The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, No. 576 by Various
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Various >> The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, No. 576
"In the House of Commons, the Speaker never speaks to any question,
except the House be in a committee; nor does he even vote, unless the
number of votes on both sides of the House be equal; when his casting
vote decides the majority. In the Lords, if the Chancellor be desirous
of giving his opinion, he must leave the woolsack, and go to his place
among that rank of nobility to which he belongs. If he be not a peer,
he may neither speak to the question, nor vote upon it; but if a peer,
he has a vote on every question. The Speaker of the Commons is
prohibited by the rules of that House from persuading or dissuading
the members in the passing of any bill: his duty is merely to make a
plain and short narrative of its objects. When any member of the
Commons is desirous of speaking on a bill before the House, he stands
up in his place; uncovered, and directs his speech to the Speaker. In
the House of Peers, on the contrary, the orator addresses himself to
the Lords generally, only. In either case he may remain on his legs
for an indefinite length of time: using whatever arguments, and
entering into as many details, as he pleases; but, having once sat
down, he is not permitted, unless personally reflected on, to speak
again on the same day, to the same matter; or on the same reading of
the same bill, even although his arguments be confuted by another
member: but, if the whole house should be turned into a committee on
any business, then any member may reply as often as he pleases, or as
the chairman of the said committee may judge expedient. If it happen
that any member of either House should utter words offensive to the
King's majesty, or to the House itself, he is immediately called to
the bar: in the House of Commons he sometimes, on his knees, receives
a reprimand from the Speaker, and is obliged to apologize: if the
offence be great, he may, by the Speaker's warrant, be sent to the
Tower, or even to Newgate. When a member, during the heat of debate,
happens to be betrayed into intemperate language towards another
member he is merely called to 'Order' by the Speaker, and this call
has generally the desired effect of quelling all animosity between the
parties; but if, as sometimes has happened, anything should be uttered
amounting to a challenge to settle the dispute 'out of doors,' the
Speaker invariably insists upon a pledge from both, 'upon their
honour,' that there shall be no fight, and generally succeeds in
making them shake hands; otherwise, he has it in his power to commit
the would-be combatants to the safe-keeping of the sergeant-at-arms,
and to bind the mover to keep the peace. If any member,
notwithstanding the call to 'Order,' persist in being disorderly, it
is customary for the Speaker to name him; by which indication he is
sure to incur the displeasure or censure of the House."
W.G.C.
* * * * *
POOR LAWS
Before the Reformation there were no Poor Rates; the charitable dole
given at the Religious Houses, and church-ale in every parish did the
business. In every parish there was a church house, to which belonged
spits, pots, crocks, &c. for dressing provision. Here the housekeepers
met and were merry, and gave their charity. The young people met there
too, and had dancing and bowling, shooting at butts, &c. A. Wood says
there were few or no alms-houses before Henry VIII. In every church
and large inn was a poor man's box.--_From Aubrey's MSS. Collections._
It should be recollected that the present mode of assessment for the
relief of the poor in England, was not adopted till every other mode
had been tried. Before the dissolution of the religious houses, temp.
Henry VIII., paupers were licensed to beg within certain limits (22nd.
Henry VIII., chap. 12.) and magistrates were authorized to receive and
support them, coming to the places of their birth, by voluntary and
charitable alms, and a method was prescribed for collecting those
alms. In the reign of Edward VI., laws were passed for _enforcing_
charitable _voluntary_ contributions (5th and 6th Edw. VI., chap. 2.)
Persons refusing to give according to their means were to be
admonished; first by the minister, and then by the bishop. These
provisions were found insufficient, and it was enacted early in the
reign of Elizabeth, that if the parties were insensible to the
clerical and episcopal admonitions, they should be bound over by the
minister or bishop to the quarter sessions; where they were again to
be admonished; and if they remained refractory, the justices and
churchwardens were to assess them according to their discretion. (5th
Eliz. chap. 3.) In the 14th year of her reign the act was passed and
provision made for regular assessments, and the appointment of
overseers provided for; which the subsequent acts of the 18th, 39th,
and 43rd of the same reign completed, and which has still remained.
ERNLE CRASHAW.
_Near Weymouth_.
* * * * *
THE NATURALIST.
* * * * *
ANIMAL INSTINCT: ANECDOTE OF A TAME SNAKE.
_(To the Editor.)_
The following remarkable circumstance clearly proves how foreign to
children, is the fear or even the idea of danger; and, at the same
time, it presents to the contemplative mind a striking instance of the
wisdom which the Almighty has displayed in the works of the creation!
In what a wonderful manner has he endowed all his creatures with
sensibility, regulated their habits, and provided for their wants; and
so ingeniously are the animal and vegetable kingdoms arranged, that
the former is, in a great measure, dependent on the latter for
nourishment and support.
From the study of Nature may be deduced a most valuable lesson:
namely, to think nothing that exists on the face of the globe unworthy
of our attention and notice: and were we to confine ourselves to the
practice of this excellent maxim, we should not rest satisfied, until
we had obtained a complete insight into the economy and habits of such
curious objects.
A labouring man residing near the White Cross, (about a mile westward
of the city of Hereford,) and occupying a cottage belonging to Thomas
Webb, Esq. of that place, in the month of May last, repeatedly
observed one of his children (a little girl not eighteen months old,)
reserving at meal-time a part of her allowance of food, and carrying
it invariably to one particular corner of the house. Curiosity induced
the father to watch more minutely the proceedings of the child, and
great was his astonishment, when on the girl as usual repairing to the
spot, and making a noise something similar to the chirping of a bird,
a snake appeared out of a hole in the wall, and fearlessly partook of
the repast provided for it by its infantine attendant.
Such a circumstance is very uncommon, though not unprecedented; for
that indefatigable naturalist, Gilbert White, mentions a tame snake in
his meritorious _Natural History of Selborne_. The greater degree of
surprise must be attributed to the case itself, that a child so young
should have the courage to approach an animal of the reptile order;
but it serves only to corroborate the statement previously
made:--children are destitute of fear, and consequently have no dread
of danger.
In a former number (549) of _The Mirror_, appeared a paper headed "The
Habits of the Common Snake," purported to be extracted from the
_Magazine of Natural History_. The doctrine enforced by the writer of
this article, as regards the impracticability of domesticating a
snake, has been proved entirely erroneous by the fact recited; and
were there no positive instance adduced to the contrary, it does not
follow that, because his effort, were ineffectual, such a thing is
utterly impossible; indeed, I think, the failure of his project may be
dated from the means to which he resorted for its accomplishment. The
snake we know is naturally very timid, and shuns even the society of
its fellow-creatures; and consequently, must have a great dread of the
presence of human beings. Then why, in the name of sense, did he
suffer it to be handled by children; and what vessel could he have
found worse adapted to his purpose than one composed of glass, in
which the movements of its inmate were subjected to the continual gaze
of bystanders? He may, perhaps, consider his plan a good one, and
bring the case I have mentioned to support his argument, as the snake
was tamed by the same means he himself had partially adopted; but it
is totally different. Much more may be effected by the agency of one
little child, than by the assistance of a number of older and
consequently more unmanageable beings. One would suppose, by his
attempting to "charm it" with music, that he put unlimited belief in
the fables of old; but, alas! the poor creature had heard enough of
nursery strains to render it deaf to the beauties of softer melody.
The language with which he concludes his remarks is as unjust as it is
uncalled for, and such as none but an illiberal and narrow-minded
observer would, choose to apply to so beautiful a creature.[4] Even
the cat[5] (the most ravenous domestic animal we have,) has been
known, when confined, to permit mice to pass unmolested through the
cage in which it was imprisoned; then why should he expect that an
animal which (as he asserts) can live upwards of thirty days without
food, would put itself so far out of its way as to gratify an idle
spectator, by devouring in his presence, frogs, mice, and other such
"delicacies of the season," when neither inclination, nor the wants of
nature, stimulated it to the task.
[4] The passage to which our kindly Correspondent refers is as
follows: "The serpent, instead of being the emblem of
wisdom, should have been an emblem of stupidity."--See
_Mirror_, vol. xviii. p. 343.
[5] See _Mirror_, vol. xviii. p. 356.
PHILAETHES.
_Hereford_.
* * * * *
THE BUSTARD.
The Bustard, huge Rasor, with gular pouch long,
With legs formed for running, and beak that is strong,
Whose presence this island regards now as rare.
_Jennings's Ornithologia._
This bird is of the same order as the Dodo (the gallinaceous, cock or
pheasant), figured and described at page 311. There are seventeen
species, which form the genus _Otis_ of Linnaeus. They are natives of
Europe, Asia, and Africa. Their characteristics are--bill strong, a
little incurvated; toes, three before, none behind; legs long, and
naked above the knees. The specimen here figured is the _Great
Bustard_, or Tarda, said to be the largest of British birds, sometimes
weighing as much as thirty pounds. It is found in some parts of this
country, and inhabits also the open plains of Europe, Asia, and
Africa. Its colour is wave-spotted with black, and rufous; beneath,
white; length, four feet; female not so large, weighing about twelve
pounds: she has also different shades of colour. The male has a long
pouch, (_see the Cut_), beginning under the tongue, and reaching to
the breast, capable of holding several quarts of water--supposed to be
for supplying the hen while sitting on the young. The cheek-feathers
are elongated, so as to form on each side a sort of mustachio. It
subsists on grains and herbs; it also feeds on worms and insects, and
according to late observations, on rats and field-mice;[6] is
solitary, shy, and timid; flies heavily, but runs swiftly; is quick of
sight and hearing; lays two, pale, olive-brown eggs, with darker
spots, in a hole scraped in the ground. In autumn Bustards are
gregarious, when they leave the open downs for more sheltered
situations. The eggs are eagerly sought after, for the purpose of
hatching under hens: they have been reared thus in Wiltshire. As they
are very valuable birds, and eagerly sought after, they are scarce.
Mr. Jennings doubts whether they still exist in Wiltshire; but, from a
paper lately read before the Linnaean Society, by Messrs. Sheppard and
Whitear, it appears that Bustards now breed in the open parts of
Suffolk and Norfolk: they have, too, been domesticated by Mr. Hardy,
of Norwich.[7] Mr. Jennings, in a note to the lines above quoted,
observes, "There were formerly great flocks of Bustards in this
country, upon the wastes and in woods, where they were hunted by
greyhounds, and easily taken. They have been latterly recommended to
be bred as domestic fowls; and, to those who desire novelty, the
Bustard seems to be peculiarly an object for propagation. The flesh is
delicious; and it is supposed that good feeding and domestication
might stimulate them to lay more eggs." We were aware that the Bustard
was formerly eaten, and remember their mention among the delicacies of
chivalric feasts, and in the bills of fare at civic banquets:
probably, they are on the Guildhall table at the moment we are
writing--on Lord Mayor's Day.
[6] Shaw's Zoolog. Lectures, vol. i. 1809.
[7] Ornithologia, p. 206.
[Illustration: _The Great Bustard._]
Among the other species of Bustards are the Little, or Field, and the
thick-kneed, Stone-curlew, or Norfolk Plover. There are also some fine
species in India, where they are generally in pairs, but sometimes in
families of four and five: as they do not fly high, they are sometimes
pursued on horseback, and fired at with pistols. A young hen makes a
particularly fine dish at table: the flesh of the breast is full of
triangular cavities.[8] The Bustard accordingly bears a high price in
the Indian markets: in some districts it is called the florikan.
[8] Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. iii. p. 517.
The Bustard is stated to have been known to descend suddenly from its
flight, and from some unknown caprice, to attack a horse and its rider
with great violence; and with such blind fury as to suffer itself to
be seized by the traveller rather than attempt an escape. Two
instances of this kind are recorded in the _Gentleman's Magazine_ of
about the year 1807.
* * * * *
FINE ARTS.
* * * * *
CROSSES.
In a recent Number (563) we adverted to the origin of these
interesting structures, and attributed their erection to pious
feelings, as well as for purposes of a commercial character. The
specimens before us appear to have belonged to the latter
appropriation--inasmuch as they are what are commonly termed _Market
Crosses_. The first is situate at _Leighton Buzzard_, or as the name
was anciently written, Leighton _beau-desert_, on the borders of
Buckinghamshire, and said to be the _Lygean-burgh_ of the Saxon
Chronicle, which was taken from the Britons by Cuthwulph, in the year
571. The principal of the antiquities of the town is the above Cross.
It is of a pentagonal form, and of beautiful pointed architecture: it
is stated to have been built upwards of five hundred years, but the
name of its founder is not known. The anxiety of the inhabitants of
Leighton-Buzzard to preserve this relic of olden time is entitled to
special mention.
[Illustration: (_At Leighton Buzzard._)]
"In the year 1650, this cross was presented at the court-leet as being
in such a ruinous state, that it greatly endangered the lives of those
persons who were passing near it. Upon this occasion a rate of 4_d._
was levied upon every inhabitant to defray the charge of repairing it.
The height of the cross is twenty-seven feet two inches, from the top
of the stone-work to the basement story, which is seven feet four
inches from the ground, at the lowest side, and consists of five rows
of steps rising from the earth. The centre pillar, which supports the
arch, is eight feet two inches high, and one foot one inch and a
quarter wide, on the side fronting the largest angle. The upper story
is disposed into five niches, and there were formerly as many
pinnacles at the corners; but one of them has been destroyed: each
niche contained a statue. The first appears to have been intended to
represent a bishop, another seems like the Virgin and Jesus; a third
appears to be Saint John the Evangelist; the others are too much
mutilated to be known. Over each arch attached to the cornice,
surrounding the building, there were three grotesque heads. The entire
height of the cross, from the lowest base to the top of the vane, is
thirty-eight feet. It is constructed of stone, and is situated in an
open area, near the market-house."
[Illustration: (_At Holbeach._)]
The second Cross is at _Holbeach_, in the _Holland_ division of
Lincolnshire. The Cross is situate in the market-place of the town;
and it is supposed to have been raised about the year 1253; near which
period, Thomas de Malton, Lord Egremont, obtained for Holbeach the
grant of a weekly market and annual fair.
* * * * *
WINTER EXHIBITION OF PICTURES, AT THE SUFFOLK STREET GALLERY.
We attended the private view of this very attractive exhibition, and
were happy to find the galleries filled with distinguished Artists and
Patrons of Art. The collection is of a novel character, inasmuch as it
associates the works of deceased and living British Artists; though,
discouraging as may be the fact, the juxtaposition is not to the
advantage of the latter: alas! "that's true, 'tis pity, and pity 'tis
'tis true." Nevertheless, the object of the British Artists' Society
in forming this collection, is laudable in every respect; since "it is
evident that an Exhibition of the works of celebrated deceased Masters
is calculated to benefit, in an essential degree, the race of living
Artists, who will here have an opportunity of carefully inspecting,
and deriving instruction from many of those pictorial efforts which
are the pride and honour of the British School:" so true is it, in the
case of painters, that the good which men do, lives after them. To the
public, we mean the sight-craving public, this Exhibition may be of
paramount interest: it may perchance modify their admiration of
faithless vanity-feeding portraits, and gaudy compositions of vulgar
life, full of coarse effect, and painted as less ingenious articles
are made, to catch a purchaser.
The Exhibition embraces specimens of the works of nearly seventy
deceased Artists, from various collections. Among them are Reynolds,
Hogarth, Gainsborough, Morland, Wilson, Fuseli, Zoffani, Blake, Opie,
De Loutherbourg, Northcote, Harlow, Jackson, Bonington, Lawrence, &c. &c.;
and, as many of the specimens are associated with pleasurable
recollections, we will endeavour to notice a few of them, in
succession with the works of the living Artists.
1. Alderman Boydell, painted by _Muller_, and the property of Messrs.
Moon, Boys, and Greaves, who, as the successors of the Alderman,
retain his portrait as a kind of heirloom in connexion with the best
days of British Art.
10. and 12. Duke and Duchess of Leinster. _Reynolds._ The drawing of
the latter is not quite worthy of the President's fame.
7. Farm Yard and Pigs. _Morland._ Painted, for aught we know, at the
artist's usual rate, when in confinement, "four-guineas per day with
his drink."
8. Landscape. _Gainsborough._ Stamped, as Mr. Cunningham says, all
Gainsborough's works are, "with the image of old England."
9. Sir W. Curtis, Bart. _Lawrence._ A fine portrait of the City wit:
his face is lit up with good nature, such as proved in the Baronet's
career, a surprising foil to the madness of party.
11. Landscape and Cattle. The former by _Barrett_, the latter by
_Gilpin_. Cunningham calls Barrett "an indifferent dauber;" rather a
harsh term in connexion with this picture.
18. Rape of the Lock. A picture of merit, by _Henry Wyatt_.
21. Death of Oedipus. One of _Fuseli's_ most tragical creations.
31 and 33. Landscape and Figures. _Morland._
34. Diana and Calista. _Wilson._ A beautifully poetic composition: yet
the painter lived and died nearer to indigence than ease.
35. Alexander Pope and Martha Blount. _Jervas._ Of comparatively
little interest for its pictorial merit; though Pope has enshrined the
painter in elegant couplet. If poetry and painting be sister arts,
they are rarely twin.
41 and 227. Dead Game, &c. _Blake._ Among the finest compositions of
their class. It is worth while to compare these pictures, with what
Smith, in his Life of Nollekens, tells us of Blake's colouring: "his
modes of preparing his grounds, and laying them over his panels for
painting, mixing his colours, and manner of working, were those which
he considered to have been practised by the early fresco painters,
whose productions still remain in many instances vividly and
permanently fresh. His ground was a mixture of whiting and carpenters'
glue, which he passed over several times in the coatings; his colours
he ground himself and also united with them the same sort of glue, but
in a much weaker state; he would in the course of painting, pass a
very thin transparent wash of glue-water over the whole of the parts
he had worked upon and then proceed with his finishing."
43. The Captive, _Jackson._ One of the finest pictures in the room. In
colouring it approaches the olden school nearer than any recent
specimen.
44. Carnarvon Castle, Moon-rising. _E. Childe._ A clever picture, and
altogether an interesting scene.
53. Portrait of the late Queen Caroline, and the Princess Charlotte.
_Lawrence._ One of the painter's early productions. The attitude of
the Queen beside a harp is majestic, and her figure is not of such
bulky proportion as she attained in after-life; the features are, too,
more intelligent than many beneath a crown: the figure of the darling
Princess in sportive mood, half clambering and reclining upon a chair,
is pretty. Indeed, the picture, as well from its characters as from
its merit and size, must command considerable interest in the
collection. It may have associations of melancholy tendency; for the
princesses and the painter have been numbered with the dead within a
score of years.
55. The Benevolent Squire. _Morland._ A small oval picture of touching
truth and nature. In the foreground is a widow, with two children,
seated beside a cottage door. They have just divided a small loaf with
hungry zest: in the distance is an old English 'squire on horseback,
who is instructing his groom with undrawn purse to relieve the wants
of the widow, while the good Samaritan casts an eye of true compassion
at the almost starving group.
58. Portrait of Opie. _Opie_: showing, as Mr. Cunningham observes, "a
noble forehead and an intellectual eye," with much of his country,
Cornish air. The picture is but of few inches dimension, in a homely,
broad, flat, oaken frame, somewhat resembling that of a miniature,
with the name "Opie," plainly cut in capitals. It is noticeable for
its unadornment.
64. The adjourned Debate. _T. Clater._ A cobbler, despite the ancient
saw, _ne sutor ultra crepidam_, intently devouring the "folio of four
pages."
67. The Sisters. _John Wood._ One of the painter's most successful
productions, and deservedly so.
74. Diana and Actaeon. Another of _Wilson's_ classic compositions of
captivating loveliness, proving the painter, as Mr. Cunningham
observes, to have wrought under historical and poetic influence.
80. Portrait of the late James Perry, Esq. _Lawrence._ The likeness is
striking, and the colouring that of a master hand. The "head and
front" bear intellectuality in an eminent degree.
82. Henry III. of France. _Bonington._ One of the lamented artist's
most celebrated pictures. The personal elegance of the sovereign, and
the luxurious details of the scene are in fine keeping with the
minuteness of history in these matters.
89. The Trial Scene in the Merchant of Venice. _Zoffani._ With
Macklin,
--The Jew
That Shakspeare drew;
his daughter as Portia, in the habiliaments of "the learned lawyer;"
Clark, Bensley, &c.
100. Portrait of Bishop Hoadley. _Hogarth._
102. Banks of the Tiber. _Wilson._
118 and 187. Portraits of the Princesses Sophia and Mary, when
children.
125. Battle of Cressy. _West._
137--138--151. Captain Macheath--the Grave-diggers--and the Ghost
Scene in Hamlet--all gems in their way, by _Liverseege_, of
Manchester; they are full of point, and so rich in promise of future
excellence as to add to our regret for the premature death of the
artist.
134. The First Study for the Niobe Landscape. _Wilson._ Peculiarly
interesting to artists.
_To be continued._
* * * * *
THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.
* * * * *
EFFECTS OF FASHIONABLE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS UPON SERVANTS AND TRADESMEN.
[Much has been said of late years respecting the degeneracy of a very
useful and generally respectable class of persons, termed "gentlemen's
servants;" and the unjustifiable practices of tradesmen towards people
of fashion. As is usual in hasty judgments, the many have been
stigmatized with the vices of the few: the misconduct of reckless
servants has been held forth as bespeaking the habits of the whole
class, and the misdealing cupidity of a few purveyors of fashionable
luxuries has been set down as the almost uniform rule of conduct of
the worthiest classes in the empire. Such has been the exaggeration of
a certain description of evils and abuses, which appertain rather to
the manners and customs of fashionable life than to the sphere of the
useful or industrious classes; and in support of this position of
ours, we may be allowed to quote the following pertinent observations
from no less aristocratic authority than the _Quarterly Review_. They
occur in a notice of a few of the most recent novels of fashionable
life; in which the writer argues that there remains to be produced a
much more useful class of novels than has yet emanated from the
_silver fork school_. The immediate objects of the present remarks
are, however, to show that the artificial or even dissipated habits of
servants and the bareweight honesty of tradesmen, are brought about by
the corrupt manners of persons of fortune, who _believe themselves_ to
be the only sufferers by such evil courses.]