large fleet of peculiarly-formed vessels was to be seen daily employed
in the carriage of coals to the ships from the "staiths," which
projected into the river from the various colliery tramways. At that
period, there was only one very small and ill-constructed steam-packet
for the conveyance of passengers between Newcastle and Shields, and
against which so much prejudice existed, that the majority of persons
preferred the covered wherries, which, for some centuries before,
had been in use; yet so slow and uncertain was this means of transit
between the two towns, that persons in a hurry often found it advisable
to walk the intervening distance, which is about eight miles.
[Illustration: The Present Locomotive and Train.]
The collieries situated away from the river had tramways of wood let
into the ordinary roads, in such a manner as to form wheel-tracks for
carriages. These, drawn by horses, were the only means thought of for
bringing the coals to the river bank. Some of these tramways were
nearly as old as the times of Queen Elizabeth or James I., when the
increase of London and other causes began to overcome the prejudice
against the use of "sea-coal." Many of the tramways passed amid green
and shadowy woods and other pleasant places, and we have often thought
when wandering through them, of the difficulties that beset travellers
at that time. Even at a more recent date, in 1673, day coaches were
considered dangerous, and it was suggested that the multitude of them
in London should be limited, and not more than one be allowed to
each shire, to go once a week backwards and forwards, and to perform
the whole journey with the same horses they set out with, and not to
travel more than thirty miles a day in summer, and twenty-five in
winter. The arguments advanced in favour of these proposals were, that
coaches and caravans were mischievous to the public, destructive to
trade, and prejudicial to the land--because, firstly, they destroyed
the breed of good horses, and made men careless of horsemanship;
secondly, they hindered the breed of watermen, who were the nursery of
seamen; thirdly, they lessened the revenue.
In 1703, the road from Petworth to London (less than 50 miles) was so
bad that the Duke of Somerset was obliged to rest a night on the road.
In March, 1739 or 1740, Mr. Pennant, the historian, travelled by the
_stage_, then no despicable vehicle for country gentlemen, and in the
first day, with "much labour," got from Chester to Whitechurch--twenty
miles; and, after a "wondrous effort," reached London before the
commencement of the sixth night.
Without entering into an account of the rapid improvement of the
English roads soon after the time of Pennant, we may mention that,
at about the date 1765, the colliery tramways underwent considerable
improvement, by plating the wooden rails in many parts with iron:
stone-ways were tried in some instances, but were not found successful;
and in course of time the old tramways were covered with cast-iron
rails laid on the old foundations. Inclined planes, with fixed
steam-engines, also came into use; and at the same time the idea of
a locomotive engine was attracting attention in various directions.
In 1805 a machine was used on a tramway near Merthyr Tydvil, and soon
after this the "Iron Horse," shown in the engraving, was placed upon
the wagon way of the Wylam Colliery, from Wylam to Newburn, on the
Tyne, near Newcastle, and greatly astonished all who saw it drawing
along, at the rate of three miles and a half per hour, from fifteen to
twenty wagons of coals, making all the while a horrible and snorting
noise, difficult to describe, and sending forth at the same time fire
and dense clouds of black smoke. George Stephenson was then beginning
to make way, and had provided several improved locomotives for Heaton
Colliery. In 1816-1817, patents for improvements in locomotives were
taken out by George Stephenson, in connexion with Messrs. Dodd and
Losh; and in 1825 the projection of the Liverpool and Manchester
Railway afforded a further opportunity for their development. The
opposition to the use of steam-engines on this line of railway seems
singular enough at the present day; still it was very great. The use of
horses was, however, found to be too expensive, and George Stephenson
having stated that he could work a locomotive with safety at a rate
of from six to eight miles an hour ("I knew," said he, "that if I
told them more than that, they would look upon me as more fit for a
lunatic house than to give evidence in the House of Commons"), a reward
of 500_l._ was offered for the best locomotive engine. A trial took
place in October, 1829--_only twenty-seven years ago!_--of the steam
locomotive engines which were offered in competition. Of these, one
was withdrawn at the commencement of the experiment. The "Novelty," by
Braithwait and Ericsson, met with an accident; and the "Sanspareil," by
Hackworth, attained a velocity of fifteen miles an hour, with a gross
load of nineteen tons, but at length gave way, owing to an accident;
the remaining engine, constructed by Robert Stephenson and Mr. Booth,
succeeded in performing more than was stipulated.
The contrast between the date mentioned at the commencement of our
article and the present time is remarkable: the old and clumsy fleet
has vanished from the Tyne; a railway carries passengers from Newcastle
to Shields in a few minutes; numerous steam vessels sail upon the
river, some of large size; which travel to various and distant ports.
On the colliery railway hundreds of locomotives are at work, and
hundreds of thousands of miles of iron rails spread over a wide extent
of the civilized world; and, in addition to other wonders, the electric
telegraph will, ere long, outrival the power of Puck, the fairy, and
"put a girdle round the world in (less than) forty minutes."
SIR WILLIAM WALLACE THE HERO OF SCOTLAND.
1305.--This year was marked by the capture of Sir William Wallace.
It appears that the King of England had anxiously sought to discover
his retreat, and that, tempted by the prospects of the rewards his
baseness might earn for him, Ralph de Haliburton, one of the prisoners
taken a short time previously at Sterling, had proffered his services
for that purpose. Upon being seized, he was conveyed to the castle
of Dumbarton, and thence to England. He was brought to London, "with
great numbers of men and women," says Stow, "wondering upon him. He
was lodged in the house of William Delect, a citizen of London, in
Fenchurch-street. On the morrow, being the eve of St. Bartholomew, he
was brought on horseback to Westminster, John Segrave and Geoffrey,
knights, the mayor, sheriffs, and aldermen of London, and many others,
both on horseback and on foot, accompanying him; and in the great
hall at Westminster, he being placed on the south bench, crowned with
laurel--for that he had said in times past that he ought to bear a
crown in that hall, as it was commonly reported--and being appeached
for a traitor by Sir Peter Malorie, the king's justice, he answered,
that he was never traitor to the king of England, but for other things
whereof he was accused, he confessed them." These circumstantial and
minute details, inartificially as they are put together, and homely or
trivial as some of them may be thought, are yet full of interest for
all who would call up a living picture of the scene. Wallace was put to
death as a traitor, on the 23rd of August, 1305, at the usual place of
execution--the Elms in West Smithfield. He was dragged thither at the
tails of horses, and there hanged on a high gallows, after which, while
he yet breathed, his bowels were taken out and burnt before his face.
The barbarous butchery was then completed by the head being struck
off, and the body being divided into quarters. The head was afterwards
placed on a pole on London-bridge; the right arm was sent to be set
up at Newcastle, the left arm to Berwick, the right foot and limb to
Perth, and the left to Aberdeen.
AN ELEPHANT DETECTS A ROBBER.
An officer in the Bengal army had a very fine and favourite elephant,
which was supplied daily in his presence with a certain allowance of
food, but being compelled to absent himself on a journey, the keeper of
the beast diminished the ration of food, and the animal became daily
thinner and weaker. When its master returned, the elephant exhibited
the greatest signs of pleasure; the feeding time came, and the keeper
laid before it the former full allowance of food, which it divided into
two parts, consuming one immediately, and leaving the other untouched.
The officer, knowing the sagacity of his favourite, saw immediately the
fraud that had been practiced, and made the man confess his crime.
MAY-POLES.
[Illustration: [++] Village May-pole.]
The May-pole, decked with garlands, round which the rustics used to
dance in this month, yet stands in a few of our villages through the
whole circle of the year. A May-pole formerly stood in the Strand,
upon the site of the church by Somerset House, but was taken down in
1717. The village May-pole we engrave still remains by the ruins of St.
Briavel Castle, Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, and forms an object
of considerable interest to the visitor. Several in the village could
remember the May-day dancers, and the removal and setting up of the
May-pole. No notice whatever of this old English festival has, however,
been taken for some years. The May-pole is about sixty feet high; about
half-way up is the rod to which it was usual to fasten the garlands
and ribbons. Let us observe, that in many parts of Dean Forest, those
who love to trace the remains of old manners and customs will find
ample employment. The people are civil and hospitable; their manner of
address reminds us of the wording of the plays of Shakspere's times;
and in most houses, if a stranger calls, cider and bread are offered,
as in the olden time.
THE OLD DOG WHEEL.
[Illustration: [++] Old Dog Wheel.]
About a century and a half ago, the long-backed "turnspit" dog, and
the curious apparatus here shown, yclept the "Old Dog Wheel," were
to be found in most farm houses; simple machinery has, however, now
been substituted for the wheel which the dog was made to turn round,
like the imprisoned squirrels and white mice of the present day; and
not only the dog wheels, but also the long-backed "turnspit" dog have
almost disappeared. That which we engrave, however, still exists, and
may be seen by the curious, at the Castle of St. Briavel, which stands
on the borders of the Forest of Dean, in Gloucestershire.
ABRAHAM AND SARAH.
The Talmudists relate that Abraham, in travelling to Egypt, brought
with him a chest. At the custom-house the officers exacted the duties.
Abraham would have readily paid them, but desired they would not open
the chest. They first insisted on the duties for clothes, which Abraham
consented to pay; but then they thought by his ready acquiescence that
it might be gold. Abraham consents to pay for gold. They now suspect
it might be silk. Abraham was willing to pay for silk, or more costly
pearls--in short, he consented to pay as if the chest contained the
most valuable of things. It was then they resolved to open and examine
the chest; and, behold, as soon as the chest was opened, that great
lustre of human beauty broke out which made such a noise in the land
of Egypt--it was Sarah herself! The jealous Abraham, to conceal her
beauty, had locked her up in this chest.
AGES OF CELEBRATED MEN.
Hippocrates, the greatest physician the world has ever seen, died at
the age of one hundred and nine, in the island of Cos, his native
country. Galen, the most illustrious of his successors, reached the
age of one hundred and four. The three sages of Greece, Solon, Thales,
and Pittacus, lived for a century. The gay Democritus outlived them
by two years. Zeno wanted only two years of a century when he died.
Diogenes ten years more; and Plato died at the age of ninety-four,
when the eagle of Jupiter is said to have borne his soul to heaven.
Xenophon, the illustrious warrior and historian, lived ninety years.
Polemon and Epicharmus ninety-seven; Lycurgus eighty-five; Sophocles
more than a hundred. Gorgias entered his hundred and eighth year;
and Asclepiades, the physician, lived a century and a half. Juvenal
lived a hundred years; Pacuvius and Varro but one year less. Carneades
died at ninety; Galileo at sixty-eight; Cassini at ninety-eight; and
Newton at eighty-five. In the last century, Fontenelle expired in
his ninety-ninth year; Buffon in his eighty-first; Voltaire in his
eighty-fourth. In the present century, Prince Talleyrand, Goethe,
Rogers, and Niemcewicz are remarkable instances. The Cardinal du Belloy
lived nearly a century; and Marshal Moncey lately terminated a glorious
career at eighty-five.
EFFECT OF A NEW NOSE.
Van Helmont tells a story, of a person who applied to Taliacotius to
have his nose restored. This person, having a dread of an incision
being made in his own arm, for the purpose of removing enough skin
therefrom for a nose, got a labourer, who, for a remuneration, suffered
the skin for the nose to be taken from his arm. About thirteen months
after, the adscitious nose suddenly became cold, and, after a few days,
dropped off, in a state of putrefaction. The cause of this unexpected
occurrence having been investigated, it was discovered that, at the
same moment in which the nose grew cold, the labourer at Bologna
expired.
FRENCH DRESS.
Sigebert was buried in St. Medrad's church, at Soissons, where his
statue is still seen in long clothes, with the mantle, which the Romans
called _chlamys_. This was the dress of Colvil's children, whether as
more noble and majestic, or that they looked on the title of Augustus
as hereditary in their family. However it be, long clothes were, for
several ages, the dress of persons of distinction, with a border of
sable, ermine, or miniver. Under Charles V. it was emblazoned with all
the pieces of the coat of arms. At that time, neither ruffs, collars,
nor bands were known, being introduced by Henry II. 'Till this time
the neck of the French king was always quite bare, except Charles
the _Wise_, who is everywhere represented with an ermin collar. The
short dress anciently worn in the country and the camp, came to be the
general fashion under Louis XI. but was laid aside under Louis XII.
Francis I. revived it, with the improvement of flashes. The favourite
dress of Henry II. and his children was a tight, close doublet, with
trunk hose, and a cloak scarce reaching the waist. The dress of French
ladies, it may be supposed, had likewise its revolutions. They seem
for nine hundred years, not to have been much taken up with ornament.
Nothing could require less time or nicety than their head-dress, and
the disposition of their hair. Every part of their linen was quite
plain, but at the same time extremely fine. Laces were long unknown.
Their gowns, on the right side of which was embroidered their husband's
coat of arms, and on the left that of their own family, were so close
as to shew all the delicacy of their shape, and came up so high as to
cover their whole breast, up to their neck. The habit of widows was
very much like that of the nuns. It was not until Charles VI. that they
began to expose their shoulders. The gallantry of Charles the VII.'s
Court brought in the use of bracelets, necklaces, and ear-rings. Queen
Anne de Bretagne despised those trinkets; and Catherine de Medicis made
it her whole business to invent new.
A LAST CHANCE.
John Jones and Jn. Davis, condemn'd for robberries on the highway,
were executed at Tyburn. Davis feign'd himself sick, and desir'd he
might not be ty'd in the cart: But when he came to the tree, while the
hangman was fastening the other's halter, he jumpt out of the cart,
and ran over two fields; but being knock'd down by a countryman, was
convey'd back and hang'd without any more ceremony. Jones confessed
he had been confederate in several robberies with Gordon, lately
executed.--_Gentleman's Magazine 1733._
A convict running away over two fields at Tyburn, and then being caught
by a countryman! How strange this seems, when we look at the streets
and squares which now cover the locality, and when the only countrymen
now seen there are those who come up from the rural districts!
YELLOW HAIR IN THE TIME OF THE PLANTAGENETS.
Yellow hair was at this time esteemed a beauty, and saffron was used by
the ladies to dye it of a colour esteemed "odious" by modern ladies.
Elizabeth also made yellow hair fashionable, as hers was of the same
tint. In the romance of _King Alisaunder_, we are told of Queen
Olympias:--
"Hire yellow hair was fair atyred
With riche strings of gold wyred,
And wryen hire abouten all
To hire gentil myddel small."
THE CITY OF THE SULTAN.
[Illustration: The Mosque of St. Sophia.]
The Mosques of Constantinople are the most wonderful objects of
that renowned city. More than 300 are picturesquely distributed in
conspicuous parts, and form a most attractive feature to the eye of
the traveller. The city itself is built upon seven gentle hills,
which is the main cause not only of its grandeur of appearance, but
also of its salubrity and comparative cleanliness. There are fourteen
chief or imperial mosques, all lofty, and magnificent in their general
dimensions, and built from base to dome, of enduring materials, chiefly
of white marble, slightly tinged with grey. Some of these have two,
some four, and one (that of Sultan Achmet) has even six of those light,
thin, lofty, arrowy, and most graceful towers called minarets. The
mosque of Santa Sophia was once a Christian cathedral, and is rich in
historical recollections. This mosque ranks as one of the grandest
edifices. The ridge of the first hill on which the city stands, setting
out from the north eastern part, is covered by the Serai or palace of
the Sultan, behind which, a little on the reverse of the hill, the dome
of Santa Sophia shows itself. The colleges and hospitals, which are
generally attached to or near the great mosques, offer no striking
architectural features; but some of the detached chapels or sepulchres
(_turbes_), where sultans, viziers, and other great personages repose,
are handsome.
GOLD MASK FROM THE BANKS OF THE EUPHRATES.
[Illustration: Mask of Nebuchadnezzar.]
This interesting relic of remote antiquity is at present preserved in
the Museum of the East India Company. It was found by Colonel Rawlinson
while engaged in prosecuting the discoveries commenced by Layard and
Botta, at Nineveh and Babylon; and is supposed to have belonged to
King Nebuchadnezzar. In exhuming from the mounds of these long-lost
rival cities, the instructive remains of this once gigantic Power, the
Colonel discovered, in a perfect state of preservation, what is well
believed to be the mummy of Nebuchadnezzar. The face of the rebellious
monarch of Babylon, covered by one of those gold masks usually found in
Assyrian tombs, is described as very handsome--the forehead high and
commanding, the features marked and regular. The mask is of thin gold,
and independent of its having once belonged to the great monarch, has
immense value as a relic of an ancient and celebrated people.
The Arab tribes encamping about Wurka and other great mounds search
in the loose gravel with their spears for coffins. Gold and silver
ornaments, which have been buried in these graves for centuries, are
worn by the Arab women of the present day; and many a rare object
recovered from them is sold and melted by the goldsmiths of the East.
The Arabs mention the discovery, by some fortunate shepherd, of Royal
tombs, in which were crowns and sceptres of solid gold.
FROST FAIR ON THE THAMES.
"I went crosse the Thames," says Evelyn, January 9, 1683-4, "on the
ice, which now became so thick as to bear not only streetes of boothes,
in which they roasted meate, and had divers shops of wares, quite
acrosse as in a towne, but coaches, carts, and horses passed over.
So I went from Westminster Stayres to Lambeth, and din'd with the
Archbishop. I walked over the ice (after dinner) from Lambeth Stayres
to the Horseferry.
"The Thames (Jan{y} 16) was filled with people and tents, selling all
sorts of wares as in a citty. The frost (Jan{y} 24) continuing more and
more severe, the Thames before London was still planned with boothes
in formal streetes, all sorts of trades and shops furnished and full
of commodities, even to a printing-presse, where the people and ladyes
took a fancy to have their names printed on the Thames. This humour
took so universally, that 'twas estimated the printer gained L5 a-day,
for printing a line only, at sixpence a day, besides what he got by
ballads, &c. Coaches plied from Westminster to the Temple, and from
several other staires to and fro, as in the streetes, sleds, sliding
with skeates, a bull-baiting, horse and coach races, puppet playes and
interludes, cookes, tipling, and other lewd places, so that it seem'd
to be a bacchanalian triumph, or carnival on the water."
"It began to thaw (Feb. 5), but froze againe. My coach crossed from
Lambeth to the Horseferry at Millbank, Westminster. The booths were
almost all taken down; but there was first a map, or landskip, cut
in copper, representing all the manner of the camp, and the several
actions, sports, and pastimes thereon, in memory of so signal a frost."
THE CHARACTER OF THE MOUTH.
We give the following extract from a very old work; not only because
it contains several shrewd observations, but also because it is a good
specimen of the spelling and diction which prevailed in the sixteenth
century, at which period there is internal evidence that the book was
written, though it bears no date on the title page:--
"The mouth greate and wyde betokeneth wrath, boldnes and warre.
And such men are commonly glottons. A wyde mouth withoute meesure,
as thought it were cutte and stretched out, sygnifieth ravening
inhumanitie, wickednes, a warlyke hart and cruell, like unto beastes
of the sea. Such men are greate talkers, boasters, babblers, enuious,
lyars, and full of follye. The mouthe that hathe but a lyttle closynge
and a lyttle openynge, sygnyfyeth a fearful man, quyet, and yet
unfaithfull. The mouthe that is verye apparent and rounde with thycknes
of lyppes, sygnyfyeth vnclenlynes, follye, and cruelltye. The mouth
whyche hath a quantitie in his sytuation with a lyttle shutting, and
smylynge eyes wyth the reste of the face, sygnyfyeth a carnall man,
a lover of daunces, and a greate lyar. When the mouthe turneth in
speakinge it is a sygne that it is infected with some catarre or murre
as is manyfest ynough. The long chynne declareth the man to be very
lyttle subiecte to anger, and of a good complexion: and yet he is
somewhat a babbler and a boaster of hymselfe. They that have a lyttle
chinne, are much to be avoyded and taken heede of, for besydes all
vices with the whyche they are fylled they are full of impietye and
wyckednes and are spyes, lyke unto serpents. If the ende of the chynne
be round it is a sygne of feminine maners and also it is a sygne of a
woman. But the chynne of a man muste be almoste square."--"_The most
excellent, profitable, and pleasant booke of the famous doctour and
expert Astrologien Arcandam or Aleandrin._" * * *. _Now ready turned out
of French into our vulgare tonge, by Will. Warde. Black letter. No
date._ Printed by J. Rowbothum.
EXECUTION OF EARL FERRERS FOR MURDER, 1760.
Lord Ferrers was hung for the deliberate and cruel murder of his
steward, Mr. Johnson, and his execution at Tyburn furnishes a curious
instance of the exhibition of egregious vanity in a man who was just
about to meet an ignominious death, and of misplaced pride in his
family who could actually decorate the scaffold with the emblems of
respectful mourning.
His lordship was dressed in his wedding-clothes, which were of light
colour, and embroidered in silver. He set out from the Tower at nine
o'clock, amidst crowds of spectators. First went a large body of
constables, preceded by one of the high constables; next came a party
of grenadiers and a party of foot; then the sheriff, in a chariot
and six, the horses dressed with ribbons; and next, Lord Ferrers, in
a landau and six, escorted by parties of horse and foot. The other
sheriff's carriage followed, succeeded by a mourning-coach and six,
conveying some of the malefactor's friends; and lastly, a hearse and
six, provided for the purpose of taking the corpse from the place of
execution to Surgeons' Hall.