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NOTE BOOK OF A NATURALIST. Leaves from t...
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LAMARTINE ON WATERLOO. Hisloire de la Re...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Rambles Beyond Railways; Rambles Beyond ...
Pilchard fishery , being particularly noticeably as i Vthat on the Ancient Drama in Cornwall , which £ i ^ S b £ hands of our friend Vivian . There a rnnnv passages tempting us as extracts ; but we pass ^ af the << bits of s ? enery » for the sake of this curious account of , . . LOO TOOIi . " The banks of Loo Pool stretch on either side to + ho length of two miles ; the lake , which in summer ^ unies little more than half the space that it covers fn winter , is formed 'b y the Row of two or three small streams You first reach it from Helston , after a walk of half a mile ; and then see before you , on either hand , long ranges of hills rising gently from the w ater's ' edge , covered with clustering trees , or occuoied by wide cornfields and sloping tracts of common land . So far , the scenery around Loo Pool resembles the scenery around other lakes ; but as vou proceed , the view changes in the most striking and e xtraordinary manner . Walking on along the
winding banks of the pool , you taste the Water and find it soft and fresh , you see ducks swimm about in "it from the neighbouring farmhouses , you watch the rising of the fine trout for which it is celebrated—every object tends to convince vou that you are wandering by the shores of an inland lake—when suddenly , at a turn in the hill slope , you are startled by the shrill cry of the gull , and the fierce roar of breakers thunders on your ear—you look over the light grey , placid waters of the lake , and behold , stretching immediately above and beyond them , the expanse of the deep blue ocean , from Which they are only separated by a mere strip of smooth ¦ white sand ! _
* ' You hurry on , and reach this bar of sand which parts the great English Channel and the little Loo Pool—a child might run across . it in a minute ! You stand in the centre—on one side , close at hand , water is dancing beneath the breeze in glassy , tiny ripples ; on the other , equall y close , water rolls in mighty waves * precipitated on the ground in dashing , hissings ¦ writhing floods of the whitest foam—here , children are floating mimic boats on a mimic sea ; there , the
stateliest ships of England are sailing over the great deep—both scenes visible in one view . Roeky cliffs and arid sands appear in close combination with roundedfertile hills , and long grassy slopes ; salt spray leaping over the first , spring-water lying calm beneath the last ! No fairy vision of Nature that ever was imagined is more fantastic , or more lovely than this glorious reality , which brings all the most widely contrasted characteristics ot a sea view and an inland
view into the closest contact , and presents them in one harmonious picture to the eye .-" The ridge of sand between Loo Pool and the sea , ¦ which , by impeding the flow of the inland streams , spreads them in the form of a lake over the valley-ground between two hills , is formed by the action of storms from the south-west . Such , at least , is the modern explanation of the manner in which Loo Bar has been heaped up . But there is arj . ancient legend in connection with it , which tel | s a ¦ widel y different story . It is said that the tenible Cornish giant , or ogre , Tregeagle , was trudging
homewards one day , carrying a huge sack of sand on his back , which—being a giant of neat and cleanly habits —he designed should serve him for sprinkling his parlour floor . . As he was passing along the top of the hills which now overlook Loo Pool , he heard a sound of scampering footsteps behind him ; ' , turning round , saw that he was hotly pursued by no less a person than the devil himself . Big as he was , Tregeagle lost heart and ignominiously took to his heels : but the devil ran nimbly , ran steadily , ran without
losing breath—ran , in short , like the devil . Tregeaglo was fat , short-winded , had a load on his back , and lost ground at every step . At last , just , as he reached the seaward extremity of the hills , he determined in despair to lighten himsolf of his burden , and thus to seize the only chance of escaping his enemy by superior fleetness of foot . Accordingly , he opened his huge sack in a great hurry , shook out all his Handover the precipice , between the sea and the river which than ran into it , and so formed in a moment the Bar of Loo Pool .
" In the winter time , the lake is the cause and tho scene of an extraordinary ceremony . The heavy incessant rains which then fall ( ico is nlmost unknown in tho moist climate of Cornwall ) , increase day by day the waters of the Pool , until they encroaoh over tho whole of the low flat valley between H « laton ana tho sea . Then , tho smooth paths of turf , the mtlo streams that run by their side—so pleasant to look on , in the summer timo—are hidden by the great overilow . Mill-wheels nro stopped ; cottages built on the declivities of the hills are threatened with inundation . Out on the bar , at high tide , but two or tnroe leot of sand appear between the stormy soa on wo one hand , and the stagnant swollen lako on tho ocuo r . It Loo Pool wero measured now , it would be louna to extend to a circumference of aevon miles
. When the flooding of tho lake has ronohed its thA X ' ) , mlllers , who are tho principal sufferers by 1 W ° J i ' P rep « re to cut a passage through tho jjur ior tho superabundant waters of the Pool , "eiore they can dp this , howeyor , they must conform
to a curious old custom which has been practised for centuries , and is retained down to the present day . Procuring two stout leathern purses , they tie . up three halfpence in each , and then set off with them in a body to the Lord of the Manor . Presenting him with their purses , they state their case with all due formality , and request permission to cut their trench through the sand . In consideration of the threepenny recognition of his rights , the Lord of the Manor graciously accedes to the petition ; and the millers , armed with their spades and shovels , start for th » Bar . (
" Their projected labour is not great . A mere ditch suffices to establish the desired communication : and the water does the rest for itself . On one occasion , so high was the tide on one side , and so full the lake on the other , that a man actually scraped away sand enough with his stick , to give vent to the waters of the Pool . Thus , after no very hard work , the millers achieve their object ; and the spectators , watching on the hill , then behold a striking and tremendous scene .
" Tearing away the sand on either side , floods of fresh water rush out furiously against floods of salt water leaping in , upheaved into mighty waves by the winter gale . A foaming roaring battle between two opposing forces of the same element takes place . The noise is terrific—it is heard like thunder , at great distances off . At last , the heavy , smooth , continuous flow of the fresh water prevails even over the power of the ocean . Farther and farther out , rushing through a wider and wider channel every minute , pour the great floods from the land , until the salt water is stained with an ochre colour , over a surface of twenty miles . But their force is soon spentsoon , the lake sinks lower and lower away from the slope of the hills , Then , with the high tide , the sea reappears triumphantly , dashing and leaping , in
elouds of spray , through the channel in the sandmaking the waters of the Pool brackish—now , threatening to swell them anew to overflowing—and now , at the ebb , leaving them to empty themselves again , in the manner of a great tidal rivers until a storm from the south-west comes on ; and then , fresh masses of sand and shingle are forced up—the channel is refilled—the Bar is reconstructed as if by a miracle . Again , the scene—changed but for a short season — resumes its old features—again , there is a sea on one side , and a lake on the other . But now , the . Pool occupies only its ordinary limits—now , the millwheels turn busily once " more , and the smooth paths and gliding streams reappear in their former beauty , until the next winter rains shall come round , and the next winter floods shall submerge them again . "
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Note Book Of A Naturalist. Leaves From T...
NOTE BOOK OF A NATURALIST . Leaves from the JVote Book of a JValuralist . JJy W . J . Broderip , ICsq ., F . U . S J > W . Parker and Son . The readers of Fraser ' s Magazine during the years 1850 and 1851 will not have forgotten the delightful series of papers on Natural History which varied its pages ; and they will be pleased to hear that the author , Mr . Broderip , has collected them into one portable volume for the library shelves .
Of all studies none can surpass in fascination and grateful result the study of Natural History , in the broad sense of that term ; at least such is our opinion , and we have been very discursive students . It is one of those subjects of which even a little knowledge is felt to * be a gain , and no knowledge can pretend to exhaust the stores ; embracing every variety of interest and point of view , appealing to every class of intellect , and affording incessant occasions for the extension and application of our little knowledge . Natural His ^ tory reaches from the charming prattle of White ' s History of Sclborne ( next to Robinson Crusoe ical
the boys' own book ) to the great biolog problems mooted by Lamarck , St . Hilaire , Goethe , and Owen . To students of all classes we can heartily commend these Leaves from the Naturalist ' s Note Book ; they abound in anecdote , in quaint erudition , in pleasant digression , in good observation and description . The higher questions of biology are not touched by Mr . Broderi p , for ho is here jotting down " notes " only , and does not by nature seem prone to philosophical speculation ; but if he does not argue questions , he gives . us , materials wherewith to work " : for those we are thankful . Altogether a more agreeable volume we should find it difficult to name .
Mr . Broderip ' s beaver " Binny , " who grew so fond of him , and died brokenhearted at their separation , has invested the race of beavers with a new interest in our eyes ; and if we had not conceived an original and independent passion for the Hippopotamus , who vras the " lion " of the season , these pages would have sent us straightway in search ot his acquaintance . Let every one read them , and side by Bide with them , tho inimitable papers on
our dear beast , which appeared in Household Words , so instinct with humour and real gusto . Mr . Broderip has the art of securing a reader ' s interest in his various pets—viz ., the genuine affection with which he treats of them . That is the primary requisite of all literature— $ i vis me ftere , and which may here be rendered , " If you want me to love animals , you , who describe them , must love them toa . "
Lamartine On Waterloo. Hisloire De La Re...
LAMARTINE ON WATERLOO . Hisloire de la Restauration . Par A . de Lamartine . Tomes 111 . and IV . W . Jeffs . French authors , great upon many themes , are magnificent upon Waterloo . If they were defeated on-the plain , they have avenged that defeat in their writings ; and after all , does not every one know that they were not defeated ? If we remained in possession of the field , it was only because the French had quitted it in disgust !
Lamartine has peculiar qualifications for giving U 3 a true and impartial history of Waterloo . In the first place he is a Frenchman . In the second place be is altogether unbiassed by any military knowledge . In the third place he is Lamartine . His book exhibits the qualities you might expect , and is very amusing in consequence . A . s a Frenchman he admits of no defeat : nay , he
proclaims Waterloo a day of triumph—as Lamartine , a " good hater " of Napoleon , he reckons it only as a defeat of the general , " Waterloo , " he says , " remains in history not as a failure of the French army , but as a failure of its chief . The army was sacrificed , not vanquished . Thus , unlike all other historical days which exalt or diminish the grandeur of a people , the defeat of Waterloo counts in the annals of the nation ' s glory as equal t % a triumph . Europe lost none of its terror at soldiers who knew thus how to die , and an army that buried itself in its blood . For the world that
day was a day of terror at our name ; for France a day of grief , not of humiliation ; for Napoleon only it was a battle foolishly hazarded , an empire lost . " All this ^ ind of uneasy braggadoccio seems very ludicrous to us . We can understand that France does not like the idea of having been beaten ; but why be perpetually trying to elude the stern facts , and to prove that she gained a victory ? Had she never been beaten before ? She , whose writers
invariably speak of Napoleon ' s " conquest of the world" —a foolish fanfaronade unworthy of a nation whose standards waved over cowed nations in Italy , Spain , Germany , and Egypt—does she forget that one small portion of Europe at least was not conquered by her , and that not only did the English invariably beat the French throughout the Peninsular Campaign , but our raw conscripts scattered Napoleon ' s veterans at the Pyramids ?
We are ashamed thus to be obliged to oppose the foolish boastings of writers whose main object seems to be the suppression of the actual truth . But Lamartine has led us into it by the wilful romance of his narrative . To show how his lofty imagination soars above facts , we may mention that he speaks of Wellington having seven horses killed under him . It sounds
romantic—perilous—terrible—does it not ? Seven horses killed under him I We in England lived under the impression that Copenhagen , the one horse that bore him through the day , escaped the murderous bullets , arid died not long since at Strathfieldsaye " in a green old age . " Lamartine tells us elsewhere that he has seen the horse that carried Napoleon , and adds a mythical touch about him worth recording : —
" I have seen him surviving his master many , years , always proud , haughty , gentle , and raising his head at the name of IVaterloo as if he remembered his glory !" Lamartine will thank us for a pendant to that story ! Copenhagen , when he heard the name of Waterloo , used to hang down his head , as if ho drooped under the memory of his defeat ! We meant to rectify some of the enormous blunders and exaggerations of this account , but on reflection we desist . His inaccuracy is so excessive ,
that it would be idle to criticise it . He does not even see the absurdity of talking of tho Ninetyfifth regiment of our cavalry ; he augments a Scotch division of 400 into 40 Q 0 , and , ' instead of saying only 40 out of 400 remained , he makes the number 400 out of 4000 ; he says Wellington ordered tho cavalry to take off the curb reins , and gave the men brandy to increase the impetuosity of their charge—a charge Wellington regretted because too impetuous ; he describes a shock as " irresistible , " which was not simply resisted , but the charging column cut to pieces ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 7, 1852, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_07021852/page/19/
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