Part 69
The cut which we here present to our readers is taken from the English edition of the Janua Linguarum of Comenius, and represents the forms of dining in England under the Protectorate. It will be best described by the text which accompanies it in the book, and in which each particular object is mentioned. "When a feast is made ready," we are told, "the table is covered with a carpet and a table-cloth by the waiters, who, besides, lay the trenchers, spoons, knives, with little forks, table napkins, bread, with a salt-cellar Messes are brought in platters, a pie in a plate. The guests being brought in by the host, wash their hands out of a laver or ewer, over a hand-basin, or bowl, and wipe them with a hand towel: they then sit at the table on chairs. The carver breaketh up the good cheer, and divideth it. Sauces are set amongst roste-meat in sawsers. The butler filleth strong wine out of a cruse, or wine-pot, or flagon, into cups or glasses, which stand on a cupboard, and he reacheth them to the master of the feast, who drinketh to his guests." It will be observed here that one salt-cellar is here placed in the middle of the table. This was the usual custom; and, as one long table had been substituted for the several tables formerly standing in the hall, the salt-cellar was considered to divide the table into distinct parts, guests of more distinction being placed above the salt, while the places below the salt were assigned to inferiors and dependents. This usage is often alluded to in the old dramatists. Thus, in Ben Jonson, it is said of a man who treats his inferiors with scorn, "he never drinks _below the salt_, _i. e._ he never exchanges civilities with those who sit at the lower end of the table." And in a contemporary writer, it is described as a mark of presumption in an inferior member of the household "to sit above the salt."
SAND-COLUMNS IN AFRICA.
Of this remarkable phenomenon, we extract the following interesting account from the Rev. N. Davis's "Evenings in my Tent";--
"The heat, during the last day or two, has been intense. The thermometer in my tent, during day and night, has been almost stationary at 100 degrees. My men have done, and still do, everything in their power to keep the tent cool, by erecting a high palm-branch fence around it, and by a constant immersion of the ground, but all this to very little effect. The wind, during this day, has been as hot as the flames issuing from a furnace; and the clouds of sand it raised, and carried along in its furious march, have been immense. In the distance could be seen numbers of sand columns; but these did not retain their form any considerable length of time. A contrary blast brought them in collision with each other; and these, blending their contents, raised a complete and dense barrier between us and the country beyond. I am no lover of danger; but, I must confess, I had an inward desire to see this phenomenon--one of the horrors of the desert--in greater perfection. I believe Bruce witnessed one of the most stupendous exhibitions of sand columns or sand spouts, caused by circular or whirl-winds, on record. In his journey through the desert of Senaar, his attention was attracted to a number of prodigious pillars of sand, at different distances, moving at times with great celerity, at others, stalking on with majestic slowness: at intervals, he thought they were coming in a very few minutes to overwhelm him and his companions. Again they would retreat, so as to be almost out of sight, their tops reaching to the very clouds. There the tops often separated, from the bodies; and these, once disjoined, dispersed in the air, and appeared no more. Sometimes they were broken near the middle, as if struck with a large cannon-shot. About noon, they began to advance with considerable swiftness upon them, the wind being very strong at north. Eleven of these awful visitors ranged alongside of them, at about the distance of three miles. The greatest diameter of the largest appeared to him, at that distance, as if it would measure ten feet. They retired from them, with a wind at south-east, leaving an impression upon the mind of our intrepid traveller to which he could give no name, though he candidly admits that one ingredient in it was fear, with a considerable deal of wonder and astonishment. He declares it was in vain to think of flying; the swiftest horse, or fastest sailing ship, could be of no use to carry them out of this danger,--and the full persuasion of this riveted him to the spot where he stood. Next day they were gratified by a similar display of moving pillars, in form and disposition like those already described, only they seemed to be more in number, and less in size. They came several times in a direction close upon them; that is, according to Mr. Bruce's computation, within two miles. They became, immediately after sunrise, like a thick wood, and almost darkened the sun, his rays, shining through them for near an hour, gave them an appearance of pillars of fire. At another time they were terrified by an army of these sand pillars, whose march was constantly south, a number of which seemed once to be coming directly upon them, and, though they were little nearer than two miles, a considerable quantity of sand fell around them. On the 21st of November, about eight in the morning, he had a view of the desert to the westward as before, and saw the sands had already begun to rise in immense twisted pillars, which darkened the heavens, and moved over the desert with more magnificence than ever. The sun shining through the pillars, which were thicker, and contained more sand apparently than any of the preceding ones, seemed to give those nearest them an appearance as if spotted with stars of gold. A little before twelve, the wind at north ceased, and a considerable quantity of fine sand rained upon them for an hour afterwards."
ANTIQUITY OF INTOXICATING DRINKS.
It is a common belief that wine was the only inebriating liquor known to antiquity, but this is a mistake. Tacitus mentions the use of ale or beer as common among the Germans of his time. By the Egyptians, likewise, whose country was ill adapted to the cultivation of the grape, it was employed as a substitute for wine. Ale was common in the middle ages, and Mr. Park states that very good beer is made, by the usual process of brewing and malting, in the interior of Africa. The favourite drink of our Saxon ancestors was ale or mead. Those worshippers of Odin were so notoriously addicted to drunkenness, that it was regarded as honourable rather than otherwise; and the man who could withstand the greatest quantity was looked upon with admiration and respect: whence the drunken songs of the Scandinavian scalds: whence the glories of Valhalla, the fancied happiness of whose inhabitants consisted of quaffing draughts from the skulls of their enemies slain in battle. Even ardent spirit, which is generally supposed to be a modern discovery, probably existed from a very early period. It is said to have been first made by the Arabians in the middle ages, and in all likelihood may lay claim to a still remoter origin. The spirituous liquor called arrack has been manufactured in the island of Java, as well as in the continent of Hindostan, from time immemorial. Brandy was made in Sicily at the commencement of the fourteenth century. As to wine, it was so common in ancient times as to have a tutelar god appropriated to it; Bacchus and his companion Silenus are as household words in the mouths of all, and constituted most important features of the heathen mythology. We have all heard of the Falernian and Campanian wines, and of the wines of Cyprus and Shiraz. Indeed, there is reason to believe that the ancients were in no respect inferior to the moderns in the excellence of the vinous liquors, whatever they may have been in the variety. Wine was so common in the eastern nations that Mahomet, foreseeing the baleful effects of its propagation, forbade it to his followers, who, to compensate themselves, had recourse to opium. The Gothic or dark ages seem to have been those in which it was the least common; in proof of this it may be mentioned that, so late as 1298, it was vended as a cordial by the English apothecaries. At the present day it is little drunk, except by the upper classes, in those countries which do not naturally furnish the grape. In those that do, it is so cheap as to come within the reach of even the lowest.
RUINS OF CLONMACNOIS.
A few miles south of Athlone are the famous ruins of Clonmacnois, the school where, according to Dr. O'Connor, "the nobility of Connaught had their children educated, and which was therefore called Cluan-mac-nois, 'the secluded recess of the sons of nobles.'" It was also, in ancient times, a renowned cemetery of the Irish kings; and for many centuries it has continued a favourite burial-place, the popular belief enduring to this day, that all persons interred here pass immediately from earth to heaven. The abbey is said to have been founded by St. Kieran about the middle of the sixth century, and soon became "amazingly enriched," so that, writes Mr. Archdall, "its landed property was so great, and the number of cells and monasteries subjected to it so numerous, that almost half of Ireland was said to be within the bounds of Clonmacnois." The ruins retain marks of exceeding splendour. In the immediate vicinity there are two "Round Towers." The above engraving represents one of the many richly-carved stone crosses that are scattered in all directions among the ruins.
THE BRICKS OF BABYLON.
Besides sun-dried bricks, remains of kiln-baked or burnt bricks are found in all the principal ruins of ancient Babylonia, and were used for the purpose of revetting or casing the walls. Like the sun-dried bricks they are made of clay mixed with grass and straw, which have, of course, disappeared in the baking, leaving, however, traces of the stalks or stems in the clay. Generally they are slack-burnt, of a pale red colour, with a slight glaze or polish. The finest sort, according to Mr. Rich, are white, approaching more or less to a yellowish cast, like our Stourbridge, or fire-brick; the coarsest are red, like our ordinary brick. Some have a blackish cast, and are very hard. The finest are those which come from the ruins of the Akerkuf. The general measurement of the kiln-dried bricks, at the Birs Nimrud, is 1 ft. 1 in. square, and 3 in. thick. Some are submultiples, or half of these dimensions. A few are of different shapes for particular purposes, such as rounding corners. Those at the Akerkuf measured a trifle less, or 12-1/2 in. square, and 2-3/4 in. thick, and are placed at the base of the monument. The bricks of Al Hymer, on the eastern bank, measure 14 in. long, 12-3/4 in. broad, 2-1/2 in. thick, and are of fine fabric. There are bricks of two dimensions at this ruin of the Birs Nimrud; those on the northern brow, a little way down it, measure 12 in. square, and 3-1/4 in. thick; they are of a pale red colour, and used for revetting the monument. Lower down to the east of this, they are 4-3/4 in. broad, and 12-3/4 in. long. Similar bricks were found at the Mujellibe, and in one place was an entire wall of them 60 feet thick. The whole plain here is covered with masses of brick work, and on one of the mounds the bricks are so red, that it looks one bright gleaming mass. The bricks from the Mujellibe or Kasr are described as very hard, and of a pale yellow colour; and this edifice presents a remarkable appearance of freshness. We have seen only one fragment of a brick from Niffer; it is of a white, or rather yellowish white colour, and sandy, gritty texture. This spot, it will be remembered, is supposed to be the site of old Babylon. All these bricks are made by the same process as those of Assyria, namely, stamped out of a wooden or terra-cotta mould, and are also impressed with several lines of cuneiform character. This impression is always sunk below the superficies, rectangular, and often placed obliquely on the brick, with that disregard to mechanical symmetry which is so usual on works of ancient art. The stamp is generally about 6 inches long, by 4 inches wide, and the number of lines varies from three to seven: an arrangement quite different from that observed on the bricks of Assyria, and rather resembling that adopted by the brick-makers of Egypt. The engraving on previous page is of a brick stamped with the name of Nebuchadnezzar, which is now in the possession of the Royal Society of Literature. The inscriptions sometimes commence with the figure of a lion, a bull, or what may be intended for an altar. These read, according to Sir H. Rawlinson,--
[of] Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, founder of Beth Digla, or Saggalu, and of Beth Tzida son of Nebopalasar [I am].
A TURKISH BAZAAR.
A Turkish bazaar is one of the most wonderful sights in the world, and well deserves a place in our record of curiosities. We cannot do better than quote the description which Mr. Albert Smith gives of one of these extraordinary places in his "Month at Constantinople:"--
"Smyrna had, in some measure, prepared me for the general appearance of an oriental bazaar; but the vast extent of these markets at Constantinople created a still more vivid impression. To say that the covered rows of shops must altogether be miles in length--that vista after vista opens upon the gaze of the astonished stranger, lined with the costliest productions of the world, each collected in its proper district--that one may walk for an hour, without going over the same ground twice, amidst diamonds, gold, and ivory; Cashmere shawls, and Chinese silks; glittering arms, costly perfumes, embroidered slippers, and mirrors; rare brocades, ermines, Morocco leathers, Persian nick-nacks; amber mouthpieces, and jewelled pipes--that looking along the shortest avenue, every known tint and colour meets the eye at once, in the wares and costumes, and that the noise, the motion, the novelty of this strange spectacle is at first perfectly bewildering--all this, possibly, gives the reader the notion of some kind of splendid mart, fitted to supply the wants of the glittering personages who figure in the Arabian Nights' Entertainments; yet it can convey but a poor idea of the real interest which such a place calls forth, or the most extraordinary assemblage of treasures displayed there, amidst so much apparent shabbiness. No spot in the world--neither the Parisian Boulevards, nor our own Regent-street--can boast of such an accumulation of valuable wares from afar, as the great bazaar at Constantinople. Hundreds and thousands of miles of rocky road and sandy desert have been traversed by the moaning camels who have carried those silks and precious stones from Persia, with the caravan. From the wild regions of the mysterious central Africa, that ivory, so cunningly worked, in the next row, has been brought--the coal-black people only know how--until the Nile floated it down to Lower Egypt. Then those soft Cashmere shawls have made a long and treacherous journey to Trebizond, whence the fleet barks of the cold and stormy Euxine at last brought them up the fairy Bosphorus to the very water's edge of the city. From the remote active America; from sturdy England; from Cadiz, Marseilles, and all along the glowing shores of the Mediterranean, safely carried over the dark and leaping sea, by brave iron monsters that have fought the winds with their scalding breath, these wares have come, to tempt the purchasers, in the pleasant, calm, subdued light of the bazaars of Stamboul."
VARNISH-TREE OF THE JAPANESE.
The _urusi_ or varnish-tree, of which they make so extensive a use, is a noble tree when grown to its full size. On incision it yields a rich, milky, glutinous juice, out of which the Japanese make the celebrated varnish, known by the name of _Japan_. With this varnish they cover and coat all their household furniture, all their dishes and plates, and all their drinking-vessels, whether made of wood or of paper. The use of plate, or porcelain, or glass appears to be very limited, and is probably interdicted by some rule of nationality or religion: from the emperor down to the meanest peasant, all make use of the light varnished or japanned cups and dishes, the inner substance of which is wood or paper, or what we term papier-mache.
Another tree, called _forasi_, renders a varnish of an inferior quality.
TORTURE-CHAMBER AT NUREMBERG.
Nuremberg, being a "free city," was governed by its own appointed magistrates, having independent courts of law. The executive council of state consisted of eight members, chosen from the thirty patrician families, who, by the privilege granted to them from the thirteenth century, ruled the city entirely. In process of time these privileges assumed the form of a civic tyranny, which was felt to be intolerable by the people, and occasionally opposed by them. The fierce religious wars of the sixteenth century assisted in destroying the monopoly of power still more; yet now that it is gone for ever, it has left fearful traces of its irresponsible strength. All who sigh for "the good old times," should not moralise over the fallen greatness of the city, and its almost deserted but noble town-hall; but descend below the building into the dark vaults and corridors which form its basement; the terrible substructure upon which the glorious municipal palace of a free imperial self-ruled city was based in the middle ages, into whose secrets none dared pry, and where friends, hope, life itself, were lost to those who dared revolt against the rulers. There is no romance-writer who has imagined more horrors than we have evidences were perpetrated under the name of justice in these frightful vaults, unknown to the busy citizens around them, within a few feet of the streets down which a gay wedding procession might pass, while a true patriot was torn in every limb, and racked to death by the refined cruelty of his fellow-men. The heart sickens in these vaults, and an instinctive desire to quit them takes possession of the mind, while remaining merely as a curious spectator within them. The narrow steps leading to them are reached through a decorated doorway, and the passage below receives light through a series of gratings. You shortly reach the labyrinthine ways, totally excluded from external light and air, and enter, one after another, confined dungeons, little more than six feet square, cased with oak to deaden sounds, and to increase the difficulty of attempted escape. To make these narrow places even more horrible, strong wooden stocks are in some, and day and night prisoners were secured in total darkness, in an atmosphere which seems even now too oppressive to bear. In close proximity to these dungeons is a strong stone room, about twelve feet wide each way, into which you descend by three steps. It is the torture-chamber, which we here engrave.
The massive bars before you are all that remain of the perpendicular rack, upon which unfortunates were hung with weights attached to their ankles. Two such of stone, weighing each fifty pounds, were kept here some years back, as well as many other implements of torture since removed or sold for old iron. The raised stone bench around the room was for the use of the executioner and attendants. The vaulted roof condensed the voice of the tortured man, and an aperture on one side gave it freedom to ascend into a room above, where the judicial listeners waited for the faltering words which succeeded the agonising screams of their victim.
SEPULCHRAL VASES OF GREEK POTTERY.
The number of these vases deposited in the great public museums of Europe is very large, and from calculations derived from catalogues, or from observations made on the spot, may be stated in round numbers as follows:--The Museo Borbonico, at Naples, contains about 2,100; the Gregorian Museum in the Vatican, about 1,000; Florence has about 700; and at Turin there are 500. On the side of the Alps, the Imperial Museum of Vienna possesses about 300; Berlin has 1,690; Munich about 1,700; Dresden, 200; Carlsruhe, 200; the Louvre, at Paris, about 1,500; while 500 more may be found in the Bibliotheque Imperiale. The British Museum has about 2,600 vases of all kinds. Besides the public collections, several choice and valuable specimens of ancient art belong to individuals. The most important of these private collections are those of the Duc de Luynes, the Duc de Blacas, the Count de Pourtales-Gorgier, the Jatta collection, that belonging to M. St. Angela at Naples, and a fine and choice one belonging to the Marquis Campana at Rome. In England, the collections of Mr. Hope, of Mr. Jekyll, of the Marquis of Northampton, and of Mr. Hertz, contain several interesting examples. In addition to these, several thousand more vases are in the hands of the principal dealers, as S. Barone, of Naples; and the heirs of S. Basseggio, Capranesi and Messrs. Sotheby, in London. The total number of vases in public and private collections probably amounts to 15,000 of all kinds.
All these were discovered in the sepulchres of the ancients, but the circumstances under which they were found differ according to locality. In Greece, the graves are generally small, being designed for single corpses, which accounts for the comparatively small size of the vases discovered in that country. At Athens, the earlier graves are sunk deepest in the soil, and those at Corinth, especially such as contain the early Corinthian vases, are found by boring to a depth of several feet beneath the surface. The early tombs of Civita Vecchia and Caere, or Cervetri, in Italy, are tunnelled in the earth; and those at Vulci and in the Etruscan territory, from which the finest and largest vases have been extracted, are chambers hewn in the rocks. In Southern Italy, especially in Campania, they are large chambers, about 5-1/4 palms under the surface.
The engraving on previous page will convey an idea of the manner in which the vases are arranged round the bodies of the dead in the tombs of Veii, Nola, and Cumae.
The tomb there represented is constructed of large blocks of stone, arranged in squared masses, called the Etruscan style of wall, in contradistinction to the Cyclopean. The walls are painted with subjects, the body is laid upon the stone floor, and the larger vases, such as the _oxybapha_ and _craters_ are placed round it. The jugs are hung upon nails round the walls.
GAMES WITH CARDS IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
Cards were used by every one. The game of Gleek was played by three persons. The dealer dealt twelve cards and left eight on the table for stock, seven were bought, and the ace turned up for the dealer; if it was Tiddy (four of trumps) such player gave four to the dealer. The ace was called Tib, the knave Tim, the fifth Towser, and the sixth Tumbler. The players then begin bidding for the stock in hopes of bettering their game, the buyer taking in seven cards and putting out seven. If Tib was turned up, it counted fifteen to the dealer. The players then picked for Ruff, the one having most of a suit winning it--unless any one had four aces, which always carried it. The first then said, "I'll vie the Ruff;" the next, "I'll see it:" the third, "I'll see it, and revie it;" the first again, "I'll see your revie;" and the middle, "I'll not meddle with it." They then showed their cards, and he that had most of a suit won six of him that held out longest, and forty of him who said he could see it, and then refused to meddle with it.