Imatges de pàgina
PDF
EPUB

sixty years, and has resisted all attempts to extinguish it. There is no doubt that living animal bodies are also liable to internal combustion. It is recorded of the wife of Dr. Freilas, physician to an archbishop of Toledo, that she emitted inflammable matter by perspiration. Another woman was known to vomit flames at the point of death. Bartholin, in his Acta Medica, mentions the case of a poor woman at Paris, who drank nothing in the course of three years except spirits of wine; in consequence of which, he says, her body contracted such a combustible disposition, that, one night, when she lay down on a straw couch, she was all burned to ashes except her skull and the extremities of her fingers." But the most extraordinary cases upon record are the following ones. "One of the most remarkable cases of spontaneous combustion is that of the Countess Cornelia Zangari and Bandi of Cesena, which has been minutely described by the Rev. Joseph Bianchini, a prebend in the city of Verona. This lady, who was in the sixtysecond year of her age, retired to bed in her usual health. Here she spent above three hours in familiar conversation with her maid, and in saying her prayers; and having at last fallen asleep, the door of her chamber was shut. As her maid was summoned at the usual hour, she went into the bed-room to wake her mistress; but, receiving no answer, she opened the window, and saw her corpse on the floor in the most dreadful condition. At the distance of four feet from the bed there was a heap of ashes. Her legs, with the stockings on, remained untouched; and the head, half burned, lay between them. Nearly all the rest of the body was reduced to ashes. The air of the room was charged with floating soot. A small oil lamp on the floor was covered with ashes, but had no oil in it; and, in two candlesticks, which stood upright on the table. the cotton wick of both the candles was left, and the tallow of both had disappeared. The bed was not injured, and the blankets and sheets were raised on one side, as if a person had risen up from it. From an examination of all the circumstances of this case, it has been generally supposed, that an internal combustion had taken place; that the lady had risen from her bed to cool herself; and that in her way to open the window, the combustion had over

niture or the floor. The Marquis Scipio Maffei was informed by an Italian nobleman, who passed through Cesena a few days after this event, that he heard it stated in town, that the Countess Zangari was in the habit, when she felt herself indisposed, of washing all her body with camphorated spirits of wine. So recently as 1744, a similar example of spontaneous combustion occurred in our own country, at Ipswich. A fisherman's wife, of the name of Grace Pott, of the parish of St. Clements, had been in the habit, for several years, of going down stairs every night after she was half undressed to smoke a pipe. She did this on the evening of the 9th of April, 1744. Her daughter, who lay in the same bed with her, had fallen asleep and did not miss her mother till she awaked early in the morning. Upon dressing herself and going down stairs, she found her mother's body lying on the right side, with her head against the grate, and extended over the hearth, with her legs on the deal floor, and appearing like a block of wood burning with a glowy fire without flame. Upon quenching the fire with two bowls of water, the neighbours. whom the cries of the daughter had brought in, were almost stifled with the smell. The trunk of the unfortunate woman was almost burned to ashes, and appeared like a heap of charcoal, covered with white ashes. The head, arms, legs, and thighs were also much burned. There was no fire whatever in the grate, and the candle was burned out in the socket of the candlestick, which stood by her. The clothes of a child, on one side of her, and a paper screen, on the other, were untouched; and the deal floor was neither signed nor discoloured. It was said that the woman had drank plentifully of gin overnight, in welcoming a daughter who had recently returned from Gibraltar."

DOMESTIC YEAST.-Persons who are in the habit of making domestic bread, cake, &c. can easily inanufacture their own yeast by attending to the following directions :-Boil one pound of good flour, a quarter of a pound of brown sugar, and a little salt, in two gallons of water for one hour. When milkwarm, bottle it and cork it close, and it will be fit for use in 24 hours. One pint of the yeast will make 18 lbs. of bread.

EPIGRAM.

powered her, and consumed her body If you no fire can in my verses see, by a process in which no flame was produced which could set fire to the fur- Try them by flame, and bright enough they'll

be.

J. R. P.

Table Talk.

was absolved by the Pope, on the condition of his finishing, at his own expense, the monastery of St. Boniface, near Morella. On another occasion (the year before his death,) he forcibly carried off a married woman who had the misfortune to please him; and when the Pope reprimanded him for the unhappiness he introduced into so many families, and the scandalous example he afforded his subjects, the boary sinner complained with bitterness, that he had surely a right to do as he would. One cause of the favour with which his memory is regarded, is his having assumed the cross, and actually embarked for the Holy Land; but storm by which he was assailed off the coast of Sicily effectually cooled his devotion: with great difficulty he gained a French port, and immediately returned to his dominions, resolved never again to trust himself on the treacherous deep. Lardner's Cyclopædia.

a

LORD BYRON'S OPINION OF Shelley. Byron pointed out to me a boat anchored to the right, as the one in which his friend Shelley went down, and he said the sight of it made bim ill. "You should have known Shelley (said he) to feel how much I regret him. He was the most gentle, most amiable, and least worldly-minded person I ever met with; full of delicacy, disinterested be. yond all other men, and possessing a degree of genius, joined to a simplicity as rare as it is admirable. He had formed to himself a beau ideal of all that is fine, high-minded, and noble, and he acted up to this ideal even to the very letter. He had a most brilliant imagination, but a total want of worldly wisdom. I have seen nothing like him, and never shall again I am certain. I never can forget the night that his poor wife rushed into my room at Pisa, with a face pale as marble, and terror imSANDY WOOD'S PLAN Of Supportpressed on her brow, demanding, with ING A WIFE.-The eccentric and well all the tragic impetuosity of grief and remembered Sandy Wood, an eminent alarm, where was her husband! Vain surgeon in Edinburgh, at the outset of were all our efforts to calm her; a des- his professional career, married Miss perate sort of courage seemed to give Veronica Chalmers, second daughter her energy to confront the horrible of George Chalmers, W. S., a highly truth that awaited her; it was the cause respectable man, and to whose honesty of despair; I have seen nothing in and integrity his fellow-citizens bore tragedy on the stage so powerful, or so the most ample testimony, by giving affecting, as her appearance, and it him the popular title of" Honest George often presents itself to my memory. I Chalmers." This marriage turned out knew nothing then of the catastrophe, very fortunate for both parties, though but the vividness of her terror commubefore it took place there was a danger nicated itself to me, and I feared the of it being impeded by the poverty of worst, which fears, were alas! too soon the intended husband. It is related that fearfully realized."—Journal of Coun- Mr. Wood, on obtaining the consent of tess Blessington from the New Monthly. the lady proposed himself to Mr. ChalCHARACTER OF JAYME I. mers as his son-in-law, when that genJayme died in 1276, in Valencia, whi- tleman addressed him thus:-" Sandy, ther he had advanced to chastise a par- I have not the smallest objection to you: tial insurrection of his Moorish sub- but I myself am not rich, and should jects; who, being aided by the King of therefore like to know how you are to Grenada, had defeated two of his ba- support a wife and family." Mr. Wood putting his hand in his pocket, and taking out his lancet-case with a scarlet garter rolled round it, presenting it to him, said, "I have nothing but this, Sir, and a determination to use my best endeavours to succeed in my profession." Mr. Chalmers was so struck with this straight-forward and honest reply, that he immediately exclaimed, " Veronica is yours."

rons.

Don

He is little deserving the high character given him by the peninsular historians. If magnanimity can be reconciled with perfidy, devotion with unbridled lust and barbarous cruelty, their encomiums might be just. His immoderate passion for women, his disregard of any tie of honour or religion, or decency in its gratification. are notorious. In 1246, the Bishop of Gerona being so honest as to reprove his excesses, or so imprudent as to betray his confidence, was punished by the loss of the offending member, the tongue. The Catalonian prelates instantly excommunicated him; but he

UMBRELLAS, in my youth, were not ordinary things; few but the macaronies of the day, as the dandies were then called, would venture to display them. For a long while it was not usual for men to carry them without incurring

the brand of effeminacy, and they were vulgarly considered as the characteristics of a person whom the mob hugely disliked, namely, a mincing Frenchman! At first, a single umbrella seems to have been kept in a coffee-house for some extraordinary occasion-lent as a coach or chair in a heavy shower-but not commonly carried by the walkers. The Female Tatler advertises, "the young gentleman belonging to the custom-house who, in fear of rain, borrowed the umbrella from Wilks' Coffeehouse, shall the next time be welcome to the maid's pattens." An umbrella carried by a man was obviously then considered as extreme effeminacy. As late as 1778, one John Macdonald, a footman, who has written his own life, informed us that when he used "a fine silk umbrella, which he had brought from Spain, he could not with any comfort to himself use it; the people calling out 'Frenchman! Why don't you get a coach ?'" The fact was that the hackney-coachmen and the chairmen joining with the true esprit de corps, were clamorous against this portentous rival. This footman, in 1778, gives us further information. "At this time there were no umbrellas worn in London, except in noblemen's and gentlemen's houses, where there was a large one hung in the hall to hold over a lady or a gentleman, if it rained between the door and their carriage." His sister was compelled to quit his arm one day from the abuse he drew down on himself and his umbrella. But he adds, that "he persisted for three months till they took no further notice of this novelty. Foreigners began to use their's, and then the English. Now it is become a great trade in London." This footman, if he does not arrogate too much to his own confidence, was the first man distinguished by carrying and using a silken umbrella. He is the founder of a most populous school. The state of our population might now in some degree be ascertain ed by the number of umbrellas.

SOMNAMBULENCY.-In the neighbourhood of C-, lived two sisters, one of whom was in the habit of walking in her sleep. On the day previous to the following occurrence, a slight quarrel had taken place between them; but before the close of the day they were reconciled, and both retired to the same apartment, as usual. During the night, however, the elder sister arose in her sleep, and descended to the kitchen. A servant man who resided in the house, hearing a noise, went to ascer

tain the cause. Perceiving who it was that had occasioned it, and being acquainted with her propensity, he determined, out of curiosity, to follow her. It was a fine moonlight night, and he was enabled to observe distinctly her actions. The cautious manner in which she passed along, evinced that something more than ordinary was occupying her thoughts. She approached the place where the knives were kept, and selected the largest. Alarmed lest she should injure herself, the man was about to awake her, when his interest was still further excited by seeing her conceal the knife in the folds of her dress, and then, in the same cautious manner, as if fearful of detection, retrace her way to the room she had left. With almost breathless agitation, he followed. To his astonishment and alarm, she approached the bed in which lay her sister. The knife was raised to give the fatal blow, when the man rushed forward, caught hold of the uplifted arm, and by his exclamations, awoke the sisters to a sense of their danger. Their alarm may be conceived. Reason for a time seemed extinguished in the mind of the unhappy individual who had nearly proved the destroyer of her sister, nor is it likely that she will ever recover the shock which it occasioned.

Varieties.

RAMMOHUN ROY.-This extraordinary individual, who has been spending the last sixteen months in this country, has just set out to visit Paris and Rome. When recently in London, the Rajah went to hear the Rev. William Jay, of Argyle Chapel, in this city, and was so impressed by the discourse, that he solicited the MS., for the purpose of printing it at his own expense for circulation. This he has done. We have seen a copy; and were struck by the following passage and anecdote, around which, in every copy this interesting personage has given away, is a pencil line drawn with his own hand :-"The only way to be loved is to be and appear lovely, to possess and display kindness, benevolence, tenderness; to be free from selfishness, and to be alive to the welfare of others. When Dr. Doddridge asked his little daughter, who died so early, why every body seemed to love her, she answered, I cannot tell, unless it be because I love every body. This was not only a striking, but a very judicious reply. It accords with the

sentiment of Seneca, who gives us a love charm; and what do you suppose the secret is? 'Love,' says he, in order to be loved.' No being ever yet drew another by the use of terror or authority."-Bath and Cheltenham Gazette.

JOHN WESLEY-When John Wesley was vainly endeavouring to convince his sister that the voice of the people is the voice of God, "Yes," she mildly replied, "it cried, crucify him, crucify him!"

EFFECTS OF GAMBLING.-A certain English nobleman returning from the gaming-table between seven and eight one morning, he begged of his wife to take a coach, and make a visit to a chateau which was on sale, distant only a few miles from town, which he was anxious to call his. The lady consents, and drove off; but no sooner had she turned her back on the mansion, than her husband, a man of the nicest honour, makes over the house, furniture, and all that belonged to it, into the hands of the person who had won them the night before, by a lucky chance of the dice.

[ocr errors]

GENUINE LIBERALITY. -The late Archbishop of Bordeaux was remarkable for his tolerance and enlightened benevolence. The following anecdote of him will not be read without interest: "My lord," said a person to him one day, "here is a poor woman come to ask charity; what do you wish me to do for her?" "How old is she?" "Seventy." "Is she in great distress?" "She says so." "She must be relieved; give her 25 francs." "Twenty-five franes! my lord, it is too much, especially as she is a Jewess." "A Jewess!" "Yes, my lord." "Oh, that makes a great difference. Give her 50 francs, then; and thank her for coming."

HAYDN. The poet Carpani once asked his friend Haydn "how it happened that his church music was almost always of an animating, cheerful, and even gay description?" To this Haydn answered, "I cannot make it otherwise: 1 write according to the thoughts which I feel: when I think upon God, my heart is so full of joy, that the notes dance and leap as it were from my pen; and since God has given me a cheerful heart, it will be easily forgiven me that I serve him with a cheerful spirit."

A DANDY, at Dover, was lisping out his wish to cross over to Calais; "but," said he, "I am terribly afraid of the consequences should there be a heavy sea. -“And you may be sure there will,"

[ocr errors]

said a bystander-" if you go, for there could not be a greater swell in the Channel."

SIR WALTER SCOTT.-The following passage from the pen of the gifted Baronet will be read with melancholy, interest at the present period. It is characteristic of the author:-" I must refer to a very early period of my life, were I to point out my first achievement as a tale-teller; but I believe some of my old school-fellows can still bear witness that I had a distinguished character for that talent, at a time when the applause of my companions was my recompense for the disgraces and punishments which the future romance writer incurred for being idle himself and keeping others idle, during hours that should have been employed in our tasks. The chief employment of my holidays was to escape with a chosen friend, who had the same taste with myself, and to alternately recite to each other such wild adventures as we were able to devise. We told each in turn interminable tales of knight-errantry and battles and enchantments, which were continued from one day to another, as opportunity offered, without our ever thinking of bringing them to a conclusion. As we observed a strict secrecy. on the subject of this intercourse, it acquired all the character of a concealed pleasure; and we used to select for the scenes of our indulgence long walks through the solitary and romantic environs of Arthur's Seat, Salisbury Crags, Braid Hills, and similar places in the vicinity of Edinburgh; and the recollection of those holidays still forms an oasis in the pilgrimage which I have to look back upon."

[ocr errors]

AMERICAN LEARNING.-A speculator, who had rapidly amassed a princely fortune, wishing to figure as a scholar, sent the following order to a bookseller in Boston:-" Sur, I wants to by sum Buks. As I am prodighouse fond of larnen, plese to send by the Bear here 5 hunder dollars woth of the handsumest you have."

CALEDONIAN Comfort.-Two pedestrian travellers, natives of the North, took up their abode at a Highland hotel in Breadalbane. Next morning, one of them complained to his friend that he had a very indifferent bed, and asked how he had slept?" Troth man," replied Donald, "nae verra weel either, but I was muckle better aff than the bugs, for de il ane o' them closed an e'e the hale night."

TO CORRESPONDENTS.-We feel obliged to J. W. M. but cannot send the Nos, as request. ed. The Court of Aspar, with another dramatic piece, are cleverly written, but will not suit our readers. Walter Ashton is under consideration. J. R. P. shall, if possible, bear from us next week.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][graphic]

Illustrated Article.

BLANCHE ROSE.

THE bells of Toulouse were chiming for primes. The spires, steeples, and turrets, fluttered with pennons and banners, and clustered with caps and bonnets like swarming bees. The main street was lined by the burgher guard, and crowded with citizens, strangers, troubadours, and minstrels, above whose motley show the windows and galleries were hung with cindont and arras, and filled with scarlet gowns, furred tabards, and all the riches, splendour, and beauty of "Bel Languedoc." A deep stillness reigned in the crowd, and all eyes were turned towards the east gate, where a triumphal arch crowned with laurel, palm, and the white cross of Toulouse stood as high as the bartizan of the city port.

"Santa Madre! what jour de fete is this?" said an old pilgrini, as he pushed through the men-at-arms at the barrier.

[blocks in formation]

See page 164

"In the name of St. Jacques de Toulouse where did you come from?" replied one of the sergeants, glancing at his cockle-shell.

"That is no point of your charge," replied the stranger, "but I would know what saint you are going to celebrate."

66 Truly we call him not saint as yet," replied the sergeant, "though I doubt not he is as good as St. Dennis, or St. George, or any other St. Chevalier in the calendar; but in respect of the canonization, he is yet only Raymond de Toulouse-La Fleur de Chevalerie-la lame de France,' our young prince that shall return to-day, with the glory of heaven and earth, from the holy croisade."

The pilgrim crossed himsel', and while he was yet speaking with the guard, the sound of cymbals, kettledrums, and a 'corps d'harmonie' came faintly through the still sunshine.

"On viens!" exclaimed the sergeant,'

A soldier between the rank of an esquire and man-at-arms, who generally worked the engines. 265

« AnteriorContinua »