ancient armor which belonged to Sir Samuel R. Meyrick, at Herefordshire.
It bears the date of 1674. The blade is thin and exceedingly sharp at
both edges. Engraved on it is a man impaled, above which are some words
in German, of which the following is a translation:—
Look every one that has eyes,
Look here, and see that
To erect power on wickedness
Cannot last long.
A man holding a crucifix, his eyes bandaged, is on his knees; the
executioner, with his right hand on the hilt and his left on the pommel,
is about to strike the blow; above is engraved—
He who ambitiously exalts himself,
And thinks only of evil,
Has his neck already encompassed
By punishment.
On the other side is a man broken on a wheel, over which is—
I live, I know not how long;
I die, but I know not when.
Also a man suspended by the ribs from a gibbet, with the inscription—
I move, without knowing whither;
I wonder I am so tranquil.
_Luck of Eden-hall._
Hutchinson, in his "History of Cumberland," speaking of Eden-hall, says:
"In this house are some old-fashioned apartments. An old painted
drinking-glass, called the 'Luck of Eden-hall,' is preserved with great
care. In the garden, near to the house, is a well of excellent spring
water, called St. Cuthbert's well. The glass is supposed to have been a
sacred chalice, but the legendary tale is, that the butler, going to
draw water, surprised a company of fairies who were amusing themselves
upon the green near the well. He seized the glass which was standing
upon its margin; they tried to get it from him, but, after an
ineffectual struggle, flew away, singing—
'If that glass either break or fall,
Farewell the luck of Eden-hall.'"
_Bernini's Bust of Charles I._
Vandyck having drawn the king in three different faces, a profile,
three-quarters and a full face, the picture was sent to Rome for Bernini
to make a bust from it. Bernini was unaccountably dilatory in the work,
and upon this being complained of, he said that he had set about it
several times, but there was something so unfortunate in the features of
the face that he was shocked every time that he examined it, and forced
to leave off the work, observing, that if any stress was to be laid upon
physiognomy, he was sure the person whom the picture represented was
destined to a violent end. The bust was at last finished, and sent to
England. As soon as the ship that brought it arrived in the Thames, the
king, who was very impatient to see the bust, ordered it to be taken
immediately to Chelsea. It was accordingly carried thither, and placed
upon a table in the garden, whither the king went, with a train of
nobility, to inspect the work. As they were viewing it, a hawk flew over
their heads, with a partridge in his claws, which he had wounded to
death. Some of the partridge's blood fell upon the neck of the bust,
where it remained without being wiped off.
_Burn's Snuff-box._
Burns and Mr. Bacon, the latter an inn-keeper near Dumfries, were very
intimate, and, as a token of regard, the former gave to the latter his
snuff-box, which for many years had been his pocket companion. On Mr.
Bacon's death, in 1825, his effects were sold. The snuff-box was put up
for sale among the other things, and some one bid a shilling. There was
a general exclamation that it was not worth twopence. The auctioneer,
before knocking it down, opened the box. He saw engraved on the lid, and
read aloud, the following inscription:—
"ROBT. BURNS,
OFFICER
OF
THE EXCISE."
The value of the box suddenly rose. Shilling after shilling was added,
until it was finally knocked down for five pounds to a Mr. Munnell, of
Closburn.—_Hone._
_Statue of Memnon._
This celebrated statue was situated at Thebes, and was either injured by
Cambyses, to whom the Egyptian priests ascribed most of the mutilations
of the Theban temples, or else thrown down by an earthquake. The
peculiar characteristic of the statue was its giving out at various
times a sound resembling the breaking of a harp-string or a metallic
ring. Considerable difference has prevailed as to the reason of this
sound, which has been heard in modern times, it being ascribed to the
artifice of the priests, who struck the sonorous stone of which the
statue is composed—to the passage of light draughts of air through the
cracks, or the sudden expansion of aqueous particles, under the
influence of the sun's rays. This remarkable quality of the statue is
first mentioned by Strabo, who visited it about 18 B. C., and upwards of
one hundred inscriptions of Greek and Roman visitors, incised upon its
legs, record the visits of ancient travelers to witness the phenomenon,
from the ninth year of Nero, 63 A. D., to the reign of the Emperor
Severus, when it became silent.
_The Head of Orpheus._
Whether the head of Orpheus spoke in the island of Lesbos, or, what is
more probable, the answers were conveyed to it by the priests, as was
the case with the tripod at Delphi, cannot with certainty be determined.
That the imposter Alexander, however, caused his Æsculapius to speak in
this manner, is expressly related by Lucian. He took, says that author,
instead of a pipe, the gullet of a crane, and transmitted the voice
through it to the mouth of the statue. In the fourth century, when
Bishop Theophilus broke to pieces the statues at Alexandria, he found
some which were hollow, and placed in such a manner against a wall that
a priest could slip unperceived behind them and speak to the ignorant
populace through their mouths.
_Wonderful Automata._
Archytas, of Tarentum, is reported, so long ago as 400 B. C., to have
made a pigeon that could fly. The most perfect automaton about which
there is absolute certainty, was one constructed by M. Vaucanson,
exhibited in Paris in 1738. It represented a flute-player, which placed
its lips against the instrument, and produced the notes with its fingers
in precisely the same manner as a human being does. In 1741 M. Vaucanson
made a flageolet-player, which with one hand beat a tambourine, and in
the same year he produced a duck. The latter was an ingenious
contrivance; it swam, dived, ate, drank, dressed its wings, etc., as
naturally as its live companions; and, most wonderful of all, by means
of a solution in the stomach, it was actually made to digest its food.
An automaton made by M. Droz drew likenesses of public characters. Some
years ago a Mr. Faber contrived a figure which was able to articulate
words and sentences very intelligibly, but the effect was not pleasant.
The chess-player of Kempelen was long regarded as the most wonderful of
automata. It represented a Turk of natural size, dressed in the national
costume, and seated behind a box resembling a chest of drawers in shape.
Before the game commenced, the artist opened several doors in the chest,
which revealed a large number of pulleys, wheels, cylinders, springs,
etc. The chessmen were produced from a long drawer, as was also a
cushion for the figure to rest its arm upon. The automaton, not being
able to speak, signified, when the queen of his antagonist was in
danger, by two nods, and when the king was in check by three. It
succeeded in beating most of the players with whom it engaged, but it
turned out afterwards that a crippled Russian officer—a very celebrated
chess-player—was concealed in the interior of the figure. The figure is
said to have been constructed for the purpose of effecting the officer's
escape out of Russia, where his life was forfeited. So far as the mental
process was concerned, the chess-player was not, therefore, an
automaton, but great ingenuity was evinced in its movement of the
pieces.
_Temple of the Sun._
The Temple of the Sun at Cuzco, called _Coricancha_, or "Place of Gold,"
was the most magnificent edifice in the Persian empire. On the western
wall, and opposite the eastern portal, was a splendid representation of
the Sun, the god of the nation. It consisted of a human face in gold,
with innumerable golden rays emanating from it in every direction; and
when the early beams of the morning sun fell upon this brilliant golden
disc, they were reflected from it as from a mirror, and again reflected
throughout the whole temple by the numberless plates, cornices, bands
and images of gold, until the temple seemed to glow with a sunshine more
intense than that of nature.
_Tomb of Darius._
One of the most remarkable tombs of the ancients was that carved out of
rock, by order of Darius, for the reception of his own remains, and
which exists to this day at Persepolis, after a duration of twenty-three
centuries.
The portico is supported by four columns twenty feet in height, and in
the centre is the form of a doorway, seemingly the entrance to the
interior, but it is solid; the entablature is of chaste design. Above
the portico there is what may be termed an ark, supported by two rows of
figures, about the size of life, bearing it on their uplifted hands, and
at each angle a griffin—an ornament which is very frequent at
Persepolis. On this stage stands the king, with a bent bow in his hand,
worshipping the sun, the image of which is seen above the altar that
stands before him, while above his head hovers his ferouher, or
disembodied spirit. This is the good genius that in Persian and Ninevite
sculpture accompanies the king when performing any important act. On
each side of the ark are nine niches, each containing a statue in
bas-relief. No other portion of the tomb was intended to be seen,
excepting the sculptured front; and we must, therefore, conclude that
the entrance was kept secret, and that the avenues were by subterranean
passages, so constructed that none but the priviledged could find the
way. We are told by Theophrastus that Darius was buried in a coffer of
Egyptian alabaster; also that the early Persians preserved the bodies of
their dead in honey or wax.
_Temples the First Museums._
Natural objects of uncommon size or beauty were, in the earliest
periods, consecrated to the gods, and conveyed to the temples, to awaken
curiosity and to excite reverence. In the course of time the natural
curiosities dedicated to the gods formed large collections. When Hanno
returned from his distant voyages, he brought with him to Carthage two
skins of the hairy women whom he found on the Gorgades Islands, and
deposited them in the temple of Juno. The monstrous horns of the wild
bulls which had occasioned so much devastation in Macedonia were, by
order of King Philip, hung up in the temple of Hercules. The unnaturally
formed shoulder-bones of Pelopos were deposited in the temple of Elis.
The crocodile, found in attempting to discover the sources of the Nile,
was preserved in the temple of Isis, at Cæsarea. The head of a basilisk
was exhibited in one of the temples of Diana, and in the time of
Pausanias the head of the celebrated Calydonian boar was to be seen in
one of the temples of Greece.
_Wesley's Plate._
An order was made in the House of Lords, in May, 1776, "that the
commissioners of his majesty's excise do write circular letters to all
such persons whom they have reason to suspect to have _plate_, as also
to those who have not paid regularly the duty on the same." In
consequence of this order, the accountant-general for household plate
sent to the celebrated John Wesley a copy of the order. The reply was a
laconic one—
"SIR: I have _two_ silver teaspoons in London and _two_ at Bristol. This
is all the plate which I have at present; and I shall not buy any more
while so many round me want bread.
"I am, sir,
Your most humble servant,
JOHN WESLEY."
_Grace Knives._
There is in existence a curious class of knives, of the sixteenth
century, the blades of which have on one side the musical notes to the
benediction of the table, or grace before meat, and on the other side
the grace after meat. The set of these knives usually consisted of four.
They were kept in an upright case of stamped leather, and were placed
before the singer.
_Religious Relics._
At the commencement of the seventeenth century there was a crucifix
belonging to the Augustine friars, at Burgos, in Spain, which produced a
revenue of nearly seven thousand crowns per annum. It was found upon the
sea, not far from the coast, with a scroll of parchment appended to it
descriptive of the various virtues it possessed. The image was provided
with a false beard and a chestnut-colored periwig, which its holy
guardians declared were natural, and they also assured all pious
visitors that on every Friday it sweated blood and water into a silver
basin. In the garden of this convent grew a species of wheat, the grain
of which was unusually large, and which its possessors averred was
brought by Adam out of Paradise. Cakes, for the cure of all diseases,
were made out of the wheat kneaded with the aforesaid blood and water,
and sold to the credulous multitude for a quartillo each. They also
sold blue ribbons, of the exact length of the crucifix, for about a
shilling each. The ribbons were a sovereign cure for headache, and had
upon them, in silver letters, "La madi del santo crucifisco de Burgos."
_Mammoth Bottle._
In January, 1751, a globular bottle was blown at Leith capable of
holding two hogsheads. Its dimensions were forty inches by forty-two.
This immense vessel was the largest ever produced at any
glass-works.—_Hone._
_A Drinking Glass a Yard Long._
"On the proclamation of James II., in the market place of Bromley, by
the Sheriff of Kent, the commander of the Kentish troop, two of the
king's trumpets, and other officers, they drank the king's health in a
flint glass a yard long."—_Evelyn's Diary_, Feb. 10th, 1685.
_Kneeling Statue of Atlas._
In the Museo Borbonico, at Naples, is a kneeling statue of Atlas
sustaining the globe. It is a very interesting monument of Roman art,
and one of great value to the student of ancient astronomy. Of the
forty-seven constellations known to the ancients, forty-two may be
distinctly recognized. The date of this curious sculpture is fixed as
anterior to the time of Hadrian by the absence of the likeness of
Antinous, which was inserted in the constellation Aquila by the
astronomers of that period.
_The Druid's Seat._
The "Druid's Judgment Seat" stands near the village of Killiney, not far
from Drogheda, near the Martello tower. It was formerly enclosed with a
circle of large stones and a ditch. The former has been destroyed, and
the latter so altered that little of its ancient character remains. The
"Seat" is composed of large, rough granite blocks, and if really of the
period to which tradition credits it, an unusual degree of care must
have been exercised in its preservation. The following are its
measurements: Breadth at the base, eleven feet and a half; depth of the
seat, one foot nine inches; extreme height, seven feet.
_Curious Epitaphs._
Praises on tombs are trifles vainly spent;
A man's good name is his best monument.
From Childwald church-yard, England—
Here lies me and my three daughters,
Brought here by using seidlitz waters;
If we had stuck to Epsom salts,
We wouldn't have been in these here vaults.
From Nettlebed church-yard, Oxfordshire—
Here lies father, and mother, and sister, and I,
We all died within the space of one short year;
They all be buried at Wimble, except I,
And I be buried here.
At Wolstanton—
Mrs. Ann Jennings.
Some have children, some have none:
Here lies the mother of twenty-one.
In Norwich Cathedral—
Here lies the body of honest Tom Page,
Who died in the thirty-third year of his age.
At Torrington church-yard, Devon, England—
She was—but words are wanting to say what:
Think what a woman should be—she was that.
In the church-yard of Pewsey, Wiltshire—
Here lies the body of Lady O'Looney, great-niece of Burke,
commonly called the Sublime. She was bland, passionate and
deeply religious; also she painted in water-colors, and sent
several pictures to the exhibition. She was first cousin to
Lady Jones; and of such is the kingdom of heaven.
Shields (the Irish orator)—
Here lie I at reckon, and my spirit at aise is,
With the tip of my nose, and the ends of my toes,
Turned up 'gainst the roots of the daisies.
In Doncaster church-yard, 1816—
Here lies 2 brothers by misfortin serounded,
One dy'd of his wounds & the other was drownded.
On the monument of John of Doncaster—
What I gave, I have;
What I spent, I had;
What I saved, I lost.
In a New England grave-yard—
Here lies John Auricular,
Who in the ways of the Lord walked perpendicular.
Sternhold Oakes—
Here lies the body of Sternhold Oakes,
Who lived and died like other folks.
On a tombstone in New Jersey—
Reader, pass on! don't waste your time
On bad biography and bitter rhyme;
For what I _am_, this crumbling clay insures,
And what I _was_, is no affair of yours!
In East Hartford, Connecticut—
Hark! she bids all her friends adieu;
An angel calls her to the spheres;
Our eyes the radiant saint pursue
Through liquid telescopes of tears.
In Newington church-yard—
Through Christ, I am not inferior
To William the Conqueror.
In Bideford church-yard, Kent—
The wedding-day appointed was,
And wedding-clothes provided,
But ere the day did come, alas!
He sickened, and he die did.
Rebecca Rogers, Folkestone, 1688—
A house she hath, 'tis made of such good fashion,
The tenant ne'er shall pay for reparation;
Nor will her landlord ever raise her rent,
Or turn her out of doors for non-payment.
From chimney-tax this cell's forever free—
To such a house who would not tenant be?
At Augusta, Maine—
—After life's _scarlet fever_,
I sleep well.
John Mound—
Here lies the body of John Mound,
Lost at sea and never found.
POETRY, PIETY AND POLITENESS.
The following epitaph was copied from a stone in a country church-yard—
"You who stand around my grave,
And say, 'His life is gone;'
You are mistaken—_pardon me_—
My life is but begun."
At Loch Rausa—
Here lies Donald and his wife,
Janet MacFee:
Aged 40 hee,
And 30 shee.
On Mr. Bywater—
Here lie the remains of his relatives' pride,
Bywater he lived and by water he died;
Though by water he fell, yet by water he'll rise,
By water baptismal attaining the skies.
At Staverton, England—
Here lieth the body of Betty Bowden,
Who would live longer but she couden;
Sorrow and grief made her decay,
Till her bad leg carr'd her away.
At Penryn—
Here lies William Smith; and, what is somewhat rarish,
He was born, bred and hanged in this here parish.
From St. Agnes', London—
Qu an tris di c vul stra
Os guis ti ro um nere vit.
H san Chris mi t mu la.
In Linton church-yard, 1825—
Remember man, that passeth by,
As thou is now so once was I;
And as I is so must thou be:
Prepare thyself to follow me.
Under this inscription some one wrote—
To follow you's not my intent,
Unless I knew which way you went.
At Queenborough—
Henry Knight, master of a shipp to Greenland, and
Herpooner 24 voyages.
In Greenland I whales, sea-horses, bears did slay,
Though now my body is intombe in clay.
At Minster—
Here interr'd George Anderson doth lye,
By fallen on an anchor he did dye,
In Sheerness Yard, on Good Friday,
Ye 6th of April, I do say,
All you that read my allegy: Be alwaies
Ready for to dye—aged 42 years.
At Hadley church-yard, Suffolk—
The charnel mounted on the w }
Sets to be seen in funer }
A matron plain domestic }
In care and pain continu }
Not slow, not gay, not prodig } ALL.
Yet neighborly and hospit }
Her children seven, yet living }
Her sixty-seventh year hence did c }
To rest her body natur }
In hopes to rise spiritu }
The middle line furnishes the terminal letters or syllables of the words
in the upper and lower lines, and when added they read thus—
Quos anguis tristi diro cum vulnere stravit,
Hos sanguis Christi miro tum munere lavit.
[Those who have felt the serpent's venomed wound,
In Christ's miraculous blood have healing found.]
In a Paris cemetery—
I' attends ma femme. │ I await my wife.
1820. │ 1820.
────── │ ──────
Me voilá. │ I am here.
1830. │ 1830.
Shakespeare's tomb—
The inscription on Shakespeare's tomb forbids the removal of the body.
Subjoined is the prohibition—
"Good Friend, for Jesvs sake forbeare
To digg Y-E dvst EncloAsed HERE.
Blest be Y-E Man T-Y spares T-hs Stones
And cvrst be He T-Y moves my bones."
In consequence of this inscription, the people of Stratford-on-Avon are
afraid to put their feet on the stones above the grave, and the body of
the greatest English poet has not been placed with other geniuses in
Westminster Abbey.
Stone tablet puzzle—
The following letters are inscribed on a stone tablet placed immediately
over the Ten Commandments in a church in England, and are deciphered
with only one letter—
PRSVR Y PRFCT MN!
VR KP THS PRCPTS TN.
Grimmingham church-yard, Norfolk, England—
To the memory of Thomas Jackson, Comedian, who was _engaged,_ 21st of
Dec, 1741, to _play a comic cast of characters, in this great
theatre_—the World: for many of which he was _prompted_ by nature to
excel.
The _season_ being ended, his _benefit_ over, the charges all paid, and
his account closed, he made his _exit_ in the _tragedy_ of Death, on the
17th of March, 1798, in full assurance of being called once more to
_rehearsal;_ where he hopes to find his _forfeits_ all cleared, his
_cast of parts_ bettered, and his situation made agreeable by Him who
paid the great stock-debt, for the love which he bore to _performers_ in
general.
An inculpatory epitaph—
The following epitaph at West Allington, Devon, England, is not only a
memorial of the deceased, but reproves the parson of the parish—
Here lyeth the Body of
Daniel Jeffery the son of Mich
ael Jeffery and Joan his wife he
was buried y^e 22 day of September
1746 and in y^e 18th year of his age.
This Youth When In his sickness lay
did for the minister Send┿that he would
Come and with him Pray┿But he would not atend
But when this Young Man Buried was
The minister did him admit┿he should be
Caried into Church┿that he might money geet
By this you see what man will dwo┿to geet
money if he can┿who did refuse to come
pray┿by the Foresaid young man
At St. Benedict Fink—
"1673, April 23rd, was buried M^r. Thomas Sharrow, Cloth-worker, late
Churchwarden of this parish, killed by an accidental fall into a vault,
in London Wall, men Corner, by Paternoster Row, and was supposed had
lain there eleven days and nights before any one could tell where he
was. _Let all that read this take heed of drink._"
At Clophill, Bedfordshire—
DEATH DO NOT KICK AT MEE
FOR CHRIST HATH TAKEN
THY STING AWAY.
1623.
In the same—
HEAR
LIES THE
BODEY OF
THOMAS
DEARMAN T
HAT GAVE 6 _P_
OVND A YEAR
TO TH E LABE
RERS O F CLOPH
ILL 1631.
A watchmaker's epitaph—
Among the curious epitaphs to be seen in the graveyards of England, this
one in the old church-yard of Lidford, Devon, is worthy of insertion—
Here lies, in a horizontal position,
The outside case of
George Rougleigh, watchmaker,
Whose abilities in that line were an honor
To his profession.
Integrity was the mainspring
And prudence the regulator
Of all the actions of his life.
Humane, generous and liberal,
His hand never stopped
Till he had relieved distress;
So nicely were all his actions regulated
That he never went wrong
Except when set a-going
By people
Who did not know his key;
Even then he was easily set aright again.
He had the art of disposing his time so well
That his hours glided away
In one continual round
Of pleasure and delight,
Till an unlucky minute put a period to
his existence.
He departed this life November 14, 1802,
Aged 57;
Wound up
In hopes of being taken in hand
By his Maker,
And of being thoroughly cleaned and repaired
And set a-going
In the world to come.
Grave of Robin Hood—
At Kirklees, in Yorkshire, formerly a Benedictine nunnery, is a
gravestone, near the park, under which it is said Robin Hood lies
buried. Mr. Ralph Thoresby, in his "Ducatus Leodiensis," gives the
following as the epitaph—
Here undernead dis laith stean
Laiz Robert Earl of Huntington,
Nea arcir ver az hie sa geude:
An piple kaud im Robin Heud
Sic utlawz as hi, an iz men,
Wil England never sigh agen.
Obiit 24 kal. Dekembris, 1247.
_Great Tom of Lincoln._
The finest bell in England was the Great Tom of Lincoln, considerably
older than St. Paul's. Its elevation gave it an horizon of fifty miles
in every direction. Its note was like the chord of A upon a full organ.
It fell from its support and was destroyed.