Be pleased to draw near;
These articles you must observe,
If you mean to ring here.
"2. And first, if any overturn
A bell, as that he may,
He forthwith for that only fault
In beer shall sixpence pay.
"3. If any one shall curse or swear
When come within the door,
He then shall forfeit for that fault
As mentioned before.
"4. If any one shall wear his hat
When he is ringing here,
He straightway then shall sixpence pay
In cyder or in beer.
"5. If any one these articles
Refuseth to obey,
Let him have nine strokes of the rope,
And so depart away."
BILL OF SALE FOR A NEGRO IN 1770.
"Know all Men by these Presents, That I, Elizabeth Treat, of Boston,
in the county of Suffolk, widow, in consideration of the sum of L25
13s. 4d. to me in hand, paid before the ensealing hereof by Samuel
Breck, of Boston aforesaid, merchant, the receipt whereof I do hereby
acknowledge, have granted, bargained, and sold, and by these presents
do fully and absolutely grant, bargain, and sell unto the said Samuel
Breck, my Negro man named Harry, aged about forty years, with his
apparel, to have and to hold the said Negro man Harry, with his
apparel, unto the said Samuel Breck, his executors, administrators,
and assigns, to his and their only proper use, benefit, and behoof for
ever; And I, the said Elizabeth Treat, for myself, my heirs, executors,
and administrators, do covenant, that at the time of ensealing, and
until the delivery hereof, I am the true and lawful owner of the said
Negro man, and that he is free from all former sales, charges, and
incumbrances whatsoever, and that I will warrant and defend the said
Negro man unto the said Samuel Breck, his heirs, and assigns for ever,
against the lawful claims and demands of all persons whomsoever.
"Witness my hand and seal, this tenth day of October, Anno Domini, one
thousand seven hundred and seventy, in the tenth year of His Majesty's
reign.
"Signed, sealed, and delivered in presence of us.
"THOMAS MELVILLE.
"MARY WHITE.
"ELIZABETH TREAT."
THE AZTEC CHILDREN.
[Illustration: The Aztec Children, As Exhibited in England.]
Among the animated curiosities which are occasionally exposed to
the gaze of the wonder-loving public, we may prominently notice the
AZTEC CHILDREN--two singular Lilliputians who were recently exhibited
throughout the kingdom. Maximo and Bartolo (for by these names the two
Aztec children have been baptized) are by some medical men supposed
to be of the respective ages of twenty-two and sixteen. Professor
Owen, stated them to be ten or twelve, and seven or nine in 1853. The
height of the boy (the elder is about three feet, and the girl does
not reach quite two feet six inches). Their limbs, though slender,
are proportionate and well formed, and the general development of
their figures is remarkably graceful. The cranium is peculiar, being
narrower than that of any other races of beings known to the world;
and though the face is somewhat prominent, the features are regular
and the countenances agreeable, and, after a short acquaintance,
highly interesting. Each has a beautiful head of jet black hair, which
flows gracefully in curls. They are lively and intelligent, showing
considerable aptitude for mental training, and have already learned to
give utterance to several expressions which can be readily understood
by visitors.
Since the arrival of these prodigies from the United States, they have
been the objects of curious ethnological speculations. Dr. Latham does
not consider them as a new species of the _genus homo_. Professor Owen
regards them as instances of impeded development, and Dr. Conolly was
struck with their resemblance to idiots.
NOTICES TO TAR AND FEATHER.
The original handbills of the committee for Tarring and Feathering
subjoined, are of singular interest, as they were the earliest
emanations of the spirit that led to England's losing her American
colonies, and the consequent rise of the United States:--
_To the Delaware Pilots._
The Regard we have for your Characters, and our Desire to promote your
future Peace and Safety, are the Occasion of this Third Address to you.
In our second Letter we acquainted you, that the Tea Ship was a Three
Decker; We are now informed by good Authority, she is not a Three
Decker, but an _old black Ship_, _without a Head_, or _any Ornaments_.
The _Captain_ is a _short fat_ Fellow, and a little _obstinate_
withal.--So much the worse for him.--For, so sure as he _rides rusty_,
We shall heave him Keel out, and see that his Bottom be well fired,
scrubb'd and paid.--His Upper-Works too, will have an Overhawling--and
as it is said, he has a good deal of _Quick Work_ about him, We will
take particular Care that such Part of him undergoes a thorough
Rummaging.
We have a still _worse Account of his Owner_;--for it is said, the Ship
POLLY was bought by him on Purpose, to make a Penny of us: and that
_he_ and Captain _Ayres_ were well advised, of the Risque they would
run, in thus daring to insult and abuse us.
_Captain Ayres_ was here in the Time of the Stamp-Act, and ought to
have known our People better, than to have expected we would be so mean
as to suffer his _rotten_ TEA to be funnel'd down our Throats, with the
_Parliament's Duty_ mixed with it.
We know him well, and have calculated to a Gill and a Feather, how much
it will require to fit him for an _American Exhibition_. And we hope,
not one of your Body will behave so ill, as to oblige us to clap him in
the Cart along Side of the _Captain_.
We must repeat, that the SHIP POLLY is an _old black Ship_, of about
Two Hundred and Fifty Tons burthen, _without a Head_, and _without
Ornaments_,--and, that CAPTAIN AYRES is a _thick chunky Fellow_.--As
such, TAKE CARE TO AVOID THEM.
Your Old Friends,
THE COMMITTEE FOR TARRING AND FEATHERING.
_Philadelphia, December 7, 1773._
_To Capt. Ayres, of the Ship Polly, on a Voyage from London to
Philadelphia._
SIR,
We are informed that you have, imprudently, taken Charge of a Quantity
of Tea; which has been sent out by the _India_ Company, _under the
Auspices of the Ministry_, as a Trial of _American_ Virtue and
Resolution.
Now, as your Cargo, on your Arrival here, will most assuredly bring you
into hot water; and as you are perhaps a Stranger _to these Parts_,
we have concluded to advise you of the present Situation of Affairs
in _Philadelphia_--that, taking Time by the Forelock, you may stop
short in your dangerous Errand--secure your Ship against the Rafts of
combustible Matter which may be set on Fire, and turned loose against
her: and more than all this, that you may preserve your own Person,
from the Pitch and Feathers that are prepared for you.
In the first Place, we must tell you, that the _Pennsylvanians_
are, _to a Man_, passionately fond of Freedom; the Birthright of
_Americans_; and at all Events are determined to enjoy it.
That they sincerely believe, no Power on the Face of the Earth has a
Right to tax them without their Consent.
That in their Opinion, the Tea in your Custody is designed by the
Ministry to enforce such a Tax, which they will undoubtedly oppose; and
in so doing, give you every possible Obstruction.
We are nominated to a very disagreeable, but necessary Service.--To our
Care are committed all Offenders against the Rights of _America_; and
hapless is he, whose evil Destiny has doomed him to suffer at our Hands.
You are sent out on a diabolical Service; and if you are so foolish and
obstinate as to compleat your Voyage; by bringing your Ship to Anchor
in this Port; you may run such a Gauntlet, as will induce you, in your
last Moments, most heartily to curse those who have made you the Dupe
of their Avarice and Ambition.
What think you Captain, of a Halter around your Neck--ten Gallons of
liquid Tar decanted on your Pate--with the Feathers of a dozen wild
Geese laid over that to enliven your Appearance?
Only think seriously of this--and fly to the Place from whence you
came--fly without Hesitation--without the Formality of a Protest--and
above all, Captain _Ayres_ let us advise you to fly without the wild
Geese Feathers.
Your Friends _to serve_
THE COMMITTEE _as before subscribed_.
_Philadelphia, Nov. 27, 1773._
B. FRANKLIN'S CELEBRATED LETTER TO STRAHAN.
As a sequel to the foregoing notices, we give Dr. Franklin's celebrated
letter, written in the actual heat of the first outbreak.
Philadelphia, July 5, 1775.
Mr. STRAHAN,--You are a member of Parliament, and one of that majority
which has doomed my country to destruction. You have begun to burn our
towns, and murder our people. Look upon your hands! They are stained
with the blood of your relations! You and I were long friends; you are
now my enemy, and
I am, yours,
B. FRANKLIN.
HENRY II. STRIPT WHEN DEAD.
1189. Immediately upon his death, those that were about him applied
their market so busilie in catching and filching awaie things that
laie readie for them, that the king's corps laie naked a long time,
till a child covered the nether parts of his body with a short cloke,
and then it seemed that his surname was fulfilled that he had from his
childhood, which was Shortmantell, being so called, because he was the
first who brought short clokes out of Anjou into England.
TRANSPLANTATION OF HAIR.
The Signor Dottore Domenico Nardo addressed a letter to the Academy of
Padua, in 1826, on the subject of the growth of hair after death, and
even after its separation from the body. The latter property had been
previously observed by Krafft. The Signor Nardo recounts the results of
experiments made on his own person in the transplantation of hair, and
relates, that by transplanting quickly a hair, with its root, from a
pore of his head, into a pore of his chest, easily to be accomplished
by widening the pore somewhat with the point of a needle, introducing
the root with nicety, and exciting within the pore itself, by friction,
a slight degree of inflammation, the hair takes root, continues to
vegetate, and grows; in due season changes colour, becomes white, and
falls.
ANCIENT CANNON RAISED FROM THE SEA.
A fisherman of Calais some time since, drew up a cannon, of very
ancient form, from the bottom of the sea, by means of his nets. M. de
Rheims has since removed the rust from it, and on taking off the breech
was much surprised to find the piece still charged. Specimens of the
powder have been taken, from which, of course, all the saltpetre has
disappeared after a submersion of three centuries. The ball was of
lead, and was not oxidized to a depth greater than that of a line.
COFFEE-HOUSE ATTRACTIONS IN 1760.
The great attraction of Don Saltero's Coffee-house was its collection
of rarities, a catalogue of which was published as a guide to the
visitors. It comprehends almost every description of curiosity, natural
and artificial. "Tigers' tusks; the Pope's candle; the skeleton of
a Guinea-pig; a fly-cap monkey; a piece of the true Cross; the Four
Evangelists' heads cut on a cherry-stone; the King of Morocco's
tobacco-pipe; Mary Queen of Scot's pincushion; Queen Elizabeth's
prayer-book; a pair of Nun's stockings; Job's ears, which grew on a
tree; a frog in a tobacco-stopper;" and five hundred more odd relics!
The Don had a rival, as appears by "A Catalogue of the Rarities to be
seen at Adams's, at the Royal Swan, in Kingsland Road, leading from
Shoreditch Church, 1756." Mr. Adams exhibited, for the entertainment
of the curious, "Miss Jenny Cameron's shoes; Adam's eldest daughter's
hat; the heart of the famous Bess Adams, that was hanged at Tyburn with
Lawyer Carr, January 18, 1736-7; Sir Walter Raleigh's tobacco-pipe;
Vicar of Bray's clogs; engine to shell green pease with; teeth that
grew in a fish's belly; Black Jack's ribs; the very comb that Abraham
combed his son Isaac and Jacob's head with; Wat Tyler's spurs; rope
that cured Captain Lowry of the head-ach, ear-ach, tooth-ach and
belly-ach; Adam's key of the fore and back door of the Garden of Eden,
&c., &c." These are only a few out of five hundred others equally
marvellous.
A WOMAN TAKES THE LIGHTED MATCH FROM A BOMB.
During the siege of Gibraltar, in 1782, the Count d'Artois came
to St. Roch, to visit the place and works. While his highness was
inspecting the lines, in company with the Duke de Crillon, they both
alighted with their suite, and all lay flat upon the ground, to avoid
the effects of a bomb that fell near a part of the barracks where a
Frenchwoman had a canteen. This woman, who had two children in her arms
at the time, rushed forth with them, and having seated herself, with
the utmost _sang-froid_, on the bomb-shell, she put out the match,
thus extricating from danger all that were around her, many of whom
witnessed this courageous and devoted act. His highness rewarded this
intrepid female by bestowing on her a pension of three francs a day,
and engaged to promote her husband after the siege; while the Duke de
Crillon, imitating the generous example of the prince, ensured to her
likewise a daily payment of five francs.
THE SUMMERS MAGNET, OR LOADSTONE.
[Illustration: [++] Summers Magnet.]
Among the great naval officers of Elizabeth's reign must be ranked
Sir George Summers, the discoverer of the Bermudas, often called the
Summers Islands from that circumstance. Here is a representation given
of what the descendants of Sir George Summers call the "Summers magnet,
or loadstone." It is in the possession of Peter Franklin Bellamy, Esq.,
surgeon, second son of Dr. Bellamy, of Plymouth. The tradition in the
family is that the admiral before going to sea used to touch his needle
with it. The stone is dark-coloured, the precise geological formation
doubtful. This curious stone, with armature of iron, was probably an
ancient talisman.
SWALLOWING LIZARDS.
Bertholin, the learned Swedish doctor, relates strange anecdotes of
lizards, toads, and frogs; stating that a woman, thirty years of age,
being thirsty, drank plentifully of water at a pond. At the end of a
few months, she experienced singular movements in her stomach, as if
something were crawling up and down; and alarmed by the sensation,
consulted a medical man, who prescribed a dose of orvietan in a
decoction of fumitory. Shortly afterwards, the irritation of the
stomach increasing, she vomited three toads and two young lizards,
after which, she became more at ease. In the spring following, however,
her irritation of the stomach was renewed; and aloes and bezoar being
administered, she vomited three female frogs, followed the next day by
their numerous progeny. In the month of January following, she vomited
five more living frogs, and in the course of seven years ejected as
many as eighty. Dr. Bertholin protests that he heard them croak in her
stomach!
IMMENSE SEA SERPENT.
A species of sea-serpent was thrown on shore near Bombay in 1819. It
was about forty feet long, and must have weighed many tons. A violent
gale of wind threw it high above the reach of ordinary tides, in which
situation it took nine months to rot; during which process travellers
were obliged to change the direction of the road for nearly a quarter
of a mile, to avoid the offensive effluvia. It rotted so completely
that not a vestige of bone remained.
THE ROYAL TOUCH.
For many ages one of the regal prerogatives in this country was to
touch for the cure of _regius morbus_, or scrofula; a disease too
well known to need any description. At different periods hundreds of
persons assembled from all parts of the country annually to receive
the royal interposition. Lists of the afflicted were published, to
afford a criterion for determining as to its success; and from Edward
the Confessor to the reign of Queen Anne, its efficacy appears to have
obtained a ready and general belief.
The ceremony was announced by public proclamations; one of which we
copy from "The Newes," of the 18th of May, 1664. "His Sacred Majesty"
(Charles II.) "having declared it to be his royal will and purpose to
continue the healing of his people for the Evil during the month of
May, and then to give over until Michaelmas next, I am commanded to
give notice thereof, that the people may not come up to town in the
interim, and lose their labour."
An extract from the "Mercurius Politicus" affords additional
information. "Saturday," says that paper, "being appointed by His
Majesty to touch such as were troubled with the Evil, a great company
of poor afflicted creatures were met together, many brought in chairs
and flaskets, and being appointed by His Majesty to repair to the
banqueting-house, His Majesty sat in a chair of state, where he stroked
all that were brought unto him, and then put about each of their necks
a white ribbon, with an angel of gold on it. In this manner His Majesty
stroked above six hundred; and such was his princely patience and
tenderness to the poor afflicted creatures, that, though it took up
a very long time, His Majesty, who is never weary of well-doing, was
pleased to make inquiry whether there were any more who had not yet
been touched. After prayers were ended, the Duke of Buckingham brought
a towel, and the Earl of Pembroke a basin and ewer, who, after they
had made obeisance to His Majesty, kneeled down, till His Majesty had
washed."
This sovereign is said to have touched nearly one hundred thousand
patients.
With Queen Anne the practice was discontinued. But so late as the
28th of February, 1712, little more than two years before her death,
the following proclamation appeared in the "Gazette":--"It being Her
Majesty's royal intention to touch for the Evil on Wednesday, the
19th of March next, and so to continue weekly during Lent, it is Her
Majesty's command that tickets be delivered the day before at the
office in Whitehall; and that all persons shall bring a certificate
signed by the Minister and Churchwardens of their respective parishes,
that they have never received the royal touch." Dr. Johnson, when
an infant, was brought, with others, for this purpose; "and when
questioned upon the subject, confessed he had a faint recollection of
an old lady with something black about her head."
A religious service, of which Dr. Heylin, Prebendary of Westminster, in
his "Examen Historicum," has given us the particulars, accompanied the
ceremony; which, as a document of pious interest, we transcribe:--"The
first Gospel is the same as that on the Ascension-day, Mark xvi. 14,
to the end. At the touching of every infirm person these words are
repeated: 'They shall lay their hands on the sick, and they shall
recover.' The second Gospel begins with the first of St. John, and ends
a these words: (John i. 14:) 'Full of grace and truth.' At the putting
the angel about their necks were repeated, 'That light was the true
light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.'
"'Lord, have mercy upon us.'
"'Christ have mercy upon us.'
"'Lord have mercy upon us. Our Father, &c.'
"'_Minister._--O Lord, save thy servants:'
"'_Response._--Which put their trust in thee.'
"'_M._--Send unto them help from above:'
"'_R._--And ever more defend them.'
"'_M._--Help us, O God, our Saviour!'
"'_R._--And for the glory of thy name sake deliver us: be merciful unto
us, sinners, for thy name sake!'
"'_M._--O Lord, hear our prayer:'
"'_R._--And let our cry come unto thee.'
"'_The Collect._--Almighty God, the eternal health of all such as
put their trust in thee, hear us, we beseech thee, on the behalf of
these thy servants, for whom we call for thy merciful help; that they
receiving health, may give thanks unto thee in thy holy Church, through
Jesus Christ our Lord! Amen.'
"'The peace of God,' &c."
PEG TANKARDS.
The pegging, or marking the drinking cups, was introduced by St.
Dunstan, to check the intemperate habits of the times, by preventing
one man from taking a larger draught than his companions. But the
device proved the means of increasing the evil it was intended to
remedy; for, refining upon Dunstan's plan, the most abstemious were
required to drink precisely to a peg or pin, whether they could soberly
take such a quantity of liquor or not. To the use of such cups may be
traced the origin of many of our popular phrases. When a person is much
elated, we still say, "He is in a merry pin;" and, "He is a peg too
low," when he is not in good spirits. On the same principle we talk of
"taking a man down a peg," when we would check forwardness.
NORMAN CAPS.
There is nothing more amusing to the traveller on the continent, than
to observe the extraordinary variety of those head-appendages, many
of them heirlooms for generations in some families, all more or less
prized according to the richness of materials employed upon them, and
the peculiarity of shape. There is no article of dress more important
to the _Normande_, whatever may be her means, than the cap which so
jauntily and triumphantly asserts the dignity of the wearer. The
wives of fermieres who can afford such luxuries as expensive lace and
trimmings, spend a little income in the decoration of their caps.
Many cost upwards of three thousand francs for the materials and
manufacture; and these, as we have before observed, are handed from
mother to daughter through successive years, and are highly prized.
[Illustration: [++] Norman Caps.]
In the primitive villages of Normandy, on some holidays, it is a
pleasing sight to see the dense army of caps, with flaps fanning the
air, and following the gesticulatory movements of their talkative and
volatile owners. When the weather is doubtful, the cap-wearers take
care to be provided with a red umbrella of a clumsy construction,
remarkably heavy, and somewhat similar, perhaps, to the original with
which Jonas Hanway braved the jeers of a London populace in first
introducing it.
NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN WAR DESPATCH.
The following is a _facsimile_ of a gazette of a tribe of North
American Indians, who assisted the French forces in Canada, during the
war between France and England:--
[Illustration: [++] Gazette of North American Indians.]
_Explanation of the Gazette, giving an account of one of their
expeditions. The following divisions explain those on the plate, as
referred to by the numbers_:--
1. Each of these figures represents the number ten. They all signify,
that 18 times 10, or 180 American Indians, took up the hatchet, or
declared war, in favour of the French, which is represented by the
hatchet placed over the arms of France.
2. They departed from Montreal--represented by the bird just taking
wing from the top of a mountain. The moon and the buck show the time to
have been in the first quarter of the buck-moon, answering to July.
3. They went by water--signified by the canoe. The number of huts, such
as they raise to pass the night in, shows they were 21 days on their
passage.
4. Then they came on shore, and travelled seven days by
land--represented by the foot and the seven huts.
5. When they arrived near the habitations of their enemies, at
sunrise--shown by the sun being to the eastward of them, beginning,
as they think, its daily course, there they lay in wait three
days--represented by the hand pointing, and the three huts.
6. After which, they surprised their enemies, in number 12 times 10, or
120. The man asleep shows how they surprised them, and the hole in the
top of the building is supposed to signify that they broke into some of
their habitations in that manner.
7. They killed with the club eleven of their enemies, and took five
prisoners. The former represented by the club and the eleven heads, the
latter by the figures on the little pedestals.
8. They lost nine of their own men in the action--represented by the
nine heads within the bow, which is the emblem of honour among the
Americans, but had none taken prisoners--a circumstance they lay great
weight on, shown by all the pedestals being empty.
9. The heads of the arrows, pointing opposite ways, represent the
battle.
10. The heads of the arrows all pointing the same way, signify the
flight of the enemy.
RECEIPTS FROM ALBERTUS MAGNUS.