from the keeper. A new hat was then partly flattened on his head,
for owing to its being too small in the crown, it stood many inches
too high behind. As we were crossing the Press Yard, the dreadful
execrations of some of the felons so shook his frame that he observed,
the clock had struck; and quickening his pace, he soon arrived at the
room where the sheriff was to give a receipt for his body, according to
the usual custom. Owing, however, to some informality in the wording of
this receipt, he was not brought out as soon as the multitude expected;
and it was this delay which occasioned a partial exultation from those
who betted as to a reprieve, and not from any pleasure in seeing him
executed.
"After the execution, as soon as I was permitted to leave the prison,
I found the Yeoman selling the rope with which the malefactor had
been suspended, at a shilling an inch; and no sooner had I entered
Newgate-street, than a lath of a fellow, passed threescore years
and ten, who had just arrived from the purlieus of Black Boy Alley,
woe-begone as _Romeo's_ apothecary, exclaimed, 'Here is the identical
rope at sixpence an inch.'"
STAGE-COACH IN 1760.
_Ayscough's Nottingham Courant_ of this date, contained the following
advertisement:--The flying machines on steel springs set off from the
Swan with Two Necks Inn, Lad-lane, London, and from the Angel Inn in
Sheffield, every Monday and Thursday morning at five o'clock, and lies
the first night from London at the Angel Inn in Northampton, the second
at the Blackmoor's Head Inn, Nottingham, and the third at Sheffield.
Each passenger to pay 1_l._ 17_s._, and to be allowed fourteen pounds
of luggage. Performed (if God permit) by John Hanforth and Samuel
Glanville.
BLIND WORKMAN.
A young man, in Greenock, of the name of Kid, who was blind from his
infancy, finished the model of a sixty-four gun ship, of about five
feet keel, planked from the keel, with carriages for the guns, and
every necessary material and apparelling of a ship of that rate,
without any assistance whatever, or other instrument than a small knife
and hammer.
SPORTS OF THE LOWER CLASSES IN 1749.
The following handbill is curious, on account of the light it sheds on
what was considered attractive to the million a hundred years ago:--
"_According to Law. September 22, 1749._ On Wednesday next, the 27th
inst., will be run for by _Asses_ (!!) in _Tothill Fields_, a purse
of gold, not exceeding the value of Fifty Pounds. The first will be
entitled to the gold; the second to two pads; the third to thirteen
pence half-penny; the last to a halter fit for the neck of any ass in
Europe. Each ass must be subject to the following articles:--
"No person will be allowed to run but _Taylors_ and _Chimney-sweepers_;
the former to have a cabbage-leaf fixed in his hat, the latter a
plumage of white feathers; the one to use nothing but his yard-wand,
and the other a brush.
"No jockey-tricks will be allowed upon any consideration.
"No one to strike an ass but the rider, lest he thereby cause a
retrograde motion, under a penalty of being ducked three times in the
river.
"No ass will be allowed to start above thirty years old, or under ten
months, nor any that has won above the value of fifty pounds.
"No ass to run that has been six months in training, particularly above
stairs, lest the same accident happen to it that did to one nigh a town
ten miles from London, and that for reasons well known to that place.
"Each ass to pay sixpence entrance, three farthings of which are to be
given to the old clerk of the race, for his due care and attendance.
"Every ass to carry weight for inches, if thought proper."
Then follow a variety of sports, with "an ordinary of _proper
victuals_, particularly for the riders, if desired."
"_Run, lads, run! there's rare sport in Tothill Fields!_"
STATE COACH AT THE PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT IN 1796.
Never was a greater assemblage of persons collected together than on
this occasion: in the Park and in Parliament-street there were at least
20,000 people. By the repair of the state coach, which has undergone
several material alterations since the damage it received at the
opening of the last session, the king is now secluded from the sight.
Hitherto, the upper pannels of it had always been of glass, so that
the multitude could see the king in all directions, through the front,
through the sides, as well as through the windows in the doors: it has
been newly glazed, and the whole of the carriage is lined with sheet
copper, musket proof; between the crimson lining of the carriage is a
wadding of fine wool, coated with buffalo skin, the nature of which is
so close that no bullets can penetrate it.
HISTORICAL ANECDOTE.
On the dollars, stivers, &c., coined at the town of Dordrecht in
Holland, is the figure of a milk-maid sitting under her cow, which
figure is also exhibited in relievo on the water-gate of the place. The
occasion was as follows: In the noble struggle of the United Provinces
for their liberties, the Spaniards detached a body of forces from the
main army, with the view of surprising Dordrecht. Certain milkmaids,
belonging to a rich farmer in the vicinity of the town, perceived as
they were going to milk, some soldiers concealed under the hedges.
They had the presence of mind to pursue their occupation without any
symptoms of alarm. On their return home they informed their master of
what they had seen, who gave information to the Burgomaster, and the
sluices were let loose, by which great numbers of the Spaniards were
drowned, and the expedition defeated. The States ordered the farmer a
handsome revenue for the loss he sustained by the overflowing of his
lands, rewarded the women, and perpetuated the event in the manner
described.
TOMB OF JOHN BUNYAN.
"Who has not read the "Pilgrim's Progress," "that wonderful book,"
writes Mr. Macaulay, "which, while it obtains admiration from the most
fastidious critics, is loved by those who are too simple to admire it?"
We can remember our own delight on reading, for the first time, the
precious volume. This was in the days of our childhood, when we were
deeply imbued with the fairy lore which at that time was so plentifully
supplied, and so eagerly devoured.
John Bunyan was buried in Bunhill Fields burying-ground, City-road; and
the tablet on his tomb, which the engraving very correctly represents
is as follows:--"Mr. John Bunyan, author of the 'Pilgrim's Progress,'
ob. 12 Aust. 1688, aet. 60." Formerly there were also the following
lines:--
"The Pilgrim's Progress now is finished.
And death has laid him in his earthly bed."
[Illustration: [++] Tomb of John Bunyan.]
Bunhill Fields burying-ground was opened as a suburban cemetery
in 1665, in the time of the great plague, and was a favourite
burying-place with the Dissenters. Here are buried Daniel Defoe; Dr.
Isaac Watts; Joseph Ritson the antiquary; Dr. Thomas Goodwin, the
chaplain who attended Cromwell's death-bed; George Fox, the founder
of the Quakers; the mother of John Wesley; Lieut.-General Fleetwood,
son-in-law of Oliver Cromwell; Thomas Stothard, R.A., and other eminent
men.
SPIDERS FOND OF MUSIC.
Spiders hear with great acuteness, and it is affirmed that they are
attracted by music. Disjonval relates the instance of a spider which
used to place itself on the ceiling of a room over the spot where a
lady played the harp, and which followed her if she removed to another
part; and he also says that the celebrated violinist Berthome, when a
boy, saw a spider habitually approach him as soon as he began to play,
and which eventually became so familiar that it would fix itself on his
desk, and on his arm. Bettina noticed the same effect with a guitar, on
a spider which accidentally crossed over it as she was playing.
BREAKFASTING HUT IN 1745.
This quaint announcement, in a handbill of the time, shows how cheaply
those who lived a century or so past could enjoy suburban pleasures in
merrie Islington:--
"This is to give notice to all Ladies and Gentlemen, at Spencer's
original Breakfasting-Hut, between Sir Hugh Middleton's Head and St.
John Street Road, by the New River side, fronting Sadler's Wells, may
be had every morning, except Sundays, fine tea, sugar, bread, butter,
and milk, at fourpence per head; coffee at threepence a dish. And in
the afternoon, tea, sugar, and milk, at threepence per head, with good
attendance. Coaches may come up to the farthest garden-door next to the
bridge in St. John Street Road, near Sadler's Wells back gate.--_Note._
Ladies, &c., are desired to take notice that there is another person
set up in opposition to me, the next door, which is a brick-house,
and faces the little gate by the Sir Hugh Middleton's, and therefore
mistaken for mine; but mine is the _little boarded place_ by the river
side, and my backdoor faces the same as usual; for
I am not dead, I am not gone,
Nor liquors do I sell;
But, as at first, I still go on,
Ladies, to use you well.
No passage to my hut I have,
The river runs before;
Therefore your care I humbly crave,
Pray don't mistake my door.
"Yours to serve,
S. SPENCER."
SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION.
In Leroux's Journal de Medicine, is an account of a very fat woman,
twenty-eight years of age, who was found on fire in her chamber, where
nothing else was burning. The neighbours heard a noise of something
like frying, and when the body was removed it left a layer of black
grease. The doctor conceives that the combustion began in the internal
parts, and that the clothes were burnt secondarily.
MOTHER MAPP THE BONE-SETTER.
She was the daughter of a man named Wallis, a bone-setter at Hindon, in
Wiltshire, and sister to the celebrated "Polly Peachem," who married
the Duke of Bolton. Upon some _family quarrel_, Sally Wallis left
her professional parent, and wandered up and down the country in a
miserable manner, calling herself "Crazy Sally," and pursuing, in her
perambulations, a course that fairly justified the title. Arriving at
last at Epsom, she succeeded in humbugging the worthy bumkins of that
place, so decidedly, that a subscription was set on foot to keep her
among them; but her fame extending to the metropolis, the dupes of
London, a numerous class then as well as now, thought it no trouble
to go ten miles to see the conjuror, till at length, she was pleased
to bless the afflicted of London with her presence, and once a week
drove to the Grecian Coffee-house, in a coach and six with out-riders!
and all the appearance of nobility. It was in one of these journeys,
passing through Kent-street, in the Borough, that being taken for a
certain woman of quality from the Electorate in Germany, a great mob
followed and bestowed on her many bitter reproaches, till Madame,
perceiving some mistake, looked out of the window, and accosted them in
this gentle manner, "Confound you, don't you know me? I am Mrs. Mapp,
the _bone-setter_!" upon which, they instantly changed their revilings
into loud huzzas.
TWO CERTIFICATES OF GRETNA-GREEN MARRIAGES AT DIFFERENT DATES.
"This is to sartfay all persons that my be consernid, that A B from the
parish of C in the County of D and E F from the parish of G and in the
county of H and both comes before me and declayred themseless both to
be single persons, and now mayried by the form of the Kirk of Scotland,
and agreible to the Church of England, and givine ondre my hand, this
18{th} day of March 1793."
"Kingdom of Scotland
"County of Dumfries
"Parish of Gretna
"These are to certify, to all whom it may concern, that John N....
from the parish of Chatham in the County of Kent, and Rosa H.... from
the Parish of St. Maries in the County of Nottingham, being both here
now present and having declared to me that they are single persons,
but have now been married conformable to the Laws of the Church of
England, and agreeable to the Kirk of Scotland. As witness our hands at
Springfield this 4th day of October 1822.
"Witness "Witness me.
Jane Rae David Lang.
John Ainslie." John N....
Rosa H...."
THE WOMEN OF ENGLAND.
The women here are generally more handsome than in other places,
sufficiently endowed with natural beauties, without the addition of
adulterate sophistications. In an absolute woman, say the Italians,
are required the parts of a Dutch woman, from the girdle downwards; of
a French woman, from the girdle to the shoulders: over which must be
placed an English face. As their beauties, so also their prerogatives
are greater than any nation; neither so servilely submissive as the
French, nor so jealously guarded as the Italians; but keeping so true a
decorum, that as England is termed the Pergatorie of Servants, and the
Hell of Horses, so is it acknowledged the _Paradise_ of _Women_. And it
is a common by-word amongst the Italians, that _if there were a bridge
built across the narrow seas, all the women in Europe would run into
England_. For here they have the upper hand in the streets, the upper
place at the table, the thirds of their husband's estates, and their
equal share of all lands; privileges with which other women are not
acquainted. They were in high esteem in former times amongst foreign
nations, for the modestie and gravitie of their conversation; but of
late so much addicted to the light garb of the French, that they have
lost much of their ancient honour and reputation amongst knowing and
more sober men of foreign countries who before admired them.--_Peter
Heylin's Cosmographie_, 1652.
PRICES FOR SEATS AT CORONATIONS.
On consulting Stowe, Speed, and other antiquaries, it appears that the
price of a good place at the coronation of William the Conqueror was
a _blank_; and probably the same at that of his son William Rufus. At
that of Henry I. it was a _crocard_, and at King Stephen's and Henry
the Second's a _pillard_. At King Richard's and King John's, it was a
_fuskin_; and rose at Henry the Third's to a _dodkin_. In the reign of
Edward I. the coins began to be more intelligible; and we find that for
seeing his coronation a Q was given, or the half of a _ferling_, or
farthing, which was, as now, the fourth part of a _sterling_, or penny.
At the coronation of Edward II. it was a farthing; and at that of
Edward III. a halfpenny, which was very generally given. In the reign
of Richard II. it was a penny, and continued the same at that of Henry
IV. But at that of Henry V. it was two pennies, or half of a _grossus_,
or groat; and the same at that of Henry VI. and of Edward IV.; nor do
we find it raised at the coronation of Richard III. or that of Henry
VII.
At that of Henry VIII. it was the whole _grossus_, or groat, nor was
the price altered at those of Edward VI. and Queen Mary; but at Queen
Elizabeth's it was a _teston_, _tester_, or sixpence. At those of James
I. and Charles I. a shilling was given; which sum was advanced to half
a crown at the coronations of Charles and James II. At King William's
and Queen Anne's, it was a crown; and at George the First's the show
was seen by many at the same price.
At the coronation of George II. some gave half a guinea; but at that
of George III. and Queen Charlotte, anno 1761, curiosity seems to
have risen to an amazing height. On this occasion the price given for
single seats were almost incredible; in some houses ten guineas, and
in ordinary houses five guineas. Great and universal anxiety prevailed
to see this grand spectacle, from the reflection how improbable
it was that many who were there could ever have an opportunity of
witnessing the like again. As an instance of this extreme anxiety, it
is confidently related, that a gentleman was prevailed on to take a
room for his lady, at the price of one hundred and forty guineas; but
the appointment of the solemnity of the coronation falling unluckily at
the exact time when she expected to be delivered, she actually further
prevailed on her husband to let a skilful man-midwife, nurse, &c.,
attend her, and to hire another room, lest the hurry of the day should
bring on her labour, when it might be impossible for her to be removed
without endangering her life.
ANCIENT HOUSE AT BLACKWALL--SAID TO BE THE RESIDENCE OF SIR WALTER
RALEIGH.
The house shown in the engraving is interesting from two causes; first,
that it was the house in which Sir Walter Raleigh smoked his first
pipe of tobacco in England, and secondly, that it is one of the few
relics remaining of those picturesque old houses of the days of Queen
Bess. The house is built of strongly framed timber, which, in recent
years, has been plastered over; and the carved heads that ornament the
gables, and which are good both in design and execution, show that this
house is at least 350 years old.
[Illustration: [++] Ancient House at Blackwall.]
At the present time a tavern has been built between this house and
the river. Formerly, however, there was, no doubt, a trimmed garden
and terrace towards the Thames, from which the inhabitants may have
watched the progress of Queen Elizabeth from the Tower to her palace at
Greenwich.
It is singular to notice the fashion of these old houses, arising from
the value of space within walled towns; each floor projects over the
other, so that the upper apartments have more room than the lower.
While, in an artistic point of view, we cannot help regretting the
disappearance of the venerable and quaint gables, for sanitary and
other reasons we must be content with the change.
AMBASSADORS--WHY HELD BY THE ARMS AT THE OTTOMAN COURT.
A dervise addressed Bajazet, emperor of the Turks, 1495, for alms, and
while the charitable Sultan searched for his money, the treacherous
beggar wounded him with a dagger, and was instantly slain by the
royal attendants. This incident is rendered memorable by its having
occasioned the ungracious restraint under which even the ambassadors of
Christian powers were subject to in former times when they received an
audience from the Ottoman Emperor.
They were held by the arms by two attendants, when they approached the
throne, nor were their arms loosed till they had quitted the presence.
TRAVELLING IN 1760.
The nobility and gentry were accustomed to make their long journeys in
ponderous family-carriages, drawn by four horses. These vehicles would
be laden at the top with an array of trunks and boxes, while perhaps
six or seven persons, with a lapdog, would be stowed within. The danger
of famine on the road was averted by a travelling larder of baskets of
various condiments; the risk of thirst would be provided against by
bottles of usquebaugh, black cherry-brandy, cinnamon-water, sack, port,
or strong beer: while the convoy would be protected by a basket-hilted
sword, an old blunderbuss, and a bag of bullets and a great horn of
gunpowder.
OLD ST. PAUL'S.
In the old cathedral was a tower of stone, in height from the ground
260 feet, on which was a spire of wood, covered with lead, 274 feet
high. In the tower was a celebrated peal of bells; and somewhat above
the stone-work was a "faire dial," from which there was order taken in
the eighteenth year of Edward III. that the rich chasing and gilding
should be always kept in good preservation. On this dial was the figure
of an angel pointing to the hours of both day and night--a device more
appropriate than most of the clock-hands in present use. From this
lofty steeple, which formed such an important feature of old London,
the chimes rung merrily on saints' days and holidays; and at times the
choristers mounted up aloft and chaunted forth their orisons at dawn
and sunset--a custom still observed at Durham Cathedral. Before the
fire of London, the spire of St. Paul's was more than once destroyed or
damaged by fire and lightning.
On Candlemas Eve, 1444, about two o'clock in the afternoon, the
lightning fired the steeple. The citizens came forth and succeeded in
overcoming the fire; it, however, broke forth again at night, and but
little of the spire was saved. In the year 1561, in the month of June,
there fell a prodigious quantity of rain, attended with thunder and
lightning. St. Paul's steeple was struck within a yard of the top. At
first, a little fire appeared, resembling the light of a torch, and
in eight minutes the weather-cock fell; and the wind rising high, the
fire within an hour afterwards destroyed the steeple down to the very
battlements, and then, in consequence of the mass of burning timber
that fell from the spire, burnt so violently that the iron-work and
the bells melted and fell upon the stairs in the church; the east and
west roofs catching fire communicated with the north and south, and
destroyed them all. Much damage was also done to other parts.
The spire was again reared, and the damaged bells properly replaced.
In addition to the bells in the tower of old St. Paul's there was a
common bell, the property of the city, hung in a suitable building,
closely adjoining to the Cathedral, which was rung that the inhabitants
might assemble at wardmotes and other important occasions. Another fire
damaged the ancient church, and then the great fire of 1666, swept
steeples, bells, churches, and all before it.
THE BEDFORD MISSAL.
In January, 1786, when the Bedford Missal was on sale, with the rest
of the Duchess of Portland's collection, King George III. sent for
his bookseller, and expressed his intention to become the purchaser.
The bookseller ventured to submit to his majesty, that the article in
question, as one highly curious, was likely to fetch a high price. "How
high?" exclaimed the king. "Probably two hundred guineas," replied the
bookseller. "Two hundred guineas for a Missal!" exclaimed the Queen,
who was present, and lifted up her hands with astonishment. "Well,
well," said his Majesty, "I'll have it still; but since the Queen
thinks two hundred guineas so enormous a price for a Missal, I'll go no
further." The biddings for the royal library did actually stop at that
point; and Mr. Edwards carried off the prize by adding three pounds
more. The same Missal was afterwards sold at Mr. Edwards's sale, in
1815, and purchased by the Duke of Marlborough, for L637 15s.
FORMATION OF THE VOLCANO OF JORULLO.
The Mexican volcanoes of Orizaba, Popocatepetl, Jorullo, and Colima
appear to be connected with each other, being placed in the direction
of a line running transverse to the former, and passing east and west
from sea to sea.
As was first observed by Humboldt, these mountains are all situated
between north latitude 18 deg. 59' and 19 deg. 12'. In an exact line of
direction with the other volcanoes, and over the same transverse
fissure, Jorullo was suddenly elevated on the 29th of September, 1759.
The circumstances attending the production of this volcano are so
remarkable, that we shall here notice them in some detail.
[Illustration: Volcano of Jorullo, Mexico.]
An extensive plain, called the Malpays, was covered by rich fields of
cotton, sugar-cane, and indigo, irrigated by streams, and bounded by
basaltic mountains, the nearest active volcano being at the distance
of eighty miles. This district, situated at an elevation of about 2600
feet above the level of the sea, was celebrated for its beauty and
extreme fertility. In June, 1759, alarming subterranean sounds were
heard, and these were accompanied, by frequent earthquakes, which were
succeeded by others for several weeks, to the great consternation of
the neighbouring inhabitants. In September tranquillity appeared to
be re-established, when, in the night of the 28th, the subterranean
noise was again heard, and part of the plain of Malpays, from three to
four miles in diameter, rose up like a mass of viscid fluid, in the
shape of a bladder or dome, to a height of nearly 1700 feet; flames
issued forth, fragments of red-hot stones were thrown to prodigious
heights, and, through a thick cloud of ashes, illumined by volcanic
fire, the softened surface of the earth was seen to swell up like an
agitated sea. A huge cone, above 500 feet high, with five smaller
conical mounds, suddenly appeared, and thousands of lesser cones
(called by the natives _hornitos_, or ovens,) issued forth from the
upraised plain. These consisted of clay intermingled with decomposed
basalt, each cone being a _fumarolle_, or gaseous vent, from which
issued thick vapour. The central cone of Jorullo is still burning,
and on one side has thrown up an immense quantity of scoriaceous and
basaltic lavas, containing fragments of primitive rocks. Two streams,
of the temperature of 186 deg. of Fahrenheit, have since burst through the
argillaceous vault of the hornitos, and now flow into the neighbouring
plains. For many years after the first eruption, the plains of Jorullo
were uninhabitable from the intense heat that prevailed.
CRATER OF VESUVIUS IN 1829.
[Illustration: [++] Crater of Vesuvius.]