Chapter 4

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INSECTS.

One great protection against all creeping things is, to stir the ground very frequently along the foot of the wall. That is their great place of resort; and frequent stirring and making the ground very fine, disturbs the peace of their numerous families, gives them trouble, makes them uneasy, and finally harasses them to death.

_Cobbett's English Gardener._

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SIR W. TEMPLE'S GARDEN.

It was formerly the fashion to have a sort of canal, with broad grass walks on the sides, and with the water coming up to within a few inches of the closely shaven grass; and certainly few things were more beautiful than these. Sir William Temple had one of his own constructing in his gardens at Moor Park. On the outsides of the grass-walks were borders of beautiful flowers. I have stood for hours to look at this canal, which the good-natured manners of those days had led the proprietor to make an opening in the outer wall in order that his neighbours might enjoy the sight as well as himself; I have stood for hours, when a little boy, looking at this object; I have travelled far since, and have seen a great deal; but I have never seen any thing of the gardening kind so beautiful in the whole course of my life--_Ibid_.

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BULBOUS ROOTS.

In glasses filled with water, bulbous roots, such as the hyacinth, narcissus, and jonquil, are blown. The time to put them in is from September to November, and the earliest ones will begin blowing about Christmas. The glasses should be blue, as that colour best suits the roots; put water enough in to cover the bulb one-third of the way up, less rather than more; let the water be soft, change it once a week, and put in a pinch of salt every time you change it. Keep the glasses in a place moderately warm, and _near to the light_. A parlour window is a very common place for them, but is often too warm, and brings on the plants too early, and causes them to be weakly.--_Ibid_.

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TRAVELLING INVALIDS.

We cannot refrain from stating our belief, and this on the authority of intelligent physicians, as well as from personal observation, that much mischief is done by committing invalids to long and precarious journeys, for the sake of doubtful benefits. We have ourselves seen consumptive patients hurried along, through all the discomforts of bad roads, bad inns, and indifferent diet, to places, where certain partial advantages of climate poorly compensated for the loss of the many benefits which home and domestic care can best afford. We have seen such invalids lodged in cold, half-furnished houses, and shivering under blasts of wind from the Alps or Apennines, who might more happily have been sheltered in the vales of Somerset or Devon. On this topic, however, we refrain from saying more--further than to state our belief, that much misapprehension generally prevails, as to the comparative healthiness of England, and other parts of Europe. Certain phrases respecting climate have obtained fashionable currency amongst us, which greatly mislead the judgment as to facts. The accurate statistical tables, now extended to the greater part of Europe, furnish more secure grounds of opinion; and from these we derive the knowledge, that there is no one country in Europe where the average proportion of mortality is so small as in England. Some few details on this subject we subjoin,--tempted to do so by the common errors prevailing in relation to it.

The proportion of deaths to the population is nearly one-third less in England than in France. Comparing the two capitals, the average mortality of London is about one-fifth less than that of Paris. What may appear a more singular statement, the proportion of deaths in London, a vast and luxurious metropolis, differs only by a small fraction from that of the whole of France; and is considerably less than the average of those Mediterranean shores which are especially frequented by invalids for the sake of health. In Italy, the proportion of deaths is a full third greater than in England; and even in Switzerland and Sweden, though the difference be less, it is still in favour of our own country.--_Q. Rev_.

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NEWSPAPER LOVE.

The paper so highly esteemed, entitled, _The Courier de l'Europe_, originated in the following circumstances:--

"Monsieur Guerrier de Berance was a native of Auvergne, whose fortune in the origin was very low, but who by his intrigues succeeded in gaining the place of Procureur General of the Custom-house. He married two wives; the name of the last was Millochin, who was both young and handsome. She soon began to find out that her husband was very disagreeable; and what caused her more particularly to remark his faults was her contrasting him with M. Cevres de la Tour, with whom she fell most desperately in love. This passion became so violent, that Madame Guerrier fled into England with her lover, who, in his turn, left his wife behind him in Paris. The finances of these two lovers growing rather low, M. Sevres de la Tour, who was a man of talent, thought, as a plan to enrich himself, to turn editor to a newspaper, and for this purpose started the _Courier de l'Europe_, which succeeded beyond his most sanguine hopes. Disgust, which commonly follows these sort of unions, caused Madame Guerrier to be deserted by her lover, and she was obliged to turn a teacher of languages for her subsistence.--_The Album of Love_.

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THE GATHERER.

"A snapper-up of unconsidered trifles."

SHAKSPEARE.

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REPLY TO THE DIRGE ON MISS ELLEN GEE, OF KEW.

(_See Mirror, page 223_.)

Forgive, ye beauteous maids of Q, The much relenting B, Who vows he never will sting U, While sipping of your T.

One nymph I wounded in the I, The charming L N G, The fates impell'd, I know not Y, The luckless busy B.

And oh recall the sentence U Pass'd on your humble B, Let me remain at happy Q, Send me not o'er the C.

And I will mourn upon A U, The death of L N G, And all the charming maids of Q Will pity the poor B.

I will hum soft her L E G, The reason some ask Y, Because the maiden could not C, By me she lost her I.

To soothe ye damsels I'll S A, Far sooner would I B Myself in funeral R A, Than wound one fair at T.

F.H.

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THE BITER BIT.

In the reign of Charles II. a physician to the court was walking with the king in the gallery of Windsor Castle, when they saw a man repairing a clock fixed there. The physician knowing the king's relish for a joke, accosted the man with, "My good friend, you are continually doctoring that clock, and yet it never goes well. Now if I were to treat my patients in such a way, I should lose all my credit. What can the reason be that you mistake so egregiously?" The man dryly replied, "The reason why you and I, Sir, are not upon a par is plain enough--the sun discovers all my blunders, but the earth covers yours."

G.I.F.

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EPITAPH.

On a tablet in the outside wall of the old church, at Taunton, in Somersetshire, is the following on "James Waters, late of London, aged 49."

Death traversing the western road, And asking where true merit lay, Made in this town a short abode, Then took this worthy man away.

W.R.

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LIFE.

Grass of levity, Span in brevity, Flower's felicity, Fire of misery, Wind's stability Is mortality.

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NOTICE FROM THE PUBLISHER.

Purchasers of the MIRROR, who may wish to complete their volumes, are informed that the whole of the numbers are now in print, and can be procured by giving an order to any Bookseller or Newsvender.

Complete sets Vol I. to XI. in boards, price £3. 19_s_. 6_d_ half bound, £3. 17_s_.

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LIMBIRD'S EDITION OF THE

_Following Novels are already Published:_

_s_._d_. Mackenzie's Man of Feeling .............. 0...6 Paul and Virginia ....................... 0...6 The Castle of Otranto ................... 0...6 Almoran and Hamet ....................... 0...6 Elizabeth, or the Exiles of Siberia ..... 0...6 The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne ...... 0...6 Rasselas ................................ 0...8 The Old English Baron ................... 0...8 Nature and Art .......................... 0...8 Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield .......... 0..10 Sicilian Romance ........................ 1...0 The Man of the World .................... 1...0 A Simple Story .......................... 1...4 Joseph Andrews .......................... 1...6 Humphry Clinker ..........................1...8 The Romance of the Forest ............... 1...8 The Italian ............................. 2...0 Zeluco, by Dr. Moore .................... 2...0 Edward, by Dr. Moore .................... 2...6 Roderick Random ......................... 2...6 The Mysteries of Udolpho ................ 3...6