CHAPTER XXIX. THE SQUIRE'S SPEECH.

"Friends and neighbors--I thank you kindly for coming round me this day,

and for showing so much interest in me and mine. My cousin was not born

among you as I was, but you have known her from a child. It is a

familiar face and one that never frowned, which you will miss at your

cottage doors, as I and mine will miss it long in the old Hall--"

Here there was a sob from some of the women, and nothing was seen of

Mrs. Dale but the white handkerchief. The Squire himself paused, and

brushed away a tear with the back of his hand. Then he resumed, with a

sudden change of voice that was electrical--

"For we none of us prize a blessing till we have lost it! Now, friends

and neighbors--a little time ago, it seemed as if some ill-will had

crept into the village--ill-will between you and me, neighbors!--why,

that is not like Hazeldean!"

The audience hung their heads! You never saw people look so thoroughly

ashamed of themselves. The Squire proceeded--

"I don't say it was all your fault; perhaps it was mine."

"Noa--noa--noa," burst forth in a general chorus.

"Nay, friends," continued the Squire humbly, and in one of those

illustrative aphorisms which, if less subtle than Riccabocca's were more

within reach of the popular comprehension; "nay--we are all human; and

every man has his hobby: sometimes he breaks in the hobby, and sometimes

the hobby, if it is very hard in the mouth, breaks in him. One man's

hobby has an ill habit of always stopping at the public house!

(Laughter). Another man's hobby refuses to stir a peg beyond the door

where some buxom lass patted its neck the week before--a hobby I rode

pretty often when I went courting my good wife here! (Much laughter and

applause). Others have a lazy hobby, that there's no getting on; others,

a runaway hobby that there's no stopping: but to cut the matter short,

my favorite hobby, as you well know, is always trotted out to any place

on my property which seems to want the eye and hand of the master. I

hate (cried the Squire warming) to see things neglected and decayed, and

going to the dogs! This land we live in is a good mother to us, and we

can't do too much for her. It is very true, neighbors, that I owe her a

good many acres, and ought to speak well of her; but what then? I live

among you, and what I take from the rent with one hand, I divide among

you with the other (low, but assenting murmurs). Now the more I improve

my property, the more mouths it feeds. My great-grandfather kept a

Field-Book, in which were entered, not only the names of all the farmers

and the quantity of land they held, but the average number of the

laborers each employed. My grandfather and father followed his example:

I have done the same. I find, neighbors, that our rents have doubled

since my great-grandfather began to make the book. Ay--but there are

more than four times the number of laborers employed on the estate, and

at much better wages, too! Well, my men, that says a great deal in favor

of improving property, and not letting it go to the dogs. (Applause).

And therefore, neighbors, you will kindly excuse my hobby: it carries

grist to your mill. (Reiterated applause). Well--but you will say,

'What's the Squire driving at?' Why this, my friends: There was only one

worn-out, dilapidated tumble-down thing in the Parish of Hazeldean, and

it became an eyesore to me; so I saddled my hobby, and rode at it. O ho!

you know what I mean now! Yes, but neighbors, you need not have taken it

so to heart. That was a scurvy trick of some of you to hang me in

effigy, as they call it."

"It warn't you," cried a voice in the crowd, "it war Nick Stirn."

The Squire recognized the voice of the Tinker; but though he now guessed

at the ringleader--on that day of general amnesty, he had the prudence

and magnanimity not to say, "Stand forth, Sprott: thou art the man." Yet

his gallant English spirit would not suffer him to come off at the

expense of his servant.

"If it was Nick Stirn you meant," said he, gravely, "more shame for you.

It showed some pluck to hang the master; but to hang the poor servant,

who only thought to do his duty, careless of what ill-will it brought

upon him, was a shabby trick--so little like the lads of Hazeldean, that

I suspect the man who taught it to them was never born in the parish.

But let by-gones be by-gones. One thing is clear, you don't take kindly

to my new Pair of Stocks! They have been a stumbling-block and a

grievance, and there's no denying that we went on very pleasantly

without them. I may also say that in spite of them we have been coming

together again lately. And I can't tell you what good it did me to see

your children playing again on the green, and your honest faces, in

spite of the Stocks, and those diabolical tracts you've been reading

lately, lighted up at the thought that something pleasant was going on

at the Hall. Do you know, neighbors, you put me in mind of an old story

which, besides applying to the Parish, all who are married, and all who

intend to marry, will do well to recollect? A worthy couple, named John

and Joan, had lived happily together many a long year, till one unlucky

day, they bought a new bolster. Joan said the bolster was too hard, and

John that it was too soft. So, of course, they quarreled. After sulking

all day, they agreed to put the bolster between them at night." (Roars

of laughter among the men; the women did not know which way to look,

except, indeed, Mrs. Hazeldean, who, though she was more than usually

rosy, maintained her innocent, genial smile, as much as to say, "There

is no harm in the Squire's jests.") The orator resumed, "After they had

thus lain apart for a little time, very silent and sullen, John sneezed.

'God bless you!' says Joan over the bolster. 'Did you say God bless me?'

cries John--'then here goes the bolster!'"

Prolonged laughter and tumultuous applause.

"Friends and neighbors," said the Squire, when silence was restored, and

lifting the horn of ale, "I have the pleasure to inform you that I have

ordered the Stocks to be taken down, and made into a bench for the

chimney nook of our old friend Gaffer Solomons yonder. But mind me,

lads, if ever you make the Parish regret the loss of the Stocks, and the

overseers come to me with long faces, and say, 'the Stocks must be

rebuilded,' why--" Here from all the youth of the village rose so

deprecating a clamor, that the Squire would have been the most bungling

orator in the world if he had said a word further on the subject. He

elevated the horn over his head, "Why, that's my old Hazeldean again!

Health and long life to you all!"

The Tinker had sneaked out of the assembly, and did not show his face in

the village for the next six months. And as to those poisonous tracts,

in spite of their salubrious labels, "The Poor Man's Friend," or "The

Rights of Labor," you could no more have found one of them lurking in

the drawers of the kitchen-dressers in Hazeldean, than you would have

found the deadly nightshade on the flower-stands in the drawing-room of

the Hall. As for the revolutionary beer-house, there was no need to

apply to the magistrates to shut it up; it shut itself up before the

week was out.

O young head of the great House of Hapsburg, what a Hazeldean you might

have made of Hungary!--What a "_Moriamur pro rege nostro_" would have

rung in your infant reign--if you had made such a speech as the

Squire's!

(_To be continued._)

FOOTNOTES:

[4] The Emperor Diocletian.

[5] The title of Excellency does not, in Italian, necessarily express

any exalted rank, but is often given by servants to their masters.

BEAUTIES OF THE LAW.

As a happy illustration of the certainty, cheapness, and expedition of

the English law, in upholding those who are in the right, we have

received the following strange narrative from an esteemed correspondent,

who is himself a lawyer:

"The most litigious fellow I ever knew, was a Welshman, named Bones. He

had got possession, by some means, of a bit of waste ground behind a

public-house in Hogwash-street. Adjoining this land was a yard,

belonging to the parish of St. Jeremiah, which the Parish Trustees were

fencing in with a wall. Bones alleged that one corner of their wall was

advanced about ten inches on his ground, and as they declined to remove

it back, he kicked down the brickwork before the mortar was dry. The

Trustees having satisfied themselves that they were not only within

their own boundary, but that they had left Bones some feet of the parish

land to boot, built up the wall again. Bones kicked it down again.

"The Trustees put it up a third time under the protection of a

policeman. The inexorable Bones, in spite of the awful presence of this

functionary, not only kicked down the wall again, but kicked the

bricklayers into the bargain. This was too much, and Bones was marched

off to Guildhall for assaulting the bricklayers. The magistrate rather

pooh-poohed the complaint, but bound over Bones to keep the peace. The

_causa belli_, the wall, was re-edified a fourth time; but when the

Trustees revisited the place next morning, it was again in ruins! While

they were in consultation upon this last insult, they were politely

waited on by an attorney's clerk, who served them all with 'writs' in an

action of trespass, at the suit of Bones, for encroaching on his land.

"Thus war was declared about a piece of dirty land, literally not so big

as a door-step, and the whole fee-simple of which would not sell for a

shilling. The Trustees, however, thought they ought not to give up the

rights of the parish to the obstinacy of a perverse fellow, like Bones,

and resolved to indict Bones for assaulting the workmen. Accordingly,

the action and the indictment went on together.

"The action was tried first, and as the evidence clearly showed the

Trustees had kept within their own boundary, they got the verdict. Bones

moved for a new trial; that failed. The Trustees now thought they would

let the matter rest, as it had cost the parish about one hundred and

fifty pounds, and they supposed Bones had had enough of it. But they had

mistaken their man. He brought a writ of error in the action, which

carried the cause into the Exchequer Court, and tied it up nearly two

years, and in the mean time he forced them, _nolens volens_, to try the

indictment. When the trial came on, the Judge said, that as the whole

question had been decided in the action, there was no occasion for any

further proceedings, and therefore the defendant had better be

acquitted, and so make an end of it.

"Accordingly, Bones was acquitted; and the very next thing Bones did,

was to sue the Trustees in a new action, for maliciously instituting the

indictment against him without reasonable cause! The new action went on

to trial; and it being proved that one of the Trustees had been

overheard to say that they would punish him, this was taken as evidence

of malice, and Bones got a verdict for forty shillings damages besides

all the costs. Elated with this victory, Bones pushed on his old action

in the Exchequer Chamber to a hearing, but the court affirmed the

judgment against him, without hearing the Trustees' counsel.

"The Trustees were now sick of the very name of Bones, which had become

a sort of bugbear, so that if a Trustee met a friend in the street, he

would be greeted with an inquiry after the health of his friend Mr.

Bones. They would have gladly let the whole matter drop into oblivion,

but Jupiter and Bones had determined otherwise; for the indomitable

Briton brought a writ of error in the House of Lords, on the judgment

of the Exchequer Chamber. The unhappy Trustees had caught a Tartar, and

follow him into the Lords they must. Accordingly after another year or

two's delay, the case came on in the Lords. Their Lordships pronounced

it the most trumpery writ of error they had ever seen, and again

affirmed the judgment, with costs, against Bones. The Trustees now taxed

their costs, and found that they had spent not less than five hundred

pounds in defending their claim to a bit of ground that was not of the

value of an old shoe. But, then, Bones was condemned to pay the costs.

True; so they issued execution against Bones; caught him, after some

trouble, and locked him up in jail. The next week, Bones petitioned the

Insolvent Court, got out of prison; and, on examination of schedule, his

effects appeared to be £0 0_s._ 0_d._! Bones had, in fact, been fighting

the Trustees on credit for the last three years; for his own attorney

was put down as a creditor to a large amount, which was the only

satisfaction the Trustees obtained from perusing his schedule.

"They were now obliged to have recourse to the Parish funds to pay their

own law expenses, and were consoling themselves with the reflection that

these did not come out of _their own pockets_, when they received the

usual notification that a bill in Chancery had been filed against them,

at Mr. Bones's suit, to overhaul their accounts with the parish, and

_prevent the misapplication of the parish money_ to the payment of their

law costs! This was the climax. And being myself a disciple of Coke, I

have heard nothing further of it; being unwilling, as well, perhaps, as

unqualified, to follow the case into the labyrinthic vaults of the Court

of Chancery. The catastrophe, if this were a tale, could hardly be

mended--so the true story may end here."

THE ROBBER OUTWITTED.

Willie Bailie was a household name about a hundred years ago, in the

upper parts of Clydesdale. Men, women, and children had heard of Willie,

and the greater proportion had seen him. Few, in his time, could excel

Willie in dexterity in his profession, which consisted of abstracting

money from people's pockets, and in other predatory feats. He frequented

the fairs all round the district, and no man's purse was safe if Willie

happened to be in the market. The beautiful village of Moffat, in

Annandale, was one of his frequent places of resort when any of its

fairs happened to be held, and here, among the honest farmers, he was

invariably successful; and to show his professional skill on such

occasions, he has been known to rob a man and return his purse to him

two or three times in the same day; but this he did only with his

intimate friends, who were kind to him in providing lodgings, when

plying his nominal occupation of tinker from one farm-house to another;

in the case of others, it was, of course, different. His wife abetted

him in all his thieving exploits, and generally sat in a place in the

outskirts of the town, that had been previously fixed on, and there

received in silence whatever spoil her husband might throw incidentally

into her lap in the shape of her fairing. But Willie was a privileged

freebooter, was generous withal, and well liked by the people in the

neighborhood, on whom he rarely committed any acts of plunder, and any

one might have trusted what he called his "honor."

Willie's character was well known both to high and low, and he became

renowned for a heroism which few who esteem respectability would now

covet. The high estimation in which he was held as an adept in his

profession, induced a Scottish nobleman to lay a high bet, with an

Englishman of some rank, that Willie would actually rob and fairly

despoil a certain noted riever on the southern side of the border, who

was considered one of the most daring and dexterous that frequented the

highways in those dubious times, and one whose exploits the gentleman

was in the habit of extolling. The Scottish nobleman conferred with

Willie, and informed him of the project--a circumstance which mightily

pleased our hero, and into which he entered with all enthusiasm. The

interest which Willie took in the matter was to the nobleman a guarantee

of ultimate success; and, having given all the marks of the robber, and

directed him to the particular place on the road where he was sure to

meet with him, he left it to Willie himself to arrange the subsequent

mode of procedure.

Willie's ingenuity was instantly at work, and he concocted a scheme

which fairly carried him through the enterprise. He got an old,

frail-looking pony, partially lame, and with long, shaggy hair. He

filled a bag of considerable dimensions with a great quantity of old

buttons, and useless pieces of jingling metal. He next arrayed himself

in beggarly habiliments, with clouted shoes, tattered under-garments, a

cloak mended in a hundred places, and a soiled, broad-brimmed bonnet on

his head. The _money_-bag he tied firmly behind the saddle; he placed a

pair of pistols under his coat, and a short dagger close by his side.

Thus accoutred he wended his way slowly toward the border, both he and

the animal apparently in the last stage of helplessness and decrepitude.

The bag behind was carefully covered by the cloak, that spread its

_duddy_ folds over the hinder parts of the poor lean beast that carried

him. Sitting in a crouching posture on the saddle, with a long beard and

an assumed palsified shaking of the hand, nobody would have conceived

for a moment that Willie was a man in the prime of life, of a

well-built, athletic frame, with more power in his arm than three

ordinary men, and of an intrepid and adventurous spirit, that feared

nothing, but dared every thing. In this plight, our worthy went dodging

over the border, and entered the neighboring kingdom, where every person

that met him regarded him as a poor, doited, half-insane body, fit only

to lie down at the side of a hedge, and die unheeded, beside the crazy

steed. In this way, he escaped without suspicion, and advanced without

an adventure to the skirts of the wood, where he expected to encounter

his professional brother.

When Willie entered the road that led through the dark and suspicious

forest, he was all on the alert for the highwayman. Every rustling among

the trees and bushes arrested his attention, not knowing but a whizzing

ball might in a moment issue therefrom, or that the redoubted freebooter

himself might spring upon him like a tiger. Neither of these, however,

occurred; but a man on horseback was seen advancing slowly and

cautiously on the road before him. This might be he, or it might not,

but Willie now recollected every particular mark given of the man with

whom he expected to encounter, and he was prepared for the most vigilant

observation. As the horseman advanced, Willie was fully convinced that

he had met with his man, and this was the critical moment, for here was

the identical highwayman.

"How now, old fellow?" exclaimed the robber; "what seek you in these

parts? Where are you bound for, with this magnificent equipage of

yours?"

"Why, to tell you the truth, I am e'en a puir honest man frae Scotland,

gaen a wee bit farther south on business of some consequence, and I am

glad I have met with a gentleman like you, and I would fain put myself

under your protection in this dreary wood, as I am a stranger, and wadna

like ony mischance to befa', considering the errand I am on."

The robber eyed Willie with a sort of leer, thinking he had fallen in

with an old driveling fool, at whose expense he might amuse himself with

impunity, and play a little on his simplicity.

"What makes you afraid of this wood?" said the robber.

"Why, I was told that it was infested with highwaymen; and, to tell you

the truth, as I take you to be an honest man and a gentleman, I hae

something in this bag that I wadna like to lose, for twa reasons--baith

because of its value, and because it was intrusted to my care."

"What have you got, pray, that you seem so anxious to preserve? I can't

conceive that any thing of great value can be intrusted to your care.

Why, I would not give a crown-piece, nor the half of it, for the whole

equipage."

"That's just the very thing. You see, I am not what I appear to be. I

have ta'en this dress, and this auld, slovenly pony, for the purpose of

avoiding suspicion in these precarious places. I have behind me a bag

full of gold--you may hear by the jingling of the pieces when I strike

here with my hand. Now, I am intrusted with all this treasure, to convey

it to a certain nobleman's residence in the south; and I say again, that

I am glad that I have met you, to conduct me safely through the forest."

At this, the robber was highly amused, and could scarcely believe that a

simplicity so extreme, and bordering on insanity, could exist; and yet

there was an archness in the old man's look, and a wiliness in his

manner, that hardly comported with his external appearance. He said he

had gold with him--he affirmed that he was not exactly what he appeared

to be--not so poor as his tattered garments would indicate, and withal

trustworthy, having so large a sum of money committed to his care. It

might be, there was not a word of truth in his story; he might be some

cunning adventurer from the border, plying a certain vocation on his own

account, not altogether of a reputable cast; but, whatever the case

might be, the silly old man was completely in his power, and, if he had

gold in his possession, it must be seized on, and no time was to be

lost.

"I tell you," said the highwayman, wheeling his horse suddenly round in

front of Willie's pony, "I tell you, old man, that I am that same robber

of whom you seem to be afraid, and I demand an instant surrender of your

gold."

"Hoot, toot," exclaimed Willie, "gae wa, gae wa! You a robber! You are

an honest man, and you only want to joke me."

"I tell you distinctly that I am the robber, and I hold you in my

power."

"And I say as distinctly," persisted Willie, "that you are a true man.

That face of yours is no a robber's face--there's no a bit o' a robber

about ye, and sae ye maun e'en guard me through the wood, and gie me the

word o' a leel-hearted Englishman that ye'll no see ony ill come ower

me."

"No humbug!" vociferated the highwayman, in real earnest; "dismount, and

deliver me that bag immediately, else I will make a riddle of your

brainless skull in a trice."

Willie saw that it was in vain to parley, for the highwayman had his

hand on the pommel of his pistol, and an unscrupulous act would lay him

dead at his feet. Now was the time for the wary Scot to put his plan in

execution. All things had happened as he wished, and he hoped the rest

would follow.

"Weel, weel," said Willie, "since it maun be, it maun be. I shall

dismount, and deliver you the treasure, for life is sweet--sweeter far

than even gold to the miser. I wanted to act an honest part, but, as we

say on the north side of the border, 'Might makes right,' and sae, as I

said, it e'en maun be."

Willie then, with some apparent difficulty, as an old, stiff-limbed man,

lifted himself from the pony, and stood staggering on the ground.

"Now," said he, laying his hand heavily on the money-bag, "I have a

request or two to make, and all is yours. When I return to Scotland, I

must have some marks about my person to show that I have been really

robbed, and that I have not purloined the gold to my own purposes. I

will place my bonnet here on the side of the road, and you will shoot a

ball through it; and then, here is this old cloak--you must send another

ball exactly through here, so that I can show, when I return, what a

fray I have been in, and how narrowly I have escaped."

To this the robber consented, and, having alighted from his steed, made

two decided perforations in the way he was desired. This was with Willie

a great point gained, for the robber's pistols were now empty, and

restored to their place.

"I have yet another request," said Willie, "and then the matter will be

completed. You must permit me to cut the straps that tie the bag to the

saddle, and to throw it over this hedge, and then go and lift it

yourself, that I may be able to swear that, in the struggle, I did what

I could to conceal the money, and that you discovered the place where I

had hid it, and then seized it; and thus I will stand acquitted in all

points."

To this also the highwayman consented. Willie, accordingly, threw the

heavy bag over the hedge, and obsequiously offered to hold the robber's

high-spirited steed till he should return with the treasure. The bandit,

suspecting nothing on the part of the driveling old man, readily

committed his horse to his care, while he eagerly made his way through

the hedge to secure the prize. In the mean time, however, Willie was no

less agile; for, having thrown off his ragged and cumbersome cloak, he

vaulted upon the steed of the highwayman with as much coolness as if he

had been at his own door. When the robber had pushed his way back

through the hedge, dragging the bag with him, he was confounded on

seeing his saddle occupied by the simpleton whose gold he had so easily

come by. But he was no longer a simpleton--no longer a wayfaring man in

beggar's weeds--but a tall, buirdly man, arrayed in decent garb, and

prepared to dispute his part with the best.

"What, ho! scoundrel! Do you intend to run off with my horse? Dismount

instantly, or I will blow out your brains!"

"The better you may," replied Willie; "your pistols are empty, and your

broadsword is but a reed; advance a single step nearer, and I will send

a whizzing ball through your beating heart. As to the bag, you can

retain its contents, and sell the buttons for what they will bring. In

the mean time, farewell, and should you happen to visit my district

across the border, I shall be happy to extend to you a true Scotch

hospitality."

On this, Willie applied spur and whip to the fleet steed, and in a few

minutes was out of the wood, and entirely beyond the reach of the

highwayman. When Willie had time to consider the matter, he found a

valise behind the saddle, which, he had no doubt, was crammed with

spoils of robbery; nor was he mistaken, for, on examination, it

contained a great quantity of gold, and other precious articles. The

highwayman, on opening Willie's bag, found it filled with old buttons

and other trash. His indignation knew no bounds: he swore, and

vociferated, and stamped with his feet, but all to no purpose; he had

been outwitted by the wily Scot, and, artful as he himself was, he had

met with one more artful still.

The Scottish nobleman gained the bet, and the affair made a great noise

for many a long year. Daring men of this description were found in every

part of the kingdom, frequenting the dark woods, the thick hedges, and

the ruinous buildings by the wayside; and, what is remarkable, these

desperadoes were conventionally held in high repute, and were deemed

heroes. In the time of Charles II., when the English thoroughfares were

so infested with such adventurers, we find that one Claude Duval, a

highwayman, while he was a terror to all men, was at the same time a

true gallant in the esteem of all the ladies. He was as popular and

renowned as the greatest chieftains of his age; and, when he was at last

apprehended, "dames of high rank visited him in prison, and, with tears,

interceded for his life; and, after his execution, the corpse lay in

state, with all the pomp of scutcheons, wax-lights, black hangings, and

mutes." The order of society in the times to which we refer was vastly

different from what it is now. Men's habits and moral sentiments were

then of the lowest grade, but, thanks to the clearer light and better

teaching of Christianity, the condition of all classes is vastly

elevated. The Gospel has effected in the community infinitely more than

all law and social regulations otherwise could have accomplished.

[From Bentley's Miscellany.]

A CHAPTER ON BEARS, THEIR HABITS, HISTORY, ETC.

_Slender._ Why do your dogs bark so? be there bears i' the town?

_Anne._ I think there are, sir; I heard them talked of.

_Slender._ I love the sport well; but I shall as soon quarrel at

it as any man in England: you are afraid if you see the bear

loose, are you not?

_Anne._ Ay, indeed, sir.

_Slender._ That's meat and drink to me now! I have seen Sackerson

loose twenty times; and have taken him by the chain; but I

warrant you the women have so cried and shrieked at it that it

passed--but women, indeed can not abide 'em; they are very

ill-favored, rough things.--_Merry Wives of Windsor._

Those who ramble amid the beautiful scenery of Torquay, who gaze with

admiration on the bold outlines of the Cheddar Cliffs, or survey the

fertile fen district of Cambridgeshire, will find it difficult to

believe that in former ages these spots were ravaged by bears surpassing

in size the grizzly bear of the Rocky Mountains, or the polar bear of

the Arctic regions; yet the abundant remains found in Kent Hole Torquay,

and the Banwell Caves, together with those preserved in the Woodwardian

Museum at Cambridge, incontestably prove that such was the case. Grand

indeed was the Fauna of the British isles in those early days!

Lions--the true old British lions--as large again as the biggest African

species, lurked in the ancient thickets; elephants, of nearly twice the

bulk of the largest individuals that now exist in Africa or Ceylon,

roamed here in herds; at least two species of rhinoceros forced their

way through the primeval forests; the lakes and rivers were tenanted by

hippopotami as bulky and with as great tusks as those of Africa. These

statements are not the offspring of imagination, but are founded on the

countless remains of these creatures which are continually being brought

to light, proving from their numbers and variety of size, that

generation after generation had been born, and lived, and died in Great

Britain.[6]

It is matter of history, that the brown bear was plentiful here in the

time of the Romans, and was conveyed in considerable numbers to Rome, to

make sport in the arena. In Wales they were common beasts of chase, and

in the history of the Gordons, it is stated that one of that clan, so

late as 1057, was directed by his sovereign to carry three bears' heads

on his banner, as a reward for his valor in killing a fierce bear in

Scotland.

In 1252, the sheriffs of London were commanded by the king to pay

fourpence a day for "our white bear in the Tower of London and his

keeper;" and in the following year they were directed to provide "unum

musellum et unam cathenam ferream"--_Anglicè_, a muzzle and an iron

chain, to hold him when out of the water, and a long and strong rope to

hold him when fishing in the Thames. This piscatorial bear must have had

a pleasant time of it, as compared to many of his species, for the

barbarous amusement of baiting was most popular with our ancestors. The

household book of the Earl of Northumberland contains the following

characteristic entry: "Item, my Lorde usith and accustomith to gyfe

yearly when hys Lordshipe is att home to his barward, when he comyth to

my Lorde at Cristmas with his Lordshippes beests, for making his

Lordschip pastyme the said xij days xxs."

In Bridgeward Without there was a district called Paris Garden; this,

and the celebrated Hockley in the Hole, were in the sixteenth century

the great resorts of the amateurs in bear-baiting and other cruel

sports, which cast a stain upon the society of that period--a society in

a transition state, but recently emerged from barbarism, and with all

the tastes of a semi-barbarous people. Sunday was the grand day for

these displays, until a frightful occurrence which took place in 1582. A

more than usually exciting bait had been announced, and a prodigious

concourse of people assembled. When the sport was at its highest, and

the air rung with blasphemy, the whole of the scaffolding on which the

people stood gave way, crushing many to death, and wounding many more.

This was considered as a judgment of the Almighty on these

Sabbath-breakers, and gave rise to a general prohibition of profane

pastime on the Sabbath.

Soon after the accession of Elizabeth to the throne, she gave a

splendid banquet to the French embassadors, who were afterward

entertained with the baiting of bulls and bears (May 25, 1559). The day

following, the embassadors went by water to Paris Garden, where they

patronized another performance of the same kind. Hentzer, after

describing from observation a very spirited and bloody baiting, adds,

"To this entertainment there often follows that of whipping a blinded

bear, which is performed by five or six men, standing circularly with

whips, which they exercise upon him without any mercy, as he can not

escape because of his chain. He defends himself with all his strength

and skill, throwing down all that come within his reach and are not

active enough to get out of it, and tearing their whips out of their

hands and breaking them." Laneham, in his account of the reception of

Queen Elizabeth at Kenilworth, in 1575, gives a very graphic account of

the "righte royalle pastimes." "It was a sport very pleasant to see the

bear, with his pink eyes learing after his enemies' approach; the

nimbleness and wait of the dog to take his advantage, and the force and

experience of the bear again to avoid his assaults. If he were bitten in

one place, how he would pinch in another to get free; that if he were

taken once, then by what shift with biting, with clawing, with roaring,

with tossing and tumbling he would work and wind himself from them, and

when he was loose, to shake his ears twice or thrice with the blood and

the slaver hanging about his physiognomy."

These barbarities continued until a comparatively recent period, but are

now, it is to be hoped, exploded forever. Instead of ministering to the

worst passions of mankind, the animal creation now contribute, in no

inconsiderable degree, to the expansion of the mind and the development

of the nobler feelings. Zoological collections have taken the place of

the Southwark Gardens and other brutal haunts of vice, and we are glad

to say, often prove a stronger focus of attraction than the skittle

ground and, its debasing society. By them, laudable curiosity is

awakened, and the impression, especially on the fervent and plastic

minds of young people, is deep and lasting. The immense number of

persons[7] of the lower orders, who visited the London Gardens during

the past season, prove the interest excited. The love of natural history

is inherent in the human mind, and now for the first time the humbler

classes are enabled to see to advantage, and to appreciate the beauties

of animals of whose existence they were in utter ignorance, or if known,

so tinctured with the marvelous, as to cause them to be regarded mainly

as objects of wonder and of dread.

California is hardly less remarkable for its bears than for its gold.

The Grizzly Bear, expressively named _Ursus Ferox_ and _U. Horribilis_,

reigns despotic throughout those vast wilds which comprise the Rocky

Mountains and the plains east of them, to latitude 61°. In size it is

gigantic, often weighing 800 pounds; and we ourselves have measured a

skin eight feet and a half in length. Governor Clinton received an

account of one fourteen feet long, but there might have been some

stretching of this skin. The claws are of great length, and cut like a

chisel when the animal strikes a blow with them. The tail is so small as

not to be visible; and it is a standing joke with the Indians (who with

all their gravity are great wags), to desire one unacquainted with the

grizzly bear to take hold of its tail. The strength of this animal may

be estimated from its having been known to drag easily to a considerable

distance, the carcase of a bison, weighing upward of a thousand pounds.

Mr. Dougherty, an experienced hunter, had killed a very large bison, and

having marked the spot, left the carcase for the purpose of obtaining

assistance to skin and cut it up. On his return, the bison had

disappeared! What had become of it he could not divine; but at length,

after much search, discovered it in a deep pit which had been dug for it

at some distance by a grizzly bear, who had carried it off and buried it

during Mr. Dougherty's absence. The following incident is related by Sir

John Richardson: "A party of voyagers, who had been employed all day in

tracking a canoe up the Saskatchewan, had seated themselves in the

twilight by a fire, and were busy preparing their supper, when a large

grizzly bear sprang over their canoe that was tilted behind them, and

seizing one of the party by the shoulder, carried him off. The rest fled

in terror, with the exception of a Metif, named Bourasso, who, grasping

his gun, followed the bear as it was retreating leisurely with his prey.

He called to his unfortunate comrade that he was afraid of hitting him

if he fired at the bear, but the man entreated him to fire immediately,

as the bear was squeezing him to death. On this he took a deliberate

aim, and discharged his piece into the body of the bear, which instantly

dropped his prey to follow Bourasso, who however escaped with

difficulty, and the bear retreated to a thicket, where it is supposed to

have died." The same writer mentions a bear having sprung out of a

thicket, and with one blow of his paw completely scalped a man, laying

bare the skull, and bringing the skin down over the eyes. Assistance

coming up, the bear made off without doing him further injury; but the

scalp, not being replaced, the poor man lost his sight, though it is

stated the eyes were uninjured.

Grizzly bears do not hug, but strike their prey with their terrific

paws. We have been informed by a gentleman who has seen much of these

creatures (having indeed killed five with his own hand) that when a

grizzly bear sees an object, he stands up on his hind legs, and gazes at

it intently for some minutes. He then, if it be a man or a beast, goes

straight on utterly regardless of numbers, and will seize it in the

midst of a regiment of soldiers. One thing only scares these creatures,

and that is the _smell_ of man. If in their charge they should cross a

scent of this sort, they will turn and fly.

Our informant was on one occasion standing near a thicket, looking at

his servant cleaning a gun. He had just dismounted, and the bridle of

the thorough-bred horse was twisted round his arm. While thus engaged, a

very large grizzly bear rushed out of the thicket, and made at the

servant, who fled. The bear then turned short upon this gentleman, in

whose hand was a rifle, carrying a small ball, forty to the pound; and

as the bear rose on his hind legs to make a stroke, he was fortunate

enough to shoot him through the heart. Had the horse moved in the

slightest at the critical moment, and jerked his master's arm, nothing

could have saved him; but the noble animal stood like a rock. On another

occasion, a large bear was shot mortally. The animal rushed up a steep

ascent, and fell back, turning a complete somerset ere he reached the

ground. The same gentleman told us two curious facts, for which he could

vouch; namely, that these bears have the power of moving their claws

independently. For instance, they will take up a clod of earth which

excites their curiosity, and crumble it to pieces by moving their claws

one on the other; and that wolves, however famished, will never touch a

carcase which has been buried by a grizzly bear, though they will

greedily devour all other dead bodies. The instinct of burying bodies is

so strong with these bears, that instances are recorded where they have

covered hunters who have fallen into their power and feigned death, with

bark, grass, and leaves. If the men attempted to move, the bear would

again put them down, and cover them as before, finally leaving them

comparatively unhurt.

The grizzly bears have their caves, to which they retire when the cold

of winter renders them torpid; and this condition is taken advantage of

by the most intrepid of the hunters. Having satisfied themselves about

the cave, these men prepare a candle from wax taken from the comb of

wild bees, and softened by the grease of the bear. It has a large wick,

and burns with a brilliant flame. Carrying this before him, with his

rifle in a convenient position, the hunter enters the cave. Having

reached its recesses, he fixes the candle on the ground, lights it, and

the cavern is soon illuminated with a vivid light. The hunter now lies

down on his face, having the candle between the back part of the cave

where the bear is, and himself. In this position, with the muzzle of the

rifle full in front of him, he patiently awaits his victim. Bruin is

soon roused by the light, yawns and stretches himself, like a person

awaking from a deep sleep. The hunter now cocks his rifle, and watches

the bear turn his head, and with slow and waddling steps approach the

candle. This is a trying moment, as the extraordinary tenacity of life

of the grizzly bear renders an unerring shot essential. The monster

reaches the candle, and either raises his paw to strike, or his nose to

smell at it. The hunter steadily raises his piece; the loud report of

the rifle reverberates through the cavern; and the bear falls with a

heavy crash, pierced through the eye, one of the few vulnerable spots

through which he can be destroyed.

The Zoological Society have at various times possessed five specimens of

the grizzly bear. The first was Old Martin, for many years a well known

inhabitant of the Tower Menagerie. We remember him well as an enormous

brute, quite blind from cataract, and generally to be seen standing on

his hind legs with open mouth, ready to receive any tit-bit a

compassionate visitor might bestow. Notwithstanding the length of time

he was in confinement (more than twenty years), all attempts of

conciliation failed, and to the last he would not permit of the

slightest familiarity, even from the keeper who constantly fed him. Some

idea may be formed of his size, when we say that his skull (which we

recently measured) exceeds in length by two inches the largest lion's

skull in the Osteological Collection, although several must have

belonged to magnificent animals.

After the death of old Martin, the Society received two fine young bears

from Mr. Catlin, but they soon died. Their loss, however, has been amply

replaced by the three very thriving young animals which have been

recently added to the collection. These come from the Sierra Nevada,

about 800 miles from San Francisco, and were brought to this country by

Mr. Pacton. They were transported with infinite trouble across the

Isthmus of Panama, in a box carried on men's shoulders, and are

certainly the first of their race who have performed the overland

journey. The price asked was £600, but they were obtained at a much less

sum; since their sojourn in this country, they have greatly increased in

size, and enjoy excellent health. An additional interest attaches to

these animals from two of them having undergone the operation for

cataract.

Bears are extremely subject to this disease, and of course are thereby

rendered blind. Their strength and ferocity forbade any thing being done

for their relief, until a short time ago, when, by the aid of that

wonderful agent, chloroform, it was demonstrated that they are as

amenable to curative measures as the human subject.

On the 5th of last November, the first operation of the sort was

performed on one of these grizzly bears, which was blind in both eyes.

As this detracted materially from his value, it was decided to endeavor

to restore him to sight; and Mr. White Cooper having consented to

operate, the proceedings were as follow: A strong leathern collar to

which a chain was attached, was firmly buckled around the patient's

neck, and the chain having been passed round one of the bars in front of

the cage, two powerful men endeavored to pull him up, in order that a

sponge containing chloroform should be applied to his muzzle by Dr.

Snow. The resistance offered by the bear was as surprising as

unexpected. The utmost efforts of these men were unavailing; and, after

a struggle of ten minutes, two others were called to their aid. By their

united efforts, Master Bruin was at length brought up, and the sponge

fairly tied round his muzzle. Meanwhile the cries and roarings of the

patient were echoed in full chorus by his two brothers, who had been

confined to the sleeping den, and who scratched and tore at the door to

get to the assistance of their distressed relative. In a den on one side

was the Cheetah, whose leg was amputated under chloroform some months

ago, and who was greatly excited by the smell of the fluid and uproar.

The large sloth bear in a cage on the other side, joined heartily in the

chorus, and the Isabella bear just beyond, wrung her paws in an agony of

woe. Leopards snarled in sympathy, and laughing hyenas swelled the

chorus with their hysterical sobs. The octo-basso growling of the polar

bears, and roaring of the lions on the other side of the building,

completed as remarkable a diapason as could well be heard.

The first evidence of the action of the chloroform on the bear, was a

diminution in his struggles; first one paw dropped, then the other. The

sponge was now removed from his face, the door of the den opened, and

his head laid upon a plank outside. The cataracts were speedily broken

up, and the bear was drawn into the cage again. For nearly five minutes

he remained, as was remarked by a keeper without knowledge, sense, or

understanding, till at length one leg gave a kick, then another, and

presently he attempted to stand. The essay was a failure, but he soon

tried to make his way to his cage. It was Garrick, if we remember right,

who affirmed that Talma was an indifferent representative of

inebriation, for he was not drunk in his legs. The bear, however acted

the part to perfection, and the way in which (like Commodore Trunnion on

his way to church) he tacked, during his route to his den, was ludicrous

in the extreme. At length he blundered into it, and was left quiet for a

time. He soon revived, and in the afternoon ate heartily. The following

morning on the door being opened, he came out, staring about him, caring

nothing for the light, and began humming, as he licked his paws, with

much the air of a musical amateur sitting down to a sonata on his

violoncello.

A group might have been dimly seen through the fog which covered the

garden on the morning of the 15th November, standing on the spot where

the proceedings above narrated took place ten days previously. This

group comprised Professor Owen, Mr. Yarrell, the president of the

Society, Count Nesselrode, Mr. Waterhouse, Mr. Pickersgill, R.A.,

Captain Stanley, R.N., and two or three other gentlemen. They were

assembled to witness the restoration to sight of another of the grizzly

bears. The bear this time was brought out of the den, and his chain

passed round the rail in front of it. Diluted chloroform was used, and

the operation was rendered more difficult by the animal not being

perfectly under its influence. He recovered immediately after the

couching needle had been withdrawn from the second eye, and walked

pretty steadily to his sleeping apartment, where he received the

condolences of his brethren, rather ungraciously it must be confessed,

but his head was far from clear, and his temper ruffled. When the

cataracts have been absorbed the animals will have sight.

The wooded districts of the American continent were tenanted before

civilization had made such gigantic strides, by large numbers of the

well known black bear, _Ursus Americanus_. Some years ago, black bears'

skins were greatly in vogue for carriage hammer-cloths, &c.; and an idea

of the animals destroyed, may be formed from the fact, that in 1783,

10,500 skins were imported, and the numbers gradually rose to 25,000 in

1803, since which time there has been a gradual decline. In those days,

a fine skin was worth from twenty to forty guineas, but may now be

obtained for five guineas.

The chase of this bear is the most solemn action of the Laplander; and

the successful hunter may be known by the number of tufts of bears' hair

he wears in his bonnet. When the retreat of a bear is discovered, the

ablest sorcerer of the tribe beats the _runic_ drum to discover the

event of the chase, and on which side the animal ought to be assailed.

During the attack, the hunters join in a prescribed chorus, and beg

earnestly of the bear that he will do them no mischief. When dead, the

body is carried home on a sledge, and the rein-deer employed to draw it,

is exempt from labor during the remainder of the year. A new hut is

constructed for the express purpose of cooking the flesh, and the

huntsmen, joined by their wives, sing again their songs of joy and of

gratitude to the animal, for permitting them to return in safety. They

never presume to speak of the bear with levity, but always allude to him

with profound respect, as "the old man in the fur cloak." The Indians,

too, treat him with much deference. An old Indian, named Keskarrah, was

seated at the door of his tent, by a small stream, not far from Fort

Enterprise, when a large bear came to the opposite bank, and remained

for some time apparently surveying him. Keskarrah, considering himself

to be in great danger, and having no one to assist him but his aged

wife, made a solemn speech, to the following effect: "Oh, bear! I never

did you any harm; I have always had the highest respect for you and your

relations, and never killed any of them except through necessity. Pray,

go away, good bear, and let me alone, and I promise not to molest you."

The bear (probably regarding the old gentleman as rather a tough morsel)

walked off, and the old man, fancying that he owed his safety to his

eloquence, favored Sir John Richardson with his speech at length. The

bear in question, however, was of a different species to, and more

sanguinary than the black bear, so that the escape of the old couple was

regarded as remarkable.

The _Ursus Americanus_ almost invariably hybernates; and about a

thousand skins have been annually imported by the Hudson's Bay Company,

from these black bears destroyed in their winter retreats. A spot under

a fallen tree is selected for its den, and having scratched away a

portion of the soil, the bear retires thither at the commencement of a

snow-storm, and the snow soon furnishes a close warm covering. When

taken young, these bears are easily tamed; and the following incident

occurred to a gentleman of our acquaintance: a fine young bear had been

brought up by him with an antelope of the elegant species called

_Furcifer_, the two feeding out of the same dish, and being often seen

eating the same cabbage. He was in the habit of taking these pets out

with him, leading the bear by a string. On one occasion he was thus

proceeding, a friend leading the antelope, when a large fierce dog flew

at the latter. The gentleman, embarrassed by his charge, called out for

assistance to my informant, who ran hastily up, and in doing so

accidentally let the bear loose. He seemed to be perfectly aware that

his little companion was in difficulty, and rushing forward, knocked the

dog over and over with a blow of his paw, and sent him off howling. The

same bear would also play for hours with a Bison calf, and when tired

with his romps, jumped into a tub to rest; having recovered, he would

spring out and resume his gambols with his boisterous playfellow, who

seemed to rejoice when the bear was out of breath, and could be taken at

a disadvantage, at which time he was sure to be pressed doubly hard.

There was a fine bear of this description in the old Tower Menagerie,

which long shared his den with a hyena, with whom he was on good terms

except at meal-times, when they would quarrel in a very ludicrous

manner, for a piece of beef, or whatever else might happen to form a

bone of contention between them. The hyena, though by far the smaller

was generally master, and the bear would moan most piteously in a tone

resembling the bleating of a sheep, while the hyena quietly consumed the

remainder of the dinner.

The following is an account of an adventure which occurred to Frank

Forester, in America. A large bear was traced to a cavern in the Round

Mountain, and every effort made for three days without success to smoke

or burn him out. At length a bold hunter, familiar with the spot,

volunteered to beard the bear in his den. The well-like aperture, which,

alone could be seen from without, descended for about eight feet, then

turned sharp off at right angles, running nearly horizontally for about

six feet, beyond which it opened into a small circular chamber, where

the bear had taken up his quarters. The man determined to descend, to

worm himself, feet forward, on his back, and to shoot at the eyes of the

bear, as they would be visible in the dark. Two narrow laths of pine

wood were accordingly procured, and pierced with holes, in which candles

were placed and lighted. A rope was next made fast about his chest, a

butcher's knife disposed in readiness for his grasp, and his musket

loaded with two good ounce bullets, well wrapped in greased buckskin.

Gradually he disappeared, thrusting the lights before him with his feet,

and holding the musket ready cocked in his hand. A few anxious

moments--a low stifled growl was heard--then a loud, bellowing, crashing

report, followed by a wild and fearful howl, half anguish, half furious

rage. The men above wildly and eagerly hauled up the rope, and the

sturdy hunter was whirled into the air uninjured, and retaining in his

grasp his good weapon; while the fierce brute rushed tearing after him

even to the cavern's mouth. As soon as the man had entered the small

chamber, he perceived the glaring eyeballs of the bear, had taken steady

aim at them, and had, he believed, lodged his bullets fairly. Painful

moanings were soon heard from within, and then all was still! Again the

bold man determined to seek the monster; again he vanished, and his

musket shot roared from the recesses of the rock. Up he was whirled; but

this time, the bear, streaming with gore, and furious with pain, rushed

after him, and with a mighty bound, cleared the confines of the cavern!

A hasty and harmless volley was fired, while the bear glared round as if

undecided upon which of the group to wreak his vengeance. Tom, the

hunter, coolly raised his piece, but snap! no spark followed the blow of

the hammer! With a curse Tom threw down the musket, and, drawing his

knife, rushed forward to encounter the bear single handed. What would

have been his fate had the bear folded him in his deadly hug, we may be

pretty sure; but ere this could happen, the four bullets did their work,

and he fell; a convulsive shudder passed through his frame, and all was

still. Six hundred and odd pounds did he weigh, and great were the

rejoicings at his destruction.

The wild pine forests of Scandinavia yet contain bears in considerable

numbers. The general color of these European bears is dark brown, and to

a great degree they are vegetable feeders, although exceedingly fond of

ants and honey. Their favorite food is berries and succulent plants; and

in autumn, when the berries are ripe, they become exceedingly fat.

Toward the end of November the bear retires to his den, and passes the

winter months in profound repose. About the middle of April he leaves

his den, and roams about the forest ravenous for food. These bears

attain a large size, often weighing above four hundred pounds; and an

instance is on record of one having weighed nearly seven hundred and

fifty pounds. The best information relative to the habits and pursuits

of these Scandinavian bears is to be found in Mr. Lloyd's "Field Sports

of the North of Europe," from which entertaining work we shall draw

largely.

When a district in Sweden is infested with bears, public notice is given

from the pulpit during divine service, that a sk[)a]ll or battue is to

take place, and specifying the number of people required, the time and

place of rendezvous, and other particulars. Sometimes as many as 1500

men are employed, and these are regularly organized in parties and

divisions. They then extend themselves in such a manner that a cordon is

formed, embracing a large district, and all simultaneously move forward.

By this means the wild animals are gradually driven into a limited

space, and destroyed as circumstances admit. These sk[)a]lls are always

highly exciting, and it not unfrequently happens that accidents arise,

from the bears turning upon and attacking their pursuers. A bear which

had been badly wounded, and was hard pressed, rushed upon a peasant

whose gun had missed fire, and seized him by the shoulders with his fore

paws. The peasant, for his part, grasped the bear's ears. Twice did they

fall, and twice get up, without loosening their holds, during which time

the bear had bitten through the sinews of both arms, from the wrists

upward, and was approaching the exhausted peasant's throat, when Mr.

Falk, "öfwer jäg mästare," or head ranger of the Wermeland forests,

arrived, and with one shot ended the fearful conflict.

Jan Svenson was a Dalecarlian hunter of great repute, having been

accessory to the death of sixty or seventy bears, most of which he had

himself killed. On one occasion he had the following desperate

encounter: having, with several other peasants, surrounded a very large

bear, he advanced with his dog to rouse him from his lair; the dog

dashed toward the bear, who was immediately after fired at and wounded

by one of the peasants. This man was prostrated by the infuriated

animal, and severely lacerated. The beast now retraced his steps, and

came full on Jan Svenson, a shot from whose rifle knocked him over.

Svenson, thinking the bear was killed, coolly commenced re-loading his

rifle. He had only poured in the powder, when the bear sprung up and

seized him by the arm. The dog, seeing the jeopardy in which his master

was placed, gallantly fixed on the bear's hind quarters. To get rid of

this annoyance, the bear threw himself on his back, making with one paw

a blow at the dog, with the other holding Svenson fast in his embraces.

This he repeated three several times, handling the man as a cat would a

mouse, and in the intervals he was biting him in different parts of the

body, or standing still as if stupefied. In this dreadful situation

Svenson remained nearly half an hour; and during all this time the noble

dog never ceased for a moment his attacks on the bear. At last the brute

quitted his hold, and moving slowly to a small tree at a few paces'

distance, seized it with his teeth; he was in his last agonies, and

presently fell dead to the ground. On this occasion Svenson was wounded

in thirty-one different places, principally in the arms and legs. This

forest monster had, in the early part of the winter, mortally wounded

another man, who was pursuing him, and from his great size was an object

of general dread.

Lieutenant Oldenburg, when in Torp in Norrland, saw a chasseur brought

down from the forest, who had been desperately mangled by a bear. The

man was some distance in advance of his party, and wounded the animal

with a ball. The bear immediately turned on him; they grappled, and both

soon came to the ground. Here a most desperate struggle took place,

which lasted a considerable time. Sometimes the man, who was a powerful

fellow, being uppermost, at other times the bear. At length, exhausted

with fatigue and loss of blood, the chasseur gave up the contest, and

turning on his face in the snow, pretended to be dead. Bruin, on this,

quietly seated himself on his body, where he remained for near half an

hour. At length the chasseur's companions came up, and relieved their

companion by shooting the bear through the heart. Though terribly

lacerated, the man eventually recovered.

Captain Eurenius related to Mr. Lloyd an incident which he witnessed in

Wenersborg, in 1790: A bear-hunt or sk[)a]ll was in progress, and an old

soldier placed himself in a situation where he thought the bear would

pass. He was right in his conjecture, for the animal soon made his

appearance, and charged directly at him. He leveled his musket, but the

piece missed fire. The bear was now close, and he attempted to drive the

muzzle of the gun down the animal's throat. This attack the bear parried

like a fencing master, wrested the gun from the man, and quickly laid

him prostrate. Had he been prudent all might have ended well, for the

bear, after smelling, fancied him dead, and left him almost unhurt. The

animal then began to handle the musket, and knock it about with his

paws. The soldier seeing this, could not resist stretching out his hand

and laying hold of the muzzle, the bear having the stock firmly in his

grasp. Finding his antagonist alive, the bear seized the back of his

head with his teeth, and tore off the whole of his scalp, from the nape

of the neck upward, so that it merely hung to the forehead by a strip of

skin. Great as was his agony, the poor fellow kept quiet, and the bear

laid himself along his body. While this was going forward, Captain

Eurenius and others approached the spot, and on coming within sixteen

paces, beheld the bear licking the blood from the bare skull, and eying

the people, who were afraid to fire lest they should injure their

comrade. Captain Eurenius asserted, that in this position the soldier

and bear remained for a considerable time, until at last the latter

quitted his victim, and slowly began to retire, when a tremendous fire

being opened, he fell dead. On hearing the shots, the wretched sufferer

jumped up, his scalp hanging over his face, so as to completely blind

him. Throwing it back with his hand, he ran toward his comrades like a

madman, frantically exclaiming, "The bear! the bear!" the scalp was

separated, and the captain described it as exactly resembling a peruke.

In one respect the catastrophe was fortunate for the poor soldier; it

was in the old days of pipe-clay and pomatum, and every one in the army

was obliged to wear his hair of a certain form, and this man being, for

satisfactory reasons, unable to comply with the regulation, and a tow

wig not being admissible, he immediately received his discharge.

A curious circumstance is related by Mr. Lloyd, showing the boldness of

wolves when pressed by hunger. A party were in chase of a bear, who was

tracked by a dog. They were some distance behind the bear, when a drove

of five wolves attacked and devoured the dog. Their appetites being thus

whetted, they forthwith made after the bear, and coming up with him, a

severe conflict ensued, as was apparent from the quantity of hair, both

of the bear and wolves, that was scattered about the spot. Bruin was

victorious, but was killed a few days afterward by the hunters. The

wolves, however, had made so free with his fur, that his skin was of

little value. On another occasion, a drove of wolves attacked a bear,

who, posting himself with his back against a tree, defended himself for

some time with success; but at length his opponents contrived to get

under the tree, and wounded him desperately in the flank. Just then some

men coming up, the wolves retreated, and the wounded bear became an easy

prey.

It occasionally happens that cattle are attacked by bears, but the

latter are not always victorious. A powerful bull was charged in the

forest by a bear, when, striking his horns into his assailant, he pinned

him to a tree. In this situation they were both found dead--the bull

from starvation, the bear from wounds. So says the author above quoted.

The hybernation of bears gives rise to a curious confusion of cause and

effect in the minds of the Swiss peasantry. They believe that bears

which have passed the winter in the mountain caverns, always come out to

reconnoitre on the 2d of February; and that they if the weather be then

cold and winterly, return, like the dove to the ark, for another

fortnight; at the end of which time they find the season sufficiently

advanced to enable them to quit their quarters without inconvenience;

but that, if the weather be fine and warm on the 2d, they sally forth,

thinking the winter past. But on the cold returning after sunset, they

discover their mistake, and return in a most sulky state of mind,

without making a second attempt until after the expiration of six weeks,

during which time man is doomed to suffer all the inclemencies

consequent on their want of urbanity. Thus, instead of attributing the

retirement of the bears to the effects of the cold, the myth makes the

cold to depend on the seclusion of the bears!

The fat of bears has, from time immemorial, enjoyed a high reputation

for promoting the growth of hair; but not a thousandth part of the

bear's grease sold in shops comes from the animal whose name it carries.

In Scandinavia, the only part used for the hair is the fat found about

the intestines. The great bulk of the fat, which in a large bear may

weigh from sixty to eighty pounds, is used for culinary purposes. Bears'

hams, when smoked, are great delicacies, as are also the paws; and the

flesh of bears is not inferior to our excellent beef.

On a certain memorable day, in 1847, a large hamper reached Oxford, per

Great Western Railway, and was in due time delivered according to its

direction, at Christchurch, consigned to Francis Buckland, Esq., a

gentleman well known in the University for his fondness for natural

history. He opened the hamper, and the moment the lid was removed out

jumped a creature about the size of an English sheep dog, covered with

long shaggy hair, of a brownish color. This was a young bear, born on

Mount Lebanon, in Syria, a few months before, who had now arrived to

receive his education at our learned University. The moment that he was

released from his irksome attitude in the hamper, he made the most of

his liberty, and the door of the room being open, he rushed off down the

cloisters. Service was going on in the chapel, and, attracted by the

pealing organ, or some other motive, he made at once for the chapel.

Just as he arrived at the door, the stout verger happened to come

thither from within, and the moment he saw the impish looking creature

that was rushing into his domain, he made a tremendous flourish with his

silver wand, and, darting into the chapel, ensconced himself in a tall

pew, the door of which he bolted. Tiglath-pe-leser (as the bear was

called), being scared by the silver wand, turned from the chapel, and

scampered frantically about the large quadrangle, putting to flight the

numerous parties of dogs, who in those days made that spot their

afternoon rendezvous. After a sharp chase, a gown was thrown over Tig,

and he was with difficulty secured. During the struggle, he got one of

the fingers of his new master into his mouth, and--did he bite it off?

No, poor thing! but began vigorously sucking it, with that peculiar

mumbling noise for which bears are remarkable. Thus was he led back to

Mr. B.'s rooms, walking all the way on his hind legs, and sucking the

finger with all his might. A collar was put round his neck, and Tig

became a prisoner. His good-nature and amusing tricks soon made him a

prime favorite with the undergraduates; a cap and gown were made,

attired in which (to the great scandal of the _dons_) he accompanied his

master to breakfasts and wine parties, where he contributed greatly to

the amusement of the company, and partook of good things, his favorite

viands being muffins and ices. He was in general of an amiable

disposition, but subject to fits of rage, during which his violence was

extreme; but a kind word, and a finger to suck, soon brought him round.

He was most impatient of solitude, and would cry for hours when left

alone, particularly if it was dark. It was this unfortunate propensity

which brought him into especial disfavor with the Dean of Christchurch,

whose Greek quantities and hours of rest were sadly disturbed by Tig's

lamentations.

On one occasion he was kept in college till after the gates had been

shut, and there was no possibility of getting him out without the porter

seeing him, when there would have been a fine of ten shillings to pay

the next morning; for during this term an edict had gone forth against

dogs, and the authorities not being learned in zoology, could not be

persuaded that a bear was not a dog. Tig was, therefore, tied in a

court-yard near his master's rooms, but that gentleman was soon brought

out by his piteous cries, and could not pacify him in any other way than

by bringing him into his rooms, and at bed time Tig was chained to the

post at the bottom of the bed, where he remained quiet till day-light,

and then shuffling on to the bed, awoke his master by licking his

face--he took no notice, and presently Tig deliberately put his hind

legs under the blankets and covered himself up; there he remained till

chapel time, when his master left him, and on his return found that the

young gentleman had been amusing himself during his solitude by

overturning every thing he could get at in the room, and, apparently,

had had a quarrel and fight with the looking-glass, which was broken to

pieces and the wood work bitten all over. The perpetrator of all this

havoc sat on the bed, looking exceedingly innocent, but rocking backward

and forward as if conscious of guilt and doubtful of the consequences.

Near to Tig's house there was a little monkey tied to a tree, and

Jacko's great amusement was to make grimaces at Tig; and when the latter

composed himself to sleep in the warm sunshine, Jacko would cautiously

descend from the tree, and, twisting his fingers in Tig's long hair,

would give him a sharp pull and in a moment was up the tree again,

chattering and clattering his chain. Tig's anger was most amusing--he

would run backward and forward on his hind legs sucking his paws, and

with his eyes fixed on Jacko, uttering all sorts of threats and

imprecations, to the great delight of the monkey. He would then again

endeavor to take a nap, only to be again disturbed by his little

tormentor. However, these two animals established a truce, became

excellent friends, and would sit for half-an-hour together confronting

each other, apparently holding a conversation. At the commencement of

the long vacation, Tig, with the other members of the University,

retired into the country, and was daily taken out for a walk round the

village, to the great astonishment of the bumpkins. There was a little

shop, kept by an old dame who sold whipcord, sugar-candy, and other

matters, and here, on one occasion, Tig was treated to sugar-candy. Soon

afterward he got loose, and at once made off for the shop, into which

he burst to the unutterable terror of the spectacled and high capped old

lady, who was knitting stockings behind the counter; the moment she saw

his shaggy head and heard the appalling clatter of his chain, she rushed

up stairs in a delirium of terror. When assistance arrived the offender

was discovered, seated on the counter, helping himself most liberally to

brown sugar; and it was with some difficulty, and after much resistance,

that he was dragged away.

Mr. Buckland had made a promise that Tig should pay a visit to a village

about six miles distant, and determined that he should proceed thither

on horseback. As the horse shied whenever the bear came near him, there

was some difficulty in getting him mounted; but at last his master

managed to pull him up by the chain while the horse was held quiet. Tig

at first took up his position in front, but soon walked round and stood

up on his hind legs, resting his fore paws on his master's shoulders. To

him this was exceedingly pleasant, but not so to the horse, who not

being accustomed to carry two, and feeling Tig's claws, kicked and

plunged to rid himself of the extra passenger. Tig held on like grim

death, and stuck in his claws most successfully; for in spite of all the

efforts of the horse he was not thrown. In this way the journey was

performed, the country folks opening their eyes at the apparition.

This reminds us of an anecdote mentioned by Mr. Lloyd: a peasant had

reared a bear which became so tame that he used occasionally to cause

him to stand at the back of his sledge when on a journey; but the bear

kept so good a balance that it was next to impossible to upset him. One

day, however, the peasant amused himself by driving over the very worst

ground he could find, with the intention, if possible, of throwing Bruin

off his equilibrium. This went on for some time, till the animal became

so irritated that he gave his master, who was in front of him, a

tremendous thump on the shoulder with his paw, which frightened the man

so much that he caused the bear to be killed immediately; this, as he

richly deserved the thump, was a shabby retaliation.

When term recommenced, Tiglath-pe-leser returned to the University, much

altered in appearance, for being of the family of silver bears of Syria,

his coat had become almost white; he was much bigger and stronger, and

his teeth had made their appearance, so that he was rather more

difficult to manage; the only way to restrain him when in a rage, was to

hold him by the ears; but on one occasion having lost his temper, he

tore his cap and gown to pieces. About this time the British Association

paid a visit to Oxford, and Tig was an object of much interest. The

writer was present on several occasions when he was introduced to

breakfast parties of eminent savants, and much amusement was created by

his tricks, albeit they were a little rough. In more than one instance

he made sad havoc with book-muslins and other fragile articles of

female attire; on the whole, however, he conducted himself with great

propriety, especially at an evening meeting at Dr. Daubeny's, where he

was much noticed, to his evident pleasure.

Still, however, the authorities at Christchurch, not being zoologists,

had peculiar notions respecting bears; and at length, after numerous

threats and pecuniary penalties, the fatal day arrived, and Tig's master

was informed that either "he or the bear must leave Oxford the next

morning." There was no resisting this, and poor dear Tig was,

accordingly, put into a box--a much larger one than that in which he had

arrived--and sent off to the Zoological Gardens, Regent's Park; here he

was placed in a comfortable den by himself; but, alas! he missed the

society to which he had been accustomed, the excitement of a college

life, and the numerous charms by which the University was endeared to

him; he refused his food; he ran perpetually up and down his den in the

vain hope to escape, and was one morning found dead, a victim to a

broken heart!

FOOTNOTES:

[6] See "A History of British Fossil Mammals," by our great Zoologist,

Professor Owen.

[7] The number of visitors to the Zoological Gardens, Regent's Park,

during the past year, was very nearly 400,000.

NOT ALL ALONE.

BY ALARIC A. WATTS.

Not all alone; for thou canst hold

Communion sweet with saint and sage;

And gather gems, of price untold,

From many a consecrated page:

Youth's dreams, the golden lights of age,

The poet's lore, are still thine own;

Then, while such themes thy thoughts engage,

Oh, how canst thou be all alone?

Not all alone; the lark's rich note,

As mounting up to heaven, she sings;

The thousand silvery sounds that float

Above, below, on morning's wings;

The softer murmurs twilight brings--

The cricket's chirp, cicada's glee;

All earth, that lyre of myriad strings,

Is jubilant with life for thee!

Not all alone; the whispering trees,

The rippling brook, the starry sky,

Have each peculiar harmonies

To soothe, subdue, and sanctify:

The low, sweet breath of evening's sigh,

For thee hath oft a friendly tone,

To lift thy grateful thoughts on high,

And say--thou art not all alone!

Not all alone; a watchful Eye,

That notes the wandering sparrow's fall,

A saving Hand is ever nigh,

A gracious Power attends thy call--

When sadness holds the heart in thrall,

Oft is His tenderest mercy shown;

Seek, then, the balm vouchsafed to all,

And thou canst never be alone!

Monthly Record of Current Events.

POLITICAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

THE UNITED STATES.

The public mind has been almost wholly absorbed, during the past month,

in anxiety for the safety of the American steamer _Atlantic_. She was

known to have left Liverpool on the 28th of December, and was seen four

days out by a packet which afterward reached New York. From that time

until the 16th of February an interval of _fifty days_, nothing whatever

was known of her fate. The anxiety of the public mind was becoming

intense, when, on the evening of February 16th, the _Africa_ arrived

with news of her safety. It seems that on the 6th of January the main

shaft of her engine was broken, which rendered the engine completely

unmanageable. She stood for Halifax until the 11th, against strong head

winds, when it became evident that she could not reach that port before

her provisions would give out, and she accordingly put back for Cork,

where she arrived on the 22d of January. Her mails and passengers came

in the Africa. The Cambria had been chartered to bring her cargo, and

was to sail February 4th. The Atlantic was to be taken to Liverpool for

repairs, which would probably occupy three months. Few events within our

recollection have caused more general joy than the intelligence of her

safety.

CONGRESS, during the past month, has done but little of permanent

interest to any section of the country. Various important subjects have

been extensively discussed, but upon none of them has any favorable or

decisive action been taken. Several attempts have been made, by the

friends of a protective tariff in the House of Representatives, to

insert some provisions in the deficiency and appropriation bills which

would secure an amendment of the existing tariff favorable to their

views. None of these efforts, however, have been successful. A zealous

discussion has also been had upon a bill to establish a branch of the

United States Mint in the city of New York; it met with strong

opposition--especially from the city of Philadelphia and was finally

defeated. A bill concerning the land titles in California has also been

largely discussed in the Senate, and finally passed. A resolution has

been adopted in that body authorizing the President of the United States

to confer the brevet rank of Lieutenant General; it is of course

designed for application to General Scott. A bill further reducing the

rates of postage has passed the House of Representatives. Three cents

was by it adopted as the uniform rate of letter postage. The bill was

very greatly changed in the Senate, and its fate is still doubtful. The

French Spoliation Bill, the project for establishing a line of steamers

on the coast of Africa, and other bills have been before Congress but no

action has been had upon them. The Senate has passed a bill

appropriating ten millions of acres of public lands (equal to twelve

millions five hundred thousand dollars) to be apportioned among the

several States in an equitable ratio, for the endowment of Hospitals for

the indigent insane. This act is one of the most philanthropic and

beneficent ever passed by any legislative body. It has been ably and

zealously pressed upon the attention of Congress by Miss Dix, whose

devotion to the cause of humanity has already won for her a world-wide

reputation.

Elections of United States Senators have been held in several of the

States with various results. In FLORIDA, on the 15th of January, Mr.

MALLORY, Democrat, was elected over Mr. YULEE. In MISSOURI, after a

protracted effort, HENRY S. GEYER, Whig, was elected on the fortieth

ballot, receiving 80 votes against 55 for Mr. BENTON, and 20 scattering.

Mr. GEYER is a German by birth, but came to this country when he was

about three years old. He is now one of the ablest lawyers and most

upright men in the State which he is hereafter in part to represent. In

PENNSYLVANIA, Mr. BROADHEAD, Democrat, was elected without serious

difficulty. In NEW YORK both branches of the Legislature proceeded to

nominate a Senator in accordance with the law upon the subject, on the

4th day of February. In the Assembly HAMILTON FISH was nominated,

receiving 79 votes against 48 for other candidates. In the Senate he had

16 votes, while 16 Senators voted each for a separate candidate, one of

them, Senator BEEKMAN from New York City, being a Whig. After two

ballotings, on Mr. Beekman's motion, the Senate adjourned. No nomination

has been made, nor can the attempt be renewed, except by the passage of

a special law. In MASSACHUSETTS repeated efforts to elect a Senator have

proved unsuccessful. CHARLES SUMNER, Free Soil, has several times lacked

but three or four votes of an election, Mr. WINTHROP being his principal

opponent. The vacancy occasioned by Mr. Webster's resignation has been

filled by the election of Hon. ROBERT RANTOUL. Mr. BOUTWELL was elected

Governor of the State by the Legislature. The effort to elect a Senator

for the next term will be renewed from time to time. In RHODE ISLAND,

after several ballotings, in which two Whigs and one Democrat received

about an equal number of votes each, CHARLES T. JAMES, Esq., Democrat,

was elected, having received a large number of Whig votes. In OHIO, an

attempt to elect a Senator to succeed Mr. EWING, proved ineffectual. Ten

ballots were had, after which the Legislature adjourned, thus abandoning

the effort. In MICHIGAN General CASS has been re-elected United States

Senator by the Legislature.

The Legislature of NORTH CAROLINA has closed its session.

Notwithstanding the strenuous efforts that have been made to excite

among the people of this State serious disaffection toward the Union,

the action of the Legislature has been exceedingly moderate. Resolutions

upon the subject, calculated to inflame the public mind, were laid upon

the table by a very decisive vote. A bill has been passed authorizing an

agricultural, mineralogical, and botanical survey of the State. The

Governor is to make the appointment, and the Surveyor is required

personally, or by his assistants, "to visit every county in the State,

and examine every thing of interest or value in either of the above

departments, to ascertain the nature and character of its products, and

the nature and character of its soil, as well as to give an account of

its minerals."

Gen. Quitman, Governor of Mississippi, has been indicted at New Orleans

on charge of having participated in the unlawful expedition from the

United States against Cuba. He has resigned his office, and given bail

for his appearance in Court, asking for a speedy trial. A number of

others have also been indicted, one of whom, Gen. Henderson, has been

tried. The trial lasted several days, and was conducted on both sides

with great ability. The connection of the accused with the expedition

seemed to have been clearly proved: the jury, however, were not able to

agree on a verdict, four of them, it is said, taking the ground that the

expedition was justifiable and proper.

Intelligence to December 19th has been received from the Commission to

survey the boundary line between Mexico and the United States. The

Mexican Commissioner, Gen. Conde, had joined the American Commissioners

at El Paso. Several conferences were had before a starting point could

be agreed upon for the survey, as the maps of that region were very

inconsistent and imperfect. Throughout New Mexico, according to the most

recent advices, great inconvenience is sustained from Indian

depredations, made in spite of treaty stipulations.

The Arkansas Legislature adjourned January 14, after a session of

seventy-one days, which has been fruitful in acts of local importance.

The Governor of Texas has designated the first Thursday in March as a

day of public thanksgiving. The fact is worthy of record here as an

evidence that this New England custom is steadily making its way into

the new States.

Accidents to steamboats on our Western waters continue to challenge

public attention. The steamer _John Adams_ on the Ohio, on the 27th of

January, struck a snag and sunk in two minutes. One hundred and

twenty-three lives were lost--mostly of emigrants.

Hon. GEORGE F. FORT was installed into office as Governor of New Jersey

on the 21st of January. His inaugural address recommends the

establishment of free schools, the enactment of general incorporation

laws, homestead exemption, &c., and urges a full assent to the

Compromise measures of the last session of Congress.

Some attention has been attracted to a letter from Gen. HOUSTON to Hon.

John Letcher of Virginia, rebuking very severely the attempt made by

South Carolina to induce Virginia to take the lead in a scheme of

secession. Gen. Houston speaks of the Constitution as the most perfect

of human instruments, and refuses to countenance any attempt to alter or

amend its provisions. He says that every intelligent and disinterested

observer must concede that agitation at the North is dying out, that the

laws are obeyed, and that no necessity exists for resisting or

dissolving the Union. The letter exerts a marked influence on the

political movements of the day.

The House of Representatives in Delaware on the 5th of February adopted

a series of resolutions very warmly approving the Compromise measures of

the last session of Congress, and especially the law for the more

effectual enforcement of the provisions of the Constitution requiring

the surrender of fugitive slaves.

Hon. D.S. KAUFMAN, member of Congress from Texas, died very suddenly on

the 31st of January. His decease was ascribed to an affliction of the

heart, but it is supposed by those who knew him most intimately to have

resulted from a wound received by a pistol shot some years since in a

rencontre in the Texas Legislature. The ball had never been extracted.

He was a gentleman of ability and of a very amiable disposition.

A large "Union meeting" was held at Westchester, N.Y., on the 30th of

January. A letter was received from Daniel Webster, regretting his

inability to attend the meeting, and warmly approving its objects. Mr.

Clay also wrote a letter which was read at the meeting, in which he said

that "two classes of disunionists threaten our country: one is that

which is open and undisguised in favor of separation--the other is that

which, disowning a desire of dissolution of the Union, adopts a course

and contends for measures and principles which must inevitably lead to

that calamitous result." He considered the latter the "more dangerous,

because it is deceptive and insidious."

A correspondence between Mr. MATHEW, a British consul, and the Governor

of South Carolina, has excited some attention. Mr. Mathew represents the

very great inconvenience occasioned by the law of South Carolina

requiring the imprisonment of every colored person arriving in her ports

until the departure of the vessel, and the payment of expenses by her

captain. The correspondence is friendly, and the subject has been

referred to a committee in the South Carolina Legislature. The fact of a

correspondence between the representative of a foreign power and one of

the States of the Union, in its separate capacity, excites remark and

censure.

From CALIFORNIA our advices are to the 15th of January. The cholera had

entirely disappeared. The result of the late State election had been

definitely ascertained. In the Senate there is a Whig majority of two,

and in the Assembly a Whig majority of nine. This result is deemed

important on account of the pending election of U.S. Senator in place of

Mr. Frémont. Gov. Burnett has resigned, and Lieut.-Gov. McDougal been

installed in his place. Hon. David C. Broderick, formerly of New York,

was chosen President of the Senate. Renewed difficulties have occurred

with the Indians, and the general impression seemed to be that no

friendly arrangement could be made with them. They demand the free use

of their old hunting-grounds, and will listen to no proposition which

involves their surrender. The settlers, especially on the Trinity and

Klamath rivers, suffer grievously from their marauding incursions, and

have been compelled to raise and arm companies to repel them. A serious

and protracted war is apprehended.

The latest arrival brings the report of a discovery of gold exceeding in

magnitude any before made. Twenty-seven miles beyond the Trinity River,

it is said, is a beach seven miles in extent, bounded by a high bluff. A

heavy sea, breaking upon the shore washes away the lighter sand, and

that which remains is rich to an unparalleled extent. A company has been

formed to proceed to this locality, and the Secretary estimates the sum

which each member will secure, at many millions.

The whole amount of gold dust shipped at San Francisco during the year

1850, is officially stated at $29,441,583. At least twenty millions are

supposed to have gone forward, in addition, in private hands, so that

the total product of the mines during the year is estimated at nearly

fifty millions. The mines in all quarters continued to yield abundant

returns.

MEXICO.

We have intelligence from Mexico to the 25th of January. Congress

assembled on the 1st. The President opened the session by a speech about

an hour in length. He says that the stipulations of the treaty of peace

with the United States have been faithfully observed, and have proved

highly advantageous for Mexico. Three treaties have been concluded

during his administration--one with the United States in regard to the

Isthmus of Tehuantepec, another with the same power concerning the

extradition of criminals, and another with Guatemala on the same

subject. Domestic tranquillity has been preserved throughout the

country; complaint, however, is made that the States transcend their

rightful authority, and thus weaken the General Government; and the

necessity of providing a remedy for this abuse, in order to maintain the

integrity of the Federal Constitution, is strongly urged. Commerce and

manufactures are said to have flourished, and the mining business, which

is the chief resource of Mexico, has been peculiarly good. Their entire

returns during the last year are estimated at thirty millions. The

President urges the propriety of making laws to restrain the

licentiousness of the press. The army has been thoroughly reformed,

consisting now of only 6246 men, all of whom are characterized as "true

soldiers," stationed in places where their services will be most useful

to the Republic. On the 15th, Gen. Arista was inaugurated President of

Mexico. His opening address was brief, pertinent, and patriotic. He

spoke of peace as the first necessity of the Republic, and promised that

it should be "maintained at any cost, as the only manner in which the

happiness and prosperity of the people can be secured." He says that

"every thing will be done by the central authorities to enable the

States to equalize the expenses and their revenues; to multiply their

ways of communication; to augment their agricultural and commercial

industry; in short, to make them great and powerful, attracting to their

bosoms the intelligent, industrious and enlightened population which

they so much need." The address was received with great satisfaction.

The ceremony of the inauguration was extremely brilliant, and was

witnessed by an immense concourse of people. After it was over, the

President and his ministers repaired to the cathedral, where a _Te Deum_

was sung, and prayers offered up for the happiness of the nation. The

personal popularity of Gen. Arista is very great, and the best hopes are

indulged of his administration.

Mr. Letcher, the American Minister, left for the United States, on the

26th, and reached New Orleans Feb. 4th. It was supposed that he brought

the Tehuantepec treaty ratified with him. A revolt against the central

government has occurred in Guanajuato, but it was soon put down by the

troops. A number of the ringleaders in it have been executed. The

Mexican Government has granted to a company styled Rubio, Barron, Garay,

Torre & Co., the whole of the public lands in the State of Sonora,

comprising one of the most valuable tracts in the whole country.

The Yucatan papers complain loudly of the encroachments of the English

in fortifying Belize, and in otherwise interfering in the affairs of the

Peninsula. The American Hydrographic Party was busily engaged in

surveying the route across the Isthmus.

CENTRAL AMERICA.

From NICARAGUA we have intelligence to the 13th of January. A rich

placer of gold is said to have been discovered about eight miles from

Realejo. The crops throughout the country have been seriously threatened

by immense flocks of locusts. In consequence of the alarm created by

this menaced destruction, the Government has thrown open all the ports

of the country to the free admission of all kinds of grain. Don Jose

Sacasa has been elected Director of Nicaragua--the term of the present

incumbent expiring on the 1st of May. The difficulties between the

Government of San Salvador and the British Charge, Mr. Frederick

Chatfield, have led to the blockade by the latter, on behalf of his

Government, of all the ports of San Salvador. Mr. Chatfield resorted to

this extreme measure because the Government refused to comply with his

demands, that they should countermand certain instructions they had

given to their agents, and contradict, officially, certain statements

concerning the British Government made in the public prints of San

Salvador. The cause of this blockade was certainly somewhat singular;

but the form of it was still more so; for by its terms, British vessels

were excluded from its operation. Mr. Chatfield has also written a

letter to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Nicaragua, complaining of

the unwillingness of that Government to negotiate with Great Britain,

acting on behalf of the King of Mosquito, for a boundary between the

territories of Mosquito and those of Nicaragua; and saying that, "as a

proof of the conciliatory spirit of the British Government," it had

determined to prescribe and maintain a certain boundary line, which is

designated. He adds that the British government is still willing to

treat on the subject, and urges the importance of "coming to a friendly

understanding with the Mosquito government, since _no canal_, or any

other improved mode of transit across the Isthmus, can well be

established before the difficulty, raised by Nicaragua on this point, is

put an end to." In a subsequent letter, enforcing the necessity of

arranging the claims of a British house for damages, Mr. Chatfield makes

a singular but evident allusion to the hopes entertained by the

Government of Nicaragua of aid from the United States. He says that,

"Whatever assurances Nicaragua may receive that the conduct of its

Government, however irregular it may be toward another, will at all

times find support from third parties, still the Government of Nicaragua

must feel that no reliance should be placed on such assurances, as no

foreign Government will compromise political and commercial interests on

the behalf of a country whose rulers reject the ordinary means of

settling matters open to dispute, by argument, and negotiation."

From VALPARAISO we have intelligence to January 2d. The U.S. Corvette

Vincennes had been at that port, and took the American Minister, Hon.

Bailie Peyton, on a visit to the province of Conception. A very

destructive fire had occurred at Valparaiso, at which property to the

value of a quarter of a million of dollars was consumed. Congress met

December 16th, in extra session. A law had been passed authorizing the

Executive to reform the Custom-House regulations. A law is under

discussion making an appropriation of $36,000 annually to the Pacific

Steam Navy. By an existing law of the country, eight acres of land are

given to each foreign colonist: a new law is proposed, largely

increasing the grant. The sum of $2244 has been voted to afford

temporary residences for a colony of German emigrants. These facts are

important indications of the efforts made to invite foreigners into the

country. HENRI HERZ, the pianist, was at Valparaiso on the 1st of

January. On the 5th, there was an eruption of the volcano of Portillo,

near Santiago.

GREAT BRITAIN.

It is decided that Parliament is to be opened by the Queen in person, on

the 4th of February. Speculation is rife as to the course of Government

upon the subject of the "Papal Aggressions," of which though there are

many rumors, nothing authentic has transpired. The excitement upon this

subject, though the mode of manifestation is changed, seems not to have

died away. It occupies less space in the newspapers, and fewer public

meetings are held; the discussion now being carried on in books and

pamphlets, of which the last month has produced about one hundred, in

addition to nearly two hundred before published. In the address of the

English prelates to the Queen, which was noticed in our last Number, no

mention was made of the Irish Church. The bishops of that country have

taken the matter up, and have protested both to her Majesty and to their

English brethren, against any proceedings which shall imply that the two

branches of the Episcopal Church have separate rights and interests. The

Church question, in various aspects, can not well fail of being the

prominent one in the ensuing session of Parliament. A movement has been

set on foot, by the High Church Party with a view to a _convocation_ for

the settlement of various questions in debate within the Church; at a

public meeting for this object speeches marked by peculiar acrimony were

made. Secessions to the Roman Church, among the higher classes and the

clergy, are more frequent than at any former period.

The unwonted prospect of a surplus in the revenue, has occasioned

propositions for the abolition of many of the most onerous and odious

taxes. Among those spoken of are the window tax, the tax on paper, that

on tea, and the malt tax. The paper tax seems to be the favorite of the

press; but the probability is that the reduction will be made upon the

window tax. The question threatens to be an embarrassing one for the

Ministry, who will find it difficult to decide among so many conflicting

claims.

The Austrian government has officially demanded that punishment should

be inflicted upon those persons who committed the assault upon General

Haynau. After a somewhat prolonged correspondence the British Home

Secretary declined to make any inquiry into the matter, on the plea that

"it could not be attended with any satisfactory result." The refusal of

General Haynau to enter any complaint before the authorities is assigned

as the ground for this conclusion. Prince Schwartzenberg, in his closing

dispatch, hints that the Austrian government may consider it "befitting

to exercise reciprocity with regard to British subjects who may happen

to be in Austria."

In the colonies, the process of "annexation" goes on steadily. In India

one or two extensive districts are in course of absorption. At the Cape

of Good Hope, the Governor has deposed the most powerful of the Kaffir

chiefs, and appointed a British officer to assume the control of his

people. In Australia vehement opposition has sprung up against the

transportation system; and there is reason to suppose that this outlet

for the criminal population of Great Britain will soon be closed.

The "Crystal Palace," is so far completed that it has been made over

into the hands of the Commissioners. Severe storms have luckily

occurred, which have proved the entire stability of the edifice, not a

pane of glass, even, of which has been broken by them. Mr. Paxton has

written a letter to Lord John Russell, strenuously urging that after the

first fortnight, and with the exception of one day in each week,

admission to the Exhibition be gratis.

FRANCE.

From France the political intelligence is of considerable importance,

not so much on its own account, as showing a deep and increasing

hostility between the President and the National Assembly. This feeling

has been manifested by several incidents, and has caused within three

weeks three separate Ministries, besides an interregnum of a week. The

personal adherents of the President in the Assembly have never

constituted more than a third of that body; but he has always succeeded

in carrying his measures by dexterously pitting one party against the

other: each party preferring him to their opponents. But when the

President's designs for the perpetuation of his power became apparent,

all parties began to look upon General Changarnier as in some sort a

counterpoise. A collision having arisen between the General and the

Ministers, the Assembly took part with the former, whereupon the

Ministry resigned. The President, despite the remonstrances of the

leaders of the Assembly, made the dismissal of Changarnier a _sine quâ

non_ in the appointment of a new Ministry. He at length succeeded in

forming one that would take this step; and the General was dismissed,

and the enormous military functions he had exercised were divided among

a number of officers. A fierce opposition at once sprang up against the

new Ministry. A singular coalition was formed, mainly through the

tactics of M. Thiers, of Conservatives, Cavaignac Republicans, and ultra

Democrats, so that a vote declaring want of confidence in the Ministry

passed by 417 to 278; whereupon this Ministry resigned. No man of all

the majority could be found who would undertake to form a Ministry from

its discordant elements; a like attempt to form one from the minority in

the Assembly was unsuccessful. At last, the President formed one of

which not an individual was a member of the Assembly. Throughout the

whole of these transactions, Louis Napoleon has shown a political skill

and dexterity scarcely inferior to that manifested in the field by the

Great Emperor. With vastly inferior forces at his command, he has gained

every point: he has got rid of his most formidable rival, Changarnier;

he has convinced, apparently, the middle classes that the only hope of

peace and stability lies in his possession of power; and the Assembly

have been driven into acts of opposition which can bear no other

interpretation than that of a factious struggle for power. The position

of the President is considerably strengthened by the late occurrences.

GERMANY.