GREY MAN'S PATH, THE, 528
GUN, A CELEBRATED, 568
GUY, THOMAS, PORTRAIT OF, 605
HACKNEY COACHMAN OF THE TIME OF CHARLES II., 258
HACKNEY COACH, THE EARLIEST, 211
HEAD-BREAKER, A, 665
---- ORNAMENT, ANTIQUE, 393
HEART OF LORD EDWARD BRUCE AND CASE, 246, 247
HELMET, AN EARLY ENGLISH, 632
HELMET OF SIR JOHN CROSBY, 520
HENRY V., CRADLE OF, 516
---- VII., BEDESMEN IN THE TIME OF, 393
---- VIII., CHAIR OF, 488
---- I. (KING) DREAM OF, 26
---- VIII.'S WALKING STICK, 30
HINDOO ADORATION OF THE SALAGRAM, 588
HOLY-WATER SPRINKLER, 532
HOOPS, LADIES', IN 1740, 6
HUDSON, JEFFERY, THE DWARF OF THE COURT OF CHARLES I., 472
IMPLEMENTS USED IN BUDDHIST TEMPLES, 621
INCENSE CHARIOT, AN ANCIENT, 513
INSTRUMENTS OF TORTURE:--THE EXECUTIONER'S AXE; THE BLOCK
ON WHICH LORDS BALMERINO AND LOVAT WERE BEHEADED; THE
SCAVENGER'S DAUGHTER; SPANISH BILBOES; MASSIVE IRON
COLLAR FOR THE NECK; THUMB SCREW. BRAND FOR MARKING
FELONS: IMPRESSION OF BRAND; PUNISHMENT FOR DRUNKARDS,
FORMERLY IN USE AT NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE; THE WHIRLIGIG,
A MILITARY METHOD OF PUNISHMENT; PILLORY, STOCKS, AND
WHIPPING-POST FORMERLY ON LONDON BRIDGE, 60, 90
IRRIGATION, TURKISH MACHINE FOR, 681
JAMES I., CURIOUS JEWEL WHICH BELONGED TO, 456
---- II., AND THE CHURCH OF DONORE, 557
JEWEL PRESENTED BY MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS, TO EARL HUNTLEY, 243
JOHNSON'S (DR. SAMUEL), RESIDENCE IN INNER TEMPLE LANE, 48
---- OLD STAIRCASE IN, 49
JOY (WILLIAM), THE ENGLISH SAMPSON, 177
KING'S STONE, THE, 461
KNIGHT'S COSTUME OF THE 13TH CENTURY, 480
LAMPS, ANCIENT ROMAN, 437
LOCOMOTIVE, THE FIRST, 96
---- THE PRESENT, AND TRAIN, 97
LORD OF MISRULE, 15
LOUIS XII., IVORY SCEPTRE OF, 476
LOUIS XVI., EXECUTION OF, 255
LUTHER'S (MARTIN) TANKARD, 150
LYNCH'S CASTLE, GALWAY, 581
MAGICIAN'S MIRROR, 344
---- BRACELET, 345
MAY-POLES, 101
MAIL, ANCIENT SUIT OF, 484
MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS', CANDLESTICK, 436
MEDMENHAM ABBEY, 429
MILITARY HATS IN THE OLDEN TIME, 75
MILL AT LISSOY, 469
MIRROR, A MAGICIAN'S, 344
MONSOONS, 180
MONSTROUS HEAD-DRESS OF 1782, 242
MONUMENTS, WAYSIDE, 588
---- ROCK CUT, OF ASIA MINOR, 444
MORAYSHIRE FLOODS, 126
MOSQUE OF OMAR, 317
---- ST. SOPHIA, 104
MUMMERS, OR ANCIENT WAITS, 14
MUMMY CASES, 409
MUSICAL INSTRUMENT, HINDOO, 684
---- ---- A CURIOUS BURMESE, 628, 629
---- ---- EGYPTIAN, 405
NAORA, THE, 636
NEBUCHADNEZZAR, MASK OF, 105
NECKLACE, ANCIENT JET, 529
NELL GWYNNE'S LOOKING-GLASS, 237
NEWTON CHURCH, DOORWAY OF, 473
NEWTON'S (SIR ISAAC) OBSERVATORY, 10
---- HOUSE, ST. MARTIN'S STREET, 11
NORMAN CAPS, 44
NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN WAR DESPATCH, 45
OLD LONDON BRIDGE, GATE ON THE, 561
---- ---- SIGNS, 120
ORNAMENTS ABYSSINIAN FEMALE, 493
---- ANTIQUE HEAD, 393
---- FEMALE, OF THE IRON PERIOD, 400
---- EGYPTIAN FEMALE, 448
---- PERSONAL, OF EGYPTIANS, 453
---- OF FEMALE DRESS IN THE TIMES OF THE ANCIENT BRITONS, 79
PAGODA, THE GREAT SHOEMADOO, 572
PAILOOS, CHINESE, 625
PAPYRUS ROLL, FROM A SPECIMEN IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM, 82
---- SYRIAN, WITH AND WITHOUT FLOWERS, 83
PARIS GARDEN AT BLACKFRIARS, 465
PASS OF KEIM-AN-EIGH, 329
PENN'S (WILLIAM) SILVER TEA SERVICE, 202
PENNSYLVANIA JOURNAL, FAC-SIMILE OF THE HEADING OF
THE LAST NUMBER, 1765, 63
PEST HOUSE DURING THE PLAGUE IN TOTHILL FIELDS, 573
PETER THE GREAT, HOUSE OF, AT ZAANDAM, 545
PLOUGHING, ANCIENT MODE OF, 66
POISON CUP, THE, 485
PONT DU GARD, THE GREAT AQUEDUCT OF, 312
POPE'S CHAIR, 577
POPULAR AMUSEMENTS IN 1743, 56
PORCELAIN FIGURES, 517
POTTERY IN CHINA, THE ART OF, 321
POWERSCOURT FALL, PHENOMENON AT, 305
PREACHING FRIAR, 221
PRE-ADAMITE BONE CAVERNS, 199
PRIESTS OF SIKKIM, 664
PRINCE RUPERT, HEAD QUARTERS OF, DURING THE SIEGE
OF LIVERPOOL, IN 1644, 292
PULPIT OF JOHN KNOX AT ST. ANDREW'S, 270
PUNISHMENT, ANCIENT INSTRUMENT OF, 680
PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT, 131
QUEEN ELIZABETH'S STATE COACH, 198
---- ---- SIDE SADDLE OF, 340
RAFFAELLE, TOMB OF, 569
RALEIGH'S (SIR WALTER) ANCIENT RESIDENCE AT BLACKWALL, 161
REVOLVER, A, OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY, 30
RING, FORMERLY THE PROPERTY OF CHARLES I., 263
RINGS, CALCINATED, 408
---- SARDONYX, WITH CAMEO HEAD OF QUEEN ELIZABETH, 372
---- A TOAD STONE, 424
ROCK OF CASHEL, THE, 352
RUINS OF CLONMACNOIS, 612
SACK-POT, OLD ENGLISH, 521
SAINT GEORGE, TOMB OF, 281
SAINT GEORGE'S HALL, GIBRALTAR, 7
SALAGRAM, HINDOO ADORATION OF THE, 589
SARDONYX RING, WITH CAMEO HEAD OF QUEEN ELIZABETH, 373
SCEPTRE, IVORY, OF LOUIS XII., 476
SCHOOL, A CHINESE, 525
SCRIPTURAL ANTIQUITIES:--DRUM, OR TIMBREL; DRUM IN USE
IN THE EAST; HARP; LUTES; INSCRIBED STONE; SANDALS;
DISTAFF; ROMAN FARTHING; STONEMONEY-WRIGHTS; HAND
MILL; EASTERN WINE AND WATER BOTTLES, 217
SELKIRK (ALEXANDER) AND THE DANCING GOATS, 22
SEPULCHRAL VASE, 320, 608
SHAKESPEARE'S JUG, 576
SHIELD, ANCIENT DANISH, 420
SHRINE OF ST. SEBALD AT NUREMBERG, 604
SILVER LOCKET IN MEMORY OF THE EXECUTION OF CHARLES I., 263
SNAKE CHARMER, 300
SOUTH STACK LIGHTHOUSE, 240
SPANISH DAGGER OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY, 263
SPIDER, THE TRAP-DOOR, 384
---- NEST OF THE, 385
ST. WINIFRED'S WELL, 304
STAMP, MEDICINE, ANTIQUE ROMAN, 449
STANDARDS, EGYPTIAN, 396
---- ASSYRIAN, 584, 585
STEAM BOAT, FAC-SIMILE OF THE FIRST, 301
STICKS, OLD WALKING, 388
SWORD BREAKER, ANCIENT, 672
---- AN EXECUTIONER'S, 676
---- CURIOUS ANTIQUE, 596
---- THE HAWTHORNDEN, 353
---- THE SETON, 357
SUMMERS' MAGNET, OR LOADSTONE, 41
TEMPLAR'S BANNER, CALLED BEAUSEANT, 565
TEMPLE AT SIMONBONG, INTERIOR VIEW OF, 620
THRASHING CORN, ANCIENT METHOD OF, 67
TILBURY FORT, WATER-GATE OF, 190
TOILET BOXES, EGYPTIAN, 381
TOMB, ANCIENT GREEK, INTERIOR VIEW OF, 617
---- A CHINESE, 508
---- OF RAFFAELLE, 569
TOMB OF CAECILIA METELLA, 477
TOPE, THE SANCHI, 389
TORTURE CHAMBER AT NUREMBERG, 616
TOWER OF THE THUNDERING WINDS, 93
TRAJAN, ARCH OF, AT BENEVENTUM, 445
TREATY STONE AT LIMERICK, 564
TRIPOD, AN ANCIENT, 549
TUMBREL, THE, 2
TUNISIAN TURNER, A, 652
TYRIAN PURPLE, THE SHELL FISH FROM WHICH IT IS OBTAINED, 644
UMBRELLA, ANGLO-SAXON, 624
VASES, ANCIENT, 337
---- GREEK, 501
---- ROMAN, IN BLACK WARE, 372
---- A SEPULCHRAL, OF ANCIENT EGYPT, 608
VASES TEUTONIC, HUT-SHAPED, 580
VAUXHALL, 380
VESSEL, A CURIOUSLY SHAPED, 376
VESUVIUS, CRATER OF, IN 1829, 165
VISHNU, THE GOD, 645
VOLCANO OF JORULLO, MEXICO, 161
WAR CHARIOT OF EGYPT, 365
WATCH, ANTIQUE, 368
---- PRESENTED BY LOUIS XII. OF FRANCE TO CHARLES I.
OF ENGLAND, 640
---- PRESENTED BY MARY OF SCOTLAND TO MARY SKATON, 285
WATER CARRIER OF THE OLDEN TIME, 259
WEAPON, AN ANCIENT, 660
---- A POISON, 672
WEAVER BIRD, SOCIAL NEST OF, 441
WIGS OF VARIOUS PERIODS, 31
INDEX.
PAGE
Abbey Buildings, The Arrangement of, 658
Abraham and Sarah, 101
Abyssinian Ladies, Dress of the, 491
Abyssinian Lady, Tattooed, 495
Advertisement, an American, 111
Advertisements, Curious, 406, 447, 455, 478
---- in the last Century, 207
---- of a Dying-speech Book, 116
---- New Style of, 249
---- a Pudding as an, 228
---- of a Fleet Parson, 116
A False Find, 31
A Female Sampson, 62
A Fine Old Soldier, 314
A Floating City, 308
A Funeral appropriately conducted, 235
Aged Persons, instances of many Dying, 283
Ages of Celebrated Men, 102
A Great Marvel seen in Scotland, 138
A Happy Family, 28
A Harmless Eccentric, 186
Albertus Magnus, Receipts from, 91
Ale Too Strong, 267
Alexandria, Pharos at, 274
Algerine Invasion of Ireland, 176
A Last Chance, 103
All Humbugs, 85
A Lucky Find, 6
A Man in a Vault Eleven Days, 69
---- Carries his House on his Head, 290
---- Selling his own Body, 95
---- aged One Hundred Years, 256
A Monster, 287
Ambassador, French, Entry into London, 262
---- why Held by the Arms, 162
Amphitheatres, 102
Amulets worn by Egyptian Females, 120
---- Brotche, 332
Amusements in the 15th Century, 254
---- in 1743, Popular, 56
An apparent Singularity accounted for, 93
An Eccentric Tourist, 139
Ancients, Credulity of the, 144
Anglo-Saxons, Sepulchral Barrow of, 26
Animals, Food of, 24
---- Communication between, 294
Animation, Suspended, 374
Anne Boleyn, Execution of, 375
Antimony, 570
Antipathies, 391
---- Unaccountable, 196
Antiquities, Egyptian, 642
Apollo, Oracles of, in France, 675
Arabian Horses, 291
Arabs, Horses of the, 498
Archbishop, an, Washing Feet, 5
Arch, A Beautiful, 433
A remarkable Old Man, 214
Armlet, Ancient, 425
Armour, Ancient, Curious Piece of, 341
Arms, Abyssinian, 509
Artists, Duration of Life amongst, 196
A Sea above the Sky, 81
Ash, the Shrew, 397
Ass, The, 116
Assiduity and Perseverance, 304
Attar of Roses, Origin of, 343
Attar of Roses, 298
A Woman takes the Lighted Match, 40
---- Defends a Post singly, 52
Authors, some Learned, Amusements of, 137
A Unique Library, 211
Aztec Children, 37
Babes of Bethlehem, The, 660
Bagpipes, Irish, 505
Ballot, Origin of the, 673
Bandoliers, 560
Bank, A Mattrass for a, 323
Banner, The Templars', called Beauseant, 564
Banquets of the Ancients, 439
Bara, a Machine used in Sicily, 415
Barbers, 94
Barometer, Incident connected with, 136
Bartholomew Fair in 1700, Handbill of, 148
Bastille of Paris, Storming of the, 194
Bazaar, a Turkish, 614
Bear, a Shaved, 17
Beard, Care of the, 503
Beau Brummell (a) of the 17th Century, 61
Bective Abbey, 392
Bedesmen in the time of Henry VII., 593
Bedford Missal, The, 407
Bee, The Queen, 25
Bees, Obedient to Training, 95
Beggars, Severe Enactment against, 302
---- selected as Models by Painters, 281
Bell, The Great, of Burmah, 559
---- of Rouen, 650
Bells, 193
---- of the Ancients, 279
---- of St. Mura, 411
Bell-Shrine, an Ancient, 347
Bellows, Primitive Pair of, 637
Bible, 118, 372, 490
---- Bunyan's, 121
---- Summary of the, 169
---- used by Charles I. on the Scaffold, 271
Billy in the Salt-box, 181
Birds, The Ear of, not to be Deceived, 228
Blind Jack, 23
---- Granny, 70
---- Workman, 155
Boat, Burmese, 667
Bobart, Jacob, 22
Boiling to Death, 663
Bolton Abbey, Origin of, 273
Bombardier Beetle, The, 68
Bones, Adaptation of to Age, 52
Book-shaped Watch, 328
Boots an object of Honour, 232
Boydell, Alderman, 9
Brama, the Hindoo Deity, 555
Bramins, Philosophy of the, 371
Brank, The, 2
Brass Medal, of our Saviour, 241
Breakfasting Hut in 1745, 158
Bribery, 141
Bricks of Babylon, The, 612
Bridge, Old London, The Gate of, 561
---- Chinese, 439
---- Suspension, at Freybourg, 166
Britannia Tubular Bridge, 172
British Islands, Size of the, 245
Brooch, Ancient Scandinavian, 401
Bruce, Lord Edward, Case containing the Heart of, 215
Brunswick, House of, Anecdote of the, 459
Buckinger, Matthew, 53
Buddist Temples, Instruments used in, 621
Bumper, 153
Bunyan's, John, Tomb, 156
Burial Places of Distinguished Men, 390
Burmah, Elephant God of, 537
Bust, Etrurian, An Ancient, 677
Byng, Admiral, Execution of, 182
Cader Idris, 118
Cagots, The, 638
Calculation, Interesting, 474
Cambridge Clods, 20
Camden Cup, 250
Camel, as a Scape-Goat, 522
Cameleon, The Eye of the, 479
Candles in the Church, 449
Cannon, Ancient, raised from the Sea, 40
---- at the Siege of Constantinople, 69
---- First Iron, 320
Canute, The Discovery of the Body of, 176
Cardinals, Colour of the Hat for, 234
Cards, Games with, in the 16th Century, 618
Carfax Conduit, 333
Carronades, 149
Carrara, Francis, Cruelty of, 504
Carriage, Turkish, 655
Cascade des Pelerines, 135
Cat, Instinct in a, 353
Catacombs at Rome, 87
Cataract, Extraordinary, 223
Cat-Clock, A, 631
Cats, White, 51
---- with Knotted Tails, 238
Caves, The Hawthornden, 382
Chaffinch Contest, 651
Chalice, Iona, The Golden, 422
Changes of Fortune, 371
Chaplain, Instructions to a, 458
Chapter-House in Henry VIIth's time, 599
Charing Cross, Autobiography of, 128
Charity instead of Pomp, 407
---- Rewarded by a Mendicant, 257
Charlemagne, Clock presented to, 145
Charles I., Anecdote relative to, 174
---- II., Privy Purse, Expenses of, 234
Cherry Tree, 458
Chess, in India, How it Originated, 305
Chieftain, Ancient Scottish, 500
Chilcott, the Giant, 71
Child, Test of Courage in a, 132
Children of Aged Parents, 319
China, Origin of the Great Wall of, 233
Chinese Dainties, 91
---- Ivory Balls, 144
---- Method of Fishing, 315
---- Punishment of the Kang, 134
---- Ladies, Small Feet of, 475
---- Mirrors, 425
---- School, 525
---- Therapeutics, 369
Chocolate, Early use of, 52
Christmas Customs, Bygone, 14, 19
Christening, Novel Mode of Celebrating a, 393
Chronology of Remarkable Events, 218
Church of Donore, James II. and the, 557
Cigars, Extraordinary Fashion in, 274
Circumstance, a Curious, 430
---- Extraordinary, 15
Cistern of Majolica Ware, 597
Clock at Hernhuth, Watchmen Imitating, 20
---- Wonderful, 167
Clocks, Early, 171
Clonmacnois, Ruins of, 289
Coachmen of the Time of Charles II., 257
Cock Fighting at Schools, 219
Coffee, 153
Coffee and Tea, 122
Coffee-house in London, the First, 4
---- Attractions in 1760, 41
Coin, The First, with Britannia on it, 468
Coinage, Variations in the, 650
Coincidences, some Curious, 434
Collars, Stone, Ancient, 665
Column at Cussi, 533
Comb, Curious Indian, 657
Conecte, Thomas, 433
Confectionary Art in 1660, 373
Conjuring, Public Taste for in 1718, 122
Conway Church, Inscription in, 112
Coral Reefs, 73
Coronations, Prices for Seats at, 160
---- Expenses at, 283
Corpulent Man, 78
Corpulence, Cure for, 80
Cost of Articles in the 14th Century, 330
Costume, Ancient Female, 71, 78
Costumes, 395, 437, 536, 544, 547, 630, 651
Couteau-de-Chasse, Ancient, 633
Cranmer's (Archbishop) Dietary, 137
Credulity, Extraordinary Instance of, 311
Cricket-Matches, Extraordinary, 408
Criminal, a Rich and Cruel, 450
Criminals, Old Custom Relating to, 598
Cromwell's Bridge at Glengariff, 648
Cross of Cong, The, 457
---- ---- Muiredach, 369
---- Ordeal of the, 463
Crown of Charlemagne, 377
Cucking-Stool, The, 1
Cupid, The, of the Hindoos, 230
Curious Feats, 181, 239
---- Law, 8
---- Manuscript, 214
Curiously-shaped Vessel, 376
Curiously-shaped Drinking Cups, 413
Curiosities, Strange, 457
Custom, Means of attracting, 683
Customs, Singular Local, 653
Daffeys' Elixir, 173
Dagger, An Ancient, 673
Dagobert, Ancient Chair of, 421
Dance, Curious Provincial in France, 679
Dances, Fashionable of the last Century, 220
Dancing Rooms, 57
Dead, Fashions for the, 523
Dead Bodies, Preservation of, 251, 280, 638
Death, Boiling to, 663
---- Lunar Influence in, 346
---- Pressing to, 515
Decorative Drinking Vessel, 336
Della Robbia Ware, 601
Demons, Bribing the, 531
Dervishes, Dancing, 669
Desolation, Scene of, 329
Destitute Cats, Asylum for, 280
Dial and Fountain in Leadenhall Street, 553
Dilemma, 499
Dinner, an Egyptian, 537
---- in China, 596
---- Party in the 17th Century, 609
Diogenes in a Pithos, not Tub, 101
Disorders Cured by Fright, 307
Dispute and appropriate Decision, 140
Dog (A) Extinguishing a Fire, 20
---- Combination of Instinct and Force, 284
---- A Sensible, Refusing to Bait a Cat, 76
---- Persevering, 80
---- Friendship, 84
---- A Piscatorial, 367
---- Sensible, 376
---- in Japan, 622
---- Figures of on Ancient Tombs, 682
Dog-wheel, The Old, 101
Dole in consequence of a Dream, 503
Doles, 399
Down among the Dead Men, 185
Dress, Forty years ago, 212
Dress in London, 18, 114, 253, 295
---- Fastidiousness at an Old Age, 243
---- of the Ancient Britons, 79
Drinking Bouts in Persia, 547
Drinks, Intoxicating, Antiquity of, 611
Dropping Wells, 142
Druids' Seat, 464
Drunkenness, the Offspring of, 666
Duns in the Mahratta Country, 379
Dyaks of Borneo, 275
Ears, Character Indicated by, 65
Earthenware, English, 575
Earthquake Panic, 520
---- Swallowed up by an, 329
---- at Lisbon, 200
---- Nottingham, in 1816, 280
Earthquakes, 398, 432
East India House, the First, 206
Eating for a Wager, 4
Eccentric Englishman, An, 438
Eccentrics, a Couple of, 318
Echo, Extraordinary, 341
Eddystone Lighthouse, 108
Edicts against Fiddlers, 328
Eel, Large, 10
Egypt, 491
---- Pyramids of, 130
Egyptian Toys in the British Museum, 129
Elephant Detects a Robber, An, 99
Elephants Frightened at Pigs, 9
Energy, A Triumph of, 193
England before the Romans, 86
Englishman, A Fat, 28
Epitaph, an Inculpatory, 268
Etna, Mount, Great Eruption of, 451
---- Changes of, 406
Europa, Ruins of, 567
Exchequer-bills, Origin of, 676
Execution, in 1793, 84
Extraordinary Tree, 183
Extravagance at Elections, 149
---- Oriental, 499
Eyam, The Desolation of, 226
Fallacy of the Virtues of a Seventh Son, 315
False Accusers, Punishing, 230
Farmers, Illustrious, 304
Fashionable Disfigurement, 213
Fayence, The, of Henry II. of France, 591
Feasts, Anglo-Saxon, 517
Federation, Fete of the, 288
Female Intrepidity, Extraordinary, 248
Ferrers, Earl, Execution of, 107
Figg, Champion, 113
Finger Rings, Porcelain, 486
Fire at Burwell, Cambridgeshire, 293
Fire-arms in the Tower of London, 29
Fire-engines, When first made, 223
Fish, Shooting, 432
---- High Price of, in London, 312
---- Extraordinary Ponds and, 561
---- Tame, 659
---- Wonderful, 542
Fishermen, Bulgarian, 497
Fleet Marriages, about 1740, 299
Floods, the Morayshire, 126
Flying Coach, 228
Fog of 1783, The Great, 414
Font at Kilcarn, The, 417
Food of the Ancients, 450
Foot-Racing in 1699, 457
Foreigners in London in 1567, 371
Fortune, Change of, 371
Fox Killed by a Swan, 4
Francis I., Funeral Oration of, 363
Franklin's Celebrated Letter to Strahan, 39
Frederick the Great at Table, 579
French Dress, 102
---- Assignats, the Origin, 253
Friars, Preaching, 221
Frost Fairs, 67
---- Extraordinary, 209
Funeral, an Eccentric, 395
---- Jar, 481
---- Obsequies, Strange, 108
Game Preserves at Chantilly, 362
Gamblers, Chinese, Playing for Fingers, 593
Gambling, Legalised, 141
---- Extraordinary, 359
Gaming, a National Taste for, 267
Gander, an Old, 27
Garden, an Egyptian, 349
---- at Kenilworth, when in its Prime, 641
---- Love of, 419
---- Sacred, 420
---- The Hanging, of Babylon, 558
Garrick's Cup, 232
Gauntlet of Henry, Prince of Wales, 661
George II., Proclamation for, 200
Georgians as Topers, 511
Giant Tree, 229
Gibraltar, Siege of, 6
Gigantic Bones, 248
Glaives, 504
Glove Money, 503
Gloves, Anne Boleyn's, 600
---- Origin of "Pin Money", 275
Grace Knives, 641
Graham Island, 443
Graves of the Stone Period, 363
Greek Vases, 501
Gretna Green Marriages, 159
Grey Man's Path, The, 528
Grinning for a Wager, 13
Groaning Boards, 66
Groat, a Castle for a, 470
Grotto, Remarkable, and Story connected with it, 625
Guillotine, Decapitation by the, 8
Gun, Celebrated, 568
Gunpowder, Making a Candlestick of, 249
Hackney Coach, The Earliest, 211
Hair, Ancient, Quantity and Colour of the, 4
---- Price of Human, 242
---- Remarkable Preservation of, 122
---- Transplantation of, 40
---- Turned Grey by Fright, 327
---- Two of the Fathers, on False, 24
Hamster Rat, The, 265
Handbills, Distributing, 178
---- from Peckham Fair, in 1726, 72
Hanging a Mayor, 140
"Happy Dispatch" in Japan, The, 578
Head Breaker, A., 338
Head-dress, Monstrous, 242
---- Ornament, Antique, 393
Hejirs, The, 222
Helmet, Early English, 632
---- of Sir John Crosby, 520
Henry I., Dream of, 26
---- II., Stripped when Dead, 39
---- V., Cradle of, 416
---- the VIIIth's Chair, 488
---- VIII., Curious Extracts from the Household Book
of Lady Mary, Daughter of, 399
Highlander, A Remarkable, 238
Highwaymen in 1782, 5
Hindoo Computation, 507
---- Rites, Cruelty of, 627
Historical Anecdote, 156
Holy Water Sprinkler, 532
Homer in a Nutshell, 127
Hooking a Boy Instead of a Fish, 319
Hoops, in 1740, 6
Horse, A, Getting himself Shod, 76
Horse-race, Indenture of a, 52
Horses of the Arabs, 498
Horses, Different Sorts of, in the 16th Century, 634
---- Feeding one another, 368
---- Vicious, Novel Way of Curing, 174
Hot Cross Buns, 251
House, Novel Way of Designating a, 539
---- of Hens' Feathers, 646
Household Rules of the 16th Century, 518
How Distant Ages are Connected, 200
Hudson, Jeffery, the Dwarf of the Court of Charles I., 472
"Humbug," Origin of the Term, 97
Hume, David, on his own Death, 215
Hundred Families' Lock, 435
Hunting Party, a Regal, 391
Husband, Novel way of Purchasing a, 275
Hydra, Extraordinary Reproductive Power of the, 490
Ice, Ground, 506
Ignorance and Fear, 290
Impostor, An, 50
Impudence or Candour? Which is it? 239
Incense Chariot, An Ancient, 513
Incremation, Instance of, 353
Indian Jugglers, European Balancing, 293
Inhumanity, Extraordinary Instances of, 436
Innkeeper's Bill in 1762, 431
Insects, Wonderful Formation of the Eye in, 467
Insect Life, Minuteness of, 338
Instinct of Animals, 410
Insurance Agent, Canvass of an, 465
Interesting and Fanciful Relique, 243
Inventors, The Perils of, 141
Irrigation, Turkish Machine for, 349
"It's much the same Now", 94
James II. and the Church of Donore, 557
James II., Spent by the Corporation of Coventry at the
Entertainment of, in his Progress through Coventry, 378
Javanese, Superstition of the, 244
Jenny's Whim, 174
Jewel, A Curious, which belonged to James I., 456
Jews, Wealth of the, 359
Johnson, Dr., A Visit to the Residence of, 48
Joy, William, the English Sampson, 176
Judas Iscariot, Legends of, 339
Judges attending Public Balls, 303
---- Salaries, 446
Jugglers in Japan, 529
---- of Modern Egypt, 342
Kildare, Death of the Earl of, 172
Killed by eating Mutton and Pudding, 73
King Edward I., Household Expenses of, 231
---- Fine for Insulting a, 149
---- of Kippen, The, 139
---- John and Pope Innocent, 463
King-Maker, Warwick the, 527
King's Bed, Ceremonial for Making the, 562
---- Cock Crower, The, 137
---- Dishes with the Cook's Name, 235
---- Stone, The, at Kingston, 461
Kitchen, Spacious, 383
Knight's Costume of the 13th Century, 480
Knives and Forks, 133
Knox, John, The Pulpit of, at St. Andrews, 269
Lady, Origin of the Word, 147
Lagmi, and the Use made of it, 623
Lambeth Wells, the Apollo Gardens, 272
Lamps, Roman, 437
Land, Change in the Value of, 196
Landslip at Colebroke, Shropshire, 184
Lantern, Curious, 100
Lauderdale, The Duchess of, 403
Law of the Mozcas, 454
Law and Order in the Streets of London, 131
Laws, a Hundred years ago, Severity of, 234
Leadenhall Street, Old Dial and Fountain in, 553
Legend, A Superstitious, 351
Legends among Savage Nations, 146
Length of Life without Bodily Exercise, 274
Lepers, Treatment of, in England, 493
Leprosy, Lazars, and Lazar Houses, 169
Letter, Extraordinary, 322
Lettsom's (Dr.) Reasons, 71
Lewson, The Eccentric Lady, 221
Life, An Eventful, 427
---- in Death, 443
Lighting the Streets, Bequests for, 310
Lightning, Calmuc's Opinion of, 63
Living, Style of, among the Nobility of the 15th Century, 533
---- in the 16th Century, 357
Lizards, Swallowing, 41
Loaf Sugar, 166
Locomotives, the First, 96
Locusts, 151
London Localities in the 16th Century, 526
London Water Carrier in Olden Time, 258
---- in 1756, State of, 147
London Resorts a Hundred Years Ago, 197
Longevity, 269
Long Meg and her Daughters, 394
Lord Mayor's Feast in 1663, 551
Lotteries, 619
Louis XVI., Execution of, 258
Luther's (Martin) Tankard, 149
Luxury in 1562, 418
Lynch's Castle, Galway, 581
Mackarel, Price of, 576
Madness, Sudden Recovery from, 168
Madyn, the Capital of Persia, Magnificence of,
when invaded by the Saracens A.D. 636, 554
Magic Rain Stone, 168
Magician's Mirror and Bracelet, 344
Magnet, The Summers' or Loadstone, 41
Magnificence of Former Times, 111
Magpie Stoning a Toad, 92
Mahomet, Personal Appearance of, 571
Mail, Ancient suit of, 483
Malady, Extraordinary, 670
Mandrin, the Smuggler, 167
Manners, Ancient, of the Italian, 585
Man without Hands, 77
Manufacture, One of the Effects of, 142
Marat, Funeral of, 375
Marriage Custom, Curious, 543
---- Lottery, 91
---- Vow, 419
Mary, Queen of Scots, her First Letter to English, 370
Mary Queen of Scots, her Candlestick, 436
Maternal Affection in a Dumb Woman, 140
May-pole in the Strand, 534
---- Fate of the Last, in the Strand, 682
May-poles, 100
Mecca, The Black Stone at, 550
Medmenham Abbey, 429
Memento-Mori Watch, 285
Mental Affection, A Curious, 335
Merman, A, 16
Mexican Tennis, 375
Michaelmas-day, Origin of eating Goose on, 198
Military Hats in Olden Time, 75
Mill at Lissoy, 469
Miraculous Escape, 266
Misers, Two, 459
Missal, The Bedford, 163
Mob Wisdom, 294
Monasteries, Libraries of destroyed, 334
Monkeys Demanding their Dead, 415
Monkish Prayers, 383
Monks, Gluttony of the, 347
---- and Friars, 680
Monsey (Dr.) bequeaths his own Body, 93
Monsoons, 179
Monument, Rock-cut, of Asia Minor, 441
Monuments, Wayside, 587
Mosque of Omar, 316
Mother Mapp, the Bone Setter, 158
Mountains, Height of, 148
Mouth, Character of the, 106
M.P.'s and Mayors, Privateers, 176
Mulgrave, Origin of the House of, 602
Mullet and Turbot, with the Romans, 488
Mummy Cases, 409
Murderess, a Young but Cruel, 392
Music, Effect of, on a Pigeon, 64
---- of the Hindoos, 683
---- ---- ---- Sea, 351
Musical Instrument, A Curious, 628
Musical Instruments, Burmese, 629
---- ---- Egyptian, 404
Names, Strange Custom about, 295
Naora, The, 635
Narrow Escape, 121
Nature, Wonderful Provision of, 55
Nebuchadnezzar, Gold Mask of, 105
Necklace, Ancient Jet, 529
Negro, Bill of Sale for a, in 1770, 39
Nell Gwynne's Looking-Glass, 237
Never Sleeping in a Bed, 331
Newspapers, Vacillating, 514
New South Wales, Dances of the Natives of, 225
Newton, A Visit to the Observatory of, 10
New Zealand, The Wingless Bird of, 307
Norman Caps, 44
North American Indian War Dispatch, 45
Nose, Effect of a New, 102
Nostrums, 63
Nun, The First English, 330
Nut Crackers, Ancient, 236
Oaks, Extraordinary, 310, 426, 466, 455
---- Remarkable, 405
Old Age, Dying of, at Seventeen Years, 47
Old Books, 360
Old London Signs, 118
Opera, The First, 567
Opium, Best Position for Smoking, 675
Oraefa Mountain, in Ireland, 356
Ornaments, Personal Antique, 293, 400, 447, 452
Orthography in the Sixteenth Century, 17
Pagoda, The Great Shoemadoo, 572
Pailoos, Chinese, 625
Panama, Isthmus of, Passage through, 148
Paper, 619
Papyrus, The, 82
Parental Authority, Too Much, 513
Paris Garden at Blackfriars, 465
Parlour Dogs, 320
Passport, A Traveller's, 679
Pastimes, Popular, 514
Pates de Foies Gras, 142
Peacocks, 366
Pear-Tree, Great, 454
Pearls, British, 363
---- Fondness of the Romans for, 208
Pedestrian Feat, Wonderful, 327
Peg Tankards, 43
Penn, Tea Service which belonged to, 201
Penny Post, Origin of the, 47
Pennsylvania Journal, 63
Perfumes, 253
Persecution, 430
---- in the Reign of Queen Mary, 587
Perseverance rewarded by Fortune, 287
Persia, Drinking Bouts in, 547
Personal Charms Disclaimed, 118
Peru, Condor in, 170
Peruvian Bark, 51
Pest-house, during the Plague, in Tothill Fields, 573
Pestilence, The Black, 402
Peter the Great at Zaandam, 544
Physic, A Friend to, 267
Physick for the Poor, Choice Receipts for, 117
Pigeon Catching near Naples, 437
Pig, Roast, Advertisement of, in 1726, 46
Pike, An Old, 667
Pilgrim Fathers, Chair belonging to, 186
Pillory for Eating Flesh in Lent, 68
Plague in England, The, 183
---- Corpse Bearers during the, 283
Plantagenets, Yellow Hair in the Time, 103
Plate, Use of, in the time of Henry VIII., 523
Platypus, the Duck-billed, 273
Playbill, Curious, 227
---- in the time of William III., 530
Ploughing and Threshing, Ancient, 66
Poets, English, Fates of the Families of, 471
Pogonias Vocal Fish, 478
Poison Cup, The, 485
Poisoning the Monarch, 12
Police, London, Disgraceful State of, 193
Pont du Gard, Great Aqueduct of, 312
Pope's Chair, 577
Porcelain, Anecdote in, 517
Port Coon Cave, 516
Poet Haste One Hundred Years ago, 182
"Postman," The, Paragraph from, in 1697, 219
Pottery in China, Art of, 321
Powerscourt Fall, Phenomenon at the, 304
Prayers, Unusual Locality for Saying, 171
Praying by Machinery, 314
---- by Wheel and Axle, 539
Pre-Adamite Bone Caverns, 199
Precocious Children, 64
Presence of Mind--Escape from a Tiger, 330
Priests in Burmah, Knavery of the, 266
---- of Sikkim, 663
Prince of Wales, Origin of the Crest of the, 115
Prince Rupert, at Everton, 291
Prolific Author, 320
Proteus Anguinus, The, 152
Psalm, Value of a Long, 512
Pterodactylus, The, 360
Pulpit, Refreshments for the, 262
Punishing by Wholesale, 680
Punishment, Ancient Instrument of, 680
---- Russian, 654
---- and Torture, Ancient Instruments of, 58, 88
Puritan Zeal, 579
Purple, Tyrian, 643
Quackery in the Olden Time, 671
Queen Elizabeth, Banquets of, 414
---- ---- Dresses of, 501
---- ---- Old Verses on, 204
---- ---- saddle of, 340
---- ---- State Coach of, 128
---- ----'s Laws, 151
Raffaelle, Tomb of, 568
Raffle, A, in 1725, 47
Raleigh, Sir Walter, Residence of, 160
Ranelagh, 204
Ranz des Vaches, 173
Rats, Destructive Force of, 463
Ravilliac, Execution of, 132
Receipts, Quaint, 153
Red Sea, Luminous Appearance of the, 454
Regiments, The Modern Names of, 639
Reichstadt, The Duke de, 435
Relics, 393
---- A Group of, 261
---- Rescued, 618
Remarkable Events and Inventions, 145
Revenge, New Mode of, 423
Rheumatism, Strange Cure for the, 201
Rhinoceros, First in Europe, 655
Richardson, the Showman, 251
Ringing the Changes, 192
Rings, Calcinated, 408
Rites, Hindoo, Cruelty of, 627
Roads in 1780, 327
Rock of Cashel, 352
Romans in Britain, Dress of Native Females at that Period, 86
Rouen, The Great Bell of, 650
Royal Touch, The, 42
Royal Giants, Specimens of, 121
---- Prisoner, Expenses of, 260
Sack Pot, Old English, 521
Sacro Catino, The, 608
Sadler's Wells, 112
Saint George, Tomb of, 281
Saint Lawrence, 464
Salagram, Hindoo Adoration of the, 589
Sand Columns in Africa, 610
Sandwiches, Origin of the, 563
Sardonyx Ring, with Cameo Head of Queen Elizabeth,
in the possession of Rev. Lord Thynne, 373
Scape Goat, Camel as a, 190
Sceptre, Ivory, of Louis XII., 476
School, Chinese, 525
School Expenses in the Olden Time, 427
Science and Perseverance, Triumphs of, 123
Scottish Wild Cattle, 278
Scriptural Antiquities, 215
Sea, Phosphorescence of the, 418
Sea Serpent, Immense, 42
Sea-Urchin, Wonderful Construction of, 475
Second Sight, 65
Seeing Two Generations, 211
Self-Nourishment, 315
Selkirk and the Dancing Goats, 22
Sepulchral Vase from Peru, 320
Sermons, Anecdotes in, 147
Serpent, Anecdote of a, 85
Seven, The Number, 354
Sevres Porcelain, Prices of, 487
Sex, Change of, 189
"Sforza," Origin of the Title, 554
Shakspeare's Jug, 575
Sham Prophets, 319
Sharks, The Queen's, 203
Sheba, The Queen of, 518
Sheep Killer, Hunting a, 268
Shell Fish, in 1675, Price of, 178
Shetland, The Noss in, 324
Shield, Ancient Danish, 420
Shilling, Cutting a Wife off with a, 359
Shocking Depravity, 117
Shoes, Long-toed, Origin of, 646
Shrine, Curious Figures on a, 202
Shrine of St. Sebald at Nuremberg, 271
Simoom, The, 662
Skin, Human, a Drum made of, 398
Slave Advertisements, 25
Slave Trade, Iniquities of the, 175
Slaves, Recent Prices of, 435
Sleep, Protracted, 483
---- State of the Mind during, 350
Sleeper, An Extraordinary, 28
Smoking, Attachment to, 322
Snake Charmers, 299
Snakes, Power of Fascination in, 64
Snow Storm, Memorable, 327
Snuff Boxes, Ancient, 209
Snuff, Time Wasted in taking, 512
Something like a Feast, 129
Somnambulism, 72
Sound, Phenomena of, 367
Southcottian Delusion, A Phase of the, 230
South-stack Lighthouse, 239
Spain, Wealth of, under the Moors, 235
Spider, Bite of the Tarantula, 13
Spiders Fond of Music, 157
Spirit Drinker, An Aged, 228
Spontaneous Combustion, 431
Sports of the Lower Classes, 155
Sportsman, A Royal, 443
Springs, Intermittent, 455
Stage Coach in 1760, 155
Stag-Hunt in the 16th Century, 511
Stags like Cattle, Driving, 208
Stamps, Antique Roman, 448, 643
Standards, Ancient Banner and, 396, 583
State Coach in 1796, 156
Statue, Metal, the Largest in the World, 454
Steam boat, Facsimile of the First, 301
Stevens's Specific, 50
St. George's Cavern, 421
St. James's Square, 123
St. Paul's, Old, 162
St. Paul and the Viper, 125
St. Winifred's Well, 303
Sticks, Old Walking, 387
Stirrups, 571
Stomach Brush, 55
Stoneware, 649
Strasburg, Curious Custom at, 185
Strength, Feats of, in 1789, 9
Street Cries of Modern Egypt, 401
Stuff Ball at Lincoln, Origin of the, 49
Sultan, City of the, 103
Sun and Moon, Worship of the, 81
Superstition in 1856, 538
---- Curious, 424
---- Death caused by, 124
---- in France, 519
---- Vitality of, 474
Sweating Sickness, 110
Sweets, Artificial, 579
Sword, Curious Antique, 596
---- Executioner's, 340
---- The Hawthornden, 353
---- The Seton, 356
---- Fish and Whales, 565
Sword-Breaker, An Ancient, 672
Taking a Man to Pieces, 79
Tapestry, The Bayeux, 642
Tar and Feather, Notices to, 38
Taxation, Universality of, 318
Tea, 94
Tea-Drinkers, The First, Puzzled, 532
Teapot, The, 482
Temple of Pou-tou, The, 673
---- at Simonbong, 620
Temples of Brambanam, 442
Terrier, Anecdote of a, 358
Thames, Frost Fair on the, 106
---- The First Bridge over the, 428
Thanksgiving Day in 1697, 527
Theatre, Roman, at Orange, 366
Theatres in the Time of Shakespeare, 597
The First Hermits--Why so Called, 125
The Ruling Passion, 32, 188
Theodora de Verdion, 207
Thief Caught in his own Trap, The, 77
---- Singular Discovery of a, 115
Thugs, The, 574
Tiger Cave at Cuttack, 361
Tilbury Fort, 189
Time, Division of, in Persia, 633
Tobacco, Origin of the Use of, 57
Toilet, Absurdities of the, 536
---- Boxes, Egyptian, 381
Tomb, Chinese, 508
---- of Caecilia Metella, 477
---- of Darius, 560
Tomb of the Emperor Maximilian at Inspruck, 590
"Too Late," quoth Boice, 489
Tope, the Sanchi, 389
Topers, Georgians as, 511
Toping in the Last Century, 314
Torture, 639
---- Chamber at Nuremberg, 615
Tower of the Thundering Winds, 93
Trajan, Arch of, at Beneventum, 112
Trance, A, 354
---- at Will, 462
Trap-door Spider, 383
Travelling, Common, 220
---- in Olden Times, 108,162
---- in the United States, 208
Treaty-Stone at Limerick, 563
Tree, Extraordinary Situation for a, 313
Trees, Age of, 521
---- that Grow Shirts, 62
Tripod, Ancient, 549
Trivial Circumstances, A Great Result from, 605
Tumbrel, The, 2
Tunisians, Ingenuity of the, 652
Turban, The, in Arabia, 618
Turkish Mode of Reparation, 326
Twin-Worm, Extraordinary Formation of the, 136
Types, the Invention of, 152
Umbrella, Anglo-Saxon, 624
Upas Tree, 123
Useful and the Beautiful, 647
Vampire, The Blood-sucking, 417
Varnish-Tree of the Japanese, 615
Vases, Ancient, 337
---- Greek, 169
---- Greek, Prices of, 385
---- Roman, in Black Ware, 373
---- Sepulchral, of Greek Pottery, 616
---- Sepulchral, of Ancient Egypt, 607
---- Teutonic, Hut-shaped, 580
Vauxhall, 380
Venetians, The, 428
Vengeance, Novel Mode of taking, 586
Ventriloquist, a Female, 62
Vesuvius, Crater of, in 1829, 165
Vinegar on the Skin, Effect of, 115
Vishnu, Incarnations of, 645
Volcanic Eruption in Japan, 601
Volcano of Jurullo, Formation of the, 163
Volition, Suspended, 199
Voltaire, English Letter of, 422
Vow, Singular Hindoo, 658
Wagers, Curious, 373
Walking-Sticks, Old, 387
Wall, Governor, Execution of, 154
Wallace, the Hero of Scotland, 99
War Boat, A Dyak, in Borneo, 540
---- Dance of the Dyaks of Borneo, 540
---- Chariot of Ancient Egypt, 365
Warwick, the King-Maker, 527
Washing Account, Method of Keeping, 3
Washington, 583
Watch, An Antique, 368
---- presented by Louis XIII. to Charles I. of England, 640
Watches, the First in England, 515
Water for Old London, Supply of, 282
---- Preservative Power of Coal-pit, 25
---- Supply of, for London, in Olden Times, 546
---- Snakes, Battle of, 470
"We hae been", 47
Weapon, Ancient, 660
---- A Poison, 672
Weaver-Bird, The Sociable, 440
Wedding, A, A Hundred Years Ago, 640
Weight, Reducing, 85
Whipping Prisoners, 175
Whitehall, Ceiling of, 121
Whitsuntide, at Durham Cathedral, 8
Why a Man Measures more in the Morning than in the Evening, 75
Wife, Diving for a, 479
Wigs, 17, 31
Will, Eccentric, 209
William the Conqueror, Courtship of, 555
Willow, Weeping, Introduction of the, 148
Wind Mills, The First, 577
Witch-Testing, at Newcastle, in 1649, 21
Wolves in England, 441
Woman, The Hairy, of Burmah, 677
Woman's Cleverness, 260
Women of England, The, 159
---- in Former Times, 127
Wonderful Escape, 215, 300
Wren's (Sir Christopher) Cost of Churches, 171
---- ---- ---- Report, 183
Writing Materials, 481
Writings, Terra Cotta, 466
Yorkshire Tike, The, 24
Yorkshire in the Last Century, 283
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS.
PUNISHMENTS IN PROVINCIAL TOWNS IN THE OLDEN TIME.
The instruments most in vogue with our ancestors were three--the
cucking-stool, the brank, and the tumbrel.
The Cucking-stool was used by the pond in many village greens about one
hundred years ago or little more, and then deemed the best corrective
of a scolding woman.
[Illustration: The Cucking-stool.]
By the sea, the quay offered a convenient spot. The barbican, at
Plymouth, was a locality, doubtless terrible to offenders, however
careless of committing their wordy nuisance of scolding. Two pounds
were paid for a cucking-stool at Leicester in 1768. Since that it
has been placed at the door of a notorious scold as a warning. Upon
admission to the House of Correction at Liverpool, a woman had to
undergo the severity of the cucking-stool till a little before the year
1803, when Mr. James Neild wrote to Dr. Lettsom. The pump in the men's
court was the whipping-post for females, which discipline continued,
though not weekly.
_Kingston-upon-Thames._ _s._ _d._
1572, The making of the cucking-stool 8 0
Iron work for the same 3 0
Timber for the same 7 6
Three brasses for the same, and three wheels 4 10
-----------
L1 3 4
At Marlborough, in 1625, a man had 4_d._ for his help at the
cucking of Joan Neal.
_Gravesend._
1636, The porters for ducking of Goodwife Campion 2 0
Two porters for laying up the ducking-stool 0 8
[Illustration: The Brank.]
The Brank, for taming shrews, was preferred to the cucking-stool in
some counties, and was used there for the same purpose. The brank was
in favour in the northern counties, and in Worcestershire, though there
were, notwithstanding, some of the other instruments of punishment
used, called in that county gum-stools.
The brank was put over the head, and was fastened with a padlock. There
are entries at Worcester about mending the "scould's bridle and cords
for the same."
The cucking-stool not only endangered the health of the party, but also
gave the tongue liberty 'twixt every dip. The brank was put over the
head, and was fastened with a padlock.
[Illustration: The Tumbrel.]
The tumbrel was a low-rolling cart or carriage (in law Latin,
_tumberella_) which was used as a punishment of disgrace and infamy.
Millers, when they stole corn, were chastised by the tumbrel. Persons
were sometimes fastened with an iron chain to a tumbrel, and conveyed
bareheaded with din and cry through the principal streets of towns.
_Court of Hustings Book, 1581._ (_Lyme._)
"The jury present that the tumbrel be repaired and maintained from time
to time, according to the statute."
In 1583, Mr. Mayor was to provide a tumbrel before All Saints Day,
under a penalty of 10_s._
ANCIENT METHOD OF KEEPING A WASHING ACCOUNT.
Shakerley Marmion, in his "Antiquary," says:--
"I must rev'rence and prefer the precedent
Times before these, which consum'd their wits in
Experiments; and 'twas a virtuous
Emulation amongst them, that nothing
Which, might profit posterity should perish."
[Illustration: [++] Washing Tablet.]
Without a full adherence to this dictum, we would nevertheless admit
that we are indebted to the past for the germ of many of our most
important discoveries. The ancient washing tablet, although of humble
pretensions to notice, is yet a proof of the simple and effective means
frequently adopted in olden times for the economy of time and materials.
A reference to the engraving obviates a lengthened explanation. It
will there be seen that if the mistress of a family has fifteen
_pillow-covers, or so many collars, or so many bands_, to be mentioned
in the washing account, she can turn the circular dial, by means of
the button or handle, to the number corresponding with the rough
mark at the bottom of the dial, above which is written _sheets_,
_table-cloths_, &c. This simple and ingenious contrivance, obviates the
necessity of keeping a book.
The original "washing board," from which the engraving is taken, was of
a larger size, and showed the numbers very distinctly. Similar dials
may be made of either ivory or metal.
THE HAIR.
The quality and colour of the hair was a subject of speculative theory
for the ancients. Lank hair was considered indicative of pusillanimity
and cowardice; yet the head of Napoleon was guiltless of a curl!
Frizzly hair was thought an indication of coarseness and clumsiness.
The hair most in esteem, was that terminating in ringlets. Dares, the
historian, states that Achilles and Ajax Telamon had curling locks;
such also was the hair of Timon, the Athenian. As to the Emperor
Augustus, nature had favoured him with such redundant locks, that no
hair-dresser in Rome could produce the like. Auburn or light brown
hair was thought the most distinguished, as portending intelligence,
industry, a peaceful disposition, as well as great susceptibility to
the tender passion. Castor and Pollux had brown hair; so also had
Menelaus. Black hair does not appear to have been esteemed by the
Romans; but red was an object of aversion. Ages before the time of
Judas, red hair was thought a mark of reprobation, both in the case
of Typhon, who deprived his brother of the sceptre of Egypt, and
Nebuchadnezzar who acquired it in expiation of his atrocities. Even the
donkey tribe suffered from this ill-omened visitation, according to the
proverb of "wicked as a red ass." Asses of that colour were held in
such detestation among the Copths, that every year they sacrificed one
by hurling it from a high wall.
THE FIRST COFFEE HOUSE IN LONDON.
Coffee is a native of Arabia, supposed by some to have been the chief
ingredient of the old Lacedemonian broth. The use of this berry was not
known in England till the year 1657, at which time Mr. D. Edwards, a
Turkey merchant, on his return from Smyrna to London, brought with him
one Pasquet Rossee, a Greek of Ragusa, who was used to prepare this
liquor for his master every morning, who, by the way, never wanted
company. The merchant, therefore, in order to get rid of a crowd of
visitants, ordered his Greek to open a coffee-house, which he did in
St. Michael's Alley, in Cornhill. This was the first coffee-house
opened in London.
EATING FOR A WAGER.
The handbill, of which the subjoined is a literal copy, was circulated
by the keeper of the public-house at which the gluttony was to happen,
as an attraction for all the neighbourhood to witness:--
"_Bromley in Kent_, July 14, 1726.--A strange eating worthy is to
perform a Tryal of Skill on St. James's Day, which is the day of our
_Fair_ for a wager of Five Guineas,--viz.: he is to eat four pounds of
bacon, a bushel of French beans, with two pounds of butter, a quartern
loaf, and to drink a gallon of strong beer!"
FOX KILLED BY A SWAN.
At Peusey, a swan sitting on her eggs, on one side of the river,
observed a fox swimming towards her from the opposite side; rightly
judging she could best grapple with the fox in her own element, she
plunged into the water, and after beating him off for some time with
her wings, at length succeeded in drowning him.
HIGHWAYMEN IN 1782.
On Wednesday, the 9th January, 1782, about four o'clock in the
afternoon, as Anthony Todd, Esq., Secretary to the Post-office, was
going in his carriage to his house at Walthamstow to dinner, and
another gentleman with him, he was stopt within a small distance of his
house by two highwaymen, one of whom held a pistol to the coachman's
breast, whilst the other, with a handkerchief over his face, robbed
Mr. Todd and the gentleman of their gold watches and what money they
had about them. As soon as Mr. Todd got home all his men-servants were
mounted on horses, and pursued the highwaymen; they got intelligence
of their passing Lee-bridge, and rode on to Shoreditch; but could not
learn anything farther of them.
The same evening a gentleman going along Aldermanbury, near the church,
was accosted by a man with an enquiry as to the time; on which the
gentleman pulled out his gold watch. The man immediately said, "I
must have that watch and your money, sir, so don't make a noise." The
gentleman seeing nobody near, he delivered his gold watch and four
guineas, with some silver. The thief said he was in distress, and
hoped the gentleman would not take away his life if ever he had the
opportunity.
Sunday, the 13th January, 1782, about twelve o'clock, a man was, by
force, dragged up the yard of the French-Horn Inn, High Holborn, by
some person or persons unknown, and robbed of his watch, four guineas,
and some silver; when they broke his arm and otherwise cruelly treated
him. He was found by a coachman, who took him to the hospital.
AN ARCHBISHOP WASHING THE FEET OF THE POOR.
In the _Gentleman's Magazine_, we find the following
observance:--_Thursday, April 15, 1731_.--Being Maunday-Thursday, there
was distributed at the Banquetting-house, Whitehall, to forty-eight
poor men, and forty-eight poor women (the King's age 48) boiled beef
and shoulders of mutton, and small bowls of ale, which is called
dinner; after that, large wooden platters of fish and loaves, viz.,
undress'd, one large old ling, and one large dry'd cod; twelve red
herrings, and nineteen white herrings, and four half quartern loaves;
each person had one platter of this provision: after which was
distributed to them shoes, stockings, linnen and woolen cloath, and
leathern bags, with one penny, two penny, three penny, and four penny
pieces of silver, and shillings: to each about L4 in value. His Grace
the Lord Archbishop of York, Lord High Almoner, performed the annual
ceremony of washing the feet of a certain number of poor in the Royal
Chapel, Whitehall, which was formerly done by the Kings themselves, in
imitation of our Saviour's pattern of humility, &c. James II. was the
last King who performed this in person. His doing so was thus recorded
in the _Chapel Royal Register_.--"On Maunday Thursday April 16 1685 our
gracious King James y{e} 2{d} wash'd wip'd and kiss'd the feet of 52 poor
men w{th} wonderful humility. And all the service of the Church of
England usuall on that occasion was performed, his Maty being psent all
the time."
A LUCKY FIND.
_Sunday, April 1._--A few days ago, Sir Simon Stuart, of Hartley, in
Hampshire, looking over some old writings, found on the back of one
of them a memorandum noting that 1,500 broad pieces were buried in a
certain spot in an adjoyning field. Whereupon he took a servant, and
after digging a little in the place, found the treasure in a pot, hid
there in the time of the late civil wars, by his grandfather, Sir
Nicholas Stuart.--_Gentleman's Magazine_, 1733.
HOOPS IN 1740.
[Illustration: [++] Ladies Hoops in 1740.]
The monstrous appearance of the ladies' hoops, when viewed behind, may
be seen from the following cut, copied from one of Rigaud's views.
The exceedingly small cap, at this time fashionable, and the close
up-turned hair beneath it, give an extraordinary meanness to the head,
particularly when the liberality of gown and petticoat is taken into
consideration: the lady to the left wears a black hood with an ample
fringed cape, which envelopes her shoulders, and reposes on the summit
of the hoop. The gentleman wears a small wig and bag; the skirts of his
coat are turned back, and were sometimes of a colour different from the
rest of the stuff of which it was made, as were the cuffs and lappels.
SIEGE OF GIBRALTAR.
Gibraltar had been taken by a combined English and Dutch fleet in 1704,
and was confirmed as a British possession, in 1713, by the peace of
Utrecht; but in 1779 it was assailed by the united forces of France
and Spain, and the siege continued till the 2nd of February, 1783. The
chief attack was made on the 13th September, 1782. On the part of the
besiegers, besides stupendous batteries on the land side, mounting two
hundred pieces of ordnance, there was an army of 40,000 men, under the
command of the Duc de Crillon. In the bay lay the combined fleets of
France and Spain, comprising forty-seven sail of the line, beside ten
battering ships of powerful construction, that cost upwards of L50,000
each. From these the heaviest shells rebounded, but ultimately two of
them were set on fire by red-hot shot, and the others were destroyed to
prevent them from falling into the hands of the British commander. The
rest of the fleet also suffered considerably; but the defenders escaped
with very little loss. In this engagement 8,300 rounds were fired by
the garrison, more than half of which consisted of red-hot balls.
During this memorable siege, which lasted upwards of three years, the
entire expenditure of the garrison exceeded 200,000 rounds,--8,000
barrels of powder being used. The expenditure of the enemy, enormous
as this quantity is, must have been much greater; for they frequently
fired, from their land-batteries, 4,000 rounds in the short space of
twenty-four hours. Terrific indeed must have been the spectacle as the
immense fortress poured forth its tremendous volleys, and the squadron
and land-batteries replied with a powerful cannonade. But all this
waste of human life and of property was useless on the part of the
assailants; for the place was successfully held, and Gibraltar still
remains one of the principal strongholds of British power in Europe.
[Illustration: Saint George's Hall, Gibraltar.]
During the progress of the siege, the fortifications were considerably
strengthened, and numerous galleries were excavated in the solid rock,
having port-holes at which heavy guns were mounted, which, keeping up
an incessant fire, proved very efficacious in destroying the enemy's
encampments on the land side. Communicating with the upper tier of
these galleries are two grand excavations, known as Lord Cornwallis's
and St. George's Halls. The latter, which is capable of holding several
hundred men, has numerous pieces of ordnance pointed in various
directions, ready to deal destruction on an approaching enemy.
KEEPING WHITSUNTIDE AT DURHAM CATHEDRAL.
The following curious account of the consumption of provisions in the
cathedral of Durham, during Whitsun week, in 1347, together with the
prices of the articles, is taken from the rolls of the cellarer, at
present in the treasury at Durham:--six hundred salt herrings, 3s.;
four hundred white herrings, 2s. 6d.; thirty salted salmon, 7s. 6d.;
twelve fresh salmon, 5s. 6d.; fourteen ling, fifty-five "kelengs;"
four turbot, 23s. 1d.; two horse loads of white fish, and a "congr,"
5s. 10d.; "playc," "sparlings," and eels, and fresh water fish, 2s.
9d.; nine carcases of oxen, salted, so bought, 36s.; one carcase and
a quarter, fresh, 6s. 11-3/4d.; a quarter of an oxe, fresh, bought in
the town, 3s. 6d.; seven carcases and a half of swine, in salt, 22s.
2-1/4d.; six carcases, fresh, 12s. 9d.; fourteen calves, 28s. 4d.;
three kids, and twenty-six sucking porkers, 9s. 7-1/2d.; seventy-one
geese with their feed, 11s. 10d.; fourteen capons, fifty-nine chickens,
and five dozen pidgeons, 10s. 3d.; five stones of hog's lard, 4s. 2d.;
four stones of cheese, butter, and milk, 6s. 6d.; a pottle of vinegar,
and a pottle of honey, 6-1/2d.; fourteen pounds of figs and raisins,
sixteen pounds of almonds, and eight pounds of rice, 3s. 7d.; pepper,
saffron, cinnamon, and other spices, 2s. 6d.; one thousand three
hundred eggs, 15s. 5d.--sum total, L11 4s. Similar consumptions took
place during the week of the feast of St. Cuthbert, and other feasts,
among the monks of Durham, for a long period of years.
CURIOUS LAW.
The following curious law was enacted during the reign of Richard I.
for the government of those going by sea to the Holy Land:--"He who
kills a man on shipboard, shall be bound to the dead body and thrown
into the sea; if the man is killed on shore, the slayer shall be bound
to the dead body and buried with it. He who shall draw his knife to
strike another, or who shall have drawn blood from him, to lose his
hand; if he shall have only struck with the palm of his hand without
drawing blood, he shall be thrice ducked in the sea."
DECAPITATION BY THE GUILLOTINE.
A gentleman of intelligence and literary attainments, makes, in an
account of his travels on the continent, the following most singular
remarks on an execution he witnessed, in which the culprit was beheaded
by the guillotine:--"It appears," says he, "to be the best of all
possible modes of inflicting the punishment of death; combining the
greatest impression on the spectator, with the least possible suffering
to the victim. It is so rapid, that I should doubt whether there were
any suffering; but from the expression of the countenance, when the
executioner held up the head, I am inclined to believe that sense and
consciousness may remain for a few seconds after the head is off. The
eyes seemed to retain speculation for a moment or two, and there was a
look in the ghastly stare with which they stared upon the crowd, which
implied that the head was aware of its ignominious situation."
ALDERMAN BOYDELL.
It was the regular custom of Mr. Alderman Boydell, who was a very early
riser, at five o'clock, to go immediately to the pump in Ironmonger
Lane. There, after placing his wig upon the ball at the top of it, he
used to sluice his head with its water. This well-known and highly
respected character, who has done more for the British artist than all
the print-publishers put together, was also one of the last men who
wore a three-cornered hat.
FEATS OF STRENGTH IN 1739.
April 21.--The following notice was given to the public:--"For the
benefit of Thomas Topham, the strong man, from Islington, whose
performances have been looked upon by the Royal Society and several
persons of distinction, to be the most surprising as well as curious
of any thing ever performed in England; on which account, as other
entertainments are more frequently met with than that he proposes, he
humbly hopes gentlemen and ladies, &c., will honour him with their
presence at the Nag's Head, in Gateshead, on Monday the 23d of this
instant, at four o'clock, where he intends to perform several feats of
strength, viz.:--He bends an iron poker three inches in circumference,
over his arm, and one of two inches and a quarter round his neck; he
breaks a rope that will bear two thousand weight, and with his fingers
rolls up a pewter dish of seven pounds hard metal; he lays the back
part of his head on one chair, and his heels on another, and suffering
four men to stand on his body, he moves them up and down at pleasure;
he lifts a table six feet in length, by his teeth, with a half hundred
weight hanging at the further end of it; and, lastly, to oblige the
publick, he will lift a butt full of water." "Each person to pay one
shilling." This "strong man" fell a victim to jealousy, as is proved by
the following:--"August 10th, 1749, died, Mr. Thomas Topham, known by
the name of the strong man, master of a publick house in Shoreditch,
London. In a fit of jealousy, he stabbed his wife, then cut his own
throat and stabbed himself, after which he lived two days."
ELEPHANTS FRIGHTENED AT PIGS.
"Then on a tyme there were many grete clerkes and rad of kyng
Alysaunder how on a tyme as he sholde have a batayle with ye kynge
of Inde. And this kynge of Inde broughte with hym many olyphauntes
berynge castelles of tree on theyr backes as the kynde of the is to
haue armed knyghtes in ye castell for the batayle, them ne knewe
Alysaunder the kynge, of the olyphauntes that they drad no thynge more
than the jarrynge of swyne, wherefore he made to gader to gyder all
ye swyne that myghte be goten, and caused them to be dryuen as ny the
olyphauntes as they myghte well here the jarrynge of the swyne, and
thenne they made a pygge to crye, and whan the swyne herde the pygges a
none they made a great jarrynge, and as soone as the olyphauntes herde
that, they began to fle eche one, and keste downe the castelles and
slewe the knyghtes that were in them, and by this meane Alysaunder had
ye vyctory."--_Liber Festivalis, printed by W. Caxton in_ 1483.
A VISIT TO THE OBSERVATORY OF SIR ISAAC NEWTON.
The memory of a great and good man is imperishable. A thousand years
may pass away, but the fame that has survived the wreck of time remains
unsullied, and is even brighter with age.
"The actions of the just
Smell sweet, and blossom in the dust."
In an age of progress like our own we have frequently to regret the
destruction (sometimes necessary) of places associated with the genius
of the past; but in the case of Sir Isaac Newton we have several
relics existing, none of which, perhaps, are more interesting than
the house in which he resided, still standing in St. Martin's Street,
on the south side of Leicester Square. The engravings of the interior
and exterior of this building have been made from drawings made on
the spot. The house was long occupied as an hotel for foreigners, and
was kept by a M. Pagliano. In 1814 it was devoted to the purposes of
education. The Observatory, which is at the top, and where Sir Isaac
Newton made his astronomical researches, was left in a dilapidated
condition until 1824, when two gentlemen, belonging to a committee of
the school, had it repaired at their own expense, and wrote a brief
memoir of the philosopher, which was placed in the Observatory, with a
portrait of him.
[Illustration: Interior of Sir Isaac Newton's Observatory.]
[Illustration: House of Sir Isaac Newton, St. Martin's Street,
Leicester Square.]
In this house Sir Isaac Newton resided for many years; and it was
here, according to his biographer, that he dispensed, under the
superintendence of his beautiful niece, an elegant hospitality. Our
sketch gives a good idea of the appearance of the exterior of the
house at the present day; the front, it will be seen, has been well
plastered, which, although clean and pleasant-looking to some eyes,
seems to us to destroy the character of the building. The old doorway,
with a projecting top, has also been removed. The interior of the
house is in excellent repair, and has undergone very little change.
The cornices, panelling, and the spacious staircase, are not altered
since the days of Newton. The rooms are very large. Tradition states
it was in the back drawing-room that the manuscript of his work, the
"New Theory of Light and Colours," was destroyed by fire, caused by a
favourite little dog in Sir Isaac's absence. The name of this canine
incendiary was Diamond. The manner in which the accident occurred is
thus related:--The animal was wantoning about the philosopher's study,
when it knocked down a candle, and set fire to a heap of manuscript
calculations upon which he had been employed for years. The loss was
irretrievable; but Sir Isaac only exclaimed with simplicity, "Ah,
Diamond, Diamond, you little know what mischief you have been doing!"
Passing upstairs, and looking slightly at the various rooms, which
are all well panelled, but which do not require particular notice, we
reached the little observatory shown in the engraving. There, in the
room in which Sir Isaac has quietly studied, and in which he may have
held conferences with the most distinguished of his contemporaries,
we found two shoemakers busily at work, with whom we had some
pleasant conversation. Our artist has represented the interior of
the observatory, with its laborious occupants, worthy sons of St.
Crispin. Shoemakers are well known to be a thoughtful class of men,
although sometimes they unfortunately do not make the best use of their
knowledge. Brand, the historian and author of the excellent book on
"Popular Antiquities," was at one time a shoemaker; so was Bloomfield,
the poet, who, when working at the "last" in Bell Alley, near the Bank,
strung together the charming recollection of his plough-boy life. We
could give a long list of shoemakers who have been eminent for talents.
We have not the exact date at which Newton came to reside here, but
certainly he was living in this house, at intervals, after 1695, when
he was appointed Warder of the Mint, of which establishment he rose to
be Master in the course of three years. The emoluments of this office
amounted to L1200 a-year, which enabled him to live in ease and dignity.
In 1703 he was chosen President of the Royal Society--an honourable
post, to which he was annually elected until the time of his death.
POISONING THE MONARCH.
An idea of the popular notions about poisoning in the middle of the
seventeenth century, may be formed from the following extract from an
old tract, published in 1652, with the title of "Papa Patris, or the
Pope in his Colours":--"Anno Dom: 1596; one Edward Squire, sometimes a
scrivener at Grenewich, afterwards a deputy purveyor for the Queene's
stable, in Sir Francis Drake's last voyage was taken prisoner and
carried into Spaine, and being set at liberty, one Walpole, a Jesuite,
grew acquainted with him, and got him into the Inquisition, whence
he returned a resolved Papist, he persuaded Squire to undertake to
poyson the pummell of the Queene (Elizabeth's) saddle, and, to make
him constant, made Squire receive the Sacrament upon it; he then gave
him the poyson, showing that he should take it in a double bladder,
and should prick the bladder full of hoales in the upper part, when he
should use it (carrying it within a thick glove for the safety of his
hand) should after turne it downward, pressing the bladder upon the
pummell of the Queene's saddle. This Squire confest. Squire is now in
Spaine, and for his safer dispatch into England it was devised that
two Spanish prisoners taken at Cales should be exchanged for Squire
and one Rawles, that it might not be thought that Squire came over but
as a redeemed captive. The Munday sennight after Squire returned into
England, he, understanding the horses were preparing for the Queene's
riding abroad, laid his hand, and crushed the poyson upon the pummell
of the Queene's saddle, saying, 'God save the Queene,' the Queene
rode abroad, and as it should seem laid not her hand upon the place,
or els received no hurt (through God's goodnesse) by touching it.
Walpole, counting the thing as done, imparted it to some principall
fugitives there, but being disappointed of his hope, supposing Squire
to have been false, to be revenged on him sent one hither (who should
pretend to have stolne from thence) with letters, wherein the plot of
Squires was contained; this letter was pretended to be stolne out of
one of their studies. Squire, being apprehended, confessed all without
any rigor, but after denied that he put it in execution, although he
acknowledged he consented to it in the plot, at length he confessed the
putting it in execution also."
GRINNING FOR A WAGER.
_June 9, 1786._--On Whit-Tuesday was celebrated at Hendon, in
Middlesex, a burlesque imitation of the Olympic Games. One prize was a
gold-laced hat, to be grinned for by six candidates, who were placed on
a platform, with horses' collars to exhibit through. Over their heads
was printed in capitals,--
Detur Tetriori; or
The ugliest grinner
Shall be the winner.
Each party grinned five minutes _solus_, and then all united in a
grand _chorus_ of distortion. This prize was carried by a porter to a
_vinegar_ merchant, though he was accused by his competitors of foul
play, for rinsing his mouth with _verjuice_. The whole was concluded
by a hog, with has tail shaved and soaped, being let loose among nine
peasants; any one of which that could seize him by the _queue_, and
throw him across his shoulders, was to have him for a reward. This
occasioned much sport: the animal, after running some miles, so tired
his hunters that they gave up the chase in despair. A prodigious
concourse of people attended, among whom were the Tripoline Ambassador,
and several other persons of distinction.
BITE OF THE TARANTULA SPIDER.
A Neapolitan soldier who had been bitten by a tarantula, though
apparently cured, suffered from an annual attack of delirium, after
which he used to sink into a state of profound melancholy; his face
becoming livid, his sight obscure, his power of breathing checked,
accompanied by sighs and heavings. Sometimes he fell senseless, and
devoid of pulsation; ejecting blood from his nose and mouth, and
apparently dying. Recourse was had to the influence of music; and the
patient began to revive at the sound, his hands marking the measure,
and the feet being similarly affected. Suddenly rising and laying hold
of a bystander, he began to dance with the greatest agility during
an uninterrupted course of four-and-twenty hours. His strength was
supported by administering to him wine, milk, and fresh eggs. If he
appeared to relapse, the music was repeated, on which he resumed his
dancing. This unfortunate being used to fall prostrate if the music
accidentally stopped, and imagine that the tarantula had again stung
him. After a few years he died, in one of these annual attacks of
delirium.
BYGONE CHRISTMAS CUSTOMS.
------------"Now, too, is heard
The hapless cripple, tuning through the streets
His _carol_ new; and oft, amid the gloom
Of midnight hours, prevail th' accustom'd sounds
Of wakeful _waits_, whose harmony (composed
Of hautboy, organ, violin, and flute,
And various other instruments of mirth),
Is meant to celebrate the coming time."
[Illustration: The Mummers, Or Ancient Waits.]
The manner in which this period of the year has been observed has often
varied. The observances of the day first became to be pretty general
in the Catholic church about the year 300. By some of our ancestors
it was viewed in the double light of a religious and joyful season of
festivities. The midnight preceding Christmas-day every person went
to mass, and on Christmas-day three different masses were sung with
much solemnity. Others celebrated it with great parade, splendour, and
conviviality. Business was superseded by merriment and hospitality;
the most careworn countenance brightened on the occasion. The nobles
and the barons encouraged and participated in the various sports: the
industrious labourer's cot, and the residence of proud royalty, equally
resounded with tumultuous joy. From Christmas-day to Twelfth-day there
was a continued run of entertainments. Not only did our ancestors make
great rejoicings on, but before and after Christmas-day. By a law in
the time of Alfred, the "twelve days after the nativity of our Saviour
were made festivals;"[1] and it likewise appears from Bishop Holt, that
the whole of the days were dedicated to feasting.
[1] Thus we have the origin of Twelfth-day.
Our ancestors' various amusements were conducted by a sort of master
of the ceremonies, called the "Lord of Misrule," whose duty it was to
keep order during the celebration of the different sports and pastimes.
The universities, the lord mayor and sheriffs, and all noblemen and
gentlemen, had their "lords of misrule." These "lords" were first
preached against at Cambridge by the Puritans, in the reign of James
I., as unbecoming the gravity of the university.
[Illustration: The Lord of Misrule.]
The custom of serving boars' heads at Christmas bears an ancient date,
and much ceremony and parade has been occasionally attached to it.
Henry II. "served his son (upon the young prince's coronation) at the
table as server, bringing up the _boar's head_ with trumpets before it."
The custom of strolling from street to street with musical instruments
and singing seems to have originated from a very ancient practice
which prevailed, of certain minstrels who were attached to the king's
court and other great persons, who paraded the streets, and sounded the
hour--thus acting as a sort of watchmen. Some slight remains of these
still exist, but they no longer partake of the authoritative claim
as they originally did, as the "lord mayor's music," &c. It may not,
perhaps, be generally known, that even at the present day "waits" are
regularly sworn before the "court of burgesses" at Westminster, and act
under the authority of a warrant, signed by the clerk, and sealed with
the arms of the city and liberty; in addition to which, they were bound
to provide themselves with a silver badge, also bearing the arms of
Westminster.
In the north they have their _Yule log_, or _Yuletide log_, which is
a huge log burning in the chimney corner, whilst the Yule cakes are
baked on a "girdle," (a kind of frying-pan) over the fire; little lads
and maidens assemble nightly at some neighbouring friends to hear the
goblin story, and join in "fortune-telling," or some game. There is a
part of an old song which runs thus:
"Now all our neighbours' chimneys smoke.
And _Christmas logs_ are burning;
Their ovens they with baked meate choke,
And all their spits are turning."
Among the plants usual to Christmas are the rosemary, the holly, and
the mistletoe. Gay says:
"When _rosemary_ and _bays_, the poet's crown,
Are bawled in frequent cries through all the town,
Then judge the festival of Christmas near--
Christmas, the joyous period of the year.
Now with bright _holly_ all your temples strow,
With _laurel_ green and sacred _mistletoe_."
A MERMAN.
"The wind being easterly, we had thirty fathoms of water, when at ten
o'clock in the morning a sea monster like a man appeared near our ship,
first on the larboard, where the master was, whose name is William
Lomone, who took a grappling iron to pull him up; but our captain,
named Oliver Morin, hindered him, being afraid that the monster would
drag him away into the sea. The said Lomone struck him on the back, to
make him turn about, that he might view him the better. The monster,
being struck, showed his face, having his two hands closed as if he
had expressed some anger. Afterwards he went round the ship: when he
was at the stern, he took hold of the helm with both hands, and we
were obliged to make it fast lest he should damage it. From thence he
proceeded to the starboard, swimming still as men do. When he came
to the forepart of the ship, he viewed for some time the figure that
was in our prow, which represented a beautiful woman, and then he
rose out of the water as if he had been willing to catch that figure.
All this happened in the sight of the whole crew. Afterwards he came
again to the larboard, where they presented to him a cod-fish hanging
down with a rope; he handled it without spoiling it, and then removed
the length of a cable and came again to the stern, where he took hold
of the helm a second time. At that very moment, Captain Morin got a
harping-iron ready, and took it himself to strike him with it; but
the cordage being entangled, he missed his aim, and the harping-iron
touched only the monster, who turned about, showing his face, as he
had done before. Afterwards he came again to the fore part, and viewed
again the figure in our prow. The mate called for the harping-iron; but
he was frightened, fancying that this monster was one La Commune, who
had killed himself in the ship the year before, and had been thrown
into the sea in the same passage. He was contented to push his back
with the harping-iron, and then the monster showed his face, as he had
done at other times. Afterwards he came along the board, so that one
might have given him the hand. He had the boldness to take a rope held
up by John Mazier and John Deffiete, who being willing to pluck it out
of his hands, drew him to our board; but he fell into the water and
then removed at the distance of a gun's shot. He came again immediately
near our board, and rising out of the water to the navel, we observed
that his breast was as large as that of a woman of the best plight.
He turned upon his back and appeared to be a male. Afterwards he swam
again round the ship, and then went away, and we have never seen him
since. I believe that from ten o'clock till twelve that this monster
was along our board; if the crew had not been frighted, he might have
been taken many times with the hand, being only two feet distant.
That monster is about eight feet long, his skin is brown and tawny,
without any scales, all his motions are like those of men, the eyes
of a proportionable size, a little mouth, a large and flat nose, very
white teeth, black hair, the chin covered with a mossy beard, a sort of
whiskers under the nose, the ears like those of men, fins between the
fingers of his hands and feet like those of ducks. In a word, he is a
well-shaped man. Which is certified to be true by Captain Oliver Morin,
and John Martin, pilot, and by the whole crew, consisting of two and
thirty men."--_An article from Brest, in the Memoirs of Trevoux._--This
monster was mentioned in the Gazette of Amsterdam, October 12, 1725,
where it is said it was seen in the ocean in August, same year.
A SHAVED BEAR.
At Bristol I saw a shaved monkey shown for a fairy; and a shaved
bear, in a check waistcoat and trousers, sitting in a great chair
as an Ethiopian savage. This was the most cruel fraud I ever saw.
The unnatural position of the beast, and the damnable brutality of
the woman-keeper who sat upon his knee, put her arm round his neck,
called him husband and sweet-heart, and kissed him, made it the most
disgusting spectacle I ever witnessed! Cottle was with me.--_Southey._
THE ORIGIN OF WIGS.
As for the origin of wigs, the honour of the invention is attributed
to the luxurious Sapygians in Southern Italy. The Louvain theologians,
who published a French version of the Bible, affected, however, to
discover the first mention of perukes in a passage in the fourth
chapter of Isaiah. The Vulgate has these words: "Decalvabit Dominus
verticem filiarum Sion, et Dominus crinem earum nudabit." This, the
Louvain gentlemen translated into French as follows: "Le Seigneur
dechevelera les tetes des filles de Sion, et le Seigneur decouvrira
leurs perruques;" which, done into English, implies that "The Lord will
pluck the hair from the heads of the daughters of Sion, and will expose
their periwigs."
DRESS IN 1772.
[Illustration: [++] Maccaronies.]
The year 1772 introduced a new style for gentlemen, imported by a
number of young men of fashion who had travelled into Italy, and
formed an association called the Maccaroni Club, in contradistinction
to the Beef-steak Club of London. Hence these new-fashioned dandies
were styled Maccaronies, a name that was afterwards applied to ladies
of the same genus. The accompanying cut delineates the peculiarities
of both. The hair of the gentleman was dressed in an enormous toupee,
with very large curls at the sides; while behind it was gathered and
tied up into an enormous club, or knot, that rested on the back of
the neck like a porter's knot; upon this an exceedingly small hat
was worn, which was sometimes lifted from the head with the cane,
generally very long, and decorated with extremely large silk tassels;
a full white handkerchief was tied in a large bow round the neck;
frills from the shirt-front projected from the top of the waistcoat,
which was much shortened, reaching very little below the waist, and
being without the flap-covered pockets. The coat was also short,
reaching only to the hips, fitting closely, having a small turn-over
collar as now worn; it was edged with lace or braid, or decorated
with frog-buttons, tassels, or embroidery; the breeches were tight,
of spotted or striped silk, with enormous bunches of strings at the
knee. A watch was carried in each pocket, from which hung bunches of
chains and seals: silk stockings and small shoes with little diamond
buckles completed the gentleman's dress. The ladies decorated their
heads much like the gentlemen, with a most enormous heap of hair, which
was frequently surmounted by plumes of large feathers and bunches of
flowers, until the head seemed to overbalance the body. The gown was
open in front; hoops were discarded except in full-dress; and the gown
gradually spread outward from the waist, and trailed upon the ground
behind, shewing the rich laced petticoat ornamented with flowers and
needlework; the sleeves widened to the elbow, where a succession of
ruffles and lappets, each wider than the other, hung down below the
hips.
CHRISTMAS OBSERVANCES PUT DOWN BY THE PURITANS.
During the Commonwealth, when puritanical feelings held iron sway
over the rulers of the land, and rode rampant in high places, many
strong attempts were made to put down what they were pleased to term
superstitious festivals, and amongst these was that of Christmas
Day. So determined was the Puritan party to sweep away all vestiges
of evil creeds and evil deeds, that they were resolved to make one
grand attempt upon the time-honoured season of Christmas. The Holly
and the Mistletoe-bough were to be cut up root and branch, as plants
of the Evil One. Cakes and Ale were held to be impious libations to
superstition; and the Roundheads would have none of it.
[Illustration: Proclaiming the Non-observance of Christmas.]
Accordingly, we learn that, in the year 1647, the Cromwell party
ordered throughout the principal towns and cities of the country, by
the mouth of the common crier, that Christmas Day should no longer
be observed--it being a superstitious and hurtful custom; and that
in place thereof, and the more effectually to work a change, markets
should be held on the 25th day of December.
This was attacking the people, especially the country folks, in
their most sensitive part. It was hardly to be expected that they
would quietly submit to such a bereavement; nor did they, as the
still-existing "News-letters" of those days amply testify.
THE MANNER OF WATCHMEN INTIMATING THE CLOCK AT HERRENHUTH IN GERMANY.
VIII. Past eight o'clock! O, Herrenhuth, do thou ponder;
Eight souls in Noah's ark were living yonder.
IX. 'Tis nine o'clock! ye brethren, hear it striking;
Keep hearts and houses clean, to our Saviour's liking.
X. Now, brethren, hear, the clock is ten and passing;
None rest but such as wait for Christ embracing.
XI. Eleven is past! still at this hour eleven,
The Lord is calling us from earth to heaven.
XII. Ye brethren, hear, the midnight clock is humming;
At midnight, our great Bridegroom will be coming.
I. Past one o'clock; the day breaks out of darkness:
Great Morning-star appear, and break our hardness!
II. 'Tis two! on Jesus wait this silent season,
Ye two so near related, will and reason.
III. The clock is three! the blessed Three doth merit
The best of praise, from body, soul, and spirit.
IV. 'Tis four o'clock, when three make supplication,
The Lord will be the fourth on that occasion.
V. Five is the clock! five virgins were discarded,
When five with wedding garments were rewarded.
VI. The clock is six, and I go off my station;
Now, brethren, _watch yourselves for your salvation_.
A DOG EXTINGUISHING A FIRE.
On the evening of the 21st February, 1822, the shop of Mr. Coxon,
chandler, at the Folly, Sandgate, in Newcastle, was left in charge of
his daughter, about nine years of age, and a large mastiff, which is
generally kept there as a safeguard since an attempt was made to rob
the shop. The child had on a straw bonnet lined with silk, which took
fire from coming too near the candle. She endeavoured to pull it off,
but being tied, she could not effect her purpose, and in her terror
shrieked out, on which the mastiff instantly sprang to her assistance,
and with mouth and paws completely smothered out the flame by pressing
the bonnet together. The lining of the bonnet and the child's hair only
were burnt.
CAMBRIDGE CLODS.
About sixty years since, two characters, equally singular in their way,
resided at Cambridge: Paris, a well-known bookseller, and Jackson, a
bookbinder, and principal bass-singer at Trinity College Chapel in that
University; these two gentlemen, who were both remarkably corpulent,
were such small consumers in the article of bread, that their
abstemiousness in that particular was generally noticed; but, to make
amends, they gave way to the greatest excess and indulgence of their
appetites in meat, poultry, and fish, of almost every description. So
one day, having taken an excursion, in walking a few miles from home,
they were overtaken by hunger, and, on entering a public-house, the
only provision they could procure was a clod of beef, weighing near
fourteen pounds, which had been a day or two in salt; and this these
two moderate bread consumers contrived to manage between them broiled,
assisted by a due proportion of buttered potatoes and pickles. The
landlord of the house, having some knowledge of his guests, the story
got into circulation, and the two worthies were ever after denominated
the Cambridge Clods!
WITCH-TESTING AT NEWCASTLE IN 1649.
March 26.--Mention occurs of a petition in the common council books
of Newcastle, of this date, and signed, no doubt, by the inhabitants,
concerning witches, the purport of which appears, from what followed,
to have been to cause all such persons as were suspected of that crime
to be apprehended and brought to trial. In consequence of this, the
magistrates sent two of their sergeants, viz.--Thomas Shevill and
Cuthbert Nicholson, into Scotland, to agree with a Scotchman, who
pretended knowledge to find out witches, by pricking them with pins, to
come to Newcastle, where he should try such who should be brought to
him, and to have twenty shillings a piece, for all he should condemn as
witches, and free passage thither and back again. When the sergeants
had brought the said witch-finder on horseback to town, the magistrates
sent their bellman through the town, ringing his bell and crying,
all people that would bring in any complaint against any woman for a
witch, they should be sent for, and tried by the person appointed.
Thirty women were brought into the town-hall, and stripped, and then
openly had pins thrust into their bodies, and most of them were found
guilty. The said reputed witch-finder acquainted Lieutenant-Colonel
Paul Hobson, deputy-governor of Newcastle, that he knew women whether
they were witches or no by their looks; and when the said person
was searching of a personable and good-like woman, the said colonel
replied, and said, surely this woman is none, and need not be tried,
but the Scotchman said she was, and, therefore, he would try her; and
presently, in the sight of all the people, laid her body naked to the
waist, with her cloathes over her head, by which fright and shame all
her blood contracted into one part of her body, and then he ran a pin
into her thigh, and then suddenly let her cloathes fall, and then
demanded whether she had nothing of his in her body, but did not bleed!
but she being amazed, replied little; then he put his hands up her
cloathes and pulled out the pin, and set her aside as a guilty person,
and child of the devil, and fell to try others, whom he made guilty.
Lieutenant-Colonel Hobson, perceiving the alteration of the aforesaid
woman, by her blood settling in her right parts, caused that woman to
be brought again, and her cloathes pulled up to her thigh, and required
the Scot to run the pin into the same place, and then it gushed out of
blood, and the said Scot cleared her, and said she was not a child of
the devil. The witch-finder set aside twenty-seven out of the thirty
suspected persons, and in consequence, fourteen witches and one wizard,
belonging to Newcastle, were executed on the town moor.
ALEXANDER SELKIRK AND THE DANCING GOATS.
The adventures of Alexander Selkirk, an English sailor, who, more than
one hundred and fifty years since, was left alone on the island of Juan
Fernandez are very wonderful.
This extraordinary man sought to beguile his solitude by rearing kids,
and he would often sing to them, and dance with his motley group around
him. His clothes having worn out, he dressed himself in garments made
from the skins of such as run wild about the island; these he sewed
together with thongs of the same material. His only needle was a long
slender nail; and when his knife was no longer available, he made an
admirable substitute from an iron hoop that was cast ashore.
[Illustration: [++] Alexander Selkirk.]
Upon the wonderful sojourn of this man, Defoe founded his exquisite
tale of "Robinson Crusoe," a narrative more extensively read and better
known than perhaps any other ever written.
JACOB BOBART.
A curious anecdote of Jacob Bobart, keeper of the physic garden at
Oxford, occurs in one of Grey's notes to _Hudibras_--"He made a dead
rat resemble the common picture of dragons, by altering its head and
tail, and thrusting in taper sharp sticks, which, distended the skin on
each side till it resembled wings. He let it dry as hard as possible.
The learned immediately pronounced it a dragon; and one of them sent
an accurate description of it to Dr. Magliabecchi, librarian to the
Grand Duke of Tuscany; several fine copies of verses were wrote on so
rare a subject; but at last Mr. Bobart owned the cheat. However, it was
looked upon as a masterpiece of the art; and, as such, deposited in the
Museum."
BLIND JACK.
[Illustration: [++] Blind Jack.]
The streets of London, in the reigns of Queen Anne and Georges I. and
II., were infested with all sorts of paupers, vagabonds, impostors,
and common adventurers; and many, who otherwise might be considered
real objects of charity, by their disgusting manners and general
appearance in public places, rather merited the interference of the
parish beadles, and the discipline of Bridewell, than the countenance
and encouragement of such persons as mostly congregated around common
street exhibitions. One-eyed Granny and Blind Jack were particular
nuisances to the neighbourhoods in which the first practised her
mad-drunk gambols, and the latter his beastly manner of performing on
the flageolet. John Keiling, alias _Blind Jack_, having the misfortune
to lose his sight, thought of a strange method to insure himself a
livelihood. He was constitutionally a hale, robust fellow, without
any complaint, saving blindness, and having learnt to play a little
on the flageolet, he conceived a notion that, by performing on that
instrument in a different way to that generally practised, he should
render himself more noticed by the public, and be able to levy larger
contributions on their pockets.
The manner of _Blind Jack's_ playing the flageolet was by obtruding
the mouthpiece of the instrument up one of his nostrils, and, by long
custom, he could produce as much wind as most others with their lips
into the pipe; but the continued contortion and gesticulation of his
muscles and countenance rendered him an object of derision and disgust,
as much as that of charity and commiseration.
THE YORKSHIRE TIKE.
Ah iz i truth a country youth,
Neean us'd teea Lunnon fashions;
Yet vartue guides, an' still presides,
Ower all mah steps an' passions.
Neea coortly leear, bud all sincere,
Neea bribe shall ivver blinnd me,
If thoo can like a Yorkshire tike,
A rooague thoo'll nivver finnd me.
Thof envy's tung, seea slimlee hung,
Wad lee aboot oor country,
Neea men o' t' eearth booast greter wurth,
Or mare extend ther boounty.
Oor northern breeze wi' uz agrees,
An' does for wark weel fit uz;
I' public cares, an' all affairs,
Wi' honour we acquit uz.
Seea gret a moind is ne'er confiand,
Tu onny shire or nation;
They geean meeast praise weea weel displays
A leearned iddicasion.
Whahl rancour rolls i' lahtle souls,
By shallo views dissarning,
They're nobbut wise 'at awlus prize
Gud manners, sense, and leearnin.
TWO OF THE FATHERS ON FALSE HAIR.
Tertullian says, "If you will not fling away your false hair, as
hateful to Heaven, cannot I make it hateful to yourselves, by reminding
you that the false hair you wear may have come not only from a
criminal, but from a very dirty head; perhaps from the head of one
already damned?" This was a very hard hit indeed; but it was not nearly
so clever a stroke at wigs as that dealt by Clemens of Alexandria. The
latter informed the astounded wig-wearers, when they knelt at church
to receive the blessing, that they must be good enough to recollect
that the benediction remained on the wig, and did not pass through
to the wearer! This was a stumbling-block to the people; many of
whom, however, retained the peruke, and took their chance as to the
percolating through it of the benediction.
FOOD OF ANIMALS.
Linnaeus states the cow to eat 276 plants, and to refuse 218; the goat
eats 449, and declines 126; the sheep takes 387, and rejects 141;
the horse likes 262, and avoids 212; but the hog, more nice in its
provision than any of the former, eats but 72 plants, and rejects 171.
SLAVE ADVERTISEMENTS.
The following announcements are curious, as showing the merchandise
light in which the negro was regarded in America while yet a colony of
Great Britain:--
_FRANCIS LEWIS, Has for SALE_,
A Choice Parcel of Muscovado and Powder Sugars, in Hogsheads,
Tierces, and Barrels; Ravens, Duck, and a Negro Woman and Negro
Boy.--The Coach-House and Stables, with or without the Garden
Spot, formerly the Property of Joseph Murray, Esq; in the Broad
Way, to be let separately or together:--Inquire of said Francis
Lewis.
_New York Gazette_, Apr. 25, 1765.
* * * * *
This Day Run away from _John M' Comb_, Junier, an Indian Woman,
about 17 Years of Age, Pitted in the face, of a middle Stature and
Indifferent fatt, having on her a Drugat, Wastcoat, and Kersey
Petticoat, of a Light Collour. If any Person or Persons, shall
bring the said Girle to her said Master, shall be Rewarded for
their Trouble to their Content.
_American Weekly Mercury_, May 24, 1726.
* * * * *
A Female Negro Child (of an extraordinary good Breed) to be given
away; Inquire of Edes and Gill.
_Boston Gazette_, Feb. 25, 1765.
* * * * *
_To be Sold, for want of Employ._
A Likely Negro Fellow, about 25 Years of Age, he is an
extraordinary good Cook, and understands setting or tending a
Table very well, likewise all Kind of House Work, such as washing,
scouring, scrubbing, &c. Also a Negro Wench his Wife, about 17
Years old, born in this City, and understands all Sorts of House
Work. For farther Particulars inquire of the Printer.
_New York Gazette_, Mar. 21, 1765.
PRESERVATIVE POWER OF COAL-PIT WATER.
The following is extracted from the register of St. Andrew's, in
Newcastle:--"April 24th, 1695, wear buried, James Archer and his son
Stephen, who, in the moneth of May, 1658, were drowned in a coal-pit
in the Galla-Flat, by the breaking in of water from an old waste. The
bodys were found intire, after they had lyen in the water 36 years and
11 months."
THE QUEEN BEE.
Reaumur relates the following anecdote of which he was a witness:--A
queen bee, and some of her attendants, were apparently drowned in a
brook. He took them out of the water, and found that neither the queen
bee, nor her attendants were quite dead. Reaumur exposed them to a
gentle heat, by which they were revived. The plebeian bees recovered
first. The moment they saw signs of animation in their queen, they
approached her, and bestowed upon her all the care in their power,
licking and rubbing her; and when the queen had acquired sufficient
force to move, they hummed aloud, as if in triumph!
DREAM OF KING HENRY I.
A singular dream, which happened to this monarch when passing over
to Normandy in 1130, has been depicted in a manuscript of Florence
of Worcester, in Corpus Christi College, Oxford. The rapacity and
oppressive taxation of his government, and the reflection forced on
him by his own unpopular measures, may have originated the vision. He
imagined himself to have been visited by the representatives of the
three most important grades of society--the husbandmen, the knights,
and the clergy--who gathered round his bed, and so fearfully menaced
him, that he awoke in great alarm, and, seizing his sword, loudly
called for his attendants. The drawings that accompany this narrative,
and represent each of these visions, appear to have been executed
shortly afterwards, and are valuable illustrations of the general
costume of the period. One of them is introduced in this place.
[Illustration: [++] King Henry I. Dreaming.]
The king is here seen sleeping; behind him stand three husbandmen,
one carrying a scythe, another a pitchfork, and the third a shovel.
They are each dressed in simple tunics, without girdles, with plain
close-fitting sleeves; the central one has a mantle fastened by a
plain brooch, leaving the right arm free. The beards of two of these
figures are as ample as those of their lords, this being an article
of fashionable indulgence within their means. The one with the scythe
wears a hat not unlike the felt hat still worn by his descendants in
the same grade: the scroll in his left hand is merely placed there to
contain the words he is supposed to utter to the king.
SEPULCHRAL BARROW OF THE ANGLO-SAXONS.
The engraving on the next page is copied from a plate in Douglas's
_Neniae_ and represents one of the most ancient of the Kentish barrows
opened by him in the Chatham Lines, Sept. 1779; and it will enable the
reader at once to understand the structure of these early graves, and
the interesting nature of their contents. The outer circle marks the
extent of the mound covering the body, and which varied considerably in
elevation, sometimes being but a few inches or a couple of feet from
the level of the ground, at others of a gigantic structure. In the
centre of the mound, and at the depth of a few feet from the surface,
an oblong rectangular grave is cut, the space between that and the
outer circle being filled in with chalk, broken into small bits, and
deposited carefully and firmly around and over the grave. The grave
contained the body of a male adult, tall and well-proportioned, holding
in his right hand a spear, the shaft of which was of wood, and had
perished, leaving only the iron head, 15 inches in length, and at the
bottom a flat iron stud (_a_), having, a small pin in the centre, which
would appear to have been driven into the bottom of the spear-handle;
an iron knife lay by the right side, with remains of the original
handle of wood. Adhering to its under side were very discernible
impressions of coarse linen cloth, showing that the warrior was buried
in full costume. An iron sword is on the left side, thirty-five and
a quarter inches in its entire length, from the point to the bottom
of the handle, which is all in one piece, the wood-work which covered
the handle having perished; the blade thirty inches in length and two
in breadth, flat, double-edged, and sharp-pointed, a great portion of
wood covering the blade, which indicates that it was buried with a
scabbard, the external covering being of leather, the internal of wood.
A leathern strap passed round the waist, from which hung the knife and
sword, and which was secured by the brass buckle (_b_), which was found
near the last bone of the vertebrae, or close to the os sacrum. Between
the thigh-bones lay the iron umbo of a shield, which had been fastened
by studs of iron, four of which were found near it, the face and
reverse of one being represented at (_c_.) A thin plate of iron (_d_),
four and a half inches in length, lay exactly under the centre of the
umbo, having two rivets at the end, between which and the umbo were
the remnants of the original wooden (and perhaps hide-bound) shield;
the rivets of the umbo having apparently passed through the wood to
this plate as its bracer or stay. In a recess at the feet was placed a
vase of red earth, slightly ornamented round the neck with concentric
circles and zigzag lines.
[Illustration: [++] Anglo-Saxon Sepulchral Barrow.]
AN OLD GANDER.
Willoughby states in his work on Ornithology, that a friend of his
possessed a gander eighty years of age; which in the end became so
ferocious that they were forced to kill it, in consequence of the
havock it committed in the barn-yard. He also talks of a swan three
centuries old; and several celebrated parrots are said to have attained
from one hundred to one hundred and fifty years.
EXTRAORDINARY SLEEPER.
M. Brady, Physician to Prince Charles of Lorraine, gives the following
particulars of an extraordinary sleeper:--
"A woman, named Elizabeth Alton, of a healthful strong constitution,
who had been servant to the curate of St. Guilain, near the town
of Mons, about the beginning of the year 1738, when she was about
thirty-six years of age grew extremely restless and melancholy. In
the month of August, in the same year, she fell into a sleep which
held four days, notwithstanding all possible endeavours to awake her.
At length she awoke naturally, but became more restless and uneasy
than before; for six or seven days, however, she resumed her usual
employments, until she fell asleep again, which continued eighteen
hours. From that time to the year 1753, which is fifteen years, she
fell asleep daily about three o'clock in the morning, without waking
until about eight or nine at night. In 1754 indeed her sleep returned
to the natural periods for four months, and, in 1748, a tertian ague
prevented her sleeping for three weeks. On February 20, 1755, M. Brady,
with a surgeon, went to see her. About five o'clock in the evening,
they found her pulse extremely regular; on taking hold of her arm it
was so rigid, that it was not bent without much trouble. They then
attempted to lift up her head, but her neck and back were as stiff as
her arms. He hallooed in her ear as loud as his voice could reach; he
thrust a needle into her flesh up to the bone; he put a piece of rag
to her nose flaming with spirits of wine, and let it burn some time,
yet all without being able to disturb her in the least. At length, in
about six hours and a half, her limbs began to relax; in eight hours
she turned herself in the bed, and then suddenly raised herself up,
sat down by the fire, ate heartily, and began to spin. At other times,
they whipped her till the blood came; they rubbed her back with honey,
and then exposed it to the stings of bees; they thrust nails under her
finger-nails; and it seems these triers of experiments consulted more
the gratifying their own curiosity than the recovery of the unhappy
object of the malady."
A FAT ENGLISHMAN.
Keysler, in his travels, speaks of a corpulent Englishman, who in
passing through Savoy, was obliged to make use of twelve chairmen. He
is said to have weighed five hundred and fifty pounds, or thirty-nine
stone four pounds.
A HAPPY FAMILY.
A gentleman travelling through Mecklenburg, some years since, witnessed
a singular association of incongruous animals. After dinner, the
landlord of the inn placed on the floor a large dish of soup, and gave
a loud whistle. Immediately there came into the room a mastiff, an
Angora cat, an old raven, and a remarkably large rat, with a bell about
its neck. They all four went to the dish, and, without disturbing each
other, fed together; after which the dog, cat, and rat, lay before
the fire, while the raven hopped about the room. The landlord, after
accounting for the familiarity of these animals, informed his guest
that the rat was the most useful of the four; for the noise he made had
completely freed his house from the rats and mice with which it was
before infested.
ANCIENT FIRE-ARMS IN THE TOWER OF LONDON ARMORY.
We have just now before us a drawing of an old piece of ordnance,
formed of bars of iron, strongly hooped with the same material, which
forms a striking contrast with the finely-wrought cannons which may be
seen in store at Woolwich Arsenal, and elsewhere, at the present day.
The exact date and manner of the introduction of cannon is a matter
which has caused much dispute. The earliest mention of the use of
cannon on shipboard is in Rymer's "Foedera." It is an order to Henry
Somer, Keeper of the Private Wardrobe in the Tower, to deliver to Mr.
Goveney, Treasurer to Queen Philippa, Queen of Sweeden, Denmark, and
Norway, (who was then sent by her uncle, Henry the Fourth, to her
husband, in the ship called the Queen's Hall,) the following military
stores: 11 guns, 40 petras pro gunnes, 40 tumpers, 4 torches, 1 mallet,
2 fire-pans, 40 pavys, 24 bows, 40 sheaves of arrows.
After the old cannon composed of bars of iron, hooped together, had
been some time in use, hand-cannon, a simple tube fixed on a straight
stake, was used in warfare, charged with gunpowder and an iron bullet.
This was made with trunnions and casabel precisely like the large
cannon. In course of time, the touch-hole was improved, and the barrel
cast in brass. This, fixed to a rod, had much the appearance of a large
sky-rocket. What is now called the stock was originally called the
frame of the gun.
Various improvements were from time to time made in the hand-gun,
amongst which was a pan fixed for containing the touch-powder. In rainy
weather, this became a receptacle for water; to obviate which, a small
piece of brass made to turn on a pin was placed as a cover. This done,
there was a difficulty in preserving the aim in consequence of the
liability of the eye to be diverted from the sight by the motion of the
right hand when conveying the lighted match to the priming. This was,
to a certain extent, prevented by a piece of brass being fixed to the
breech and perforated. The improved plan for holding the lighted match
for firing the hand-guns is shown in the engraving of the Buckler and
Pistol; it consists of a thin piece of metal something in shape of an S
reversed, the upper part slit to hold the match, the lower pushed up by
the hand when entended to ignite the powder.
After the invention of the hand-cannon, its use became general in a
very short space of time in most parts of the civilized world.
Philip de Comines, in his account of the battle of Morat, in 1476, says
he encountered in the confederate army 10,000 _arquebusiers_.
The arquebusiers in Hans Burgmain's plates of the "Triumph of
Maximilian the First," have suspended from their necks large powder
flasks or horns, a bullet bag on the right hip, and a sword on the
left, while they carry the matchlock in their hands.
Henry the Eighth's Walking-stick, as the Yeomen of Guard at the Tower
call it, is a short spiked mace, in the head of which are three short
guns or pistols, which may be fired at very primitive touch-holes by a
match.
The Revolver has four barrels, and although clumsy in construction, is
not very different in principles from those recently introduced.
[Illustration: 1. Henry the Eighth's Walking-stick. 2. A Revolver of
the Fifteenth century. 3. Buckler, with Pistol inserted.]
The use of the pistol inserted inside the buckler is obvious as the
latter affords protection to the person while using the former.
WIGS.
[Illustration: [++] Wigs.]
In 1772 the Maccaronies, as the exquisites of that time were called,
wore wigs similar to 1, 2, 3, with a large toupee, noticed as early as
1731, in the play of the _Modern Husband_: "I meet with nothing but a
parcel of _toupet_ coxcombs, who plaster up their brains upon their
periwigs," alluding to the pometum with which they were covered. Those
worn by the ladies in 1772 are given as 4, showing the rows of curls at
the sides. The pig-tails were worn hanging down the back, or tied up in
a knot behind, as in 5. About 1780 the hair which formed it was allowed
to stream in a long lock down the back, as in 6, and soon afterwards
was turned up in a knot behind. Towards the end of the century, the
wig, as a general and indispensable article of attire to young and old,
went out of fashion.
A FALSE FIND.
At Falmouth, some years ago, the sexton found coal in digging a grave;
he concluded it must be a mine, and ran with the news and the specimen
to the clergyman. The surgeon explained that they had stolen a French
prisoner who died, and filled his coffin with coal that the bearers
might not discover its emptiness.
BELLS.
As far back as the Anglo-Saxon times, before the conclusion of the
seventh century, bells had been in use in the churches of this country,
particularly in the monastic societies of Northumbria; and were,
therefore, in use from the first erection of parish churches among us.
Those of France and England appear to have been furnished with several
bells. In the time of Clothaire II., King of France, and in the year
610, the army of that king was frightened from the siege of the city of
Sens, by ringing the bells of St. Stephen's Church. They were sometimes
composed of iron in France; and in England, as formerly at Rome, they
were frequently made of brass. And as early as the ninth century many
were cast of a large size and deep note.
Weever, in his work on funeral monuments, says--"In the little
sanctuary at Westminster, King Edward III., erected a clochier, and
placed therein three bells, for the use of St. Stephen's Chapel. About
the biggest of them were cast in the metal these words:--
"King Edward made mee thirty thousand weight and three;
Take me down and wey mee, and more you shall find mee."
"But these bells being taken down in the reign of Henry VIII., one
wrote underneath with a coal:--
"But Henry the Eight,
Will bait me of my weight."
This last distich alludes to a fact mentioned by Stow, in his survey
of London--ward of Farringdon Within to wit--that near to St. Paul's
School stood a clochier, in which were four bells, called _Jesus'
bells_, the greatest in all England, against which Sir Miles Partridge
staked an hundred pounds, and won them of Henry VIII., at a cast of
dice.
Matthew Paris observes, that anciently the use of bells was prohibited
in time of mourning. Mabillon adds, that it was an old practice to
ring the bells for persons about to expire, to advertise the people
to pray for them--whence our passing-bell. The passing-bell, indeed,
was anciently for two purposes--one to bespeak the prayers of all good
Christians for a soul just departing; the other to drive away the evil
spirits who were supposed to stand at the bed's foot.
This dislike of spirits to bells is mentioned in the Golden Legend, by
Wynkyn de Worde. "It is said, evill spirytes that ben in the regyon
of thayre, doubte moche when they here the belles rongen; and this is
the cause why the belles ben rongen when it thondreth, and when grete
tempeste and outrages of wether happen; to the ende that the fiends and
wycked spirytes shold be abashed and flee, and cease of the movynge of
tempeste." Another author observes, that the custom of ringing bells at
the approach of thunder is of some antiquity; but that the design was
not so much to shake the air, and so dissipate the thunder, as to call
the people to church, to pray that the parish might be preserved from
the terrible effect of lightning.
Warner, in his history of Hampshire, enumerates the virtues of a bell,
by translating the lines from the "Helpe to Discourse:--
"Men's death's I tell by doleful knell;
Lightning and thunder I break asunder.
On Sabbath all to church I call;
The sleepy head I raise from bed;
The winds so fierce I doe disperse;
Men's cruel rage I doe assuage."
[Illustration: The Curfew Bell.]
Four of the bells of the ancient Abbey of Hexham were dedicated or
baptised; and although the old bells no longer exist, the legends upon
the whole six have been preserved, and a free translation given by Mr.
Wright, is as follows:--
1. Even at our earliest sound,
The light of God is spread around.
2. At the echo of my voice,
Ocean, earth and air, rejoice.
3. Blend thy mellow tones with mine,
Silver voice of Catherine!
4. Till time on ruin's lap shall nod.
John shall sound the praise of God.
5. With John in heavenly harmony,
Andrew, pour thy melody.
6. Be mine to chant Jehovah's fame,
While Maria is my name.
These epigraphs or legends on bells, are not uncommon. The Rev. W. C.
Lukis, in his notices on church bells, read at the Wilts Archaeological
Meeting, gave the following instances:--
At Aldbourne, on the first bell, we read, "The gift of Jos. Pizzie and
Wm. Gwynn.
"Music and ringing we like so well,
And for that reason we gave this bell."
On the fourth bell is,--
"Humphry Symsin gave xx pound to buy this bell,
And the parish gave xx more to make this ring go well."
A not uncommon epigraph is,--
"Come when I call
To serve God all."
At Chilton Foliatt, on the tenor, is,--
"Into the church the living I call,
And to the grave I summon all.
Attend the instruction which I give,
That so you may for ever live."
At Devizes, St. Mary, on the first bell, is,--
"I am the first, altho' but small.
I will be heard above you all."
And on the second bell is,--
"I am the second in this ring,
Therefore next to thee I will sing."
Which, at Broadchalk, is thus varied:--
"I in this place am second bell,
I'll surely do my part as well."
On the third bell at Coln is,--
"Robert Forman collected the money for casting this bell
Of well-disposed people, as I do you tell."
At Bath Abbey, on the tenth bell, is,--
"All you of Bath that hear me sound,
Thank Lady Hopton's hundred pound."
On the fifth bell at Amesbury is,--
"Be strong in faith, praise God well,
Frances Countess Hertford's bell."
And, on the tenor,--
"Altho' it be unto my loss,
I hope you will consider my cost."
At Stowe, Northamptonshire, and at St. Mary the Virgin, Oxford, we
find,--
"Be it known to all that doth me see,
That Newcombe, of Leicester, made me."
At St. Michael's, Coventry, on the fourth bell, is,--
"I ring at six to let men know
When to and from their work to go."
On the seventh bell is,--
"I ring to Sermon with a lusty bome,
That all may come and none can stay at home."
On the eighth bell is--
"I am and have been called the common bell
To ring, when fire breaks out to tell."
At St. Peter's-le-Bailey, Oxford, four bells were sold towards
finishing the tower, and in 1792 a large bell was put up, with this
inscription:--
"With seven more I hope soon to be
For ages joined in harmony."
But this very reasonable wish has not yet been realized; whereas at St.
Lawrence's, Reading, when two bells were added to form a peal of ten,
on the second we find--
"By adding two our notes we'll raise,
And sound the good subscribers' praise."
The occasion of the erection of the Westminster Clock-tower, is said
to have been as follows:--A certain poor man, in an action for debt,
being fined the sum of 13s. 4d., Radulphus Ingham, Chief Justice of
the King's Bench, commiserating his case, caused the court roll to
be erased, and the fine reduced to 6s. 8d., which being soon after
discovered, Ingham was amerced in a pecuniary mulct of eight hundred
marks, which was employed in erecting the said bell-tower, in which
was placed a bell and a clock, which, striking hourly, was to remind
the judges in the hall of the offence of their brother. This bell was
originally called Edward; "but," says a writer in the "Antiquarian
Repertory," "when the Reformation caused St. Edward and his hours to
be but little regarded; as other bells were frequently called Tom, as
fancied to pronounce that name when stricken--that at Lincoln, for
instance, and that at Oxford--this also followed the fashion, of which,
to what I remember of it before it was hung up, I may add another proof
from a catch made by the late Mr. Eccles, which begins--
"'Hark, Harry, 'tis late--'tis time to be gone,
For Westminster Tom, by my faith, strikes one."
Hawkins, in his "History of Music," says,--"The practice of ringing
bells in change, or regular peals, is said to be peculiar to England:
whence Britain has been termed the _ringing island_. The custom seems
to have commenced in the time of the Saxons, and was common before the
Conquest. The ringing of bells, although a recreation chiefly of the
lower sort, is, in itself, not incurious. The tolling of a bell is
nothing more than the producing of a sound by a stroke of the clapper
against the side of the bell, the bell itself being in a pendant
position, and at rest. In ringing, the bell, by means of a wheel and
a rope, is elevated to a perpendicular; in its motion, the clapper
strikes forcibly on one side, and in its return downwards, on the
other side of the bell, producing at each stroke a sound." There are
still in London several societies of ringers. There was one called the
College Youths (bell-ringers, like post-boys, never seem to acquire old
age). Of this it is said Sir Matthew Hale, Lord Chief Justice of the
King's Bench, was, in his youthful days, a member; and in the life of
that upright judge, by Burnet, some facts are mentioned which favour
this relation. In England the practice of ringing has been reduced to
a science, and peals have been composed which bear the names of their
inventors; some of the most celebrated of these were composed about
fifty years ago by one Patrick. This man was a maker of barometers.
In the year 1684, one Abraham Rudhall, of the city of Gloucester,
brought the art of bell-founding to great perfection. His descendants
in succession have continued the business of casting bells; and by a
list published by them at Lady Day, 1774, the family, in peals and odd
bells, had cast to the amount of 3,594. The peals of St. Dunstan's
in the East, St. Bride's, London, and St. Martin's-in-the-Fields,
are among the number. The following "Articles of Ringing" are upon
the walls of the belfry in the pleasant village of Dunster, in
Somersetshire. They are dated 1787:--
"1. You that in ringing take delight,
Be pleased to draw near;
These articles you must observe,
If you mean to ring here.
"2. And first, if any overturn
A bell, as that he may,
He forthwith for that only fault
In beer shall sixpence pay.
"3. If any one shall curse or swear
When come within the door,
He then shall forfeit for that fault
As mentioned before.
"4. If any one shall wear his hat
When he is ringing here,
He straightway then shall sixpence pay
In cyder or in beer.
"5. If any one these articles
Refuseth to obey,
Let him have nine strokes of the rope,
And so depart away."
BILL OF SALE FOR A NEGRO IN 1770.
"Know all Men by these Presents, That I, Elizabeth Treat, of Boston,
in the county of Suffolk, widow, in consideration of the sum of L25
13s. 4d. to me in hand, paid before the ensealing hereof by Samuel
Breck, of Boston aforesaid, merchant, the receipt whereof I do hereby
acknowledge, have granted, bargained, and sold, and by these presents
do fully and absolutely grant, bargain, and sell unto the said Samuel
Breck, my Negro man named Harry, aged about forty years, with his
apparel, to have and to hold the said Negro man Harry, with his
apparel, unto the said Samuel Breck, his executors, administrators,
and assigns, to his and their only proper use, benefit, and behoof for
ever; And I, the said Elizabeth Treat, for myself, my heirs, executors,
and administrators, do covenant, that at the time of ensealing, and
until the delivery hereof, I am the true and lawful owner of the said
Negro man, and that he is free from all former sales, charges, and
incumbrances whatsoever, and that I will warrant and defend the said
Negro man unto the said Samuel Breck, his heirs, and assigns for ever,
against the lawful claims and demands of all persons whomsoever.
"Witness my hand and seal, this tenth day of October, Anno Domini, one
thousand seven hundred and seventy, in the tenth year of His Majesty's
reign.
"Signed, sealed, and delivered in presence of us.
"THOMAS MELVILLE.
"MARY WHITE.
"ELIZABETH TREAT."
THE AZTEC CHILDREN.
[Illustration: The Aztec Children, As Exhibited in England.]
Among the animated curiosities which are occasionally exposed to
the gaze of the wonder-loving public, we may prominently notice the
AZTEC CHILDREN--two singular Lilliputians who were recently exhibited
throughout the kingdom. Maximo and Bartolo (for by these names the two
Aztec children have been baptized) are by some medical men supposed
to be of the respective ages of twenty-two and sixteen. Professor
Owen, stated them to be ten or twelve, and seven or nine in 1853. The
height of the boy (the elder is about three feet, and the girl does
not reach quite two feet six inches). Their limbs, though slender,
are proportionate and well formed, and the general development of
their figures is remarkably graceful. The cranium is peculiar, being
narrower than that of any other races of beings known to the world;
and though the face is somewhat prominent, the features are regular
and the countenances agreeable, and, after a short acquaintance,
highly interesting. Each has a beautiful head of jet black hair, which
flows gracefully in curls. They are lively and intelligent, showing
considerable aptitude for mental training, and have already learned to
give utterance to several expressions which can be readily understood
by visitors.
Since the arrival of these prodigies from the United States, they have
been the objects of curious ethnological speculations. Dr. Latham does
not consider them as a new species of the _genus homo_. Professor Owen
regards them as instances of impeded development, and Dr. Conolly was
struck with their resemblance to idiots.
NOTICES TO TAR AND FEATHER.
The original handbills of the committee for Tarring and Feathering
subjoined, are of singular interest, as they were the earliest
emanations of the spirit that led to England's losing her American
colonies, and the consequent rise of the United States:--
_To the Delaware Pilots._
The Regard we have for your Characters, and our Desire to promote your
future Peace and Safety, are the Occasion of this Third Address to you.
In our second Letter we acquainted you, that the Tea Ship was a Three
Decker; We are now informed by good Authority, she is not a Three
Decker, but an _old black Ship_, _without a Head_, or _any Ornaments_.
The _Captain_ is a _short fat_ Fellow, and a little _obstinate_
withal.--So much the worse for him.--For, so sure as he _rides rusty_,
We shall heave him Keel out, and see that his Bottom be well fired,
scrubb'd and paid.--His Upper-Works too, will have an Overhawling--and
as it is said, he has a good deal of _Quick Work_ about him, We will
take particular Care that such Part of him undergoes a thorough
Rummaging.
We have a still _worse Account of his Owner_;--for it is said, the Ship
POLLY was bought by him on Purpose, to make a Penny of us: and that
_he_ and Captain _Ayres_ were well advised, of the Risque they would
run, in thus daring to insult and abuse us.
_Captain Ayres_ was here in the Time of the Stamp-Act, and ought to
have known our People better, than to have expected we would be so mean
as to suffer his _rotten_ TEA to be funnel'd down our Throats, with the
_Parliament's Duty_ mixed with it.
We know him well, and have calculated to a Gill and a Feather, how much
it will require to fit him for an _American Exhibition_. And we hope,
not one of your Body will behave so ill, as to oblige us to clap him in
the Cart along Side of the _Captain_.
We must repeat, that the SHIP POLLY is an _old black Ship_, of about
Two Hundred and Fifty Tons burthen, _without a Head_, and _without
Ornaments_,--and, that CAPTAIN AYRES is a _thick chunky Fellow_.--As
such, TAKE CARE TO AVOID THEM.
Your Old Friends,
THE COMMITTEE FOR TARRING AND FEATHERING.
_Philadelphia, December 7, 1773._
_To Capt. Ayres, of the Ship Polly, on a Voyage from London to
Philadelphia._
SIR,
We are informed that you have, imprudently, taken Charge of a Quantity
of Tea; which has been sent out by the _India_ Company, _under the
Auspices of the Ministry_, as a Trial of _American_ Virtue and
Resolution.
Now, as your Cargo, on your Arrival here, will most assuredly bring you
into hot water; and as you are perhaps a Stranger _to these Parts_,
we have concluded to advise you of the present Situation of Affairs
in _Philadelphia_--that, taking Time by the Forelock, you may stop
short in your dangerous Errand--secure your Ship against the Rafts of
combustible Matter which may be set on Fire, and turned loose against
her: and more than all this, that you may preserve your own Person,
from the Pitch and Feathers that are prepared for you.
In the first Place, we must tell you, that the _Pennsylvanians_
are, _to a Man_, passionately fond of Freedom; the Birthright of
_Americans_; and at all Events are determined to enjoy it.
That they sincerely believe, no Power on the Face of the Earth has a
Right to tax them without their Consent.
That in their Opinion, the Tea in your Custody is designed by the
Ministry to enforce such a Tax, which they will undoubtedly oppose; and
in so doing, give you every possible Obstruction.
We are nominated to a very disagreeable, but necessary Service.--To our
Care are committed all Offenders against the Rights of _America_; and
hapless is he, whose evil Destiny has doomed him to suffer at our Hands.
You are sent out on a diabolical Service; and if you are so foolish and
obstinate as to compleat your Voyage; by bringing your Ship to Anchor
in this Port; you may run such a Gauntlet, as will induce you, in your
last Moments, most heartily to curse those who have made you the Dupe
of their Avarice and Ambition.
What think you Captain, of a Halter around your Neck--ten Gallons of
liquid Tar decanted on your Pate--with the Feathers of a dozen wild
Geese laid over that to enliven your Appearance?
Only think seriously of this--and fly to the Place from whence you
came--fly without Hesitation--without the Formality of a Protest--and
above all, Captain _Ayres_ let us advise you to fly without the wild
Geese Feathers.
Your Friends _to serve_
THE COMMITTEE _as before subscribed_.
_Philadelphia, Nov. 27, 1773._
B. FRANKLIN'S CELEBRATED LETTER TO STRAHAN.
As a sequel to the foregoing notices, we give Dr. Franklin's celebrated
letter, written in the actual heat of the first outbreak.
Philadelphia, July 5, 1775.
Mr. STRAHAN,--You are a member of Parliament, and one of that majority
which has doomed my country to destruction. You have begun to burn our
towns, and murder our people. Look upon your hands! They are stained
with the blood of your relations! You and I were long friends; you are
now my enemy, and
I am, yours,
B. FRANKLIN.
HENRY II. STRIPT WHEN DEAD.
1189. Immediately upon his death, those that were about him applied
their market so busilie in catching and filching awaie things that
laie readie for them, that the king's corps laie naked a long time,
till a child covered the nether parts of his body with a short cloke,
and then it seemed that his surname was fulfilled that he had from his
childhood, which was Shortmantell, being so called, because he was the
first who brought short clokes out of Anjou into England.
TRANSPLANTATION OF HAIR.
The Signor Dottore Domenico Nardo addressed a letter to the Academy of
Padua, in 1826, on the subject of the growth of hair after death, and
even after its separation from the body. The latter property had been
previously observed by Krafft. The Signor Nardo recounts the results of
experiments made on his own person in the transplantation of hair, and
relates, that by transplanting quickly a hair, with its root, from a
pore of his head, into a pore of his chest, easily to be accomplished
by widening the pore somewhat with the point of a needle, introducing
the root with nicety, and exciting within the pore itself, by friction,
a slight degree of inflammation, the hair takes root, continues to
vegetate, and grows; in due season changes colour, becomes white, and
falls.
ANCIENT CANNON RAISED FROM THE SEA.
A fisherman of Calais some time since, drew up a cannon, of very
ancient form, from the bottom of the sea, by means of his nets. M. de
Rheims has since removed the rust from it, and on taking off the breech
was much surprised to find the piece still charged. Specimens of the
powder have been taken, from which, of course, all the saltpetre has
disappeared after a submersion of three centuries. The ball was of
lead, and was not oxidized to a depth greater than that of a line.
COFFEE-HOUSE ATTRACTIONS IN 1760.
The great attraction of Don Saltero's Coffee-house was its collection
of rarities, a catalogue of which was published as a guide to the
visitors. It comprehends almost every description of curiosity, natural
and artificial. "Tigers' tusks; the Pope's candle; the skeleton of
a Guinea-pig; a fly-cap monkey; a piece of the true Cross; the Four
Evangelists' heads cut on a cherry-stone; the King of Morocco's
tobacco-pipe; Mary Queen of Scot's pincushion; Queen Elizabeth's
prayer-book; a pair of Nun's stockings; Job's ears, which grew on a
tree; a frog in a tobacco-stopper;" and five hundred more odd relics!
The Don had a rival, as appears by "A Catalogue of the Rarities to be
seen at Adams's, at the Royal Swan, in Kingsland Road, leading from
Shoreditch Church, 1756." Mr. Adams exhibited, for the entertainment
of the curious, "Miss Jenny Cameron's shoes; Adam's eldest daughter's
hat; the heart of the famous Bess Adams, that was hanged at Tyburn with
Lawyer Carr, January 18, 1736-7; Sir Walter Raleigh's tobacco-pipe;
Vicar of Bray's clogs; engine to shell green pease with; teeth that
grew in a fish's belly; Black Jack's ribs; the very comb that Abraham
combed his son Isaac and Jacob's head with; Wat Tyler's spurs; rope
that cured Captain Lowry of the head-ach, ear-ach, tooth-ach and
belly-ach; Adam's key of the fore and back door of the Garden of Eden,
&c., &c." These are only a few out of five hundred others equally
marvellous.
A WOMAN TAKES THE LIGHTED MATCH FROM A BOMB.
During the siege of Gibraltar, in 1782, the Count d'Artois came
to St. Roch, to visit the place and works. While his highness was
inspecting the lines, in company with the Duke de Crillon, they both
alighted with their suite, and all lay flat upon the ground, to avoid
the effects of a bomb that fell near a part of the barracks where a
Frenchwoman had a canteen. This woman, who had two children in her arms
at the time, rushed forth with them, and having seated herself, with
the utmost _sang-froid_, on the bomb-shell, she put out the match,
thus extricating from danger all that were around her, many of whom
witnessed this courageous and devoted act. His highness rewarded this
intrepid female by bestowing on her a pension of three francs a day,
and engaged to promote her husband after the siege; while the Duke de
Crillon, imitating the generous example of the prince, ensured to her
likewise a daily payment of five francs.
THE SUMMERS MAGNET, OR LOADSTONE.
[Illustration: [++] Summers Magnet.]
Among the great naval officers of Elizabeth's reign must be ranked
Sir George Summers, the discoverer of the Bermudas, often called the
Summers Islands from that circumstance. Here is a representation given
of what the descendants of Sir George Summers call the "Summers magnet,
or loadstone." It is in the possession of Peter Franklin Bellamy, Esq.,
surgeon, second son of Dr. Bellamy, of Plymouth. The tradition in the
family is that the admiral before going to sea used to touch his needle
with it. The stone is dark-coloured, the precise geological formation
doubtful. This curious stone, with armature of iron, was probably an
ancient talisman.
SWALLOWING LIZARDS.
Bertholin, the learned Swedish doctor, relates strange anecdotes of
lizards, toads, and frogs; stating that a woman, thirty years of age,
being thirsty, drank plentifully of water at a pond. At the end of a
few months, she experienced singular movements in her stomach, as if
something were crawling up and down; and alarmed by the sensation,
consulted a medical man, who prescribed a dose of orvietan in a
decoction of fumitory. Shortly afterwards, the irritation of the
stomach increasing, she vomited three toads and two young lizards,
after which, she became more at ease. In the spring following, however,
her irritation of the stomach was renewed; and aloes and bezoar being
administered, she vomited three female frogs, followed the next day by
their numerous progeny. In the month of January following, she vomited
five more living frogs, and in the course of seven years ejected as
many as eighty. Dr. Bertholin protests that he heard them croak in her
stomach!
IMMENSE SEA SERPENT.
A species of sea-serpent was thrown on shore near Bombay in 1819. It
was about forty feet long, and must have weighed many tons. A violent
gale of wind threw it high above the reach of ordinary tides, in which
situation it took nine months to rot; during which process travellers
were obliged to change the direction of the road for nearly a quarter
of a mile, to avoid the offensive effluvia. It rotted so completely
that not a vestige of bone remained.
THE ROYAL TOUCH.
For many ages one of the regal prerogatives in this country was to
touch for the cure of _regius morbus_, or scrofula; a disease too
well known to need any description. At different periods hundreds of
persons assembled from all parts of the country annually to receive
the royal interposition. Lists of the afflicted were published, to
afford a criterion for determining as to its success; and from Edward
the Confessor to the reign of Queen Anne, its efficacy appears to have
obtained a ready and general belief.
The ceremony was announced by public proclamations; one of which we
copy from "The Newes," of the 18th of May, 1664. "His Sacred Majesty"
(Charles II.) "having declared it to be his royal will and purpose to
continue the healing of his people for the Evil during the month of
May, and then to give over until Michaelmas next, I am commanded to
give notice thereof, that the people may not come up to town in the
interim, and lose their labour."
An extract from the "Mercurius Politicus" affords additional
information. "Saturday," says that paper, "being appointed by His
Majesty to touch such as were troubled with the Evil, a great company
of poor afflicted creatures were met together, many brought in chairs
and flaskets, and being appointed by His Majesty to repair to the
banqueting-house, His Majesty sat in a chair of state, where he stroked
all that were brought unto him, and then put about each of their necks
a white ribbon, with an angel of gold on it. In this manner His Majesty
stroked above six hundred; and such was his princely patience and
tenderness to the poor afflicted creatures, that, though it took up
a very long time, His Majesty, who is never weary of well-doing, was
pleased to make inquiry whether there were any more who had not yet
been touched. After prayers were ended, the Duke of Buckingham brought
a towel, and the Earl of Pembroke a basin and ewer, who, after they
had made obeisance to His Majesty, kneeled down, till His Majesty had
washed."
This sovereign is said to have touched nearly one hundred thousand
patients.
With Queen Anne the practice was discontinued. But so late as the
28th of February, 1712, little more than two years before her death,
the following proclamation appeared in the "Gazette":--"It being Her
Majesty's royal intention to touch for the Evil on Wednesday, the
19th of March next, and so to continue weekly during Lent, it is Her
Majesty's command that tickets be delivered the day before at the
office in Whitehall; and that all persons shall bring a certificate
signed by the Minister and Churchwardens of their respective parishes,
that they have never received the royal touch." Dr. Johnson, when
an infant, was brought, with others, for this purpose; "and when
questioned upon the subject, confessed he had a faint recollection of
an old lady with something black about her head."
A religious service, of which Dr. Heylin, Prebendary of Westminster, in
his "Examen Historicum," has given us the particulars, accompanied the
ceremony; which, as a document of pious interest, we transcribe:--"The
first Gospel is the same as that on the Ascension-day, Mark xvi. 14,
to the end. At the touching of every infirm person these words are
repeated: 'They shall lay their hands on the sick, and they shall
recover.' The second Gospel begins with the first of St. John, and ends
a these words: (John i. 14:) 'Full of grace and truth.' At the putting
the angel about their necks were repeated, 'That light was the true
light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.'
"'Lord, have mercy upon us.'
"'Christ have mercy upon us.'
"'Lord have mercy upon us. Our Father, &c.'
"'_Minister._--O Lord, save thy servants:'
"'_Response._--Which put their trust in thee.'
"'_M._--Send unto them help from above:'
"'_R._--And ever more defend them.'
"'_M._--Help us, O God, our Saviour!'
"'_R._--And for the glory of thy name sake deliver us: be merciful unto
us, sinners, for thy name sake!'
"'_M._--O Lord, hear our prayer:'
"'_R._--And let our cry come unto thee.'
"'_The Collect._--Almighty God, the eternal health of all such as
put their trust in thee, hear us, we beseech thee, on the behalf of
these thy servants, for whom we call for thy merciful help; that they
receiving health, may give thanks unto thee in thy holy Church, through
Jesus Christ our Lord! Amen.'
"'The peace of God,' &c."
PEG TANKARDS.
The pegging, or marking the drinking cups, was introduced by St.
Dunstan, to check the intemperate habits of the times, by preventing
one man from taking a larger draught than his companions. But the
device proved the means of increasing the evil it was intended to
remedy; for, refining upon Dunstan's plan, the most abstemious were
required to drink precisely to a peg or pin, whether they could soberly
take such a quantity of liquor or not. To the use of such cups may be
traced the origin of many of our popular phrases. When a person is much
elated, we still say, "He is in a merry pin;" and, "He is a peg too
low," when he is not in good spirits. On the same principle we talk of
"taking a man down a peg," when we would check forwardness.
NORMAN CAPS.
There is nothing more amusing to the traveller on the continent, than
to observe the extraordinary variety of those head-appendages, many
of them heirlooms for generations in some families, all more or less
prized according to the richness of materials employed upon them, and
the peculiarity of shape. There is no article of dress more important
to the _Normande_, whatever may be her means, than the cap which so
jauntily and triumphantly asserts the dignity of the wearer. The
wives of fermieres who can afford such luxuries as expensive lace and
trimmings, spend a little income in the decoration of their caps.
Many cost upwards of three thousand francs for the materials and
manufacture; and these, as we have before observed, are handed from
mother to daughter through successive years, and are highly prized.
[Illustration: [++] Norman Caps.]
In the primitive villages of Normandy, on some holidays, it is a
pleasing sight to see the dense army of caps, with flaps fanning the
air, and following the gesticulatory movements of their talkative and
volatile owners. When the weather is doubtful, the cap-wearers take
care to be provided with a red umbrella of a clumsy construction,
remarkably heavy, and somewhat similar, perhaps, to the original with
which Jonas Hanway braved the jeers of a London populace in first
introducing it.
NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN WAR DESPATCH.
The following is a _facsimile_ of a gazette of a tribe of North
American Indians, who assisted the French forces in Canada, during the
war between France and England:--
[Illustration: [++] Gazette of North American Indians.]
_Explanation of the Gazette, giving an account of one of their
expeditions. The following divisions explain those on the plate, as
referred to by the numbers_:--
1. Each of these figures represents the number ten. They all signify,
that 18 times 10, or 180 American Indians, took up the hatchet, or
declared war, in favour of the French, which is represented by the
hatchet placed over the arms of France.
2. They departed from Montreal--represented by the bird just taking
wing from the top of a mountain. The moon and the buck show the time to
have been in the first quarter of the buck-moon, answering to July.
3. They went by water--signified by the canoe. The number of huts, such
as they raise to pass the night in, shows they were 21 days on their
passage.
4. Then they came on shore, and travelled seven days by
land--represented by the foot and the seven huts.
5. When they arrived near the habitations of their enemies, at
sunrise--shown by the sun being to the eastward of them, beginning,
as they think, its daily course, there they lay in wait three
days--represented by the hand pointing, and the three huts.
6. After which, they surprised their enemies, in number 12 times 10, or
120. The man asleep shows how they surprised them, and the hole in the
top of the building is supposed to signify that they broke into some of
their habitations in that manner.
7. They killed with the club eleven of their enemies, and took five
prisoners. The former represented by the club and the eleven heads, the
latter by the figures on the little pedestals.
8. They lost nine of their own men in the action--represented by the
nine heads within the bow, which is the emblem of honour among the
Americans, but had none taken prisoners--a circumstance they lay great
weight on, shown by all the pedestals being empty.
9. The heads of the arrows, pointing opposite ways, represent the
battle.
10. The heads of the arrows all pointing the same way, signify the
flight of the enemy.
RECEIPTS FROM ALBERTUS MAGNUS.
_If thou wylt make a Carbuckle stone, or a thyng shyning in the
nyght._--Take verye many of the lyttle beastes shyninge by nyghte, and
put them beaten smale in a bottel of glasse, and close it, and burye
it in hoate horses doung, and let it tarye xv dayes, afterwarde thou
shalte destyll water of them Peralembicum, which thou shalt put in a
vessel of Christal or glasse. It giueth so great clearnesse, that euery
man may reade and write in a darke place where it is. Some men make
this water of the gall of a snale, the gal of a wesel, the gall of a
feret, and of a water dogge: they burie them in doung and destyll water
out of them.
_If thou wylt see that other men can not see._--Take the gall of a male
cat, and the fat of a hen all whyte, and mixe them together, and anoint
thy eyes, and thou shalt see it that others cannot see.
If the hart, eye, or brayne of a lapwyng or blacke plover be hanged
vpon a mans necke it is profitable agaynste forgetfulnesse, and
sharpeth mans vnderstanding.--"_Albertus Magnus._" _Black Letter: very
old._
ADVERTISEMENT OF ROAST PIG IN 1726.
"On Tuesday next, being Shrove Tuesday, there will be a fine _hog
barbyqu'd_ whole, at the house of Peter Brett, at the Rising Sun, in
Islington Road, with other diversions.--_Note._ It is the house where
the ox was roasted whole at Christmas last."
A hog barbecu'd is a West Indian term, and means a hog roasted whole,
stuffed with spice, and basted with Madeira wine. Oldfield, an eminent
glutton of former days, gormandised away a fortune of fifteen hundred
pounds a-year. Pope thus alludes to him,--
"Oldfield, with more than harpy throat endu'd,
Cries, 'Send me, O, gods, a whole hog _barbecu'd!_'"
DYING OF OLD AGE AT SEVENTEEN YEARS.
March 19th, 1754, died, in Glamorganshire, of mere old age and a
gradual decay of nature, at seventeen years and two months, Hopkins
Hopkins, the little Welchman lately shown in London. He never weighed
more than seventeen pounds, but for three years past no more than
twelve. The parents have still six children left, all of whom no way
differ from other children, except one girl of twelve years of age, who
weighs only eighteen pounds, and bears upon her most of the marks of
old age, and
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