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No.^91 , September 19,1857.] THE LEADER....
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A LECTURE ON BODILY EXERCISE. A Lecture ...
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INDIAN MAPS. Mit. Stanfoui> has publishe...
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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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An Uncle Tom Novel. The Garies And Their...
the South . In Philadelphia , the transplanted Southern calls upon a coloured inhabitant , -who lives in a grand house with marble steps and a silver door-plate , with rooms hung with pictures and adorned -with rich ¦ vases and bronzes . " -This don ' t much resemble Georgia , " he thinks . Then enters the coloured gentleman , himself attired in the finest taste . Next upon the dioramic scene appears a pure-blooded white , and as black Mr . Walters exemplifies how well bred an African may be , white Mr . Stevens , the attorney , sets forth in his manners and feelings how low a European may descend . His wife , too , is a white virago , coarse in sentiment , and accustomed to make brutal remarks . She min-ht i , ave tolerated a Circassian
female slave , but upon a quadroon wife she cast for ever an eye of scorn . There is , of course , warfare between theGaries and the Stevenses . But the interest of the story is not exclusively of a familiar kind . ' Scenes of the mob ' are introduced , which , says Mrs . Stowe , " describe incidents of a peculiar stage of excitement which existed in the city of Philadelphia years ago , when the first agitation of the slavery question developed an . intense form of opposition to the free coloured people . " To these outbursts of fury Mr . Garie and his wife fell victims , and the tale is thenceforth sad and painful , until a love episode restores the flush of happiness . The daughter of the coloured beauty becomes a bride : —
There was a deeper colour than usual on her cheeks , and her eye 3 were illumined with a soft , tender light . Her wavy brown hair was parted smoothly on the front , and gathered into a cluster of curls at the back . Around her heck glistened a string of pearls , a present from Mr . Winston , who had just returned from South America . The pure white silk fitted to a nicety , and tie tiny satin slippers seemed as if they ¦ were made upon her feet , and never intended to come off again . A very graceful portrait , Mr . Webb . Then comes a picture of an American supper , quite original :-r—There were turkeys innocent of a bone , into which you might plunge your knife to the very hilt without coming in contact with a splinter—turkeys from , which cunning cooks had extracted every bone , leaving the meat alone fcebind , ' with the skin not perceptibly broken . How brown and tempting they looked , their capacious bosoms giving rich promise of high-seasoned dressing within , and looking larger by comparison with the tiny reed-birds beside them , which lay cosily on the golden toast , looking as much as to say , " If you want something to remember for ever , come and give me a bite !"
Then there were dishes of stewed terrapin , into which the initiated dipped at once , and to which they for some time gave their undivided attention , oblivious , apparently , of the fact that there was a dish of chicken-salad close beside them . . Then there were oysters in eveiy variety—silver dishes containing them stewed , their fragrant macey odour wafting itself upward , and causing watery sensations about the mouth . Waiters were constantly rushing into the room , bringing dishes of them fried so richly brown , so smoking hot , that no man with a heart in liis bosom could possibly refuse them . Then there were glass dishes of them pickled , with , little black spots of allspice floating on the pearly liquid that contained them . And lastly ,
oysters broiled , whose delicious flavour exceeds my powers of description—these , with Lam and tongue , were the-solid comforts ; ' There ¦ wereotheT- things , however , to which one could turn when the appetite grew more dainty ; there were jellies , blancmange , chocolate cream , biscuit glace " , peach ice , vanilla ice , orange-water ice , brandy peaches , preserved strawberries and pines ; not to say a word of towers of candy , bonbons , kisses , champagne , Rhine wine , sparkling Catawba , liquors , and a man in the corner making sherry cobblers of wondrous flavour , under the especial supervision of Kinch ; on the whole , it was an American supper , got up regardless of expense—and whoever has been to such an entertainment knows very well what an American
supper . The book is very creditable to its author , and will serve his purpose—that of raising the coloured race in the estimation of the English public .
No.^91 , September 19,1857.] The Leader....
No . ^ 91 , September 19 , 1857 . ] THE LEADER . 909
A Lecture On Bodily Exercise. A Lecture ...
A LECTURE ON BODILY EXERCISE . A Lecture on Bodily Exercise . Being the second of a Series of Plain and Simple Lectures on the Education of Man . By Thomas Hopley , F . S . S ., & c . & c . Churchill . The author of this pamphlet sets out by observing , that to every one who values happiness , every one who would augment the happiness of the world , every one who desires to advance the Divine will , it becomes important to study the conditions of" perfect development , that he may , to the best of his ability , live under them * himself , and teaeli them to mankind . To observe these conditions—in other words to give due activity to every organa to every power and function of the human frame , and at the same time maintain the health of the blood , the nursing parent of the entire beingit is absolutely necessary to attend to the laws of bodily exercise , diet , respiration , and mental exercise . To these , each in its turn , lie proposes to direct attention ; and first , as to bodily exercise : —
Though a contemplation of the effects produced upon the system by the simple act of walking , cannot but prove how marvellously the Creator has arranged for the health of man , still we must not suppose that walking exercise is of itself sufficient for muscular training . Reason teaches that , during walking , the muscles of the lower limbs , and consequently , all the organs which depend for their action on the action of those muscles , are more severely tnxxd than those of any other part of the human frame , and that in order to fully develop his strength , man should arrange that his daily recreation , or employment , may be of such a nature as to bring into adequate play the muscles of the upper , equally with those of the lower , purt of the body .
So far we perfectly coincide with the author . c To fetch , a walk the garden round , ' as somebody in Hamlet expresses it , does not quite accord with our own views of what the human constitution demands . It is an objectless , aimless diversion at the best , submitted to as a man submits to a dose of jalap , or any similar disagreeable self-infliction in which inclination takes no part . In order to fulfil all the conditions of healthful exercise , it seems indispensable that the mind be interested in the pursuit , so as to produce a truce to thought , and all the harassing cares of existence , which mere walking rather fosters than subdues . The robust recreations of Englishmen some two or three centuries ago , revived and now in popular use by their no less robust descendants , * can best maintain ' the healthy body and the mind at ease , ' which depend upon all the organs of his system being brought into duo activity , without any of them being overstrained . Reader , resign therefore your intention to indulge ^ - ^ - ?^^ ^ Il _ ' nnd let ua turn fo * an instant into the archery field
An examination of the armour preserved in the Tower and other military mu-Boums , - will Buggcst to the spectator that not one of twenty suits , oven the moat ancient , would bo large enough for an ordinnry soldier of our modern Horso Guards .
Its smooth , short , velvet turf , ' soft to the eye and to the feet , ' is dotted over with bowmen in their Lincoln green , and ladies in appropriate costume . Under the sheltering foliage of giant oaks , sit little knots of those who rest from their sport , or have been attracted to the scene by the prospect of agreeable association with their friends . Merry talk , and the gently ringing laugh of women , echo through those sylvan glades , ' until the bugle summons the archers to the targets , which display their broad circlets of crimson and gold some ten score yards apart . Now the cheerful spirit of emulation , the keen ambition to win and bear off The arrow with the golden head , And shaft of silver white , imparts just that cheerful , healthy , mental stimulus it is so desirable to associate with our bodily recreations . And when the sfcalwar-t archer , with his
stout seven foot bow of * yew is seen to drive shaft after shaft into the distant target , the exhibition of combined muscular action , peculiar to his sport , would satisfy Mr . Hopley that in advocating it we rightly appreciate the physical requirements of the system he is desirous to enforce . Not , however , for the one sex only , but far more for the sake of that gentler portion of creation , who , constituted like ourselves , are equally entitled to enjoy the enlivening influences of sun and summer breeze , do we eulogize this sylvan pastime . Yet it * own intrinsic excellences are its best recommendation to their patronage . Requiring no excessive corporal exertion , a combination of whatever is most graceful in other exercises , and invariably associated with the most refined , polished society , the bow seems specially adapted for relieving those sedentary pursuits to which women are still by far too much devoted . Indeed , our system of female education , from the beginning of
the seventeenth until nearly the close of the eighteenth century , was a positive conspiracy against the moral and physical development of the sex . Nature , we know , asserting her rights , occasionally broke through its absurd restraints . The change was merely from one evil to another . With scarlet riding-dress , masculine headgear , flushed countenance and dishevelled tresses , the huntress came bounding to the covert side . Undismayed by showers of mud and snowballs from perhaps five score horses' hoofs , by hedge and fence , gate and stile , she scoured the country , ' thorough bush , thorough briar , ' screeching forth a tally-ho ! as Reynard broke cover , and a whoo-whoop at his death . To the honour of the sex , be it spoken , comparatively few ladies were found to unsex themselves thus . During a portion
of that period , falconry also ranked high among amusements selected to dissi pate the ennui of the fair . Lady Juliana Barnes , or Berners , the noble Abbess of St . Albans , has obliged the world with an elaborate treatise on this ' princelie arte . She tells us that a peculiar species of falcon , more or less generous according to the possessor ' s Tank , appertained to every man , from monarch and belted earl , to simple franklyn or holy clerk . Thus , the high-mettled gyr-falcon , thirsting for blood , and white as the snows of her native Iceland , was assigned to the two first ; the sprightly sparrow-hawk to the second ^ a . hobby .. ta the third ; while the bold , diminutive , graceful merlin belonged to the fair sex . A falc ' Henry is when Emma hawks , With her of tarcels and of lures he talks .
• High on her wrist the tow ring * , merlin stands , Practis'd to rise and stoop at her commands . Proud of his silken jesses and plumed hood , the docile bird sat , perched upon his mistress ' s hawking-glove ; now pluming his dappled breast , now answering her caresses with mantling wings and the harmonious chime of his silver bells . The velvet kirtle of antique fashion , the heron ' s plume waving in her snooded hair , showed nothing inconsistent with female bashfulness . And when she thus rode forth on . ambling barb , schooled to obey the slightest motion of her hand , encircled by a group of obsequious
cavaliers , far from its appearing an outrage on decorum , there was , so far , something graceful and becoming in a lady ' participation of this ancient recreation . But , anon , loud shouts of " Heron a la vol !"—heron on the wing !—proclaimed the approaching quai * ry . The falconer , unhooding his fierce gyr-falcons , casts them into the air ; and then it is that the sport loses all its external gentleness , and becomes distinguished for danger , as in the last century it was for cruelty , perhaps beyond all others . Since , therefore , To range the wood ,
And follow hawk and hound , are amusements subversive of that tender sympathy for all created beingsthe meanest as well as the noblest—which forms the basis of so many virtues dear to womanhood , it is our duty to discountenance them . We have named a substitute unexceptionable—unaccompanied b y danger , and unsullied by its cruelty . Dear countrywomen , we are well aware you have been long rebels in heart ; neglect not , therefore , our sanction , for emancipating yourselves from tyrant custom , from the ancient slavery of musicstool , back-board , crochet and embroidery frame ; In the good greenwood , Among the lily flower , wander , bow and shaft in hand , seeking that health and vivacity the pure breath of nature can alone bestow . But our reel is quite run out .
Jocose hcec . In more fitting mood , let us offer one additional word ol tribute to the reverential spirit of piety with which this little treatise is so fully imbued . Mr . Hopley is a firm believer in the ultimate perfectibilit y of our species , morally and physically . The reader will do him the justice to consider he has done his part towards the attainment of so desirable an end .
Indian Maps. Mit. Stanfoui> Has Publishe...
INDIAN MAPS . Mit . Stanfoui > has published an admirable Special 2 fap of the Revolted Districts in India , marking the extensions of the East Indian and Great Indian Peninsula Railwaj's and branches sanctioned b y Government , with military and post-oflice stations , From the same publisher we have—to newspaper readers indispensable—a map of Delhi and its Environs from authentic plans , and a map on a small scale of The Seat of War in India , published under the superintendence of the Society for the" Diffusion of Useful Knowledge . A very clear and useful map has been produced by Messrs . Maclure , M « edonuld , and Macgregor of Northern India , showing the scat of war and the military stations of the Bengal Presidency .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 19, 1857, page 21, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_19091857/page/21/
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