Page images
PDF
EPUB

and those smooth cheeks suffused with a stedfast blush, and that lovely bosom swelled and glowing: and I hated Rubellia as I gazed, for I knew not before how utterly beauty can be brutalized by the throbbings of a cruel heart. But I looked round to escape from the sight of her-and then the hundreds of females that I saw with their eyes fixed, with equal earnestness, on the same spot of horrors, taught me, even at the moment, to think with more charity of that pitiless gaze of one.

"At this instant all were silent, in the contemplation of the breathless strife; insomuch, that a groan, the first that had escaped from either of the combatants, although low and reluctant, and half suppressed, sounded quite distinctly amidst the deep hush of the assembly, and being constrained thereby to turn mine eyes once more downwards, I beheld that, at length, one of the two had received the sword of his adversary quite through his body, and had sunk before him upon the sand. A beautiful young man was he that had received this harm, with fair hair, clustered in glossy ringlets upon his neck and brows; but the sickness of his wound was already visible in his drooping eye-lids, and his lips were pale, as if the blood had rushed from them to the untimely outlet. Nevertheless, the Moorish gladiator who had fought with him, had drawn forth again his weapon, and stood there awaiting in silence the decision of the multitude, whether at once to slay the defenceless youth, or to assist in removing him from the arena, if perchance the blood might be stopped from flowing, and some hope of recovery even yet extended to him. Hereupon there arose, on the instant, a loud voice of contention; and it seemed to me as if the wounded man regarded the multitude with a proud, and withal contemptuous glance, being aware, without question, that he had executed all things so as to deserve their compassion, but aware, moreover, that even had that been freely vouchsafed to him, it was too late for any hope of safety. But the cruelty of their faces, it may be, and the loudness of their cries, were a sorrow to him, and filled his dying breast with loathing. Whether or not the haughtiness of his countenance had been observed by them with displeasure, I cannot say; but so it was, that those who had cried out

to give him a chance of recovery were speedily silent, and the Emperor looking round, and seeing all the thumbs turned downwards (for that is, you know, the signal of death), was constrained to give the sign, and forthwith the young man receiving again without a struggle the sword of the Moor into his gashed bosom, breathed forth his life, and lay stretched out in his blood upon the place of guilt. With that a joyous clamour was uplifted by many of those who looked upon it, and the victorious Moor being crowned with an ivy garland, was carried in procession round the arena by certain young men, who leaped down for that purpose from the midst of the assembly. In the meantime, those who had the care of such things dragged away with a filthy hook the corpse of him that had been slain; and then, raking up the sand over the blood that had fallen from him, prepared the place, with indifferent countenances, for some other cruel tragedy of the same kind---while all around me, the spectators were seen rising from their places and saluting each other; and there was a buz of talking as universal as the silence had been during the combat; some speaking of it, and paying and receiving money lost and won upon its issue; some already laughing merrily, and discoursing on other matters, even as if nothing uncommon had been witnessed; while others again appeared to be entirely occupied with the martial music which ever struck up majestically at such pauses in the course of the cruel exhibition; some beating time upon the benches before them, others lightly joining their voices in unison with the proud notes of the trumpets and clarions."

Miscellanies.

REASON IN MADNESS.--It is repor ted that a man in Bedlam made these observations:---" We that are locked up here, are only called mad, because our madness does not happen to agree with body thinks his neighbour mad, if his that of the rest of the world. Every pursuits happen to be opposite to his him-but then these two kinds of madown. His neighbour thinks the same of

ness do not interfere with each other. Now and then there comes an eccentric man, who, taking a just view of things, thinks them all mad-him they catch and lock up here. That's my case.".

SURGERY. - When the surgeons of Tripoli take off a limb, they dip the stump into a bowl of hot pitch, which settles the bleeding without the trouble of tying up the arteries.

EARLY MARRIAGES.---Dr.Franklin, speaking in a letter to a friend respecting early marriages, has given one reason for the rapid increase of population in America, which we do not think Mr. Godwin has noticed in his recent answer to Mr. Malthus. The following is the passage:"With us in America, marriages are generally in the morning of life our children are therefore educated and settled in the world by noon: and thus, our business being done, we have an afternoon of cheerful leisure to ourselves. By these early marriages, we are blessed with more children; and from the mode among us, founded by nature, of every mother suckling and nursing her own child, more of them are raised. Thence the swift progress of population among us, unparalleled in Europe."-In another letter the Philosopher says, "After all, wedlock is the natural state of man. A bachelor is not a complete human being-he is like the odd half of a pair of scissars, which has not yet found its fellow, and therefore is not even half so useful as they might be together."

LONGEVITY OF BIRDS.---The longevity of birds far exceeds that of quadrupeds, and even of man himself. The common cock has been known to live upwards of 20 years; linnet and bullfinch, 20; parrots are said to live 40 years; geese, fourscore; of swans, eagles, and ravens, there are various reports: some have asserted that they have been known to live upwards of 100 years: but there are few well attested facts.

THE FATE OF GENIUS. ---Homer was a beggar; Plautus turned a mill; Terence was a slave; Boethius died in goal; Paul Borghese had eighty-four dif

ferent trades, and yet starved with them all; Tasso was often distressed for five shillings; Hentevoglio was refused admittance into an hospital he had himself erected; Cervantes died of hunger; Camoens, the celebrated writer of "The Luciad," ended his days in an alms house; and Vaugelas left his body to the Surgeons to pay his debts as far as it would go. In our own country, Bacon lived a life of meanness and distress; Sir Walter Raleigh died on the scaffold; Spencer, the charming Spencer, died forsaken and in want; the death of Collins came through neglect, first causing mental derangement; Milton sold his copyright of "Paradise Lost" for fifteen pounds at three payments, and finished his life in obscurity; Dryden lived in poverty, and died in distress; Otway died of hunger; Lee died in the streets; Steele lived a life of penury and warfare with bailiffs; Goldsmith's "Vicar of Wakefield," sold for a trifle to save him from the gripe of the law; Fielding lies in the burying ground of the English Factory at Lisbon, without a stone to mark the spot; Savage died in prison at Bristol, where he was confined for a debt of eight pounds; Butler lived in penury, and died poor; Chatterton, the child of genius and misfortune, destroyed himself; and Dean Swift died in a lunatic hospital

which he erected himself.

INCOGNITO.

OMENS.--Prince Charles (afterwards Charles II.), when he was young, awoke one night in a very great disorder and frightful passion out of his sleep. Dr. Duppo, who was his tutor, and lay in the chamber with him, got up to quiet him, asking what the matter was? He said, his grandfather had appeared to him. After a considerable time he was got to sleep again; but not long after, he cried more fearfully than before, and told the Doctor, and others that came about him, "My grandfather appeared a second time to me, and told me he had left my father three kingdoms, but my father would leave me none;" which proved true enough in twelve years, and might have been longer; but as a great prince said of the English, that he had hitherto been a great admirer of them and their prudence; " But," said he, “I

am of another mind now, since they have cut off their king's head, and then afterwards send for his son to revenge it on themselves."

ONE of the earliest Coffee-houses in London (they were first known at Oxford) was kept in 1657 by a barber named James Farr, near the Inner Temple Gate. It was viewed with great jealousy at that time, and was indeed presented as a nuisance by the Inquest of St. Dunstan's in the West; but with little success, we suppose, as they rapidly increased from that period to the present, and only eight years after this presentation, a poem, with the title of "The Character of a Coffee-house," was published, containing the following passage, which shews that they were much frequented:

"Of all some and all conditions, "Even vintners, surgeons, and physicians; "The blind, the deaf, and aged cripple, "Do here resort, and coffee tipple.'

TEA, though now taxed at the rate of cent. per cent. is (perhaps unfortunately) cheap compared with the price in the reign of William, when it cost three pounds in the pound weight. Waller was as fond of this seducing beverage as Dr. Johnson and most sedentary men ; but the poet used to make it with the whites of new-laid eggs (two in a pint); which, thus prepared, he declared," presently discusseth and satisfieth all rawness and indigestion of the stomach, flyeth suddenly over the whole body and into the veins, and strengtheneth exceedingly, and preserves oné a good while from the necessity of eating." His lines upon Tea show how partial he was to it:

"The Muse's friend, Tea does our fancy

aid;

"Repress those vapours which the head invade,

"And keeps the palace of the soul serene."

Scraps.

DR. SHERIDAN.

Author. I hope the Doctor was as happy as your brother in the choice of his wife?

Sheridan. To the full: I knew her very well, a woman of spotless character, Miss Mac Faden; she was descended of a Scottish family of respectability; she was agreeable in conversation, pleasing in her manner; in short, she was a good girl, and an affectionate wife. I cannot say that she was handsome; she had beauty sufficient, however, to captivate the Doctor; and the truth is, he rejoiced through life in his captivity, for it was a gentle one. I believe I was the first he consulted on the subject of his marriage with that lady; for he was afraid to mention it to his father; who, no doubt, like all fathers, thought himself a better judge of an affair of so important a nature than his son himself. Be that as it may, it was not the business of a day; many letters passed between the youth and the maid; they were written in a strain of unaffected simplicity; many of them were shewn to me after their marriage, but I did not think it would have been delicate to have asked a copy of any of them; I only recollect some lines that Miss Mac Faden wrote, which I can repeat, for I was in those days as fond of reading poetry as others were of writing it; particularly if it flowed from a female pen. Stay, let me recollect; now I remember them: I forget the occasion on which they were written.

In pity first to human kind,

Love taught the art of writing;
But soon deceit stept in, we find,
And taught man false inditing.

False vows, false words,nay e'en false tears,
Soon after were invented;
And Love from each account appears
Almost to have repented.

That he disclos'd the magic art,
At first for gods intended,
By which he thought the virgin heart
Would be so much befriended.

What vows, what sighs on paper flow,
In words as sweet as honey!
They melt away like new-fall'n snow,
In sun-shine now of money.

Then Love with indignation saw His tender views defeated; Traitors unpunish'd broke his law, And crime on crime repeated.

Then, Love, resume thy wonted power,
And punish ev'ry traitor;
From Jupiter in golden shower,
Down to the petit-maître.

One thing brings another to my recollection. The Doctor and I called one morning on Miss Mac Faden, in order

Sonnets.

LIFE WAS EXTINCT.

to take his leave of her for a few days, ON SEEING HER MAJESTY, AFTER as he was to set out on a journey, I for, get where. The young lady asked in a tone that well expressed more than the words that accompanied it, how long he intended to stay away? to which he immediately answered:

You ask how long I'll stay from thee;
Suppress those rising fears;

If you should reckon time like me,
Perhaps ten thousand years.
Author. Very happy indeed.
Sheridan. Love dictated the lines.
Author. And the Muse.

Sheridan. The Doctor, with all his learning, was not what we call a popular preacher. His sermons were always composed of good materials, and he could sometimes rise with his subject; you may judge of his character from the few fragments I have given you.

Author. They are valuable in my sight; I like to see the human mind in its undress; I love the early effusions of genius; especially of those that "lisp in numbers," and I am very happy that I called on you.

Sheridan. In a few days it would be too late; I shall soon be gathered to my fathers-but the passage is smooth.

Author. I see it is-and if there is any thing in my power

[ocr errors]

Songs.

[ocr errors]

TRANSIENT PASSION AND
TRUE LOVE.

There is a Love that lasts awhile,
A one-day's flower,-no more!
Opes in the sunshine of a smile,

And shuts when clouds come o'er.

There is a Love that ever lasts,-
A shrub that's always green;
It flowers amid the bitter blasts,
And decks a wintry scene.

*

[blocks in formation]

*

Fix'd on thy features by the seal of Death, When mild forgiveness won thy parting breath,

Pale, placid piece of earth! that tender look
Gives to this storm of grief a fond rebuke.
Malice has done its worst! the beauteous

[blocks in formation]

"What can the meaning be of three black crows?"

>

It is a London story, you must know,
And happen'd, as they say, some time ago.
The meaning of it custom would suppress
Till to the end we come: nevertheless,
Though it may vary from the use of old
To tell the moral ere the tale be told,
We'll give a hint for once, how to apply
The meaning first; then hang the tale thereby.
People full oft are put into a pother,
For want of understanding one another;
And strange amusing stories creep about,
That come to nothing if you trace them out;
Lies of the day perhaps, or month, or year,
Which, having serv'd their purpose, dis-

[blocks in formation]

size,

That is to say, misunderstandings rise,
The springs of ill, from bick'ring up to battle;
From wars and tumults, down to tittle tattle.
To note howmeanings that were never meant,
By eager giving them to rash assent,
Will fly about, just like so many crows
Of the same breed of which the story goes-
It may, at least it should, correct a zeal
That hurts the public or the private weal.
Two honest tradesmen meeting in the
Strand,
One took the other
Hark ye,' said he,
About the crows!

briskly by the hand;
'tis an odd story this,
I don't know what it is,

Replied his friend. No! I'm surpris'd at that,

"Where I come from it is the common chat. But you shall hear,-an odd affair indeed! And that it happen'd, they are all agreed. Not to detain you from a thing so strange, A gentleman that lives not far from Change, This week, in short, as all the alley knows, Taking a puke, has thrown up Three Black

Crows!'

Impossible! Nay, but indeed 'tis true; "I have it from good hands, and so may you; 'From whose, I pray ?-So, having nam'd the man,

Straight to enquire his curious comrade ran. Sir, did you tell ?-relating the affair,"Yes, Sir, I did; and if 'tis worth your care, Ask Mr. Such-a-one, he told it me; 'But, by the bye, 'twas Two Black Crows, not Three.'

[ocr errors]
[blocks in formation]

One;

The truth of that you may rely upon.
The gentleman himself told me the case.'
Where may I find him? Why, in such a
place.'

Away goes he, and having found him out,
Sir, be so good as to resolve a doubt,'-
Then to his last informant he referr'd,
And begg'd to know if true what he had
heard:

Did you, Sir, throw up a Black Crow ?Not I;'

Bless me! how people propogate a lie! Black Crows have been thrown up, Three, Two, and One,

And here, I find, all comes at last to none. 'Did you say nothing of a Crow at all?'

Crow! Crow! Perhaps I might, now I recal The matter over.' And pray, Sir, what was't?'

Why, I was horrid sick, and at the last,
I did throw up, and told my neighbour so,
Something that was as black, Sir, as a
Crow.'

[blocks in formation]

ROSANNA VALENZA, the only daughter of the Marquis Stephano Alvaroni, who was the sole mistress of the palace of her father, during his absence at Rome, being weary of the bustle which the city of Manfredonia constantly presented to her sight, and anxious to visit the sequestered villa which had formerly been the favorite residence of her departed mother, gave the necessary orders; and, on the day succeeding that on which the marquis had quitted the city, she repaired to the retired villa of Seveta, situated near the mountain Saint Angelo, commanding, in the fore ground, a distant view of the Gulf of Venice; while, in the rear, the majestic beauties of nature presented themselves in the most variegated forms and colours, terminating at a distance, in the misty mountains of the Appenines.

The mind of Rosanna Valenza being awake to every thrilling sentiment that warms the breast of sympathy, felt, in this tranquil seclusion, the most romantic bliss that a melancholy pleasure can communicate to the heart. It soon became her custom, early in the morning, deviously to stray through this sequestered scene, wholly captivated with the verdant beauties that glittered in Aurora's golden rays, bespangled with the transclucent dew. It was then that her soul felt animated with fervent adoration for that beneficent and all-gracious Divinity, from whom alone these multifarious blessings spring, which hourly arise to enliven the eye, animate the heart, and elevate the human soul to rapture.

In the course of her morning walks it was the custom of Rosanna to visit a small chapel, dedicated to our Lady of Grace, which had been directed by one of the Ancestors of the Alvaroni family, and which reared its fret-worked spire in a remote and tufted wood of darkgreen waving pines, whose aspiring heads were seen at some distance from the villa Seveta. To Rosanna this ancient

chapel was peculiarly dear, it having been the spot where her mother was wont to offer up her fervent orisons, and the silent meditations of returning eve.

In the middle of the choir stood a whereon rested the effigies of Huberto sculptured monument of veined marble, Alvaroni, the founder of that edifice. The altar was of alabaster, most curiously wrought, representing, in basso re

« PreviousContinue »