skull is the figure of Death, with his scythe and sand-glass; he stands
between a palace on the one hand, and a cottage on the other, with
his toes applied equally to the door of each, and around this is the
legend from Horace "_Pallida mors aequo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas
Regumque turres_." On the opposite, or posterior part of the skull, is
a representation of Time, devouring all things. He also has a scythe,
and near him is the serpent with its tail in its mouth, being an
emblem of eternity; this is surrounded by another legend from Horace,
"_Tempus edax rerum tuque invidiosa vetustas_." The upper part of the
skull is divided into two compartments: on one is represented our first
parents in the garden of Eden, attended by some of the animals, with
the motto, "_Peccando perditionem miseriam aeternam posteris meruere_."
The opposite compartment is filled with the subject of the salvation
of lost man by the crucifixion of our Saviour, who is represented as
suffering between the two thieves, whilst the Mary's are in adoration
below; the motto to this is "_Sic justitiae satisfecit, mortem superavit
salutem comparavit_." Running below these compartments on both sides,
there is an open work of about an inch in width, to permit the sound to
come more freely out when the watch strikes. This is formed of emblems
belonging to the crucifixion, scourges of various kinds, swords, the
flagon and cup of the Eucharist, the cross, pincers, lantern used in
the garden, spears of different kinds, and one with the sponge on its
point, thongs, ladder, the coat without seam, and the dice that were
thrown for it, the hammer and nails, and the crown of thorns. Under all
these is the motto, "_Scala caeli ad gloriam via_."
The watch is opened by reversing the skull, and placing the upper
part of it in the hollow of the hand, and then lifting the under jaw
which rises on a hinge. Inside, on the plate, which thus may be called
the lid, is a representation of the Holy Family in the stable, with
the infant Jesus laid in the manger, and angels ministering to him;
in the upper part an angel is seen descending with a scroll on which
is written, "_Gloria excelsis Deo, et in terra pax hominibus bonae
volu----_" In the distance are the shepherds with their flocks, and one
of the men is in the act of performing on a cornemuse. The works of
the watch occupy the position of the brains in the skull itself, the
dial plate being on a flat where the roof of the mouth and the parts
behind it under the base of the brain, are to be found in the real
subject. The dial plate is of silver, and it is fixed within a golden
circle richly carved in a scroll pattern. The hours are marked in large
Roman letters, and within them is the figure of Saturn devouring his
children, with this relative legend round the outer rim of the flat,
"_Sicut meis sic et omnibus idem_."
Lifting up the body of the works on the hinges by which they are
attached, they are found to be wonderfully entire. There is no date,
but the maker's name, with the place of manufacture, "Moyse, Blois,"
are distinctly engraven. Blois was the place where it is believed
watches were first made, and this suggests the probability of the
opinion that the watch was expressly ordered by Queen Mary at Blois,
when she went there with her husband, the Dauphin, previous to his
death. The watch appears to have been originally constructed with
catgut, instead of the chain which it now has, which must have been
a more modern addition. It is now in perfect order, and performs
wonderfully well, though it requires to be wound up within twenty-six
hours to keep it going with tolerable accuracy. A large silver bell, of
very musical sound, fills the entire hollow of the skull, and receives
the works within it when the watch is shut; a small hammer set in
motion by a separate escapement, strikes the hours on it.
This very curious relic must have been intended to occupy a stationary
place on a _prie-dieu_, or small altar in a private oratory, for its
weight is much too great to have admitted of its having been carried in
any way attached to the person.
A MONSTER.
It is almost incredible that such a monster, as the one we are about
to describe should have been allowed to continue his wicked career for
some years, in a civilized country like France, little more than a
hundred years ago, but the following paragraph is copied from a Paris
journal of that period--1755, January the 17th--and there is every
reason to believe that it is strictly correct. "What was his fate we
do not know, but can hardly doubt.--The Marquis de Plumartin, whose
execrable crimes are known over all France, has at last been taken
in his castle, by 300 men of the King's Own regiment of foot, and
carried to Poitiers, loaded with irons. The king is going to appoint
a commission to try him. This monster turned away his wife some years
ago, and became the terror of Poitou. Neither woman nor man durst
appear in the neighbourhood. Having one day lost a cause in one of the
king's courts, he caused the usher and his man, who came to intimate
the sentence to him, to be burnt alive. Some days after, having drawn
six of his creditors into his castle, where he had shut himself up with
several of his crew, he ordered some of his people to drag them into
a pond, tied to the tails of horses, and afterwards fastened them to
a stake near a great fire, where three expired, and the other three
died a few days after. Thirty of the Marshalsea guards, who were sent
to apprehend him, having beset his castle, he barricaded the doors
and fired on them from the garret window, killing the commanding
officer and five others. After which he left the kingdom, but absurdly
imagining that his crimes were forgot, he lately returned."
PERSEVERANCE REWARDED BY FORTUNE.
We have copied the following paragraph from the pages of a local
historian, because it gives us a striking instance of what perseverance
and good fortune will accomplish, in raising a man to comparative
distinction from the humblest walks of life.
August 26, 1691--Sir John Duck, bart., departed this life, being
Wednesday at night, and was buried upon the Monday after, being the
31st of August. The wealthiest burgess on the civic annals of Durham.
Of Sir John's birth, parentage, and education, the two first have
hitherto remained veiled in impenetrable obscurity; as to the third,
he was bred a butcher under John Heslop, in defiance of the trade and
mystery of butchers, in whose books a record still exists, warning
John Heslop that he forbear to sett John Ducke on worke in the trade
of a butcher. John Duck however grew rich, married the daughter of his
benefactor, and was created a baronet by James II. He built a splendid
mansion in Silver-street, where a panel still exists recording his
happy rise to fortune. The baronet, then humble Duck, cast out by
the butchers, stands near a bridge in an attitude of despondency; in
the air is seen a raven bearing in his bill a piece of silver, which
according to tradition fell at the feet of the lucky John, and was
naturally calculated to make a strong impression on his mind. He bought
a calf, which calf became a cow, and which cow being sold enabled John
to make further purchases in cattle, and from such slender beginnings,
to realise a splendid fortune. On the right of the picture is a view of
his mansion in Silver-street, and he seems to point at another, which
is presumed to be the hospital he endowed at Lumley. He died without
issue, and was buried at St. Margaret's, where his wife, Pia----
Prudens---- Felix, lies buried beside him.
On Duck the Butchers shut the door;
But Heslop's Daughter Johnny wed:
In mortgage rich, in offspring poor,
Nor son nor daughter crown'd his bed.
TRAVELLING IN THE UNITED STATES EXACTLY ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO.
The American advertisement, of which we here give a literal copy,
is deserving of preservation on account of the quaintness of the
inn-signs, the peculiarity of the spelling and diction, the "shifting"
of the passengers which it announces, and the general idea it gives us
of the way in which travelling was performed in America at the time
when it was issued.
Philadelphia STAGE-WAGGON, and New-York STAGE BOAT
performs their Stages twice a Week.
JOHN BUTLER, with his waggon, sets out on Mondays from his House,
at the Sign of the Death of the Fox, in Strawberry ally, and drives
the same day to Trenton Ferry, when Francis Holman meets him, and
proceeds on Tuesday to Brunswick, and the passengers and goods being
shifted into the waggon of Isaac Fitzrandolph, he takes them to the
New Blazing-Star to Jacob Fitzrandolph's the same day, where Rubin
Fitzrandolph, with a boat well suted, will receive them, and take
them to New-York that night. John Butler returning to Philadelphia
on Tuesday with the passengers and goods delivered to him by Francis
Holman, will again set out for Trenton Ferry on Thursday, and Francis
Holman, &c. will carry his passengers and goods, with the same
expedition as above to New-York.
_Weekly Mercury._
March 8, 1759.
FETE OF THE FEDERATION. PARIS 1790.
[Illustration [++] Fete of the Federation.]
The leading events of the great Revolution in France, may be fairly
classed with the marvellous, and among our "Ten Thousand Wonderful
Things" there will be found few more wonderful than the civic festival
of the general federation of the National Guards of France, which took
place on the 14th of July, 1790, and of which the above is a correct
representation, taken from a view by Duplessis Bertaux. The proceedings
of that memorable day had in them a mixture of religious celebration
apparently singular among a people who had lately so much trampled on
religion; but as this celebration was more pagan than Christian in
its character, the singularity becomes less marked. On the preceding
evening, a _Hierodrame_ was performed at the cathedral of Notre Dame--a
kind of sacred drama, made up by M. Desaugiers of scraps from the
Bible mixed with other matter, and set to music; it professed to tell
the story of the taking of the Bastille, and to typify the sadness,
trouble, confusion, joy, and alarm of the Parisians. Then succeeded a
_Te Deum_, chanted in presence of some of the principal federal and
municipal bodies. Early in the morning of the 14th, amid dense clouds
and heavy rain, the National Guards from all the eighty-three
departments of France, together with deputations from the state army
and navy, began to assemble, and speedily formed an immense line from
the Porte St. Antoine to the Porte St. Martin; whence they marched,
with bands playing and colours flying, to the Champ de Mars, regaled
and cheered by the Parisians on the route. On reaching the great square
of the Tuileries, the procession was headed by the municipality of
Paris and the members of the National Assembly, and followed by a body
of gray-headed veterans. The procession traversed the Seine by one of
the bridges, greeted by salvos of artillery drawn up on the quays, and
entered the Champ de Mars under a triumphal arch almost hidden by flags
and patriotic inscriptions. One o'clock had arrived before the various
bodies forming the procession had taken their destined places in the
enclosed parallelogram, surrounded by nearly 300,000 spectators on
the raised terraces, most of whom were by this time drenched by the
continuous rain. In the centre of the area was a lofty altar, half
pagan, half Catholic in its adornments; and around this altar the
provincial National Guards danced and sang in very excited fashion.
The royal family appeared at three o'clock. In an immense gallery near
the altar, the National Assembly were seated, with the king and the
president on two chairs of state exactly equal in height and richness,
and the queen and the rest of the court seated behind--a significant
interpretation of the decree just announced. At the instant of the king
taking his seat, the air was rent with cries of _Vive le Roi! Vive la
Nation!_ The banners were unfurled; 1,800 musicians burst forth with
jubilant strains; cannon poured out continuous volleys; Talleyrand,
as bishop of Autun, assisted by sixty chaplains of the Paris National
Guards, performed mass at the altar; and the banners were blessed by
sprinkling with holy-water. Then Lafayette, dismounting from his white
charger, received from the hands of the king a written form of oath;
he swore to this oath at the altar, and with his raised arm gave a
signal for the countless host to do likewise--every one raising his
right hand, and saying _Je le jure!_ The king took the oath prescribed
to him; and the queen held up the dauphin in her arms, as if to denote
that he also, poor child, had sworn to defend the national liberties.
At five o'clock the royal family retired, and the crowd began to
leave the Champ de Mars. Twenty-five thousand federates or provincial
deputies went to a royal chateau about a mile distant, where a dinner
had been prepared for them by order of the municipality of Paris,
with Lafayette as chairman of the banquet. At night all Paris was
illuminated; and for three or four days the feastings, reviews, and
celebrations were numerous, including a grand dance on the site of the
demolished Bastille. On the 18th, Lafayette reviewed the provincial or
federate National Guards, and on the 19th they were reviewed by the
king. Paris was intoxicated for an entire week, each man displaying at
once his delight and his vanity.
A MAN CARRIES HIS HOUSE ON HIS HEAD.
Simeon Ellerton, of Craike, Durham, died 1799, aged 104. This man,
in his day, was a noted pedestrian, and before the establishment of
regular "Posts," was frequently employed in walking commissions, from
the northern counties to London and other places, which he executed
with singular fidelity and despatch. He lived in a neat stone cottage
of his own erecting; and what is remarkable, he had literally carried
his house on his head; it being his constant practice to bring back
with him from every journey which he undertook, some suitable stone, or
other material for his purpose, and which, not unfrequently, he carried
40 or 50 miles on his head.
IGNORANCE AND FEAR.
In the year 1712, Whiston predicted that the comet would appear on
Wednesday, 14th October, at five minutes after five in the morning, and
that the world would be destroyed by fire on the Friday following.
His reputation was high, and the comet appeared. A number of persons
got into boats and barges on the Thames, thinking the water the safest
place. South Sea and India stock fell. A captain of a Dutch ship threw
all his powder into the river, that the ship might not be endangered.
At noon, after the comet had appeared, it is said that more than one
hundred clergymen were ferried over to Lambeth, to request that proper
prayers might be prepared, there being none in the church service.
People believed that the day of judgment was at hand, and acted some
on this belief, more as if some temporary evil was to be expected.
There was a prodigious run on the bank, and Sir Gilbert Heathcote, at
that time the head director, issued orders to all the fire offices in
London, requiring them to keep a good look out, and have a particular
eye upon the Bank of England.
ARABIAN HORSES.
It is a singular circumstance, that it is to the Arabian that England
is indebted for her improved, and now unrivalled, breed of horses for
the turf, the field, and the road.
The Arabian horses are divided into two great branches; the Kadischi
whose descent is unknown, and the Kochlani, of whom a written genealogy
has been kept for 2000 years. These last are reserved for riding
solely, they are highly esteemed and consequently very dear. They are
said to derive their origin from King Solomon's studs. However this
may be they are fit to bear the greatest fatigues, and can pass whole
days without food. They are also said to show uncommon courage against
an enemy. It is even asserted, that when a horse of this race finds
himself wounded and unable to bear his rider much longer, he retires
from the fray, and conveys him to a place of security. If the rider
falls upon the ground, his horse remains beside him, and neighs till
assistance is brought. The Kochlani are neither large nor handsome but
amazingly swift. The whole race is divided into several families, each
of which has its proper name. Some of these have a higher reputation
than others on account of their more ancient and uncontaminated
nobility.
We may not believe, perhaps, all that is told us of the Arabian. It has
been remarked that there are, on the deserts which his horse traverses,
no milestones to mark the distance, or watch to calculate the time;
and the Bedouin is naturally given to exaggeration, and most of all
when relating the prowess of the animal which he loves as dearly as
his children; yet it cannot be denied that at the introduction of the
Arabian into the European stables, there was no other horse comparable
to him.
HEAD-QUARTERS OF PRINCE RUPERT AT EVERTON, DURING THE SIEGE OF
LIVERPOOL, IN 1644.
Prince Rupert, assisted by the Earl of Derby, having taken Bolton
by storm, and refreshed his army there for some days, advanced on
Liverpool, where the Parliament had a strong garrison under the command
of Colonel More, of Bank-hall; and finding on his approach to the
town, the high ground near it favourable to his design, compared it
to a crow's nest, probably imagining it would be taken with as little
difficulty; but the resistance he met with, induced him to declare it
was more like an eagle's nest, or a den of lions.
[Illustration [++] Head-Quarters of Prince Rupert.]
The siege began about the 2nd of June, and the view exhibits his
head-quarters from that time till the reduction of the place. His main
camp was established round the beacon, about a mile from the town,
and his officers were placed in the adjoining villages, from whence a
detachment marched every day, being relieved every twenty-four hours,
to open trenches and erect batteries. From these advances Prince
Rupert frequently attacked the besieged and their works in the way of
storm, but was constantly repulsed with great slaughter of his men. At
length, Colonel More, finding the town must of necessity surrender, and
desirous of ingratiating himself with the Prince, for the preservation
of his house and effects at Bank Hall, gave such orders for his
soldiers to retire, that the works on the enemy's side were abandoned,
and the royalists entered the town at three o'clock in the morning of
June 26, putting to the sword all they met with, till they arrived
at the High Cross, which then stood on the site where the Exchange
now stands. Here the soldiers of the Castle, drawn up in line, beat a
parley, and demanded quarter, which, on their submitting as prisoners
of war, and surrendering the Castle to the Prince, was granted. The
soldiers were then sent to the tower, St. Nicholas's Church, and other
places of security; but the Parliament-army, soon after the siege,
repossessed themselves of the Castle, and appointed Col. Birch, as
governor.
FIRE AT BURWELL, CAMBRIDGESHIRE. 1727.
Some strollers brought down a puppet-show, which was exhibited in a
large thatched barn. Just as the show was about to begin, an idle
fellow attempted to thrust himself in without paying, which the people
of the show preventing, a quarrel ensued. After some altercation,
the fellow went away, and the door being made fast, all was quiet;
but the same man, to gain admittance privately, got over a heap of
hay and straw, which stood near to the barn, and accidentally set it
on fire. The spectators of the show, alarmed by the flames, which
had communicated to the barn, rushed to the door; but it happened
unfortunately that it opened inwards, and the crowd pressing violently
against the door, there could be no escape. Thus the whole company,
consisting of more than 160 persons, were kept confined till the roof
fell in, and covered them with fire and smoke: six only escaped with
life; the rest, among whom were several young ladies of fortune, were
reduced to one undistinguishable heap of mangled bodies, totally
disfigured. The friends of the dead, not knowing which were the remains
they sought, caused a large hole to be dug in the churchyard, and all
the bodies were promiscuously interred together, and a tablet erected
in the church to perpetuate this most melancholy event.
AN APPARENT SINGULARITY ACCOUNTED FOR.
It is generally well known that birds are very active agents in the
extension of vegetation, and that fruit and flowers are, to a great
extent, rendered prolific by the insects which visit their blossoms;
but few people are aware of the means through which fish are formed
in lakes and ponds, which are not connected with other waters. Here,
also, an insect is the principal agent. The large water-beetle, which
is in the habit of feeding upon the spawn of fish, occasionally in
the evening climbs up the stems of rushes, &c. out of the water,
sufficiently high to enable it to take wing; in these circumstances it
has been caught, and, putting it into water, has been found to give out
the spawn with which it had gorged itself previous to taking flight,
both in a digested and undigested state; so that, on trial, it has been
found that it produced fish of various kinds.
EUROPEAN BALANCING EQUAL TO THE INDIAN JUGGLERS.
The astonishing dexterity of the Indian jugglers is known to all,
but many years ago a Spaniard named Cadenas made himself equal, if
not superior to them. He may be truly said to be superior to them,
inasmuch as several of his feats have never been attempted by them. Don
Cadenas extended himself flat on his back on a large table. He then
elevated his legs until they were at right angles with his body; he
was assisted in keeping this position by a sort of pyramidal cushion,
which was placed under him, a little below the lower end of his back.
His feet and ankles were covered with boots, on which were many small
castanets and little bells. The tranca, which is a round piece of
wood, about 8 feet long and five inches in diameter, handsomely
painted, was then laid horizontally on the soles of his feet, his legs
being perpendicular. Having exactly balanced the tranca, he alternately
struck his feet against it, the castanets, &c., keeping time with the
music. In proportion to the strength with which he struck the tranca,
with one foot or both feet, was the height to which he elevated it,
always catching it, in its descent, with great accuracy, on the soles
of his feet. Sometimes by bending his knees and then striking out with
his limbs, he threw the tranca several feet into the air, catching it,
in its descent, on his feet, with as much neatness and more certainty
than the Indian jugglers used to catch the brass balls in their hands.
He concluded the performance with the tranca, by exactly balancing it
on the sole of his left foot, and then by repeated strokes of his right
foot set it rapidly in motion like a horizontal fly-wheel.
MOB-WISDOM.
A singular instance of a mob cheating themselves by their own headlong
impetuosity, is to be found in the life of Woodward, the comedian. On
one occasion, when he was in Dublin, and lodged opposite the Parliament
House, a mob who were making the members swear to oppose an unpopular
bill, called out to his family to throw them a Bible out of the window.
Mr. W. was frightened, for they had no such book in the house, but he
threw out a volume of Shakespere, telling the mob they were welcome to
it. They gave him three cheers, swore the members upon this book, and
afterwards returned it without discovering its contents.
COMMUNICATION BETWEEN ANIMALS.
The means by which animals contrive to communicate their ideas to each
other is a phenomenon which has never been satisfactorily explained.
The two following instances of it are very curious. A gentleman who
was in the habit of occasionally visiting London from a distant county
performed the journey on horseback, accompanied by a favourite little
terrier dog, which he left at an inn at some distance from London
till his return. On one occasion on calling for his dog the landlady
told him that it was lost; it had had a quarrel with the great house
dog, and had been so worried and bit that it was thought he would
never recover, but at the end of a few days he crawled out of the
yard, and no one saw him for almost a week, when he returned with
another dog bigger than his enemy, on whom they both fell and nearly
destroyed him. This dog had actually travelled to its own home at
Whitmore in Staffordshire, had coaxed away the great dog in question,
which followed him to St. Alban's to assist in resenting the injury
of his friend. The following story is related of a little spaniel
which had been found lame by a surgeon at Leeds. He carried the poor
animal home, bandaged up his leg, and after two or three days turned
him out. The dog returned to the surgeon's house every morning till
his leg was perfectly well. At the end of several months, the spaniel
again presented himself in company with another dog, which had also
been lamed; and he intimated, as well as piteous and intelligent looks
could intimate, that he desired the same assistance to be rendered to
his friend as had been bestowed upon himself. The combination of ideas
in this case, growing out of the recollection of his own injury, and
referring that to the cure which had been performed; the compassion he
had for his friend to whom he communicated the occurrence, and induced
to seek relief under his guidance, together with the appeal to the
humane surgeon, is as extraordinary a piece of sagacity as can be found
in all the annals of animals.
STRANGE CUSTOM ABOUT NAMES.