Ferrers conversed very freely during the passage. He said, "the
apparatus of death, and the passing through such crowds of people,
are ten times worse than death itself; but I suppose they never saw a
lord hanged, and perhaps they will never see another." He said to the
sheriff. "I have written to the king, begging that I might suffer where
my ancestor, the Earl of Essex, the favourite of Elizabeth, suffered,
and was in great hopes of obtaining that favour, as I have the honour
of being allied to his Majesty, and of quartering part of the royal
arms. I think it hard that I must die at the place appointed for the
execution of common felons."
The scaffold was hung with black by the undertaker, at the expense of
Lord Ferrers' family. His lordship was pinioned with a black sash,
and was unwilling to have his hands tied, or his face covered, but
was persuaded to both. On the silken rope being put round his neck,
he turned pale, but recovered instantly. Within seven minutes after
leaving the landau, the signal was given for striking the stage, and in
four minutes he was quite dead. The corpse was subjected to dissection.
STRANGE FUNERAL OBSEQUIES.
The following, taken from an old magazine, is a singular manifestation
of eccentricity in a person who, from the books he selected to be
buried with him, was evidently a man of an educated and refined mind:--
Died, May 4, 1733, Mr. John Underwood, of Whittlesea, in
Cambridgeshire. At his burial, when the service was over, an arch was
turn'd over the coffin, in which was placed a small piece of white
marble, with this inscription, "_Non omnis moriar_, 1733." Then the six
gentlemen who follow'd him to the grave sung the last stanza of the
20th Ode of the 2d book of Horace. No bell was toll'd, no one invited
but the six gentlemen, and no relation follow'd his corpse; the coffin
was painted green, and he laid in it with all his cloaths on; under his
head was placed Sanadon's "Horace," at his feet Bentley's "Milton;"
in his right hand a small Greek Testament, with this inscription in
gold letters, "eimientobaus [Greek: ei mi en to bausa], J. U," in his
left hand a little edition of "Horace" with this inscription, "_Musis
Amicus_, J. U.;" and Bentley's "Horace" under his back. After the
ceremony was over they went back to his house, where his sister had
provided a cold supper; the cloth being taken away the gentlemen sung
the 31st Ode of the 1st Book of "Horace," drank a chearful glass,
and went home about eight. He left about 6,000_l._ to his sister, on
condition of her observing this his will, order'd her to give each of
the gentlemen ten guineas, and desir'd they would not come in black
cloaths. The will ends thus, "Which done I would have them take a
chearful glass, and think no more of John Underwood."
QUICK TRAVELLING IN OLD TIMES.
Saturday, the seventeenth day of July, 1619, Bernard Calvert, of
Andover, about three o'clock in the morning, tooke horse at St.
George's Church in Southwarke, and came to Dover about seaven of the
clocke the same morning, where a barge, with eight oares, formerly sent
from London thither, attended his suddaine coming: he instantly tooke
barge, and went to Callice, and in the same barge returned to Dover,
about three of the clocke the same day, where, as well there as in
diverse other places, he had layed sundry swift horses, besides guides:
he rode back from thence to St. George's Church in Southwarke the
same evening, a little after eight o'clock, fresh and lusty.--_Stow's
Annals._
EDDYSTONE LIGHTHOUSE.
[Illustration: The Eddystone Lighthouse.]
As the arts and sciences improved, so did the construction of
Lighthouses, until one of the greatest accomplishments of engineering
skill, ever attempted upon such works, was exhibited in the
construction of the Eddystone Lighthouse, which is, indeed, much
more entitled than the Pharos of Alexandria to be considered one of
the wonders of the world. The rock on which this tower is built is
placed about twelve miles south-west of Plymouth, and consists of a
series of submarine cliffs, stretching from the west side (which is so
precipitous that the largest ship can ride close beside them) in an
easterly direction, for nearly half a mile. At the distance of about
a quarter of a mile more is another rock, so that a more dangerous
marine locality can hardly be imagined. Both these rocks had proved the
cause of many fatal shipwrecks, and it was at last resolved to make an
attempt to obviate the danger. In the year 1696, a gentleman of Essex,
named Winstanley, who had a turn for architecture and mechanics, was
engaged to erect a lighthouse upon the Eddystone rock, and in four
years he completed it. It did not, however, stand long, for while some
repairs were in progress under his direction in 1703, on the 26th
November, a violent hurricane came on which blew the lighthouse down,
and Mr. Winstanley and all his workmen perished--nothing remaining of
the edifice but a few stones and a piece of iron chain.
In the spring of 1706 an Act of Parliament was obtained for rebuilding
the lighthouse, and a gentleman named Rudyerd, a silk mercer, was the
engineer engaged. He placed five courses of heavy stones upon the
rock and then erected a superstructure of wood. The lighthouse on the
Bell Rock, off the coast of Fife, and the one placed at the entrance
of the Mersey on the Black Rock, are similarly constructed, so that
there seemed to be good reason for adopting the principle. Mr. Smeaton
thought that the work was done in a masterly and effective manner; but
in 1755 the edifice was destroyed by fire, and he was next retained as
the engineer for this important building.
The result of his labours has justly been considered worthy of the
admiration of the world, for it is distinguished alike for its
strength, durability, and beauty of form. The base of the tower is
about twenty-six feet nine inches in diameter, and the masonry is so
formed as to be a part of the solid rock, to the height of thirteen
feet above the surface, where the diameter is diminished to nineteen
feet and a half. The tower then rises in a gradually diminishing curve
to the height of eighty-five feet, including the lantern, which is
twenty-four feet high. The upper extremity is finished by a cornice, a
balustrade being placed around the base of the lantern for use as well
as ornament.
The tower is furnished with a door and windows, and the whole edifice
outside bears the graceful outline of the trunk of a mighty tree,
combining lightness with elegance and strength. Mr. Smeaton commenced
his labours in 1756, and completed the building in four years. Before
commencing operations he took accurate drawings of the exterior of the
rock, and the stones, which were brought from the striking and romantic
district of Dartmoor, were all formed to fit into its crevices, and so
prepared as to be dovetailed together, and strung by oaken plugs. When
put into their places, and then firmly cemented, the whole seemed to
form, and does indeed constitute, a part of the solid rock.
SWEATING SICKNESS.
The Sweating Sickness first visited England Anno Dom. 1483, and
repeated its visitations 1485, 1506, 1517, 1528, and last of all, 1551.
This epidemic disease raged with such peculiar violence in England,
and had so quick a crisis, that it was distinguished by the name of
_Ephemera Britannica_. This singular fever seems to have been of the
most simple, though of the most acute kind, and notwithstanding princes
and nobles were its chief victims, the physicians of the day never
agreed upon the method of treating it.
The splendid French embassy, which arrived in England in 1550, found
the court-festivities damped by a visitation of that strange and
terrific malady.
"This pestilence, first brought into the island by the foreign
mercenaries who composed the army of the Earl of Richmond, afterwards
Henry VII., now made its appearance for the fourth and last time in
our annals. It seized principally, it is said, on males, on such as
were in the prime of their age, and rather on the higher than the
lower classes: within the space of twenty-four hours, the fate of the
sufferer was decided for life or death. Its ravages were prodigious;
two princes died of it; and the general consternation was augmented,
by a superstitious idea which went forth, that Englishmen alone were
the destined victims of this mysterious minister of fate, which tracked
their steps, with a malice and sagacity of an evil spirit, into every
distant country of the earth whither they might have wandered, whilst
it left unassailed all foreigners in their own."
AN AMERICAN ADVERTISEMENT.
The following is an early specimen of that system of poetical
advertising which in recent times has become so common. It is always
interesting to note the origin of customs with which we subsequently
become familiar:--
_Notice to the Public, and especially to Emigrants, who wish to settle
on Lands._--The Subscriber offers for Sale, several Thousand Acres
of Land, situated in well settled Front Townships, in Lots to suit
Purchasers.
Particulars about Location,
May be known by application.
For quality of soil, and so forth,
Buyers to see, on Nag must go forth.
This much I'll tell ye plainly,
Of big trees ye'll see mainly.
'Bout Butter Nut and Beach,
A whole week I could preach;
But what the plague's the use of that?
The lands are nigh, low, round, and flat.
There's rocks and stumps, no doubt enough,
And bogs and swamps, just _quantum-suff_
To breed the finest of Musquitoes;
As in the sea are bred Bonitos,
No lack of fever or of ague;
And many other things to plague you.
In short, they're just like other people's,
Sans houses, pigsties, barns, or steeples
What most it imports you to know,
'S the terms on which I'll let 'em go.
So now I offer to the Buyer,
A Credit to his own desire,
For butter, bacon, bread, and cheese,
Lean bullocks, calves, or ducks and geese,
Corn, _Tates_, flour, barley, rye,
Or any thing but _Punkin-Pie_.
In three, four years, _Aye, five or six_,
If that won't do, why let _him_ fix.
But when once fix'd, if payment's slack,
As sure as Fate, I'll take 'em back.
THOMAS DALTON.
Kingston Brewery, (Canada,) Nov. 2, 1821.
MAGNIFICENCE OF FORMER TIMES.
_Account how the Earl of Worcester lived at Ragland Castle in
Monmouthshire, before the Civil Wars, which began in 1641._
At eleven o'clock in the forenoon, the Castle gates were shut, and the
tables laid; two in the dining-room; three in the hall; one in Mrs.
Watson's apartment, where the chaplains are, (Sir Toby Mathews being
the first;) and two in the housekeeper's room for the lady's women.
The Earl came into the dining-room attended by his gentlemen. As soon
as he was seated, Sir Ralph Blackstone, Steward of the house, retired.
The Comptroller, Mr. Holland, attended with his staff, as did the
Sewer, Mr. Blackburne; the daily waiters, Mr. Clough, Mr. Selby, and
Mr. Scudamore; with many gentlemen's sons, from two to seven hundred
pounds a year, bred up in the Castle; my Lady's Gentleman Usher, Mr.
Harcourt; my Lord's Gentlemen of the Chamber, Mr. Morgan and Mr. Fox.
At the first table sat the noble family, and such of the nobility as
came.
At the second table, in the dining-room, sat Knights and Honourable
Gentlemen, attended by footmen.
In the hall, at the first table sat Sir Ralph Blackstone, Steward; the
Comptroller, Mr. Holland; the Secretary; the Master of the Horse, Mr.
Delewar; the Master of the Fish Ponds, Mr. Andrews; my Lord Herbert's
Preceptor, Mr. Adams; with such Gentlemen as came there under the
degree of a Knight, attended by footmen, and plentifully served with
wine.
At the second table in the hall, (served from my Lord's table, and with
other hot meats,) sat the Sewer, with the Gentlemen Waiters and Pages,
to the number of twenty-four.
At the third table in the hall, sat the Clerk of the Kitchen, with the
Yeomen Officers of the House, two Grooms of the Chamber, &c.
Other Officers of the Household were, Chief Auditor, Mr. Smith; Clerk
of the Accounts, Mr. George Wharton; Purveyor of the Castle, Mr.
Salsbury; Ushers of the Hall, Mr. Moyle and Mr. Croke; Closet Keeper,
Gentleman of the Chapel, Mr. Davies; Keeper of the Records; Master of
the Wardrobe; Master of the Armoury; Master Groom of the Stable for the
War Horses; Master of the Hounds; Master Falconer; Porter and his man.
Two Butchers; two Keepers of the Home Park; two Keepers of the Red Deer
Park.
Footmen, Grooms, and other menial Servants, to the number of 150. Some
of the footmen were brewers and bakers.
Out Officers.--Steward of Ragland, William Jones, Esq.; the Governor of
Chepstow Castle, Sir Nicholas Kemys, Bart.; Housekeeper of Worcester
House, in London, James Redman, Esq.
Thirteen Bailiffs.
Two Counsel for the Bailiffs to have recourse to.
Solicitor, Mr. John Smith.
SADLER'S WELLS.
"T. G., Doctor in Physic," published, in 1684, a pamphlet upon
this place, in which he says:--"The water of this well, before the
Reformation, was very much famed for several extraordinary cures
performed thereby, and was thereupon accounted sacred, and called
Holywell. The priests belonging to the priory of Clerkenwell using to
attend there, made the people believe that the virtue of the water
proceeded from the efficacy of their prayers; but at the Reformation
the well was stopped, upon the supposition that the frequenting of
it was altogether superstitious; and so by degrees it grew out of
remembrance, and was wholly lost until then found out; when a gentleman
named Sadler, who had lately built a new music-house there, and being
surveyor of the highways, had employed men to dig gravel in his garden,
in the midst whereof they found it stopped up and covered with an arch
of stone." After the decease of Sadler, Francis Forcer, a musician of
some eminence in his profession, became proprietor of the well and
music-room; he was succeeded by his son, who first exhibited there the
diversions of rope-dancing and tumbling, which were then performed in
the garden. The rural vicinity of the "Wells," long made it a favourite
retreat of the pleasure-seeking citizens.
[Illustration: Champion Figg.]
James Figg, a native of Thame, in Oxfordshire, was a man of remarkable
athletic strength and agility, and signalized himself greatly over any
of his country competitors in the art of cudgel-playing, single-stick,
and other gymnastic exercises. Having acquired a considerable knowledge
of the broadsword, he came to London, and set up as master in that
science, undertaking to teach the nobility and gentry of his day
the noble art of self defence; and championed himself against all
comers. He took a waste piece of ground, the corner of Wells and
Castle-streets, Oxford-road, and erected a wooden edifice, which,
in imitation of the Romans, he denominated an amphitheatre; and
established here a regular academy, to train pupils in the practice of
cudgeling, broadsword, &c. &c., as well to use it, on fixed occasions,
for the exhibition of prizefighting. He had many followers, and we find
him commemorated and praised by most of the wits of his time. "The
Tattler," "Guardian," and "Craftsman," have equally contributed to
preserve his memory, as have several writers. Bramstone, in his "Man of
Taste" tells us:--
"In Figg the prize-fighter by day delight,
And sup with Colley Cibber every night."
Another writer notices him in the following lines:--
"To Figg and Broughton he commits his breast,
To steel it to the fashionable test."
Sutton, the pipe-maker of Gravesend, was his rival, and dared the
mighty Figg to the combat. Twice they fought, with alternate advantage;
but, at the third trial, a considerable time elapsed before victory
decided for either party; at length the palm of victory was obtained
by Figg. In short, neither Ned Sutton, Tom Buck, nor Bob Stokes, could
resist, or stand against his skill and valour. He was never defeated
but once, and then by Sutton, in one of their previous combats, and
that was generally supposed to have been in consequence of an illness
he had on him at the time he fought.
When Faber engraved his portrait from a painting by Ellys, he was at
a loss what he should insert, as an appropriate motto, and consulting
with a friend what he should put, was answered, "_A Figg for the
Irish._" This was immediately adopted, and the print had a rapid sale.
Figg died in 1734. William Flander a noted scholar of his, fought at
the amphitheatre, in 1723, with Christopher Clarkson, from Lancashire,
who was called the Old Soldier. The fashion of attending prizefighting
matches had attained its highest zenith in Figg's time, and it was
looked upon as a very great proof of self-denial in an amateur if he
failed a meeting on those occasions.
From Figg's theatre he will not miss a night,
Though cocks, and bulls, and Irish women, fight.
Figg left a widow and several children; so recently as 1794 a
daughter-in-law of his was living, and resided in Charles-street,
Westminster, where she kept a house, and supported herself very
decently by letting lodgings, aided by a very small income.
DRESS IN 1573.
The wardrobe of a country gentleman is thus given from a will, dated
1573, in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, in Brayley and Britton's
_Graphic Illustrator_--"I give unto my brother Mr. William Sheney
my best black gown, garded and faced with velvet, and my velvet cap;
also I will unto my brother Thomas Marcal my new shepe colored gowne,
garded with velvet and faced with cony; also I give unto my son Tyble
my shorte gown, faced with wolf (skin), and laid with Billements lace;
also I give unto my brother Cowper my other shorte gowne, faced with
foxe; also I give unto Thomas Walker my night gown, faced with cony,
with one lace also, and my ready (ruddy) colored hose; also I give
unto my man Thomas Swaine my doublet of canvas that Forde made me, and
my new gaskyns that Forde made me; also I give unto John Wyldinge a
cassock of shepes colour, edged with ponts skins; also I give unto John
Woodzyle my doublet of fruite canvas, and my hose with fryze bryches;
also I give unto Strowde my frize jerkin with silke buttons; also I
give Symonde Bisshoppe, the smyth, my other frize jerkyn, with stone
buttons; also I give to Adam Ashame my hose with the frendge (fringe),
and lined with crane-coloured silk; which gifts I will to be delivered,
immediately after my decease."
ORIGIN OF THE CREST OF THE PRINCE OF WALES.
The loss of the French at the battle of Crecy was immense. There fell
1,200 knights; 1,400 esquires; 4,000 commissioned officers; 30,000 rank
and file; Dukes of Lorraine and Bourbon; Earls of Flanders, Blois,
Harcourt, Vaudemont, and Aumale; the King of Bohemia; the King of
Majorca. The English lost one esquire, three knights, and less than one
hundred rank and file. Here did they first use field artillery; and
on this battle-field did the young Prince of Wales adopt the ostrich
plumes and motto of the slain King of Bohemia, who, being blind,
desired to be led at a gallop between two knights into the thick of
the fight, and thus met death. Those feathers and the two words "Ich
dien," "I serve," are to this day the heraldic bearings of the Prince
of Wales, whom God preserve! So much for Crecy or Cressy!
SINGULAR DISCOVERY OF A THIEF IN 1822.
On February 20, as a servant in the employ of J. L. King, Esq., of
Stogumber, was entering a field, his attention was attracted by a
magpie, which appeared to have escaped from a neighbouring house. The
bird spoke so uncommonly plain that the man was induced to follow it.
"_Cheese for Marget, Cheese for Marget_," was its continual cry, as
it hopped forward, till it stopped behind a hay-stack, and began to
eat. On inspection, a number of hams, a quantity of cheese, &c., were
discovered, which had been stolen, a short time previously, from Mr.
Bowering, of Williton. The plunder was deposited in sacks, on one of
which was marked the name of a person residing in the neighbourhood,
which led to the apprehension of four fellows, who have been committed
to Wilton gaol.
EFFECT OF VINEGAR ON THE SKIN.
By the use of vinegar the Spanish General Vitellis, made his skin hang
about him like a pelisse; but of the wonderful dilatability of the
skin, no instance equals the Spaniard who showed himself to Van-Horn,
Silvius, Piso, and other learned men at Amsterdam. Taking up with his
left hand the skin of his right shoulder, he would bring the same up
to his mouth: again he would draw the skin of his chin down to his
breast like a beard, and presently put it upwards to the top of his
head, hiding both his eyes therewith; after which, the same would
return orderly and equally to its proper place.
ADVERTISEMENT OF A DYING SPEECH BOOK IN 1731.
Newgate literature was more popular in the last century than it is now.
The following is an advertisement in the _Gentleman's Magazine_ of the
above date:--
"A General History of Executions for the year, 1730. Containing the
lives, actions, dying speeches, confessions and behaviour, of sixty
malefactors executed at Tyburn, and elsewhere; particularly three
unfortunate young gentlemen, viz., Mr. Goodburn, a Cambridge scholar,
Mr. Johnston, and Mr. Porter, son to the late Lord Mayor of Dublin:
and of several notorious highwaymen, foot-pads, street-robbers, and
housebreakers, as Dalton, Everet, Doyle, Newcomb, &c., and of the five
young highwaymen taken at Windsor, said to have formed a design to rob
the Queen there. To which is added, the trial of William Gordon at
Chelmsford for a robbery on the highway; an account of the incendiaries
at Bristol, and the apprehending John Power, for sending threatening
letters, and firing Mr. Packer's house; also the life of Col. Ch--s.
Together with an alphabetical list of all the persons indicted or
tried at the Old Bailey, the year past. With the judgment of the court
respectively passed upon each, referring to the pages in the session
books for the trials at large. Printed for R. Newton at St. John's
Gate, and sold by the booksellers price bound 2_s._ 6_d._"
ADVERTISEMENT OF A FLEET PARSON.
In the last century, when marriages were allowed to be transacted--we
cannot say solemnized--in the Fleet Prison, and the adjacent taverns,
the profligate wretches who disgraced their sacred profession by taking
part in such iniquities, were obliged to bid against one another for
custom--here is one of their advertisements:--
G. R.
At the true Chapel
at the old Red Hand and Mitre, three doors from Fleet Lane and
next Door to the White Swan;
Marriages are performed by authority by the Reverend Mr. Symson
educated at the University of Cambridge, and late Chaplain to the
Earl of Rothes.
N.B. Without Imposition.
THE ASS.
In all countries, this sure-footed and faithful animal is adopted as
an emblem of stupidity, from the patience with which it submits to
punishment and endures privation. A pair of ass's ears is inflicted
upon a child in reproof of his duncehood; and through life we hear
every blockhead of our acquaintance called an ass. Whereas the ass is
a beast of great intelligence; and we often owe our safety to its sure
and unerring foot beside the perilous precipice, where the steps of the
man of science would have faltered.