On this page
- Departments (3)
-
Text (15)
-
November 24, 1849. THE NORTHERN STAR. 3
-
3£o<*rg
-
THE BELLS. By the late Edgab A. Poe, Ame...
-
lUlnctiJ*
-
THE HISTORY OF IRELA Ai*. By T. Weight, ...
-
TJie Reformers Jlmanack and Political Ye...
-
* FOURIERIS.U—T he works of Cham.es Foi-...
-
MB. CHARLES DICKENS'S LETTER ON EXECUTIO...
-
I'UtflSHMEIfT OF DEATH. A public meeting...
-
ROYAL POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTION. This popu...
-
TnE ARCTIC EXPEDITION. The "Investigator...
-
Two Bad Lecs Cuiied uy Hou.oway's Ointme...
-
VavttXtit.
-
Condition- or the Misses.—If the bulk of...
-
pouJier J^"5"" , $hjL u»/ShmSml ^V^'eWof...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
November 24, 1849. The Northern Star. 3
November 24 , 1849 . THE NORTHERN STAR . 3
3£O≪*Rg
_3 _£ o <* rg
The Bells. By The Late Edgab A. Poe, Ame...
THE BELLS . By the late Edgab A . Poe , American Poet . Hear the sledges with tne hells Silver bells " "What a world of merriment their melody foretells How they tinkle , tinkle , tinkle , J ? , _*^^ _* of night ! While the stars that overs winkle AUt _' ie heavens , seem to twinkle mtha erystaline delight : Keeping time , time , time , tv > + i * - V ° _>? of Rmic _rf'yme , lo the tintmahulation that so musically _veils From the hells , bells , hells , bells , . Bells , bells , bells—¦ from thc jingling and the tinkling of the bells .
Hear the mellow _weddinw-belis , Golden bells ? _"Whataw-orid of happiness their harmony foretells Through the balmy air of night * How they ring ont their _deliffht 1 From the molten-golden notes , And all in tune , "What a liquid ditty floats To the turtle-dove that listens , while she gloats On the moon !
Oh , from out the sounding cells , What a gush of euphony voluminously wells . ' How it swells ' . How it dwells On the Future ! how it te ! Is Of the rapture that impels To the swinging and the ringing Of the bells , bells , bells , Of thc bells , bells , bells , bells , Bells , bells , bells—To the rhyming and the chiming ofthe beUs
Hear the loud alarum bells-Brazen bells J "What a tale of terror , now , theirturbnlency tells I In the startled ear of night How they scream out their aflright ! Too much horrified to speak , They can only shriek , shriek , Out of tone , In a clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire , In a mad expostulation with the deaf and frantic fire Leaping higher , higher , higher , " With a desperate desire , And a resolute endeavour Sow—now to sit , or never , By tbe side of the pale-paced moon . Oh , the bells , bells , bells ! "What a tale their terror tells
Of Despair ! How they clang , and clash , and roar "What a horror they outpour Oa the bosom ofthe palpitating air I Yet the ear , it fully knows , By the twanging And the clanging , How the danger ebbs and flows ; Yet the ear distinctly tells , In the jangling And the wrangling , How the danger _sinksTand Swells , By ihe sinking or the swelling in the anger of thc
_hfllle—Ofthe bells—Ofthe bells , bells , bells , bells , Bells , bells , bellsla the clamor and the clangor of thc bells ! Hear the tolling ofthe bells-Iron bells . ' "What a world of solemn thought their monopoly compels ! In the silence of the night , How we shiver with _anright At the melancholy menace of their tone . ' For every sound tbat floats From the rnst within their throats
Is a groan . And the people—ah , the people—They that dwell up in the steeple , All alone , And who , tolling , tolling , tolling , In that muffled monotone , Feel a glory in so rolling On the human heart a stone—They are neither roan nor woman—They are neither brute nor human—They are Ghouls * And their king it is who tolls ; And he rolls , rolls , rolls , Bolls A pasin from the bells I And his merry bosom swells
With the _paian ofthe bells I And he dances , and he yells ; Keeping time , time , time , In a sort of Runic rhyme , To the _pajan ofthe bells—Of the bells : Keeping time , time , time , In a sort of ltunic rhyme , To the throbbing of the bells—Of the bells , bells , bells—To the sobbing ofthe bells ; Keeping time , time , time , As he knells , knells , knells , In a happy Rnnic rhyme , To the rolling of tbe bells—Ofthe bells , bells , bells ;
To tbe tolling of the bells—• Of the bells , hells , bells , bells , Bells , bells , bells—To the moaning aud the groaning of ihe bells
Lulnctij*
_lUlnctiJ _*
The History Of Irela Ai*. By T. Weight, ...
THE HISTORY OF IRELA _Ai * . By T . Weight , Esq . PartXVU . London : J . and F . Tallis _, 100 , St . John-street . This Part narrates ihe history of events during the last year of the reign of _Chahles I . The _intritnies and double-dealings of the "Royal _ilar _^ _T , " in pursuance of Ms wretched policy of cheating all parties—English and Irish , Puritans and Catholics , & e ., & c , unfolded in this -work , must strike the reader with disgust , and induce the reflection that never baser prince existed , or was more righteously punished . The subject of the engraving in this Part is the first meeting of the gallant and _accomplished King Cokmac with thc fair EimxE . Of the heautifid illustrations which accompany this work , this—thus far—is thc gem .
Tjie Reformers Jlmanack And Political Ye...
_TJie Reformers Jlmanack and Political Year Book for I 8 o 0 . Loudon : Aylott and Jones , g , Paternost er-row . This Book Almanack—published under the _section ofthe _National Eeform Association-Sis a vast ma 5 S of political _intaatioii , _^ selected and admirably _airanged . Besides fee usual contents of an almanack , the reader Trill find a full _account of the House of Commons , together with a capital abstract of the _doino-s of our _nrisrepresentatives m ihesessm
of 1819 . The Ministers are exhibited with « all their Hushing honours thick upon them . « Our system of taxation ; " " OurFighting Establishments ; " the "State Church ; "W oods aud Forests ;'' « "National _Expendi-*„ .. _< ,. " " Taxes on Knowled _ge && , _&* , _^ e laid hare , and the enormities connected _ScreS _exposedin tbe pages before us . \ U . rive thc following extracts : asd the _clehot
msnors' palaces poor . _^ n . - _^ Church of England to he nothing hut a _col-^ - _^? J _£ _« mid bish ops ? -ihe Bight _»* _»¦ DlTe f lection oi ueggap . _* »• - , l _^ ers at the gate , doctored _^ _tr _^ _S _^ of _the _Chnreh is taking ear , of _mehkhops _.-JMa . thescand 3 ] ousabnses _mencomplaAntis _^^ th existing _m the State Ohurcj wea _^ are only abuses _an _^ _W _" _^ ut _^ . for reform . ChurehMom . _asino i _ porters of an _"' _^ _uton _^ J e _* _U _^^ of meBt oftheu _rclafee _,, and tnc _^ m _^ their political power , _^ _-ESent to real , _modified as to _^«^ ? | ue achievements of thou « h umvo wcd _, purpose . _i . fter h . *? _« _S S _i _? We annual exisiw as
» _- " ---- . _^ condcmned » _"""j _* - expense _. has atlast oeeu delusiVeness of all affords striking _^^ _J _^^ _auaA so long as promises of reform _" _^ _^ _ffS _^ _r _^ f _^ 1 S 30 ft remains such _-J _^ _Sim of _»<> richer , and to receive the surplus _»^™» md _ais 0 toapply _npplythemtothe p _^ er _huhowB _^ the proceeds of _ suPP s 5 i . nV iivi n _* s . Mr . Horsemec urestothe mcrease _^ _, u d man stated , in . _lbli , p" _£ P " ee £ 157 , 000 , and S received from he first sour _± _ , d from the second , _* _M _VJJ ' ' _r _^ d ed ? When the _fiow had this large sum been eg _^^ Eng j nd Commi ssion _^^^ _ft ; „ comes under £ 150 ; J 31 Wales 3 , 50 Shrin | S Wi _' _^ f _^ der 3 _^ 00 , . _^ thout _* t _^ tfd _[; st 636 livings The Commi ssioner _» ha _^« n > _^ each >) at an expense of _^^ st of erecW sixty-mne and defrayed «« f _™ _° _™ £ 40 , 637 ; while in _prononages _amoung Jo _^ cm he uislnng the _Tiding erecting , _a " " " = I thev had expended _Jfe of _^ _fg & _Jfay _*^* _gfi _yi _^ _oi- L being _^ _*" _' _^ - ! , _„„ - „ and ioz _. Sore than _/^ _% , _^ S » _W _« hausef ° beneficed clergy * If » pw _» i "
Tjie Reformers Jlmanack And Political Ye...
himself , he must borrow on the mortgage of his living , and pay the interest OUt of its proceeds . So once was it with the bishops—hut ihey being members of this same Church-Reforming Commission , have scorned to resort to so vulgar an expedient and havo had recourse to the surplus Episcopal revenues instead . The following are the snms which have been lavished on the estates and palaces of these successors of the Apostles—these servants of Him who " had not where to lay his head . " Bishop of Lincoln £ 52 , 70 S „ "Rochester 25 , 527 Gloucester 22 . S 97
„ llipon : 13 , GStf „ Worcester 7 , 000 Oxford 0 , 409 „ Exeter 8 , 500 „ Bath and Wells ... 4 , 000 Wiil it he believed , that in the first two of the above dioceses alone there were at the time 315 , and in the eight dioceses 532 benefices worth less than ~ 100 a-year , and no less than S 5 clergymen whose incomes were under £ 50 a year , or less than three shillings . ; day , eight of the number receiving as little as thirteen pence , and one actually hut sixpence halfpenny a day ! But tlie details of this exoendituve furnish still
stronger proof of the wastfulness with which our Ecclesiastical funds have been administered , under the new Church-Reforming regime . Thus , when the episcopal residence for the diocese of Rochester was changed , the Ecclesiastical Commission sold the old palace at Rochester for £ 1 , 000 , when they might readily have got £ 2 , 000 ; and then gave £ 25 , 557 for an estate and house at _Dauhury , not worth more than , at the lowest valuation , £ 10 , 600 , and at the highest , £ 17 , 400 . Thc conduct of the Commission in providing a palace for the Bishop of Lincoln , is thus described by the Daily News , which by its diligent and faithful exposures of ecclesiastical and electoral corruption , has earned the gratitude of all _Reformers —
The Rishborne estate consisted of about l , o 00 acres ; it was offered to the Commission for £ 62 , 000 , who refused it at that price ; on their refusal , it was bought by the very servants they employed ; and by those servants one-third of it was re-sold to the Commission for £ 40 , 000 . Kbr was this waste of money all . Thc Order in Council authorising the purchase by the Commission of onethird ofthe estate at this extravagant price , stated tbat in the opinion of the Commission the purchase would be beneficial to thc see , because there were on the property house , offices , and outbuildings , which ivould afford a fit and convenient [ residence for the Bishop of Lincoln , and his successors . Yet no sooner had the purchase money been paid than the
Ecclesiastical Commission found that' the house , offices , and outbuildings , ' were unfit for a bishop J _J " ay , more , they actually spent £ 13 , 302 on them , of which they paid £ 5 , 000 out of the episcopal fund ! First they paid £ 40 , 000 for the estate , because it had a fit house on it ,- then they spent £ 13 , 000 because it had not a fit house ! And all this selling and buying of estates , pulling down and building up , was , notwithstanding the fact that there was in the city of Lincoln a bishop ' s palace , a running lease of which might have been had for £ 1 , 500 , and that a small expenditure on it would have made it an excellent residence even for a bishop" " Very similar was the course adopted in the case of the see of Gloucester , where £ 11 , 000 was given
for an estate with a house upon it , for the repair of which house , while the Bishop himself asked but £ 3 , 000 , the Commission expended above £ 12 , 000 . The palace at Ripon was to cost but £ 10 , 000 , but the Bishop cried , " Give , give , " until the bill ran up to £ 14 , 611 . So also the Bishop of Oxford ( well known by a certain cognomen ) , obtained £ 3 , 500 for Ws palace , on the condition that he was to provide whatever additional sum might be required , and yet ultimately succeeded in wheedling the Commission out of further grants ( for gardens , conservatory , & e ., ) amounting to £ 3 , 000 . To complete the case against both the Commission and the Bishops , it is only necessary to give a few particulars respecting the incomes of the latter . The
men for whom palaces are thus provided are , in addition , in receipt of incomes , in some instances equal to , and in many far exceediug , the salary of a Minister of State . Their dishonesty ( to call it less is to trifle ) in making a return of their incomes , and expected incomes , has been pretty well exposed . The late Archbishop of Canterbury , in 1 S 31 , returned his at £ 22 , 000 , though he had himself the year before represented it to be onl y £ 32 , 000 . His future income he reckoned as £ 17 , 000 ; in 1843 , it was found to be £ 21 , 000 . The Archbishop of York ' s income , instead of being £ 10 , 000 , was found to he £ 14 , 550 . The Bishop of Durham , who was to have
but £ 8 , 000 , pocketed in one year no less than £ 26 , 000 ; and strangest of all , the Bishop of London , who , in 1 S 31 , returned his income at £ 13 , 929 in IS 43 , returned it at the smaller sum of £ 12 , 400 , present and prospective , notwithstanding the immense increase in the value of his estate at Paddington—an estate , which , it is calculated , will ultimately yield as much as £ 100 , 000 1 It was upon these returns , under-estimated in nearly every case , that the future incomes ofthe bishops were settled , and yet even that arrangement has heen departed from , the rich sees being made to disgorge too little by £ 20 , 000 a year , and the poorer receiving too much by £ 0 , 000 a year !
It is not difficult to discover the rafcoiiafc ot all this . The Ecclesiastical Commissioners , in 1841 , contrived to obtain a clause in an act , which confined the application of the sums arising from reduced bishoprics to episcopal instead of to general Church purposes . The money has , therefore , been scattered ridit and left among the bishops , lest the largeness ofthe surplus should suggest the idea of dividing it among the poor clergy . And thc continuance of this distinction between the two funds is stoutly contended for ; for , says the Bishop , of London ( before a Committee of Inquiry ) : — " In the first place _lue wont provision for snore bishops . And I should say , tbat if the funds were sufficient , wc want provision for those officers who are of great importance to the bishops , as assistants
to him in thc execution of his duty think , also , that ... we ought to appropriate the surplus to the maintenance of Colonial Bishops . I am not , however , prepared to say that there might not ; at some future time , be furnished by tbe same fund , some assistance toward tho augmentation of poor benefices . " , His lordship's known shrewdness also suggested another reason why the episcopal revenues should not be thrown into a common fund , which was , that " the parochial clergy would be thought , of course , to have a much larger interest ; it wonld he conceived as so much deducted from that ivhich ought to qo to the _augmentation of small livings ; and there ivould be ahuder demand for the means of creating additional benefices than endowing additional
bishoprics . ' , _, ,. This unblushing avowal ofthe crafty , calculating _treediness of the episcopal bench , throws light on the policy and entire proceedings of the bishopridden Ecclesiastical Commission , who have but enacted over again— _, " The good old law , the ancient plan , That they shall keep who have the power , And thev shall get who can !" The bishops , as a body , stand convicted of hypocrisy in _bewailinsr the spiritual destitution of the people , while they are themselves rolling in riches , to which they cling with _unrclaxing grasp ; and the idea of purifying the Establishment by reform within , is demonstrated to be " a mockery , a delusion _, and a snare !"
COST OF COMBUSTIBLES . The quantity of gunpowder to be kept in store , exclusive of that consumed in foreign stations , is 170 000 barrels , which is equal to thc consumption of the last two years of the war with France ! The average annual consumption is 12 , 000 barrels , the cost of which is about £ 45 , 000 . The number of b-ill cartridges manufactured in each of the last three vears exceeds 6 , 500 , 000 , and the number of blank cartridges has varied from three to five millions . Moncv is also as lavishly expended in stores in thc colonies as at home , there being , for instance , in Canada , at the present time , stores ofthe estimated value of £ 650 , 000 . And the stores thus accumulating are constantly becoming unserviceable or obsolete , and it is distinctly intimated that " even when the change of armament shall have been completed , it must be expected that further improvements will repeatedl y be introduced , and that the store of many articles will thereby be _rendered useless !"
"We observe that in the list of the House ot Commons the party designations are set down as "Tories , " " Conservatives / ' " Whigs , " " Eadicals , " and " Liberals . " " Chartist ;' finds no place in the list . Mr . O Connor is mraibered amongst the Eadicals , " who / ' we are told , " are for practising what the Whigs only preach . " We believe that Mr . O'Connor would he very sorry to practise many things preached by the Whigs . In our opinionthe preachings and practising of that faction are both inimical to thc public welfare . Nest _} f ear the editor ofthe Reformer ' s Almanack would do well to improve his definition of " "Radical , " or , otherwise , introduce the name of " Chartist" as the designation o f a true and really radical reformer .
* Fourieris.U—T He Works Of Cham.Es Foi-...
* FOURIERIS _. U—T he works of Cham . es Foi-RIER , theFrench Social Reformer , are of _orcat interest to whoever would understand the workings of continental Europe , m which the ideas propounded by him , mingle as a _ntt _impoVtant _element , Xo doubt also TCseivorL _eontam _fiomoprachoal suggestions that may be of use to this country , in the _l _uycs _llgationsofthe _quQstionsthatarepressing
* Fourieris.U—T He Works Of Cham.Es Foi-...
upon its notice ; as Colonial Empire , Public Education , Public Health , the Peace Question , Finance , and many others , o f which the fertile genius of Fourier has treated with great originality . There is , however , a neutral aspect in the works of this earnest writer , which may moro actively commend him to the English student viz ; his philosophy of human nature . On this ground he stands alone , —apart both from the schools of Germany and England . It is a philosophy and a method , exclusively built on history and daily life ; in a Avord—on
Society : on man , not as abstracted by the metaphysicians , but as stamping himself , now and heretofore , on this real universe ; standing to his fellows in the relations of friend , husband , kinsman , and fellow citizens . Fourier , looks at every subject from a new point of view ; his path becomes most suggestive ; and it cannot fail to be a boon to Euglaud , to add a knowledge of his works to those of other great philosophers . The style of Fourier in this work is distinguished for three qualities , each sufficient to entitle it to the esteem and consideration of
all enquiring aud truthful minds . It is remarkable f or that manly honesty and unscrupulous bluntness so conspicuous in our own Cobbett , yet without ever betraying the author into bad taste ; it is moreover distinguished by a racy humour and caustic sarcasm that remind one strongl y of Swift , and by that lucid transparency which constitutes the peculiar glory and excellence of French writers on philosophy . We hear with pleasure that it is proposed to publish h y subscription , Fourier ' s Philosophical Treatise "On the Passions of the Human Soul . " The work has been translated
by the Rev . John R . Morell , and is-already in the press . We understand that subscribers may send their names and subscription to Messrs . Walton and Mitchell , Printers , 24 , Wardour-street , Oxford street , London .
Mb. Charles Dickens's Letter On Executio...
MB . CHARLES DICKENS'S LETTER ON _EXECUTIONS . 30 THE 'EDlTOB OF TIIE TIMES . SlB , —When I wrote to you on Tuesday last I had no intention of troubling you again ; but as one of your correspondents has to-day expressed a reasonable desire that I would explain myself more clearly , and as I hope I may do no injury to the cause I would serve by stating my views upon it a little more in detail , I shall be glad to do so , if you will allow me the opportunity . My positions in reference to the demoralising nature of public executions are-First , that they chiefly attract as spectators the lowest , the most depraved , the most abandoned of mankind , in whom they inspire no wholesome emotions whatever .
Secondly , that the public infliction of a violent death is not a salutary spectacle for any class of people ; but that it is in the nature of things that on the class by whom it is generally witnessed it should have a debasing and hardening Influence . On the first head 1 must appeal again to my own experience ofthe execution of last Tuesday morning ; to all the evidence that has ever been taken on the subject , showing that executions have been the favourite sight of convicts of all descriptions ; to tbe knowledge possessed by the magistracy and police of the general character of such crowds ; to the police reports that are sure to follow their assemblage ; to the unvarying description of them given in the newspapers ; to the indisputable fact that no
decent father is willing that his son—that no decent master is willing that his apprentices or servantsshould mingle in them ; to the indisputable fact that all society , its dregs excepted , recoil from them as masses of abomination and brutality . ( That there were not more robberies committed at this last execution was not the fault of the assembled thieves , whose numbers on the occasion the Home Secretary may easily Ieavn from the Commissioners in Scotland-yard , but the merit ofthe police , whose vigilance was beyond all praise . ) * On the second head , after a passing allupion to the hardening influence which familiarity even with natural death produces on coarso minds , I must again refer to my own experience . _JVothing would
have been a greater comfort to mc—notiimg would have SO much relieved in my mind the unspeakable terrors ofthe scene , as to have been enabled to believe that any portion of the immense crowd—that any grains of sand in the vast moral desert stretching away on every side—were moved to any sentiments of fear , repentance , pity , or natural horror , by what they saw upon thc drop . It was impossible to look around and rest in any such belief . With every consideration and respect for your suggestion that the concourse ma 7 have been belying their mental struggles by frantic exaggerations , I am confident that if you had been there beside me , seeing what I saw , and hearing what I heard , you could never have admitted the thought . Such a
state of mind has its signs and tokens equally with any other , aud no such signs and tokens were there . The mirth was not hysterical , thc shoutings and fightings were not the efforts of a strained excitement seeking to vpnt itself in any relief . The whole was unmistakcably callous , and bad . As the ferocious woman who was charged the same day with threatening to murder another in tbe midst of the multitude , proclaiming that she bad a knife about her , and would have her heart ' s blood , and be hanged on the same gibbet with her namesake , Mrs . Manning , whose death she had como to see—as she had her evil passions excited to the utmost by the scene , so had all the crowd . I believe this was the whole and sole effect of what they had come to see ,
and I hold that no human being , not Doing the better for such a sight , could go away without Being the worse for it . To prevent such frightful spectacles in a Christian country , and all the incalculable evils they engender , I would have the last sentence of the law executed with comparative privacy within the prison walls . Before I state how , let me strengthen this proposal with some words of Fielding on this subject , to whose profound knowledge of human nature you , I know , will vender full justice : — " The execution should be in some degree private . And here the poets will again assist us . Foreigners have found fault with the cruelty of thc English drama in representing frequent murders upon the
stage . In fact , this is not only cruel , but highly injudicious ; a murder behind the scenes , if the poet knows how to manage it , will affect the audieuce with "renter terror than if it was acted before their eves . ° Of this we have an instance in the murder of the King in ' _Macbeth . Terror hath , I believe , boon carried higher by this singlo instance than by all the blood which hath been spilt upon the stage . To the poets I may add the priests , whose politics have never heen doubted . Those of Egypt , in particular , where the sacred mysteries were first devised , well knew the use of hiding from the eyes of the _vulvar what they intended should inspire
them with the greatest awe and dread . Ihe mind of man is so much more capable of magnifying than his eve , that I question whether every object is not lessened by being looked upon , and this more especially when the passions ave concerned ; for those are ever apt to fancy much more satisfaction in those objects which they affect , and much more of mischief in those which they abhor , than ave really to be found in cither . If oxoeutions , therefore , were so contrived that few could be present at tliem , thev would be much more shocking and terrible to th _' e crowd without doors than at present , . is well as much more dreadful to tho criminals
themselves . " , . , , From the moment of a murderer being sentenced to death , I would dismiss him to the dread obscurity to which the wisest judge upon the bench consigned the murderer Hush . I would allow no curious visitors to hold any communication with him ; I would place every obstacle in the way ot his sayings and doings being served up in print on bunday mornings for the perusal of families . His execution within the walls of the prison should bo conducted with everv terrible solemnity that careful consideration could devise . Mr . Calcraft , the hangman , ( of whom I have some information in reference to this last occasion , ) should be restrained in his unseemly briskness , in his jokes , ms oaths , and his brandv . To attend the execution I would summon a jury of _twenty-four , to be called the Witness Jury , eight to be summoned on a low qualificationeight on a highereight on a higher still ,
, , so that it might fairly represent all classes of society There should be present , likewise , tne _Governor of the gaol , tho chaplain , the surgeon , and other officers , the sheriffs of the county or citj , and two inspectors of prisons . All these should si < m a grave and solemn form of certificate ( the same in every case ) that on such a day , at such an hour , in such a gaol , for such a crime , such a murderer was hanged in their sight . There should be another certificate from the officers of the prison that the person hanged was that person , aud no other ; a third , that tbat person was buried . These should be posted on the prison gate for twenty-one days , printed in the Gazette , ™* exhibited mother public places ; and _duruuj the hour of the body s han"ing I would have tlie bells of all the churches in that town or city tolled , and all the shops shut up , that all might be reminded of what was being
I submit to you , with the law so changed , the public world would ( as is right ) know much move of the infliction of this tremendous punishment ' than they
Mb. Charles Dickens's Letter On Executio...
know of the infliction of any other . There are not many common subjects , I think , of which they know less than transportation ; and yot they never doubt that when a man is ordered to * be sent abroad he goes abroad . The details of the commonest prison in London are unknown to the public at large , but they are quite satisfied that prisoners said to be in tins or that gaol aro really there , and really undergo its discipline . The " mystery " of private executions is objected to ; but lias not mystery been the character of every improvement in convict treatment aud prison discipline effected within the last twenty years ? From tlie police van to Norfolk Island , are not all tho changes that mark the treat-: ment of the prisoner mysterious ? Hi ' s seclusion in his conveyance hither and thither from thc public
sight , instead of his being walked through the streets strung with twenty more to a chain , like tlie galley-slaves in Don Quixote , ( as I remember to have seen in my school-days , ) makes a mystery of him . His being known by a number instead of by a name , and his being under the rigorous discipline of the associated silent system—to say nothing of the solitary , which 1 regard as a mistake—is all mysterious . I cannot understand that the mystery of such an execution as I propose would be other than a fitting climax to all these wise regulations , or " _** " > ' > _"t there be anything in this objection , we should not return to tho days when ladies paid visits to highwaymen , drinking tlieir punch in tho condemned colls of Newgate , or Ned Ward , thc London spy , who wont upon a certain regular day of the week to Bridewell to sec the women whipped . Anothclass of
er objectors I know there are , who , desiring the total abolition of capital punishment , will hare nothing less ; and who , not doubting the fearful influence of public executions , would have it protracted for an indefinite term , rather than spare the demoralisation they do not dispute , at the nsk ° f losing si ght for awhilo of their final end . But ot these I say nothing , considering them , however good and pure in intention , unreasonable , and not to be argued with . With many thanks to you for your courtesy , and begging most eavnestlyto assure you that I write in a deep conviction that I incurred a duty when I became a witness of the execution on Tuesday last , from wliicli ' nothing ought to move me , and which every hour ' s reflection strengthens . I am , Sir , your faithful servant , CllAHLUS Dickess . Devonshire-terrace , _November 17 .
I'Utflshmeift Of Death. A Public Meeting...
_I'UtflSHMEIfT OF DEATH . A public meeting was held on Monday ni « ht , in thc large room of tho Brid ge House Hotel , _Southward to promote the abolition of the punishment of death . The room was well filled on this occasion , a considerable proportion of the audience being females . Charles Gilpin , Esq ., took the chair ; and there were also on the platform Mr . Ewavt , M . l \ , Rev . II . Christmas , Messrs . John Scoble , Charles Wordsworth , John Robertson , John Meredith ,
disgraced—ladies , tnat crowded to this school ol moral instruction . The advocates of the gallows said that a great moral lesson had been taught . He said tbat humanity had been outraged , religion disgraced , and God mocked . He proceeded to denounce the conduct ofthe chaplain of the gaol in administering the sacrament to at least ono unrepentant criminal , and the conduct of the daily press in circulating every minute particular relating to tho conduct of tho criminals in tlieir last moments . He then alluded to the views lately published by Mr . Dickens , which he called advocating assassination , instead of public execution . Against thc views of Mr , Dickens he placed those of a man fully equal to Mr . Dickens —Douglas Jerrold , who , in a letter written to him
( the Chairman ) , had expressed ins opposition both to female executions and to capital punishments altogether . He also read letters from Mr . Cobden and Mr . Bright , who , though they had not attended this meeting , were yet in favour of the views of its promoters . He then called upon a gentleman who , he said , was tho leader of thc cause in Parliament , Mr . Ewabt , M . P ., who said he rose to move the first resolution—that capital punishments Wd'C OP " pssed to the spirit of Christianity—that they did nut answer tlieir design of repressing crime—that their effects were grossly demoralising—that they sometimes caused the destruction of the innocent by judicial process , and at other times iavoural the guilty , thus promoting the crimes which they were
intended to suppress , and that , therefore , they ought to be abolished . He began by paying a tribute to the generous and disinterested exertions in this cause of tho chairman , Mr . John Thomas Young , Mr . Thomas Batty Wightson _, and other members of tho Society of Friends . He then stated that the occasion of holding the present meeting was , that they had lately beheld in this neighbourhood the interesting and instructive spectacle of a public execution . The natural question to be asked was—what good has it done ? The very advocates ofthe gallows admitted that tho recent exhibition had spread moral poison throughout the community . There had , therefore , been no moral good effected ; and who could say that religious good had been
effected ? The whole religious principle involved in the word " repentance" was outraged , unless they could arrogate to themselves the right of saying that men should repent within fourteen days . He declared his utter repugnance to private executions as an evasion of tho main question . He was against the general principle of executions altogether , whether public or private . He called upon them as Englishmen to take their stand on general principle . As an Englishman he abhorred private executions . It might be that the jury which had been proposed to witness the executions would be honourable men ; it might be that the Home Secretary and the sheriffs would be honourable men ; that might be , but still the principle of
publicity was an integral part of the British constitution , and ought not to be abandoned in-any institution whatever . Even if this principle wore adopted , tliey would not bo private . They could not exclude the representatives of the press ; and they would report all those sanguinary details which now disgusted every right-thinking mind . He further objected to private executions , because it would shift the responsibility from the Home Secretary to this hidden jury . Besides , the present government were opposed to private executions . Some years ago Mr . Rich , the member for _Knaresborough , proposed a bill for private executions , when Mr . F . Manic , on the part of the government , recommended Mr . Rich to withdraw his
proposition , as there was not the least chance of its passing . He objected to capital punishment because it was an imitation of the crimo which it professed to punish . ( Hear , hear . ) This was the main argument , and one ofthe most striking against capital punishment , lie would put t \ ic question to thc Home Secretary—suppose tho punishment were delayed for a year , would you execute it then ? ( _No , " no . ) Ko , he was certain it would not _llilVC boon executed . But ho _siid every punishment ought to be so clearly _comformahle to reason , that it would be as acceptable two or three years afterwards as at the time . It was plain , therefore , that capital punishment was carried out on the principle of revenge —( loud cheers)—a principle which was
abandoned by Blackstone , and demonstrated to he unsound by Beccaria , Filanghieri , and other jurists . ( Cheers . ) Another objection was , that the punishment tended to eclipse thc atrocity of the crime , and to turn the criminal into a martyr . He reminded the meeting that it was formerly tlie custom for warrants of execution to receive the sign manual ofthe Sovereign . But ho believed that such was the repugnance of our present admirable Sovereign —( cheers)—to sign these papers , that it had been found absolutely necessary to introduce a hill transferring the signature from the Sovereign to one of her Ministers . Such was the progress of public opinion acting upon our gracious Sovereign . Then _miihjtod iu nil
,., ; _uuugco . jo . _cuiiifiiiijaiuii was lately held on this subject , and the Judges were nil asked tlieir opinion on the Question . lord Denman and Mr . Justice Jdaulc gave no opinion . Thc late Justice Coltman was against capital punishments . Mr . Justice Wightman thought capital punishments might be dispensed with . Chief Justice Wild .: thought there were strong objections to the practice . Mr . Justice Crampton , of the Irish bench , gave no opinion . Mr . Justice _Terrin was decidedly against them , and Mr . Baron Richards was also against tliem . He believed Mv . Justice Talfourd vas also against them . Be could state _furthez-, that he had lately received a letter from a clergyman in Lancashire , proposing that the effect might
oe tried ol abolishing capital punishments for a period of seven years . Now ho ( Mr . Ewavt ) thought that in this case a . seven years' lease was equivalent to a perpetuity . ( Hoar , ' hear , and laughter . ) He concluded by urging upon the meeting the necessity of perseverance in this cause , for which ho anticipated a speedy and a full success . The Rev . _IIexrv Christmas ( of Zion College ) seconded the motion . He said tbeir opponents rested their argument on the passage in Scripture , " Whoso shedueth man ' s blood , by man shall his blood be shed . " But they misunderstood the
passage , which merely meant that he who shed man ' s blood would draw down upon him tho indignation of God and excite the wrath of his fellow-creatures ; but there was no command to take the man anil hang him up to a beam . Besides , wo must take Scripture examples as well as Scripture precepts . Cain killed a man—Moses killed an Egyptian , and hid . him in the sands , looking carefully about all the time to see that no policeman was watching him . ( Laughter . ) Simeon and Levi killed the inhabitants 01 a Whole town in cold blood , but he did not hear of any of them being hanged . ( Hear , hear . ) He had been interested in heaving the opinions of the judges , and he had now to speak of
I'Utflshmeift Of Death. A Public Meeting...
the opinions of the body to which he belonged—a body who were slow to move , and when they were in motion , moved slowly . But they wouid all come round in time . He had had correspondence with somo thousands of clergy : lie had received replies from 500 or GOO of them , the far greater number of which were favourable to the immediate abolition ot the punishment of death . Their learned and excellent Primate gave no decisive opinion , but thought it was well worth tho attention of thoughtful minds . The Bishop of Winchester also thought the question would be the better of bein _^ well ventilated . ( Laughter . ) The Bishop of St . David ' s and the late Bishop of Norwich were both decidedly in favour of immediate abolition . This was a great advance on thc state of public opinion twentv years ago , and he had no doubt that feeling would increase till this and all other Christian and social reforms were accomplished . ( Hear . )
Mr . _Woroswohtii , ( barrister , ) supported thc motion . He commenced on thc expression used bv Sir George Grey , on the discussion of this subject last session , that thc mass of those attending executions were themselves deeply imbued with crime . What a comment was that upon thc tiiousands who attended the execution on Tuesday last , more especially upon thc west-end folks—the people who ordered the champagne breakfasts and the ladies with the opera glasses ' . ( Hear , hear . ) To show the advance of public opinion on this subject , he stated that at the accession of George III ., ' in 1700 , there were 1 C 0 crimes punishable by death ; at present there were only the cases of high treason , murder , and one or two others . After stating
several instances of capital punishment for trifling offences—among others , tho case of a man who , within the present century , was hanged in Essex for cutting down a cherry-tree , value 5 s . ( Hear , hear . ) The Chairman put the resolution , which was unanimously agveed to . The Rev . Mr . Richard , ( Independent minister of Marlborough Chapel , Kent-road , ) moved the second resolution—that a petition , founded on the foregoing resolution , and signed by tho chairman on behalf of tho meeting , be presented to parliament by thc representatives of the Borough . He compared the spectacle of the execution to tho gladiatorial exhibition of the Romans , with this difference , that thero the miserable wretches hai weapons put into their hands , and had a chance for their lives , while
the convicts of Tuesday were brought out pinioned and blindfolded to be butchered to make an English holiday . [ A gentleman in the room : " That is misrepresenting the object . " ] His friend said he was misrepresenting tho object . Ho was not misrepresenting the effect . ( Loud cheers . ) He hoped , howover , that enlightened public opinion would be combined to say that the people of England would endure the gallows no longer . ( Cheers . ) He was quite aware that all superanuatcd prejudices found their last resource in the Houso of Commons ; but he was satisfied that if the people -sere only united they would force their opinions even upon the narrow intellect and the hardened heart of that assembly . ( Cheers . )
Mr . John Robertson seconded the resolution . Mr . John- Scodle supported the motion _. This resolution was also carried unanimously . The Chairman here stated he was requested by Mr . Ewart to explain that , on referring to the opinions of the judges , he quoted the names of those judges only who were in favour of abolishing capital punishment , or who g ave no opinion on the subject ; but it must be obvious that there were several judges whose names were omitted , and who were against abolition . But he had the authority of Lord Nugent for stating that he had spoken to the members of tho Bench , and he found thatthe majority of thoso now on the bench ' were favourable to abolition . ( Cheers . )
Mr . A . B . _Steveks moved that thc members for thc Borough be requested to support the prayer of the petition . Mr . Webster ( ofthe Chancery bar ) , seconded the resolution , which was carried unanimously . The Chairman stated that he had reason to know that Sir William Molesworth was favourable to the abolition . Alderman _llumphery voted for abolition in 1840 , but he was sorry to say ho voted against it in 1849 , ( Hisses . ) Thanks were then voted to the Chairman , after which the meeting separated .
Royal Polytechnic Institution. This Popu...
ROYAL POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTION . This popular establishment of science and art continues to be a favouratc resort of the public . Lectures ave given daily by tho Professors of this Institution on various subjects , comprising electricity , chemistry , and many other themes , all discussed in a highly popular and interesting manner . Science is here garbid in a most delightful and instructive form , giving the pleasure seekers an opportunity of amusement , and at the same time much excellent and useful information . The lectures delivered by Dr . Bacbhoftner are of a most delightful and instructive nature , which arc rendered more pleasing by the numerous experiments exhibited by thc learned Doctor , aided as he is by thc
gigantic hydro-electric machine ; the power of this contrivance must be seen to be appreciated . Mr . Ashley is now engaged in giving a series of lectures on " thc Chemistry of Food . " Tho present subject of the lecture is the familiar article of food milk , as the ohject to which the lecturers remarks were principally directed , described and showed by experiments , the beautiful discovery of the artificial formation of butter . It is by such facts being brought forward , divested of unnecessary technicalities that wcbccomcacquainted with thc lcadingpoints in that most interesting of all branches to man , thc _scienca of animal chemistry . The art of photograp hy has received groat improvement of late , by tho industry and application of Mr . Beard junr . ; to such perfection is thc colouring brought that thoy equal a highly furnished minatuve .
Tne Arctic Expedition. The "Investigator...
TnE ARCTIC EXPEDITION . The " Investigator " and the " Enterprise" have arrived in tho port of London , and have undergone Official inspection . The ships were found in n good state of preservation , and the men in excellent health—quite recovered from their Arctic fatigues . Accounts of tho progress of the ships on their voyage of discovery havo appeared in the papers ; one of them a full report by the commander , Sir James Clarke Ross , to the Admiralty . We glean the leading points : —The vessels _^ entered Port Leopold on the Uth September , 1 S 48 , and landed three months ' provisions for each shi p at Whaler ' s Point ) intend ' ing to press forward next morning . But weather indications induced Sir Jamos Ross to continue where he was , and be frozen up there in preference
to a worse berth . Tho ice had settled round him on the 24 th . The crew cut a canal forty feet wide and two miles Jong , io a good , safe berth ; and there tho ships took position for tlie winter , 200 yards apart . Tho winter was spcut in tho old mannerin alternate teaching , games , and lively occupations ; reading , writing , and arithmetic wero taught by the schoolmaster , and a " youngster from Greenwich School , named Grunsell , taught navigation . " Scores of foxes were caught , and turned into ,: twopenny postmen , " by putting copper collars round their necks , stamped with tlie names nnd positions of the ships , and the localities of the provision depots : these foxes range enormous distances , and some of them would probably be caught by Sir
John Franklin s party if it still hold out anywhere . Detached parties wore sent out in April , ' nnd on the 15 th May tho principal expedition under Sir James Ross sot out . It went to the westward about 100 miles round tho coast of North Somerset , from Cape Clearance to Cape Bunny , and thence 140 miles , further : here the party erected a cairn and buried cylinders , dating them loth Jlino , 1849 . TllO . V could see forty miles further , and there was no _probahility that Franklin ' s ships had penetrated in that direction , at least during that season . Sir James Ross regained his ships on thc 23 rd of June . A second party , under Lieutenant Robinson , went along the western side of Prince Regent ' s Inlet to Fury Point , and' thence to Crenwell Bay , about
twenty-five miles further . A third party proceeded to thc north shore of Harrow ' s Straits , as far as Cape Third , and thence to Leopold ' s Island . A fourth party set off eastward , across the ice , from the eastern nameless shore of Prince Regent ' s Inlet . Thoy gained " thc Peak , " a remarkable hill marked in Parry ' s chart . All these parties reared cairns and left cylinders . The ships were cut out of tho ice about the Oth of August , and entered open water on tho 28 th , intending to go to Melville Island ; but the wind suddenly came on hard , and brought the ice round them so fast that they got packed m a floe , which took thorn , whether thev would or not , 240 miles to the west coast of Baffin ' s BayThev
, escaped from this dangerous prison on the 25 th September ; stood across the Bay , and made Sanderson ' s Hope on the Greenland coast , near Upernavick , the Danish settlement , on the 3 rd October . On thc 18 th they rounded Cape Farewell , and on the 29 th the Orkneys . Some incidents are narrated . A bear walked into Captain Ross ' s party , and surveyed them with cool inquisitiveness : guns wero levelled , and the bear was wounded in the head ; he scratched his ear , and walked off with an air of superior contempt . Another bear was seen to slide on his haunches down acliffof TOO foot high , steadying himself with his forepaws , and most "judgmatically , " as the sailors said .
Two Bad Lecs Cuiied Uy Hou.Oway's Ointme...
Two Bad Lecs _Cuiied _uy Hou _. _oway's Ointme . nt and PlU , S , AFTER MOIIE THAN SEVEN YEAltS' SUFFERING . —Mrs . Elizabeth Humphreys , of York-street , Hull , had been most painfully afflicted for upwards of seven years with ulcerated sores in both legs . Her sufferings , at times , were dreadful . She had tried almost every remedy and received the advice of several of the firs t SUfgCOIlB ill YoifcWre , yet all _fe-ltcl to cfkxt a cure until she used llolloway _' s invaluable Dintment ana I ills , the astonishing power of which soundly healed every wound . She is now in the enjoyment of the best of health , and enabled to walkabout with « aseand comfort .
Vavttxtit.
_VavttXtit .
Condition- Or The Misses.—If The Bulk Of...
Condition- or the Misses . —If the bulk of the human race are always to remain ks at present , slaves to toil , in whieh thoy have no interest , and therefore feel no interest ; drudging front early morning till late at night for bare _» t ' ccss . iries , and with all the intellectual and moral _dulieionei-s which that implies _; without resources either in mind or feeling ; untaught , for thoy cannot be better taught tiian fed ; sellish , for all their thoughts are required for themselves ; without interest or seutinnmts as citizens and members cf society , nnd with a sense o injustice rankling in their minds , equally for what tliey have not ami what others have ;—i know no what there is which should make a person of any capacity of reason concern himself about the destinies of the human v : _ir > f > . —John Mill .
A Wise Thought . —William Taylor , ( or " Willio Harrow , " as he was commonly called . ) being visited on his death-bed , at Dundee , by a _clergyman , was asked if he was prepared for another world , '" Deed , " sir , said "Willie , "I dinna ken HI need trouble mysel' muukle aboofc it ; for it' the /'¦• Ik there aro like tho folk here , they'll pay unco lift io attention to a puir body like mc . " Tub Srm . vo of a watch _weighs -01-5 of . i "rain ; a pound of Iron makes 50 , 000 . The _pomi'lof steel costs Si ) . ; a single spring 2 d . ; sojhut SOJM pivduces . 4 U 1 . _"> .
The Rich a . \ d tub Poor . —Thc patrician bride drives through thc land with the proclamation of four horses , and white favours , asking _liw manyeyed world to stare at her blushes ; _iWu'Ic the plobian maid goes at tho dusk ofthe day , with unostentatious modesty , to her new-found home , at once installed mistress and wife ! Again wc ask , which is thc better taste—display or _sseerecv ? - _* Jiltsa . A courLE of Ktsos . —Mr . Macaulay observes , in his History of England , of Charles I ., that , "he neither knew how ' to refuse a petition gracefully , nor to repel an undue assumption with real superiority ; " and of Charles 11 ., that , " he never gave spontaneously , but it was painful to him to refuse . "
> Professor _Beuends , my teacher at the University , said to me—" Study the works of great thinkers ; and you will learn that cwry one who ( loos not like living in the furnished lodg _' ings of tradition must build his own house—his own _system of thought and faith—for himself . "—Zschokke . _"VVjj havb ever found that blacksmith * , hy conversing with them , arc more or less given to iiwi-y , and somewhat addicted to vice . Carpenters , for the most part , speak plane- \ y ; but they will chisel , when they can get a chance . _JS ot unfrcquently they are bores , and often annoy one with their oU ; saws . CAPTAHf Beaufort saw near Smyrna , iu 1811 , a cloud of locusts forty miles long and _SM yards deep , containing , as he calculated , one hundred and sixty-nine billions . Ax -sue present _vatc uf increase the population of the United States in the year 1900 will be 101 , 431 , 755 persons .
Pigs' knees , feet , and heads ave now exported from _JVew York lo Liverpool in large quantities . TUB "" _hMJK SLUGS . The Gods arc theirs , not ours ; and when wc pray For happy omens , we their price must pay ; In vain at shrines th' ungiving suppliant stands , In vain , we make our vows with empty hands . Perhaps Very Fine , but Rather Obscure . — Now that I know women so well , and that their masks are only veils , that heighthen their intellectual beauty as much as they guard it—now that I SCO bolter than a hundred others , that if tho femalo heart is as ' poetic as the head , and that it has little
more to give to the earth than sighs and wishesthat their May of life , instead of being like ours , as beautiful as that of Franco , is like a German May , cold and frosty ; that iikc tho nightingale they niust collect the wool from the thornes , from which , in a thorny edge , thoy must prepare _thoir nest , what should a poet do more with the pen , than Offer them , not pitiful German flattery , but morning dreams and gentler sighs than they can extract from life . If I spread for one only a _rainbo-y over the cloudy morning of life—if for one heart only I had drawn the angel of love from his cloudy Parnassus to bear away the angel of death , I havo lived and written enough . —Life of Jean Paul P . Rkhter .
A _jN _' ew Title which AIiciit be Claimed bt many of the E . voHs / i AiHSTOcnAcr . — Some years since there was a young English nobleman figuring away at Washington . He had not much brains , but a vast number of titles , which , notwithstanding our pretended dislike to them , have sometimes tlie effect of tickling the ear amazingly . Several ladies were in debate , going over the list . " Ho is Lord Viscount so and so , Baron such a country , " & c . " My fair friends ( remarked the gallant I \ . ) one of the titles you seem to have forgotten . " "Ah ! ( excinimea they ) what ' s that ? " lie is Barren of Intellect , " was the reply . —/ lineman paper . Men and brethren * , be not deceived , there is no divine right in these robbers and assassins whereby your souls and bodies should be placed at their disposal . A cow was recently killed at Wakefield , and in tho stomach wero found a couple of shoe soles .
Education . —A science succinctly summed up in the exhortation of the American philosopher : — " Bear up your Luis Jifco nails , and then they not only go through the world , but you may clench ' em oii t ' other side . "—Thomas Rood . A Quken Bee will lay 200 eggs daily for fifty or sixty days , and the eggs are hatched in three days . A single queen bee lias been stated to produce 100 , 000 bees in a season . "The sum oi ? £ 800 , 000 and upwards , " _snysDr . Fnrro , "is paid yearly in this kingdom for quack medicine—a sum ' far exceeding the united incomes of all the hospitals and medical charities in thc metropolis .
The Judge and the Suitor . —A Persian merchant , complaining heavily of some unjust sentence of the lower court , was tohi by the judge to go to tiie cadi . " But the cadi is your uncle , " urged the suitor . " Then you can go to the grand vizier . " " But his secretary is your cousin . " " Then you may go to sultan . " " But his favourite sultana is your niece . " " Well then go to thc d—1 . " " All ! that is still a closer family connexion , " said the _morchaut , as ho left tho court in despair . Au . auv . born equal ; no one in coming into thc world , brings with him a right to command . Only by making the few uneasy , can the oppressed many obtain a particle of relief . Some female spiders produce nearly two thoU ' sand eggs .
_Lt . wenhokk _niicuoxKn 17 , 000 divisions in the cornea ( outer coat of tho oyo ) of a butleri ' y , each ono of which , ho thought , possessed a crystalline lens . A _surrERXESS hero . —On the morning of the day ofthe battle of Brandy wine , Hunt , who was called the "high priest" by the army ( being seven feet ) , had scarcely commenced praying to his _regiment , when tho firing began at a distance , rendering brevity necessary , "lie therefore concluded with these words— " Remember , brethren , that those who die in the battle sup with tho Lord , " and then turned ami marched oil—when an officer saw" Parson , arc- you not . going to battle "" _N " o , Colonel , I am not" he replied , "forthe Loni knows
I never eat supper . l . \ UM . _v _Ji-gclbjis . — One of the men , taking a large earthen vessel , with a capacious mouth , filled it -with wilier , ami turned it upside down , when all the water flowed out : hut the moment it was placed with the mouth upwards it became full . He then emptied it , allowing anyone to inspect it whi chose . This being done , lie desired that one of the party would fill it : his request was obeyed ; still , when lie reversed the jar , not a drop of water fleved—ami upon turning it , " to our astonishment , it was empty . . . . . I examined the jar carefully whet ! empty , but detected nothing which could lead to a di _' s , covcry of thc mystery . I was allowed in retain and fill itmvself still , upon taking it up , all was
void within , yet the ground _avouml \ t was perfectly dry , 60 that how the water had disappeared , and where it had been conveyed , were problems which none of us was able , to expound . The vessel cmployed by the _jujglevs on this occasion was the common earthenware of the country , very roughly made ; and , iu ovdcv to convince us tbat it V . atl not been especially constructed for thc purpose of aiding his clever deceptions , ho permitted it to be broken inour presence :-the fragments were then handed round for the inspection of his highness and the party present with him The next thing that engaged out attention , was a feat of dexterity altogether astonishing . A woman , the upper part of . whoso -body was entirely _uncoveredprr-scntcd
, herself to our notice , and taking a bamboo twenty feet high , placed it upright on a flat stone , and then , without any support , climbed to thc top of it with surprising activity . Having dono this , she stood upon one leg on the point ofthe bamboo , balancing it all the while . Round her waist she had a girdle , to which was fixed an iron socket : springing from her upright position on ihe bamboo , she threw herself horizontally forward with such exact precision , that the top of the pole entered the socket of the iron zone , and in this position she spun herself round with a velocity which made me giddy to look atthe bamboo all the while appearing as if it were supported by some supernatural ajrencv . She turned '
her legs backwards , till tho heels touched the shoulders , and , grasping thc ankles in her hand * _coiitinued-hor rotations so rapidl y , that the outline of her body was entirely lost to the eye , and she looked like a rovolving ball . Having performed several other feats equally extraordinary , she slid down the elastic shaft , and , rising it hi the air . balanced it upon her chin , then u tinnily projected it a distance from application of her hands . She woman , mid by no means _preposscr son which , I conclude , was the '¦ yah , though he applauded her _fnlL _^ l " a _^ ° 0 f hU _^^ _"ty threw her a few _rupeea _, with perfectly satisfied .-The Oriental
Poujier J^"5"" , $Hjl U»/Shmsml ^V^'Ewof...
pouJier J _^ " 5 "" _$ hjL u _»/ _ShmSml _^ V _^' eWoflv , ' _^ _iMh' _^ or . _per- _^ _ims _^ _fhWie _, d « _fofife » ftli , i not ' . _^ _WllbjSOTW . _* _- which _smo _/ aiMared _' _ATmiiali _.-t _^ _T Hi ' . .. _pouJiei _^ "S _^ hiL _t i _"ik / w _* rfcHo _>^ lJie 7 _>^ * _3 y { % ¦ ' _erdoflyV-1 si _L - _^ 'S 7 _^ # p *' _- '' ' — ' '• ' _im _^ _fh ' _at" ! tiite _^ % •'• • : lc _^ teHty _> tlid not . ' . . 1 '¦ :. " fir . " Wo _^ JiOKCYev ; - -. : - iSh She / ap _^ a _i-ed- i - ' ,. _AJtmiaJi . •; _- . ' ' _? '_ ! . !|;\' . ?[;\' . ? . ' - * ¦ ' fi . '~\ _. £ _^ r _^ y \ il- / ! _ih { _{ • . ••• : •; . _i ¦ : , * .: _> X ' ' _^ _N '" 6 - ' ' - ' '¦
-
-
Citation
-
Northern Star (1837-1852), Nov. 24, 1849, page 3, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns3_24111849/page/3/
-