1 N. Very truly, gentlemen, she is nothing to you; and so, therefore, I intend keeping her to myself, particularly as I am too much a man of honour to show a preference; I must, therefore, defer payment until this day three weeks; when a marriage with a lady of fortune, will enable me to discharge all my creditors, as freely as they have charged Gentlemen, are you willing to wait that period? me. 66 [They consult for a while, and at last refuse altogether, crying “We will stick to you to the last;"" we will dun till we make you pay;" won't let you stir an inch, without being at your tail." N. Are you fully resolved on the last point? Omnes. ALL. we N. Am I fully to understand you, gentlemen, that the payment of your debts, depends on the performance of this last threat?-(Witness, Peter.) Cred. Ay, ay. We have nicked him at last,—we shall get our money. you can. [Exit out of the window. [Creditors stare at each other, petrified with astonishment, and slowly EXEUNT OMNES. STANZAS. I ROAM out in the twilight, Till the night winds and the dropping dews For I feel that when unkindness It is happier to be cheerless too There's a quiet brook before me, But a child is on its brink, And the pebbles that his quick hand throws, He smiles at the wave's trouble, But I share not in his joy; For I think how thus the wanton fair Our bosom's peace destroy. The glow upon the cypress, Where my sire's cold ashes sleep, Would melt me into tears, had I Spirit enough to weep. But the grief that gnaws within me Will not be thus out-thrown; For despair hath round it closed, and shut The reptile in the stone. My father, oh! my father! Too early was I left; Of thy care and well-remembered love And wisdom all bereft! Though thou blessed art in heaven, Couldst thou see the wither'd brow AMUSEMENTS IN WINter among the mouNTAINS OF WALES. No. I. THE FEALTY OF THE FLOWERS. ONE day, traversing the mountains of North Wales, I called at a cottage, beautifully situated under impending rocks, and requested shelter from a storm, that raged with great violence. The occupier of this cottage chanced to be an humble professor of physic, who disdained the Royal College of Surgeons; and who never had one ounce of medicine, in all his life, from Apothecaries' Hall. He was, in fact, a WATER DOCTOR! The night proving tempestuous, I accepted the invitation of the worthy Physician; and slept very soundly in a nice clean bed without curtains, in a room well screened from the winds, and almost equally so from the light. Thus situated, I resolved to derive as much learning from the old disciple of Galen, as he felt inclined to bestow. "Sir," said he, "did you ever read Dr. Hill's Botany, the English Physician enlarged; Dr. Culpepper's Complete Herbal; or Dr. Sibley's Key to the Occult Sciences?" "I have seen those valuable books," returned I, "but I have never read them." "Then, sir, with all your reading, you are ignorant of four of the best books in the English language. There is little use in botany, if we know only the names of plants, we should know their virtues; and not only such, but their occult influences; and the planets by which they are governed." "Do you think, then, that plants are under the influences of the planets ?" "To be sure I do, sir r; as well as the lives of animals, and the fortunes of men." "Will you be so good as to give me some information on this subject?" "With great pleasure, sir; and I hope you may be fortunate enough to derive some benefit therefrom. Venus, sir, has under her special protection, archangel, artichokes, columbines, cowslips, and damask roses. Why she has taken possession of archangel, may be seen in the Guide for Women. Some persons call it dead-nettle: you, I suppose, sir, call it lamium; because Gaspar Bauhine and Linnæus call it so for my part, I see no good reason for using a learned name, when the simple one will answer as good a purpose. Why artichokes are under the protection of Venus, I cannot divine." "Galen talks nonsense of this plant; it contains plenty of choleric juice,' says he, of which is engendered melancholy juice; and that choleric juice thins choleric blood.' Columbines are under Venus, because its seed, taken in wine, causeth a speedy relief to women in child-bed. This is a beautiful plant, both in leaf and flower. Linnæus, I have heard, calls it aquilegia sylvestris : what Aquilegia means, I do not know; but Sylvestris, I think, means woody. The seeds are excellent in jaundice; and love causes jaundice, as often as any one thing again; and Venus, you know, sir, is not only goddess of beauty, but of love." "But what do you say to cowslips ?" "Venus lays claim to this herb as her own. Thus, saith the author of the English Physician; it is under the sign of Aries; and your city dames know well enough, that distilled water of it adds to beauty; ah! more, that it restores it after it has been lost. As to the leaves, when preserved, if you let them see the Sun once a month, it will do the Sun no harm, and them a great deal of good. It is the prima veris major of Gerard. Gaspar Bauhine calls it verbasculum protense adoratum; and so, also, does Herman; but Linnæus, and others after him, call it paralysis. You see, sir, I know something of what the learned write, though I never learned Latin; but I caution you, sir, and all others, not to think the cowslip to be the same species of plant as the oxlip and the primrose: it is no such thing; and if Linnæus himself were here, I would say so to his face." "But what do you say of damask roses? are all roses under the influence of Venus?" "One would think they ought to be, sir; but they are not. White roses are governed by the Moon; red roses, by Jupiter; and Provence roses, by the King of France. Damask roses are better than any: hence, some call them musks.-Then, as to the sweet briar, the wild briar, with prickly tips, and the white-flowered dog-rose-none of them belong to Venus, though they all deserve the protection of so beautiful a planet. Why adder's tongue should be under the Moon, I could never see the reason of; but it is so. Honest old Cato would never use any other vegetable as physic. The adder's tongue bites the throat and tongue :-the Moon is mild enough. The lady's bedstraw, the lady's slipper, and the lady's mantle, also, belong to the Moon; so also do white lilies, and lady's smocks. "That the amara dulcis should be under the care of Mercury, is right and infallible; for it not only cures all diseases, but removes witchcraft of every kind, both from man and beast. White lilies, as I said before, are ruled by the Moon; but the lily of the valley, by Mercury and how is this proved? Easily enough. By strenthening the brain; and by recruiting weak memories.-As you are so much in London, sir, you may, any day, go to Hampstead-heath, pluck them there, and try them yourself. Be pleased to observe, that the flowers of this plant hang all one way; and though the plant is frequently seen in the woods, it seldom blows there. If you have a friend particularly fond of curious snuff, pick a few for him, dry and powder them, and he will never go to the snuff-shops again. Sweet marjoram, too, sir, is under the power of Mercury; particularly when that planet is in the sign Aries. Hence, it is an excellent remedy for disorders of the brain. It is a most delightful aromatic, sir; and what is better, it is a remedy against many poisons. I have been told, it came originally from Spain. "Honey-suckle, also, is under Mercury.-Now let us see what the incomparable English Physician' says of this avaricious plant." "Avaricious?" "Yes, sir, avaricious it certainly is having more honey than almost any plant we have. Our author is very particular as to this flower: hear what he says: 666 "Doctor Tradition, that grand introducer of errors, that hater of truth, lover of folly, and mortal foe to Dr. Reason, hath taught the common people to use the leaves or flowers of this last plant in mouthwater; and by long continuance of time, hath so grounded it in the brains of the vulgar, that you cannot beat it out with a beetle. All mouth waters ought to be cooling and drying; but honey-suckles are cleansing, consuming, and digesting, and therefore, no way fit for inflammations-thus Dr. Reason. Again, if you please, we will leave Dr. Reason awhile, and come to Dr. Experience, a learned gentleman, and his brother. Take a leaf and chew it in your mouth, and you will quickly find it likelier to cause a sore mouth than to cure it.' Well, then, if it be not good for this, what is it good for? It must be good for something, for God and Nature made nothing in vain. It is an herb of Mercury, and appropriate to the lungs. * * * "Now, let us come to Mars, and see what flowers he has under his care. Why, sir, you will scarcely believe that in his empire grows all heal; and why? because it is hot and biting: but then it cures wounds (Hercules, the pagan Samson, was cured by it); and, by the power of sympathy, just as viper's flesh attracts poison, and the loadstone, iron at least, so I have been told. Now we come to Jupiter : I shall begin with the dandelion; because I went into the fields and picked some this very afternoon. This herb is so good, sir, that the French and Dutch use it in sallads; though we disdain it, as we do many other good things, such as snails, frogs, and mice: all of which are very good for the palate, as well as the stomach. We have among these mountains, sir, the narrow-leaved dandelion; and that is more than you have, sir, I dare say, in all the gardens and fields in the neighbourhood of London. If you wish to see it, sir, in blow, come here in Autumn, and, just under yon rock, I will show it you. Jupiter has fifty, nay, a hundred herbs and plants under his care: I shall, therefore, proceed to Saturn; and there we shall find dodder, and elder, and nightshade, and heart's-ease. Dodder, sir, is a very curious plant; for it grows upon flax, heath, and nettles; but that which winds upon thyme is better than any, because it imbibes the quality of the plant it grows upon. I know some of your town physicians laugh at this, and say that the thyme-dodder is better than any because it grows in Sicily and Crete, where the sun is hotter than with us. But I have as little respect for new doctrines, as they have for old ones. Some have called this plant hell-weed; which, if Saturn knew, he would not, nay, he could not fail to be angry. "Heart's-ease is in the empire of Saturn, when under the celestial sign Cancer; and at no other time. This flower, sir, has, as you well know, three colours, purple, yellow, and white: on which account, some persons call it 'three faces under a hood;' and for this reason, the monks of ancient times made it their own, and named it the 'herb of trinity.' Young maids, however, call it 'kiss me behind the garden gate;' and old maids, 'love in idleness.' "Having said what is under the Moon, I must say a little of what is under the Sun. Angelica-this is a cordial, a sudorific, a vulnerary, and a stomachic: it may well, therefore, be one of the Sun's plants; you may know it by its small flowers of greenish white colour. But if you would have it in perfection for use, you must gather it when the Sun is in Leo, and the Moon looking on. you have no time to do it then, gather it when Jupiter is ascendant, and Sol annular." 66 If Chamomile, too, is under the Sun: and why? The great master of vegetable occults tells us.-The chamomile, saith Nichessor, the MAGNET, VOL. IV. PART XXII. F Egyptians dedicated to the Sun, because it cures agues; and they were like enough to do so, for they were the arrantest asses in religion, I ever heard of: why, sir, they worshipped, not only frogs and mice, but leeks and onions! "The Sun, also, owns rosemary; and that is the reason why the scent is stronger in the leaves than it is in the flowers: they ought to be gathered when the sun is in the celestial ram :—and now, sir, I must stop; for if I were to go on, I might name every plant we have. They are all under one planet or another: indeed, plant and planet are the same word, if you do but leave out the letter E." "But are there none under the influences of the other planets ?" "What other planets, sir? I have named them all." "Urania, and Ceres, and Vesta, and Juno, and Pallas." Ha, ha, ha! why these are heathen gods and goddesses! we have no planets of those names,-they are heathen gods and goddesses, sir;-there are no planets of those names, as I said before; if there had been, I must have heard of them. As to the new-fangled astronomy, I hold both it and its professors, as I do Dr. of Carnarvon, or Dr. cure ten!" 66 of Shrewsbury-where they cure one patient, I It was of no use to argue with my worthy host; and I therefore repaid the hospitality he showed me, with silence. He was a worthy man, faithfully believing what he taught; and as honestly considering the planets to operate upon infants from the moment of their birth : In friendships, enmities, and strife, And all th' emergencies of life.-Butler. I believe, however, that he did not carry his philosophy so far as To search a planet's house, to know Who stole a thimble or a spoon.-Butler, ELEVEN O'CLOCK. ELEVEN o'clock ! Another turn o' the glass, At this lone hour, that one might deem the air Of pasturing life, wide scattered as it is Through millions of quick forms that ask fresh aid Must sink, and leave the race unrun-must die! |