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Northern Star (1837-1852), 9th October 1852, Edition 2 of 2, Page 12, Bleak House. By Charles Dickens. No. ' 8...

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    • ———LITERATURE..n .
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      The Icarian Community. From A Recent Num...

      "beeibeen taken to our steam will , 100 cords which have been sawed at the the mill , besides poles for the masons , and sticks for the beans , peapease , & c . in the gardens . Our two large fiatboats , managed by seviseven men , have conveyed all our wood from the island , upon the Mis Mississippi , ' iu spite of the winter and the high waters . _ Saw Mill , Distillery . —The scarcity of wheat and of corn this ye . year the ice , the inundation , and then the low water , have impeded the the work of the mill and of the distillery . However the mill has ftu furnished to us all provisions , to the country flour , and whiskey to bd bd sold at St . Louis . Thefts is now a sufficiency of wheat and of coi corn , to keep the mill going without interruption . The workshop of the the coopers has furnished the mill with barrels for its flour , the distill tillery barrels for its whiskey , and the community , tubs , buckets ,

      & t & c , & e . Hog PeU . —The old hog pen having been destroyed by the inundadation , oiir masons and carpenters have constructed a new one , Wl whifch now contains 150 hogs , which will be fattened by autumn on th the slop from the distillety , and 150 others , including sows and pigs , ftil fot U 6 xt year . TANNERt . —This branch of industry has not beeti well developed . Tl The inundation deranged our vats . Still our tanners have furnished to to our boot and shoemakers fifty-one tanned hides and fourteen ce calf-skins .

      Weaving . —This business is not yet well developed . We have , hi however , made and died some stuffs for our workmen . Lye and Wash House . —The community desire particularly to fa facilitate the operations concerning the washing of linen ; the Gen ranee has prepared , on the shore of the Mississippi , near the mill and at steam-engine , an establishment which comprises lyemaking , washing a and drying . Furnitures . —The joiners have made ninety tables , thirty-six b bedsteads , twenty chairs , and all the little articles which have been n needed .

      Onr masons commenced , in the spring , a large building , of cut s stone , for our schools . Our carpenters and joiners are preparing the t timbers , windows and door-frames , sashes , & c . We hope to finish i it , ready for use , before the commencement of winter . Our worki men have made convenient machines for lifting the stones and for i making mortar . We have already burnt a lime kiln in the spring . 1 We are going still to continue burning them . Divers other Articles . —Our workmen ( engineers , blacksmiths , 1 waggon makers , joiners and carpenters ) have made ;—a machine for 1 thrashing wheat;—several waggons with iron axles , of which one is < completely finished , and three aie prepared for the first departure ; —a stable large enough for thirty oxen;—a frame house for a model j— a lafge well , which is very useful to us;— a skiff , to add to the seven which we had before . Our tailors and shoemakers have

      made of mended the clothing and shoes of the community . The Women Mve tnade or repaired their own clothing , bleached and lnended the linen of the society . ScHOots . —Education for the children of the community is far from being what it will one day be . A great difficulty is that our room is too contracted : a second difficulty is in the great difference in the age and instruction of the children when they arrive ; a third , is the small number of persons in the colony who can consecrate themselves to the work of instruction . Also the community does not desire to have in its schools the children of strangers , and has been compelled to refuse several , although it will gladly admit a large number when it shall be better organised . Our children , however , have made » in the two schools , sensible progress in reading , writing , geography , history , arithmetic , drawing , and music .

      Music , Theatre . — -Ourinstrumental music is well developed ; we have now twenty-two musicians . Our children have made commendable ptogtess in vocal mttsic . Our actors have surmounted all sorts of difficulties to be able to play republican , and popular tragedies . Health . —The climate of Nauvoo , and especially the pfataau occupied by the community , is certainly amongst the most healthy of America . During the whole of the year of 1851 and the first six months of 1852 . the health of the colony was excellent , although the cholera ravaged many other towns on the shores of the Mississippi . This report being only for the first six months of the year , the Gerance need not necessarily speak of the losses sustained by the community in July and August , but these losses are too bitter and our minds are too much preoccupied with the thoughts of them , to finish the report without alluding to them .

      Finances . — -The Gerance can present our financial situation only at the end of each year , because it is only at this epoch that our inventories can be made . Our account books are regularly kept , and the financial commission can always take cognisance of them and submit its observations . On the 1 st July onr account was as follows ( viz . ) .-Credit , 41 , 402 dols . ; debit , 4 , 822 dols . ; balance , 36 , 580 dols . On the 1 st July our obligations amounted to 5 , 017 dols . or 25 , 085 francs—but our credits have augmented by the value of our new constructions , by the machines which we have bought and paid for , by those which we have made ourselves , by the produce for the mill which we have bought aud paid for , and by the value of our prosperous crops , in such a way that our net credits amount to more than 40 , 000 dols . or 200 , 000 francs .

      After the departure of our President for France , we redoubled our efforts to maintain amongst \\ s fraternal union and icarian harmony to prove the force of our doctrine ; since his return amongst us we will still redouble onr exertions and our devotion to insure the triumph of Community . Prudent , Vice-President in the absence of M . Cabet . In August and September the colony was afflicted by cholera , when , in spite of the efforts of the two resident physicians , six men , ten women , and six children perished by that fatal scourge . The Popular Tribune was suspended on the 6 th of September , preparatory to the issue of a new paper under the title of the Xauvoo Tribune . The colonists also intend to publish a monthly Icarian review .

      Bingley Industrial Co-operative Society . —On Monday evening last a general meeting of the members of this society was held at Mr . Durrani ' s Temperance Hotel , Mr . Thomas Foster in the chair . After the re-election of the treasurer , two new members were elected and three more proposed . The chairman then read the annual balance-sheet , which gave general satisfaction . After disposing of some other business the question of enrolment under the new act was mooted , but was adjourned until the new model laws make their appearance . The meeting then broke up in a very friendly spirit . — Wm . Hallam .

      140 The Star Of Freedom. [Oc Tobem

      140 THE STAR OF FREEDOM . [ Oc TOBEM

      Alarming Scawold Accident. —Narrow Escap...

      Alarming Scawold Accident . —Narrow Escape of Two Lives . —On Wednesday morning between the hours of nine and ten , an accident which nearly resulted in the loss of two lives , occurred in the Caledonian-road , near the railway-bridge , under the following circumstances . . Ifc appeared that the two men , whose names are ^ Tohn Moss , aged 58 , ^ and Patrick Lawley , aged 40 , were at work upon a scaffold erected'in front of some new houses near the road in

      question , when , from some unexplained cause , part of the scaffold gave way , and t _ ie two men were precipitated from a height of aboxe thirty fret on" to some bricks below . Assistance was at once at hand , and the poor fellows were picked up in a most hopeless state , and conveyed in a cart to the BoyalFree Hospital , where it was ascertained they , had received ' soma very severe fractures of the skull , besides nnmerou 8 oiiher injuries , ' . ' * * " ~ ' " * "'''**

      ———Literature..N .

      ———LITERATURE . . n .

      ——U—Tait's Magazine For October.—Tait Ha...

      u Tait ' s Magazine for October . —Tait has some good things this month , amongst which we may instance , " The Complaint of a Strange Character , " " The Games of the Ancients , " and " A Few words upon Beards . ' The latter is a good subject for such a style of writing , and might have been made more of , and we expected something different , from the title . It is very readable , however , as the following extract will show j—

      " We declare ourselves at once ns champions of the long beard ; we regard it with profound respect , and deeply lament that such a comely arrangement should be banished . The veneration and awe , with which in our boyish days we used to contemplate the pendant shades in the mazy appendage of a Jew , " streaming like a meteor" & c . & c , is still fresh in our recollection . With reverential respect we remember , too , a Turk who used to keep a gingerbread and apple-stall not far from our dwelling , at which we used frequently to spend our last penny ( all our pennies were last pennies in those days ) in order that we might have undisturbed tight to study the snowy treasure , flowing over his chest like an avalanche . We cannot forget , either , the picturesque effect Which the shape of the beard had in the reigns of the Trtdors , and we mourn that so refined an adornment should

      have gorie < mt of fashion , Rut then , as now , France exercised taste for all Europe , Louis the Thirteenth , and Louis tlie Fourteenth both ascended the throne in the " ir minority , and in a spirit of fulsome flattery it was proposed among the courtiers , and carried by acclamation , that to present a loyal compliment to theiv bald-chinned sovereign they should surrender their cherished beard and moustache , and exhibit their features " feminine dad ftee . " Hence the fashion spread , until , in later times , no one dared Esau-like , id gratify nature at the expense ] of art . Moreover , we have patriarchal authority for taking pride

      in the bristly embellishment , It ia our private opinion that Adam possessed * a beard before the Fall . We have no doubt ( although we have not time now to state the reasons for our belief ) that , being created in the prime of life , he had given to him a brilliant and flowing beard , waving dreamily in the luscious airs of Eden , We are aware that this is a disputed point , it being maintained by many competent authorities that it was not till after Adam had sinned that his beard began to grow , Even the great Lord Byron decides against as ; for he gives it as his opinion that— Ever since the fall , man for his sin

      Has had a beard entailed upon his chin . But in spite of all authorities , we think we could prove our position , wave it worth while to take a . much trouble about Adam ' s beard as Lord Monboddo did to establish bis tail . At any rate , Aaron wove a beard ; and . Esculapius is universally represented with a golden beard as big as a dewlap , The gods , too , allowed their beards to flourish most luxuriantly . Jupiter had a precious treasure suspended to his chin , flowing to his feet like a Staubbach ; and it would seem to be a far from meanly-cherished ornament ; for Thetis , in the first book of the Iliad , wishing to place herself iu the most acceptable posture , took hold of his knees with her left hand , and his beard with her right , The practice of shaving appears always to have varied with the caprices of fashion in all countries and

      in all ages } but it was more generally adopted as society became artificial , and primitive simplicity was banished . In the age of Homer it is plain that shaving was not only practised , but was an operation of considerable dignity j for in one of the grandest passages of the Iliad , while describing the uncertainty of the position of Troy , he figdres ifc as being on the edge of a razor . Cicero tells us that , for four centuries , there was no such person as a barber at Rome . Facile est barbato imponere regi , says Juvenal , while speaking of the unaffected and primitive style of living which characterised the early Roman kings . In later times , the beards again received attention . Those worn in the day * of the Heptarchy were pre-eminently tasteful , and are even yet celebrated . The first Dane that stepped upon our shores was

      Sueno , surnamed Forked-beard . Then there was the emperor who was drowned in the Cydnus , Frederick JEnobarbus , or Brazen-beard ; and the terrible Haired dire Pasha , principally known to Europeans by the appalling title of Bavbarossa , or Red-beard . The Lombards' cultivation of-their beard * was a perfect dandyism ; indeed , they received the name Lombards , or Longobardi , from their tremendous size and length , dangling at their chin like an inverted pyramid . Hudibras ' s beard must have been perilously attractive ; for The upper part thereof was whey , The rwther orange mixed with grey . Bottom the Weaver had a very accommodating taste 'in ' reference to his beard ; for , in allusion to the pavt of Pyramus , which he was to take , he says , " I will

      discharge it in either your straw-coloured beard , your orange-tawny beard , your purple-in-grain beard , or your French crown-coloured beard—your perfect yellow . " Not less cheering is it to notice the refined cultivation which was given to beards in days still nearer to our own . The peaked beards in Vandyke's portraits we regard as being very comely ; and they almost make us think that a more handsome fashion of wearing the beard could not be devised . Sir Thomas Move ' s attention to his classical ornament claims our highest admiration . When kneeling before the block , with the axe already suspended ove . his neck , he bade

      the executioner " wait till he had put aside his heard , for that had committed no treason . " We are told another anecdote of one of the victims of the tyranny of those times ; we think it was Sir Walter Raleigh , but may be mistaken . When the barber came to him in the Tower to dress his beard , he declined to give permission , saying , "At present , friend , there is a lawsuit pending between me and the king about this head , and I don't intend to lay out any more money upon it until the cause is tried , and it is decided which of us it is to belong to . '' Nor do we view the value set upon the beard in these times as incredible , looking to the modern estimation of whisker . - * among a race who have nothing better to boast .

      In the papers on the " G-ames of the Ancients" we have the following anecdote - relative to chess : —«' " In illustration of the all-absorbing power of this game , it will be sufficient to select one or two from the vast collection of anecdotes that the curious industry of ages has collected and stored up . To commence with one related by the historian Elmakin : The Caliph Al-Amir , sixth of the Abbasyd dynasty , was playing at Chess with his favourite Kuter , in the innermost chamber of his palace , when a messenger ran in breathless , with difficulty announcing that the enerav , who had

      for some months past encamped before Bagdad , was on the point of striking a decisive blow for the mastery of the town . "I will attend to the foe without , " replied the Caliph coolly to the officer ' s earnest intreaties , " as soon as I have chec k , mated Kuter . " Seneca ( Epist . 14 ) gives a similar instance in connexion with the so-called military game , whilst engaged at which Julius , a noble Roman , condemned to a cruel death by the tyrant Caligula , received the summons to meet his fate . On the instant he got up , and requesting the officer to be a witness whilst he counted the remaining pieces , " See , " he exclaimed , " thou canst not , friend , after my death , boast of having had the best of the game . "

      We conclude our extracts with the following from " The complaint of a Strange Character : — I of all men , am to be designated as . the man who has "played many parts * I have gone through every possible calamity , incidental to the human lot ; verily a great many that are impossible , even to the most unfortunate , and I have b ? en blessed a thousand times in , the course of my life , beyond the sum of human felicity —and , what may appear strange , I have never grieved at the one lot nov rejoiced at the other . I have fought desperately , with but a rag Jof drapery round my loins , against savage lions and tigers , wrestled with monsters of the forest and the flood .

      slept tranquilly in the embrace of the boa-constrictor ; been pierced through and through with every description of deadly weapon , ancient and modern ; and been hurled headlong from horrible precipices into horrible gulfs—and here I am , and none the worse for it all . And I have sat at a magnificent feast arrayed in gorgeous robes in " my ancestral halls ; " I have led my valiant hosts to victory in embattled fields , and have swayed my sceptre on a golden throne—and here I am scribbling in a two-pair back , and none the better fov it all . How all this came about , the reader will soon know . The key to my " strange , eventful history" lies in one word—Ladies and gentlemen , lam a model .

      If I have achieved no triumphs in my own person , my vera effigies , in a thousand characters , has won the applause and admiration of mankind . I have been hung— -ahem—in five hundred galleries , as an impersonation of the warrior , the senator , and the hero ; and in as many more perhaps as brigand , bandit , or bold outlaw . I have lent my head to Achilles , Paris , and Hector—to -Eneas , Turnus , and Euryalus . My lower limbs have been substituted for those of half the great men of the present and past centuries . Qn feet of mine King Charles the First walks to the block , Napoleon forces the bridge of Areola , and Nelson boards the

      ships of the enemy . I have languished in the dungeons of the Inquisition because Galileo could not be had to do it , and been bandaged for execution instead of the unfortunato p'Enghien for the s * mfc season j Wul I . can say that I have borne either ¦ ¦' : ¦ : . ! . . \ . ' ¦ ¦ '¦ ' ' , ... i ; . ; m

      ——U—Tait's Magazine For October.—Tait Ha...

      fate with an equal mind . Habit , which creates our world for \ u h ciledme to the position which untoward circumstances thrust me ? lo"g eo . crept upon me , I am able to say that neither my usefulness not " ' a " e i *" declined . I am as good now ( or at least I was till lately ) for a J lop ,, la % i as I was in infancy for a Cupid , or a babe massacred or at the br ^ ° a Hsidered capital as a cardinal , as I was twenty years ago for a bravfT ^ m < C But woe to me , now that my head is bald , and my whiskers nea other signs of years come stealing on , the source of my income tlu-. af ' llte > m —to fail at the time when it will be most wanted , at the approach , * ° fail m ties of age . It was the other day as I lay stretched upon a bed of ? ' ^ "' "' i-Cardinal with

      which I had personated Woluey , chalked cheek and I ' P « a face , fov four honvs a day , that the horrible fact dawned , or rather dar ] a , e , N and prophetic force upon my mind . I have striven iu vain to _ > ° ^ ' "' N conviction that then forced itself upon my distracted conscience - h ' t 0 tf * k be got rid of—on the contrary , it grows daily stronger , and will not tt J lt uil U « away . Have compassion upon me , Gray friends ; I am orowixg n ^ ^ ne ] daily and hourly in every Inch of my flesh —and I am a ruined man a " * 1 fael j * I have been going on for the last month , I shall be twenty stone in we Wit ¦ ^ Hk year—and then '/ Othello ' s occupation ' s gone , " and I must take unwjfi " n natllp - or Falstaff without stuffing . " Oh that this too , too solid flesh would \ Ki and resolve itself into anything , " so that I got rid of it , and retained m ' " - manly proportions , and necessary competence . My close-fitting m [{ l gerule - already twice let out , in order to take me in . My patrons already btU ' n * ^ the fatal words , " Too stout , " which are-more than I can bear . \„ V ^ i monosyllables!—they are tlie terms of my death-warrant . I Um u ^ ^/

      Bleak House. By Charles Dickens. No. ' 8...

      Bleak House . By Charles Dickens . No . ' 8 . The bleakness of the new number of Charles Dickens' latest is ^ not much less than in the former number ? . If it {{ , * * brighten up , Boz will run a risk of being charged with hs . vin . j- « ^ ten himself our . " But though not to be eompared with maviv of v " former productions , there is still enough charms of the favourite auth " - to ensure a reading for his Bleak House . Thp . inimitable sfvb ° ( the author , is faithfully ponrfcrayed in pictures like the fbllowjnV DEATH Oy A CHANCERY VICTIM . We then took a haclcney coach and drove away to the neighbourhood Leicester-square . We walked through some narrow courts , for which Mr . ft . , apologised , and soon came to the Shooting Gallery , the door of which waa ' dosT as he pulled the bell-handle , which hung to a chain by the door-post , ' verr * ' pectable old gentleman with grey hair , wearing spectacles , and dressed ia a ' bjl spencer and gaiters , and a broad brimmed hat , and carrying a large golil-hpaiu cane , addressed him . " I ask your pardon , my good friend ;' , said lie ; " but is this George ' s Shootin * Gallery V * " It in , sir , " returned Mr . George , glancing up at the great letters in which timi inscription was painted on the white-washed wall .

      " Oh ! To be sure ! " said the old gentleman , following his eves . « Thank von Have you rung the bell 2 " "My name is George , sir , and I have rung tlie bell . " "Oh , indeed ? " said the old gentleman . " Your name is George ? Then 1 nm here as soon as you , you see . You came for me no doubt 1 " " No sir . You have the advantage of me . '' "Oh , indeed : '' said the old gentleman . " Then it was your young man who came forme . I am a physician , and was requested—five minutes ago—fa com ? and visit a sick man , at George ' s Shooting Gallery . " " The muffled drums , " said Mr . George , turning to Richard and me , and gravel shaking his head . " It ' s quite correct , sir . Will you please to walk in . "

      The door beingat that moment opened , by a very singular-looking little mania a green baize cap and apron , whose face , and hands , and dress , were blackened aii over , we passed along a dreary passage into a large building with bare told walls : where there were target * , and guns and swords , and other tilings of tlat kind . When we had all arrived here , the physician stopped , and , taking off lm hat , appeared to vanish by magic , and to leave another and quite a diifovent w & in hi- place . " Now looke'e here , George , " said the man , turning quickly round upon him , and tapping him on the breast with a large forefinger . " You know iw , and i know you . You're a man of the world , and I'm a man of the world . My nam ?' * Bucket , as you are aware , and I have got a peace-warrant against Gvidley . You have kept him out of the way a long time , and you have been artful in it . and it does you credit . '* Mr . George , looking hard at him , bit his lip and shook his hoad .

      " Now , George , ' ' said the other , keeping close to him , " you ' re a sens ] ! ' ! - mi !! , and a well-conducted man ; that ' s what you are , beyond a douht . And mhi you , I don't talk to you as a common character , because you have scrvfitl your country , and SOU know that when duty calls we must obey . CM ? efiuent (> , you ' re very far from wanting to give trouble . If I required assistance , you'd assist me ; that ' s what you'd do . Phil flquod , don ' t you go a sidlinij round the gallery like that ; " the dirty little man was shuffling about with his shoulder against the wall , and his eyes on the intruder , in a maniw . that looked threatening ; " because I know you , and I won't have it . " "Phil ! " said Mr . George . " Yes , Guv ' nev . ''

      " Be quiet . " The little man , with a low growl , stood still . " Ladies and gentlemen , " said Mr . Bucket , " you'll emw anything that may appear to be disagreeable in this , for my name ' s Inspector Bucket of tlie Detective , and I have a duty to perform . George , I know wlwve my man is , because I was on the roof last night , and saw him through the skylight , an you along with him . He is in there , you know , '' pointing ; " that ' s where he is—on a sofy . Now I must see my man , and I must tell my man to consider himself in custody ; bur , you know me , aud you know I don't want to take any uncomfor table measures , You give me your word , as from one man to another ( and an old soldier , mind you , likewise !) , that it ' s honorable between us two , and I'll accommodate you to the utmost of my power . "

      " I give it , " was the reply . " But it wasn't handsome in you , Mr . Bucket . . r " Gammon , George ; Not handsome V * said Mr . Bucket , hipping Mm on « w broad breast again , and shaking hands with him . " I don't say it wasn't handsome in you to keep my man so close , do II Be equall y good tempered to me , old boy ! Old William Tell ! Old Shaw , the Life Guardsman I Why , he ' s « model of the whole British army , in himself , ladies and gentlemen . I'd give a flfty-pun' note to be such a figure of a man I " consideration

      The affair being brought to this head , Mr . George , after a little , proposed to go in first to his comrade ( as he called him ) , taking Miss Plite w «« him . Mr . Bucket agreeing , they went away to the further end of the gollfff . leaving ns sitting and standing by a . table covered with guns . Mr . Bucket ! too this opportunity of entering into a little light conversation ; asking me it l ^ afraid of fire-arms , as most young ladies were ; asking Bichard if he were ¦ ag shot ; asking Phil Squod which he considered the best of those rifles , and w « it might be worth , first-hand ; telling him , in return , that it v ? as a pij ? " gave way to his temper , for he was naturally so amiable that he mig ht have

      a young woman ; and making himself generally agreeable . . (]([ After a time he followed us to the further end of the gallery , awl Kvclia ffg I were going quietly away , when Mr . George came after us . He said tna ^ i had no objection to see his comrade , he would take a visit from us very 'i ' The words had hardly passed his lips , when the bell was rung , and my £ "' [ ,. appeared ; on the chance , " he slightly observed , " of being able to Jj an flll thing for a poor fellow involved in the same misfortune as hinisen . four went back together , and went into the place where Gridley was . ^ It was a bare room , partitioned off from the gallery with uupa int edff * t jlg the screening was not more than eight or ten feet high , and only en tlie g ^ y - sides , not the top , the rafters of the high gallery roof were overhead , an ¦ e r light , through which Mr . Bucket had looked down . The sun was' ^ ^ setting—and its light came redly in above , without descending to ^ ^ Upon a plain canvass-covered sofa lay the man from Shropshire— j . l . ^^ j « as we had seen him last , but so changed , that at first I recogn ised no

      his colorless face to what I recollected . j , { S g . i » v He had been still writing in his hiding-place , and still dwelling ^^ pt vances , hour after hour . A table and some shelves were covered tn ! . ^ l papers , and with worn pens , and a medley of such tokens . i 0 ^ and , awfully drawn together , he and the little mad woman were side oy j ffpj ) t as it were , alone . She sat on a chair holding his hand , and none close to them , twinr * , ^ His voice had faded , with the old expression of his face , with }» . »«*¦

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Oct. 9, 1852, page 12, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns2_09101852/page/12/