Part 23

DISTRIBUTING HAND-BILLS.

The month of July 1736 afforded a singular _popular explosion_, contrived in the following strange manner:--A brown paper parcel, which had been placed unobserved near the side-bar of the Court of King's-bench, Westminster-hall, blew up during the solemn proceedings of the Courts of Justice assembled, and scattered a number of printed bills, giving notice, that on the last day of Term five Acts of Parliament would be publicly burnt in the hall, between the hours of twelve and one, at the Royal Exchange, and at St. Margaret's hill, which were the Gin Act, the Smuggling Act, the Mortmain Act, the Westminster Bridge Act, and the Act for borrowing 600,000_l._ on the Sinking fund.

One of the bills was immediately carried to the Grand Jury then sitting, who found it an infamous libel, and recommended the offering of a reward to discover the author.

RANZ DES VACHES.

The "Ranz des Vaches," which is commonly supposed to be a single air, stands in Switzerland for a class of melodies, the literal meaning of which is cow-rows. The German word is _Kureihen_--rows of cows. It derives its origin from the manner the cows march home along the Alpine paths at milking time. The shepherd goes before, keeping every straggler in its place by the tones of his horn, while the whole herd wind along in Indian file, obedient to the call. From its association it always creates home-sickness in a Swiss mountaineer, when he hears it in a foreign land. It is said, these melodies are prohibited in the Swiss regiments attached to the French army, because it produces so many desertions. One of the "Ranz des Vaches" brings back to his imagination his Alpine cottage--the green pasturage--the bleating of his mountain goats--the voices of the milkmaids, and all the sweetness and innocence of a pastoral life; till his heart turns with a sad yearning to the haunts of his childhood, and the spot of his early dreams and early happiness.

The Swiss retain their old fondness for rifle-shooting, and there is annually a grand rifle match at some of the large towns, made up of the best marksmen in all Switzerland. There are also yearly contests in wrestling, called _Zwing Feste_, the most distinguished wrestlers at which are from Unterwalden, Appenzel, and Berne.

MONSOONS.

These are periodical winds which blow over the Indian Ocean, between Africa and Hindustan for nearly six months from the north-east, and during an equal period from the south-west. The region of the monsoons lies a little to the north of the northern border of the trade-winds, and they blow with the greatest force and with most regularity between the eastern coast of Africa and Hindustan. When the sun is in the southern hemisphere a north-east wind, and when it is in the northern hemisphere, a south-west wind blows over this sea. The north-east monsoon blows from November to March. It extends one or two degrees south of the equator. It becomes regular near the coasts of Africa sooner than in the middle of the sea, and near the equator sooner than in the vicinity of the coasts of Arabia. This wind brings rain on the eastern coasts of Africa. The south-west monsoon does not extend south of the equator, but usually begins a short distance north of it. It blows from the latter end of April to the middle of October. Along the coast of Africa, it appears at the end of March; but along the coast of Malabar, not before the middle of April; it ceases, however, sooner in the former than in the latter region. The rainy season on the west coast of Hindustan commences with the first approach of the south-west monsoon. The monsoons prevail also on the seas between Australia and China.

The effect of the struggle which precedes the change in the direction of the wind in this part of the world is thus described in "Forbes's Oriental Memoirs." The author was encamped with the English troops:

"The shades of evening approached as we reached the ground, and just as the encampment was completed, the atmosphere grew suddenly dark, the heat became oppressive, and an unusual stillness presaged the immediate setting-in of the monsoon. The whole appearance of external nature resembled those solemn preludes to earthquakes and hurricanes in the West Indies, from which the East in general is providentially free. We were allowed very little time for conjecture. In a few minutes the heavy clouds burst over us. I had witnessed seventeen monsoons in India, but this surpassed them all in its awful appearance and dreadful effects. Encamped in a low situation on the borders of a lake formed to collect the surrounding water, we found ourselves in a few hours in a liquid plain; tent-pins giving way in a loose soil--the tents fell down--and left the whole army exposed to the contending elements. It requires a lively imagination to conceive the situation of a hundred thousand human beings of every description, with more than two hundred thousand elephants, camels, horses, and oxen, suddenly overwhelmed by this dreadful storm in a strange country, without any knowledge of high or low ground, the whole being covered by an immense lake, and surrounded by thick darkness, which rendered it impossible for us to distinguish a single object except such as the vivid glare of the lightning occasionally displayed in horrible forms. No language can adequately describe the wreck of a large encampment thus instantaneously destroyed, and covered with water, amid the cries of old men and helpless women, terrified by the piercing shrieks of their expiring children, unable to afford them relief. During this dreadful night more than two hundred persons and three thousand cattle perished miserably, and the morning dawn exhibited a shocking spectacle!"

UNUSUAL LOCALITY FOR SAYING PRAYERS.

Francis Atkins was porter at the palace gate, at Salisbury, from the time of Bishop Burnet to the period of his death in 1761, at the age of 104 years. It was his office every night to wind up the clock, which he was capable of performing regularly till within a year of his decease, though on the summit of the palace. In ascending the lofty flight of stairs, he usually made a halt at a particular place and said his evening prayers. He lived a regular and temperate life, and took a great deal of exercise; he walked well, and carried his frame upright and well balanced to the last.

BILLY IN THE SALT BOX.

Political caricatures are generally well worth preserving, they familiarize us with the features and peculiarities of celebrated men, and they tell us what was the popular feeling of the day. We regret that in general they are too large for our pages, but now and then we meet with a small one which we are glad to present to our readers.

Mr. Pitt's budget of 1805 was not allowed to pass without severe remarks, and a heavily increased duty on salt excited general dissatisfaction. People said that the grand contriver of taxes had visited every corner of the house above stairs, and that he had now descended into the kitchen; and the annexed caricature, by Gilray, which was published at this period, represents the premier alarming the poor cook by popping his head out of the salt-box, with the unexpected salutation--"How do you do, cookey?" The person thus apostrophised cries out in consternation, "Curse the fellow, how he has frightened me!--I think, on my heart, he is getting in everywhere!--who the deuce would have thought of finding him in the salt-box?"

DANGEROUS FEAT.

An extraordinary instance of the rash feats which men with cool heads and courageous hearts will sometimes perform, was witnessed at Nottingham on January 22, 1789.--The vane at the top of St. Peter's spire, which was placed there in 1735, and measured thirty-three inches in length, having become insecure, the parish officers agreed with Mr. Robert Wooton, of Kegworth, to take it down and reinstate it.

This venturous man, henceforth known as "_the steeple climber_," commenced his undertaking by placing a ladder against the steeple, and securing it to the wall with tenters: he then mounted that with another on his shoulder, which he fastened above it in like manner; and so on till he reached the top. To prevent himself falling, he was girded round with belts, which he connected with the ladders by means of hooks. In this manner he replaced the vane and cock, and rebuilt four yards of the steeple.

The celerity with which the man placed the ladders was remarkable. He began to affix the first at eleven in the morning, and brought the vane down in triumph by two in the afternoon. The bells were then set a-ringing, the congregation of people became very great, and Wooton re-ascended the spire, to exhibit his daring. He extended himself on its summit, only thirteen inches in diameter, and spread out his arms and legs. He afterwards balanced himself on the uppermost stave of the top ladder, and for a quarter of an hour capered about in every imaginable posture, the admiring crowd beneath expecting momentarily to witness his descent in a manner much less agreeable than precipitate.

Subsequently, when his undertaking was accomplished, to excite admiration and obtain money, he again balanced himself on the apex of the spire, beat a drum, and drank a bottle of ale, in the sight of thousands of people, on a market-day; but the reprobation of the man's temerity so far preponderated over public approval, as in a considerable degree to diminish his expected reward.

POST-HASTE ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO.

Glasgow is now within one minute of London; in the last century it was scarcely within a fortnight of it. It is a positive fact that when the post arrived there a hundred years ago, the firing of a gun announced its coming in. The members of the clubs who heard it tumbled out of bed, and rushed down to the club-room, where a tankard of hot herb ale, or a beverage which was a mixture of rum and sugar, was ready for them before breakfast. How forcibly do these things bring before us the size of Glasgow at that time, and the habits of its citizens.

EXECUTION OF ADMIRAL BYNG.

The horrid details of the execution of criminals are wholly unfitted for our pages, but Admiral Byng was not a criminal; his life was sacrificed to party spirit and party interests, and an account of his murder--for such it really was--is therefore highly interesting, as it enables us to see the dauntless manner in which a brave man can meet a dreadful fate, which he knew to be wholly undeserved. The execution took place on board the "St. George," man-of-war in Portsmouth harbour, on the 14th of March, 1757. The Admiral, accompanied by a clergyman who attended him during his confinement, and two gentlemen, his relations, walked out of the great cabin to the quarterdeck, where he suffered, on the larboard side, a few minutes before twelve o'clock. He was dressed in a light grey coat, white waistcoat, and white stockings, and a large white wig, and had in each hand a white handkerchief. He threw his hat on the deck, kneeled on a cushion, tied one handkerchief over his eyes, and dropped the other as a signal, on which a volley from six marines was fired, five of whose bullets went through him, and he was in an instant no more. The sixth went over his head. From his coming out of his cabin could not be two minutes till he fell motionless on his left side. He died with great resolution and composure, not showing the least sign of timidity. The _Ramillies_, the ship the admiral had in the Mediterranean, was riding at her moorings in the harbour, and about half an hour before he suffered, she broke her mooring chain, and only held by her bridle, which is looked on as a wonderful incident by people who do not consider the high wind at that time.

EXTRAORDINARY TREE.

The Samoan group of islands in the South Sea lies between the latitudes of 13 deg. 30' and 14 deg. 30' S, and the longitudes of 168 deg. and 173 deg. W. In some of these islands there is a most remarkable tree which well deserves a place in our roll of extraordinary productions. It is a species of banyan (_Ficus religiosa_), and is called by the natives Ohwa. Our sketch gives a good idea of some of these trees. The pendant branches of many of them take root in the ground to the number of thousands, forming stems from an inch to two feet in diameter, uniting in the main trunk more than eighty feet above the ground, and supporting a vast system of horizontal branches, spreading like an umbrella over the tops of the other trees.

THE PLAGUE IN ENGLAND.

The Register of Ramsay, in Huntingdonshire, mentions 400 people who died there of the plague, in or about February 1665, and that it was introduced into the place by a gentleman, who first caught the infection by wearing a coat, the cloth of which came from London: the tailor who made the coat, with all his family, died, as did no less than the number above mentioned.

But the ravages made by the plague in _London_, about 1665, are well known: it was brought over from Holland, in some Levant goods, about the close of the year 1664: its progress was arrested, in a great degree, by a hard frost which set in in the winter; but as the spring of 1665 advanced, its virulence advanced. Infected houses were shut up and red crosses painted on the doors, with this inscription, "Lord have mercy upon us." Persons going to market took the meat off the hooks themselves, for their _own_ security, and for the _Butcher's_, dropped their money into pans of vinegar; for it was supposed that even their provisions were tainted with the infection. In the months of August and September the greatest mortality occurred; for the deaths of one week have been estimated at 10,000! It may be supposed, that no great accuracy existed in the Registers, to afford a correct estimate; for, in the parish of Stepney, it is said they lost, within the year, 116 sextons, grave-diggers and their assistants; and, as the disorder advanced, the churchyards were incapable of holding more bodies, and large pits were therefore dug in several parts, to which the dead were brought by cartloads, collected by the ringing of a bell and the mournful cry of "Bring out your dead." Add to this, that these carts worked in the night, and no exact account was kept, as the clerks and sextons were averse to a duty exposing them to such dangerous consequences, and often carried off before such accounts as they had taken were delivered in. All the shops were shut up, grass grew in the most public streets, until about December 1665, when the plague abated, and the citizens who had left their abodes for the country, crowded back again to their residences. The computation is, that this horrible disease carried off 100,000 persons in London: it is singular, that the only parish quite exempt from infection was St. John the Evangelist, in Watling Street.

LANDSLIP AT COLEBROOK, SHROPSHIRE.

A most remarkable circumstance happened there in the morning of the 27th of May, 1773, about four o'clock. Near 4,000 yards from the river Severn stood a house, where a family dwelt; the man got up about three o'clock, heard a rumbling noise, and felt the ground shake under him, on which he called up his family. They perceived the ground begin to move, but knew not which way to run; however, they providentially and wonderfully escaped, by taking an immediate flight, for just as they got to an adjacent wood, the ground they had left separated from that on which they stood. They first observed a small crack in the ground about four or five inches wide, and a field that was sown with oats to heave up and roll about like waves of water; the trees moved as if blown with wind, but the air was calm and serene; the Severn (in which at that time was a considerable flood) was agitated very much, and the current seemed to run upwards. They perceived a great crack run very quick up the ground from the river. Immediately about thirty acres of land, with the hedges and trees standing (except a few that were overturned), moved with great force and swiftness towards the Severn, attended with great and uncommon noise, compared to a large flock of sheep running swiftly. That part of the land next the river was a small wood, less than two acres, in which grew twenty large oaks; a few of them were thrown down, and as many more were undermined and overturned; some left leaning, the rest upright, as if never disturbed. The wood was pushed with such velocity into the channel of the Severn (which at that time was remarkably deep), that it forced the waters up in columns a considerable height, like mighty fountains, and drove the bed of the river before it on the opposite shore, many feet above the surface of the water, where it lodged, as did one side of the wood; the current being instantly stopped, occasioned a great inundation above, and so sudden a fall below, that many fish were left on dry land, and several barges were heeled over, and when the stream came down were sunk, but none were damaged above. The river soon took its course over a large meadow that was opposite the small wood, and in three days wore a navigable channel through the meadow. A turnpike road was moved more than thirty yards from its former situation, and to all appearance rendered for ever impassable. A barn was carried about the same distance, and left as a heap of rubbish in a large chasm; the house received but little damage. A hedge that was joined to the garden was removed about fifty yards. A great part of the land was in confused heaps, full of cracks, from four inches to more than a yard wide. Several very long and deep chasms were formed in the upper part of the land, from about fourteen to upwards of thirty yards wide, in which were many pyramids of earth standing, with the green turf remaining on the tops of some of them. Hollows were raised into mounts, and mounts reduced into hollows. Less than a quarter of an hour completed this dreadful scene.

CURIOUS CUSTOM AT STRASBOURG.

At Strasbourg they show a large French horn, whose history is as follows:--About 400 years ago, the Jews formed a conspiracy to betray the city, and with this identical horn they intended to give the enemy notice when to attack.

The plot, however, was discovered; many of the Jews were burnt alive, the rest were plundered of their money and effects, and banished the town; and this horn is sounded twice every night from the battlements of the steeple in gratitude for the deliverance.

The Jews deny the fact of this story, except the murdering and pillaging their countrymen. They say the whole story is fabricated to furnish a pretext for these robberies and murders, and assert that the steeple of Strasbourg, as has been said of the Monument of London,--

"Like a tall bully lifts the head and lies."

DOWN AMONG THE DEAD MEN.

The following is an extraordinary instance of the recklessness of sailors when in the pursuit of what they call pleasure. In the year 1779, a Mr. Constable, of Woolwich, passing through the churchyard there at midnight, heard people singing jovially. At first he thought they were in the church, but the doors were locked, and it was all silent there:--on looking about he found some drunken sailors who had got into a large family vault, and were regaling with bread, cheese, tobacco, and strong beer. They belonged to the Robust, man of war, and having resolved to spend a jolly night on shore, had kept it up in a neighbouring alehouse till the landlord turned them out, and then they came here to finish their evening. They had opened some of the coffins in their dare-devil drunkenness and crammed the mouth of one of the bodies with bread, and cheese, and beer. Constable, with much difficulty, prevailed on them to return to the ship. In their way one fell down in the mud, and was suffocated, as much from drunkenness as the real danger. The comrades took him on their shoulders, and carried him back to sleep in company with the honest gentlemen with whom he had passed the evening.

CHAIR BROUGHT OVER TO AMERICA IN THE MAYFLOWER BY THE PILGRIM FATHERS.

How frequently do we obtain, from the ordinary articles of domestic life which they were accustomed to use, a correct idea of the habits and tastes of whole communities which have long since passed away. A striking instance of this is the chair, of which the above is a correct sketch. It belonged to John Carver, who was one of the band of single-hearted men who constituted the Pilgrim Fathers, and who after first setting out from Holland, eventually sailed from Plymouth in England, in August, 1620. They landed in Cape Cod Harbour, New England, on the 9th of November following. Carver, was one of the chief spirits of the band, and the chair which we have sketched was one of his best articles of furniture, which he took with him in the Mayflower. He was elected the first governor of the community, and died in the year following his election. How forcibly does it show the simplicity of taste, and the freedom from pomp and vanity which characterised the devoted and fearless men who left their native shores, and sought "freedom to worship God" in a land to them unknown, that they should have selected as their first governor, an individual, the best chair in whose house was the homely article which we have here depicted.

A HARMLESS ECCENTRIC.

The annexed cut represents a singular character who was well known about the year 1790 in the southern part of the county of Cumberland. Her appearance is thus described by a correspondent of the Gentleman's Magazine of that date:--"Though I have seen her at various times, and frequently conversed with her, for these 20 years, I have never been able to learn any particulars respecting her family, friends, or name. The country people know her by the appellation of Jenny Darney, from the manner, I presume, in which she used to mend her clothes. Her present garb is entirely of her own manufacture. She collects the small parcels of wool which lie about the fields in sheep farms, spins it on a rock and spindle of her own making; and as she cannot find any other method of making the yarn into cloth, she knits it on wooden needles, and by that means procures a warm comfortable dress. In the lifetime of the late Charles Lutwidge, Esq., of Holm Rook, she took possession of an old cottage, or rather cow-house, on his estate, in which she has ever since been suffered to continue. Her intellects seem at certain times greatly deranged, but her actions are harmless, and her language inoffensive. On that score she is caressed by all the villagers, who supply her with eatables, &c., for money she utterly refuses. She seems a person in her lucid intervals, of much shrewdness, and her understanding is above the common level. This has also been improved by a tolerable education. Her appearance has been much the same for these 20 years, so that she must now be nearly 90 years of age; but of this, as well as her family and name, she is always silent. She seems to have chosen out the spot where she now lives, to pass the remainder of her days unknown to her friends, and in a great measure from a distaste of a wicked world, to 'prepare herself,' as she often in her quiet hours says, 'for a better.'"

THE RULING PASSION.