Page images
PDF
EPUB

206

relieve the former, and be satisfied in the latter, and when they had been confirmed in the truth of the whole matter, they admonished the people in the first place to take warning by the sad spectacle before them, to take care how they oppressed their Neighbours, and of provoking God, especially in so high a nature as that wicked wretch had done, and in the next place they thought convenient to order the restoring of the Two remaining Kine to the poor Widow, whose right they were: to which the Relations of the Wretched Usurer most readily consented.

The Woman being overjoyed at the sight of her Kine, could not but return her hearty thanks to Almighty God for his wonderful Providence towards her, and like a good and charitable Christian, Immediately fell to her prayers, that God would be pleased to give the wretch that had injured her, a sense of his Sins, and if it were his blessed will, to take off his heavy hand, and to restore him to his former condition, but as yet God hath not heard her prayers, and what will be the effect thereof he only knows to whom they are made; sure I am that it will well become every Christian to make his peace with God in time, and from this dreadful example to learn to serve the Lord with fear and trembling.

[Reprinted from a copy of the ori-
ginal pamphlet in the Collection of
Mr John Moore, Sunderland, as
published in the Local Historian's
Table-book.']

in the south of France continued to convulse the surrounding country, the directory of that period appointed Bernadotte commandant of Marseilles; but he refused to-accept this appointment, and in a few months afterwards was installed as ambassador from the French Republic to the A misunderstanding Court of Vienna.

caused a considerable riot at Vienna, where Bernadotte hoisted the tricoloured flag on his palace, and he left the Austrian capital to go to Rastadt. From that time he was employed by Napoleon in several important military missions, and finally in 1799 was appointed a member of the Privy Council for the war department. In 1799 he refused to take the command of the famous expedition against St Domingo. After the Luneville peace (1801), he was appointed ambassador to the United States, which he refused. In 1804 he accepted the command in Hanover, where by his humanity he obtained great popularity. At the battle of Austerlitz, Bernadotte's division created great havoc in the Russian army, and Napoleon then created him Prince of Ponte Corvo and grand officer of the Legion of Honour. In 1806, on the 14th October, when marching from Dornburg. after having beaten Blucher, and pursuing him to Lubeck, he was the only general either of the French or the German allies who used their best endeavours to preserve that city from ruin. He distinguished himself afterwards at the battle of Wagram, and was next appointed commander of the coast of Holland and Belgium, which trust he also fulfilled to the satisfaction of Napoleon. Bernadotte then retired to comparative privacy in the neighbourhood BERNADOTTE, THE LATE KING OF SWE- of Paris, when on the 21st August, 1810, he DEN-was born at Pau, in the Pyrenees, was unanimously elected by the states of on the 26th January, 1764, and was the kingdom of Sweden as successor to the christened by the name of John Baptiste throne of Charles XIII, provided he would Julius Bernadotte. His father was a law- adopt the doctrines of the Lutheran faith. yer, and gave him a good education. In Napoleon had no influence whatever upon 1780 he enlisted in the army, and was this election; on the contrary, it is well orderly sergeant in 1789, when the revolu- known from the best authenticated memoirs tion broke out. We find him in 1794 a that his wishes were in favour of the King general of division, and in 1795 the famous of Denmark, who was likewise a candidate retreat across the Rhine was principally for the Swedish throne. After having effected under his superintendence. His elected the new successor to the throne military talents were quickly discovered a Knight of the Order of the Seraphim, by Napoleon, who reposed great confidence Charles XIII confirmed the election at in him. The passage of the French army Osebroe and adopted Bernadotte as his at Neuwied, the siege of Mentz, and many son. Napoleon, upon being applied to for other celebrated military feats, established a confirmation, declared that he never his reputation as a commander of the first could nor would interfere with the election rank. He was requested by Napoleon to of a free nation. Bernadotte accepted the undertake the siege of Gradiska, which choice of the Swedes. As Crown Prince he accomplished, and displayed military of Sweden Bernadotte distinguished himability of the highest order. At the 18th self as an able commander during the Charles Fructidor Napoleon selected him to bear campaigns of 1813 and 1814. the colours which had been taken at the XIII died on the 5th February, 1818, and battle of Rivoli. At the conclusion of a his adopted son Bernadotte succeeded him treaty of peace at Leöben, the disturbances on the throne without the slightest oppo

Biscellaneous.

sition. His wise and temperate government whilst he reigned over the Scandinavian peninsula will be recorded in history.

MYSTERIOUS SOCIETY.-In Paris there were lately rumours of the existence of a mysterious society in the Faubourgs Saint Jacques and Saint Marceau, the members of which came forth in the dark, in the environs of the barriers, and having forced away several girls, did not set them at liberty again until they had undergone the most brutal treatment. About ten days ago several fathers and mothers of families laid informations before the commissary of police that their daughters, who were only between twelve and fourteen years of age, had been accosted, some at the Barrière de Fontainbleau, others at the Barrière Saint Jacques, by young and well-dressed men, who invited them to go to a dance, and afterwards compelled them to accept a supper. Of what took place at the conclusion the poor girls could give no account, for they were thrown into a state of lethargy, in which they remained for a long time, and on recovering their senses found themselves resting against stone posts in obscure corners of the quarters above mentioned. Twelve of the offenders have been arrested. It appears from the examinations that the wretches had joined in hiring a house in the Rue de l'Oursine, to carry on their hideous designs. To this they gave the name of the Tour de Nesle, and they called the room in which they consummated their outrages the Chambre Orsini; each assuming the name of one of the characters of the drama entitled 'Tour de Nesle.'

The Gatherer.

Guilt of Enclosing Commons.-Mr Fyshe Palmer, on the subject of enclosing commons, produced the following quaint lines:

"The crime is great in man or woman,

Who steals a goose from off a common; But who shall plead the man's excuse, That steals the common from the goose?" Huntingdonshire behind other Counties.At a late meeting Mr Cobden remarked it was a curious historical fact that in almost every matter of improvement Huntingdon was greatly behind every other portion of the country. Huntingdon was the last place in England where they burnt old women for witchcraft; and it was a remarkable fact that an annual sermon was now preached by a Fellow of a College in Cambridge-a bequest having been made for that purpose-at Huntingdon against witchcraft. He thought it would be a very good thing if they could get one of these Fellows to preach an annual sermon in Huntingdon against the corn laws, for

there was little difference between burning old women for witchcraft and destroying women and children by not allowing them to have a sufficiency of food.

Quicksilver. There has been importation from China of about 300 boxes of quicksilver. The article is stated to have been bid for at 3s. 5d. per lb., but this price has been refused, as Messrs Rothschild require about 4s. 6d. for the Spanish product. The important points to be decided are, first, as to the quality of the Chinese quicksilver; and, secondly, as to the quantity available; if these be satisfactorily met, the results will be of the very first importance.

General Bertrand, on his death-bed, charged his brother, M. L. Bertrand, to present to the city of Lyons a copy of the campaigns of Italy, written by the Emperor at the island of St Helena. Napoleon had two copies made, one of which he gave to General Bertrand, and which is now transferred to Lyons.

Duels. From the commencement of the reign of George III to the reign of her Majesty upwards of 200 duels have been fought. In three, both combatants were killed. In eighty, one of the combatants was killed in each, and in all one hundred and twenty were wounded. Upwards of twenty trials for duels have occurred, in which four duellists were found guilty of murder, and two were hanged. In the list of duellists occur the names of York, Norfolk, Castlereagh, Pitt, Fox, Sheridan, Grattan, Burdett, Canning, Peel, Wellington, and Winchilsea.

66

Frederick the Great's Regimen.-Zimmerman, in his narratives of his interviews with Frederick, says, To-day the king had taken a great quantity of soup, made of the strongest gravy drawn from the most healing things. With his portion he mixed a large table-spoonful of pounded mace and pounded ginger. He then ate a large slice of beef stewed in brandy. This he followed up by a copious allowance of an Italian dish, composed half of maize flour and half of Parmesan cheese; to this he added the juice of garlic, and the whole is fried in butter till it acquires a crust as thick as one's finger. This dish is called potenta. At length (continues Zimmerman) the king praising the excellent appetite which the dandelion had given him, concluded the scene with a large plate of eel pie, so hot and so highly seasoned that it seemed to have been baked in hell. While at table the king fell asleep, and was seized with convulsions."-Medical Gazette.

Burial of a Moor.-One of a company of Arabs travelling through France, and performing at the theatres, died lately at Mons. The following details of the cere

monies observed are from the Gazette de Mons:-"In the first place all his hair was shaved off, and the body washed and perfumed with essences. It was then dressed in a new white tunic and placed in a coffin, not entirely closed, with a copy of the Koran on the bosom of the corpse. On arriving at the cemetery the Arabs took off their shoes and washed their feet. Two who were to place the body in the grave, went into the house of the grave-digger and took a cold bath. After that the chief, isolated from all who surrounded him, recited the prayers. These concluded, the two men above mentioned took off their belts and let down the coffin, which had been previously closed, and subjected to copious ablution. At this moment the Arabs set up a terrible howling, and then each threw some earth upon the grave. This was the conclusion."

Revolutionary Standards.-The ensigns of the French regicides were as absurd as they were brutal. The mob of Paris, passing in view of Marie Antoinette, carried one representing a gibbet, to which a dirty doll was suspended; the words "Marie Antoinette à la lanterne" were written beneath it. Another, was a bullock's heart fastened, with an inscription round it, "Heart of Louis XVI."

Sacred Fires.-Much has been said of the sacred fires of Persia. Formerly in this country the same superstition prevailed. In some of the Druid festivals fires were lighted on all the cairns and eminences around by priests carrying sacred torches. All the household fires were previously extinguished, and those who were thought worthy of such a privilege were allowed to relight them with a flaming brand, kindled at the consecrated cairn fire.

Generosity and Gratitude.-Dr Radcliffe once refused to take a fee for attending a friend during a dangerous illness. Upon his recovery, however, the patient presented the agreeable amount in a purse, saying, "Sir, in this purse I have put every day's fee, nor must your goodness get the better of my gratitude." The doctor eyed the purse, counted the numper of days to a minute, and holding out his hand, replied, “Well, I can hold out no longer; singly I could have refused them for a twelvemonth, but altogether they are irresistible."

Dr Boettger's Method of removing Marking Ink from Linen.-A somewhat concentrated solution of the cyanide of potassium of Liebig, free from sulphate of potassa, to prevent a combination with sulphur during the calcination, is requisite. This done, characters formed on linen by marking ink may be easily obliterated. They are to be gently rubbed with the solution and they will vanish, leaving the

[ocr errors]

fabric of the cloth uninjured. If common writing ink has been used with the marking ink, a hot, concentrated solution of oxalic acid will be necessary.

[ocr errors]

Marie Antoinette and Pitt.-The illfated queen of Louis XVI had a great dread of the English minister of that day. "She," says Madame de Campan, “would sometimes say to me, I never pronounce the name of Pitt but I feel death at my shoulder (I repeat here her very expressions); that man is the mortal enemy of France, and he takes a dreadful revenge for the impolitic support given by the Cabinet of Versailles to the American insurgents. He wishes, by our destruction, to guarantee the maritime power of his country for ever.""

What is Death?-A release from toil and labour, a state of quiescence, a dreamless sleep, or a change of our restless and unjoyous existence here, to an active and conscious existence elsewhere.—Whither does this internal spirit go when it leaves its cold clay? To a temporary rest. It is the animal part of man which requires rest, it is the body which is fatigued by exertion, not the mind. How can that which is immaterial suffer weariness or fatigue? What can we reason but from what we know? And what do we know of death?

How to render Dwelling Houses Healthy. -Two processes are necessary to the comfort and salubrity of an apartmentthe ejection of sixty gallons per minute of damaged air-the supply of an equal quantity of pure air. There are two modes of doing this: keep the doors or windows sufficiently open to let in the pure air, or always have a large fire to draw the bad air up the chimney out of the apartment. These plans, used together, are certainly effective; unhappily the cure is often as bad as the disease. The air must be changed, but so changed as not to expose the body to injurious draughts of cold air.

The Wearing of Jewels Discouraged.Diodorus of Sicily, quoting the laws of Zaleucus, brings one before us from which it would seem that pomp and jewels were not always considered indispensable to respectability. It provides that “ a free woman shall not have more than one chambermaid to follow her, save when she is drunk; nor leave the city at night, nor wear jewels set in gold about her person, nor any robe enriched with embroidery, if she be not of disreputable character."

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

The Pelletan Light, with an explanatory engraving, next week.

LONDON: Published by JOHN MORTIMER, Adelaide Street, Trafalgar Square; and sold by all Booksellers and Newsmen.

Printed by REYNELL and WEIGHT, Little Pulteney street, and at the Royal Polytechnic Institution.

[merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][graphic]

Original Communications.

ANCIENT MONUMENT.

WE submit a representation of a very curious relic of antiquity-the Brackett Monument, as it is called, in Gloucester Cathedral. "Though dead, it speaketh!" If Jacques could find "sermons in stones," assuredly this might have furnished him with a text pregnant with wholesome lessons against the vanities of life. Here we find a costly sepulchre; enough to indicate that its occupant, if permitted to remain in it, but that he was not obliged to make way for one of Cromwell's roundheads, is unknown. All the careful and pains-taking Briton can tell us on the subject is this:

"A singular shelf or bracket monument, sustaining an effigy, generally ascribed to Aldred, Archbishop of York, who died in 1069, is attached to the stone screen on the south side of the choir. According to Leland, Serlo, who died in 1104, was buried under a fair marble tomb on the south side of the presbytery. The No. 1210.]

same author mentions the finding of a bull's hide, containing a body, supposed to have been that of the Countess of Pembroke, wife of Richard Strongbow. It lay at the head of Edward the Second's tomb, under an arch, where Malvern, alias Parker, made a chantry chapel to be buried in. As Aldred was not interred at Gloucester, and the situation of the monument corresponds with Leland's description, it may, therefore, be fairly attributed to Abbot Serlo. The monument is strangely described by Mr Gough as a beautiful and singular altar tomb, reaching forward on pillars. The figure resembles that of Osric, and is habited in a long robe or tunic, holding in one hand part of a pastoral staff, and in the other the model of a church, probably in allusion to Serlo's having refounded the church."

Of this Serlo we are told, that having previously worn the monastic habit in two or three religious establishments, was probably introduced into England and advanced to this abbacy by William the Conqueror, to whom he was chaplain. He was appointed to that dignity in the [VOL. XLIV.

P

year 1072, by the new monarch; but such was the state of ruin and decay of the abbey, that on his accession he found only two, or as some say, three adult monks and eight boys in it. By his own good management, however, and the assistance and co-operation of Odo, the cellarer, he very much augmented the possessions of the house, and by the influence of the king, with whom he was in great favour, recovered from Thomas, Archbishop of York, the manors of Froucester Colne, St Alwin, and others, which had been alienated in the time of his predecessor. He likewise obtained a thousand days' release from the church. He obtained from the Conqueror and his two sons, William and Henry, numerous grants, and confirmations, and lands, and privileges, and died in the year 1104.

But, after all, it is not known that this was his last resting place. The vanity which provided himself with an enduring monument, or the gratitude which erected it unrequired, has failed of accomplishing the object the extension of the vanity of life into the empire of death. Truly we may apostrophise the sleeper here in the words addressed to a skeleton found in a stone coffin at Leighton Buzzard, as we find them in 'Railroadiana :'—

"What if a prelate's vestments fair,
The crozier and the mitre's glare
Were thine, and promised fame!
All learning, genius, and success,
Could to ambition's service press,
Have not preserved thy name!
Deeds of renown, or noble birth
Denied thee rest in common earth,

When 'twas thy turn to fall;
A ponderous mass the quarry gave,
Thy head to pillow in the grave,
But what availed it all!

'O, not in silver, not in gold
Inter me, but in kindred mould,'

Of Cyrus was the prayer.
If different were thy costly whim,
What he desired thou shar❜st with him,
Despite of foolish care.

The pomp and splendour once thy
boast,

The homage of a menial host,

The crowd's applauding roar,
Saves thee not from the common lot,
The lowest hind unknown can rot,
And thou hast done no more."

PRAYING TO SAINTS. THE folly of addressing prayers to saints in heaven has been condemned by many divines, and ridiculed by some on the ground that those holy personages being not like the Deity, omniscient, could never know what petitions were made to them, unless they were repeated by the Almighty. On this subject King

James the First expresses great indignation, and says, in reference to some of the prayers addressed to the Virgin, “I reverence the blessed Virgin as the mother of Christ, but I dare not mock her and blaspheme against God by praying her to command and controul her sonne, who is her God and her Saviour; Nor yet doe I think that she hath no other thing to doe in heaven than to hear every idle man's suite, and busy herself in their errands." The situation of James was singular. As the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, he felt deeply how improper it was to attempt to move a son through petitions preferred to his mother!

"THE SHARING OF THE EARTH.

(From the German of Schiller, by Sir E. L. Bulwer.)

"TAKE the world," cried the God from his heaven

To divide it amongst you 'tis given,
To men" I proclaim you its heirs;
Each takes for himself as it pleases,
You have only to settle the shares."

The Harvest the Husbandman seizes,
Old and young have alike their desire;

Through the wood and the chase sweeps the Squire.

The Merchant his warehouse is locking-
The Abbot is choosing his wine-
Cries the Monarch, the thoroughfares block-
ing,

"Every toll for the passage is mine!"
All too late, when the sharing was over,
Comes the Poet-he came from afar-
Nothing left can the laggard discover,

Not an inch but its owners there are. "Woe is me, is there nothing remaining,

For the son who best loves thee alone!" Thus to Jove went his voice in complaining, As he fell at the Thunderer's throne. "In the land of the dreams if abiding,"

Quoth the God-"canst thou murmur at ME?

Where wert thou, when the Earth was dividing?"

"I was," said the Poet, "BY THEE!" "Mine eye by thy glory was captur❜d— Mine ear by thy music of bliss, Pardon him whom thy world so enraptur'dAs to lose him his portion in this!" "Alas," said the God-" Earth is given! Field, forest, and market, and all !— What say you to quarters in Heaven? We'll admit you whenever you call!"

[blocks in formation]
« PreviousContinue »