On this page
- Departments (1)
-
Text (4)
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
¦ •NEW, TALES.*
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.
-
-
Transcript
-
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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
digestive organs , " all these symptoms are owing 1 , says Dr . Marcet , to one and the same cause , viz ; , " the excessive , " da capo . Turning to the synoptical table of 48 cases treated by the author at the Westminster Hospital , and it is but due to state , cured by the exhibition of oxyde of zinc , wo find that the use of tlie glass whieli both cheers and inebriates , was indeed excessive . Case 1 : W . B ., a carpenter , drank one pint of gin daily , aud occasionally six or eight pints of beer . E . B- ( ease 4 ) : Began with twelve glasses of brandy daily , and afterwards took six glasses of rum , and five or six pints of beer . This alcoholic exceeder was a sailor . B . C . ( case 15 ) , a groom , took a daily allowance of half-a-pint pf raw brandy , and five or six pints of stout daily ; this for eight yearswhen he altered his allowance to eight pints of porter .
, Case 33 , a policeman put under his belt the same quantum * viz ., one gallon of beer in addition to three glasses of spirits daily ; and J . L ., a butcher , ( case 29 ) , with more taste at least drank a bottle of port and half-a-pint of spirits daily . Case 31 , a labourer drank five quarts of beer , ( a gallon and one quarter ) , and a pint of gin . daily . W . p ., without any profession , drank a daily average of a quart of beer , and a pint of gin and peppermint . We need not wonder if these gentlemen , who we may observe , as they spent on an average three shillings per day , or one guinea per week upon liquids alone , should have been gentlemen of independent means , instead of labourers , policemen , and shoemakers ; we need not wonder , we say , if these were afflicted with " giddiness , transient blindness ; , and museoe voliiantes . " But we do wonder at other cases , notably at
one G . B ., P . 28 ( case 35 ) , a stoker in the House of Commons , who was afflicted with all . the symptoms , and rheumatic pains into the bargain , just for drinking " one pint of ale daily , and no spirits . " The rest may certainly have become " rotten by innibition , " to quote an authority , but poor Gr . B . surely took no more than his profession needed , and his case was certainly not to be referred to excessive alcoholic stimulants , especially as he " became a teetotaller three years previously . " Very different from him is the case immediately preceding ^ a cutler , who at the age of thirty-six had been intemperate for seventeen yearsand drank 16 or 17 glasses of rum daily ,
, occasionally varying the dose with brandy . No wonder that he ' suffered , from the same symptoms , " the first time six or seven years ago , " after being . garotted ! " But -we must protest against Mr . Marcet classing with these patients a literary lady , " Mrs- B— , aged 24 , who for the last three months had been greatly engaged in literary work , who ascribed her illness to excessive reading and exertion of the mind . " Very possibly ! if ladies will undergo great mental exertions , they must take the consequences ; but because poor Mrs . B— , who had very likely written an abstruse article for the " Ladies' Mas-azine / ' or one of those deeply thrilling appeals we
read in the " Englishwoman ' s Journal , " it is too bad to hint at an attack of " Chronic Alcoholism " in her case . We might put it to £ > r . Marcet whether he may not have been mistaken in his habit of referring , as he says he did , the symptoms he adduces- ^ which , as he well knows , are common to many , very many disorders simply to the effects of" drink . Case 35 , tvith others , surely must have arisen from something else . Perhaps insufficient or bad food , a poor state of the blood , bad air , and general depression may have had something to do with the illness of that wonderfully temperate stoker who consumed only one pint
of ale daily , and had previously to Ms attack been a teetotaller for three years . He might have been stricken as lie was whilst listening throug-li a crack to a dull speech . Nay , is Dr . Marcet ready to make an . affidavit that his illness was not referrable to the fact of Ms having taken tho pledge ? Did lie try generous diet and a glass of port wine daily before exhibiting the jsino P Seriously , we wish . Dr . Maroet had done 30 . We are tired of books written , as Mx . Shandy hath it , entirely hobby-horsically . Drunkeness and habitual exoess are vory shocking vices ; they not only hurt the persons who indulge , but they shock and , hurt others . The best thing , perhaps , that the drunkard does is that he pays , arid must pay , the duty upon his enormous consumption , and thus , — « c — .. Ten thousand casks , Touched by tho Midas fingero of the State , Bleed gold , for ministers to sport away . " and also to provide for our governmentary wants . But to hold up one ' s finger , as Dr . Maroot and . the teetotallers do , and to tell the moderate man that ho is a great sinner and a groat fool , that his blood is alooholioally poisoned , and that lip is heir , in addition to other fleshly ills , to tremblings , sleepless nights , hallucinations , and musooo-yolitantes , and other bugbears , is simply an exaggoration , whioh is , of itself , one of tho worst props whioh a good oauso can havei Mr . Maroet's book contains a few interesting items gathered from his own obsorvatipn , or from the works of' others ; thus wo find the often-repeated iadvice , that it ia better to drink porter than strong ale , and advisable when aooustomed to malt liquors , to take exercise "in order to avoid becoming fat and sttipid , and pi ' edisposed to apoplexy . " Wine drinkers should take those \ vines which are most diuretic , and whioh croato least hendaoho or fovor , Hook , Claret , Burgundy , Bucellas , Rhenish ) and Hermitage . Claret is tho raost wholesome of all wines ; whioh last fact should make us rejoice if we are to bo gainers by tho remission of the duty . Mr . Maroet gives some sensible advioe about taking the lighter winos fresh at dinnor , a practice wluoh . now very generally Obtains , although he sqejns to think otherwise . The book may also be road with amusement , tf not wholly with profit . .
Untitled Article
t \ "Jrl ± i volume before us , enmxieu j . na ^ j . ' <•» - ;> - . , , ** .-, ^ JL a number of tales allegcd . to have been compilcdlrom the notebook of a recently deceased French magistrate , who , lor several years exercised his official functions under the victorious sceptre of the first Napoleon . Upon the restoration of the House ot Bourbon , however , the old Bounapartist tendered his resignation to the new ministry , and quitted France , determining to seek m the genial society of Englishmen , a refuge from the machinations of those hitter political opponents whieli so unwearyingly pursued him in his own country . Devonshire was the salubrious spot chosen by the self-constituted exile in ^ hich to repose after his bitter trials ; and here ; says the author , it was his good fortune first to make his acquaintance . The old Judge , however , speedily discovers that the prejudices of the people with whom he is ^ about to fraternise , are by no means in favour of the cause to-which he is attached , and that , in fact , a hatred of Napoleonic usurpation is he
one of the leading characteristics of British patriotism ; therefore determines , in order to avoid the collision of principles and opinions , which would be inevitable should he once intrude himself into society , to live in perfect seclusion , holding no interc ourse whatever with the families around him . Before the death , of this patriotic old man , the Bourbon dynasty had again toppled over in France , and the star of his idol , Napoleon , had once more risen brilliantly in the horizon . " Last year , ' says Colonel Addison , "it was my melancholy task to consign this really excellent old man to the silent tomb . " To our author the deceased bequeathed his library , a . ring of value , a present from the Emperor , and his papers and memoranda , to which latter the publieis indebted for the exciting and entertaining narratives contained in the present volume . We can conscientiously state that Colonel Addison has made the very most of the materials placed at his disposal . The stories in this book are rot only admirably' constructed , but written with a power and intensity
which thoroughly succeeds in absorbing and concentrating tne attention of the reader . They have , moreover , the extra advantage of possessing , in a marked degree , the elements of novelty and originality , being in their general character and tendency unlike anything of the kind we remember to have read before , and if only on this account they are likely to achieve a considerable popularity . ¦ ¦ , ' - . xv The first upon our author ' s list of startling experiences , is the tale of a ¦ . ' " Haunted House , " a building which , since the death ot its last inmate , has remained untenanted , on account of some ugly stories which have gained circulation in connection with it . A reward is offered by interested parties to any man bold enough tn imss a niirht within the Drecineta of this anathematized dwelling ,
and discover the meaning of the supernatural orgies nightly supposed to "take place therein . One Godfred , a soldier belonging tolthe Prussian corps , stimulated by the promised bounty , undertakes forthwith to accomplish the terrible feat . Accordingly , on the night appointed he proceeds to , and takes up his quarters in an apartment of , the deserted mansion , over the . mantelpiece ot which hangs a full-lengtli portrait of the late proprietor . Our hero . bfiin £ r somewhat of a matter-of-fact personage , and
entertaining a much more wholesome dread of enemies in . the flesh than ditto in the spirit , double bolts the inner door , kindles a firo upon the hearth , and makes himself as comfortable as could bo expected under tho circumstances . After a considerable lapse ot time , however , he is aroused from tho indulgence of a short nap by a series of xinintelligiblo sounds proceeding from the outer yard , and presently the door of his room is burst open , and two unseemly apparitions , one of whom bears an unmistakeablo resemblance to the portrait ovor tho firo-place , make their
appearanoe before the amazed and aghast spectator . Iheso two gnosuy visitants hold a colloquy together , which throws sonic light upon . ' the antocodent history and misdoings of tho old gentleman over the mantelshelf . Our hero , after witnessing a scene ot concentrated horror , into tho details of whioh wo have not space to enter , comes to tho conclusion that a murdor has been formerly committed within the four walls of tho spirit-haunted mansion ,, whioh suspioion ho on the ensuing morning communicates to trw nearest magistrate , and , ultimately , the whole paitioulajJ * conneoted with the deed of Wood aro satisfactorily brought * o Jtiglit .. And thus our valliant . and intrepid Prussian indisputably earnw his domtcrio ' . x , Upon tho other tales we will ofl'er no particular rciniu-K , nioroij stating that thoy are all worked up in the same elaborate manner , and aro well calcxilatcd to repay any roador for tho time expended in
their perusal . . T . , The next work upon our list is another nones of talcs by . Liout . Warneford , entitled " Tales of the Slave Squadron , " intended to bo descriptive of the various scenes and incidents whioh camo iirulor tno author ' s cognisance while aotivoly engaged on board , the Hoot , appointed by her Majesty $ government , for the suppression ot tlio African alave trade , Ow Lieutenant denies tho assortion conftaontiy mude by a largo number of negro friends and advocates , that tlio African "is intellectually upon a par with the European ; nevertheless lie deprecates with a warmth whioh does honour tp his leeiings as an Englishman , and his moral perceptions ma disciple 01 Chriatianjifcy , that awful traffic in human beings , whioh all tho gigantic' efforts of his eouatrymon have hitherto proved iinsueoossnu
Untitled Article
11 * ° gO 2 The Saturday Analyst and Leader . [ Sept . 15 , iB 60
Untitled Article
l » mary of a Judge . Compiled from tho Noto Mwk of ft rooontly d « po « wcd Ww SKw ^ iaasj ^^ aimrd . 'i houUon ; OMarJoBll . OJnrko ,
¦ •New, Tales.*
NEW TALES . *
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 15, 1860, page 802, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2365/page/10/
-