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Read Ebook: The Mirror of Literature Amusement and Instruction. Volume 17 No. 472 January 22 1831 by Various
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Ebook has 109 lines and 16427 words, and 3 pages
FIRST ENGLISH COLONY IN AMERICA.
TRADITIONS OF THE INDIANS.
POLITE SLAUGHTERING OF AN ENEMY.
At times, an Indian warrior, when about to kill and scalp a prostrate enemy, addresses him in such terms as the following:--
SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.
A SCENE ON THE "COSTA FIRME."
"Where are your commissions, your uniforms, if you be British officers?" We had neither, and our fate appeared inevitable.
The doorway was filled with brushwood, fire was set to the hut, and we heard the crackling of the palm thatch, while thick stifling wreaths of white smoke burst in upon us through the roof.
The bright beams of the full moon glanced among the topmost leaves, and tipped the higher branches with silver, contrasting strangely with the scene below, where a large watch-fire cast a strong red glare on the surrounding objects, throwing up dense volumes of smoke, which eddied in dun wreaths amongst the foliage, and hung in the still night air like a canopy, leaving the space beneath comparatively clear.
A temporary guard-house, with a rude verandah of bamboos and palm leaves, had been built between two of the immense spurs of the mighty tree, that shot out many yards from the parent stem like wooden buttresses, whilst overhead there was a sort of stage made of planks laid across the lower boughs, supporting a quantity of provisions covered with tarpaulins. The sentries in the back ground with their glancing arms, were seen pacing on their watch; some of the guard were asleep on wooden benches, and on the platform amongst the branches, where a little baboon-looking old man, in the dress of a drummer, had perched himself, and sat playing a Biscayan air on a sort of bagpipe; others were gathered round the fire cooking their food, or cleaning their arms.
Farther off, it fell in a crimson stream on the surface of the sheltered bay, struggling with the light of the gentle moon, and tinging with blood the small waves that twinkled in her silver wake, across which a guard boat would now and then glide, like a fairy thing, the arms of the men flashing back the red light.
Beyond the influence of the hot smoky glare, the glorious planet reassumed her sway in the midst of her attendant stars, and the relieved eye wandered forth into the lovely night, where the noiseless sheet lightning way glancing, and ever and anon lighting up for an instant some fantastic shape in the fleecy clouds, like prodigies forerunning the destruction of the stronghold over which they impended; while beneath, the lofty ridge of the convent-crowned Popa, the citadel of San Felip? bristling with cannon, the white batteries and many towers of the fated city of Carthagena, and the Spanish blockading squadron at anchor before it, slept in the moonlight.
DIRGE.
Green be the turf o'er thy head, Light lie the earth on thy breast, Peaceful and calm be thy sleep, Till thou'rt called to rejoice with the blest.
Though we weep, yet we joy at thy lot, Though we mourn thee, we yet can resign, Though we sorrow, 'tis not without hope, Though we lose thee, forbear to repine.
From the cares and the pains of this world Thy beatified spirit is free, 'Twould be selfish in us to deplore, For we know that thy God is with thee.
THE REBELLION IN STOCK POGIS.
Padinton third Janeary 1831.
SOME PASSAGES FROM THE DIARY OF THE LATE MR. ST. JOHN LONG.
J. ST. J.L.
RETROSPECTIVE GLEANINGS.
HISTORY OF THE PENNY.
According to Camden and Spelman, the ancient English penny was the first silver coin struck in England, and the only one current among our Saxon ancestors.
Penny pieces of copper were first issued in England June 26, 1797.
P.T.W.
ORIGIN OF BAIL.
P.T.W.
ANCIENT DIVISIONS OF THE DAY.
"See the minutes how they run: How many makes the hour full compleat, How many hours bring about the day, How many days will finish up the year, How many years a mortal man may live."
The Chaldaeans, Syrians, Persians, and Indians began the day at sun-rise, and divided both the day and night into four parts. This division of the day into quarters was in use long before the invention of hours.
The Chinese, who begin their day at midnight, and reckon to the midnight following, divide this interval into twelve hours, each equal to two of ours, and distinguished by a name and particular figure.
In Egypt the day was divided into unequal hours. The clock invented by Ctesibius, of Alexandria, 136 years B.C. was so contrived as to lengthen or shorten the hours.
The Greeks divided the natural day into twelve hours--a practice derived from the Babylonians.
Throughout the Turkish empire, time is reckoned by certain portions of the natural day, resembling the vigils of the ancient Jews and Romans. Public clocks not being in use, these divisions of time are proclaimed from the minarets.
P.T.W.
THE TOPOGRAPHER.
TRAVELLING NOTES IN SOUTH WALES.
"Look round--behold How proudly the majestic Severn rides On the sea--how gloriously in light It rides!"
The Flat Holme, which is nearly ten miles from Cardiff harbour, forms the boundary of the port of Bristol; and every seven years the mayor and corporation of that city visit it, and go through some ceremonies prescribed by ancient custom. There are some remarkable and interesting rocks on the Flat Holme: its only inhabitants are a man and his wife, the attendants at the light-house. This man is created sole lord of the island by the corporation of Bristol, and has the exclusive right of fishing round its shores. The Steep Holme is a lofty and barren rock, tenanted alone by the cormorant and the sea-mew: it is smaller than the Flat Holme. The following lines are so beautifully descriptive of this lonely and desolate spot, that we cannot resist transcribing them:
"The sea-bird claims that solitary spot, And around, loud screaming, wheels In undisturbed possession: other sounds, Save those of shrieking winds and battling cliffs. Are seldom heard in that deserted isle. The spirit of desolation seems to dwell Within it; and although the sun is high, And Nature is at holy peace, it has An aspect wild and dreary. But in the wint'ry storm, when all that sea-- The terrible Atlantic--breasts its rocks In thund'ring conflict, the unearthly howl Might almost wake the dead."
But to proceed with our voyage:--Almost opposite the Holmes there is an extensive view on your right of Bridgewater Bay, receding inland; and on the left, Pennarth Roads, with the forest of shipping and town of Cardiff elevated in the distance, present themselves. On this side the Channel there is nothing more to mention--the thriving and very extensive port of Newport on the Uske, in Monmouthshire, about twelve miles above Cardiff, not being visible. This town has risen almost entirely within the present century. It owes its prosperity partly to the excellent quality and hardness of its coal, which is almost equal to that of Newcastle, and partly to an unjust and exclusive act of parliament, which enacts that all coals shipped eastward of the Holmes shall be free of duty, to the great injury of Cardiff, Swansea, and other ports to the westward. The annual shipments to the port of Bridgewater alone, in consequence, are 100,000 tons. You now stretch nearer the Somersetshire coast; and after passing that beautiful and much-frequented little watering-place, Weston-supra-mare, clustering on the side of a romantic declivity along shore, the flood-tide reaches you on arriving in the far-famed King-Road at the mouth of the Avon, which, in addition to the natural beauty of the surrounding scenery, generally presents an animating scene of shipping and steamers, lying off till there is sufficient tide up the river. But we have progressed gently amidst a crowd of small craft past Pill, a fishing village at its mouth; and after being entranced for five miles with the magnificent and varied scenery of that lovely river, the classic and palatial buildings of Clifton, cresting the pinnacle of the rocks, come in sight as you near Cumberland Basin, and form a fit termination to such a scene. But we must recur to this subject.
VYVYAN.
THE GATHERER.
"A snapper-up of unconsidered trifles."
SHAKSPEARE.
SIR HUMPHRY DAVY.
YOUTHFUL PHILOSOPHY.
PLAIN SPEAKING.
THE DEAD HAND.
EPIGRAMS.
PUN-ICUS.
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