r XV UC-NRLF $B M3T fi73 4^^'-^ ^'-■^''^/■m W^Mm %.|^ .■i-3*-*: iiSi-i.^:::. UBRARf rrP^ THE Diversity Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive in 2007 witii funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation littp://www.arcliive.org/details/dreamofeugenearaOOhoodrich THE /^^3 DREAM OF EUGENE ARAM. 5^^-^:^^ The young boy gave an upward glance, " It ib ' The Death of Abel.' " THE DREAM OF EUGENE ARAM, By THOMAS HOOD, Esq. WITH DESIGNS BY W. HARVEV. ENGRAVED OX WOOD BY BRANSTON AND WRIGHT. LONDON : CHARLES TILT, 86, FLEET STREET. 1831. LONDON : Printed by Maurice and Co.: Fenchurch Street. HA(a) DEDICATION. To J. H. REYNOLDS, Esq. DEAR REYNOLDS, , Induced to this reprint by a series of Illustra- tions from the pencil of an Artist whose genius you highly estimate j — remembering some partiality you have expressed for the Poem itself ^ — and, above all, that you stand nearest to me in a stricter form of the brotherhood which the Dream is intended to enforce 3 I feel that I cannot inscribe it more appropriately or more willingly than to yourself. It will be accepted I know, with the kind feeling which is mutual between you and Your's ever truly, THOMAS HOOD. /r»r^>fl y^^^'^g^ PREFACE. The remarkable name of Eugene Aram, belong- ing to a man of unusual talents and acquirements, is unhappily associated with a deed of blood as extraordinary in its details as any recorded in our calendar of crime. In the year 17^5, being then an Usher, and deeply engaged in the study of Chaldee, Hebrew, Arabic, and the Celtic dialects, for the formation of a Lexicon, he abruptly turned over a still darker page in human know- ledge, and the brow that learning might have made illustrious, was stamped ignominious for ever with the brand of Cain. To obtain a trifling property, he concerted with an accomplice, and with his own hand effected, the violent death 8 PREFACE. of one Daniel Clarke, a shoemaker of Knaresbo- rough, in Yorkshire. For fourteen years nearly the secret slept with the victim in the earth of St. Robert's Cave, and the manner of its discovery would appear a striking example of the Divine Justice, even amongst those marvels narrated in that curious old volume, alluded to in The For- tunes of Nigel, under its quaint title of " God's Revenge Against Murther." The accidental digging up of a skeleton, and the unwary and emphatic declaration of Aram's accomplice, that it could not be that of Clarke, betraying a guilty knowledge of the true bones, he was wrought to a confession of their deposit. The learned homicide was seized and arraigned ; and a trial of uncommon interest was wound up by a defence as memorable as the tragedy itself for eloquence and ingenuity; — too ingenious for innocence, and eloquent enough to do credit even to that long premeditation which the interval be- tween the deed and its discovery had afforded. PREFACE. 9 That this dreary period had not passed without paroxyms of remorse, may be inferred from a fact of affecting interest. The late Admiral Burney was a scholar, at the school at Lynn in Norfolk, where Aram was an Usher, subsequent to his crime. The Admiral stated that Aram was be- loved by the boys, and that he used to discourse to them of Murder, not occasionally, as I have written elsewhere, but constantly, and in some- what of the spirit ascribed to him in the Poem. For the more imaginative part of the version I must refer back to one of those unaccountable visions, which come upon us like frightful monsters thrown up by storms from the great black deeps of slumber. A lifeless body, in love and relation- ship the nearest and dearest, was imposed upon my back, with an overwhelming sense of obliga- tion — not of filial piety merely, but some awful responsibility equally vague and intense, and in- volving, as it seemed, inexpiable sin, horrors un- vitterable, torments intolerable, — to bury my dead, 10 PREFACE. like Abraham, out of my sight. In vain I at- tempted, again and again, to obey the mysterious mandate — by some dreadful process the burthen was replaced with a more stupendous weight of injunction, and an appalling conviction of the impossibility of its fulfilment. My mental anguish was indescribable; — the mighty agonies of souls tortured on the supernatural racks of sleep are not to be penned — and if in sketching those that belong to blood-guiltiness I have been at all suc- cessful, I owe it mainly to the uninvoked inspira- tion of that terrible dream. T. H. THE DEFENCE OF EUGENE ARAM. For the convenience of those who cannot readily refer to the Biograpliia Britanriica, or the Newgate Calendar, the Defence of Eugenk Aram is ap- pended. It was apparently delivered, like the more recent one of Thurtell, as if extempore ; but was, no doubt, got as much by head, and certainly more by heart, than the set oration of the gravel-hearted Barnadine of Gill's Hill. " I know not whether it is of right, or through some indulgence of your lordship, that I am allowed the liberty at this bar, and at this time, to attempt a defence, incapable and uninstructed as I am to speak ; since, while I see so many eyes upon me, so numerous and awful a concourse, fixed with attention, and filled with I know not what expectancy, I labour not with guilt, my lord, but with perplexity ; for, having never seen a Court but this, being wholly unacquainted with law, the customs of the bar, and all judiciary proceedings, 1 fear I shall be so little capable of speaking with propriety in this place, that it exceeds my hope if I shall be able to speak at all. " I have heard, my lord, the indictment read, wherein I find myself charged with the highest crime, with an enormity I am altogether incapable of; a fact, to the commission of which there goes far more insensibility of heart, more profli- gacy of morals, than ever fell to my lot ; and nothing pos- 12 DEFENCE OF EUGENE ARAM. sibly could have admitted a presumption of this nature but a depravity not inferior to that imputed to me. However, as I stand indicted at your lordship's bar, and have heard what is called evidence adduced in support of such a charge, I very humbly solicit your lordship's patience, and beg the hearing of this respectable audience, while I, single and unskilful, des- titute of friends, and unassisted by counsel, say something, perhaps like argument, in my defence. I shall consume but little of your lordship's time : what I have to say will be short ; and this brevity, probably, will be the best part of it : however, it is offered Avith all possible regard and the greatest submission to your lordship's consideration, and that of this honourable Court. " First, my lord, the whole tenour of my conduct in life contradicts every particular of the indictment : yet had I never said this, did not my present circumstances extort it from me, and seem to make it necessary. Permit me here, my lord, to call upon malignity itself, so long and cruelly busied in this prosecution, to charge upon me any immorality of which prejudice was not the author. No, my lord, I concerted no schemes of fraud, projected no violence, injured no man's person or property ; my days were honestly laborious, my nights intensely studious ; and 1 humbly conceive my notice of this, especially at this time, will not be thought impertinent or unseasonable, but, at least, deserving some attention ; be- cause, m}'^ lord, that any person, after a temperate use of life, a series of thinking and acting regularly, and without one sin- gle deviation from sobriety, should plunge into the very depth of profligacy precipitately and at once, is altogether impro- bable and unprecedented, and absolutely inconsistent with the course of things. Mankind is never corrupted at once ; vil- lainy is always progressive, and declines from right, step after step, till every regard of probity is lost, and every sense of all moral obligation totally perishes. " Again, my lord, a suspicion of this kind, which nothing but malevolence could entertain, and ignorance propagate, is violently opposed by my very situation at that time, with respect to health ; for, but a little space before, I had been confined to my bed, and suffered under a very long and severe disorder, and was not able, for half a year together, so much as to walk. The distemper left me, indeed — yet slowly, and in part ; but so macerated, so enfeebled, that I was reduced to crutches ; and, so far from being well about the time I am charged with this fact, that I never, to this day, perfectly DEFENCE OF EUGENE ARAM. 13 recovered. Could, then, a person in this condition take any thing into his head so unlikely, so extravagant ? I, past the vigour of my age, feeble and valetudinary, with no induce- ment to engage, no ability to accomplish, no weapon wherewith to perpetrate such a fact ; without interest, without power, without motive, without means. " Besides, it must needs occur to every one that an action of this atrocious nature is never heard of but when its springs are laid open ; it appears that it was to support some indolence, or supply some luxury ; to satisfy some avarice, or oblige some malice ; to prevent some real or some imaginary want : yet I lay not under the influence of any of these. Surely, my lord, I may, consistently with both truth and modesty, affirm thus much ; and none who have any veracity, and knew me, will ever question this. " In the second place, the disappearance of Clarke is sug- gested as an argument of his being dead ; but the uncertainty of such an inference from that, and the flillibility of all con- clusions of such a sort from such a circumstance, are too ob- vious and too notorious to require instances ; yet, superseding many, permit me to produce a very recent one, and that afforded by this castle. " In June, 17^7, William Thompson, for all the vigilance of this place, m open daylight, and double-ironed, made his escape; and, notwithstanding an immediate inquiry set on foot, the strictest search, and all advertisement, was never seen or heard of since. If then Thompson got off unseen, through all these difficulties, how very easy was it for Clarke, when none of them opposed him ? But what would be thought of a prosecution commenced against any one seen last with Thompson ? " Permit me next, my lord, to observe a little upon the bones which have been discovered. It is said (which, perhaps, is saying very far) that these are the skeleton of a man. It is possible, indeed, it may ; but is there any certain known criterion which incontestably distinguishes the sex in human bones. Let it be considered, my lord, whether the ascer- taining of this point ought not to precede any attempt to identity them. " The place of their depositum, too, claims much more attention than is commonly bestowed upon it; for, of all places in the world, none could have mentioned any one where- in there was greater certainty of finding human bones than a hermitage, except he should point out a church-yard ; hermi- 14 DEFENCE OF EUGENE ARAM. tages, in time past, being not only places of religious retire- ment, but of burial too : and it has scarce, or never, been heard of, but that every cell now known contains, or contained, these relics of humanity ; some mutilated, and some entire. I do not inform, but give me leave to remind your lordship, that here sat solitary Sanctity, and here the hermit or the anchoress hoped that repose for their bones, when dead, they here enjoyed when living. " All the while, my lord, I am sensible this is known to your lordship, and many in the Court, better than to me ; but it seems necessary to my case that others, who have not at all, perhaps, adverted to things of this nature, and may have concern in my trial, should be made acquainted with it. Suffer me then, my lord, to produce a few of many evidences that these cells were used as repositories of the dead, and to enumerate a few in which human bones have been found, as it happened in this question ; lest, to some, that accident might seem extraordinary, and, consequently, occasion pre- judice. " 1. The bones, as was supposed, of the Saxon Saint, Dubritius, were discovered buried in his cell at Guy's Cliff, near Warwick, as appears from the authority of Sir William Dugdale. " 2. The bones, thought to be those of the anchoress Rosia, were but lately discovered in a cell at JRoyston, entire, fair, and undecayed, though they must have lain interred for se- veral centuries, as is proved by Dr. Stukely. " 3. But my own country, nay, almost this neighbourhood, supplies another instance; for in January, 1747, were found, by Mr. Stovin, accompanied by a reverend gentleman, the bones, in part, of some recluse, in the cell at Lindholm, near Hatfield. They were believed to be those of William of Lindholm, a hermit, who had long made this cave his habi- tation. " 4. In February, 1744, part of Woburn Abbey being pulled down, a large portion of a corpse appeared, even with the flesh on, and which bore cutting with a knife ; though it is certain this had lain above two hundred years, and how much longer is doubtful; for this abbey was founded in J 145, and dissolved in 1538 or 1539. What would have been said, what believed, if this had been an accident to the bones in question ? " Farther, my lord: — it is not yet out of living memory that at a little distance from Knaresborough, in a field, part of the manor of the worthy and patriot baronet who does that DEFENCE OF EUGENE ARAM. . 15 borough the honour to represent it in parliament, were found, in digging for gravel, not one human skeleton onlj, but five or six, deposited side by side, with each an urn placed at his head, as your lordship knows was usual in ancient interments. " About the same time, and in another field, almost close to this borough, was discovered also, in searching for gravel, another human skeleton ; but the piety of the same worthy gentleman ordered both pits to be filled up again, commend- ably unwilling to disturb the dead. " Is the invention of these bones forgotten, then, or indus- triously concealed, that the discovery of these in question may appear more singular and extraordinary ? whereas, in fact, there is nothing extraordinary in it. My lord, almost every place conceals such remains. In fields, in hills, in highway sides, in commons, lie frequent and unsuspected bones ; and our present allotments for rest for the departed are but of some centuries. " Another particular seems not to claim a little of your lordship's notice, and that of the gentlemen of the jury ; which IS, that perhaps no example occurs of more than one skeleton being found in one cell : and in the cell in question was found but one; agreeable, in this, to the peculiarity of every other known cell in Britain. Not thejtnvention of one skeleton, but of two, would have appeared suspicious and un- common. But it seems another skeleton has been discovered by some labourer, which was full as confidently averred to be Clarke's as this. My lord, must some of the living, if it pro- motes some interest, be made answerable for all the bones that earth has concealed, and chance exposed ? And might not a place where bones lay be mentioned by a person by chance as well as found by a labourer by chance ? Or is it more crimi- nal accidentally to name where bones He, than accidentally to find where they lie ? " Here too is a human skull produced, which is fractured ; but was this the cause, or was it the consequence, of death ? was it owing to violence, or was it the effect of natural decay ? If it was violence, was that violence before or after death ? My lord, in May, 1732, the remains of William, lord arch- bishop of this province, were taken up, by permission, in this cathedral, and the bones of the skull were found broken ; yet .certainly he died by no violence offered to him alive that could occasion the fracture there. " Let it be considered, my lord, that, up(m the dissolution of religious houses, and the commencement of the Ueforma- 16 DEFENCE OF EUGENE ARAM. tion, the ravages of those times affected both the living and the dead. In search after imaginary treasures, coffins were broken up, graves and vaults du^ open, monuments ransacked, and shrines demolished ; and it ceased about the reign of Queen Elizabeth. T entreat your lordship, suffer not the violence, the depredations, and the iniquities of those times, to be imputed to this. " Moreover, what gentleman here is ignorant that Knares- borough had a castle, which, though now a ruin, was once considerable both for its strength and garrison ? All know it was vigorously besieged by the arms of the parliament; at which siege, in sallies, conflicts, flights, pursuits, many fell in all the places round it, and, where they fell, were buried ; for every place, my lord, is burial earth in war; and many, questionless, of these rest yet unknown, whose bones futurity shall discover. " I hope, with all imaginable submission, that what has been said will not be thought impertinent to this indictment; and that it will be far from the wisdom, the learning, and the integrity of this place, to impute to the living what zeal in its fury may have done — what nature may have taken off, and piety interred— or what war alone may have destroyed, alone deposited. " As to the circumstances that have been raked together, I have nothing to observe but that aU circumstances whatever are precarious, and have been but too frequently found la- mentably fallible ; even the strongest have lailed. They may rise to the utmost degree of probability, yet they are but pro- bability still. AVhy need I name to your lordship the two Harrisons recorded by Dr. Howel, who both suffered upon circumstances because of the sudden disappearance of their lodger, who was in credit, had contracted debts, borrowed money, and went off unseen, and returned a great many years after "their execution ? AVhy name the intricate affair of Jacques de Moulin, under King Charles II. related by a gen- tleman who was counsel for the crown ? and why the unhappy Coleman, who suffered innocently, though convicted upon positive evidence ; and whose children perished for want, be- cause the world uncharitably believed the father guilty ? Why mention the perjury of Smith, incautiously admitted king's evidence ; who, to screen himself, equally accused Faircloth and Loveday of the murder of Dun ; the first of whom, in 1749, was executed at Winchester ; and Loveday was about to suffer at Reading, had not Smith been proved perjured, DEFENCE OF EUGENE ARAM. l^ to the satisfaction of the court, by the surgeon of Gosport hospital ? *' Now, my lord, having endeavoured to show that the whole of this process is altogether repugnant to every part of my life ; that it is inconsistent with my condition of health about that time ; that no rational inference can be drawn that a per- son is dead who suddenly disappears ; that hermitages were the constant repositories of the bones of a recluse ; that the proofs of this are well authenticated ; that the revolutions in religion, or the fortune of war, have mangled or buried the dead; the conclusion remains, perhaps, no less reasonably than impatiently wished for. I, at last, after a year's confine- ment, equal to either fortune, put myself upon the candour, the justice, and the humanity of your lordship; and upon yours, my countrymen, gentlemen of the jury." THE DREAM OF EUGENE ARAM 'TvvAs in the prime of summer time, An evening calm and cool. And foar-and-twenty happy boys Came bounding out of school : There were some that ran and some that leapt. Like troutlets in a pool. Away they sped with gamesome minds, And souls untouched by sin; To a level mead they came, and there They drave the wickets in : Pleasantly shone the setting sun Over the town of Lynn. 20 Like sportive deer they cours'd about. And shouted as they ran, — Turning to mirth all things of earth, As only boyhood can ; But the Usher sat remote from all, A melancholy man ! His hat was off, his vest apart, To catch heaven's blessed breeze ; For a burning thought was in his brow, And his bosom ill at ease : So he leaned his head on his hands, and read The book between his knees ! Leaf after leaf he turn'd it o'er. Nor ever glanc'd aside. For the peace of his soul he read that book In the golden eventide : Much study had made him very lean. And pale, and leaden-ey'd. £i^JlM7J But the Usher sat remote from all, A melancholy man.' 21 At last he shut the ponderous tome, With a fast and fervent grasp He strain'd the dusky covers close. And fix'd the brazen hasp: " Oh, God! could I so close my mind. And clasp it with a clasp !" Then leaping on his feet upright, Some moody turns he took, — Now up the mead, then down the mead, And past a shady nook,— And, lo ! he saw a little boy That pored upon a book ! " My gentle lad, what is't you read — Romance or fairy fable ? Or is it some historic page. Of kings and crowns unstable?" The young boy gave an upward glance,- " It is ' The Death of AbeL' '"^ 22 The Usher took six hasty strides. As smit with sudden pain, — Six hasty strides beyond the place, Then slowly back again ; And down he sat beside the lad, And talk'd with him of Cain; And, long since then, of bloody men, Whose deeds tradition saves ; Of lonely folk cut off* unseen. And hid in sudden graves ; Of horrid stabs, in groves forlorn. And murders done in caves; And how the sprites of injur'd men Shriek upward from the sod, — Aye, how the ghostly hand will point To shew the burial clod ; And unknown facts of guilty acts Are seen in dreams from God ! 23 He told how murderers walk the earth Beneath the curse of Cain, — With crimson clouds before their eyes, And flames about their brain: For blood has left upon their souls Its everlasting stain ! " And well," quoth he, " I know, for truth, Their pangs must be extreme, — Woe, woe, unutterable woe, — Who spill life's sacred stream ! For why ? Methought, last night, I wrought A murder, in a dream ! "One that had never done me wrong — A feeble man, and old ; I led him to a lonely field, — The moon shone clear and cold: Now here, said I, this man shall die. And I will have his gold ! 24 " Two sudden blows with a ragged stick, And one with a heavy stone, One hurried gash with a hasty knife, — And then the deed was done : There was nothing lying at my foot But lifeless flesh and bone ! " Nothing but lifeless flesh and bone. That could not do me ill; And yet I fear'd him all the more, For lying there so still : There was a manhood in his look, That murder could not kill ! "And, lo! the universal air Seem''d lit with ghastly flame ; — Ten thousand thousand dreadful eyes Were looking down in blame : I took the dead man by his hand, And caird upon his name ! y Two sudden blows with a ragged stick. And one with a heavy stone> 25 " Oh, God ! it made me quake to see Such sense within the slain ! But when I touch'd the lifeless clay, The blood gushed out amain ! For every clot, a burning spot Was scorching in my brain ! " My head was like an ardent coal. My heart as solid ice ; My wretched, wretched soul, I knew, Was at the Devil's price : A dozen times I groan'd ; the dead Had never groan'd but twice ! " And now, from forth the frowning sky. From the Heaven's topmost height, I heard a voice — the awful voice Of the blood-avenging sprite : — ' Thou guilty man ! take up thy dead And hide it from my sight ! ' 26 " I took the dreary body up, And cast it in a stream, — A sluggish water, black as ink. The depth was so extreme : — My gentle Boy, remember this Is nothing but a dream ! " Down went the corse with a hollow plunge, And vanish 'd in the pool; Anon I cleansM my bloody hands, And wash'd my forehead cool, And sat among the urchins young. That evening in the school. " Oh, Heaven ! to think of their white souls, And mine so black and grim ! I could not share in childish prayer. Nor join in Evening Hymn : Like a Devil of the Pit I seem'd, 'Mid holy Cherubim ! I took the dreary body up, And cast it in a stream. 27 " And peace went with them, one and all, And each calm pillow spread ; But Guilt was my grim Chamberlain That lighted me to bed ; And drew my midnight curtains round. With fingers bloody red ! " All night I lay in agony, In anguish dark and deep; My fever'd eyes I dared not close. But stared aghast at Sleep : For Sin had render 'd unto her The keys of Hell to keep ! " All night I lay in agony. From weary chime to chime. With one besetting horrid hint. That rack'd me all the time ; A mighty yearning, like the first Fierce impulse unto crime ! 28 " One stern tyrannic thought, that made All other thoughts its slave ; Stronger and stronger every pulse Did that temptation crave, — Still urging me to go and see The Dead Man in his grave ! " Heavily I rose up, as soon As light was in the sky. And sought the black accursed pool With a wild misgiving eye ; And I saw the Dead in the river bed. For the faithless stream was dry ! ." Merrily rose the lark, and shook The dew-drop from its wing ; But I never mark'd its morning flight, I never heard it sing : For I was stooping once again Under the horrid thing. m^Ma And a mighty wind had swept the leavea, And still the corse was bare. 29 " With breathless speed, like a soul in chase, I took him up and ran ; — There was no time to dig a grave Before the day began : In a lonesome wood, with heaps of leaves, I hid the murder'd man ! "And all that day I read in school. But my thought was other where ; As soon as the mid-day task was done. In secret I was there : And a mighty wind had swept the leaves, And still the corse was bare ! " Then down I cast me on my face, And first began to weep, For I knew my secret then was one That earth refused to keep : Or land or sea, though he should be Ten thousand fathoms deep. 30 ** So wills the fierce avenging Sprite, Till blood for blood atones ! Ay, though he's buried in a cave. And trodden down with stones. And years have rotted off his flesh, — The world shall see his bones ! " Oh, God ! that horrid, horrid dream Besets me now awake ! Again — again, with dizzy brain, The human life I take ; And my red right hand grows raging hot. Like Cranmer's at the stake. " And still no peace for the restless clay, Will wave or mould allow ; The horrid thing pursues my soul, — It stands before me now ! '** The fearful Boy look'd up, and saw Huge drops upon his brow. The horrid thing pursues my soul,. It stands before me now! 31 That very night, while gentle sleep The urchin eyelids kiss'd, Two stern-faced men set out from Lynn, Through the cold and heavy mist ; And Eugene Aram walked between. With gyves upon his wrist. LONDON : Printed by Maurice and Co., Fenchurch Street. Just Published in Two handsome Demy Octavo Volumes, one of QuADKUPEDS and one of Birds, Price 24s., neatly bound in Cloth, containing Two Hundred and Thirty Enfrravin^s, exquisitely printed at the Chiswick Press by Whittin^hara ; a very few Copies of the Work wholly printed on India Paper, Price 48s. ; also a few India Proofs of the Engravings alone, Price ^1. lis. (id. a set, THE GARDENS AND MENAGERIE OF THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY Belineat^tr; BEING DESCRIPTIONS AND FIGURES IN ILLUSTRATION OF THE NATURAL HIS- TORY OF THE LIVING ANIMALS IN THE SOCIETY'S COLLECTION. PUBLISHED, WITH THE SANCTION OF THE COUNCIL, UNDER THE SUPERINTENDENCE OF THE SECRETARY AND VICE-SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY. The whole of the Drawings taken from Life by William Harvey, and Engraved on Wood by Branston and Wright, assisted by other Artists. CHARLES TILT, 86, FLEET STREET. *^* From tJie above Work {lately completed in Sixteen Parts, Price 2s. 6d. ea^h) having fallen into the hands of different Proprietors, the Publisher is enabled to offer it at the rufos^nf i'Orl*i/>orl nfjr/} heiyirr lifflp mnvp fhnn hnli thp nvirrinrrl rnut • ntTrl Trnm. fht> imryienup rnvo ©ritical Koticig of tj^c Wiox^. " This is a work which does credit to all the parties engaged In its production. The printing is an elegant specimen of typography; the scientific descriptions are free from ambiguity, and highly interesting; and the graphic representations of the animals, and vignette embellishments, engraved on wood by Messrs. Branston and Wright, from drawings by Mr. Harvey, for spirited action, faith- fulness of character, as well in the general figure as in the various surfaces, good taste, and freedom of execution, have never been surpassed." — Examiner. " This beautiful work we have frequently noticed as its parts appeared, and we need only say that it is altogether, in design and in execution, as interesting a publication as could well be imagined. The wood engravings are the perfection of art : the animals scientifically correct, yet spirited, and the tail-pieces admirable. In short, these volumes are an honour to the Zoological Society, and to all those who have been concerned in producing them in their handsome form," — Literary Gazette. " Whoever has visited the Gardens, will, if he can afford it, do well to purchase these elegant volumes."— Eclectic Rbvievt. " There iJ a delightful work entitled * The Gardens and Menagerie of the Zoological Society! delineated.' This book is published 'with the sanction of the Council, under the superintendencf | of the Secretary, and Vice-Secretary of the Society.' It is filled with exquisite engravings on wood, by Messrs. Branston and Wright, from highly finished drawings executed by Mr. Harvey, with the living originals in the gardens before him. " Persons of taste, not having the fear of the Zoological Society before their eyes, mercilessly covet the rich embellishments of ' The Gardens and Menagerie ' for their ornamental albums. Indeed, this work, which is in two handsome octavo volumes, with above two hundred and twenty delicious engravings, and which may be had for four-and-twenty shillings, by merely ordering it of any bookseller in the kingdom, is irresistible ; and, — read it, readers, and tremble — many a copy has already fallen under the scissars of scrap-book makers. •♦ Place these volumes before a fair • collector of prints,' — with flashing eyes she * Spreads the glittering forfex •Wide,' and, in a moment, the * Esquimaux dogs' and ♦ Macaws,' and other desirable creatures, are flut- tered away from the ' superintendence of the society's secretary and vice-secretary,' and find them- selves — without ' the sanction of the council '— within the lady's covers. •* The masterly engravings, with Whittingham's fine printing of this work, which is so enticing, and which is afforded at so low a price, obviously cost several thousand pounds." — Hone's Year Book. *' These beautiful volumes, we are told, were executed under the especial sanction of the Zoological Council, — the letter-press is, in fact, from the pen of the Vice-Secretary, and the publica- tion may, therefore, be regarded as the ' Transactions' of the Society. Of course every Fellow has possessed himself of a copy ; and if the favour of the public should prove at all in proportion to the patronage of the Gardens, the work must become eminently successful. And seldom has there been a book more worthy of reward than the present, which has been undertaken and prosecuted with a spirit highly praiseworthy in these peculiar times. The engravings of the animals are faithfully characteristic of the originals. You have no teazing doubts whether the animal before you goes about in a shaggy dreadnought, or a sleek mohair gambroon — in a plain suit of plush, or fustian — or a court-dress of velvet. There is no mistaking the Coatis. You need not wonder, as in some old plates, which is the buffalo, and which the bear, — or exclaim with Perring, ' What a shocking bad beaver ! ' There they are — in their habits as they live — shaggy, woolly, downy, bristly, or plumy. " The Birds, which form the second volume now published, are — (without any Puffin) — a beautiful and interesting series. The two volumes together, may be looked upon as the travelling caravans of the Society, for exhibiting their menagerie all over the country — and Mr. Bennet shows up the specimens with great science and a correct diction — so much so, indeed, that you resolve, like Puff, 'not to be too sure that he is a beef-eater.' For our own parts, having a really high opinion of the merits of the collection, we cheerfully take our stand outside, and have great pleasure in being able to blow an honest trumpet, and advise the public to pay their money and ' walk in ! walk in !' " — Athen^um. I I y 14 DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED LOAN DEPT. This bookis due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. 2O:0ct'57DA REC'D LD JAN^ 1970 OCT 71951 29JL'59P^ JAN 2 11970 4 6 RECEfvgn REC'D LD JUL 2 7 1959 m?i'7o-2 m 2\0CT '60^T r^EC^i: 3CT ir 1960 JAN 19 ia.; MAR 1 3 19 8 5 NOV 2 91969 4 6 EC CIRC MAY 1 1^B5 LD 21-lUUm (B9311sl0)476 %# 4^ 1 1 General Library University of California Berkeley GENERAL LIBRARY -U.C. BERKELEY B00D7=)i3i7 ^. V ' ,^^- ■":»- — »f^ '*¥'\«> -r^^. ■iO'^ ■v.V^^^ -^-ii^ ■;.•*«' m,:^^^(^k^~.^^^:i^.