Part 40
"In the Histoire Generale de l'Empire du Mogol, (_T._ 1, _p_, 327,) compiled by Catrou the Jesuit, from Manouchi's papers, this perfume is said to have been discovered by accident. Nur-Jahan, the favorite wife of the Mogul Jahan-Ghur, among her other luxuries, had a small canal of rose water. As she was a walking with the Mogul upon its banks, they perceived a thin film upon the water,--it was an essential oil made by the heat of the sun. They were delighted with its exquisite odour, and means were immediately taken for preparing by art a substance like that which had been thus fortuitously produced."
A MAGICIAN'S MIRROR AND BRACELET.
A strange blending of pure science and gross superstition is remarkably illustrated in the history of the celebrated Dr. Dee. Born in London in 1527, John Dee raised himself at an early age to a great reputation for his learning, in the mathematical sciences especially, in the most celebrated universities in his own country and of the continent. He is said to have imbibed a taste for the occult sciences while a student at Louvain, but there was evidently in his temper much of an enthusiastic and visionary turn, which must have given him a taste for such mysterious pursuits, without the necessity of an external impulse. One of the oldest and most generally credited of magical operations, was that of bringing spirits or visions into a glass or mirror, a practice which has continued to exist in the East even to the present day, and which prevailed to a very considerable extent in all parts of Western Europe during the sixteenth century. The process was not a direct one, for the magician did not himself see the vision in the mirror, but he had to depend upon an intermediate agent, a sort of familiar, who in England was known by the name of a _skyrer_, and whose business it was to look into the mirror and describe what he saw. Dr. Dee's principal skyrer was one Edward Kelly, and during his connexion with him, Dee kept an exact diary of all his visions, a portion of which was printed in a folio volume by Merio Casaubon in 1659. In this journal more than one magical mirror is evidently mentioned, and that which we here engrave is believed to have been of the number. It is now in the collection of Lord Londesborough.
It is a polished oval slab of black stone, of what kind we have not been able to ascertain, but evidently of a description which was not then common in Western Europe, and Dr. Dee, who died in 1608, may have considered it as extremely precious, and as only to be obtained by some extraordinary means. It was one of the ornaments of the museum of Horace Walpole at Strawberry Hill; and Walpole has attached to it a statement of its history in his own hand-writing, from which we learn that it was "long" in the possession of the Mordaunts, earls of Peterborough, in whose catalogue it was described as "the black stone into which Dr. Dee used to call his spirits." It passed from that collection to Lady Elizabeth Germaine, from whom it went to John Campbell, Duke of Argyll, whose son, Lord Frederick Campbell, presented it to Horace Walpole. This interesting relic was bought at the Strawberry Hill sale for the late Mr. Pigott; and at the more recent sale of that gentleman's collection, it passed into the hands of Lord Londesborough. Its history and authenticity appear, therefore, to be very well made out. The family of the Mordaunts held a prominent place in English history during the whole of the seventeenth century, and it is hardly probable that they would have received an object like this without having good reason for believing that its history was authentic. It is believed that Butler alluded to this identical stone in his well-known lines:--
"Kelly did all his feats upon The devil's looking-glass or stone, When, playing with him at bo-peep, He solv'd all problems ne'er so deep." _Hudibras._ Part II. Canto 3.
The regular fitting out of the magician at this period was a complicated process. He required his implements of various kinds, and, in addition to these, various robes, made especially for the occasion, with girdles and head-pieces, and magical rings and bracelets. A very curious example of the last-mentioned article of the magician's accoutrements, is represented in the preceding cut, about one-third the size of the original. It was purchased by Lord Londesborough in 1851, and had formerly been in the possession of Charles Mainwaring, Esq., of Coleby, near Lincoln. It is of silver, the letters of the inscription round the bracelet being engraved and filled with niello. This inscription may be distinctly read as follows:--
+ IONA + IHOAT + LONA + HELOI + YSSARAY + || + MEPHENOLPHETON + AGLA + ACHEDION + YANA + BACHIONODONAVALI M[*] ILIOR + || BACHIONODONAVALI M[**] ACH +
Some explanation of this mysterious inscription might, no doubt, be obtained by a diligent comparison of some of the numerous works on magic compiled in the age of Dr. Dee, and in the seventeenth century. The bracelet has had four pendants on it, of which three still remain, with the silver setting of the fourth. One of the pendants which remain is a brownish pebble, secured by three flat bands of silver; another is an oval cage of strong silver wire, containing a nut of some kind and some other vegetable substance; the third has on one side a circular convex pebble set in silver, and on the back three smaller pebbles.
LUNAR INFLUENCE IN DEATH.
Many modern physicians have stated the opinions of the ancients as regards lunar influence in diseases, but none have pushed their inquiries with such indefatigable zeal as the late Dr. Moseley; he affirms that almost all people in extreme age die at the new or at full moon, and this he endeavours to prove by the following records:--
Thomas Parr died at the age of 152, two days after the full moon. Henry Jenkins died at the age of 169, the day of the new moon. Elizabeth Steward, 124, the day of the new moon. William Leland, 140, the day after the new moon. John Effingham, 144, two days after full moon. Elizabeth Hilton, 121, two days after the full moon. John Constant, 113, two days after the new moon.
The doctor then proceeds to show, by the deaths of various illustrious persons, that a similar rule holds good with the generality of mankind:
Chaucer, 25th October, 1400, the day of the first quarter. Copernicus, 24th May, 1543, day of the last quarter. Luther, 18th February, 1546, three days after the full. Henry VIII., 28th January, 1547, the day of the first quarter. Calvin, 27th May, 1564, two days after the full. Cornaro, 26th April, 1566, day of the first quarter. Queen Elizabeth, 24th March, 1603, day of the last quarter. Shakspeare, 23rd April, 1616, day after the full. Camden, 2nd November, 1623, day before the new moon. Bacon, 9th April, 1626, one day after last quarter. Vandyke, 9th April, 1641, two days after full moon. Cardinal Richelieu, 4th December, 1642, three days before full moon. Doctor Harvey, 30th June, 1657, a few hours before the new moon. Oliver Cromwell, 3rd September, 1658, two days after full moon. Milton, 15th November, 1674, two days before the new moon. Sydenham, 29th December, 1689, two days before the full moon. Locke, 28th November, 1704, two days before the full moon. Queen Anne, 1st August, 1714, two days after the full moon. Louis XIV., 1st September, 1715, a few hours before the full moon. Marlborough, 16th June, 1722, two days before the full moon. Newton, 20th March, 1726, two days before the new moon. George I., 11th June, 1727, three days after new moon. George II., 25th October, 1760, one day after full moon. Sterne, 13th September, 1768, two days after new moon. Whitfield, 18th September, 1770, a few hours before the new moon. Swedenburg, 19th March, 1772, the day of the full moon. Linnaeus, 10th January, 1778, two days before the full moon. The Earl of Chatham, 11th May, 1778, the day of the full moon. Rousseau, 2nd July, 1778, the day after the first quarter. Garrick, 20th January, 1779, three days after the new moon. Dr. Johnson, 14th December, 1784, two days after the new moon. Dr. Franklin, 17th April, 1790, three days after the new moon. Sir Joshua Reynolds, 23rd February, 1792, the day after the new moon. Lord Guildford, 5th August, 1722, three days after the full moon. Dr. Warren, 23rd June, 1797, a day before the new moon. Burke, 9th July, 1797, at the instant of the full moon. Macklin, 11th July, 1797, two days after full moon. Wilkes, 26th December, 1797, the day of the first quarter. Washington, 15th December, 1790, three days after full moon. Sir W. Hamilton, 6th April, 1803, a few hours before the full moon.
The doctor winds up this extract from the bills of mortality by the following appropriate remark: "Here we see the moon, as she shines on all alike, so she makes no distinction of persons in her influence:
"----aequo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas, Regumque turres."
GLUTTONY OF THE MONKS.
King John, pointing to a fat deer said, "See how plump he is, and yet he has never heard mass!" John might have alluded to the gluttony of the monks, which was notorious in his days; for Giraldus Cambrensis says, that from the monks of St. Swithin's, Winchester, Henry II. received a formal complaint against the abbot for depriving his priests of three out of thirteen dishes at every meal. The monks of Canterbury exceeded those of St. Swithin; they had seventeen dishes every day, and each of these cooked with spices and the most savoury and rich sauces.
ANCIENT BELL-SHRINE.
The annexed engraving represents one of the most valuable and curious ecclesiastical relics of the early Christian Period that has ever been discovered. It consists of a bronze bell-shrine and bell, found about the year 1814, on the demolition of the ruined wall at Torrebhlaurn farm, in the parish of Kilmichael-Glassrie, Argyleshire, and now one of the most valued treasures in the Museum of the Scottish Antiquaries.
That it must have been deposited in the wall where it was found, for the purpose of concealment at a period of danger and alarm, seems abundantly obvious; but of the occasion of this concealment no tradition has been preserved. Within the beautiful case is a rude iron bell, so greatly corroded that its original form can only be imperfectly traced; yet this, and not the shrine, was obviously the chief object of veneration, and may, indeed, be assumed, with much probability, to be some centuries older than the ornamental case in which it is preserved. Whether it shall be thought to have been an ancient reliquary or a mass-bell, or whatever else may be conjectured of its nature and use, it may fairly be presumed to have remained in the neglected spot in which it was found since the subversion of the Roman Catholic worship in the sixteenth century, when the favoured objects of external adoration and reverence, under the former superstition, came to be regarded with impatient contempt and abhorrence.
It is deserving of attention that the figure of our crucified Saviour in invested with a regal crown, and not with a crown of thorns, as is usually the case. The brass chain or collar, of rude workmanship, about three feet six inches long, now attached to the case, and the extremities of which are connected with a small cross of the same metal, was discovered at the same time, not far from the case.
EGYPTIAN GARDEN.
The diagram which accompanies this article is an Egyptian sketch of an Egyptian garden; and it is expressly curious, both as an example of the pictorial art of the period, and as giving us an idea of the pleasure-gardens of Egypt in its most flourishing days.
The garden here represented stood beside a canal of the Nile, with an avenue of trees between it and the bank, on which side was the entrance. It was surrounded by an embattled wall, through which a noble gateway gave access to the garden. The central space was occupied by the vineyard, surrounded by its own wall, in which the vines were trained on trellises supported by slender pillars. At the further end of the vineyard was a building of three storeys, the windows from which opened over the luxurious foliage and purple clusters, regaling the senses both of sight and smell. Four large tanks of water kept the vegetation well supplied with nutritive moisture; and, with the smooth and verdant turf which borders them, the water-fowl that sported over the surface, and the lotus-flowers that sprang from their clear depths, added a new beauty to the scene. Near the tanks stood summer-houses, overlooking beds of various flowers, and sheltered from the sun by surrounding trees. Two enclosed spaces between the tanks, being filled with trees, were probably devoted to some species of particular rarity, or remarkable for the excellence of their fruit. Rows of date trees and Theban palms, alternating with other trees, bordered the whole garden, and environed the vineyard wall.
The very numerous allusions to gardens in the Sacred Scriptures show that the Hebrews inherited the same taste as the Egyptians. In these allusions we find the same characteristics that are so observable in those depicted on the monuments; such as the absolute necessity of water, the custom of having pools in them, the advantage of a situation by the side of a river, the practice of enclosing them from intrusion, and appropriation of enclosures to particular productions.
With the early Egyptians the love of flowers seems to have been almost a passion; they appear to have been in constant request in offerings to the gods, and as ornaments of the person, as decorations of furniture; as graceful additions to several entertainments, they occur at every turn. Flowers were painted on walls, furniture, dresses, chairs, boxes, boats, and, in short, on whatever was wished to be ornamental. Wreaths and chaplets were likewise in common use among the Egyptians, and artificial flowers were not uncommon.
STATE OF THE MIND DURING SLEEP.
The following is an instance of phantasms being produced by our associations with bodily sensations, and tends to show how alive our faculties continue during sleep to the highest impressions:--
The subject of this observation was an officer in the expedition to Louisburg in 1758, who had this peculiarity in so remarkable a degree, that his companions in the transport were in the constant habit of amusing themselves at his expense. They could produce in him any kind of dream by whispering in his ear, especially if this was done by a friend with whose voice he had become familiar. One time they conducted him through the whole progress of a trial, which ended in a duel; and when the parties were supposed to have met, a pistol was put into his hand, which he fired, and was awakened by the report. On another occasion they found him asleep on the top of a locker in the cabin, when they made him believe he had fallen overboard, and exhorted him to save himself by swimming. They then told him that a shark was pursuing him, and entreated him to dive for his life. He instantly did so, and with so much force as to throw himself from the locker upon the cabin floor, by which he was much bruised, and awakened of course. After the landing of the army at Louisburg, his friends found him one day asleep in his tent, and evidently annoyed by the cannonading. They then made him believe that he was engaged, when he expressed great fear, and showed an evident disposition to run away. Against this they remonstrated, but at the same increased his fears by imitating the groans of the wounded and the dying; and when he asked, as he often did, who was hit, they named his particular friends. At last they told him that the man next himself in his company had fallen, when he instantly sprung from his bed, rushed out of the tent, and was only roused from his danger and his dream by falling over the tent-ropes. A remarkable thing in this case was, that after these experiments he had no distinct recollection of his dreams, but only a confused feeling of oppression or fatigue, and used to tell his friends that he was sure they had been playing some trick upon him. It has been observed that we seldom feel courageous or daring in our dreams, and generally avoid danger when menaced by a foe, or exposed to any probable peril.
MUSIC OF THE SEA.
The mysterious music that is heard in the bay at West Pascagoula, is described by those who have listened to it as being singularly beautiful. "It has, for a long time," says Mrs. Child, an American authoress, "been one of the greatest wonders of the south-west. Multitudes have heard it, rising, as it were, from the water, like the drone of a bagpipe, then floating away, away, away, in the distance, soft, plaintive, and fairy-like, as if AEolian harps sounded with richer melody through the liquid element; but none have been able to account for the beautiful phenomenon. There are several legends touching these mysterious sounds; but in these days few things are allowed to remain mysterious." These strange sounds, which thus assume the beauty and the harmony of regular music, are stated to proceed from the cat-fish. A correspondent of the _Baltimore Republican_ thus explains the phenomenon:--"During several of my voyages on the Spanish main, in the neighbourhood of Paraguay and San Juan de Nicaragua, from the nature of the coast, we were compelled to anchor at a considerable distance from the shore; and every evening, from dark to late night, our ears were delighted with AEolian music, that could be heard beneath the counter of our schooner. At first I thought it was the sea-breeze sweeping through the strings of my violin (the bridge of which I had inadvertently left standing); but after examination I found it was not so. I then placed my ear on the rail of the vessel, when I was continually charmed with the most heavenly strains that ever fell upon my ear. They did not sound as close to us, but were sweet, mellow, and aerial, like the soft breathings of a thousand lutes, touched by fingers of the deep sea nymphs, at an immense distance. Although I have considerable "music in my soul," one night I became tired, and determined to fish. My luck, in half-an-hour, was astonishing. I had half filled my bucket with the finest white cat-fish I ever saw; and it being late, and the cook asleep, and the moon shining, I filled my bucket with water, and took fish and all into my cabin for the night. I had not yet fallen asleep, when the same sweet notes fell upon my ear; and, getting up, what was my surprise to find my cat-fish discoursing sweet sounds to the sides of my bucket! I examined them closely, and discovered that there was attached to each lower lip an excrescence, divided by soft wiry fibres. By the pressure of the upper lip thereon, and by the exhalation and discharge of breath, a vibration was created, similar to that produced by the breath on the tongue of the Jews' harp."
THE ROCK OF CASHEL.
Any work which professed to be a record of what is rare and curious, would surely be incomplete if it did not contain an account of the celebrated Rock of Cashel; for the venerable buildings which crown its summit are, from their number, variety, preservation, and site, decidedly the most interesting ruins in the Emerald Isle, and, to use the words of Sir Walter Scott, "such as Ireland may be proud of." Cashel, which is distant about one hundred miles from Dublin, appears to be a place of high antiquity, and was long the residence of the kings of Munster; but as its early history is involved in much obscurity, it is uncertain at what period it became a diocesan site. It is stated that previous to the year 1101 the buildings on the Rock were occupied as a royal residence, and that in that year the hitherto royal seat was dedicated solely to ecclesiastical uses.
The buildings consist of a round tower, Cormack's chapel, cathedral, castle and monastery; the latter is a few yards detached, and the least remarkable of the number; all the former are closely connected. The Round Tower, the date and uses of which are in common with those of all other similar structures involved in much obscurity, raises its tall and yet scarce dilapidated head far above its younger and more decaying companions. It is fifty-six feet in circumference, and ninety feet in height. Cormack's Chapel, which, with the exception of the Round Tower, is the most ancient structure of the group, was built by Cormack M'Carthy, king of Munster, in 1136. It is roofed with stone, and in its capitals, arches, and other features and details, the Norman style is distinctly marked. The numerous ornaments, grotesque heads, and other curious sculptures, which adorn the arches, columns, and pilasters, are all in uniformity of style. The building altogether is a perfect gem, and the architectural antiquary and the artist will find in it a most valuable addition to their studies. The cathedral is a noble remnant of what is usually termed the pointed Gothic, and contains many interesting relics.
The rock, which is here presented as it appears from the plain below, has the buildings we have just mentioned on its very summit; it rises abruptly from a widely extended fertile country, to a considerable height above the town, and from many parts at a distance it forms a very striking object. On the top of the rock, and around the ruins, an area of about three acres has been enclosed, which is open to the public.
INSTANCE OF INCREMATION.
Last night (26th September, 1769), say the chronicles of the day, the will of Mrs. Pratt, a widow lady, who lately died at her house in George Street, Hanover Square, was punctually fulfilled, by the burning of her body to ashes in her grave, in the new burying-ground adjoining to Tyburn turnpike.
THE HAWTHORNDEN SWORD.
The great antiquity of the Scottish claymore is proved by its being figured in the sculptures both of Iona and Oronsay, with considerable variety of details. In some the blade is highly ornamented, and the handle varies in form, but all present the same characteristic, having the guards bent back towards the blade. A curious variety of this peculiar form is seen in a fine large two-handed sword preserved at Hawthornden, the celebrated castle of the Drummonds, where the Scottish poet entertained Ben Johnson during his visit to Scotland in 1619. It is traditionally affirmed to have been the weapon of Robert Bruce, though little importance can be attached to a reputation which it shares with one-half the large two-handed swords still preserved. Our engraving is a correct representation of it.
The handle appears to be made from the tusk of the narwhal, and it has four reverse guards, as shown in the cut. The object aimed at by this form of guard, doubtless, was to prevent the antagonist's sword glancing off, and inflicting a wound ere he recovered his weapon, and, in the last example especially, it seems peculiarly well adapted for the purpose.
INSTINCT IN A CAT.