the left, previous to entering the long avenue, the coach way to where
Ranelagh once stood. This place was much frequented, from its novelty,
being an inducement to allure the curious, by its amusing deceptions,
particularly on their first appearance there. Here was a large garden,
in different parts of which were recesses; and if treading on a spring,
taking you by surprise, up started different figures, some ugly enough
to frighten you--a harlequin, a Mother Shipton, or some terrific
animal. In a large piece of water, facing the tea alcoves, large fish
or mermaids, were showing themselves above the surface. This queer
spectacle was first kept by a famous mechanist, who had been employed
at one of the winter theatres, there being then two."--Angelo's _Pic
Nic or Table Talk_, p. 106.
Horace Walpole, more than once alludes to this place of entertainment
in his Letters; and in 1755 a 4to. satirical tract appeared entitled
_Jenny's Whim; or a Sure Guide to the Nobility, Gentry, and other
Eminent Persons, in this Metropolis_.
ANECDOTE RELATIVE TO THE MASKED EXECUTIONER OF CHARLES I.
It is universally known, that, at the execution of King Charles I., a
man in a vizor performed the office of executioner. This circumstance
has given rise to a variety of conjectures and accounts. In the
Gentleman's Magazine for November, 1767, and January, 1768, are
accounts of one William Walker, who is said to be the executioner.
In the same magazine for June, 1784, it is supposed to be a Richard
Brandon, of whom a long account is copied from an Exeter newspaper.
But William Lilly, in his "History of his Life and Times," has the
following remarkable passage:--"Many have curiously inquired who it
was that cut off his [the king's] head: I have no permission to speak
of such things: only thus much I say, he that did it is as valiant and
resolute a man as lives, and one of a competent fortune." To clear up
this passage, we shall present our readers with Lilly's examination (as
related by himself) before the first parliament of King Charles II. in
June, 1660.
"At my first appearance, many of the young members affronted me highly,
and demanded several scurrilous questions. Mr. Weston held a paper
before his mouth; bade me answer nobody but Mr. Prinn; I obeyed his
command, and saved myself much trouble thereby, and when Mr. Prinn put
any difficult or doubtful query unto me, Mr. Weston prompted me with
a fit question. At last, after almost one hour's tugging, I desired
to be fully heard what I could say as to the person that cut Charles
I.'s head off. Liberty being given me to speak, I related what follows,
viz.:--
"That the next Sunday but one after Charles I. was beheaded, Robert
Spavin, Secretary to Lieutenant-General Cromwell at that time, invited
himself to dine with me, and brought Anthony Pearson, and several
others, along with him to dinner. That their principal discourse all
dinner-time was only who it was that beheaded the king; one said it was
the common hangman; another, Hugh Peters; others were also nominated;
but none concluded. Robert Spavin, so soon as dinner was done, took
me by the hand, and carried me to the south window: saith he. 'These
are all mistaken; they have not named the man that did the fact; it
was Lieutenant-Colonel Joice. I was in the room when he fitted himself
for the work, stood behind him when he did it; when done, went in with
him again. There is no man knows this but my master, viz., Cromwell,
Commissary Ireton, and myself.'--'Doth Mr. Rushworth know it?' saith
I.--'No, he doth not know it,' saith Spavin. The same thing Spavin
since has often related to me when we were alone."
WHIPPING PRISONERS.
Mr. Ellesdon, Mayor of Lyme, in 1595, paid for--
_s._ _d._
Four yards of canvas to make a coat to whip the rogues in 3 0
Making the same 0 6
Whipping of three of the ship boys for stealing of Mr.
Hassard's salmon fish in the Cobb 1 0
(N.B.--Salmon was plentiful in the west at this epoch.)
The charge of fourpence made for whipping a boy continued for many
years the same. The whipping of a woman who was a stranger was little
more costly; but the inflicting such a punishment upon a townswoman
was remunerated at a higher rate, as may well be supposed, from a
consideration of several circumstances. To take a violent, noisy woman
from her chamber, tie madam to the tumbrel and whip her round the town,
was an undertaking that demanded assistance and protection to the
official or hireling that wielded the thong. In the Town Accompt Book
are found such entries as those which are given in illustration:--
_s._ _d._
1625. For whipping William Wynter's boy 0 4
" Agnes Abbott twice 2 4
1644. Paid two soldiers to attend the whipping of a woman 2 6
Paid to whipping four women 4 0
THE INIQUITIES OF THE SLAVE TRADE.
We may form some idea of the temptations which the trade in human
beings held out, even to people who held an honourable position in the
world, from the fact that the captain of a frigate, within a few years
before the slave trade was abolished, was known to purchase slaves in
the West India market, have them entered as able seamen, and compel the
artificers to teach them a trade; so that when the ship returned each
was sold at a high rate as a valuable piece of property. The worst,
however, has to be told. Upon sailing from Portsmouth, some of the
best men were sent away upon duty in a ship's boat, in order that they
might be returned "run," by which they lost pay and clothes, but made
room for the negroes lately kidnapped, who were entered, though they
did no work for the ship, as able seamen! We have all heard of a naval
officer who had his pocket picked at a Westminster election, and who
openly professed his vow, which he rigidly performed, of flogging every
Londoner that joined his ship for this act. This, it is said, was no
idle vow!
DISCOVERY OF THE BODY OF CANUTE THE GREAT.
In June 1766, some workmen who were repairing Winchester Cathedral
discovered a monument, wherein was contained the body of King Canute.
It was remarkably fresh, had a wreath round the head, and several other
ornaments of gold and silver bands. On his finger was a ring, in which
was set a large and remarkably fine stone; and in one of his hands a
silver penny. _Archaeologia_, vol. iii. The penny found in the hand is
a singular instance of a continuance of the pagan custom of always
providing the dead with money to pay Charon.
M.P.'S AND MAYORS PRIVATEERS.
William Morfote, who represented Winchelsea in Parliament in 1428, was
a privateer with a hundred men under him. He found it necessary to
obtain the king's pardon in 1435, by the advice of Parliament, there
being a legal difficulty about his having broken prison at Dover Castle.
Two merchants of Sherborne in Dorsetshire were robbed of their cargo,
worth L80, A.D. 1322, by Robert de Battyle. This transaction did not
lose him the good opinion of his townsmen, who chose him Mayor of
Winchelsea a few years later.
ALGERINE INVASION OF IRELAND.
The Algerines landed in Ireland in 1627, killed 50 persons, and carried
off about 400 into slavery. One vessel captured by them was worth
L260,000. They made purchases of stores and provisions they wanted in
the western parts of Ireland by Baltimore, and in 1631 carried off 100
captives from that town. They landed their poor captives at Rochelle,
and marched them in chains to Marseilles. Twenty-six children are said
to have been carried off at one time from Cornwall. In 1633, Lord
Wentworth, appointed lord deputy of Ireland, named noted pirate vessels
off the coast of Ireland and their captures. Persons in their wills
used to leave sums of money for redeeming well-known captives from
bondage in Algiers and other places.
WILLIAM JOY, THE ENGLISH SAMPSON.
[Illustration: [++] William Joy.]
William Joy was a native of Kent, and born May 2, 1675, at St.
Lawrence, a small village one mile from Ramsgate, in the Isle of
Thanet. When very young, he distinguished himself among his juvenile
companions and playmates, by his amazing superiority in strength,
over any antagonist that dare to come in competition with his power,
whether in play or earnest When about twenty-four years of age, he
first began to exhibit in public his astonishing feats, in a display of
personal prowess inferior to none but the Hebrew champion recorded in
holy writ. Among many other of this man's extraordinary performances
may be recorded:--1. A strong horse, urged by the whip to escape his
powerful rein, is restrained and kept from escape solely by the check
of his pull, aided by a strong rope, and this without any stay or
support whatever. 2. Seated upon a stool, with his legs horizontally
elevated, solely by muscular power, he jumps clearly from his seat.
3. To prove the agility and flexibility of his joints, he places
a glass of wine on the sole of his foot, and, in an erect posture,
without the least bending of his head or body, raises the glass to
his mouth, and drinks the contents, turning his foot with both hands,
to accommodate his draught. 4. Aided by a strong leather girdle, or
belt, and supporting himself by pressing his arms on a railing, he
lifts from the ground a stone of the enormous weight of 2,240 lbs. 5.
A rope fastened to a wall, which had borne 3,500 lbs. weight, without
giving way, is broke asunder by his amazing strength. The celebrity
of this man attracted the curiosity of King William III., before whom
he exhibited at Kensington Palace; likewise before George, Prince of
Denmark, and his royal consort, the Princess, afterwards Queen Anne,
and their son William, Duke of Gloucester, called the Hope of England.
He also went through a regular course of performances at the Duke's
Theatre, in Dorset-gardens, Salisbury-square, which was attended by the
first nobility and gentry in the kingdom.
PRICE OF SHELL-FISH IN 1675.
A bill for shell-fish enables us to ascertain the prices paid in
Charles II.'s reign for these delicacies. Mr. Walter Tucker, mayor of
Lyme, Dorset, paid for the judges, for--
30 lobsters L1 10 0
6 crabs 0 6 0
100 scallops 0 5 0
300 oysters 0 4 0
50 oranges 0 2 0
-------
L2 7 0
DISTRIBUTING HAND-BILLS.
The month of July 1736 afforded a singular _popular explosion_,
contrived in the following strange manner:--A brown paper parcel,
which had been placed unobserved near the side-bar of the Court of
King's-bench, Westminster-hall, blew up during the solemn proceedings
of the Courts of Justice assembled, and scattered a number of printed
bills, giving notice, that on the last day of Term five Acts of
Parliament would be publicly burnt in the hall, between the hours of
twelve and one, at the Royal Exchange, and at St. Margaret's hill,
which were the Gin Act, the Smuggling Act, the Mortmain Act, the
Westminster Bridge Act, and the Act for borrowing 600,000_l._ on the
Sinking fund.
One of the bills was immediately carried to the Grand Jury then
sitting, who found it an infamous libel, and recommended the offering
of a reward to discover the author.
RANZ DES VACHES.
The "Ranz des Vaches," which is commonly supposed to be a single air,
stands in Switzerland for a class of melodies, the literal meaning
of which is cow-rows. The German word is _Kureihen_--rows of cows.
It derives its origin from the manner the cows march home along the
Alpine paths at milking time. The shepherd goes before, keeping every
straggler in its place by the tones of his horn, while the whole herd
wind along in Indian file, obedient to the call. From its association
it always creates home-sickness in a Swiss mountaineer, when he hears
it in a foreign land. It is said, these melodies are prohibited in
the Swiss regiments attached to the French army, because it produces
so many desertions. One of the "Ranz des Vaches" brings back to his
imagination his Alpine cottage--the green pasturage--the bleating of
his mountain goats--the voices of the milkmaids, and all the sweetness
and innocence of a pastoral life; till his heart turns with a sad
yearning to the haunts of his childhood, and the spot of his early
dreams and early happiness.
The Swiss retain their old fondness for rifle-shooting, and there is
annually a grand rifle match at some of the large towns, made up of the
best marksmen in all Switzerland. There are also yearly contests in
wrestling, called _Zwing Feste_, the most distinguished wrestlers at
which are from Unterwalden, Appenzel, and Berne.
MONSOONS.
These are periodical winds which blow over the Indian Ocean, between
Africa and Hindustan for nearly six months from the north-east, and
during an equal period from the south-west. The region of the monsoons
lies a little to the north of the northern border of the trade-winds,
and they blow with the greatest force and with most regularity between
the eastern coast of Africa and Hindustan. When the sun is in the
southern hemisphere a north-east wind, and when it is in the northern
hemisphere, a south-west wind blows over this sea. The north-east
monsoon blows from November to March. It extends one or two degrees
south of the equator. It becomes regular near the coasts of Africa
sooner than in the middle of the sea, and near the equator sooner than
in the vicinity of the coasts of Arabia. This wind brings rain on the
eastern coasts of Africa. The south-west monsoon does not extend south
of the equator, but usually begins a short distance north of it. It
blows from the latter end of April to the middle of October. Along the
coast of Africa, it appears at the end of March; but along the coast
of Malabar, not before the middle of April; it ceases, however, sooner
in the former than in the latter region. The rainy season on the west
coast of Hindustan commences with the first approach of the south-west
monsoon. The monsoons prevail also on the seas between Australia and
China.
[Illustration: [++] Mpnsoons.]
The effect of the struggle which precedes the change in the direction
of the wind in this part of the world is thus described in "Forbes's
Oriental Memoirs." The author was encamped with the English troops:
"The shades of evening approached as we reached the ground, and just
as the encampment was completed, the atmosphere grew suddenly dark,
the heat became oppressive, and an unusual stillness presaged the
immediate setting-in of the monsoon. The whole appearance of external
nature resembled those solemn preludes to earthquakes and hurricanes
in the West Indies, from which the East in general is providentially
free. We were allowed very little time for conjecture. In a few minutes
the heavy clouds burst over us. I had witnessed seventeen monsoons
in India, but this surpassed them all in its awful appearance and
dreadful effects. Encamped in a low situation on the borders of a lake
formed to collect the surrounding water, we found ourselves in a few
hours in a liquid plain; tent-pins giving way in a loose soil--the
tents fell down--and left the whole army exposed to the contending
elements. It requires a lively imagination to conceive the situation of
a hundred thousand human beings of every description, with more than
two hundred thousand elephants, camels, horses, and oxen, suddenly
overwhelmed by this dreadful storm in a strange country, without any
knowledge of high or low ground, the whole being covered by an immense
lake, and surrounded by thick darkness, which rendered it impossible
for us to distinguish a single object except such as the vivid
glare of the lightning occasionally displayed in horrible forms. No
language can adequately describe the wreck of a large encampment thus
instantaneously destroyed, and covered with water, amid the cries of
old men and helpless women, terrified by the piercing shrieks of their
expiring children, unable to afford them relief. During this dreadful
night more than two hundred persons and three thousand cattle perished
miserably, and the morning dawn exhibited a shocking spectacle!"
UNUSUAL LOCALITY FOR SAYING PRAYERS.
Francis Atkins was porter at the palace gate, at Salisbury, from the
time of Bishop Burnet to the period of his death in 1761, at the age
of 104 years. It was his office every night to wind up the clock,
which he was capable of performing regularly till within a year of his
decease, though on the summit of the palace. In ascending the lofty
flight of stairs, he usually made a halt at a particular place and said
his evening prayers. He lived a regular and temperate life, and took a
great deal of exercise; he walked well, and carried his frame upright
and well balanced to the last.
BILLY IN THE SALT BOX.
Political caricatures are generally well worth preserving, they
familiarize us with the features and peculiarities of celebrated men,
and they tell us what was the popular feeling of the day. We regret
that in general they are too large for our pages, but now and then we
meet with a small one which we are glad to present to our readers.
[Illustration: [++] Billy in the Salt Box.]
Mr. Pitt's budget of 1805 was not allowed to pass without severe
remarks, and a heavily increased duty on salt excited general
dissatisfaction. People said that the grand contriver of taxes had
visited every corner of the house above stairs, and that he had now
descended into the kitchen; and the annexed caricature, by Gilray,
which was published at this period, represents the premier alarming the
poor cook by popping his head out of the salt-box, with the unexpected
salutation--"How do you do, cookey?" The person thus apostrophised
cries out in consternation, "Curse the fellow, how he has frightened
me!--I think, on my heart, he is getting in everywhere!--who the deuce
would have thought of finding him in the salt-box?"
DANGEROUS FEAT.
An extraordinary instance of the rash feats which men with cool
heads and courageous hearts will sometimes perform, was witnessed at
Nottingham on January 22, 1789.--The vane at the top of St. Peter's
spire, which was placed there in 1735, and measured thirty-three inches
in length, having become insecure, the parish officers agreed with Mr.
Robert Wooton, of Kegworth, to take it down and reinstate it.
This venturous man, henceforth known as "_the steeple climber_,"
commenced his undertaking by placing a ladder against the steeple, and
securing it to the wall with tenters: he then mounted that with another
on his shoulder, which he fastened above it in like manner; and so on
till he reached the top. To prevent himself falling, he was girded
round with belts, which he connected with the ladders by means of
hooks. In this manner he replaced the vane and cock, and rebuilt four
yards of the steeple.
The celerity with which the man placed the ladders was remarkable. He
began to affix the first at eleven in the morning, and brought the
vane down in triumph by two in the afternoon. The bells were then set
a-ringing, the congregation of people became very great, and Wooton
re-ascended the spire, to exhibit his daring. He extended himself on
its summit, only thirteen inches in diameter, and spread out his arms
and legs. He afterwards balanced himself on the uppermost stave of
the top ladder, and for a quarter of an hour capered about in every
imaginable posture, the admiring crowd beneath expecting momentarily to
witness his descent in a manner much less agreeable than precipitate.
Subsequently, when his undertaking was accomplished, to excite
admiration and obtain money, he again balanced himself on the apex
of the spire, beat a drum, and drank a bottle of ale, in the sight
of thousands of people, on a market-day; but the reprobation of the
man's temerity so far preponderated over public approval, as in a
considerable degree to diminish his expected reward.
POST-HASTE ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO.
Glasgow is now within one minute of London; in the last century it was
scarcely within a fortnight of it. It is a positive fact that when the
post arrived there a hundred years ago, the firing of a gun announced
its coming in. The members of the clubs who heard it tumbled out of
bed, and rushed down to the club-room, where a tankard of hot herb ale,
or a beverage which was a mixture of rum and sugar, was ready for them
before breakfast. How forcibly do these things bring before us the size
of Glasgow at that time, and the habits of its citizens.
EXECUTION OF ADMIRAL BYNG.
The horrid details of the execution of criminals are wholly unfitted
for our pages, but Admiral Byng was not a criminal; his life was
sacrificed to party spirit and party interests, and an account of his
murder--for such it really was--is therefore highly interesting, as it
enables us to see the dauntless manner in which a brave man can meet
a dreadful fate, which he knew to be wholly undeserved. The execution
took place on board the "St. George," man-of-war in Portsmouth harbour,
on the 14th of March, 1757. The Admiral, accompanied by a clergyman who
attended him during his confinement, and two gentlemen, his relations,
walked out of the great cabin to the quarterdeck, where he suffered, on
the larboard side, a few minutes before twelve o'clock. He was dressed
in a light grey coat, white waistcoat, and white stockings, and a large
white wig, and had in each hand a white handkerchief. He threw his hat
on the deck, kneeled on a cushion, tied one handkerchief over his eyes,
and dropped the other as a signal, on which a volley from six marines
was fired, five of whose bullets went through him, and he was in an
instant no more. The sixth went over his head. From his coming out
of his cabin could not be two minutes till he fell motionless on his
left side. He died with great resolution and composure, not showing
the least sign of timidity. The _Ramillies_, the ship the admiral had
in the Mediterranean, was riding at her moorings in the harbour, and
about half an hour before he suffered, she broke her mooring chain, and
only held by her bridle, which is looked on as a wonderful incident by
people who do not consider the high wind at that time.
EXTRAORDINARY TREE.
[Illustration: [++] Banyan Tree.]
The Samoan group of islands in the South Sea lies between the latitudes
of 13 deg. 30' and 14 deg. 30' S, and the longitudes of 168 deg. and 173 deg. W. In
some of these islands there is a most remarkable tree which well
deserves a place in our roll of extraordinary productions. It is a
species of banyan (_Ficus religiosa_), and is called by the natives
Ohwa. Our sketch gives a good idea of some of these trees. The pendant
branches of many of them take root in the ground to the number of
thousands, forming stems from an inch to two feet in diameter,
uniting in the main trunk more than eighty feet above the ground, and
supporting a vast system of horizontal branches, spreading like an
umbrella over the tops of the other trees.
THE PLAGUE IN ENGLAND.
The Register of Ramsay, in Huntingdonshire, mentions 400 people who
died there of the plague, in or about February 1665, and that it
was introduced into the place by a gentleman, who first caught the
infection by wearing a coat, the cloth of which came from London: the
tailor who made the coat, with all his family, died, as did no less
than the number above mentioned.