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Smam * 33 > 1845 ' THE NORTHERN STAR. 3
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Mottiy.
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BEAUTIES OFlBYRONy - ' ¦ . -" ¦ ' so.:x:...
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* Hisnania, the ancient name of Spain,. ...
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PW UI ^ GAT0RY OF SUICIDES. A Prison C &...
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VQVSv * JERROLD'S SHILLING MAGA-.. ZINE-...
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TAIT'S EDINBURGH MAGAZINE — August and S...
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SIMMOKDS'S COLONIAL MAGAZINE. —Set iembe...
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Coxfessiox Of ax oi.n OFFEXDEn.—The Stan...
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Cft Sttfc
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' Political Railway AccinEsr.—An acciden...
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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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Smam * 33 > 1845 ' The Northern Star. 3
Smam * 33 > 1845 ' THE NORTHERN STAR . 3
Mottiy.
_Mottiy .
Beauties Oflbyrony - ' ¦ . -" ¦ ' So.:X:...
BEAUTIES _OFlBYRONy - ' ¦ . - " ¦ ' so .: x : _^^ - _, .- - ¦ • - " CHJXBB HAEOin . " The poet's next theme is ; _HISPASIA . * Ob , lovely Spain ! _renown'd , romantic land ! "Where is that standard which Pelagio bore , "When _Catia _' e traitor-sire first call'd the hand That dyed fhy mountain streams with Gothic gore ! Where are ; those bloody banners which of yore Wav'd o ' er thy sons , victorious to the gale , - And drove at last the spoilers to their shore ? Itedgleam'd the cross , 'au 4 waned the crescent pale , While Artie ' s echoes thrill'd with Moorish matrons' wail
Teems not each ditty _Twththe ' _-glorions tale ? Ah 2 such , alas J the hero ' s amplest fate ! When granite moulders and when records fail , A peasant ' s plaint prolongs his dubious date _, rride J hena thine eye from heaven to thine estate , See ho iv the mighty shrink in to a Song ! Can Volume , Pillar , Pile , preserve thee great ? Or must thou trust tradition ' s simple tongue , - When Flattery sleeps with thee , and History " does thee wrong ? Awake , yesons of Spain ! awake ! advance ! ' Lo t Chivalry , your ancient goddess , cries ; . But wields not , as of old , herthirsty lance , '' Xor shakes her crimson plumage in the shies . _Xow on the smoke of blazing bolts she flies ,
And speaks in thunder through yon engine ' s roar : In every peal she calls— " Awake J arise V Say , is her voice more feeble than of yore , When her war-song was heard on Andalusia ' s shore f The following six stanzas form . a magnificent pMllipic against "the game of kings " : — Hark ! heard yon not those hoofs of dreadful note ! ' Sounds not the clang of conflict on the heath _« ¦ Saw ye not whom the reeking sabre smote ; Xor saved your brethren ere they sank beneath - - . - Tyrants and tyrants * slaves !—the _fires-of death , The bale-tires flash on ' high— -from rock torock - --Each volley tells that thousands cease to breathe ;; - " Death rides npon the sulphury _Sirocjr > _y «} it « _- < -: ;• _"i- _" - Bed battle stamps his foot , and nations feelthe shock .,.
-Lo ! where the giant on the mountain stands , His blood-red trasses deep _e ning in the sun ,, .. With _fleathvshotglowingjnhis fiery hands , , ' " , " . And eye that scorcheth all it glares upon ; ItesfJess it rolls , now _fir'd , and now anon Flashing afar—and at his iron feet Destruction cowers , to mark what deeds are done I For on this morn three potent nations meet , To shed before his shrine tbe blood he deems most sweet . By Heaven ' , it is a splendid Bight to see ( For one who hath no friend , no brother there ) Their rival scarfs of _mix'd embroidery , Their various arms that glitter in the air ! What gallant war-hounds rouse them from their lair And gnash their fangs , loud yelling for their prey ! ah join the chase , hut few the triumph share ; The Grave shall hear the chiefest prize away , And Havoe scarce tor joy can number their array _.
Three hosts combine to offer sacrifice ; Three tongues prefer strange orisons on high ; Three gaudy standards flout the pale blue skies ; The shouts are Prance , Spain , Albion , " victory I The foe , the-victim , and ttie fond ally That fights for all hut ever fights in rain , Are met—as if at home they could not die—To feed the crow oh Talavera ' s plain , And fertilise the field that each pretends to gain . t There shall they rot—Ambition ' s _honour'd fools ! Yes , Honour decks tbe turf that wraps their clay ! Tain Sophistry ! in these behold the tools , The broken tools , that tyrants cast away J _5 y myriads , when they dare to pave their way With human hearts—to what t—a dream alone . Can despots compass aught that hails their sway f Or call with truth one span of earth their own , Save that wherein at last they crumble bone by bone ?
>" ot so the rustic—with his trembling mate He lurks , nor casts his heavy eye afar ,. Lest he should view his -vineyard desolate , Blasted below tbe dun hot breath of war . > ' o more beneath soft Eve ' s consenting star Fandango twirls his jocund Castanet : Ah , monarchs ! could ye taste the mirth ye mar , Sot in the toils of glory would ye fret ; The hoarse dull dram would sleep and man be happy yet ! Here follows a beautiful portrait of THE MAW OV SABJ . COSSA . Glorious as a pataotic heroine , she las been not Jess fortunate than heroic to nave had such a poet as Biros to immortalise her deeds and name : —
Is it for this the Spanish maid , aroused , . Hangs on the -willow her unstrung guitar , And , all nnsex'd , the anlace hath espoused , Sung the lond song , and dared the deed of war ? And she , whom once the semblance of a scar Appall'd , an owlefs lamm chill'd with dread , >" ow views the _column-scattering hay * net jar , The falchion flash , and o ' er the yet warm dead ¦ ¦ '¦ ' Stalks with Minerva ' s step where Mars might quake to tread . Te who shall marvel when you hear her tale , Oh ! had you known her in her softer hour , _Mark'd her black eye that mocks her coal-black veil , Heard her light lively tones in Lady ' s bower , Seen her long locks that foil the painter ' s power ,
Her fairy form , with more than female grace , Scarce would you deem that Saragossa ' s tower _Seheld her smile in Danger ' s Gorgon face , Thin the closed ranks , and lead in Glory ' s f earful chase Her lover sinks—she sheds no ill-timed tear ; Her chief is slain—she fills his fatal post ; Her fellows flee—she checks their hase career ; The foe retires— -she heads the sallying host J Who ean appease like her a lover ' s ghost I Who can avenge so well a leader ' s fall ? What maid retrieve when man ' s flush'd hope is lost ! Who hang so fiercely on the flying Gaul , J Foil'd by a woman ' s hand , before a batter * d wall f Yet are Spain ' s maids no race of Amazons , Hut form'd for all the witching arts of love : Though thus in arms they emulate her sons ,
And in the horrid phalanx dare to move , 'lis but the tender fierceness ofthe dove , Peeking the hand that hover ' s o ' er her mate i In softness as in firmness far above Kemoter females , famed for sickening prate ; Her mind is nobler sure , her charms perchance as great The seal Love ' s dimpling finger hath impress'd Denotes how soft that chin which bears his touch : Her lips , whose kisses pout to leave their nest , Sid man he valiant ere he merit such : Her glance how wildly heantiful ! how much Hath Phccbus woo'd in vain to spoil her cheek , Which glows yet smoother from his amorous clutch ! Who round the North for paler dames would seek ? How poor their forms appear ! how languid ' , , and weak !
Match m _? , ye climes ! which poets love to land ; Match me , ye harems of the land ! where now } 1 strike my strain , far distant , to applaud Beauties that even a cynic must avow ; Match me those Houries , whom ye scarce allow To taste the gale lest Love should ride the wind , With Spain ' s dark _^ glancing daughters f |—deign to know , There your wise Prophet ' s paradise we find , His black-eyed maids of Heaven , angelically kind .
* Hisnania, The Ancient Name Of Spain,. ...
* Hisnania , the ancient name of Spain , . 1 " Sorely were we puzzled how to dispose of that Same victory of Talavera ; and a victory it sorely was _somewht-re , for everybody claimed it The Spanish despatch _£ _5 _* tal it Cuesta ' s , and made no great mention of the » "secant ( _Wellesley ); the French called it theirs ( to my freat discomfiture—for a French consul stopped my mouth w Greece with a pestilent Paris Gazette , just as I had _«« ed Sehastina , « in buckram / and King Joseph , 'in _» aidal green ' J—and we have not yet determined icJat to _g " lit , or whose ; for certcs , it was none of our own . "iirtos . X "Such were the exploits of the Maid of Saragossa , who , by her valour , elevated herself to _thehighestrank of nenanes . When the author was at Senile , she walked dail y on the Trade-, decorated with , medals and orders , by < _-onimand of the Junta . _"—Btjkw . f _*« ie exidcuts of Augustina , the famous heroine of both we siegesof > _ara-Tficcn _•>«•*» „ . « . j « j ., ? _iu ., 0 + 1 , ?„ _Snnrtim _' K
£ _5 < " £ ! l ? Jh ? _^ insular War . At the time when she _hnrh _^ _Tu not , ce ' Jar mounting a battery where her In _W ti , ' , _irking a gun i „ his place , she was _ifflzs _sa _^ ****** _*** of a soft I _2-te _faK-t _was writtenin Turkey . . _«> L . w H i a , r ' _-3-irk languishing eyes , clear olive _tevonrSh _? _^ . _" graceful in motion than can air «? _iS * an _£ n sfca'man , usedtofhe drowsy listless dree ? f . countr _^™* nen . added to tlie most becoming worM _™ _i tte same time the most decent in the IU rJ _« f _^ _nisli beauty hTesistible . ** -Bnu > . v to _'"• - _-Voller , August , 1809 .
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Pw Ui ^ Gat0ry Of Suicides. A Prison C &...
_PW GAT 0 RY OF SUICIDES . A Prison C _& T _Tra Books . Bv Thomas Cooper , the STtin- I-ondon : J . How / 132 , Fleet-street . ( Continued from the Star of Sept . 6 th J to oifr _^ J ? tuis _we < a pleasing fact to communicate _mwS , A me _^ _"tanma ( a high Tory weekly 3 Jfli tS ' * W intne metropolis ) , of August ru 4 _it <* _f - _PP 1 ared _« review of Thomas Cooper's 0 nej not * fM f lcidcs - _Tlra review is a remarkable _3 lr . Com » tue Pra'se therein lavished upon imp _ort . f poeticaI talents , bnt also for the very _* estr « n „« i 10 ns made "J tfle reviewer ,-as to of thesf , ° V he Chartist body ; and the necessity •» 7 "ilO live IlV fho Timer * _VlWIof nf t . h ' _nCTS
„ , "• _•¦ _kstar _tf ? _Tu that fo ™ i « able party . Be it _Presses _n i _^ - liriUu » ila , although anewspaper , _•* d _aslrf Ul _™ netl , r _e character as a literary paper , " _S _Prai se , _° T 'tjin Jitoran-matters ranks high . C ! i Min _S - n ° m acrltIc _s 0 _wel 1 qualified , and _^ _ieri-ii _!? lnnuence , is praise indeed , and must , 0 l ) e revtL » ve llr- CoorEK- 1 * is not usual for m _'nhi-t ; 7 I ° _5 "ote another , on the same work ; _**» knoT _^ t * - . c <> 0 ? er , and wishing ourtcaders * _^ at a writer for the aristocracy is con-
Pw Ui ^ Gat0ry Of Suicides. A Prison C &...
_r _^^* V imit M t 0 the talent to be found in the Chartist ranks , we take the liberty to transfer to our caiumns the most important points of the Britannia ' s critique , , 3 erevl _?^ «* _Pves a _stilmuyitf-Mn-Gooraft _' B preiace , which appeared entire in the Star of last W a _™/» _« udes . the summary with these words : — tie ( Mr . Cooper ) went into gaol ' a " _Chai-tist spouter ; he has come forth—no prejudice ¦ against pernicious opinions must blind us to the frulh-a great poet ! " The remarks immediately Mowing this we extract entire : ' — - * °
We repeat it emphatically that Thomas Cooper is one of those great poets , stamped by nature ' s oivn hand—not fashionedhy schbols _. not taught by labour _tostring rhymes together , but pouring forth from the fullness of his . own mind and heart a torrent of burning and impetuous eloquence . We may greatly disapprove of his conceptions , but we are compelled by the law of our being that constrains admiration , to do homage to the richness and _fertUity of his imagination , and to that amaziHg command of language , _and-supreme faculty of expression that makes his verse , while full , various , and eminently poetic , the perfect expositor of his thought . The impression forced on his mind by his verse is , that it is the work of inspiration rather than of labour . It never stops or
falters-in its magnificent flight . It has no feebj ' e . _paB-J sages , no weak rhymes , no compromise , of strength to rhythrh . Throughout its seven or ei ght thousand lines , It is a genuine 1 and ardent outpouring of a great spirit irritated by envy / or fancied wrong , depressed and pained by calamity ,-dark with imperfect knowledge , distorted by feelings of hate , fired by illusory ideas of man ' s equality , but still retaining even in its greatest faults unquestionable power of intellect of the very rarest and highest kind . Our jadgmentmay be disputed—the world may disregard this mighty and daring effort of an irregular but lofty _geniustfthough we do not think it will , —yet still we shall hold to our opinion that this Prison Rhyme is the most wonderful effort ; of intellectual power produced within the last century . ' .:
Amidst bo much to strongly condense , we cannot consent to pass by this " . work with a slight notice . Vfe must remember the _^ c / pndition . ofthe writer in passing sentence oh his errors _^ They spring much more from a darkened Understanding . than a corrupted heart . . They are not the engrained sinsio . f . that great poet , the brightness of whose genius yet made , the . _worldforget his spots . There is nothing , mean , low , . vicious , or . lascivious in the -verse of this Chartist . He has . the finest . feeling for the beauty of the . New Testament , for the sublimity ofthe Old ; "hut the doubts of neglected youth cling to him , and shake his soul , with the agony of unbelief . .
T be poem is writtenin the Spen _^ _siaa stanza . Gt & _tmim and more nervous than " Childe Harold , " which , in its reflective passages it . somewhat resembles—evidencing much deeper reading , much profounder thought , much greater power ofthe forcible and the terrible in expression , though with . less , beauty of poetic imagery—this Prison Rhyme comes nearer than any other poem in our language to the grand works , of Mliton . The spirit of that mighty master . which hitherto has looked so coldly and contemptuously on all its worshippers , has found out this imprisoned Ctia . rtisJ ; , and breathed upon him in his cell . ' Wonder . of wonders , this self-taught shoemaker is hardly less versed in curious . and mystic . lore than . the sightless bard , to whose mental vision all antiquity audits fables , its heroes , and its creeds , seemed revealed .
Be it understood we speak only of the genius of the writer—genius is the proper , the only correct , word to apply to his poetic fire . We have read with sorrow we cannot express , those fearful revelations of the doubts which torment and rend his soul , leading him to distrust his own consciousness , and sometimes tremblingly to regard tbe grave as a dark and eternal sepulchre—that hoarded bitterness of years of poverty and neglect—that torrent of reproach which he hurls against , kings , ministers , and the priests of all _religions _^—and that fiery -wrath '
with which he enwraps the objects ef his hate , as if he would consume them in its folds , till his muse assumes almost a fiend-like aspect . Much , very much , is there in this book to shock and horrify a well-regtilated mind beyond the scope of words to tell . It is not to be lightly read ; itis not to be placed in . young hands . We might even be' disposed to wish it had never been written . But here itis , full of power , full of eloquence , full of grand detached passages—beyond all question the most singular poem in the English language . It will suggest some serious reflections to us hereafter .
We omit the quotations from the poem given in the Britannia , as these and other _quotations we shall ourselves give in due order . We give some further extracts from the critique : — With wonderful pomp and luxuriance does the author recal the great names of antiquity , and invest the form of each with peculiar and distinctive characteristics . The ' stanza , so difficult of management in an inferior hand ) is by him wrought , even in the most elaborate and difficult descriptions , with as much ease as a skilled hand weaves osier rods into basketwork . He is master of his verse , and uses it as a master , not a servant . He makes it subservient to his thought ; with a boldness moro to be admired than condemned he employs rhymes and words unathorised by authority rather than suffer his muse to be fettered by commonplace rules . * * ¦ - # " # # " #
There are , in this volume , at least a thousand of such stanzas as we have quoted . Some purely beautiful ; some shocking , malignant , and terrible ; hut all evincing triumphant poetic genius . Think , then , of the entire work being composed in a dungeon ; of all the gorgeous imagesband glowing splendours that shine upon the page , being conceived in the darkness , pain , and privation of a prison cell , and , acknowledging how superior the mind can rise to all external circumstances , let us frankly , with all its faults , _acknowledge this Prison Rhyme to be one of the most wonderful productions of which the world has preserved record .
It suggests deep thoughts , not to he lightely expressed , not to be heedlessly discarded . We cannot suppress genius of this kind . It will rise superior to all fetters . It resembles the elements ofthe natural world , which may be controlled but cannot he annihilated . The torrent that unrestrained would desolate a country may be turned into channels to fertilize it , and made to contributeto the service and pleasure of man . What might this poet not have been had his infancy and youth been less neglected , had he been cared for by the state , had his mind heen trained to a knowledge of truth , and reared with reverent
regards for things holy ? Is not this book a great evidence of the danger we run , in letting our youthful population grow np like rank weeds , without knowledge , care , or culture t Self-taught men are self-willed . They recognise no obligations , no authority . They conceive they owe all to themselves ; and , acknowledging none of the higher duties of life , none ofthe responsibilities of intellectual power , they hurl back apon society its scorn or contempt of themselves ) We know not what effect this book will have ; we almost fear pernicious . There is more danger in the spirit it breathes , than in a thousand Chartist meetings by torchlight .
It gives another warning , a solemn one too , —on the danger of rudely disturbing old and settled institutions . The New Poor law has been long in operation , there appears no prospect of its repeal—yet see , in this book , which speaks the mind of millions , with what intensity it is hated , and with what joy a revolution would he hailed that should sweep it away . Itis favourable to the good feeling of the author that he now deprecates all resort to violence . The path of minds like his is usually a rough one , but is cleared at
last . Genius in its progress has often to pass through dark caverns before it arrives at halls of light ; under happier circumstances we trust they are dawning upon him , his temper may become softened , and his views of life extended and cleared . Then , from this great , but rude commencement , more great than the earlier works of some whose names are now imperishably embalmed in our language , may arise a lofty superstructure of poetic fame . His natural powers are so eminent that success must attend his efforts , to whatever labour he may turn his vigorous mind .
We have gone through the volume hastily , and have recorded our impressions ofit with equal speed . It is one of those works in which there is so much to admire , so much to condemn , so much of sublimity and of beauty , so much of wrath and of fire , somuch of heaven , so much of hell , that the mind eannot easily pass a decided judgment on it , but can only in noticing it attempt to reflect the feelings and the seutiments it has originated . In quoting the JBritannia ' _s review of Mr . Cooper ' s poem , we do not forego our own right to criticise it , and express our own views as to its merits , which , whether we agree with the Britannia reviewer or not , we shall honestly express when wc come to the conclusion ofthe poem . A lengthy review ofthe Purgatory of Suicides appeared in tlie Atftcnmtm of Saturday last ; we shall most likely give some extracts therefrom next week . We now proceed with our extracts from the poem . The poet sleeps in his cell , and has a vision on his prison bed
Which took its tinct from fhe mind ' s waking throes . The openingportion of the vision is horrible enough to stand bv tlieside of John Biinyan ' s famous "Valley ofthe Shadow of Death . " _Jfethonght I voyaged in thc bark of Death—Himself the helmsman—on a skyless sea , Where none of all his passengers drew breath-Yet each , instinct with strange vitality , Glared from his ghastly eye-balls upon me , And then npon that pilot , who upheld One chill and fleshless hand so witheringly That , while around his boat the hoarse naves swelled , It seemed as if their rage that solemn signal quelled . I know not how these mariners I saw :
No light made visible the grisly crew : It seemed a vision ofthe soul—by law Of corp _' ral sense unfettered , and more true Than living things revealed to mortal view . _JTor can earth ' s Babel syllables unfold Aught that can shadow forth tlie mystic hue Of nvyriadereatures—or their monstrous mould—Which " _'ihwart that dismal sea their hideous hugeness relied . Not stature terrible of mastodon Or mammoth;—longitude of lizards vast , lords of the slime when earth , from chaos won , Grew big with primal life , until , aghast , She quaked at her strange ' children;—not all past Or present , which from out the daidal earth , The human reptile , latest born , hath classed By guess , _cleping it " Knowledge *'— for the mirth Of future worms , crawling , in pride , to death—from birth .
Pw Ui ^ Gat0ry Of Suicides. A Prison C &...
Not old leviathan , of bulk uncouth ; Nor fabled kraken , with his sea-borne trail * — . N _» t all that sages tell , in sober sooth , - . ' . _.- 0 f J _^*?; 8 ull ' s _prog ? ny on Memphic . vale , ' " Which from redundant Nile hisbeams exhale ; - _ "' Nor all that phrenzied poets exorcise . Prom memory ' s grave , then weave with fancies fraU ;—Canhnage , in their shades , or shapes , Or Size , _** _^ se _^ eaft-dwellers huge beholding Death ' s emprize . ' The voyage , voyagers , and ocean-forms . Alike , were strange , and _wfld , and _' wonderful ; But marvels grew I - _-, When , of that sea- of storms We reached tbe shore , tlie waves at once were lull—• 'Death and Ilia Skiff evanished , nnd seemed null And void as things that never were—while they ,
Of late Death ' s passengers , so cold and dull , Took , with an air of stern resolve , their way Into a gloomy land where startling visions lay . : Any one who wishes to " sup full of horrors" must read the stanzas immediately following the above , describing the march of tlie ghostly crew through the land of shadows' to which Death ' s bark has conveyed them . For ourselves we have ho taste for such phantasies , _however poetically described . In bur boyhood , thanks to Bunyan , " prince of dreamers , " we had quantum sit / of such _yisions to last us a model-ate life-time . The next extract describes a _mighty'hall where are assembled the mighty suicides ofthe olden time : this visionary hall exhibits the poet's descriptive powers to great advantage : — .
"By beam or rafter architectonic _Dndarken'd—with a roof of rainbows graced , Smiled that wide _palace-hall _'—yet , upward , quick And tim ' rous looks old shapes columnar casfr-7-. . That stretched their sinews as with effort vast , To prop the heavenly arch whose full they feared : — Distorted things—abortions ofthe Past—They were : Satyrs , with wild-goats'legs and beard , And one-eyed Ariraasp and Cyclops , there appeared '} Scythians , with heel in front , and toes behind— ¦ An old Imaus known ; and Ethiops dark And headless , wearing mouth and eyes enshrined . In their huge breasts ; ' and countless monsters stark And staring ,-hymn'd diviue'byhierarch Of Ganges and old Nile—wilh heads , tails _. armg , Tusks , horns , confused , of elephant , ape , shark , Serpent , dog , crocodile , or ox : vile swarms Of hideous phantasies , half-sharing human forms .
In triple colonnade around th' immense ' Ellipsis of that hall these creatures stood—* Colossal images of ache intense And apprehensive dread;—while o ' er them bowed The arch that still in jewelled beauty glowed . — Such horror , blent with grace , 'Apollo ' s priest 'Mid strangling folds of Neptune's serpents showed—And still _doth-show—enmarbled _, undeceased—That breathing stone the Past to gem the Puture leased Area within , enclosed , of amplitude More spacious stretched than wide circumference Of sculptured temple , by-far traveller viewed In Hindoo cave—or where wild audience The Arab gives to hoar Magnificence . Defying _RuinJ and in some huge tomb , Hewed for _a-monarch , nightly sleeps—from whence , I' th' morn , he blesses . Mecca ' s seer—while gloom Eterne veils Meamon ' a brow beholding Thebes' sad doom
Throughoutthis column-girt enclosure rose Thrones , —some with fashion of a fortalice Or tower ; some , like eathedrallcd shrine , where vows Are paid to saintly heritor of bliss , Shewed niche , and pinnacle , and quaint device Of carven wonder-work ; while some parade Outvied of old renowned Acropolis Or Parthenon , where graceful shaft _o'erlaid With bossed entablature Man ' s noblest skill displayed . Significant depicturings of fraud Conjunct with force , —chimaaras blending grim Tierce forms with fascinations ,- — shapes that awed Pelasgic men in ages old and dim , — ' For metope , along the plinth ' s broad rim , Tn een gem-dropp'd triglyphs , —wore each classic throne : ' - Rapine of harpy , smile of siren prim , lewd lure of lamia , wile of sphinx , and frown Of minotaur and archer-centaur there were shewn .
Or , where a shrine-shaped throne , o _' ercanopied With perforated carvery , rose , —a pile Of frail aerial wonder , —typified Were Fright and Mischief mixt with Stealth and Guile : Hag rode her broomstaff , _flanht with bugbear vile And goggle-eyed hobgoblin , while a host led by Puck-Hairy mocked with infantile And puny trick the snake that wreathed and tossed His trail around the skull and cross-hones of grim ghost . In the list of potentates , legislators , heroes , and others , who occupy this hall , there are Sardanapalus ,
CEdipus , yEgeus , Saul , Telamou , Codrus , Chow Sin , Lycurgus , Mark Antony , Nero , Mithvidates , Dido , Cleopatra , & c , < fcc . These hold converse on the destiny of man . Sardanapalus , who commences the " war of words , " taunts Lycurgus with the failure of his prediction that kings should cease to reign , and mankind bow only to self-government . Sardanapalus points triumphantly to the ruins of Greece , and the extinction of Spartan virtue and freedom , in proof of his assertion that There must be conqueringlords , and slaves that yield : There hath been , —and there wilt be .
Chow Sin , the Emperor of China , takes np the same strain , and instances China as the most ancient and flourishing of states , because conservative of its faith in kings and priests . Mark Antony answers the Cathaian despot , and shows tlio real and degraded state of China . The stanzas put into the mouth of Mark Antony are very fine . He predicts the speedy destruction ot the old and worn-out empire of Chow Sin :-The restless pirates ofthe northern isles , — Breaking your barriers of three thousand years , — With their own eyes , your land of fabled smiles Behold , —and find it but a land of tears-Like their own . Nero replies to the anti-monarchical scoffings of Antony , and administers a not undeserved scourging to the Hero of Actium!—Vestal of the Nile !
In his turn Nero has his own vices rigidly pourtrayea by the heavy hand of Maximian . " Thc quarrel is becoming " a very pretty quarrel , " each unmasking the other , when the fierce Pontic King Mithridates silences the disputants by appealing to Lycurgus to give his reasons for his belief in the ultimate deslruction of kingcraft and universal reign of equality . Thus appealed to , Lycurgus answers : — The Power that forms , supports , and governs Man , Smiles on him evermore ; benignly woke His infancy with love . ; unfolds its plan Of happiness in the fair-written book Of Man's own nature , and the forms that look Upon his essence from the outward world ; Implants no instinct in his breast to mock His life ; but hath his sentient clay irapearled With reason—sovereign gem in fragile folds enfurled .
A thing of beauty , though but frail , in joy Perpetual might his mortal life be past ; But fablers do his peace and bliss destroy With falsest fears : each hour is overcast With sadness , and each breath an antepast Becomes of some dread future , which , to shun , He must propitiate mystic demons vast , By rites that serve to load with pious boon The smooth and crafty priest who consecrates the throne . Very beautiful are the stanzas comprising the address of the great Spartan : — Ye clepe me Prophet!—1 accept the jest For earnest ; and , with mystic wreath thus crowned By your united voice , Mystery attest To be the tyrant Power from whose profound Soul-bondage man is breaking : whispering sound Of Truth ' s young breath greets Europe ' s grateful ear ; And Freedom , in some hearts , a throne hath found On that new shore where still , alas ! appear Earth ' s olden stains—the helot's stripes—the helot ' s tear ,
Afric ' s dark tribes , and Asia's populous swarms , The voice of Truth , and Freedom ' s holy call Shall know , ere long—upstarting , —not to arms , For blood and slaughter , —but to disenthral Their new-born spirits from Faith ' s mystical Degrading chains , and shake their ancient slough Of sottish ignorance off : no more to crawl In abjectness 'fore hideous gods , nor throw Their slavish frames 'fore kings , in vile prostration low . '' What follows , " says the reviewer in the Britannia , " is equal to tl e noblest stanzas in Byron" : —
Thrones , —ye perceive your splendours ' gin to pale , *—And soon we must our penal throes renew , I cease my theme;—and may have erred , —for frail Is still our wisdom ' : it may be , the Few Shall still the Many trample and subdue : That Truth and Liberty shall bloom—to die , — Like ' glorious winged things , that , swift pursue The sunbeam-atoms for a day , then hie To des th , —blending , as 'twere , a breath—a smile—a sigh ! It may be that the human soul is mixt , With nature of decadence and frail change , Essentially : that never stably fist , But mutable , eternally to range From ignorance to wisdom , —then , hy strange Return , to ignorance , —may be its fate , Inevitably ;—that when their brief revenge Slaves take on tyrants , they emancipate Themselves in vain , —Aud Nature doth their strife frustrate .
Spirits , it may he emptier than a dream That fair Equality shall one day hold Sole sceptre on the earth : that Man shall deem His brother man too snered to be sold Or slain , —to he by any power controlled , Save the soft force of love and wisdom : field It is for thought : thy dogma , —monarch old , — "There must be conqu ' ring lords and slaves that yield "The Future may attest as the stained Past hath sealed . Lycurgus proposes that other shades of great suicides should be invited to join in this supernatural conference ; as the niouarclis express their assent , the dream of the poet is broken , and tho first book ends . ( To be continued . )
Vqvsv * Jerrold's Shilling Maga-.. Zine-...
_VQVSv _* JERROLD'S SHILLING MAGA-.. ZINE-Sefthmber , Londott : _Punca Office , _< J 2 , "Fleet-street . „ _,, * ., - _¦ ,. _. . . ' ' We _return to this magazine , from which we gave an extract in our last . ' In the continuation'in the present months number , ofthe editor ' s story of " St . Giles and St . James" is a powerfully written expose ofthe ignorant and bloody barbarities ofthe " good old times , as shown by the hanging of unfortunate \ vvetches _ to the number of fifteen at once , as was tho case at _£ ewgate , on the morning of the 23 rd of June , 1 ( 84 . Wc had marked this excellent piece of writing for extract , but cannot find room for it this week ; nevertheless it sliall appear in . this paper . " The Englishman in Prussia , No . II . " contains an account of that gigantic fraud , " The- Holy Coat at Treves , "
together with a number of similar frauds . AVeneed say nothing in commendation of this well-timed and excellent article , as it sufficiently commends itself : the reader will find it in page 7 of this paper . "The Child and the Criminal" is an interesting account of a most interesting establishment in France , the agricultural colony ofMettray , near Tours , established for the moral . and physical recovery of voung delinquents .. What true glory might Lows Philippe and Gmzoi have acquired b y imitating the noble example set by Messrs Lh * Metz and DE BitBTiGXEnEs , doing nationally what these two noble-minded ' men are doing locally . Had the funds of the State , so mischievously and infamously squandered in the cnibastilement of Paris , been devotedto the establishment of similar , colonies to that at Mettray , the King of
the Barricades and the chief of tho Doctrinaires would have won lor themselves a reputation as the benefactors of their country which time could never have obliterated . As it is , the one a perjured tyrant , the other a tyrant ' s tool , are , despite tlieir acknowledged abilities , the most unpopular men living ; and will be amongst thc most execrated when dead . As an example of what may be done , this Mettray experiment is of the first importance ; although next to valueless as a means ot national regeneration ; seeing , that while the system at Mettray saves one unfortunate , the system at Paris , and throughout France generally , is destroying , at the least , a hundred for every one saved by Messrs . Dii Met / , and _Di-Bbetioxehes . After all , there is no real remedy but in changing the social system . The philanthropists
' ¦ Mettray may ameliorate the evil results flowing from the present anti-social state of things ,. but nothing short ofthe remedy prescribed by Babeup and Bumunnon will effect a thorough cure for the present , and prove a preventive for the future . Still _y all honour to the founders of Mettray ' . If we can find room we may give the article , in this paper , in a week or two . By the bye , the Socialists might turn the example of Mettray to account . Now that tho failure of the Harmony Hall experiment as » community is no longer doubtful , why not turn the establishment to the next best purpose , that of an agricultural industrial college , for the training of youth in a practical knowledge of the social svstem , and habits in consonance therewith 1 If there be any truth in the system of the Socialists , or any
chance of that system being reduced to practice , experience has proved that it can only be by committing its working to a race trained free from the prejudices and habits of thc " present generation . " The Position of men of Letters" contains some good ideas , but also a something which tons seems not sound . There has of late in this magazine , and several other publications , been raised an outcry against the present political system in this country , which showers down honours and emoluments on certain privileged classes , to the exclusion of those who possess nothing but their talents to recommend them for the services and rewards of public situations . The outcry is well-founded , and we hope will become louder and louder until the cause thereof be removed ; Thc discontented parties we speak of
desire that , instead of the booby sons of lords , or the brainless scions of wealth , claiming as by right the privilege to be enrolled in the ranks of the rulers of the state , that the offices now in most instances so unworthily occupied , should be thrown open to the competition of the men of genius , talent , and learning ; and that to the most worthy , regardless of birth or money , should be allotted thc _' public employments . This principle is good and grand if taken in its fullest sense ; indeed , it is just what , as regards Government _, the democracy are contending for . But we doubt the motives of some of . these clamonrcrs for the "aristocracy of talent ; " and they furnish us with reasons for doubting , when we sec them , as in the case of this writer in Jerrold's Magazine ( "The Position of Men of Letters" ) lauding the
system winch in I-ranee elevates (?) a viCTOH Hugo to the peerage ; in Prussia , where a _IluMnoiUT is at once a peer and minister ; and in Spain , where the dramatist Martixez de la Rosa is , or was , lately a minister . It may be a very good thing for Messrs . Hugo , Humboldt , De la Kosa and Co ., that they should share with privileged brigands , military adventurers , and jobbing politicians , the titles , crosses , orders , and pecuniary pickings derived from thc plunder and brutalisation of thc nations they respectively belong to . This may bo very well for tho clever gentlemen in question ; but of what benefit is it to the millions of France , Prussia , and Spain , who are not romancists , philosophers , or _play-wi'itei'S ? None . Nor , as experience has shown , does this " elevation" of the literali of a country to the
functions and honours . of public life tend at all to the advancement of nations in political , or even mental freedom . Indeed , the very contrary is the fact . No one knows this fact better than tliat crafty old sinner , Loiiis Philippe ; and seo the use he has made ofit . After the " three days , " tlie greater part of the journalists , and other writers , who had stimulated that revolution , were forthwith rewarded by the king of the shopocrats with places , pensions , orders , anil other tit-bits of corruption ; the cunning old usurer , well knowing that by such means ho could attach these literary prostitutes to his cause , and so buy up the press as an engine i ' or the support and conservation of his sew tyranny . Almost the only honest man ofthe prominent journalists who remained true to tke cause of the many , who would neither be made
a peer , nor a minister , nor a placeman of any kind , _Armand Carufx , was speedily got rid of , being conveniently killed in a duel , into which he was villanously entrapped . Writers not so prominent , but equally honest ,, such as the editors of the Tribune , wero subjected to prosecution after prosecution , until , by the aid of villanous middleclass juries , they were utterly ruined in purse , and left to perish in the dungeons to which they were consigned . So that between corruption and persecution , honest journalism was all but utterly stifled . What remained ' previous to the Fieschi affair was then utterly put an end to ; and such superlative scoundrels as Thiers , Gcizot and Co ., were the men who were the prime movers in every infamous law adopted to chain the press and fetter the
millions . The public writers of France arc with a few —very few—honourable exceptions , the basest set ef knaves that ever prostituted brains or wielded pens , and yet that is the country -where the ' _* " aristocracy of talent" has sway ; where poets are made peers , and journalists ministers ! As to Prussia , wo do not see wherein the Prussian people benefit by having Baron Humboldt for a minister . Wc havo not heard that he has made even an attempt to abolish the censorship ; and we rather think he has not put pen to paper yet to prepare thc constitution so long promised by the present perjured , pictistic king . Then look at Martinez de la Rosa , the grand " tool and creature of thc royal harlot Christina . Has not this play-writing member of the " aristocracy of talent" been the associate of the blood-drinking
monster Narvaez ? lists he not sanctioned and approved , and helped to carry out all the atrocities of which thc reigning faction in Spain have been guilty during the last two years ? _Nauvaek is a brute : but brute as ho is , he is really respectable compared with this intellectual , elegant blood-dabbler , Rosa . If Rosa is a fair specimen of the " aristocracy of talent , " heaven preserve us from that aristocracy's rule ! If the author of the article in Jerrold ' s Magazine which has called forth these remarks , imagines that the democratic movement in this country is intended merely to put ono set of men down and place another setup ; remove hereditary aristocrats merely that tlieir places may be filled with " babbling literati , " he makes a grand mistake ; a mistake which , with the example of the Girondists before bim , he
might have avoided . They—the Girondistsdesired to put down monarchy , the aristocracy , and the priesthood , but only with the view of establishing themselves in the places of the discomfited orders of thc old regime . They had no idea of establishing a system " of veritable liberty , which , to exist , must be based _itpon equality of labour and enjoyments . Th e consequence was , that this would-be " aristocracy of talent" were trodden down by the men of energy who promised the masses a real liberty . Some of the promisers were honest men . Would that they had all been so ! Be it understood that we offe r these observations not as the apologist of tho present system , which excludes a Carlyle , a Dickens , a Jerrold , or a Cooper , from public employmentsand confers them
, on such idiots as tbe Marquis of Londonderry ; nor are we opposed to the reign of an " aristocracy of talent ;" - on the contrary , we earnestly desire to see its commencement . What wo insist upon is this , that the power of that " aristocracy" shall emanate from the people . We want no poets made peers of by King or _( Jucen- _^ no journalist called to high office because his prostitution of intellect is calculated upon before-hand , by _; those who give him his degraded " elevation . " As the Whigs are only good for anything when out of office , so , while the present system lasts , it will not trouble us much'to sec the " men of letters" remain as they aro . Their discontent is a
powerful help to the enfranchisement of nil . " Revolutions are not made with rose-water "—and that being the case , if ever a revolution should come upon this country , we trust it will have mightier ends , and achieve happier results , than tho merelv giving US sucl ) precious rulers as _Tiuers , the lying historian , or _Mamu'ez de la Rosa , the butchering play-writer . Of the other contents of this number of Jerrold ' s Magazine we have no room to speak , save tbat we have , as usaal , read with much pleasure the " _Hedgehog Letters . " It would be superfluous for us now to say anything by way of recommending this publication—it best recommends itself .
Vqvsv * Jerrold's Shilling Maga-.. Zine-...
THE ILLUMINATED _MAGAZINE-S _^ ubi _* . London : J . Clayton , 320 , Strand . This is the third number of thc new series' of a magazine which , befbretime , 'it has oi ' ton been our pleasing task to speak of in approving terms . The first and second numbers of thc present series we have not seen ; and so have not had the pleasure of reading the commencement of the exciting story of "The Dead Guest" from the German of Heinricu TyscjiOkke . "Sketches oflndian Sports" arc highly entertaining ; we hope to have moro from the same pen . " The Life and Adventures of Bob Thin" is a literavy curiosity , not so much for its verse , —though that is not bad , —as for thc quaint and original illustrations witli which it is profusely garnished . " The Recreations of . Mr . Zigzag the Elder , " contains some curious recollections of , and pleasing gossip concerning _EliasAshmoi-e _, and his house in Little Shire-lane ; and the immortal Boar ' s Head , of Eastcheap . " Zara , the ' Rich Man ' s Daughter , " is a
well-written but melancholy talc . The " Popular Rationale of Ghosts" contains some good sense on a subject fertile of incxhaustless nonsense . The writer of "The Past , the Present , and the Possible , " have met beforo in tlio old series of this magazine , and right glad we are to meet liim again . His prosent contribution would do credit to any publication . There is some good poetry in this number . ¦ As regards the illustrations ,, this magazine is once more worthy of its name . Indeed , in the best days of the old series , this magazine was never so truly " the _iLbUMiNATKD " , as now . There are magazines for which the charge is half-a-crown , or three shillings and sixpence , which certainly can claim no superiority , as regards literary ability , over this ; while , as regards their ( pictorial embellishments , they are as farthing rushlights to tho groat sun itself ) when compared with'tho' Illuminated at the same time the latter is published at less than half the cost of the high-priced monthlies .
Tait's Edinburgh Magazine — August And S...
TAIT'S EDINBURGH MAGAZINE — August and September . Edinburgh : W . Taifc ;¦ London : Simpkin , Marshal ] , and Co . Circumstances , it were useless to explain , prevented us noticing the August number of this old established , and deservedly popular magazine . It would , however , be unjust not to notice the August number , simply because August has gone by . Tho opening article is a review of _^ the celebrated work of the French historian , M . Michelet , on " Priests , Women , and Children . " Tho review is not so much to onr liking as some reviews of the same work we have seen in other publications . Still it is a valuable article—indeed tlie most valuable in
tho number . M . Michklet ' s work is one of the most valuable contributions to tho cause of freo thought , — the foundation and safe-guard of all freedom , —which has appeared since the time of Voltaire . His exposure of priestcraft , as it exists in France at the present day , was much needed , and will , wo trust , be productivcof the hoped-for results . _Thcreisgrountl , too , for . so trusting ; for before it appeared in an English dress , it had sold to tho extent of fifty thousand copies in France . The review of "The Memoirs of Lady Hester Stanhope , " extending through fourteen double-columned pages , must , at any ratc _» have thoroughly skimmed the cream of the work . _Tiiisrcview is mostcleverly prepared , and the reader of Tcdt will scarcely find it necessary to read the original work after having perused the review . " Servia , the Youngest Member of the European Family , " gives the reader much interesting information— thanksto Ml * . Paton ' s book—of a country hardly
known to western Europe , and a people who seem to possess qualities which require but fair cultivation to fit tbcm for greatness . Reviews of the " Life of Jean * Paul Richter , " and "The Works of De La Moxib Fouo , UH , " aro very interesting , and altogether this ( thc August ) number is a- capital shilling's worth . The number for the present month ( September ) also possesses several articles of interest . The first of these is a critical examination of" Wordsworth ' s Poetry , " by Thomas De Quixcy , better known as thc English Opium Eater . We fancy this to be one of thc ablest pieces of criticism that has appeared in any publication for a Jong time past . The critic is an enthusiastic admirer of Wordsworth , but is yet not blind to his faults as a poet , nor does he hesitate to expose them . " The Excursion" is rather severely handled . Tho false philosophy of thc poet as exhibited in his treatment of the disappointed misanthrope in the fourth book of the poem is ably commented on in the following hopeful and eloquent
sentences
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION . Indirectly , besides , it ought not to be overlooked that , as respects tho French Revolution , the _tvhole college of philosophy in "The Excursion , " who arc gathered together upon tlvc case of the recluse , malic lhe same mistake that ho makes . Why is the recluse disgusted with the French Revolution 1 Because it had not fulfilled many of his expectations ; and of those which it had fulfilled , some had been soon darkened by reverses . But really this was childish impatience . If a man depends for the exuberance of his harvest upon the splendour of the coming summer , you do not excuse him for taking prussic acid because it rains eats and dogs through the first tor . days of April . All in good time we say : take it easy ; make acquaintance with May and June , before you do anything rash . The French
Revolution has not even yet ( 1815 ) come into full action . It was the explosion of a prodigious volcano , which scattered its lava over every kingdom of every continent , everywhere silently manuring them for social struggles , _* this lava is gradually fertilizing all : the revolutionary movement is moving onwards at this hour as inexorably as ever . Listen , if you have ears for such spiritual sounds , to the mighty tide even now slowly coming-up from the sea to Milan , to Home , to Naples , to Vienna . Hearken to the gentle undulations already breaking against the steps of that golden throne which stretches from St . Petcrsburgh to Astrachan;—tremble at the hurricanes which have long been mustering ahout the pavilions of the Ottoman Padishah . All these are long swells setting in from the French _Revolution . Even as
regards France herself , that which gave the mortal offence to the sympathies ofthe solitary-was tho Iteign of Terror . _Butjhow thoughtless to measure the cycles of vast national revolutions by metres that would not stretch round an ordinary human passion . Even to a frail sweetheart , you would grant more indulgence than to ha off in a pet because some transitory cloud arose between you . The reign of terror was a mere ileeting phasis . The Napoleon dynasty was nothing more . Even that scourge , which was supposed by many to have mastered thc Revolution , has itself passed away upon the -wind—leaving no wreck , relique _, or record behind , except precisely those changes which it worked , not as an enemy to the Revolution ( Which also it was ) , but as its servant and its tool .
The "Passages in thc History of Knockarow" are brought to a conclusion . Tho whole story has been ably told , and wiil well repay perusal . The critique on the third and fourth volumes of " Thiers' History of Napoleon . " should bc read by all who desire to get atthe truth of French history . There are several other reviews in this number , including " A Scottish Craftsman's Travels in the United States and Canada , " written by William _Th ' . mson , of Stonehaven , a sensible and well-written work , if wo may Judge by the _extracts in raft ; and Charles Mackav ' s " Legends of the Isles and other poems , " a true poet , whose success we shall be delighted to hear of .
Simmokds's Colonial Magazine. —Set Iembe...
SIMMOKDS'S COLONIAL MAGAZINE . —Set iember . London ; Simiuoiuls and Ward , 18 , Corn
lull . This number contains the usual amount of statistical and descriptive information on colonial subjects , for which this magazine has earned so fair a fame . Among the more important contents arc articles , on the "Imports and Exports of _Dcmerura ;" " The Agriculture of Hindostaii ; " the " Progress of Wealth , Trade , and Population in Canada ; " "The Newfoundland Fisheries" ( being the Report of the Committee appointed by the General Assembly of Newfoundland to inquire into the state of tlio Fisheries of that Colony ;) "Tho Geography of Africa" ( an article contributed by Mr . James M'Quren , containing much curious information ou the subject of African discovery ); and lastly , a very valuable article on " Hong lvong , and the Five Chinese Free Ports . " Accompanying this article is n view of Victoria , the English capital of Hong Kong , which it appears has already becmnc a place of
importance . Iu August , 1 S 4 I , not a single house was yet built , but in June , 18-12 , tho town was considerably more than two miles long , and its increase sihee then has been nearly proportionate , It now contains hundreds of excellent shops , a well supplied marketplace , several fine public buildings , good roads , & c . This number contains also several articles of light reading , amongst which are " The Merchant ' s Bride " ( concluded ;) " Reminiscences of the Island of Cuba ; " and a very interesting account of "The Murichi , or Ita Palm of Guiana . " We are glad to learn by the preface , of the volume just concluded , that the proprietors and conductors of this magazine are enabled to record the "continued and unexampled success" of their venture . This success is certainly well deserved . The present number commences the sixth volume , which _^ if as well conducted as its predecessors , cannot fail to win a still further increase of public patronage .
Coxfessiox Of Ax Oi.N Offexden.—The Stan...
_Coxfessiox Of ax oi . n OFFEXDEn . —The Standard of Wednesday says , " The advice of the great Lord Chatham to thc Lord _Gvaivilcy of his time to say nothing ivhen he had nothing to cay , ' is excellent for Members of Parliament , but it will not do for newspapers . ' We must say somethinq every day , whether wc havo or havo not anything to say , and the consequence is that wc _ntust occasionally write a great deal of nonsense , a great deal of impertinence , and some of us , at least , a great deal that is false and mischievous ;" NATunAL . —If a village beggar were to hoard money , in what funds would lie invest it ? In anything but thc slocks !
A Lcjipiso Pexx _' _oiitii . —" _iNow _, my man , said a " London Alderman , to a " _^ _onng J \ iu" m London streets , "" what would yon say if I gave you a penny ? Boy : "Vy , that you vosajoily old brick . "—l ' urich .
Cft Sttfc
Cft Sttfc
' Political Railway Accinesr.—An Acciden...
' Political Railway _AccinEsr . —An accident lately happened to one Peel ! tho driver of the engine called " Expediency , " belonging to the . express train on the government line of railway . It is woll known that the line is exceedingly crooked , and the ins and outs have always been considered very dangerous . . Peel , who is a " reckless fellow , and who has lost his place onco or'twice for improper conduct , put the engine at full speed , though it had got an enormous weight to pull _againstfin tiie shape of an
article for Maynootli , which was very awkwardly placed , and if it had fallen down must inevitably have crushed him ; regardless of consequences , he urged tho engine on ; and if it had not happened to be " Expediency , " which he is in the habit of driving , tiic result would probably havo been fatal . It was , however , by keeping up tho speed tliat lie succeeded in keeping clear of the dead-weight at his back ; aud there being fortunately nothing in his way te cause a \ collision , he armed in safety at the end of . his _joiwv ney . —Punch .
_Foktiicomi . vg Railways . —We have been favoured with the following list of railways which will bo brought before Parliament early next session : —A railway from thc Stock Exchange to the Bethlem Hospital , with a branch to . Newgate , and another to the Queen ' s Bench . The shares arc already at a very heavy premium ; having been principally bought up by largo speculators at Leeds . Thc chairman is the late projector of the Diddlesex Insurance Company . —A railway from Covent Garden Theatre to Portugal-street , with branches to the Strnnd , Olympic , and other minor theatres . Mr . Charles lvean
and Mr . Vandenhoff have taken a number ot shares in this railway , which is now known familiarly as tho tragedian's line . —Branch railways from thc different termini of the principal railways in London to the largest metropolitan hospitals will be opened as soon _, as sufficient accommodation can bo ihade in the latter for the great access of business this contemplated junction is sure to bring . Investment of capital to any amount may be considered perfectly safe in any of . these new lines , as from the intimate connexion that has long existed between the respective localities ' of each , . tho weekly traffic in passengers and property must bo immense . —ibid .
TUE iOJ . LV TODNO _BATlliJSTEIl , And did you not hear of a jolly young Barrister , At the Old Bailey who used for to ply 1 He made out his case with such skill and dexterity , Twisting each fact , while he glosed o ' er each lie . He stuck at _nothing ; and that so steadily , The felons all sought his aid so readily , And he saved from conviction so many a thief , Thatthis Barrister ne ' er was in want of a brief . What sights of fine rogues he got off by his blarney ; His tongue was so glib , and so specious withal ' He ujas always retained by the great City forgers To Newgate from Mansion Ilouse sent , or Guildhall . And pften the Press would be gibing and jeering , But 'twas all one to him , its carping and sneering ; He'd swear black was white in behalf of a thief , So ' this Barristcrne ' er was in want of a brief _.
• And yet , only think what strange morals have lawyers , . . Tlie Bar of such conduct think nothing at nil : Whilst should any poor Counsel report for a paper , " To Coventry with him ! " that instant they call ! From tlieir mess they'll expel him , he'll find , to his sorrow ; But they'll dilie wilh the housebreaker ' s hireling tomorrow ; Then hurrah!—though his client be swindler or thief , — For the Barrister never in want of a brief . —Ibid . Interesting Relic at Rosknai / . — At Rosenau , where his Royal Highness Prince Albert first savr light , they show affectionately , not only the cradle in which the royal infant was laid , but the silver spooii which he had in his mouth when he was born . The correspondent of the Morning Herald fainted when ho
saw this admirable relic . It-is as large as asoupladle ; handsomely embossed with tho arms of England ; and in the custody of Madame Eyergluck , his Royal Ilighncss's excellent nurse . —Prince Leopold ( now King of the Belgians ) was born with a similar ornament . It is kept at Gotha , under the charge of tlie lady who brought up his then Serene Highness by hand , Madame Pappenheini . —Ibid . The Cause op the late Bad _Weather—M . Arago has discovered that the inclemency of the _wcatjier in Paris is occasioned by certain blocks of ice floating about in the Atlantic . From this wo may infer that the cold weather which wc have lately experienced has arisen from thc large quantities of Wenham Lake ice whicli are daily carried about the streets of London . —Ibid ,
How about _rnE Statue op CnoMWxix ?—Is Oliver Cromwell to have a statue in the New Houses of Par « liament ? That is , is he proper company for the deceased Kings and Queens of England ? _Atfirstthought , wo should be disposed to say that he was : but when we come to compare him with thc respectable King Henry the Eighth , and the beneficent daughters _^ of that Sovereign , Mary and Elizabeth , not to mention _, as fat , if not as notorious , a monarch of later date and withal to put ourselves in the Protector ' s place ; wc doubt whether that place would be along with those said personages . Is Cromwell fit to stand among them ? Are we fit to carry food of a certain description to a bear!—Ibid .
New Like oi ? _Bosisess . —We understand that medical students , instead of walking the hospitals , intend to appl y for permission to walk the dift'orcut raihvays , as , from the number of accidents that occar on each line , they expect to finish their surgical education in one-half ofthe usual period . —Ibid . SOVEREIGN SPOUT ; OB , TUE _STAG-Sl . A _. U'CUVisu AX G 0 XUA , " This day a stag must die . "—Ncio version of Old Song Morn rose in Coburg ; glorious morn ! Thc reveillee rung lond , While sounded every huntsman ' s horn , 'ilongst Gothn ' s joyous crowd . The English Queen ! our Chrisilan Queen ! Our Albert ' s monarch mate , Goes , pleasure-plumed , to forest green , To * ' beast battue" in Stato .
Oh ! brilliant was our Queen ' s cortege—Kings , princes , ladies , lords ! On Coburg ' s greensward , histjy ' s page Such nobles ne ' er records . The myriads throng each ridge and hill , Guards round the slaughter scene ; The Court arrives ; 'midst acclaim shrill , Pavilion'tl sits—our Queen ! 'Tis said the youthful Queen of Spain On hull-fights loving doats . The Queen who doth o ' er Britain reign On other slaughter gloats !
Thc horn ' gain sounds ! thc s guars given , On clash in maddening fright ; The forest ' s free-bom- —ruthless driven To yield a Queen delight ! Goaded and chafed , their antlers clash , They close th' imprisoned round ; For freedom bold they make a dash , But futile is their bound ! Again—again , the proud entrapped For glorious freedom hie ! When , hark ! a Prince ' s gun hath snapped—The noble brute must die ! The stag's but type of Freedom's fate , The sport of each crowned head ; Its paut fov right is sport of Stale ; 'lis marked at , doomed , and dead !
If such as Viis be Queenly sport , And worthy of renown , Changed soon may be the sport of Court , And pleasure of each crown . Catherine de Medkis once slood , And cheered her son to slaughter ; Th' Huguenot stags sank bathed " in blood , " And with as little quarter !
The bull-fight glads tho Queen of Spain ; Thc _buU-ktitpl- ased our million ; What sport glads Vic 1 let truth prevail _. From Gotha ' sstained pavilion!—Satirist , Somewhat too _Conclusive . —In thc examination into tho dreadful case of the Andover Union , which is going on by direction of Government , a reverend gentleman was Questioned upon the nature of his spiritual instruction to a sick pauper ;— " Yoil ll & l heard that this woman had lived in a state of adultery ? Yes . —And you went for the purpose of getting at the truth ? ' JS o : I felt it my duty fo point out the sins of that woman , and I mentioned adultery and other sins of whicli iuc are all guilty . " ( Lailghter ; _j—A voice : " Speak for yourself , if you please , sir . " ( Henewcd laughter . )—Thc impartiality of evidence with which tbe reverend gentleman included himself in the commission of tho crimes in question is , to say the least , a rare occurrence of candid confession .
A _Foowsn Father . —At Boston , United States , a poor simpleton , who , under the belief that the world 1 was coming to an end , made over all his property to his son , and went about preaching Millerism , and is now suing the son for its restoration . Making the Most or it . —A sailor , who had Jived on the bank of the canal , lately fell into thc water and w _. * _i 3 drowned . A few weeks afterwards , his widow , Jenny , discovered _somethihg'fldat'ing on tho canal , which ; on drawing ashore , turned out to bo her husband . From the body there issued a great quantity of eels , which the . ¦ " carcfnTJenny . gathered into a large hamper . A friend of Jenny ' s happening to pass at the time , she accostod her thus : — . " 0 dear me , Maw , here ' s mv man , and I have got a ' time eels out o * liim . What shall I do wi' liim ? " '' Why faith , Jenny , " says hev Iviend , " if he was mine I would just set him in again . You might malt' agrand trade o' the eels . " —Falkirk Herald ,
The Law of Guavitv . —Ladies were in the habit , some years ago , of wearing bonnets as big as prize cabbages . The monstrosity gradually subsided to their arms , and assumed the form of" gigot sleeves . " It lias now fallen still lower , and become a " bustle . " Where next V
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Sept. 13, 1845, page 3, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns3_13091845/page/3/
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