Ex Libris
C. K. OGDEN
\
LONDON WARD AND LOCK, 168, FLEET 8TRJJET.
TEN THOUSAND
WONDERFUL THINGS
COMPRISING THE
MARVELLOUS AXD RARE, ODD, CURIOUS, QUAIXT
ECCEXTRIC AXD EXTRAORDINARY
IN ALL AGES AND NATIONS,
IN AET, NATURE, AXD SCIENCE
INCLUDING MANY
WONDEKS OP THE WOELD
ENRICHED WITH
HUNDREDS OF AUTHENTIC ILLUSTRATIONS
EDITED BY
EDMUND FILLIXGHAM KING, M.A.
AUIHOB OF "LIFE OF NEWTON," &c., &c.
LONDON:
WARD AXD LOCK, 158, FLEET STREET,
AND ALL BOOKSELLIK?.
PREFACE.
A BOOK OF WONDERS requires but a brief introduction.
Our title-page tells its own tale and forms the best expo-
sition of the contents of the volume.
Everything that is marvellous carries with it much that
is instructive, and, in this sense, " Ten Thousand Wonderful
Things," may be made useful for the highest educational
purposes. Events which happen in the regular course have
no claim to a place in any work that professes to be a regis-
ter of what is uncommon ; and were we to select such
Wonders only as are capable of familiar demonstration, we
should destroy their right to be deemed wondrous, and, at
the same time., defeat the very object which we profess to
have in view. A marvel once explained away ceases to be
a marvel. For this reason, while rejecting everything that
is obviously fictitious and untrue, we have not hesitated to
insert many incidents which appear at first sight to be wholly
incredible.
In the present work, interesting Scenes from Nature,
Curiosities of Art, Costume and Customs of a bygone
period rather predominate; but we have devoted many of
its pages to descriptions of remarkable Occurrences, beau-
tiful Landscapes, stupendous Water-falls, and sublime Sea-
pieces. It is true that some of our illustrations may not
IV PREFACE.
be beautiful according to the sense in which the word is
generally used ; but they are all the more curious and
characteristic, as well as truthful, on that account ; for
whatever is lost of beauty, is gained by accuracy. What
is odd or quaint, strange or startling, rarely possesses much
claim to the picturesque and refined. Scrape the rust off
an antique coin, and, while you make it look more shining,
you invariably render it worthless in the eyes of a collector.
To polish up a fact which derives its value either from the
strangeness of its nature, or from the quaintness of its narra-
tion, is like the obliterating process of scrubbing up a
painting by one of the old masters. It looks all the cleaner
for the operation, but, the chances are, it is spoilt as a work
of art.
We trust it is needless to say that we have closed our
pages against everything that can be considered objec-
tionable in its tendency ; and, while every statement in
this volume has been culled with conscientious care from
authentic, although not generally accessible, sources, we
have scrupulously rejected every line that could give offence,
and endeavoured, in accordance with what we profess in
our title-page, to amuse by the eccentric, to startle by the
unexpected, and to astonish by the marvellous.
INDEX TO ENGRAVINGS.
PAGE
AMULET BROTCHE 332
ANCIENT METHOD OF KEEPING A "WASHING ACCOUNT .... 3
ANCIENT NCT CRACKERS 236
ANCIENT SNUFF BOXES 210
ANGLO-SAXONS, SEPULCHRAL BARROW OF THE 27
APTERYX, THE, Oil WINGLESS BIRD 308
ARCHITECTURE FOR EARTHQUAKES , 324
AZTEC CHILDREN, THE 37
BASTILLE, STORMING OF THE . 193
BEAU ERUMMEL (A), OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY .... 61
BIBLE USED BY CHARLES I. ON THE SCAFFOLD 271
BILLY IN THE SALT BOX 181
BLIND GRANNY 70
BLIND JACK 23
BOOK-SHAPED WATCH . 328
BRANK, THE 2
BRASS MEDAL OF OUR SAVIOUR 241
BRITANNIA TUBULAR BRIDGE 173
BUCKIXGER, MATTHEW 53
BUCKLER OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY, \VITH FISTOL INSERTED . . 30
BUNYAN'S (JOHN) TOMB . . . 157
BURMESE PRIEST PREACHING 266
CAMDEN CUP, THE 250
CASCADE DES PELERINES 135
CATACOMBS AT ROME 87
CHAIR BROUGHT OVER TO AMERICA BY THE PILGRIM FATHERS . .186
CHINESE METHOD OF FISHING 316
CHINESE PUNISHMENT OF THE KANG, OR WOODEN COLLAR . . . 134
CHRISTMAS, PROCLAIMING THE NON-OBSERVANCE OF . . .19
CORAL REEFS . 74
CORPSE BEARER DURING THE PLAGUE 284
COSTUME, ANCIENT .... 18, 71, 78, 86, 212, 213, 220, 296, 297
CRADLE OF NOSS 325
CUCKING STOOL 1
CURFEW BELL, THE 33
CURIOUS FIGURES ON A SMALL SHRINE . .... 203
VI INDEX TO ENGRAVINGS.
PAGE
DAGGER OF RAOUL DE COURCY 263
DANCING NATIVES OF NEW SOUTH WALES 225
BAKXEV (JENNY), A HARMLESS ECCENTRIC OF THE YEAR 1790 . . 187
BOG-WHEEL, THE OLD 101
DRINKING-GLASS, ANCIENT 153
DROPPING WELL OF KNARESBOROUGH 143
DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS, OR ORNITHORYNCIIUS PARADOXUS , . . 273
DYAK WITH HEADS, SKULL HOUSE, AND HOUSE OF SEA DYAKS . 276, 277
EAST INDIA HOUSE, THE FIRST 206
EDDYSTONE LIGHTHOUSE 109
EGYPTIAN TOYS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM 130
EMBROIDERED GLOVE, PRESENTED BY MARY QUEEN OF SCOTLAND TO
AN ATTENDANT ON THE MORNING OF HER EXECUTION . . . 263
EXTRAORDINARY CATARACT 224
EXTRAORDINARY SITUATION FOR A TREE 313
EXTRAORDINARY TREE 183
FASHIONABLE DISFIGUREMENT OF THE TIME OF CHARLES I. . . . 213
FETE OF THE FEDERATION OF THE NATIONAL GUARDS OF FRANCE, 1/90 289
FIGG (JAMES) THE CHAMPION PRIZE-FIGHTER OF 1733 . . . .113
FLOATING CITY OF BANKOK 309
FRENCH ASSIGNATS, FACSIMILE OF THE FORMS IN WHICH THEY WERE
ISSUED TO THE PUBLIC 2"> t
FULLERTON'S (COLONEL) DEVICE FOR PASSING A MOUNTAIN TORRENT . 194
GARRICK'S cup c 232
GIANT TREE 229
GREAT AVALL OF CHINA 233
HACKNEY COACHMAN OF THE TIME OF CHARLES II 258
HACKNEY COACH, THE EARLIEST * . . .211
HENRY i. (KIM;) DREAM OF 26
HENRY THE EIGHTH'S AVALKING STICK 30
HEART OF LORD EDWARD BRUCE AND CASE 240, 247
HOOPS (LADIES) IN 1740 G
INSTRUMENTS OF TORTURE: THE EXECUTIONER'S AXE; THE BLOCK ON
AVHICH LORDS BALMKRINO AND LOVAT AVERE BEHEADED; THE
SCAVENGER'S DAUGHTER; SPANISH BILBOES; MASSIVI-: IKON COLLAR
FOR THE NECK; THUMB SCREAV. BRAND FOR MARKING FELONS;
IMl'RESSION OF BRAND ; PUNISHMENT FOB DRUNKARDS, roRMIKl.V
IN USE AT NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE ; THE AVHIRLIGIG, A MILITARY
METHOD OF PUNISHMENT; PILLORY, STOCKS, AND WIIU'IM Mi -POST
FORMERLY ON LONDON BRIDGE 60, 90
INDEX TO ENGRAVINGS. Vll
PAGE
JEAYEL PRESENTED BY MARY OF SCOTS, TO EARL HUNTLEY . . . 243
JOHNSON'S (DR. SAMUEL) RESIDENCE IN INNER TEMPLE LANE . . 48
OLD STAIRCASE IX THE RESIDENCE OF . .49
JOY (WILLIAM) THE ENGLISH SAMPSON 177
LOCOMOTIVE, THE FIRST 96
, THE PRESENT AND TRAIN 97
LORD OF MISRULE 15
LOUIS XVI., EXECUTION OF 255
LUTHER'S (MARTIN) TANKARD . . . 150
MAY-POLES 101
MILITARY HATS IN THE OLDEN TIME . .75
MONSOONS 180
MONSTROUS HEAD-DRESS OF 1782 242
MORAYSHIRE FLOODS 126
MOSQUE OF OMAR 317
ST. SOPHIA 104
MUMMERS, OR ANCIENT WAITS 14
XEBUCHADXEZZAR, MASK OF . 105
XELL GWYNNE'S LOOKING-GLASS 237
NEWTON'S (SIR ISAAC) OBSERVATORY 10
HOUSE, ST. MARTIN'S STREET .... 11
NORMAN CAPS 44
XORTH-AMERICAX INDIAN WAR DESPATCH 45
OLD LONDON SIGNS 120
ORNAMENTS OF FEMALE DRESS IN THE TIMES OF THE ANCIENT BRITONS 79
PAPYRUS ROLL, FROM A SPECIMEN IX THE BRITISH MUSEUM . . 82
, SYRIAN, WITH AND WITHOUT FLOWERS 83
PASS OF KEIM-AN-EIGH 329
PENN'S (WILLIAM) SILVER TEA SERVICE 202
PENNSYLVANIA JOURNAL, FAC-SIMILE OF THE HEADING OF THE LAST
NUMBER, 1765 63
PLOUGHIXG, AXCIEXT MODE OF 66
PONT DU GARD, THE GREAT AQUEDUCT OF 312
POPULAR AMUSEMENTS IN 1743 56
POTTERY IN CHINA, THE ART OF 321
POWERS COURT FALL, PHENOMENON AT THE 305
PREACHING FRIAR 221
PRE-ADAMITE BONE CAVERNS 199
PRINCE RUPERT, HEAD QUARTERS OF, DURING THE SIEGE OF LIVER-
POOL, IN 1644 . . . - , , .292
Vlll INDEX TO ENGRAVINGS.
PAGB
PrLPIT OF JOHN KXOX AT ST. ANDREW'S 270
PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT 131
QUEEN ELIZABETH'S STATE COACH 193
KALEIGH'S (sin WALTER) AXCIEXT RESIDENCE AT BLACK-WALL . . 161
REVOLVER, A, OF THE FIFTEENTH CEXTUKY 30
KINO, FORMERLY THE PROPERTY OF CHARLES 1 263
8AIXT GEORGE, TOMB OF 281
SAINT GEORGE'S HALL, GIBRALTAR 7
SCRIPTURAL ANTIQUITIES : DRUM, OR TIMBREL ; DRUM IX USE IN THE
EAST ; HARP ; LUTES ; INSCRIBED STONE J SANDALS ; DISTAFF ; ROMAN
FARTHING ; STOXE MONEY- WEIGHTS ; HAND MILL ; EASTERN WINE
AND WATER BOTTLES 217
SELKIRK (ALEXANDER) AND THE DANCING GOATS 22
SEPULCHRAL VASE 320
SILVER LOCKET IX MEMORY OF THE EXECUTION OF CHARLES I. . . 263
SNAKE CHARMER 300
SOUTH STACK LIGHTHOUSE . . . 240
SPANISH DAGGER OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 263
STEAM BOAT, FAC-SIMILE OF THE FIRST 301
ST. WINIFRED'S WELL . 304
SUMMERS' MAGNET, OR LOADSTONE 41
THRESHING CORN, ANCIENT METHOD OF 67
TILBURY FORT, WATER GATE OF 190
TOWER OF Till: THUNDERING WINDS . . . ' . . . .93
TUMBREL, THE 2
VESUVIUS, CRATER OF, IX 1829 165
VOLCANO OF JORULLO, MEXICO 164
WATCH PRESENTED BY MARY OF SCOTLAND TO MARY SEATON . . 285
WATER CARRIER OF THE OLDEN TIME 259
WIGS OF VARIOUS PERIODS .... 31
TEN THOUSAND
WONDEBFUL THINGS.
IX PBOVIXCIAX TOWXS IX THE OZDEX TI1IE.
The instruments most in vogue with, our ancestors were three i&e
cucking-stool, the brank, an,d the tumbrel.
The Cucking-stool was used by the pond in many village greens
about one hundred years ago or little more, and then deemed the best
corrective of a scolding woman.
By the sea, the quay offered a convenient spot. The barbican, at
Plymouth, was a locality, doubtless terrible to offenders, however oare-
IHE CUCKIJfG-STOOL.
less of committing their wordy nuisance of scolding. Two pounds
were paid for a cucking-stool at Leicester in 1768. Since that it has been
placed at the door of a notorious scold as a warning. Upon admission to
the House of Correction at Liverpool, a woman had to undergo the
severity of the cucking-stool till a little before the year 1803, when
Mr. James Neild wrote to Dr. Lettsom. The pump in the men's court
was the whipping-post for females, which discipline continued, though
not weekly.
Kinr/ston-upon-Thames. s. d,
1572. The making of the cucking-stool 80
Iron work for the same 30
Timber for the same , 76
Three brasses for the same, and three wheels . . 4 10
134
At Marlborough, in 1625, a man had 4<7. for his help at the cucking of
Joan Iseal.
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
Gravesend.
] 636. The porters for ducking of Goodwife Campion
Two porters for laying up the ducking-stool
2
8
The Brank, for taming shrews, was
preferred to the cucking-stool in some
counties, and was used there for the
same purpose. The brank was in
favour in the northern counties, and
in Worcestershire, though there were,
notwithstanding, some of the other
instruments of punishment used, called
in that county gum-stools.
The brank was put over the head,
and was fastened with a padlock.
There are entries at Worcester about
mending the " scould's bridle and cords
for the same."
The cucking-stool not only endan-
gered the health of the party, but also
gave the tongue liberty 'twixt every
dip. The brank was put over the
head, arid was fastened with a pad-
lock.
THE 3KAXK.
The tumbrel was a low-rolling cart or carriage (in law Latin, titm-
berella) which was used as a punishment of disgrace and infamy. Millers,
when they stole corn, were chastised by the tumbrel. Persons wen-
sometimes fastened with an iron chain to a tumbrel, and conveyed Lure-
headed with din and cry through the principal streets of towns.
THE TUMBHF.L.
Court of Hustings Book, 1581. (L>/mc.}
" The jury present that the tumbrell be repaired and maintained from
time to time, according to the statute."
In 1583, Mr. Mayor was to provide a tumbrel before All Saints Day,
under a penalty of 10s.
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AJJD QUAINT.
ANCIENT METHOD OF KEEPING A WASHING ACCOUNT.
Shakerley Marmion, in his " Antiquary," says :
"I must rev'rence and prefer the precedent
Times before these, which cansum'd their wits in
Experiments ; and 'twas a virtuous
Emulation amongst them, that nothing
Which might profit posterity should perish."
Without a full adherence to this dictum, we would nevertheless admit
that we are indebted to the past for the germ of many of our most im-
portant discoveries. The ancient washing tablet, although of humble
pretensions to notice, is yet a proof of the simple and effective means
frequently adopted in olden times for the economy of time and ma-
terials.
A reference to the engraving obviates a lengthened explanation. It
will there be seen that if the mistress of a family has fifteen pillow-
covers, or so many collars, or so many bands, to be mentioned in the
washing account, she can turn the circular dial, by means of the button
or handle, to the number corresponding with the rough mark at the
bottom of the dial, above which is written sheets, table-cloths, &c. This
simple and ingenious contrivance, obviates the necessity of keeping a
book.
The original ''washing board," from which the engraving is taken,
was of a larger size, and showed the numbers very distinctly. Similar
dials may be made of either ivory or metal.
4 TEX THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
THE HATE.
The quality and colour of the hair was a subject of speculative
theory for the ancients. Lank hair was considered indicative of pusil-
lanimity and cowardice ; j-et the head of Napoleon was guiltless of a curl !
Frizzly hair was thought an indication of coarseness and clumsiness. The
hair most in esteem, was that terminating in ringlets. Dares, the his-
torian, states that Achilles and Ajax Telamon had curling locks; such
also was the hair of Timon, the Athenian. As to the Emperor Augustus,
nature had favoured him with such redundant lucks, that no hair-drease*
in Koine could produce the like. Auburn or light brown hair was
thought the most distinguished, as portending, intelligence, industry, a
iul disposition, as well as great susceptibility to the tender passion.
: ami Pollux had bro wrr hair ; so also had Menelaus. Black hair
does not appear to have been esteemed by the Humans: but red was an
of aversi the time of .hulas, red hair was thought
a mark of reprobation, both in the case of Tynhou, who deprived his
brother <-f the sceptre of Egypt, and -Xubuc.hadiiez/iRr who acquired it in
expiation of his atrocities. Even the donkey tribe suffered from this
ill-omened visitation, according to the proverb of "wicked as a red
- of that colour were held in such detestation among the (,'opths, that
every year they sacrificed one by hurling it from a high wall.
IDE riKsi UOKILK HOI - :
Coffee is a native of Arabia,, supposed by some to have IK en the cliief
ingmlient of the old LucxxUommiaii broth. Tin- use of this berry was
not known in England till the year Hi/JT. at which lime Mr. 1). Edwards,
a Turkey merchant, on his irturn from Smyrna to London, brought with
liim a OJroek of Itagusa, who was used to prepare
this liquor for his in:; y morning, Ayho, by the way, never wanted
company. The merchant, therefore, in order to get rid. of u crowd of
k to o])cn a coift-e-liHHSf, wliieli lie did in
St. Michael's Alley, in Cornhill. This was the first coffee-house opened
in London.
EATING FOE A WAGER.
The handbill, of which the subjoined is a literal copy, was circulated
by the keeper of the public-house at which the gluttony was to happen,
as an attraction for all the neighbourhood to witness :
" Jifiini/ci/ in Kc/tf, .Inly 11, 1726. A strange eating worthy is to
preform a Tryal of Skill on St. James's Day, which i> the day of our
Fiiir for a wairer of Five (fuiueas, viz. : he is to rat four pounds of
bacon, a bushel of French beans, with two pounds of butter, a quartern
loaf, and to drink a gallon of strong beer!"
POX KILLED BY A SWAX.
At Pousey, a swan sitting on her eggs, on one side of the river,
observed a fox swimming towards her from the opposite side ; rightly
judging >lie could best grapple with the fox in her own element, she
pronged into tj ml after heating him oil' for some time with
her wiuys, at length succeeded iu drowning him.
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
HIGHWAY:ME:N T ix 1782.
On Wednesday, the 9th January, 1782, about four o'clock in the after-
noon, as Anthony Todd, Esq., Secretary to the Post-office, was going in
his carriage to his house at Walthamstow to dinner, and another gentle-
man with him, he was stopt within a small distance of his house by two
highwaymen, one of whom held a pistol to the coachman's breast, whilst
the other, with a handkerchief over his face, robbed Mr. Todd and the
gentleman of their gold watches and what money they had about them.
As soon as Mr. Todd got home all his men-servants were mounted on
horses, and pursued the highwaymen ; they got intelligence of their passing
Lee-bridge, and rode on to Shoreditch ; but could not learn anything
farther of them.
The same evening a gentleman going along Aldermanbury, near the
church, was accosted by a man with an enquiry as to the time ; on which
the gentleman pulled out his gold watch. The man immediately said,
" I must have that watch and your money, sir, so don't make a noise."
The gentleman seeing nobody near, he delivered his gold watch and four
guineas, with some silver. The thief said he was in distress, and hoped
the gentleman would not take away his life if ever he had the oppor-
tunity.
Sunday, the 13th January, 1782, about twelve o'clock, a man was, by-
force, dragged up the yard of the French-Horn Inn, High Holborn, by
some person or persons unknown, and robbed of his watch, four guineas,
and some silver ; when they broke his arm and otherwise cruelly treated
him. He was found by a coachman, who took him to the hospital.
A?? ARCHBISHOP TVASHIXGr THE FEET OF THE POOE.
In the Gentleman's Magazine, we find the following observance :
Thursday, April 15, 1731. Being Maunday-Thursday, there was dis-
tributed at the Banquetting-house, Whitehall, to forty-eight poor
men, and forty-eight poor women (the King's age 48) boiled beef and
shoulders of mutton, and small bowls of ale, which is called dinner ;
after that, large wooden platters offish and loaves, viz., undress'd, one
large old ling, and one large dry'd cod ; twelve red herrings, and nine-
teen white herrings, and four- half quartern loaves ; each person had one
platter of this provision : after which was distributed to them shoes,
stockings, linnen and woolen cloath, and leathern bags, with one penny,
two penny, three penny, and four penny pieces of silver, and shillings :
to each about 4 in value. His Grace the Lord Archbishop of York,
Lord High Almoner, performed the annual ceremony of washing the
feet of a certain number of poor in the Eoyal Chapel, Whitehall, which
was formerly done by the Kings themselves, in imitation of our Saviour's
pattern of humility, &c. James II. .was the last King who performed
this in person, ifis doing so was thus recorded in the the Cliapel Royal
Register. " On Maunday Thursday April 16 1685 our gracious King
James y e 2 d wash'd wip'd and kiss'd the feet of 52 poor men w 11 ' wonder-
ful humility. And all the service of the Church of England usuall
on that occasion was performed, his Maty being psent all the time.''
6
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
A LUCKY FIND.
Sunday, April l.-A few days ago, Sir Simon Stuart, of Hartley, in
Hampshire, looking over some old writings, found on the back ot one ol
them a memorandum noting that 1,500 broad pieces were buried in a
certain spot in an adjoyning field. Whereupon he took a servant, and
after digging a little in the place, found the treasure in a pot, hid there
in the time of the late civil wars, by his grandfather, Sir Nicholas
Stuart. Gentleman's Magazine, 1733.
HOOPS IN 1740.
The monstrous appearance of the ladies' hoops, when viewed be-
hind, may seen from the following cut, copied from one of lligaud's
views. The exceed-
ingly small cap, at
this time fashionable,
and the close up-
turned hair beneath
it, give an extraor-
dinary meanness to
the head, particu-
larly when the libe-
rality of gown and
petticoat is taken into
consideration : the
lady to the left wears
a black hood with an
ample fringed cape,
which envelopes her
shoulders, and reposes on the summit of the hoop. The gentleman
wears a small wig and bag ; the skirts of his coat are turned back, and
were sometimes of a colour different from the rest of the stuff of which
it was made, as were the cuff's and lappels.
SIEGE OF OrBEALTAE.
Gibraltar had been taken by a combined English and Dutch fleet in
1T<>1, :md was confirmed as a British possession, in 1713, by the peace of
I ti.'i-ht ; but in 1779 it was assailed by the united forces of France and
Spain, and tlic siege continued till the 2nd of February, 1783. The chief
attack was made on the 13th September, 1782. On the part of the be-
. brides stupendous batteries on the laud side, mounting two
hundred pieces of ordnance, tin n was an army of 40,000 men, umli T
the command of the Due do Crillon. In the bav lay the combined tit rts
<>t l-'r;mce and Spain, comprising forty-seven sail of the line, beside tin
buttt ring ships of powerful construction, that cost upwards of 50,000
each. From these the heaviest shells rebounded, but ultimately two of
them were set on fire by red-hot shot, and the others were destroyed to
: t h< -in from falling into the hands of the British commander. The
tin fleet also suffered considerably; but the defenders cMapnl
with very little loss. In this engagement 8,300 rounds were fired by
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 7
the garrison, more than half of which consisted of red-hot balls.
During this memorable siege, which lasted upwards of three years, the
entire expenditure of the garrison exceeded 200,000 rounds, 8,000
barrels of powder being used. The expenditure of the enemy, enormous
as this quantity is, must have been much greater ; for they frequently
fired, from their land-batteries, 4,000 rounds in the short space of
twenty-four hours. Terrific indeed must have been the spectacle as the
SAINT GEOBGE'S HALL, GIBBALTAB.
immense fortress poured forth its tremendous volleys, and the squadron
and land-batteries replied with a powerful cannonade. But all this
waste of human life and of property was useless on the part of the assail-
ants ; for the place was successfully held, and Gibraltar still remains
one of the principal strongholds of British power in Europe.
During the progress of the siege, the fortifications were considerably
strengthened, and numerous galleries were excavated in the solid rock,
haying port-holes at which heavy guns were mounted, which, keeping up
an incessant fire, proved very efficacious in destroying the enemy's en-
campments on the land side. Communicating with the upper tier of
these galleries are two grand excavations, known as Lord Cornwallis's
and St. George's Halls. The latter, which is capable of holding several
hundred men, has numerous pieces of ordnance pointed in various direc-
tions, ready to deal destruction on an approaching enemy.
8 TEN THOUSAND VvONDERFUL THINGS ;
EEKriNir WJinsr.NTIDE AT DURHAM CATHEDBAL.
The following curious account of the consumption of provisions in the
cathedral of Durham, during \Yhitsun -week, in 1347, together with
the prices of the articles, is taken from the rolls of the cellarer, at present
in the treasury at Durham : six hundred salt hen-ings, 3s. ; four hun-
dred -white herrings, 2s. 6d. ; thirty salted salmon, 7s. 6d. ; twelve fresh
salmon, 5s. 6d. ; fourteen ling, fifty-five "kelengs;" four turbot,
23s. Id. ;'two horse loads of white fish, and a "congr," 5s. lOd. ;
"playc," "sparlings," and eels, and fresh water fish, 2s. 9d. ; nine
carcases of i>\'ii, saltid, so bought, :J(is. ; one carcase and a quarter,
fresh, (is. 11 - : d. : a quarter of an oxo, fresh, bought in the tovui, :js. 6d. ;
.seven - .nl a half of swine, in salt, 2s. 2*d. ; six carcases,
fresh, 12s. '.)<L ; fourteen calves, 2Hs. hi. : throo kids, and twenty-six
bucking pur 1 . !. : seventy-one geese with their feed, 11s. 10d. :
fourteen capons, iifty-nino chickens, and five do/on pidgeons, 10s. 3d. ;
five stones of hog'* iaril, Is. 2d. : four stones of cheese, butter, and milk,
6s. 6d. ; a pottlo of: vinegar, and a pottle of honer, <Hd. ; fourteen pounds
of tigs and raisins, sixteen. pounds of almonds, and eight pounds of rice,
os. Td. : popper, saffron, cinnamon, and other spices, s. (id. ; one
:i'l three hundred eggs, l.;s. .Id. sum total, .Lll 4n. Similar
consumptions took place during the week of the feast of .St. Cuthbert,
and other feasts, among, the monks of Durham, for a long period of
years.
CURIOUS LAW.
The following curious law was enacted during the reign. of lliohard I.
for the government of thoae going by sea to the Holy Land :- -" He who
kills a man on shipboard, shall be bound to the dead body and tin-own
sea: if the man is lulled on shore, the slayer shall be bound
.n<l buried with it. Ho who shall' draw his knife to
i- who shall have drawn blood from liim,,to lose his
hand; if be shall have only struck with the palm of his hand without
drawing blood, he shall be thrice ducked in the sea."
DECAPITATION BY THE GTJIlLOXIXi:.
itlcninn of intelligence and literary attainments, makes, in an
t of his travels on the continent, the following most singiilar re-
marks on an execution he witnessed, in which the culprit was beheaded
by the guillotine:" It appears." says be, " to be the best <,!' all pos-
sible modes of inflicting the punishment of death; combining the greatest
impression on the spectator, \\itb the least possible suffering to the
victim. It is so rapid, that I should doubt whether there were any
offering; but from the expression of the countenance, when the execu-
tioner held up the head, I am inclined to believe that sense and conscious-
neas may remain for a few seconds after the head is off. The eyes seemed
to retain speculation for a moment or two, and there was a look in the
S lastly stare with vhi.-h they stared upon the crowd, which implied
at the head was v; v* of its ignominious situation."
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 9
ALDERMAN BOYDELL.
It was the regular custom of Mr. Alderman Boydell, who was a very
early riser, at live o'clock, to go immediately to the pump iu Ironmonger
Lane. There, after placing his wig upon the ball at the top of it, he
used to sluice his head with its water. This well-known and highly
respected character, who has done more for the British artist than all
the print-publishers put together, was also one of the last men who wore
a three-cornered hat.
FEATS OF STRENGTH IX 1739.
April 21. The following notice was given to the public: " For the
benefit of Thomas Topham, the strong man, from Islington, whose per-
formances have been looked upon by the lloyal Society and several persons
of distinction, to be the most surprising as well as curious of any thing
ever performed in England ; on which account, as other entertainments
are more frequently met with than that he proposes, he humbly hopes
gentlemen and ladies, &c., will honour him with their presence at the
Xa^'s Head, in Gateshead, on Monday the 23d of this instant, at four
o'clock, where he intends to perform several feats of strength, viz. :
He bends an iron poker three inches in cimunfercnce, over his arm, and
one of two inches and a quarter round his neck ; he breaks a rope that
will bear two thousand weight, and with his fingers rolls up a-pewter
dish of seven pounds hard metal ; he lays the back part of his head on
one chair, and his heels on another, and suffering four men to stand on
his body, he 'moves them up and down at pleasure ; he lifts a table six
feet in length, by his teeth, with a half hundred weight hanging at the
further end of it ; and, lastly, to oblige the publick, he will lift a butt
full of water." " Each person to pay one shilling." This " strong
man" fell a victim to jealousy, as is proved by the following : " August
10th, 1749, died, Mr. Thomas Topham, known by the name of the strong
man, master of a publick house in Shoreditch, London. In a fit of
jealousy, he stabbed his wife, then cut his own throat and stabbed him-
self, after which he lived two days."
ELEPHANTS FRIGHTENED AT PIGS.
"Then on a tyme there were many grete clerkes and rad of kyng
Alvsaunder how on a tyme as he sholde have a batayle with ye kvnge of
Inde. And this kynge of Inde broughte with hym many olyphauntis
berynge castelles of tree on theyr backes as the kynde of the is to haue
armed knyg-htes in ye castell for the batayle, them ne knewe Alysaunder
the kynge, of the olyphauntes that they drad no thynge more than the
jarrynge of swyne, wherefore he made to gader to gyder all ye swyne that
myghte be goten, and caused them to be dryuen as ny the olyphantes as
they myghte well here the jarrynge of the swyne, and thenne they made
a pygge to crye, and whan the swyne herde the pygges a none they made
a great jarrynge, and as soone as the olyphauntes herde that, they
began to fle eche one, and keste downe the castelles and slewe the
knyghtes that were in them, and by this meane Alysaunder had ye
vyctory." Liber Festivalis, printed by W. Caxton in 1483.
10 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
A VISIT TO THE OBSKBVATOBT OF SIB ISAAC NEWTON.
The memory of a great and good man is imperishable. A thousand
years may pass away, but the fame that has survived the wreck of time
remains unsullied, and is even brighter with age.
"The actions of the just
Smell sweet, and blossom in the dust."
In an age of progress like our own we have frequently to regret the
destruction (sometimes necessary) of places associated with the genius_of
the past ; hut in the case of Sir Isaac Newton we have several relics
HflXKIOB OF SIB ISAAC H
existing, none of which, perhaps, are more interesting than the house in
'which he resided, still standing in St. Martin's Street, on the south side
of Leicester Square. The engravings of the interior and exterior of this
building have been made from drawings made on the spot. The house
was long occupied as an hotel for foreigners, and was kept by a M.
Pagliano. In 1814 it was devoted to the purposes of education. The
\ atory, which is at the top, and where Sir Isaac Newton made his
astronomical researches, was left in a dilapidated condition until 1824,
when two gentlemen, belonging to a committee of the school, had it
r. paired at tin ir own expense, and wrote a brief memoir of the philoso-
pher, which was placed in the Observatory, with a portrait of him.
In this house Sir Isaac Newton resided for many years ; and it was
here, according to his biographer, that he dispensed, under the superin-
tendence of hia beaut it ill nii-tr, an t k^ant hospitality. Our sketch gives
a good idea of the appearance of the exterior of the house at the present
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
11
day ; the front, it will be seen, has been well plastered, which, although
clean and pleasant-looking to some eyes, seems to us to destroy the cha-
racter of the building. The old doorway, with a projecting top, has
also been removed. The interior of the house is in excellent repair, and
has undergone very little change. The cornices, panelling, and the
spacious staircase, are not altered since the days of Newton. The rooms
HOUSE OP Sill ISAAC KEWION, ST. MABTIH'a STBEET, LEICESTER SQUABB.
are very large. Tradition states it was in the back drawing-room that
the manuscript of his work, the "Kcw Theory of Light and Colours,"
was destroyed by fire, caused by a favourite little dog in Sir Isaac's ab-
sence. The name of this canine incendiary was Diamond. The man-
ner in which the accident occurred is thus related : The animal was
wantoning about the philosopher's study, when it knocked down a candle,
and set fire to a heap of manuscript calculations upon which he had been
employed for years. The loss was irretrievable ; but Sir Isaac only ex-
12 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
claimed with simplicity, " Ah, Diamond, Diamond, you little know what
mischief you have been doing !''
Passing upstairs, and looking slightly at the various rooms, which
are all well panelled, but which do not require particular notice, we
reached the little observatory shown in the engraving. There, in the
loom in which Sir Isiar baa quietly studied, and in which lie may have
held conferences with the most distinguished of his contemporaries, we
found two shoemakers busily at work, with whom we had some pi
conversation. Our artist has repro.-i-nted the interior of the observatory,
with its laborious occupants, worthy sons of St. Crispin. Shoemakers
are well known to be a thoughtful class of men, although sometimes
they unfortunately do not make tl of their knowledge. Brand,
the historian and author of the excellent book on "Popular Antiquities,"
was at one time a shoemaker ; so was Bloootfl&d, the poet, who, when
working at the "last" in Bell Alley, near the Bank, strung together the
charming recollection of his plough-boy life. We could give a long list
of shoemakers who have been eminent for talents.
We have not the exact date at which Newton came to reside here, but
certainly he was living in this house, at intervals, after HiO-l, when he
was appointed Warder of the Mint, of which establishment he rose to be
Master in the course of thm- y.-nrs. The emoluments of this office
amounted to 1200 a- year, which enabled him to live in ease and dignitv.
In 1703 he was chosen President of the Itoyal Society an honourable
post, to which he was annually elected until the time of his death.
POISONING THE MOXAHCH.
An idea Of the popular notions about poisoning in the middle of the
seventeenth century, may be formed from the following extract from an
old tract, published in llio'J, with the title of " Papa Patris, or the Pope
in his Colours" : " Anno Dom : 1596 ; one Edward Squire, sometimes a
scrivener at Grenowieh, afterwards a deputy purveyor for the Qi.
stable, in Sir I- 'rant-is I iraki-V la-t voyage was taken prisoner and carried
into Spaine, and being set at liberty, one Walpnle., a Jesuite, grew
acquainted with him, and got him into the Inquisition, whence he re-
turned a resolved Papist, In- persuaded Squire to undertake to poyson
the pummcll of tie- liueene (Elizabeth's) saddle, and, to make him constant,
made Squire receive the Sacrament upon it : be then gave him the
poyson, showing that he should take it in a double bladder, and should
prick the bladder full of hoales in the upper part, when he should use it
(carrying it within a thick glove for the safety of his hand) should alter
turne it downward, pivs-ing the bladder upon the pummcll of the
Queine's saddle. This Squire confest. Squire is now in Spaine, and for
his safer dispatch into England it was devised that two Spanish pr;
taken at Gales should be exchanged for Squire and one Itawles, that it
might not be thought that Squi re came over but 'ned eaptive.
TheMunday senni-ht aft. r S.|tiin- returned into Kngland. lie, understand-
ing the horses were preparing for tie Queene'e riding abroad, laid his hand,
and crushed the poyson upon the pummcll of the Quecne's saddle, saying,
'God save the Uut-ene,' the Queenc rode abroad, and as it should seem
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 13
laid not her hand upon the place, or els received no hurt (through God's
goodnesse) by touching it. Walpole, counting the thing as done, im-
parted it to some principal! fugitives there, but being disappointed of his
hope, supposing Squire to have been false, to be revenged on him sent
one hither (who should pretend to have stolne from thence) with letters,
wherein the plot of Squires was contained ; this letter was pretended to
be stolne out of one of their studies. Squire, being apprehended, con-
fessed all without any rigor, but after denied that he put it in execution,
although he acknowledged he consented to it in the plot, at length he
confessed the putting it in execution also."
GBTNNZN'G FOB, A "WAGER.
June 9, 1786. On "\Vhit- Tuesday was celebrated at Hendon, in Mid-
dlesex, a burlesque imitation of the Olympic ' Games. . One prize was a
gold-laced hat, to be grinned for by six candidates, who were placed on
a platform, with horses' collars to exhibit through. Over their heads
was printed in capitals,
Detur Tetriori ; or
The ugliest grinner
Shall be the winner.
Each party grinned five minutes solus, and then all united in a grand
chorus of distortion. This prize was carried by a porter to a vinegar
merchant, thoiigh he was accused by his competitors of foul play, for
rinsing his mouth with verjuice. The whole was concluded by a hog,
with his tail shaved and soaped, being let loose among nine peasants ;
any one of 'which that could seize him by the queue, and throw him
across- his shoulders, was to have him for a reward. This occasioned
much sport.: the animal, after running some miles, so tired his hunters
that they gave up the chase in despair. A prodigious concourse of
people attended, among whom wore the Tripoline Ambassador, and
several other persons of distinction.
BITE OF THE T.ARATS'TrLA SPIDEE.
A Xeapolitan soldier who had been bitten, by a tarantula, though
apparently cured, suffered from an annual attack of delirium, after which
he xised to sink into a state of profound melancholy ; his face becoming
livid, his sight obscure, his power of breathing checked, accompanied by
sighs and heavings. Sometimes he fell senseless, and devoid of pulsa-
tion ; ejecting blood from his nose and mouth, and apparently dying.
Recourse was had to the influence of music ; and the patient began to
revive at the sound, his hands marking the measure, and the feet being
similarly affected. Suddenly rising and laying hold of a bystander, he
began to dance with the greatest agility during an uninterrupted course
of four-and-twenty hours. His strength was supported by administering
to him wine, milk, and fresh eggs. If he appeared to relapse, the music
was repeated, on which he resumed his dancing. This unfortunate being
used to fall prostrate if the music accidentally stopped, and imagine that
the tarantula had again stung him. After a few years he died, in one of
these annual attacks of delirium.
14
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
BYGOKE CHRISTMAS CUSTOMS.
" Now. too, is heard
The hapless cripple, tuning through the streets
His earol new ; and oft, amid the gloom
Of midnight hours, prevail th' accustom'd sounds
Of wakeful waits, wnose harmony (composed
Of hautboy, organ, violin, and flute,
And various other instruments of mirth),
Is meant to celebrate the coming time."
The manner in which this period of the year has been observed has
often varied. The observances of the day first became to be pretty
THE MUXXERB, OB ASCIE.M WAITS.
Mfll V.tn^ A n A1J.B.
general in the Catholic church about the year 300. By some of our
estors itw^M.wed in the double light of a religious and joyful
n of K-stivitics. The midnight preceding Christmas-day every
won wont t,, BM, and on Cforotaia4Uj three different masses were
With nm,-h solemnity. Others celebrated it with great parade,
idour, an. oonviviaUty. Buanew waa superseded by merriment and
am ahiy: th, most careworn countenance brightened on the occasion.
he nobles . ,,, ns anoonaged and participated in the various
industrious labour, r s ,,,
. ,,, ns noon s
industrious labour, r s ,,,t. an,l the ivsidence of proud royalty,
tuous joy. From Chn^tmas-day to
, s ,,,. an,
K3&, r ,' M "!|" 1 " 1 Wlth t..multuous joy. rom nt
day there was a continued run of entertainments
Not only
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 15
- f** 3<JW on, but before and after Christ-
, m the time of Alfred, the twelve days after the
nativity of our Saviour were made festivals;* and it likewise appears
from Bishop Ho t, that the whole of the days'were dedicated to feSLT
Our ancestors' various amusements were conducted by a sort of master
of the ceremonies called the "Lord of Misrule," whose duty it was to
keep order during the celebration of the different sports and^asTiW
The universities, the lord mayor and sheriffs, and all noblemen md
gentlemen, had their "lords of misrule." These "kTrds" w?rt &st
Thus we have the origin of Twelfth-day.
16 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
prevailed, of certain minstrels who were attached to the king's court and
other great persons, who paraded the streets, and sounded the hour
thus acting as a sort of watchmen. Some slight remains of these still
. hut they no longer partake of the authoritative claim as they
originally did, as the " lord mayor's music," &c. It mav not, perhaps,
be gent-rally known, that even at the present day " waits" are regularly
sworn before the " court of burgesses" at Westminster, and act under
the authority of a warrant, signed by the clerk, and sealed with the
arms of the city and liberty ; in addition to which, they were bound to
provide themselves with a silver badge, also bearing the arms of West-
minster.
In the north they have their Yule log, or Yuletidc log, which is a
huge log burning in the chimney corner, whilst the Yule cakes are
'1 on a " girdle," (a kind of frying-pan) over the fire ; little lads
and maidens assemble nightly at some neighbouring friends to hear the
goblin story, and join in " fortune-telling," or some game. There is a
part of an old song which runs thus :
" Now all our neighbours' chimneys smoke.
And ChrintntUA hr/s are burning ;
Their ovens tht-y with b.ilu-d mcute choke,
An*! its :ure tumiiiL'.''
Among the plants usual to Christmas are the rosemary, the holly,
and tta.multatoe. Gay si; ;,
ieitt<ir>/ and lays, the poet's crown,
' i rough all the town,
i of ChriitmanK-ar
'.mas, tbejoy.'ii-s period of the
ith hriRhr'/W/y all your tr-inples strow,
. taunil&eei. rtuttctov."
.
" The wind being easterly, wo liiid thirty fathoms of water, when at ton
k in the morning.;aiaea'Hnster like a man ap])eared near our ship,
!io larboai was, whose name is William
ho took a irrappling iron to pull him up: but our captain,
"am . hindered him, hi -inu r afraid that tin >uld
drag him away into the sea. The said Lmione struck him on the bark,
to make him turn about, that lie might view him tin- Ixlt-v. The
monster, being struck, showed his face, ha\ing his two hands dosed as
if he bad expreted some auger. Aft-rwards he went round the ship :
v-as.at tin- stern, he took hold of the helm with both hands,
and we were obliged to i i; h,. should damage it. From
b lard, swimming still 'as men do. When
( ' ;! ''"'- hip. h- viewnl for some time the tigurc that
was .' . sentt-d a liea-itil'ul woman, and then he rose out
! hem willing to eateh that li-ure. All this
hflpiwned in t!i. 'he wholr crew. Afterwards he cam.- a -a in to
trh-.anl, wliere tl !-tisli lian^ing down with
ar "i 'letl it without -polling it, and then removed the In
of a cable and came again to the -t-n;, wh n he took hold of the helm a
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 17
second time. At that very moment, Captain Horin got a harping-iron
ready, and took it himself to strike him with it ; but the cordage being
entangled, he missed his aim, and the harping-iron touched only the
monster, who turned about, showing his face, as he had done before.
Afterwards he came again to the fore part, and viewed again the figixre
in our prow. The mate called for the harping-iron ; but he was
frightened, fancying that this monster was one La Commune, who had
killed himself in the ship the year before, and had been thrown into the
sea in the same passage. He was contented to push his back with the
harping-iron, and then the monster showed his face, as he had done at
other times. Afterwards he came along the board, so that one might
have given him the hand. He had the boldness to take a rope held up
by John Mazier and John Deffiete, who being willing to pluck it out of
his hands, drew him to our board ; but he fell into the water and then
removed at the distance of a gun's shot. He came again immediately
near our board, and rising out of the water to the navel, we observed
that his breast was as large as that of a woman of the best plight. 'He
turned upon his back and appeared to be a male. Afterwards he swam
again round the ship, and then went away, and we have never seen him
since. I believe that from ten o'clock till twelve that this monster was
along our board ; if the crew had not been frighted, he might have been
taken many times with the hand, being only two feet distant. That
monster is about eight feet long, his skin is brown and tawny, without
any scales, all his motions are like those of men, the eyes of a propor-
tionable size, a little mouth, a large and flat nose, very white teeth,
black hair, the chin covered with a mossy beard, a sort of whiskers under
the nose, the ears like those of men, fins between the fingers of his hands
and feet like those of ducks. In a word, he is a well- shaped man.
Which is certified to be true by Captain Oliver Morin, and John Martin,
pilot, and by the whole crew, consisting of two and thirty men." An
article from Brest, in the Jlcmoirs of Treronx. This monster was
mentioned in the Gazette of Amsterdam, October 12, 1725, where it is
said it was seen in the ocean in August, same year.
A SHAVED BEAE.
At Bristol I saw a shaved monkey shown for a fairy ; and a shaved
bear, in a check waistcoat and trousers, sitting in a great chair as an
Ethiopian savage. This was the most cruel fraud I ever saw. The un-
natural position of the beast, and the damnable brutality of the woman-
keeper who sat upon his knee, put her arm round his neck, called him
husband and sweet-heart, and kissed him, made it the most disgusting
spectacle I ever witnessed ! Cottle was with me. Southey.
THE OEIGIX OF WIGS.
As for the origin of wigs, the honour of the invention is attributed to
the luxurious Sapygians in Southern Italy. The Louvain theologians,
who published a French version of the Bible, affected, however, to dis-
cover the first mention of perukes in a passage in the fourth chapter of
Isaiah. The Vulgate has these words : ' ' Decalvabit Dominus verticem
filiaruin Sion, et Dorninus crinem eariun nudabit." This, the Louvaiu
18
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
gentlemen translated into French as follows: " Le Seigneur dechSvelera
s des lilies de Sion, et le Seigneur decouvrira leurs perruques ;
which, done into English, implies that " The Lord \vill pluck the hair
from the heads of the daughters of Sion, and will expose their periwigs.
DEF.SS IX 1772.
The year 1772 introduced a new style for gentlemen, imported by a
number of voting men of fashion who had travelled into Italy, and
formed an association called the Maecaroni Club, in contradistinction to
the Bei-f-steak Club of London. Hence these new-fashioned dandies
were styled Maccaronies, a name that was afterwards applied to ladies
of the same genus. The accom -
panying cut delineates the pe-
culiarities of both. The hair of
the gentleman was dressed in
an enormous toupee, with very
large curls at the sides ; while
behind it was gathered and tied
up into an enormous club, or
knot, that rested on the back
of the neck like a porter's knot ;
upon this an exceedingly small
hat was worn, which was some-
times lifted from the head with
the cane, generally very long,
and decorated with extremely
large silk tassels ; a full white
handkerchief was tied in a large
bow round the neck ; frills from
the shirt-front projected from
the top of the waistcoat, which
was much shortened, reaching
very little below the waist, and
being without the ilap-coycred pockets. The coat was also short, reach-
ing only to the hips, fitting closely, having a small turn-over collar as
now worn ; it was edged with lace or braid, or decorated with frog-but-
tssels, or embroidery ; the breeches were tight, of spotted or striped
silk, with enormous bunches of strings at the knee. A watch was car-
ried in each pocket, from which hung bunches of chains and seals : silk
stockings and small shoes with little diamond buckles completed the
gentleman's dress. The ladies decorated their heads much like the gen-
tlemen, with a most enormous heap of hair, which was frequently sur-
mounted by plumes of large leathers and bunches of flowers, until the
head seemed to overbalance the Imdy. The gown was open in front ;
hoops were discarded except in full-dress ; and the gown gradually spread
outward from the waist, and trailed upon the ground behind, shewing
the rich laced petticoat ornamented with, tiowers and needlework ; the
sleeves widened to the elbow, where a succession of ruffles and lappets,
each wider than the other, hung down below the hips.
MARVELLOUS, RAKE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
CHB.ISTHAS OBSERVANCES PUT DOWIT BY THE PTTBJTANS.
19
During the Commonwealth, when puritanical feelings held iron sway
over the rulers of the land, and rode rampant in high places, many
strong attempts were made to put down what they were pleased to term
superstitious festivals, and amongst these was that of Christmas Day.
So determined was the Puritan party to sweep away all vestiges of evil
creeds and evil deeds, that they were resolved to make one grand attempt
upon the time-honoured season of Christmas. The Holly and the
PBOCLAIMIJf& THE NON-OESEKVAXCE OF CHRISTMAS.
Mistletoe-bough were to be cut up root and branch, as plants of the Evil
One. Cakes and Ale were held to be impious libations to superstition ;
and the Roundheads would have none of it.
Accordingly, we learn that, in the year 1647, the Cromwell party
ordered throughout the principal towns and cities of the country, by the
mouth of the common crier, that Christmas Day should no longer be
observed it being a superstitious and hurtful custom ; and that in place
thereof, and the more effectually to work a change, markets should be
held on the 25th day of December.
This was attacking the people, especially the country folks, in their
most sensitive part. It was hardly to be expected that they would
quietly submit to such a bereavement ; nor did they, as the still-existing
" News-letters " of those days amply testify.
20 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
THE MAXXEtt OF "WATCHMEN" TXTniATrXG THE CLOCK AT
IX GKRMAXY.
VIII. Past eight o'clock ! 0, Herrnhuth, do thou ponder ;
t souls in Xoah's ark were living yonder.
IX. 'Tis nine o'clock ! yc brethren, hear it striking ;
Keep hearts and houses clean, to our Saviour's liking.
X. Xow, brethren, hear, the clock is ten and passing;
None rest but such as wait for Christ embracing.
XI. Eleven is past ! still at this hour eleven,
The Lord is calling us from earth to heaven.
XII. Ye brethren, hear, the midnight clock is humming;
At midnight, our great I'.ridegroom will be con
I. Past one o'clock; the day breaks out of darkn
Great Morning-star appear, and break our hardness!
II. 'Tis two ! on Jesus wait this silent season,
Te two so near related, will and reason.
III. The clock is three ! the blessed Three doth merit
Tiif best of praise, from body, soul, and spirit.
IV. 'Tis four o'clock, whon three make supplication,
The Lord will be the fourth on that occasion.
V. Five is the clock ! live virgins wen- discarded,
"NVhen live with wedding garments -\\-civ rewarded.
VI. The clock is six, and 1 go off my station ;
.Now, brethren , irafrh yourMhes for -your salvation.
A T)0<i I-:XTIX<-;rTSnrX<; A HIKE.
On t! of l!i' Hist F' !ir:i;ir\ . 1^'J2, the shop of Mr. Coxon,
chandler, at the Folly, Sandi-at", i ': , was left in char:
his daujrl'.' nine y ;n . and a large mastili', whicli is
.niard since an attempt was made to rub
Imp. The child had on a straw bonnet lined with silk, which took
tin from coming too near the candle. She endeavoured to pull it off,
5 tied, she could not eti'eet her purpose, and in her terror
slirii-ked out, <>n which the mastili' instantly sprang to her assistini.-r,
and with mouth and paws completely smothered out the flame by pn
the bonnet together. The lining of the bonnet and the ehild's'hair only
were burnt.
CAMBRIDGE CLODS.
Abou; ince, two characters, equally singular in their
.iris, a well-known boakaeUer, and .!
son, a bookbinder, and principal bas>->inger at Trinity College Chajtel
U.-nien, \vi 'ih reinarkaldy
^iieli small consumer.--, jn the article of bread, that their
abstemiousness in that particular was generally noticed ; but, to make
amends, they ga and indulgence of their
niitry, and lish, of almost every ('n-seri]ition. So
one day, hmin- taken an exenrsion, in walking a few miles from home,
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
they were overtaken by hunger, and, on entering a public-house, the
only provision thev could procure was a clod of beef, weighing near four-
teen pounds, which had been a day or two in salt ; and this these two
moderate bread consumers contrived to manage between them broiled,
assisted by a due proportion of buttered potatoes and pickles. The hind-
lord of the house, having some knowledge of his guests, the story got into
circulation, and the two worthies were ever after denominated the Cam-
bridge Clods !.
WITCH-TESTING AT NEWCASTLE IN 1649.
March 26. Mention occurs of a petition in the common council books
of Newcastle, of this date, and signed, no doubt, by the inhabitants,
concerning witches, the purport of which appears, from what followed,
to have been to cause all such persons as were suspected of that crime to
be apprehended and brought to trial. ILL consequence of this, the
magistrates sent two of their sergeants, viz.- Thomas Shevill and Cuth-
bert Nicholson, into Scotland, to agree with a Scotchman, who pretended
knowledge to find out witches, by pricking them with pins,, to come to
Newcastle, where he should try such who should be brought to him, aud
to have twenty shillings a piece, for all he should condemn as witches,
and free passage thither and back again. "When the sergeants had
brought the said, witch-finder on horseback to town, the magistrates sent
their bell-man through the town, ringing his bell and crying, all people
that would bring in. any complaint against any woman for a witch, they
should be sent for, and* tried by the person appointed. Thirty women
were brought into the town-hall, and stripped, and then openly had pins
thrust into their bodies, and most of them were found guilty. The said
reputed witch-iinder acquainted Lieutenant- Colonel Paul Hobson,
deputy-governor of Newcastle, that he knew women whether they were
witches or no by their looks ; and ; when the said person was searching of
a personable and good-like woman, the said colonel replied, and said,
surely this woman is none, and need not be tried, but the Scotchman
said she was, and, therefore, he would try her ; and presently, in the
sight of all the people, laid her body naked to the waist, with her cloathes
over her he-ad, by which fright and shame all her blood contracted into
one part of her body, and then he ran a pin into her thigh, and then
suddenly let her cloathes fall, and then demanded whether she had
nothing of his in her body, but did not bleed ! but she being amazed,
replied little ; then he put his hands up her cloathes and pulled out the
pin, and set her aside as a guilty person, and child of the devil, and fell
to try others, whom he made guilty. Lieutenant- Colonel Hobson, per-
ceiving the alteration of the aforesaid woman, by her blood settling in
her right parts, caused that woman to be brought again, and her cloathes
pulled up to her thigh, and required the Scot to run the pin into the
same place, and then it gushed out of blood, and the said Scot cleared
her, and said she was not a child of the devil. The witch-finder set
aside twenty-seven out of the thirty suspected persons, and in conse-
quence, fourteen witches and one wizard, belonging to Newcastle, were
executed on the town moor.
22
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
ALEXANDER SELKIRK AND THE DANCING GOATS.
The adventures of Alexander Selkirk, an English sailor, who, more
than one hundred and fifty years since, was left alone on the island of
Juan Fernandez are very wonderful.
This extraordinary man sought to beguile his solitude by rearing kids,
and he would often sing to them, and dance with his motley group
around him. His clothes having worn out, he dressed himself in gar-
ments made from the skins of such as run wild about the island ; these
he sewed together with thongs of the same material. His only needle was
a long slender nail ; and when his knife was no longer available, he made
an admirable substitute from an iron hoop that was cast ashore.
Upon the wonderful sojourn of this man, Dcfoc founded his exquisite
tale of " Kuliins.)!! Crusoe," a narrative more extensively read and better
known than perhaps any other ever written.
JACOB BOBART.
A curious anecdote of Jacob Bobart, keeper of the physic garden at
Oxford, occurs in one of Grey's notes to Hudibras" He made a
dead rat resemble the common picture of dragons, by altering its lira. I
and tail, and thrusting in taper sharp sticks, which distended the skin
on each side till it resembled wings. He let it dry as hard as possible.
The learned iinin.'diatrly pronounced it, a dragon; and one of them sent
an accurate description of it to Dr. Magliabccchi, librarian to the Grand
Duke of Tuscany ; several line copies of verses were wrote on so rare a
Object; but at last Mr. Bobart owned the cheat. However, it was
looked upon as a masterpiece of the art ; and, as such, deposited in the
Museum.
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
BLIND JACK.
The streets of London, in the reigns of Queen Anne and Georges I.
and II., were infested with all sorts of paupers, vagabonds, impos-
tors, and common adventurers ; and many, who otherwise might be
considered real objects of charity, by their disgusting manners and
general appearance in public places, rather merited the interference of
the parish beadles, and the discipline of Bridewell, than the countenance
and encouragement of such persons as mostly congregated arotmd common
street exhibitions. One-eyed Granny and* Blind Jack were particular
nuisances to the neighbourhoods in which the first practised her mad-
L>4 TEX THorsxXP WONDERFUL THINGS;
drank gambols, and the latter his beastly manner of performing on the
flageolet. John Keiling, alias Blind Jack, having the misfortune to lose
his sight, thought of a strange method to insure himself a livelihood.
He was constitutionally a hale, robust fellow, without any complaint,
saving blindness, and having learnt to play a little on the flageolet, he
conceived a notion that, by performing on that instrument in a different
way to that generally practised, he should render himself more noticed
by 'the public, and be able to levy larger contributions on their pockets.
The manner of Blind Jack's playing the flageolet was by obtruding
the mouth-piece of the instrument up one of his nostrils, and, by long
custom, he could produce as much wind as most others with their lips
into the pipe ; but the continued contortion and gesticulation of his mus-
cles and countenance rendered him an object of derision and disgust, as
much as that of charity and commiseration.
THE YORKSHIRE TIKE.
Ah iz i truth a country youth,
Neean us'd tee a Lunnon fashions ;
Yet vartue guides, an' still presides,
(hver all mah stepson' passions.
Neea coortly leear, bud all sincere,
Neea bribe shall ivrer blimul me,
If thoo can like a Yorkshire tike,
A rooague thoo' 11 nivver timid me.
Thnf envy's tuns, Rp ea sliiulee hung,
Wad lee aboot oor country,
Neea men o' t' eesttli booast greter
wurth,
Or maro extend ther boountv.
Oor northern breeze wi' uz agrees,
An' does for wark weel fit uz ;
I' public cares, an' all affairs,
"WT honour we acquit uz.
Seea gret amoind is ne'er confiand,
Tu onny shire or nation ;
They geean meeast praise weea weel
dis]>:.
rued iddicasion.
Wliuhl rancour rolls i' lahtle souls,
Bv shallo vion-s dissarning,
They're nobbut wise 'at awlus prize
(jud manners, sense, and leearnin.
TWTD OF THE FATIIKES OX FAT.SJ: HAn;.
'!' rtullian say.,, I !' you will not lling awny your false hair, as hate-
ful (n Tleavcu, cannot I miake it hateful t(i' yourselves, bv reminding
you thai tin i'ai u \vi-;ir may flme ome not only from a
criminal, but from :i VOTV dirty :heml ; perhaps tfrom the lu ad of one
ThiB*MB KMffihai'd hit indeed: hut it was not
i!' ;irlv strokcsttiwigs.as tliat d> all liy Cloiucns of Alexandria.
IK- latter int'orii, : -minded wig-wearers, when they knelt at
fhuroli thoiBleMiiiL that tliey must lieiffoaB. enough to recol-
"ii the wii;-, anil did not pass through
1" the wearer! Tin- v.-a- u .stuinhlin^-bloek to the peo-,)le ; many
of whom, howp,vr: tlic ]ieruke, and took '.thoii 1 chance as to the
percokltisqg tin. ,. i,, .,,, diction.
FOOD OF ANIMALS.
LiniKpus states the cow to eat 27fi plants, and to refuse 218 ; the goat
49, and declines li'il; the >heep takes ;5S7, and nieotfl IU; the
horse likes 2li l J, and avoids HTJ : hut the hog, more nice in its provision
than any of the former, eats but 7'J plants, and rejects 171.
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 25
SLATE ADVERTISEMENTS.
The following announcements are curious, as showing the merchandise
light in which the negro was regarded in America while yet a colony of
Great Britain :-
FRANCIS LEWIS, Has for SALE,
A Choice Parcel of Muscovado and Powder Sugars, in Hogsheads,
-*- Tierces, and Barrels ; Havens, Duck, and a Negro Woman and
Negro Boy. The Coach-House and Stables, with or without the Garden
Spot, formerly the Property of Joseph Murray, Esq ; in the Broad Way,
to be let separately or together : Inquire of said Francis Lewis.
New York Gazette, Apr. 25, 1765.
nphis Day Pain away from John J\P Comb, Junier, an Indian Woman,
* about 17 Years of Age, Pitted in the face, of a middle Stature and
Indifferent fatt, having on her a Drugat, Wastcoat, and Kersey Petticoat,
of a Light Collour. If any Person or Persons, shall bring the said Girle
to her said Master, shall be Eewarded for their Trouble to their Content.
American Weekly Mercury, May 24, 1726.
A Female Negro Child (of an extraordinary good Breed) to be given
-^- awav ; Inquire of Edes and Gill.
Boston Gazette, Feb. 25, 1765.
To be Sold, for want of Employ.
A Likely Negro Fellow, about 25 Years of Age, he is an extraordinary
**- good Cook, and understands setting or tending a Table very well,
likewise all Kind of House Work, such as washing, scouring, scrubbing,
&c. Also a Negro Wench his Wife, about 17 Years old, bom in this
City, and understands all Sorts of House Work. For farther Particulars
inquire of the Printer. New York Gazette, Mar. 21, 1765.
PRESERVATIVE POWER OP COAL-PIT WATEE.
The following is extracted from the register of St. Andrew's, in New-
castle : "April 24th, 1695, wear buried, James Archer and his son.
Stephen, who, in the moneth of May, 1658, were drowned in a coal-pit in
the Galla-Flat, by the breaking in of water from an old waste. The
bodys were found intire, after they had lyen in the water 36 years and
11 months."
THE QUEEN BEE.
Reaumur relates the following anecdote of which he was a witness :
A queen bee, and some of her attendants, were apparently drowned in a
brook. He took them out of the water, and found that neither the queen
bee, nor her attendants were quite dead. Reaumur exposed them to a
gentle heat, by which they were revived. The plebeian bees recovered
first. The moment they saw signs of animation in their queen, they ap-
proached her, and bestowed upon her all the care in their power, licking
and rubbing her ; and when the queen had acquired sufficient force to
move, they hummed aloud, as if in triumph !
26
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
DREAM OF KING HENRY I.
A singular dream, -which happened to this monarch when passing over
to Normandy in 1130, has been depicted in a manuscript of Florence of
Worcester, in Corpus Christi College, Oxford. The rapacity and oppres-
sive taxation of his government, and the reflection forced on him by his
own unpopular measures, may have originated the vision. He imagined
himself to have been visited by the representatives of the three most
important grades of society the husbandmen, the knights, and the
clergy who gathered round his bed, and so fearfully menaced him, that
he awoke in great alarm,
and, seizing his sword,
loudly called for his at-
tendants. The drawings
that accompany this nar-
rative, and represent each
of these visions, appear
to have been executed
shortly afterwards, and
are valuable illustrations
of the general costume
of the period. One of
them is introduced in this
place.
The king is here seen
sleeping ; behind him
stand three husbandmen, one carrying a scythe, another a pitchfork,
and the third a shovel. They are each dressed in simple tunics, without
girdles, with plain close-fitting sleeves ; the central one has a mantle
fastened by a plain brooch, leaving the right arm free. , The beards of
two of the'se figures are as ample as those of their lords, this being an
article of fashionable indulgence within their means. The one with
the scythe wears a hat not unlike the felt hat still worn by his descend-
ants in the same grade : the scroll in his left hand is merely placed there
to contain the words he is supposed to utter to the king.
SEPULCHRAL BARROW OF THE ANGLO-SAXONS.
The engraving on the next page is copied from a plate in Douglas's Nenia
and represents one of the most ancient of the Kentish barrows opened
by him in tli" ('liutham Lines, Sept. 1779 ; and it will enable the reader
at once to understand the structure of these early graves, and the inte-
resting nature of their contents. The outer circle marks the extent of
the mound covering the body, and which varied considerably in eleva-
tion, sometimes being but a few inches or a couple of feet from the level
of tin- ground, at others of a gigantic structure. In the centre of the
mound, and at the depth of a few feet from the surface, an oblong rec-
tujgulax tfrave is cut, the space between that and the outer circle being
in with chalk, broken into small bits, and deposited carefully ana
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 7
firmly around and over the grave. The grave contained the body of a
male adult, tall and well-proportioned, holding in his right hand a
spear, the shaft of which was of wood, and had perished, leaving only
the iron head, 1 5 inches in length, and at the bottom a flat iron stud
(a), having, a small pin in the centre, which would appear to have been
driven into the bottom of the spear-handle ; an iron knife lay by the
right side, with remains of the original handle of wood. Adhering to
its under side were very discernible impressions of coarse linen cloth,
showing that the warrior was buried in full costume. An iron sword is on
the left side, thirty-five and
a quarter inches in its
entire length, from the point
to the bottom of the handle,
which is all in one piece, the
wood-work which covered
the handle having perished ;
the blade thirty inches in
length and two in breadth,
flat, double - edged, and
sharp-pointed, a great por-
tion of wood covering the
blade, which indicates that
it was buried with a scab-
bard, the external covering
being of leather, the inter-
nal of wood. A leathern -,
strap passed round the waist,
from which hung the knife
and sword, and which was
secured by the brass buckle
(5), which was found near the
last bone of the vertebrae, or close to .the os sacrum. Between the
thigh-bones lay the iron umbo of a shield, which had been fastened by
studs of iron, four of which were found near it, the face and reverse of
one being represented at (c.) A thin plate of iron (d), four and a half
inches in length, lay exactly under the centre of the umbo, having two
rivets at the and, between which end the umbo were the remnants of
the original wooden (and perhaps hide-bound) shield ; the rivets of the
umbo having apparently passed through the wood to this plate as its
bracer or stay. In a recess at the feet was placed a vase of red earth,
slightly ornamented round the neck with concentric circles and zigzag lines.
A2T OLD GANDEE.
Willoughby states in his work on Ornithology, that a friend of his
possessed a gander eighty years of age ; which in the end became so
ferocious that they were forced to kill it, in consequence of the havock it
committed in the barn-yard. He also talks of a swan three centuries
old ; and several celebrated parrots are said to have attained from one
hundred to one hundred and fifty years.
28 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
EXTKAORDIXABY SLEEPEK.
M. Brady, Physician to Prince Charles of Lorraine, gives the follow-
ing particulars of an extraordinary slipper :
::, named Elizabeth Alton, of a healthful strong constitution,
who had :it t<> tin- curate of St. Guilain, near the town of
Mons, ubuut the beginning of the year 1738, when she was about thirty-
w extremely n-tlrss and raelaucholy. In the month
. 'ii^ust. in the same year, sh'e fell into a sleep which held four days,
notwithstanding all possible endeavours to awake her. At length she
awoke naturallv, but became more restless and uneasy than before ; for
six or seven days, however, she resumed her usual employments, until
she fell asleep again, wlu'ch continued eighteen hours. From that time
tn t : I.-h is fifteen years, she fell asleep daily about three
o'clock' in the morning, without waking until about eight or nine at night.
In 17-V1 indeed lit i-sloep returned to the natural periods for four mouths,
and, in 17 prevented her sleeping for three weeks.
On February 21). 1 1~>'~>, M . Brady, with a surgeon, went to see her. About
five o'clock in the evening, they found her pulse extremely regular ; on
taking hold of her arm it was NI ri^-id, that it was not bent without
b trouble. They then attempted to lift up her head, but her neck
and back \ ' :i as her arms. lie hallooed in her ear as loud as his
voice could reach ; he thrust a needle into her flesh up to the bone ; he
put a piece of rag to her nose Maming with spirits of wine, and let it burn
some lime, y.-t all without being able to disturb her in the least. At
length, in hours and a half, her limbs began to relax ; in eight
hours she turned herself in the bed, and then suddenly raised herself up,
sat down by the tire, eat heartily, and began to spin. At other times,
tliev whipped her till the blood came ; they rubbed her back with honey,
and" then exposed it to the stints of bees; they thrust nails under her
finger-nails ; and it seems these triers of experiments consulted more the
notifying their own curiosity than the recovery of the unhappy object of
the maluily.
A I'.VT ENGLISHMAN.
r, iii his travels, speaks of a corpulent Englishman, who in pass-
ing through Savov, was obliged to make use of twelve' chairmen. He is
to have weighed five hundred and fifty pounds, or thirty-nine stone
four pounds.
A II.UTY FAMILY.
A gentleman travelling through Mecklcnburgh, some years since,
witnewed a singular association of incongruous animals. After dinner,
the landlord of the inn plaeed on the lloor a lur^e dish of soup, and
gave a loud whistle. Immediately there came into the room a mast ill',
an Angora cat, an old raven, and a remarkably larye rat, with a bell
about its neck. They all four went to the dish, and, without disturb-
eeeh otfear, fed together: after which th. . lav
D** 01 'vhile the raven hopped about the room. The landlord,
after accounting for the familiarity of these animals, informed his guest
MARVELLOUS, RARE. CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 29
that the rat was the most useful of the four ; for the noise he made had
completely freed his house from the rats and mice with which it was
before infested.
JLN'CIEyT FIRE-ARMS IN THE TOWER OF LONDON ARMORY.
We have just now before us a drawing of an old piece of ordnance,
formed of "bars of iron, strongly hooped with the same material, which
forms a striking contrast with the finely- wrought cannons which may
be seen in store at Woolwich Arsenal, and elsewhere, at the present day.
The exact date and manner of the introduction of cannon is a matter
which has caused much dispute. The earliest mention of the use of can-
non on shipboard is in Rymer's " Fcedera." It is an order to Henry
Somer, Keeper of the Private Wardrobe in the Tower, to deliver to Mr.
Groveney, Treasurer to Queen Philippa, Queen of Sweeden, Denmark,
and Norway, (who was then sent by her uncle, Henry the Fourth, to her
husband, in the ship called the Queen's Hall,) the following military
stores: 1 1 guns, 40 petras pro gunnes, 40 tumpers, 4 torches, 1 mallet,
2 fire-pans, 40 pavys, 24 bows, 40 sheaves of arrows.
After the old cannon composed of bars of iron, hooped together, had
been some time in use, hand- cannon, a simple tube fixed on a straight
stake, was used in warfare, charged with gunpowder and an iron bullet.
This was made with trunnions and casabel precisely like the large cannon.
In course of time, the touch-rhole was improved, and the barrel cast in
brass. This, fixed to a rod, had much the appearance of a large sky-
rocket. What is now called the stock was originally called the frame of
the gun.
Various improvements were from time to time made in the hand-gun,
amongst which was a pan fixed for containing the touch-powder. In
rainy weather, this became a receptacle for water ; to obviate which, a
small piece of brass made to turn on a pin was placed as a cover. This
done, there was a difficulty in preserving the aim in consequence of the
liability of the eye to be diverted from the sight by the motion of the
right hand when conveying the lighted match to the priming. This was,
to a certain extent, prevented by a piece of brass being fixed to the
breech and perforated. The improved plan for holding the lighted match
for firing the hand-guns is shown in the engraving of the Buckler and
Pistol ; it consists of a thin piece of metal something in shape of an S
reversed, the upper part slit to hold the match, the -lower pushed up by
the hand when entended to ignite the powder.
After the invention of the hand-cannon, its use became general in a
very short space of time in most parts of the civilized woi'ld.
Philip de Comines, in his account of the battle of Morat, in 1476,
says he encountered in the conferate annv 10,000 arqt&busiers.
The arquebusiers in Hans JBurgmam's plates of the " Triumph of
Maximilian the First," have suspended from their necks large powder
flasks or horns, a bullet bag on the right hip, and a sword on the left,
while they carry the match-lock in their hands.
Henry the Eighth's Walking-stick, as the Yeomen of Guard at the
Tower call it, is a short spiked mace, in the head of which are three
30
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
short guns or pistols, which may be fired at very primitive touch-holes
by a match.
The Revolver has four barrels, and although clumsy in construction, is
not very different in principles from those recently introduced.
1. Henry the Eighth's "Walking-slick. 2. A Krvnlvcr of the Fifteenth century.
3. Buckler, with Pistol inserted.
The use of the pistol inserted inside the Imcldor is obvious as the latter
affords protection to the person while using the former.
MARVELLOUS, HAIIE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
31
WIGS.
In 1772 the Maccaronies, as the exquisites of that time were called,
wore wigs similar to 1, 2, 3, with a large toupee, noticed as early as
1731, in the play of the Modern Husband : " I meet with nothing hut a
parcel of toupet coxcomhs, who plaster up their brains upon their peri-
wigs," alluding to the pomatum with which they were covered. Those
worn by the ladies in 1772 are given as 4, showing the rows of curls
4. 5. e.
at the sides. The pig-tails were worn hanging down the back', or tied
up in a knot behind, as in &. About 1780 the hair which formed it
was allowed to stream in a long lock down the back, as in 6, and soon
afterwards was turned up in a knot behind. Towards the end of the
century, the wig, as a general and indispensable article of attire to
young and old, went out of fashion.
A FALSE FIND.
At Falmouth, some years ago, the sexton found coal in digging a grave ;
he concluded it must be a mine, and ran with the news and the specimen
to the clergyman. The surgeon explained that they had stolen a French
prisoner who died, and filled his coffin with coal that the bearers might
not discover its emptiness.
32 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
BELLS.
As far back as the Anglo-Saxon times, before the conclusion of the
seventh century, bells had been in use in the churches of this country,
particularly in the monastic societies of Northumbria ; and were, there-
fore, in use from the tirst erection of parish churches among us. Those
of France and England appear to have been furnished with several bells.
In the time of Clothaire II., King of France, and in the year 610, the
army of that king was frightened from the siege of the city of Sens, by
rinu'ing the bells of St. Stephen's Church. They were sometimes com-
posed of iron in France ; and in England, as formerly at Home, they
were frequently made of bass. And as early as the ninth century many
were cast of a large size and deep note.
"Weever, in his work on funeral monuments, says " In the little sanc-
tuary at Westminster, King Edward III., erected a clochiiT, and placed
therein three bells, for the use of St. Stephen's Chapel. About the biggest
of them were cast in the metal these words :
"King Edward made mee thirty thousand weight and three ;
Take me down and wey mee, and more you shall find mee."
" But these bells being taken down in the reign of Henry VIII., one
wrote underneath with a coal :
" But Henry the Eight,
Will bait me of my weight."
This last distich alludes to a fact mentioned by Stow, in his survey of
London ward of Earringdon "Within to wit that near to St. Paul's
School stood a clochier, in which were four bells, called JI'NHS' bells, the
jrivaii'M in all Kngland, against which Sir Miles Partridge staked an
hundred pounds, and won them of Henry VIII., at a cast of dice.
Matthew Paris observes, that anciently the use of bells was prohibited
in time of mourning. Mabillon adds, that it was an old practice to ring
the bells for persons about to expire, to advertise the people to pray for
them whence our passing-bell. The passing-bell, indeed, was anciently
for two purposes one to bespeak the prayers of all good Christians for a
soul just departing ; the other to drive away the evil spirits who were
supposed to stand at the bed's foot.
This dislike of spirits to bells is mentioned in the Golden Legend, by
Wynkyn de \Vorde. " It is said, evill spirytes that ben in the regyon of
thayre, doubte moche when they here the belles rongeii ; and this' is the
cause why the belles ben rongen when it thondrdh, and when grete tem-
peste and outrages of wether happen; to the ende that tlie Mends and
wyekcd snirytes shold be abashed and flee, and cease of the movynge of
tempeste. ' Another author observes, that the custom of ringing bells at
the approaeh of thunder is of some antiquity; but that Ilie design was
not so much to shake the air, and so dissipate the thunder, as to cull the
people to church, to pray that the parish might be preserved from the
terrible effect of lightning.
"Warner, in his history of Hampshire, enumerates the virtues of a bell,
by translating the lines from the " Helpe to Discourse :
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
"Men's death's I tell by doleful knell;
Lightning and thunder I break asunder.
On Sabbath all to church I call ;
The sleepy head I raise from bed ;
The winds so fierce I doe disperse ;
Men's cruel rage I doe assuage."
Four of the bells of the ancient Abbey of Hexham were dedicated or
baptised ; and although the old bells no longer exist, the legends upon
the whole six have been preserved, and a free translation given by Mr.
"Wright, is as follows :
1. Even at our earliest sound,
The light of God is spread around.
2. At the echo of my voice.
Ocean, earth and air, rejoice.
3. Blend thy mellow tones with mine,
Silver voice of Catherine !
4. Till time on ruin's lap shall nod,
John shall sound the praise of God,
5: With John in heavenly harmony,
Andrew, pour thy melody.
6. Be mine to chant Jehovah's fame,
AVhile Maria is my name.
These epigraphs or legends on bells, are not uncommon. The Eev.
"W. C. Lukis, in his notices on church bells, read at the Wilts Archaeolo-
gical Meeting, gave the following instances :
34 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
At Aldbourne, on the first bell, we read, " The gift of Jos. Pizzic and
"Win. Gwynn.
" Music and ringing we like so well,
And for that reason we gave this bell."
On the fourth bell is,
" Humphry Svmsin gave xx pound to buy this bell,
And the parish gave xx more to make this ring go well."
A not uncommon epigraph is,
" Come when I call
To serve God all."
At Chilton Foliatt, on the tenor, is,
".Into the church the living I call,
And to the grave I summon all.
Attend the instruction which I give,
That so you may for ever live."
At Devizes, St. Mary, on the first bell, is,
" I am the first, altho' but small.
I will be heard above you all."
And on the second bt-11 is,
" I am the second in this ring,
Therefore next to thee I will sing."
Which, at Broadchalk, is thus varied :
" I in this place am second bell,
I'll surely do my part as well."
On the third bell at Coin is,
" Robert Forman collected the money for casting this liell
Of well-disposed people, as I do you tell."
At Bath Abbey, on the tenth bell, is,
" All you of Bath that hear mo sound,
Thu'iik Lady llopton's hundred pound."
On the fifth bell at Amesbury is,
" Ho strong in faith, praise God well,
Frances Countess Hertford's bell."
And, on the tenor,
" Altho' it bo unto my loss,
I hope you will consider my cost."
At Btowe, Northamptonshire, and at St. Mary the Virgin, Oxford, we
find,
" Be it known to all that doth me see,
That Newcombe, of Leicester, made me."
At St. Michael's, Coventry, on the fourth bell, is,
" I ring at six to let men know
When to and from their work to go."
On the seventh bell is,
" T ring to Sermon with a lusty borne,
That all may come and none can stay at homo."
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 35
Oil the eighth bell is
" I am and have been called the common bell
To ring, when fire breaks out to tell."
At St. Peter's-le-Bailey, Oxford, four bells were sold towards finishing
the tower, and in 1 792 a large bell was put up, with this inscription :
" "With seven, more T hope soon to be
For ages joined in harmony."
But this very reasonable wish has not yet been realized ; whereas at St.
Lawrence's, Reading, when two bells were added to form a peal of ten, on
the second we find
" By adding two our notes we'll raise,
And sound the good subscribers' praise."
The occasion of the erection of the "Westminster Clock-tower, is said
to have been as follows : A certain poor man, in an action for debt,
being fined the sum of 13s. 4d., Radulphus Ingham, Chief Justice
of the King's Bench, commiserating his case, caused the court roll to
be erased, and the fine reduced to 6s. 8d., which being soon after
discovered, Ingham was amerced in a pecuniary mulct of eight hundred
marks, which was employed in erecting the said bell-tower, in which was
placed a bell and a clock, which, striking hourly, was to remind the
judges in the hall of the offence of their brother. This bell was originally
called Edward ; " but," says a writer in the " Antiquarian Repertory,
" when the Reformation caused St. Edward and his hours to be but little
regarded ; as other bells were frequently called Tom, as fancied to pro-
nounce that name when stricken that at Lincoln, for instance, and that
at Oxford this also followed the fashion, of which, to what I remember
of it before it was hung up, I may add another proof from a catch made
by the late Mr. Eccles, which begins
" ' Hark, Harry, 'tis late 'tis time to be gone,
For Westminster Tom, by my faith, strikes one.' "
Hawkins, in his " History of Music," says, " The practice of ringing
bells in change, or regular peals, is said to be peculiar to England :
whence Britain has been termed the ringing island. The custom seems
to have commenced in the time of the Saxons, and was common before the
Conquest. The ringing of bells, although a recreation chiefly of the
lower sort, is, in itself, not incurious. The tolling of a bell is nothing
more than the producing of a sound by a stroke of the clapper against
the side of the bell, the bell itself being in a pendant position, and at
rest. In ringing, the bell, by means of a wheel and a rope, is elevated
to a perpendicular ; in its motion, the clapper strikes forcibly on one side,
and in its return downwards, on the other side of the bell, producing at
each stroke a sound." There are still in London several societies of
ringers. There was one called the College Youths (bell-ringers, like post-
boys, never seem to acquire old age). Of this it is said Sir Matthew Hale,
Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench, was, in his youthful days, a
member ; and in the life of that upright judge, by Bumet, some facts
36 TKX THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
an- mentioned which favour this relation. In En-land the practice of
viiiirinu' has been reduced to a science, and peals have been composed which
bett the names of their inventors ; some of the most celebrated of these
vvere coinjM,>ed about fifty years ago by one Patrick. This man was a
maker of barometers. In {he year HiS-4, one Abraham Kudhall, of the
t-itv ,,f (;; .nm<:ht die art of bell-founding to great perfection.
His de-.ei-ndants in succession have continued the l)usmess of casting
bells : and by a list published by tbem at Lady Day, 1774, the family, m
in al- -nul o.l',l l.rl!-. lunl cast to tlie amount of .'5,.3!)i. The peals of St.
Dunstan's in the Ka-t, St. I'.ride's, London, and St. Martin's-in-the-
Fields, aiv a m on-- tin- number. The following " Articles of Ringing' 1
an upon the walls of the belfry in the pleasant village of Ihmster, in
M't-hiiv. Tluy are dated 1 7<S7 :
"). You that in riiitring take delight, | "4. If am one shall .wear his hat
. leased to draw near ; ' When lie is rin-iii- here.
These articles \oa niii.-t ol.servc. He straijrlitway then shall sixpence
If you mean t riuu here, pay
>. And first, if any overturn In ^ der or ^ bcer "
If any one these articles
Kct'useth to obey,
Let him have nine strokes of the
rope,
And so depart away."
A liell, as that he may,
He forthwith for that only fault
In beer shall sixpence pay.
"3. If any one shall curse or swear
"When conic within the do..r.
Jle then shall fnrleit f.,r that fault
.: nti'incd hefore.
lui.i. oi- MI i: KOI; A :%-]-.(. SKI ix 1770.
" Know all Men by these J'restnts, That I, Kli/abeth Treat, of I5oston,
in the county of Sutt'olk, widow, in consideration of the sum of 25
Id. to me in hand, paid before the ensealin^- hereof by Samuel
., of 15o>ton aforesaid, mereliant, the receipt whereof I do hereby
acknowledge, have ^i-anted, bargained, and sold, and by these presents
do fully and absolutely ^rant. bargain, and sell unto the said Samuel
lireck, my XC-TO man named llarr\ , a-eil about forty years, Avith his
apparel, to have- and to bold the said Neuronian Harry, with his apparel,
unto the said Samuel liivek, \n* executors, administrators, and assigns,
to bis and their only proper use, benetit, and belioof for ever ; And l,the
said Kli/abetli Tr.-ai, for myself, my heirs, executors, and administrators,
do covenant, that at the time of eiisealintr, and until the delivery hereof,
I am the true and lawful owner of the said \e--ro man, and that lie is
free from all former md incumbranees whatsoever, and
that I will warrant and defend the said Ne^ro man unto the said Samuel
,, his heirs, and a^-i-ns for ever, against the lawful claims and
demands of all pei-<>i:s \vhomso; \er.
" \\ itness my hand and seal, this tenth day of October, Anno Domini,
tlimi'-and seven hundred and seventy, in the tenth year of His
Majesty's l-eiv.ll
d, and delivered iu pi i lence of us.
'1 n. IMA- Mi i.vn.i.r. i;i.i/\];i in TKI vr."
" MVKV Win 1 1 .
MARVELLOUS, RAKE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
37
THE AZTEC CHILDKEX.
Among the animated curiosities which are occasionally exposed to the
gaze of the wonder-loving public, we may prominently notice the AZTEC
CHILDREN two singular Lilliputians who were recently exhibited
throughout the kingdom. Maximo and Bartolo (for by these names the
two Aztec children have been baptized) are by some medical men supposed
to be of the respective ages of twenty-two and sixteen. Professor Owen,
stated them to be ten or twelve, and seven or nine in 1853. The height
of the boy (the elder is about three feet, and the girl does not reach quite
two feet six inches. Their limbs, though slender, arc proportionate and
well formed, and the general development of their figures is remarkably
graceful. The cranium is peculiar, being narrower than that of any other
THE AZTEC CHILDREN, AS EXHIBITED I>" EXGLAXD.
races of beings known to the world ; and though the face is somewhat
prominent, the features are regular and the countenances agreeable, and,
after a short acquaintance, higMy interesting. Each has a beautiful head
of jet black hair, which flows gracefully in curls. They are lively and
intelligent, showing considerable aptitude for mental training, and have
already learned to give utterance to several expressions which can be
readily understood by visitors.
Since the arrival of these prodigies from the United States, they have
been the objects of curious ethnological speculations. Dr. Latham does
not consider them as a new species of the if rims homo. Professor Owen
regards them as instances of impeded development, and Dr. Conolly was
struck with their resemblance to idiots.
38 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ',
NOTICES TO TAR AND FEATlli.K.
The original handbills of the committee for Tarring and Feathering
subjoined, are of singular interest, as they were the earliest emanations
of the spirit that led to England's losing her American colonies, and the
consequent rise of the United States :
To the Dclaicare Pilots.
THE Regard we have for your Characters, and our Desire to promote
your future Peace and Safety, are the Occasion of this Third
Address to you.
In our sc'cond Letter we acquainted yon, that the Tea Ship was a
Three Decker ; We are now informed by good Authority, she is not a
Three Decker, but an old Hack Ship, without a Ilvad, or any Ornament*.
The Captain is a short fat Fellow, and a little obstinate withal. So
much the worse for him. For, so sure as he rides rnsfn, "We shall heave
him Keel out, and see that his Bottom be well tired, scrubb'd and paid.
1 1 is Upper- Works too, will have an Overhawling and as it is said, he
has a good deal of Quick Work about him, We will take particular Care
that such Part of him undergoes a thorough Rummaging.
We have a still worse Account of fa's Owner ; for it is said, the Ship
POLLY was bought by him on Purpose, to make a Penny of us: and that
he and Captain J//>v.s were well advised, of the Kisque they would run,
in thus daring to insult ami abuse us.
Captain Ai/rcs was here in the Time of the Stamp- Act, and ought to
have known our People better, than to have oxpeeted ATO would be so
mean a> to MiH'er his rottm TEA to be funnel' d down our Throats, with
the Parliament's Duty mi .veil with it.
\Ve know him well, and have calculated to a Gill and a Feather, how
much it will require In tit him for an American Exhibition. And we
hope, not one of your Bodv will behave so ill, as to oblige us to clap him
in the Cart alonu- Side of the (.'attain.
We must repmt. that the SHU 1 POLLY is an old Hack Ship, of about
Two Hundred and Fifty Tons burthen, without a Head, and without
Ornaments, and, that CAPTAIN AYKKS is a thick chunky Fellow.
As guch, TAKE CARE TO AVOID Til KM.
Your Old Friends,
Till: CoMMITTKK FOR TAUKINU AND FEATHERING.
Philadelphia, December 7, 1773.
To Capt. At/res, 'of the Ship Polly, on a Voyage from London to
Philadelphia.
Sli:,
TT7"eareinformodthat you have, imprudently, taken Chargeof a Quantity
of Tea ; which has been sent out by the India Company, under the
'ices of the Minixtn/, as a Trial of A American Virtue and'ltesolution.
Now, us your Cargo, on your Arrival here, will most assuredly bring
you into hot watir:and as yii are perhaps a St ranger /^ these I'-irts,
we have oon eluded to advise you of the present Situation of Affairs in
Philadelphia that, taking Time by the Forelock, you may stop short
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 39
in your dangerous Errand secure your Ship against the Rafts of com-
bustjble Matter which may be set on Fire, and turned loose against her :
a,nd more than all this, that you may preserve -your own Person, from
the Pitch and Feathers that are prepared for you.
In the iirst Place, we must tell you, that the Pennsylvanians are, to a
Man, passionately fond of Freedom ; the Birthright of Americans ; and
at all Events are determined to enjoy it.
That they sincerely believe, no Power on the Face of the Earth has a
Eight to tax them without their Consent.
That in their Opinion, the Tea in your Custody is designed by the
Ministry to enforce such a Tax, which they will undoubtedly oppose ;
and in so doing, give you every possible Obstruction.
We are nominated to a very disagreeable, but necessary Service.' To
our Care are committed all Offenders against the Rights of America ; and
hapless is he, whose evil Destiny has doomed him to suffer at our Hands.
You are sent out on a diabolical Service ; and if you are so foolish and
obstinate as to compleat your Voyage ; by bringing your Ship to Anchor
in this Port ; you may run such a Gauntlet, as will induce you, in your
last Moments, most heartily to curse those who have made you the Dupe
of their Avarice and Ambition.
What think you Captain, of a Halter around your Neck ten Gallons
of liquid Tar decanted on your Pate with the Feathers of a dozen wild
Geese laid over that to enliven your Appearance ?
Only think seriously of this and fly to the Place from whence you
came fly without Hesitation without the Formality of a Protest and
above all, Captain Ayres let us advise you to fly without the wild Geese
Feathers. Your Friends to serve
THE COMMITTEE as before subscribed.
Philadelphia, Nov. 27, 1773.
TJ. FRANKLIN'S CELEBRATED LETTER TO STRAHAN.
As a sequel to the foregoing notices, we give Dr. Franklin's celebrated
letter, written in the actual heat of the first outbreak.
Philadelphia, July 5, 1775.
Mr. STRAHAN, You are a member of Parliament, and one of that
majority which has doomed my country to destruction. You have begun
to burn our towns, and murder our people. Look upon your hands !
They are stained with the blood of your relations ! You and I were
long friends ; you are now my enemy, and
I am, yours, B. FRANKLIN.
HENRY II. STRIPT WHEN DEAD.
1189. Immediately upon his death, those that were about him applied
their market so busilie in catching and niching awaie things that laie
readie for them, that the king's corps laie naked a long time, till a child
covered the nether parts of his body with a short cloke, and then it seemed
that his surname was fulfilled that he had from his childhood, which was
Shortmantell, being so called, because he was the first who brought short
clokes out of Anjou into England.
40 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
TKAXSl'LAXTATIdX OF JIAIE.
The Signer Dottore Domenieo Xardo addressed a letter to the Academy
of Padua, in 1826, on the subject of the growth of hair after death, and
even after its separation in >ni the body. The latter property had been
previously observed by Krafl't. The Signor Xardo recounts the results
of experiments made OH hifl own person in the transplantation of hair,
and relates, that by transplanting quickly a hair, witli its root, from a
pore uf his head, into a pore of his chest, easily to be accomplished by
widening the pore somewhat witli the point of a needle, introducing the
root with nicety, and exciting within the pore itself, by friction, a slight
degree of inflammation, the hair takes root, continues to vegetate, and
UTO\VS ; in due season changes colour, becomes white, and falls.
ANCIKNT CAX.VON UAISKP 1'KOM TJ1 K SKA.
A fisherman of Calais some time since, drew up a cannon, of very
ancient form, from the bottom of the sea, by means of his nets. M. de
Jtheims has since removed the rust from it, and on taking off the breech
was much surprised to find the piece still charged. Specimens of the
powder have been taken, from which, of course, all the saltpetre has dis-
appeared alter a submersion of three centuries. The ball was of lead,
and was not oxidixed to a depth greater than that of a line.
corn-T-iiorsr. ATTRACTIONS- IN 1700.
The great attraction of Don Saltero's. Coffeehouse was its collection of
rarities, a catalogue of which was published as a guide to the visitors.
It comprehends almost every description of curiosity, natural and arti-
ficial. " Tigers' tusks : the 1'ope's candle ; the skeleton of a Guinea-
pi.L: ; a lly-eap iimnk.y : a piece of the true Cross ; the Four Kvangclists'
Inacls cut on a cherry-stone; the Iving of Morocco's tobacco-pipe : Mary
Queen of Scot's pincushion : <iinen Kli/abeth's prayer-book ; a pair of
Nun's stocking ; -lob's ears, which grew on a tree ; a frog in a tobacco-
sfopper:" ami live hundred more odd relics! The Don had a rival, as
appears by "A Catalogue of the Rarities to be seen at Adams's, at the
l;.val Suan, in Kiugslaud Uoad, leading from Shoreditch Church, 17"><5."
Mr. Aduu exhibited, for the entertainment of the curious, "Miss Jenny
Cameron's shoes ; Adam's eldest daughter's hat; the heart of the famous
Adams, that was han-ed at Tyburn with Lawyer Carr, Jaimarv IS,
17.'J<>-7: Sir Walter Kaleiuh's tobacco-pipe; Vicar of Bray's dogs;
en-ine to shell ^reeii pease with ; teeth that grew in a fish's belly;
Itlack .lack's ribs; the very comb that Abraham combed his son Isaac
and Jacob's head with; Wat Tyler's spurs; rope that cured Captain
I.owry of the liead-acb, ear-aeh,'tooth-ach and bclly-aeh ; Adam's key
>f The tore and back door ( ,f the (iarden of Eden, *tc., !v:o." These are
only a few out of live hundred oth'-rs equally marvellous.
A WO.M\N T\KI> mi: i,K,iin:i) MATMI rito.M A I;O.MH.
I)iirin- the sie-e of Gibraltar, in 1782, the Count d'Artois canic to
St. lloeli, to visit the place and works. While his highness was inspect-
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAIXT. 41
ing the lines, in company -with the Duke de Crillon, they both alighted
with their suite, aud all lay flat upon the ground, to avoid the effects of
a bomb that fell near a part of the barracks where a Frenchwoman had
a canteen. This woman, who had two children in her arms at the time,
rushed forth with them, and having seated herself, with the utmost
tniiir/-froid, on the bomb-shell, she put out the match, thus extricating
from danger all that were around her, many of whom witnessed this
courageous and devoted act. His highness rewarded this intrepid female
by bestowing on her a pension of three francs a day, and engaged to pro-
mute her husband after the siege ; while the Duke de Crillon, imitating
the generous example of the prince, ensured to her likewise a daily pay-
ment of live francs.
THE StTXIMKHS MAGNET, OR LOADSTONE.
Among the great naval officers of Elizabeth's reign must be ranked
Sir George Summers, the discoverer of the Bermudas, often called the
Summers Islands from that circumstance. Here is a representation
given of what the descendants of Sir George Summers call the " Summers
magnet, or loadstone."
It is in the possession of
Peter Franklin Bellamy,
Esq., surgeon, second son
of Dr. Bellamy, of Ply-
mouth. The tradition in
the family is that the
admiral before going to
sea used to touch his
needle with it. The stone
is dark-coloured, the pre- c
cise geological formation
doubtful. This curious
stone, with armature of
iron, was probably an ancient talisman.
SWALLOWING LlZAHIiS.
Bertholin, the learned Swedish doctor, relates strange anecdotes of
lizards, toads, and frogs ; stating that a woman, thirty years of age, being
thirsty, drank plentifully of water at a pond. At the end of a few
months, she experienced singular movements in her stomach, as if some-
thing were crawling up and down ; and alarmed by the sensation, con-
sulted a medical man, who prescribed a dose of orvietan in a decoction of
fumitory. Shortly afterwards, the irritation of the stomach increasing,
she vomited three toads and two young lizards, after which, she became
more at ease. In the spring following, however, her irritation of the
stomach was renewed ; and aloes and bezoar being administered, she
vomited three female frogs, followed the next day by their numerous
progeny. In the month of January following, she vomited five more
living frogs, and in the course of seven years ejected as many as eighty.
Dr. Bertholin protests that he heard them croak in her stomach!
42 TEN THOUSAND AVONDERFUL THINGS;
IMMKXSK SKA
A species of sea-serpent was tlirowu ou shore near Bombay in 1819.
It was about forty feet long, and must have weighed many ton?. A
violent gale of wind threw it high above the reach of ordinary tides, in
which situation it took nine months to rot ; during which pi
tr.ivi Uen WWfi obliged to change the direction of the road for nearly a
quarter of a mile, to avoid the offensive effluvia. It rotted so completely
that not a vestige of bone remained.
TIIK ROYAL TOUCH.
For many ages one of the regal prerogatives in this country was to
touch for the cure of rajius morbits, or scrofula ; a disease too well known
to nci'd any description. At different periods hundreds of persons as-
svmhlcd i'ioiii all parts of the country annually to receive the royal
interposition. Lists of the alllicted weiv published, to afford a criterion
for determining us to its success ; and from Edward the Confessor to the
reign of Queen Anne, its efficacy appears to have obtained a ready and
general belief.
The ceremony was announced by public proclamations ; one of which
we copy from '' The Newes," of the 18th of May, 16(>4. " His Sacred
Majesty'' (Charles II.) "having declared it to be his royal will and
purpose to continue the healing of his people for the Evil during the
month of .May, and then to give over until .Michaelmas next, I am com-
manded to give notice thereof, that the people may not come up to town
in the interim, and lose their labour."
An extract from the " Mercurius Politicus" affords additional informa-
tion. " Saturday," says that paper, " being appointed by His Majesty
to touch such as were troubled with the Kvil, a great company of poor
afflicted creatures were met together, many brought in chairs and flaskets,
and being appointed by His Majesty to repair to the banqueting-house,
His Majoty sat in a chair of state, where he stroked all that A\VIV
brought unto him, and then put about each of their necks u white
ribbon, with an angel of gold on it. In this manner His Majesty stroked
above six hundred ; and such was his princely patience and tenderness
to the poor afllieted creatures, that, though it took up a very long time,
His Majesty, who is never weary of well-doing, was pleased to make
inquiry whether tin-re were any more who had not yet been touched.
Alter pra\ei-s \vere ended, the Duke of Buckingham brought a towel,
and the Karl of Pembroke a basin and e\wr, who. after they had
made obeisance to His Majesty, kneeled down, till His Majesty had
washed."
This sovereign is said to have touched nearly one hundred thousand
patients.
With (Jueen Anne the practice was discontinued. But 80 late ns the
28th of February, 171'J, little more than two years before her death, the
following proclamation appeared in the " (ia/ette" : " It being Her Ma-
jesty's royal intention to touch for the Kvil on Wednesday, the 19th of
March next, and so to continue weekly during Lent, it is ller Majesty's
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 43
command that tickets be delivered the day before at the office in White-
hall ; and that all persons shall bring a certificate signed by the Minister
and Churchwardens of their respective parishes, that they have never
received the royal touch." Dr. Johnson, when an infant, was brought,
with others, for this purpose ; " and when questioned upon the subject,
confessed he had a faint recollection of an old lady with something
black about her head."
A religious service, of which Dr. Heylin, Prebendary of Westminster,
in his "Examen Historicum," has given us the particulars, accompanied
the ceremony ; which, as a document of pious interest, we transcribe :
" The first Gospel is the same as that on the Ascension-day, Mark xvi. 14,
to the end. At the touching of every infirm person these words are
repeated : ' They shall lay their hands on the sick, and they shall
recover.' The second Gospel begins with the first of St. John, and ends
: Ithese words : (John i. 14 :) ' I' all of grace and truth.' At the putting
the angel about their necks were repeated, ' That light was the true
light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.'
" ' Lord, have mercy upon us.'
" ' Christ have mercy upon us.'
' ' Lord have mercy upon us. Our Father, &c.'
Minister. Lord, save thy servants :'
' ' Response. Which put their tiust in thee.'
J/. Send unto them help from above :'
R. And ever more defend them.'
' Jlf. Help us, God, our Saviour !'
' ' R. And for the glory of thy name sake deliver us : be merciful
unto us, sinners, for thy name sake !'
" ' M, Lord, hear our prayer :'
" ' R. And let our cry come unto thee.'
" ' The Collect. Almighty God, the eternal health of all such as put
their trust in thee, hear us, we beseech thee, on the behalf of these thy
sen ants, for whom we call for thy merciful help; that they receiving
health, may give thanks unto thee in thy holy Church, through Jesus
Christ our Lord! Amen.'
< The peace of God,' &c."
TEG TA.XKAEDS.
The pegging, or marking the drinking cups, was introduced by St.
Dunstan, to check the intemperate habits of the times, by preventing
one man from taking a larger draught than his companions. But the
device proved the means of increasing the evil it was intended to remedy;
for, refining upon Dunstan's plan, the most abstemious were required to
drink precisely to a peg or pin, whether they could soberly take such a
quantity of liquor or not. To the use of such cups may be traced the
origin of many of our popular phrases. "When a person is much elated,
we still say, "He is in a merry pin;" and, "He is a peg too low,"
when he is not in good spirits. On the same principle we talk of
"taking a man down a peg," when we would check forwardness.
44
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
XOBMAX CAPS.
There is nothing more amusing to the traveller on the continent, than
to observe tin- extraordinary variety of those head-anpendagea, many of
tin-in In -ir-looms for generations in some families, all more or less prized
according to the richness of materials employed upon them, and the
peculiarity of shape. There is no article of dress more important to the
,W///'/m/i-, whatever may be her means, than the cap which so jauntily
and triumphantly asserts the dignity of the wearer. The wives of
fermieres who can afford such luxuries as expensive lace and trimmings,
spend a little income in the decoration of their caps. Many cost upwards
.a
of three thousand francs for the materials and manufacture; and these,
as we have lie lore observed, are handed from mother to daughter through
i\e years, and are highly prized.
In the primitive villages of Normandy, on some holidays, it is a pleasing
sight to see the dense army of caps, with Haps fanning the air, and fol-
lowing the gesUeulatory movements of their talkative and volatile owners.
When the weather is don 1 it fnl, t he cap- wearers take care to he provided with
i uinlirella of a clumsy construction, reinarkahly heavy, and some-
what similar, jn-rhaps, to the original with which Jonas llanway braved
t l ic ji en of a London populace in first introducing it.
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
NOBTH AMERICAN INDIAN WAB DESPATCH.
45
The following is a facsimile of a gazette of a tribe of IsTorth American
Indians, who assisted the French forces in Canada, during the war
between France and England :
Explanation of the Gazette, giring an account of one of their expedi-
tions. The following ilii-isions explain those on the plate, us referred to
by the numbers:
1. Each of these figures represents the number ten. They all signify,
that 18 times 10, or 180 American Indians, took up the hatchet, or
declared war, in favour of the French, which is represented by the
hatchet placed over the arms of France.
2. They departed from Montreal represented by the bird just taking
wing from the top of a mountain. The moon and the buck show the
time to have been in the first quarter of the buck-moon, answering to
July.
3. They went by water signified by the canoe. The munber of huts,
such as they raise to pass the night in, shows they were 21 days on their
passage.
46 Tl V THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
4. Then they came on shore, and travelled seven days by land
nted by the foot and the seven huts.
'. When tlio}- arrived near the habitations of their enemies, at sun-
rise shown by the sun being to the eastward of them, beginning, as
they think, its daily course, there they lay in wait three days repre-
liy the hand pointing, and the three huts.
::'-r which, they surprised their enemies, in number 12 times 10,
or 120. The man asleep shows how they surprised them, and the hole
in the ton of the building is supposed to signify that they broke into
of their habitations in that manner.
7. They killed with the club eleven of their enemies, and took five
aers" The former represented by the club and the eleven heads,
the latter bv the figures on the little pedestals.
*. They lost nine of their own men in the action represented by the
nine heads within the bow, which is the emblem of honour among the
Americans, but had none taken prisoners a circumstance they lay great
weight on, shown by all the pedestals being empty.
'.. The heads of the arrows, pointing opposite ways, represent the battle.
10. The heads of the arrows all pointing the same way, signify the
night of the enemy.
RECEIPTS FROM ALBEKTCS MAGXUS.
If tJiox icylt make a Carbnckfe sf <><-, or <i //<//</ xhi/nhifi in flu-
i/f/fif. Take verve many of the lyttle beastes shyninge by nyghte, and
put them beaten smale in a bottcl of glassc, and rinse it, and buryc it in
rate horses doung, and let it tarye xv dayes, afterwarde thou sluilte
<1< stvll water of them Peralembicum, which thou shalt put in a vessel
if ('hristal orglasse. It giuethso great clearnesse, that euery man may
reade and write in a darke place where it is. Some men make this
water of the -rail of a snale, the gal of a wesel,.the gall of a feret, and of
a water dntru r ' j : they bnrie them in doung and (lestyll water out of them.
//' tlion in/It KI-C Unit other nii'it cii/i tint Ki-c. Take the gall of a male
cat. and the fat of a hen all whyte, and mixe them together, and
anoint thy eyes, and thou shalt see it that others cannot see.
It' the hart, eye, or brayne of a lapwyng or blaeke plover be hanged
vpon a mans necke it is profitable agaynsto forgetfulnesse, and sharpeth
mans vnder.standing. "Alberta* MagnutS' Black Letter: eery old,
ADVT.i:n-i:Mi:vr OF ROAST PIG ix 1720.
" On Tuesday next, being Shrove Tuesday, there will be a fine luuj
bnrbi/tjn\l whole, at the house of Peter Brett, at the Rising Sun, iu
Islington Road, with other diversions. Note. It is the house where the
ox was roasted whole at Christmas last."
A hog barbccnM i^ a WeM Indian term, and means a hog roasted
whole, stuffed witli spire, and hasted with Madeira wine. Oldtield, an
eminent glutton of former days, gormandised away a fortune of fifteen
hundred pounds a-year. Tope thus alludes to him,
" Oldfield, with morn than harpv throat endu'cl,
Cries, ' Send me, 0, gods, a whole hog barbccu'd '.' "
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 47
DYING OF OLD AGE AT SEVENTEEN TEAKS.
March 19th, 1754, died, in Glamorganshire, of mere old age and a
gradual decay of nature, at seventeen years and two months, Hopkins
Hopkins, the little "Welchman lately shown in London. He never
weighed more than seventeen pounds, hut for three vears past no more
than twelve. The parents have still six children left, all of whom no
way differ from other children, except one girl of twelve years of age,
who weighs only eighteen pounds, and bears upon her most of the marks
of old age, and in all respects resembles her brother when at that age.
"WE HAE BEEN."
In Ayrshire there is a tradition, that the family motto of Be Bruce
"We have been," originated from a lady named Fullarton, married to a
cadet of the family of Cassilis. They had been gained to favour England
during the chivalrous achievements of Wallace, and still continued
zealous partisans of Edward. Before Bruce avowed his purpose to eman-
cipate his country, he came, disguised as a palmer, to acquaint himself
how far he could rely on aid from the people. A storm compelled him,
and a few faithful adherents, to take shelter on the coast of Ayrshire.
Extreme darkness, and the turbulence of the billows, deprived them of
all knowledge where they landed ; and as, in those unhappy times, the
appearance of a few strangers would create alarm, the chiefs dispersed in
different directions. Bruce chanced to go into the house of Mr. Kennedy,
where the servants treated him with great reverence. The lady had
gone to bed, and the prince wished they would not disturb her, but per-
mit him to sit by the fire till day ; however, one damsel had given her
immediate notice of the visitor. He was ushered into her presence. She
eyed him with scrutinizing earnestness. " We hae been we hae been
fause," said she, in the Scottish dialect, "but a royal ee takes me back
to haly loyalty. I seid ye, mes royal de Bruce, I ken ye weel. We hae
been baith untrue to Scotland, but rest ye safe : and albiet a' that's
gane, Meg Fullarton wad dee in your cause."
ORIGIN OP THE PENNY POST.
The penny-post was devised in 1683, by one Mr. David Murray, an
upholder in Paternoster Row. It soon became an object of attention to
Government ; but so low were its profits that one Dockwra, who suc-
ceeded Murray, had a pension of only 200 a year given him in lieu of
it. This occurred in 171G.
A RAFFLE IN 1725.
May 8. The following copy of an advertisement, in the Neifcaxtle
Courant of this date, may be considered curious: "On Friday in the
race week, being the 28th of May, at the Assembly House, in Westgate,
will be raffled for, 12 fine Fans, the highest three guineas, the worst os., at
half a Crown per Ticket. Note : the lowest throw is to have the second
best Fan, value 3, the other according to the height of the numbers
which shall be throAvn. There will be an assembly after for those who
raffle."
is
Ti:\ THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
A VISIT TO THE RESIDENCE OF Pit. JOHNSON, IN INNER TEMPLE LANE,
LONDON.
In one of the dreary, old-fashioned houses leading from the arched
ranee to the Temple, which almost every passenger through Temple
ir must have remarked, whether he is a stranger, or a resident in the
trppohs, Dr. Johnson, who occupies one of the most distinguished
positions in the literature of our country, resided for several years.
'^ HiiK WI^^H^Hi^B
DR. JOHHSOW 8 KKSIDENCE I.V INWKH TliMPLK LANJi.
It was in this phiee that Dr. Johnson became acquainted with his
rature biographer, BoswelL who thus describes their first meetdnjr:
A few days afWwanls I ,,,lh,l on Havies, iin ,l asked him if he
lought I might akc the liberty of waiting on Mr. Johns,,,, at his cham-
:>rs in the Lcmple. He said 1 certainly might, and that Mr. Johnson
would take it as a compliment. His chamber* were on the first floor of
fc !'*! ? S 1 i ^'/Sl 1 ontmjd tlu ' m Avith :m i'"]'ivssiou given
me by the Rev. Dr. Blair of Edinburgh, who described Ids having found
ie giant in his den. Ho received me very courteously ; but it must be
.onf,ssed that lus apartment, and furniture, and morning dress, were
suftciently uncouth. His brown suit of clothes looked vm- ,-,istv ; he
^.ffJL^A^^^l"^ 6 ^ "%^W Wi tu,, -small
head; his shirt neck and knees of his Bweohea were loose, his
i stockings ,11 drawn up, and he had a pair of unbuckled
tt,n tl J ' SBffiT^? a thcSC sl VCnl y l^iculars u t ,v fbr-
gottt-u the moment he began to talk."
>' ".<!<,, '' inwl.iH.the "giant" livedj H ^itoaw leading to it,
1 mdecd the whole appearance of the locality, has recently undergone
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
49
demolition, and its interesting features knocked down to the highest
bidder, to be, let us hope, preserved in some museum or other place of
safety.
Dr. Johnson resided at various times in Holborn, the Strand, and
OLD STAIRCASE IX THE BESIDEXCE OF DB. JOHNSON.
other places, and died, as it is well known, in Xo. 8, Bolt Court, Fleet
Street, in 1784. His remains were placed in a grave under the statue of
Shakspeie, in Westminster Abbey, and near the resting-place of his
friend and companion, David Garrick.
ORIGIN OF THE STUFF BALL AT LIXCOLX
During the want of employment in the manufactories in 1801, Mrs.
Chaplain, of Blankney, in Lincolnshire, formed a patriotic institution
for the encouragement of the local trade of the district. A ball was given
at Lincoln for the benefit of the stuff manufactory, at which ladies were
admitted gratis, on their appearance in a stun gown and petticoat,
spun, wove, and finished within the county, and producing a ticket
50 UN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
signed by the weaver and dyer at Louth, one of which tickets was
delivered with ev cry twelve yards of stuff. The gentlemen were required
to appear without silk or cotton in their dress, stockings excepted. The
impulse thu< givt u to trade, was of the most signal service in relieving
distress, and at the same time promoting habits of industry.
STKVK.Ns's SI'KCIFIC.
In the reign of Charles II., Dr. Jonathan Goddard obtained 5,00()/.
for disclosing his secret for making a medicine, called " Guttcc. Aiujli-
canee" And in 1739, the Parliament of England voted 5,000/. to Mrs.
Stevens for a solvent for stone.
The celebrated David Hartley was very instrumental in prociiring this
grant to Joanna Stevens. He obtained also a private subscription to the
amount of 1,356, published one hundred and fifty-live successful cases,
and, by way of climax to the whole, after eating two hundred poiuuk
iccfi/ht of soap ! David himself died of the stone.
AN IMi'OSTOi;.
From the Testament of Jerome Sharp, printed in 17N(> : " I entered,"
says the narrator, " with one of my friends, and found a man resembling
an ourang-outaug crouched upon a stool in the manner of a tailor. His
complexion announced a distant climate, and his keeper stated that In-
found him in the island of Molucca. His body Avas bare to the hips,
havinga chain round tin- waist, seven or eight feet long, which was fastened
to a pillar, and permitted him to circulate out of the reach of the spectators.
His looks and gesticulations were frightful. His jaws never ceased snap-
ping, except when Bending forth discordant cries, which were said to be
indicative of hunger. He swallowed flints when thrown to him, but pre-
ferred raw meat, which he rushed behind his pillar to devour. He
groaned fearfully during his repast, and continued groaning until fully
satiated. When unable to procure more meat, he would swallow stones
with frightful avidity : which, upon examination of those which he acci-
dentally dropped, proved to he partly dissolve d by the acrid quality of
his saliva. In jumping about, the undigested stones were heard rattling
in his stomach. 1 '
The men of science quickly set to work to account for these feats, so
completely at variance with the laws of nature. JSefJ ire they had hit upon a
theory, the pretended Molucca savage was discovered to be a peasant from
the neighbourhood of Mesani/on, who chose to turn to account his natural
deformities. When staining his face for the purpose, in the dread of
hurting his eyes, he left the eyelids unstained, which completely puzzled
the naturalists. By a clever sleight of hand, the raw meat was left
behind the pillar, and cooked meat substituted in its] place. Some
asserted his passion for eating behind the pillar to be a proof of his
- origin: most polite persons, and more especially kings, liein::
addicted to feeding in public. The stones swallowed by the pretended
savage were taken from a vessel left purposely in the room full of them ;
small round stones, encrusted with pla>1er, which afterward- gave them
the appearance of having been masticated in the mouth. Before the dis-
covery of all this, the impostor had contrived to reap a plentiful harvest.
MARVELLOUS, HAKE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 51
PEBUVIAX BAEK.
In 1693, the Emperor Kanghi (then in the thirty- second year of his
reign, and fortieth of his age) had a malignant fever, which resisted the
remedies given by his physicians ; the emperor recollected that Tchang-
tchiu, (Father Gerbillon), and Pe-tsin, (Father Bouret) two jesnit mis-
sionaries, had extolled to him a remedy for intermittents, brought from
Europe, and to which they had given the name of chin-yo (two Chinese
words, which signify "divine remedies;"] and he proposed to try it,
but the physicians opposed it. The emperor, however, without their
knowledge took it, and with good effect. Sometime afterwards, he ex-
perienced afresh several fits of an intermittent, which, though slight,
made him uneasy ; this led him to proclaim through the city, that any
person possessed of a specific for this sort of fever, should apply without
delay at the palace, where patients might also apply to get ciired. Some
of the great officers of his household were charged to receive such
remedies as might be offered, and to administer them to the patients.
The Europeans, Tchang-tching, (Gerbillon) Hang-jo, (Father de Fon-
tenay, Jesuit) and Pe-tsin, (Bouret) presented themselves among others,
with a certain quantity of quinquina, offered it to the grandees, and
instructed them in the manner of using it. The next day it was tried
on several patients, who were kept in sight, and were cured by it. The
officers, or grandees who had been appointed to superintend the experi-
ment, gave an account to the Emperor of the astonishing effect of the
remedy, and the monarch decided instantly on trying it himself, provided
the hereditary prince gave his consent. The prince, however, not only
refused, but was angry with the grandees for having spoken so favour-
ably of a remedy, of which only one successful trial had been made ; at
last, after much persuasion, the Prince reluctantly grants his consent, and
the emperor J ;akes the bark without hesitation, and permanently recovers.
A house is given by the emperor to the Europeans, who had made known
the remedy, and through the means of Pe-tsin (Father Bouret) presents
were conveyed to the King of France, accompanied with the information,
that the Europeans (that is, the French Jesuits) were in high favour.
Jlistoire Generate de la Chine, fyc, tome xi. p. 168, 4to. Paris, 1780.
WHITE CATS.
In a number of "Loudon Gardener's Magazine," it is stated that
white cats with blue eyes are always deaf, of which extraordinary fact
there is the following confirmation in the " Magazine of Natural History,"
No. 2, likewise conducted bv Mr. Loudon : Some years ago, a white cat
of the Persian kind (probably not a thorough-bred one), procured from
Lord Dudley's at Hindley, was kept in a family as a favourite. The
animal was a female, quite white, and perfectly deaf. She produced, at
various times, many litters of kittens, of which, generally, some were
quite white, others more or less mottled, tabby, &c. But the extra-
ordinary circumstance is, that of the offspring prodiiced at one and the
same birth, such as, like the mother, were entirely white, were, like her,
invariably deaf; while those that had the least speck of colour on their
fur, as invariably possessed the usual faculty of hearing.
52 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
A WOMAN DEFENDS A FORT SINGLY.
Lord Kamcs in his "Sketches of the History of Man," relates an ex-
traordinary instance of presence of mind united with courage.
Some Iroquois in the year 1690, attacked the fort de Vercheres, in
Canada, which belonged to the French, and had approached silently,
hoping to scale the palisade, when some musket -shot forced them to re-
tire : on their advancing a second time they were again repulsed, in
wonder and amazement that they could perceive no person, excepting a
woman who was seen everywhere. This was Madame de Vercheres, who
conducted herself with as "much resolution and courage as if supported
by a numerous garrison. The idea of storming a place wholly unde-
fended, except by women, occasioned the Iroquois to attack the fortress
repeatedly, but, after two days' siege, they found it necessary to retire,
lest they should be intercepted in their retreat.
Two "years afterwards, a party of the same nation so unexpectedly
made their appearance before the same fort, that a girl of fourteen, the
daughter of the proprietor, had but just time to shut the gate. _ With
this youiu/ woman there was no person whatever except one soldier, but
not at all intimidated by her situation, she showed herself sometimes in
one place, sometimes in 'another, frequently changing her dress, in order
to give some appearance of a garrison, and always tired opportunely. In
short, the faint-hearted Iroquois once more departed without success. Thus
the presence of mind of this young girl was the means of saving the fort.
IMiKNTUKE OF A HORSE-RACE BETWIXT THE KAUI.S OF MORTON AND
ABEHCOKX AND THE LORD liOYDE.
As indicating the state of the English language amongst the nobility of
Scotland in 1(>21, the following is curious:
" Anv Imh'iittnir of nnr II<iriw-r<iiNC Ictin's nuj Lordx Morton//, Abcr-
corne, and lioyde. The erle of Mortouu obleissis himselft' to produce
(ii urge Uutherfuirdis J>arb Naig : The erle of Abercome obleissis him to
tarodooe his gray If aig : My lord Boyd obleissis him to produce his bay
horse ; Upoiie the conditions following. Thay ar to run the iirst Thurs-
day November nixtocum, thric mett mylcisof Cowper raise in Fyll'. The
waidger to be for enery horse ten dowbill Anegellis. The foirmest horse
to win the hail thivtty. Ilk rydaiv to be audit scot t is staiicwccht. And
the pairtio not comperaud, or rel'uisand to eonsigne the waidger, sail
undergo the foirl'altour of this sowme, and that money foirfaltit salbe
additt to the staik to be tane away be the wynner. Forder, we declair
it to be lesum to ony gentilman to produce ane horse and the lyk waidger,
and thay salbe weh-um. Subscrybith with all our handis, at Ilammiltoune
tlie fyfteine day oft' August 1621. MORTON, Ar.KumKM:,
KAKI.Y I si; OK CHOCOLATK.
All advertisement in "The Public Adviser," from Tuesday, June 16th,
to Tuesday, June l*:$d, KiJT, informs us that " in Biahopegate-street, in
(iuceii's-hi -ad-alley, at a Frenchman's House, i* an excellent "West India
diink, called ('Ju>i-i>tnfr, to be sold, where you may have it ready at any
time, and also unmade, at reasonable rates."
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 53
3IATTHEW BTJCKIXGEH.
Of all the imperfect beings brought into the world, few can challenge,
for mental and acquired endowments, any thing like a comparison to vie
with this truly extraordinary little man. Matthew Buckinger was a
native of Nuremberg-, in Germany, where he was bom, June 2, 1674,
without hands, feet, legs, or thighs ; in short, he was little more than
the trunk of a man, saving two excrescences growing from the shoulder-
blades, more resembling fins of a fish than arms of a man. He was the
last of nine children, by one father and mother, viz. eight sons and one
daughter ; after arming at the age of maturity, from the singularity of
54 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
his case, and the extraordinary abilities he possessed, he attracted the
notice and attention of all persons, of whatever rank in life, to whom he
was occasionally introduced.
It does not appear, by any account extant, that his parents exhibited
him at any time for the purposes of emolument, but that the whole of
his time must have been employed in study and practice, to attain the
wonderful perfection he arrived at in drawing, and his performance on
various musical instruments ; he played the flute, bagpipe, dulcimer,
and trumpet, not in the manner of general amateurs, but in the style of
a finished master. He likewise possessed great mechanical powers, and
conceived the design of constructing machines to play on all sorts of
musical instruments.
If Nature played the niggard in one respect with him she amply repaid
the deficiency by endowments that those blessed with perfect limbs could
seldom achieve. He greatly distinguished himself by beautiful writing,
drawing coats of arms, sketches of portraits, history, landscapes, &<.,
most of which were executed in Indian ink, with a pen, emulating iu
perfection the linest and most finished engraving. He was well skilled
in most games of chance, nor could the most experienced gameM.T
or juggler obtain the least advantage at any tricks, or game, with cards
or di
He used to perform before company, to whom he was i-xhihhed, various
tricks with cups and balls, corn, and living birds; and coxdd play at
skittles and ninepins with great dexterity ; shave himself with perfect
ease, and do many other tilings equally surprising in a pel-son so de-
ficient, and mutilated by Nature. His writings and sketches of figures,
landscapes, &c., were by no means uncommon, though curious ; it being
customary, with most persons who went to see him, to purchase some-
thing or other of his performance; and 'as he was always employed in
writing or drawing, he carried on a very successful trade, which, together
with the money he obtained by exhibiting himself, enabled him to sup-
port himself ami family in a very genteel manner. The late Mr. Herbert,
of Cheshunt, in Hertfordshire, editor of " AimVs History of Print-
ing," had many curious specimens of Huckinger's writing and drawing,
the most extraordinary of which was his own portrait, exquisitely done
on vellum, in which he most ingeniously contrived to insert, in the Mow-
ing curls of the wig, the 27th, 121st, 128th, 140th, H!th, and the 150th
I's.ilms, top-tlin- with the Lord's Praver, most beautifully and fairly
written. Mr. Uaar Herbert, son of the former, while carrying on the
business of a bookseller in Pall-Mall, caused this portrait to be engraved,
for which he paid Mr. Harding fifty guineas.
Buckinger was married four times, and had eleven cliildren, vix., one
by his first wife, three by his second, six by his third, and one }>\
last One of his wives was in the habit of treating him extremely ill,
frequently beating and other ways insulting him, which, for a long time,
ho very patiently put up with ; but once his anger was so much aroused,
that he sprung upon her like a fury, got her down, and buffeted her with
his stumps within an inch of her life; nor would ho suffer her to arise
until she promised amendment in future, which it seems she prudently
MARVELLOUS, BARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 55
adopted, through, fear of another thrashing. Mr. Buckinger was but
twenty-nine inches in. height, and died in 1722.
VOXDERFITL PROVISION OF XATfEE.
The insects that frequent the waters, require predaceous animals to
keep them, within due limits, as well as those that inhabit the earth ;
and the water-spider (Argyroneta aqnatica] is one of the most remark-
able upon whom that office is devolved. To this end, her instinct
instructs her to fabricate a kind of diving-bell in the bosom of that
element. She usually selects still waters for this purpose. Her house
is an oval cocoon, filled with air, and lined with silk, from which threads
issue in every direction, and are fastened to the surrounding plants. In
this cocoon, which is open below, she watches for her prey, and even
appears to pass the winter, when she closes the opening. It is most
commonly, yet not always, under water ; but its inhabitant has filled it
for her respiration, which enables her to live in it. She conveys the
air to it in the following manner : she usually swims on her back, when
her abdomen is enveloped in a bubble of air, and appears like a globe of
quicksilver. "With this she enters her cocoon, and displacing an equal
mass of water, again ascends for a second lading, till she has sufficiently
filled her house with it, so as to expel all water. How these little
animals can envelope their abdomen with an air-bubble, and retain it
till they enter their cells, is still one of Nature's mysteries that has not
been explained. It is a wonderful provision, which enables an animal
that breathes the atmospheric air, to fill her house with it under water,
and by some secret art to clothe her bodv with air, as with a garment,
which she can put off when it answers her purpose. This is a kind of
attraction and repulsion that mocks all inquiries.
STOiTACH BRrSH.
One of the Court Physicians, in the reign of Charles II., invented an
instrument to cleanse the stomach, and wrote a pamphlet on it ; and
ridiculous as a chylopoietic-scrubbing-brush may appear, it afterwards
got a place among surgical instruments, and is described as the Excutor
Ventriculi, or cleanser of the stomach; but the moderns not having
stomach for it, have transferred it to the wine merchant, who more ap-
propriately applies it to the scouring the interior of bottles. Heister
gives a minute description of it, and very gravely enters on the mode and
manner of using it : the patient is to drink a draught of warm water, or
spirit of wine, that the mucus and foulness of the stomach may bo
washed off thereby : then, the brush being moistened in some convenient
liquor, is to be introduced into the oesophagus, and slowly protruded
into the stomach, by twisting round its wire handle. When arrived in
the stomach, it is to be drawn up and down, and through the oesophagus,
like the sucker in a syringe, till it be at last wholly extracted. Some
recommend plentiful drinking in the operation, to be continued till no
more foulness is discharged. But though this contrivance is greatly
extolled, and said to prolong life to a great age, especially if practiced
once a week, month, or fortnight ; yet, there are very few (probably,
because tried by very few) instances of its happy effects.
56 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
POPULAR AMUSEMENTS IN 1743.
Iii Ma-rii' Enijland of the Olden Time, we find the following copy of a
hand-bill announcing performances :
By a company of English, French, and Germans, at Phillips's New
Wells, near the London Spa, Clerkemvell, 20th August, 1743.
This evening, and during the Summer Season, will be performed
several new exercises of Hope-dancing, Tumbling, Vaulting, Equilibres,
Ladder-dancing, and Balancing, by Madame Kerman, Sampson Rogetzi,
Monsieur German, and Monsieur Dominique ; with a new Grand Dance,
called Apollo and Daphne, by Mr. Phillips, Mrs. Lebrune, and others ;
singing by Mrs. Phillips and Mrs. Jackson ; likewise the extraordinary
performance of Herr von Eeckcnhcrg, who imitates the lark, thrush,
blackbird, goldfinch, canary-bird, flageolet, and German flute ; . a Sailor's
Dance by Mr. Phillips; and Monsieur Dominique (lies through a hogs-
head, and forces both heads out. To which will be added The Harlot's
Progress. Harlequin by Mr. Phillips ; Miss Kitty by Mrs. Phillips.
Also, an exact representation of the late glorkms victory gained over the
li hy the Knglish at the battle of Dettingen, with the taking of the
\Vhito Household Standard by the Scots Greys, and blowing up the
bridge, and destroying and drowning most part of the French army. To
begin every evening at five o'clock. Every one will be admitted for a
pint of wine, as usual.
MARVELLOUS, RAKE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 57
DAXCIXG BOOMS.
Dancing rooms were much frequented a century or so ago in London,
which was then pretty well supplied with this means of recreation. We
find that there*were rare dancing doings at the original dancing room
at thejf?eW-end of King-Street, Bloomsbury, . in the year 1742
Hickford's great room, Panton-Street, Haymarket, . . 1743
Mitre Tavern, Charing-Cross, .... 1743
Barber's Hall, ....... 1745
Richmond Assembly, ..... 1745
Lambeth Wells 1747
Duke's long room, Paternoster Row .... 1748
Large Assembly Room at the Two Green Lamps, near Exeter
Change, (at the particular desire of Jubilee Dickey !) . 1749
The large room next door to the Hand and Slippers, Long -lane,
West Smithfield ...... 1750
Lambeth Wells, where a Penny Wedding, in the Scotch manner,
was celebrated for the benefit of a young couple, . . 1752
Old Queen's Head, in Cock-lane, Lambeth, . . . 1755
and at Mr. Bell's, at the sign of the Ship, in the Strand, where, in 1755,
a Scotch Wedding was kept. The bride " to be dressed without any
linen ; all in ribbons, and green flowers, with Scotch masks. There will
be three bag-pipes ; a band of Scotch music, &c. &c. To begin precisely
at two o'clock. Admission, two shillings and sixpence."
ORIGIN OF THE USE OF TOBACCO.
" Maister JohnNicot, Counsellor to the Kyng, beeyng Embassadour for
the Kyng in Portugall, in the yeres of our Lorde, 1559, 60, 61, wente one
daye to see the Prysons of the Kyng of Portugall, and a gentleman
beeyng the keeper of the saide Prisons presented hym this hearbe, as a
strange Plant brought from Florida ; the same Maister JSTicot, hauyng
caused the saide hearbe to be set in his garden, where it grewe and mul-
tiplied marveillously, was vpon a tyme aduertised, by one of his Pages,
that a young man, a kinne to that Page, made a saye of that hearbe
bruised, both the herbe and the joice together upon an ulcer whiche he
had vpon his cheeke nere vnto his nose, coming of a Noli me tangere
whiche bega to take roote already at the gristles of the Nose, wherewith
he founde hym self marveillously eased. Therefore the said Maister
Nicot caused the sicke yong man to be brought before hym, causing the
said herbe to be continued to the sore eight or tenne daies, this saide
Noli me tangere, was vtterly extinguished and healed : and he had sent
it, while this cure was a working to a certaine Physition of the Kyng of
Portugall of the moste fame, for to see the further workyng and effect
of the said Nicotiane, and sending for the same yong man at the end of
tenne daies, the said Phisition seeyng the uisage of the said sicke yong
man certified, that the saide Noli me tangere was utterly extinguished,
as in deede he never felt it since. Within a while after, one of the
Cookes of the said Embassadour hauyng almost cut off his Thombe, with
a great choppyng knife, the steward of the house of the saide gentleman
58 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
ranne to the saide Xicutiane, and dresssed him there -with fyve or sixc
times, and so in the ende thereof he was healed : from that time fonvarde
this hearbe began to bee famous throughout all Lisltunte,. where the
court of the Kyng of Portugall was at that presente, and the vertue of
this saide hearbe was preached, and the people beganne to name it the
Ambsssadour's hearbe! Wherefore there- came ccrtaine daies after, a
Hi-lit li'inan, of the countrv, Father to one of the Pages of the Ambassa-
dour, who was troubled with an vlcer in his Legge, hauyng had the
same two yeres, and demaunded of the saide Ambassadour for his hearbe,
and vsing'the same in suche order as is before written, at the ende of
tenne or twelve daies he was healed. From that time fourth the fame
of that hearbe encreased in such sorte, that manye came from all places
to have that same herbe. Emong all others there was a woman that had
her face covered with a Ringwonne rooted, as though she had a Visour
on her face, to whom the saide L : Ambassadour caused the herbe to be
11 her, and told how she should vse it, and at the ende of eight or
tenne daies, this woman was thoroughleye healed, she came and shewed
herself to the Ambassadour, shewing him of her healyug. After there
came a captain to presente his sonne, sick of the Kinges euill to the
saide L: Ambassadour, for to send him into France, vnto whom there was
save mode of the saide hearbe, whiche in fewe daies did beginne to
shewe greate signes of healing, and finally was altogether healed of the
kinges euill. The L: Ambassadour seeing so great ctt'eetes proceeding
of this hearbe, and hauing heard say that the Lady Montigny that was,
dyed at Saint Germans, of an vlcer bredde in her breast, that did turn
to a yuli me tdiujrrc, for which there coidd never be remedev bee founde,
and likewise that the Countesso of Kutt'e, had sought for all the famous
1'hisitions of that llealmc, for to heale her fun.-, unto whom they could
no remedy, he thought it good to communicate the same into
l-'rauiice, and aid send it to Kyng Fraunces the seeonde ; and to the
Queen Mother, and to many other Lords of the Courtc with the maner
of govcrnyng the same: and how to applie it vnto the said diseases,
i vi n as he had found it by experience ; and chiefly to the lorde of Jarnac
:nour of Kogrll, with whom the .saide Lorde Arabassadour had
' omitie for the service of the Kyng. The whiche Lorde of Jarnac,
told one davc at the (Jneenes Table, that lie had eausi d the saide Vientiane
to be dUtilled, and caused the water to be dronke, mingled with water
I'liiftlinmii^ otherwise called eyebright, to one that was shorte breathed,
and was thm \\ith healed. " .)</!//'/// Xt-ica net oft/if IHI/'C fintiul icurlilr.
:-,;;.- -/;/,/ ///,,-.
I M I.N-I l:iMi:\T8 OF PfMsliMKNT AND TORTTTRK IX THE TOWKK
OF l.o.\]io\.
ar.' I'rw tilings amont the valuable collection of antiquities pre-
i in _ the TO\VI r i.f I.oiuloii, which excite so much intt rot as the
grim-looking objects forming the group figured in the accompanying
> ngraving.
\\ ith the exicntioiier's axe, that long list of unfortunates who liave
met their fate within the walls of the Tower, or on Tower Hill, since the
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 59
lime of Henry VIII., have been beheaded. Among them may be enu-
merated Queen Anne Bolevn, whom Henry first presented to his people
as their Queen while standing with her on the Tower Stairs, after she
had been conveyed thither from Greenwich with every possible pomp.
Crowds of gilded barges, with gay banners waving at their sterns, then
lined the stream. The noblest of the land were in the young Queen's
train or were waiting to receive her. Loud rounds of cannon, and soft,
merry strains, announced her arrival ; and the burly King stepped for-
ward to kiss her in the sight of the assembled multitude. On the same day,
three short years afterwards, she was led forth to execution within the
Tower walls. The good Sir Thomas More and the chivalrous Earl of Surrey,
Lady Jane Grey and her young husband, the gallant Raleigh, and a host
of others, also perished by that sad symbol of the executioner's office.
The block is said to be of less ancient date, but is known to have been
used at the execution of three Scotch lord* the unfortunate adherents
of the Pretender a little more than a century ago. On the top part of
the block, there are three distinct cuts, two of them very deep and pa-
rallel, and the other at an angle and less eftective.
The horrible instrument of torture called the " Scavenger's Daughter,"
was, in the " good old days," used as a means of extorting confession. The
head of the culprit was passed through the circular hole at the top, and
the arms through those below. The whole of this part of the machine
opens in somewhat the same manner as a pair of tongs, the upper part
being fixed round the neck and arms, and the semi-circular irons placed
on the legs. The body was then bent, and a strong iron bar was passed
through the irons connected with the head and arms, and those in which
the legs were placed. " The culprit would then," as one of the " Beef-
eaters" who attends on visitors makes a point of observing, " be doubled
up into very small compass, and made exceedingly uncomfortable."
The Bilboes need little explanation, being only a strong rod of iron,
with a nob at one end, on which are two moveable hoops, for the pur-
pose of holding the legs ; these being fixed, and a heavy iron padlock
put on the proper part the wearer was said to be in a Bnboe. Instru-
ments of this description were much used on board of ship for the pur-
pose of securing prisoners of war.
The Iron Collar is a persuader of a formidable description, for it
weighs upwards of 141bs.. and is so made that it can be fixed on the
neck and then locked. Such a necklace would, we think, be sufiiciently
inconvenient; but it is rendered still more uncomfortable by sundry
prickles of iron knowingly placed.
The Thumb-screw, also preserved in the Tower, is a characteristic
example of a species of torture at one time nmch resorted to. The
engraved example has been constructed so as to press both thumbs ;
nevertheless, it is a convenient little instrument, which might be easily
carried about in the pocket. We have met with varieties of the thumb"-
screw in several collections some for the accommodation of one thumb
only. In the Museum of the Royal Antiquarian Society of Scotland
there are some thumb-screws which" are said to have been used upon the
Covenanters.
60
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
Times have changed for the better since the " Scavenger s Daughter,
and the other matters represented, were amongst the mildest ot the
methods used for the purposes of punishment and intimidation. I he
stocks, the public whipping-posts, boilings, and burnings in Bnutbtte
1. Tlii- KxiTuti'iiicrV A\r. 2. The Block on which Lords lialincrino,
were beheaded. 3. The Scavenger's Daughter. 4. Spanish Bilboes. 5. Massiva
Iron Collar for the Neck. G. Thumb-Screw.
and elsewhere, the exhibition of dead men's heads over gateways,, the-
hiMit, the rack, 1hr ]>ilWy, the practice of making men eat their own
b<n>ks in Chcapsidi', drawing on hurdles to the place of execution, and.
then hanging, drawing, and ([iiartrring, chopping oil' hands and ears,
and other iv\,,ltiii'j- |iini-linicnt>, have lioiie out ul' use, uud it is gratiiy-
ing to know that we are all the beU'.i t<>r it.
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AXD QUAINT.
61
A BEAU BRUJI51ELL OF THE 17TH CENTURY.
This very curious representation of a first-rate exquisite is copied from
a very rare" broadside, printed in 1646, and styled The Picture of an
English Aiitickc, tcith a List <>fhi* ridiculous Habits and apish Gestures.
The engraving is a well-executed
copperplate, and tlie description
beneath is a brief recapitulation
of his costume : from which we
learn that he wears a tall hat, with
a bunch of riband on one side, and
a leather on the other : his face
^potted with patches : two love-
locks, one on each side of his head,
which hang- upon his bosom, and
are tied at the ends with silk rib-
and in bows. His beard on the
upper lip encompassing his mouth;
his band or collar edged with lace,
and tied with band-strings, secured
by a. ring: a tight vest, partly
open and short in the skirts, be-
tween which and his breeches his
shirt protruded. His cloak was
carried over his arm. His breeches
were ornamented by "many dozen
of points at the knees, and above
them, on either side, were two
"Teat bunches of riband of several
colours." His legs were incased
in " boot -hose tops, tied about the
middle of the calf, as long as a
pair of shirt-sleeves, double at the
ends like a run-band ; the tops of
his boots very large, fringed with lace, and turned down as low as his
spurres, which gingled like the bells of a niorrice-dancer as he walked ;"
the " feet of his boots were two inches too long." In his right hand
he carried a stick, which he " played with" as he " straddled" along
the streets " singing."
PEAYING FOR XEVEXGE.
In Xorth "\Vales, when a person supposes himself highly injured, it is
not uncommon for him to go to some church dedicated id a celebrated
saint, as Llan Elian in Anglesea, and Clynog in Carnarvonshire, and
there to offer his enemy. He kneels down on his bare knees in the
church, and ottering a piece of money to the saint, calls down curses and
misfortunes upon the offender and his family for generations to come ; in
the most firm belief that the imprecations will be fulfilled. Sometimes
they repair to a sacred well instead of a church.
62 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
\ Kr.MAi.K SAMPSOX: FROM A HANDBILL.
September 4th, 1818, was shown at Bartholomew Fair, " The strongest
woman in Europe, the celebrated French Female Hercules, Madame
Gobert, who will lift with her teeth a table five feet long and three feet
wide, with several persons seated upon it ; also carry thirty-six weights,
fifty-six pounds each, equal to 2,016lbs., and will disengage herself from
them without any assistance ; will carry a barrel containing 340 bottles ;
also an anvil 400 Ibs. weight, on which they will forge with four ham-
mers at the time she supports it on her stomach ; she will also lift with
JUT hair the same anvil, swing it from the ground, and suspend it in that
position to the astonishment of every beholder ; will take up a chair by
the hind stave with her teeth, and throw it over her head, ten feet from
her body. Her travelling caravan, (weighing two tons,) on its road from
Harwich to Leominster, owing to the neglect of the driver, and badness
of the road, sunk in the mud, nearly up to the box of the wheels ; the
two horses being unable to extrieate it she descended, and, witli apparent
I the caravan from its situation, without any assistance
what
TREES THAT GROW SHIRTS.
" We saw on the slope of the Cerra Dnida," says M. Humboldt,
" shirt trees, tifty feet high. The Indians cut off cylindrical pieces two
feet in diameter, from which they peel the red and fibrous bark, without
making any Longitudinal incision. This bark affords them a sort of
garment which resembles a sack of a very coarse texture, and without a
seam. The upper opening serves for the head, and two lateral holes are
cut to admit the arms. The natives wear these shirts of Marina in the
rainy season : they have the form of the ponchos and manos of cotton
which are so common in New Grenada, at Quito, and in Peru. As in
this climate the riches and beneficence of nature are regarded as the
primary causes of the indolence of the inhabitants, the missionaries do
not fail to say in showing the shirts of Marina, ' in the forests of
Oroonoko, garments are found ready made upon the tiv. >.' "
A KI:M M.I: vi:vn;ii.<>nrisr.
A female ventriloquist, named Barbara Jacobi, narrowly escaped being
burnt at the -lake in 1685, at Haarlem, where she was an inmate of the
public Hospital. The curious daily resorted thither to hear her hold a
dialogue with an imaginary personage with whom she conversed as if
concealed behind the curtains of her bed. This individual, whom she
called Joachim, and to whom she addressed a thousand ludicrous ques-
tions, which lie answer, d in the same familiar strain, was for some time
supposed to be a confederate. But when the bystanders attempted to
:i for him behind the curtains, his voice insiantly reproached them
with their curiosity from the opposite corner of the room. As Barbara
Jacobi had contrived to make herself familiar with all the gossip of the
city of Haarlem, the revelations of the pretended familiar were such as to
cause considerable embarrassment to those who beset her with impertinent
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAIXT.
63
CALMUC OPINION OF LIGHTNING.
The Calmucs hold the lightning to be the fire spit out of the mouth of a
dragon, ridden and scourged by evil Daemons, and the thunder they
make to be his roarings.
THE HEADING OF THE EXPIRING PENSYLVANIA JOURNAL.
Journalism has had its trials and difficulties in England, as well as in
America ; but we do not remember to have ever seen a more quaint last
Xiunber, than the subjoined fac-simile exhibits :
AND
WEEKLY ADVERT I SER .
EXPIRING .-In, Hopes of a Resunr-ec/fonloElFE ..
AM sorry to be
obliged to ac-
quaint my Read-
ers, that as The
STAMP - ACT, is
fear'd to be ob-
ligatory upon us after the
Firtt of November ensuing:,
(the fatal To-morrotc) the
Publisher of this Paper un-
able to bear the Burthen, has
thought it expedient TO STOP
awhile, in order to deliberate,
whether any Methods can be
found to elude the Chains
forged for us, and escape the
insupportable Slavery ; which
it is hoped, from the last
Representations now made
against the Act, may be ef-
fected. Mean while, I must
earnestly Request every In-
dividual of my Subscribers,
many of whom have been
long behind Hand, that they
would immediately Discharge
their respective Arrers, that
I may be able, not only to
support myself during the
Interval, but be better pre-
pared to proceed again with
this Paper, whenever an
opening for that Purpose ap-
pears, which I hope will be
soon.
WILLIAM BRADFORD.
NOSTRUMS.
Unsuccessful gamesters used formerly to make a knot in their linen ;
of late years they have contented themselves with changing their chair as
a remedy against ill-luck. As a security against cowardice, it was once
only necessary to wear a pin plucked from the winding sheet of a corpse.
To insure a prosperous accouchement to your wife, you had but to tie her
girdle to a bell and ring it three times. To get rid of warts, you were to
fold up in a rag as many peas as you had warts, and throw them upon
the high road ; when the unlucky person who picked them up became
your substitute. In the present day, to cure a tooth-ache, you go to
your dentist. In the olden time you would have solicited alms in honour
of St. Lawrence, and been relieved without cost or pain.
04 TKN THorsAM) \\ ( (XDKHFUL THIM.s;
CHII.DKF.X.
Uaillet mentions one hundred and sixty-three chil Urn endowed with
. .rdinarv talents, among whom low arrived at an advanced age. The
two sons of Yjuintilian, so vaunted by their father, did not reach their
(nth year. Hermogenes, -\vlio, at the age of fifteen, taught rhetoric to
Marcus Aurelius, who taawn^had over the most celebrated rhetoricians of
.-, did not die, but at twenty-four, lost his faculties, and forgot all
lit- had previously acquired. Pica di Mirandola died at thirty-two ;
Johannes Seciuulus at twenty-five : having at the age of fifteen composed
admirable Greek and Latin verses, and become profoundly versed in
jurisprud.-nc and letters, i'aseal, whose genius developed itself at ten
years old, did not attain the third of a century.
In 1791, a child was born at Luheck, named Henri Heinekem, whose
precocity was miraculous. At ten months of age, he spoke distinctly ;
at twelve, learnt the Pentateuch by rote, and at fourteen months, was
p rfeetly acquainted with the Old and Xew Testaments. At two years
j , h>. was as familiar with Ancient History as the most erudite
authors of antiquity. Sauson and Danville only could compete with him
-.rraphical knowledge: ( 'ieero would have thought him an "alter
'"ii hearing him converse in Latin; and in modern languages lie
u;i- equally proficient. This wonderful child was unfortunately carried
i.ff in his fourth vear. According to a popular proverb "the sword
ut the sheath."
HTKCT OF jirsir ox A i'h,i;ox.
Ilingley gives a singular anecdote of the effect of music on a pigeon,
'ated !>y John Lockman, in some reflections concerniim- o]>eras,
sed to his musical drama of Rosalinda. He was staying at a
whose daughter was a line performer on the harpsichord,
andobs'Tved a pigeon, which, whenever the voting lady played the son-
Speri-si," in Handel's opera of Adme'tus (and this Imly), would
:id from an adjacent dove-lions,- to the room-window where she sat,
and listen to it apparently with the most pleasing emotions ; and when
the song was finished it always returned immediatelv to the dove-
house.
PiiVNKR OF FASCINATION IX SXAKI.s.
f animals are held in universal dread by others, and not the
terrible i> the ell'ect pr,,duc:d by Hi,- rattle-snake. .Mr. I'ennanl
lliat this snake will frequently lie at the bottom of a tree, on
which a squirrel i> aeated. He li\,- s hi> i yes OH tihfi animal, and from
.oment it cannot escape: it he-ins a' doleful outcry, M hieli is so
'uiown that a pa- i l>\, on hearin- it, immediately knows that
aal :,t. The squirrel runs up the tree a lit tie \\ a\ , come>
down a-ain, then -,,,-s up and afterward.-, comes still IOW.'T. The
HUtte continues at the bottom of the live, with his e\es li\ed ,,n the
-q'liir. !. ajid his attent ion i^ so entirely taken up. that a person acei-
tontall> a|.pr,ia,hing may make a euiiM'derable noise, without so much
,0 snake's- turning about. The s.piiml conns lower, and at last
MARVELLOUS, HARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. ' 65
leaps clown to the snake, whose mouth is already distended for its recep-
tion. Le Vaillant confirms this fascinating terror, by a scene he wit-
nessed. He saw on the branch of a tree a species of shrike trembling
as if in convulsions, and at the distance of nearly four feet, on another
branch, a large species of snake, that was lying with outstretched neck
and iiery eyes, gazing steadily at the poor animal. The agony of the
bird was so great that it was deprived of the power of moving away,
and when one of the party killed the snake, it was found dead upon the
spot and that entirely from fear for, on examination, it appeared not
to have received the slightest wound. The same traveller adds, that a
short time afterwards he observed a small mouse in similar agonizing
convulsions, about two yards from a snake, whose eyes were intently
fixed upon it ; and on frightening away the reptile, and taking up the
mouse, it expired in his hand.
SECOND SIGHT.
About the year 1725, the marvellous history of a Portuguese woman
set the whole world of science into confusion, as will be found by refer-
ring to the "Mercure de France." This female was said topossess the gift
of discovering treasures. Without any other aid than the keen penetra-
tion of her eyes, she was able to distinguish the different strata of earth,
and pronounce unerringly upon the utmost distances at a single glance.
Her eye penetrated through every substance, even the human body ; and
she could discern the mechanism, and circulation of all animal fluids,
and detect latent diseases ; although less skilful than the animal mag-
netisers, she did not aft'eot to point out infallible remedies. Ladies could
learn from her the sex of their forthcoming progeny.
The King of Portugal, greatly at a loss for water in his newly built
palace, consulted her ; and after a glance at the spot, she pointed out an
abundant spring, upon which his Majesty rewarded her with a pension,
the order of Christ, and a patent of nobility.
In the exercise of her miraculous powers, certain preliminaries were
indispensable. She was obliged to observe a rigid fast ; indigestion, or
the most trifling derangement of the stomach, suspending the marvellous
powers of her visual organs.
The men of science of the day were of course confounded by such
prodigies. But instead of questioning the woman, they consulted the
works of their predecessors ; not forgetting the inevitable Aristotle. By
dint of much research, they found a letter from Huygens asserting that
there was a prisoner of war at Antwerp, who could see through stuffs of
the thickest texture provided they were not red. The wonderful man
was cited in confirmation of the wonderful woman, and rice versa,
CHARACTER INDICATED BY TIIF. KAI!:-.
According to Aristotle, large ears are indicative of imbecility ; while
small ones announce madness. Ears which are flat, point out the rustic
and brutal man. Those of the fairest promise, are firm and of middling
size. Happy the man who boasts of square ears ; a sure indication of
sublimity of soul and purity of life. Such, according to Suetonius, were
the ears of the Emperor Augustus.
66 TEN THOUSAND WONDEBFUL THINGS;
GROANING BOARDS.
Groaning boards were the wonder in London in 1682. An elm plank
w.i> exhibited to the king, which, being touched by a hot iron, invariably
produced a sound resembling deep groans. At the Bowman Tavern, in
1 >rury Lane, the mantel-piece did the same so well that it was supposed
to In' part of the same elm -tree; and the dresser at the Queen's Arms
Tavern, St. Martin le Grand, was found to possess the same quality.
St range times when such things were deemed wonderful ; even to
in writing exhibition before the monarch.
ANCIENT PLOUGHING AND THRESHING.
The ancient plough was light, the draught comparatively easy ; but then
the very lightness required that the ploughman should lean upon it with
AJJCIEXT MOPE OF FLOUCiHIXO.
liis whole weight, or rise it would glide over the soil without making a
single furrow. " Unless," said Pliny, " the ploughman stoop forward, to
pi-cs.-. down tin plough, as well as to conduct it, truly it will turn aside."
Ovii wnv anciently employed in threshing corn, and the same custom
i> still retained in Egypt and the east. This operation is effected by
trampling ujxin the sheaves, and by (bagging a clumsy machine, furnished
with three rollers that turn on their axles. A wooden chair is attached to
the niiiehine, and on this a dri\. r Mttte himself, urging his oxen backward*
ami forwards among the sheave-, which have previously heen thrown into
>:> of about dgn feet wide and two in height. The -rain thus beaten
out, I.-, collected in an open place, and shaken against the wind by an
unt. with a small slios. 1, or, as it is termed, a winnowing fan, which
chaff and leaves the grain uninjured :
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AXD QUAINT. 67
" Thus, with autumnal harvests cover'd o'er,
And thick bestrewn, lies Ceres' sacred floor;
While round and round, with never- wearied pain,
The trampling steers beat out th' unnumber'd grain." HOMEII.
Horace further tells us, that the threshing floor was mostly a smooth
space, surrounded with mud walls, having a barn or garner on one side ;
occasionally an open field, outside the walls, was selected for this purpose,
yet uniformly before the town or city gates. Such was the void place
wherein the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, sat each of
them on his throne, clothed in his robes, at the entering in of the gate of
Samaria, and all the prophets prophesied before them. In the marginal
reading we are informed, that this void space was no other than a thresh-
ing floor ; and truly the area was well adapted for such an assemblage,
OXBN THRESHING COBX.
being equally suited to accommodate the two kings and their attendants,
and to separate them from the populace.
Eastern ploughshares were of a lighter make than ours, and those who
notice the shortness and substance of ancient weapons, among such as are
preserved in museums, will understand how readily they might be applied
to agricultural uses.
FROST FAIRS.
In 1788-9, the Thames was completely frozen over below London-
bridge. Booths were erected on the ice ; and puppet-shows, wild beasts,
bear-baiting, turnabouts, pigs and sheep roasted, exhibited the various
amusements of Bartholomew Fair multiplied and improved. From
Putney -bridge down to Iledriff was one continued scene of jollity during
this seven weeks' saturnalia. The last frost fair was celebrated in the
68 'ir.N THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
year 1814. The frost commenced on 2 7th December, 1813, and continued
1" the 5th February, 1814. There was a grand walk, or mall, from
Hlackfriars-bridge to London-bridge, that was appropriately named
The Citi/ Rontl, and lined on each side with booths of all descriptions.
.d'printing-pivs~-s were erected, and at one of these an orange-
eol.mred standard was hoisted, with " Oranr/e liin-en" printed in large
characters. There were E and Rouge et Noir tables, tee-totums, and
skittles : concerts of rough music, viz. salt-boxes and rolling-pins, grid-
. horns, and marrow-bones and cleavers. The carousing^
booths were rilled with merry parties, some dancing to the sound of the'
tiddle, others sitting round blazing fires smoking and drinking. A.
printer's devil bawled out to the spectators, " Now is your time, ladies
and gentlemen, now is your time to support the freedom of the press '.
lie press enjoy greater liberty? Here you rind it working in the
middle of the Thames !
MAGIC RAIN STONE.
The Indian magi, who are to invoke Yo He "Wall, -and mediate with
the supreme holy fire that he may i;ive seasonable rains, have a trans-
parent stone of sxxpposed great power in assisting to bring down the rain,
when it is put in a basin of water, by a reputed divine virtue, impressed
on one of the like sort, in time of old, which communicates it circularly.
This stone would suffer a great decay, they assert, were it even seen by
their own laity : but it by foreigners, it would be utterly despoiled of its
divine communicative power.
THE BOM HARDIER BEETLB.
The bombardier beetle (('itnili'i* <->-cjti/ti><s) when touched produces a
noise resembling the discharge of a musket in miniature, during which
a bine smoke may be seen to proceed from its extremity. Kolandcr says
that it can give twenty discharges successively. A bladder placed near
its posterior extremity, is the arsenal that contains its store. This is its
chief det'i nee against its enemies : and the vapour or liquid that pro-
ceeds from it is of so pungent a nature, that if it happens to be dis-
charged into the eyes, it makes them smart as though brandy had been
thrown into them. The principal enemy of the bombardier is another
insect of the same tribe, but three or four times its sixe. When pursued
and fatigued it has recourse to this stratagem ; it lies down in the path
of its enemy, who advances \\\\\\ open mouth to seixe it; but on the
discharge "' the artillery, this suddenly draws back, and remains for a
while confused, during which the bombardier conceals itself in some
neighbouring crevice, but if not lucky enough to find one, the other
returns to the attack, take* the insect 'by the head, and bears it oil'.
TIII: pn.i.oin mu I:\HNO FLESH IN LENT.
Even in this kingdom, so hit^ as the Reformation, eating il,. s ], [ u Lent
was rewarded with the pillory. An instance of this occurs in the
"Patriot King," the particulars of which, quoted in " Clay is Calen-
daria," are somewhat amusing. Thomas r'rcburn's wife, of Pater -
nonter-row, London, bavin- < xpr.-- ,. -d a particular inclination for pig,
MARVELLOUS, HARE, CUJUOUS, AXJ) QUAINT. 09
one was procured, ready for the spit ; but the butter-woman who pro-
vided it, squeamish as to the propriety of what she had done, carried a
foot of it to the Dean of Canterbury. 'The Dean was at dinner, and one
of his guests was Freburn's landlord, and Garter King at Arms, who
sent to know if any of his family were ill, that he ate flesh in Lent.
' All well,' quoth Freburn, (perhaps too much of a Dissenter for the
times,) ' only my wife longs for pig.' His landlord sends for the Bishop
of London's apparitor, and orders him to take Freburn and his pig be -
fore Stocksly, the Bishop, who sent them both to Judge Cholmley ; but
he not being at home, they were again brought back to the Bishop, who
committed them to the Compter. Xext day, being Saturday, Freburn
was carried before the Lord Mayor, who sentenced him to stand in the
pillory on the Monday following, with one half of the pig on one shoulder,
and the other half on the other. Through Cromwell's intercession, the
poor man at last gained his liberty by a bond of twenty pounds for his
appearance. The mischief-making pig was, by the order of the Bishop,
buried in Finsbury-field, by the hand of his Lordship's apparitor ; but
Freburn was turned out of his house, and could not get another in four
years. Hence we may infer his ruin.
HUGE CANNON AT THE SIEGE OF CONSTANTINOPLE.
In 1432, several kinds of artillery are mentioned, cannons, bombards,
vulgaires, coulverins. ' The vulgaires were ordinary artillery. In the
year 1460, James II. of Scotland was killed by the accidental bursting
of a cannon. The artillery of the Turks, in the year 1453, siirpassed
whatever had yet appeared in the world. A stupendous piece of
ordnance was made by them ; its bore was twelve palms, and the stone
bullet weighed about 600 Ibs. ; it was brought with great difficulty before
Constantinople, and was flanked by two almost of equal magnitude :
fourteen batteries were brought to bear against the place, mounting 130
guns ; the great cannon could not be loaded and tired more than seven
times in one day. Mines were adopted by the Turks, and counter-
mines by the Christians. At this siege, which was in 14o3, ancient and
modern artillery were both used. Cannons, intermingled with machines
for casting stones and darts, and the battering-rain was directed against
the walls. The fate of Constantinople could no longer be averted : the
diminutive garrison was exhausted by a double attack ; the fortifications
were dismantled on all sides by the Ottoman cannon ; a spirit of discord
impaired the Christian strength. Aftei 1 a siege of fifty-three days,
Constantinople, which had defied the power of Chosroes, the Chagan,
and the Caliphs, was subdued by the arms of Mahomet II.
A 3IAN OT A VAULT ELEVEN" DAYS.
St. Benedict Fink. " 1673, April 23, was buried M r Thomas Sharrow,
Cloth-worker, late Churchwarden of this parish, killed by an accidental
fall into a vault, in London Wall, Amen Corner, by Paternoster Row,
and was supposed had lain there eleven days and nights before any one
could tell where he was, Let all that read thin take heed of drink.
Truly, a quaint warning !
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
BLIND GRANNY.
This miserable, wretched, drunken object, who was blind of one eye,
i; I to annoy the passengers in the streets of London, while sober, with
licking her blind eye with her tongue, which was of a most enormous
l>'!ii;th, and thickness ; indeed, it was of such a prodigious size, that her
mouth could not contain it, and she could never close her lips, or to usr
:i nimmon expression, keep her tongue within her teeth. This wonder-
ful tV-at of washing her eye with her tongue was exhibited with a view
of obtaining money from such as crowded around her, and no sooner had
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
71
she obtained sufficient means, but she hastened to the first convenient
liquor-shop, to indulge her propensity in copious libations, and when
properly inspired, would rush into the streets with all the gestures of a
frantic maniac, and roll and dance about, until she became a little
sobered, which was sometimes accelerated by the salutary application of
a pail of water, gratuitously bestowed upon her by persons whose door-
way she had taken possession of, as shelter from the persecuting torment-
ings of boys and girls who generally followed her.
ANCIENT FEMALE COSTUME.
A good specimen of the costume of a female
of the higher classes is here given, from an
effigy of a lady of the Ilyther family, in
Ryther church, Yorkshire, engraved in Hol-
lis's Monumental EJfiyies, Sbe wears a
wimple, covering the neck and encircling
the head, the hair of which is gathered in
plaits at the sides, and covered with a kerchief,
which falls upon the shoulders, and is secured
by a fillet passing over the forehead. The
sleeves of the gown hang midway from the
elbow and the wrist, and display the tight
sleeve with its rows of buttons beneath. The
mantle is fastened by a band of ribbon, se-
cured by ornamental studs. The lower part
of the dress consists of the wide gown, lying
in folds, and completely concealing the feet,
which have been omitted, in order to display
the upper part of this interesting effigy to
greater advantage.
CHILCOTT, THE GIANT.
1815. Died at Trenaw, in Cornwall, a person known by the appella-
tion of Giant Chillcott. He measured at the breast six feet nine inches,
and weighed four hundred and sixty pounds. One of his stockings held
six gallons of wheat.
DE. LETTSOM'S REASONS FOR DISMISSING A SERVANT.
The Doctor was in the practice of carrying the produce of his fees
.carelessly in his coat-pocket. His footman being aware of this, used
to make free with a guinea occasionally, while it hung tip in the passage.
The Doctor, having repeatedly missed his gold, was suspicious of the
footman, and took an opportunity of watching him. He succeeded in
the detection, and, without even noticing it to the other servants, called
him into his study, and coolly said to him, " John, art in want of money ?"
" K"o ; " replied John. " Oh ! then, why didst thou make so free with my
pocket ? And since thou didst not want money, and hast told me a lie,
I must part with thee. Now, say what situation thou wouldst like
abroad, and I will obtain it for thee ; for I cannot keep thee ; I cannot
recommend thee ; therefore thou must go." Suffice it to say, the Doctor
procured John a situation, and he went abroad.
72 TKX THOlvYNP WONDEKITL THINGS;
II VXDHILL FROM rECKHAM FAIR IX 1726.
Our ancestor* just i:j:> years ago had but limited opportunities tor gra-
tifying a taste tor Natural History it' we may judge from the supply of
animals deemed sufficient to attract attention in 1726 :
" Geo. I. R.
"To the lovers of living curiosities. To be seen during the time of
Peck/id < Fnir, a Grand Collection of Living Wild Beasts and Birds,
lately arrived from the remotest parts of the World.
" 1. The I\-llic<iH that suckles her young with her heart's blood, from
Egypt.
"2. The Noble Vnltur Cock, brought from ArcJtanr/ell, having the
finest tallonsof any bird that seeks his prey ; the tore part of his head is
covered with hair, the second part resembles the wool of a Black ; below
that is a white ring, having a Kuff, that he cloaks his head with at night.
" 3. An Eagle of the Sun, that takes the loftiest flight of any bird
that flies. There is no bird but this that can fly to the face of the Sun
with a naked eye.
" 4. A curious Beast, bred from a Lioness, like a foreign Wil<l Cut.
" 5. The JIc-1'inif/irr, from Turkey, allowed by the curious to be one
of the greatest raritie u in Bnftaml, on which are thousands of
spots, and not two of a lik>
" 6 & 7. The two tierce and surprising fiytMMC, Male and Female,
from the River <;<unl>iti. These Creatures imitate the human voice, and
.: roes out of their huts and plantations to devour them.
Th' v have a mane like a horse, and two joints in their hinder leg more
than any other creature. It is remarkable that all other beasts are to be
tamed, but Hi/minx they are not.
"8. An JSMftMMBN Tn/iii Stirof/i', having all the actions of the human
^prcies, which (when at its full growth) will be upwards of five fe< t high.
"Also several other surprising Creatures of different sorts. To be
tVom !> in the morning till 9 at night, till they are sold. Also, all
manner of curiosities of different sorts, are bought and sold at the abov
place by John Bennett."
SOMN VMHfl.ISM.
Some years ago a Hampshire Baronet was nearly driven to distraction
by the fact that, every night, he went to bed in a shirt, and every morn-
ing awoke naked, without the smallest trace of the mis-.ing garment
liscovered.
Hundreds of shirts disappeared in this manner: and as there was no
fire in his i in, it was impossible to acc'ount for the mystery. The
servants believed their master to be mad ; and even he began to fancy
him-' !f bewitched. In tin* conjuncture, he implored an intimate friend
to sleep in the room with him : and ascertain by what manner of mys-
midniirlit visitant his garment \\as so strangely removed, The
friend, accordingly, took up his station in the haunted chamber: and lo !
k struck one, the unfortunate I'.aronet, who had previously
_rivu audible intimation of beincr t'ast asleep, rose from bis bed, rekindled
with a match tin' candle which bad b.^u extinguished, deliberately
MARVELLOUS, It ARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 73
opened the door, and quitted the room. His astonished friend followed ;
saw him open in succession a variety of doors, pass along several pas-
sages, traverse an open court, and eventually reach the stable-yard ;
where he divested himself of his shirt, and disposed of it in an old dung--
heap, into which he thrust it hy means of a pitch-fork. Having finished
this extraordinarv operation, without taking the smallest heed of his
friend who stood looking on, and plainly saw that he was walking in his
sleep, he returned to the house, carefully reclosed the doors, re-extin-
guished the light, and returned to bed ; where the following morning he
awoke as usual, stripped of his shirt !
The astonished eye-witness of this extraordinary scene, instead of
apprising the sleep-walker of what had occurred, insisted that the fol-
lowing night, a companion should sit up with him ; choosing to have
additional testimony to the truth of the statement he was about to make ;
and the same singular events were renewed, without the slightest change
or deviation. The two witnesses, accordingly, divulged all they had seen
to the Baronet ; who, though at first incredulous, became of course con-
vinced, when, on proceeding to the stable-yard, several dozens of shirts
were discovered ; though it was surmised that as many more had been
previously removed by one of- the helpers, who probably looked upon the
hoard as stolen goods concealed by some thief.
KILLED BY EATING MtTTOX AND PUDDING.
Teddington. " James Parsons, who had often eat a shoulder of mutton
or a peck of hasty pudding, at a time, which caused his death, buried
March 7, 1743-4, aged 36.''
CORAL RKEFS.
Coral reefs are produced by innumerable small zoophytes, properly
called Cwdl-iitst-ctii. The Coral* insect consists of a little oblong bag of jelly
closed at one end, but having the other extremity open, and surrounded
by tentacles or feelers, usually six or eight in number, set like the rays of a
star. Multitudes of these diminutive animals unite to form a common stony
skeleton called Coral, or Madrepore, in the minute openings of which
they live, protruding 1 their mouths and tentacles when under water ; but
suddenly drawing them into their holes when danger approaches. These
animals cannot exist at a greater depth in the sea than about ten fathoms,
and as the Coral Islands often rise with great steepness from a sea more
than three hundred fathoms deep, it would seem that a great alteration
must have taken place in the depth of the ocean since the time when these
little arcliitects commenced their labours. Throughout the whole range
of the Polynesian and Australasian islands, there is scarcely a league of
sea unoccupied by a coral reef, or a coral island ; the former springing up
to the surface of the water, perpendicularly from the fathomless bottom,
" deeper than did ever plummet sound :" and the latter in various stages,
from the low and naked rock, with the water rippling over it, to an un-
interrupted forest of tall trees.
"Everyone," says Mr. Darn-in, "must be struck with astonishment
when he first beholds one of these vast rings of coral rock, often many
leagues in diameter, here and there surmounted by a low verdant island
74
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
with dazzling white shores, bathed on the outside by the foaming breakers
of the ocean, and on the inside surrounding a calm expanse of water,
which, from reflection, is of a bright but pale green colour. The naturalist
"ill feelthis aatnnislinii.nt more deeply after having examined the soft
almost ntatmotn bodies of these apparently insignilicant m-atmvs
1 when he knows that the solid reef increases only on the outer edge
which, day and night, is lashed by the breakers of an ocean never at i
oral being beautiful in form and colour, is sought after for purposes of
ament : and it, fiihery or gathering gives employment to many persons
Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, the MeditemaMn, and otlu-V P l.
^traits of Messina, the rock which yield coral are from about .V.o
Wfcet below th.- rarfctt of th, wat.-r. 'Tin- f-oral h.-iv -rows to about
!>t n 1,-ngth of twelve inches, and requires eight or t.-n years to
toperfectjon. In th, p-n.-ral mode of tishing for coral, the instru-
t used consists of two heavy beams of wood, secured together at right
angles, and loaded with stones to sink them.
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 75
MILITARY HATS TX OLDEX TI3IK.
No. 1, Charles I.
No. 2, William III.
No. 3, Niveniois.
X<> 4, Kevonlmller.
Xo. o. families.
No. 6, Wellington.
WHY A 51 AX ilEASVIMCS MORE IX THE MORXIXG THAX IX THE
EVEXIXG, &C.
There is an odd phenomenon attending the human body, as singular as
common : that a person is shorter standing than lying ; and shorter in
the evening when he goes to bed, than in the morning when he rises.
This remark was first made in England, and afterwards confirmed at
Paris, by M. Morand, a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences in
France, and by the Abbot Fontana likewise.
The last-mentioned person found, from a year's experience, that
ordinarily in the night he gained five or six lines, and lost nearly as
much in the day.
The cause of which effect, so ancient, so common, but so lately per-
ceived, proceeds from the different state or condition of the inter-
vertebral annular cartilages.
The vertebra, or joints of the spine, are kept separate, though joined
by particular cartilages, every one of which has a spring. These yield
TG TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
in ;ill sid.-s, without any inflexion on the spine, to the weight of the
head and upper extremities ; but this is done by very small and imper-
ceptible derives, and must of all when the upper parts of the body are
loaded witli any exterior weight. So that a man is really taller after
Jyiiu- some time, than after walking, or carrying a burthen a great while.
this reason it is that, in the day and evening, while one is sitting
or standing, the superior parts of the body that weigh or press upon the
inferior, press those clastic annular cartilages, the bony jointed work is
contracted, the superior parts of the body descend towards the inferior,
and proportionably as one approaches the other, the height of the stature
dimmii
Hence it was, that a fellow enlisting for a soldier, by being measured
ivcr-night, was found deficient in height, and therefore refused; but by
accident being gauged again the next morning, and coming up to the
stature, he was admitted.
On the contrary, in the night-time, when the body is laid a-bed, as it
is in an horizontal situation, or nearly so, the superior parts do not weigh,
or but very little, upon the inferior ; the spring of the cartilages is
imbent, the vertebra} are removed from one another, the long jointed
work of the spine is dilated, and the body thereby prolonged; so that a
person finds himself about half an inch, or more, higher in stature in
the. morning than when going to bed. This is the most natural and
simple reason that can le given, for the different heights of the same
; at different times.
A SENSIBLE DOG BEFU8ING TO BAIT A CAT.
A dustman of the name of Samuel Butcher, residing at Mile-end, who
kept a large dog, having taken it into his head to divert himself and
other-, a few days airo, by the cruel sport of cat baiting, which the dog
refusing to perform to the satisfaction of his master, was beat by him in
! brutal manner, when the animal at length, in retaliation, flew at
his mmieieifiil keeper, and inflicted very severe wounds about his face,
limbs, and body, in some instances tearing large mouthfuls of his flesh
<|iiite clean out, and at one time clun^ so fast to the man, that before he
disengaged from him the animal's throat was obliged to be cut. The
man was promptly conveyed to the London Hospital, and there died of
juries In- received.
r;i;n IM, HIMSKI.F SHOD.
A horse havintr been turned into a field by its owner, Mr. .Joseph
Lane, of Fa.vonibe, in the parish of Ashclworth, was misled therefrom
the next morning, and the usual inquiries set afoot, as to what could
liav. be." mie of him. lie had, it seems, been shod (all fours) a few davs
before, and as usual got pinched in a foot. Feeling, no doubt, a lively
sen BOO f proper shoeing, and desirous of relieving the cause of pain, h'e
ci.ntnved to unhang the gate of his pasture with his mouth, and make
the be-t of liis way to the smithy, a distance of a mile and a half from
Fascombe, waiting respectfully at the door until the bun^lin^ urtisf
;>. The smith relates that he found him there at, opening his shed ;
'lie h..i-e advaiu ed to the forge and held Tip his ailing foot ; and
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 77
that he himself, upon examination, discovered the injury, took off the
shoe, and replaced it more carefully, which having done, the sagacious
creature set oft' at a merry pace homewards. Soon after, Mr. Lane's
servants passed by the forge in quest of the animal, and upon inquiry,
received for answer ' ' Oh, he has been here and got shod, and is gone
home again."
MAN WITHOUT II .-VXDS.
The following account is extracted from a letter sent to the Rev. Mr.
Wesley by a person named Walton, dated Bristol, October 14, 1788 :
" I went with a friend to visit this man, who highly entertained us at
breakfast, by putting his half-naked foot upon the table as he sat, and
carrying Ids tea and toast between his great and second toe to his'mouth,
with as much facility as if his foot had been a hand, and his toes lingers.
I put half a sheet of paper upon the floor, with a pen and ink-horn : he
threw off his shoes as he sat, took the ink-horn in the toes of his left foot,
and held the pen in those of his right. lie then wrote three lines, as well
as most ordinary writers, and as swiftly. He writes out all his own bills,
and other accounts. He then showed how he shaves himself with a razor
in his toes, and how he combs his own hair. He can dress and undress
himself, except buttoning his clothes. He feeds himself, and can bring
both his meat or his broth to his mouth, by holding the fork or spoon in
his toes. He cleans his own shoes ; can clean the knives, light the fire,
and do almost every other domestic biisiness as well as any other man.
He can make his hen-coops. He is a farmer by occupation ; he can milk
his own cows with his toes, and cut his own hay, bind it up in bundles,
and carry it about the field for his cattle. Last winter he had eight heifers
constantly to fodder. The last summer he made all his own hay-ricks.
He can do all the business of the hay-field (except mowing), as last and
as well, with only his feet, as others can with rakes and forks. He goes
to the field and catches his horse ; he saddles and bridles him with his
feet and toes. If he has a sheep among his flock that ails anything, he
can separate it from the rest, drive it into a corner, and catch it when
nobody else can. He then examines it, and applies a remedy to it. He
is so strong in his teeth, that he can lift ten pecks of beans with them.
He can throw a great sledge-hammer as far with his feet as other men
can with their hands. In a word, he can nearly do as much without, as
others can with, their arms. He began the world with a hen and
chicken ; with the profit of these he purchased an ewe ; the sale of these
procured him a ragged colt (as he expressed it) and then a better ; after
this he raised a few sheep, and now occupies a small farm."
THE THIEF CArGHT. IX HIS OWX TRAP.
A man having, some years since, stolen a sheep at Mitcham, in
Surrey, tied its hind legs together, and put them over* his forehead to
carry it away, but in getting over a gate the sheep, it is thought, strug-
gled, and, by a sudden spring, slipped its feet down to his throat ; for
they were found in that posture, the sheep hanging on one side of ths
gate and the man dead on the other.
78
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
COSTUME OF THE LADIES IX THE TIME OF THE PLAXTA.GEXETS.
The ladies' costume may seen to advantage in the annexed engraving
from the Sloane MSS., No. 3983. A wimple or gorget is wrapped
round the neck, and is fastened by pins at the sides of the face, which
are covered above the ears ; a gown of capacious size, unconfined at the
waist and loose in the sleeves, trails far behind in the dirt. The under-
garment, which is darker, has sleeves that tit closely ; and it appears to
be turned over, and pinned up round the bottom. The unnecessary
amount of stuff that was used in ladies' robes rendered them obnoxious
to the satirists of that period.
In Mr. Wright's collection
of Latin stories, published by
the Percy Society, there is
one of the fourteenth century,
which is so curious an in-
stance of monkish satire, and
is so apt an illustration of the
cut before us, that I cannot
resist presenting it to my
readers. It runs thus :
" Of a Proud Woman. I
have heard of a proud woman
who wore a white dress with a
long train, which, trailing be-
hind her, raised a dust as far
as the altar and the crucifix.
But, as she left the church,
and lifted up her train on ac -
count of the dirt, a certain
holy man saw a devil laugh-
ing ; and having adjured him to tell why he laughed, the devil said,
;< A companion of mine was just now sitting on the train of that woman,
iiMii- it as if it were his chariot, but when she lifted her train up, mv
corananion was shaken off into the dirt : and that is why I was lau-li-
>ng."
CORPULENT MAX. XOTTIXGHA5I, 1819.
November 10. Death of Mr. Henry 1'mcknall, confectioner, Chandlers-
lane, aged forty-nine. He was excessively corpulent, weighing im.iv
than twenty-live stone, and died very suddenly, immediately after rat-
ing a hearty breakfast. In Lord Howe's memorable engagement,
on the 1st of June, 1794, he had served as a marine on board the Hruns-
His interment, at St. Mary's New Burial-ground, on the 14th,
.rew together a large concourse of spectators. The coffin was of enor-
mous size, and nearly equalled the body in weight. It was made of
excellent oak, was 6 feet 8 inches in length, and 2 feet 1 1 inches across
o breast; the bottom was 2* inches thick, the sides 1^, and the lid 1.
l be whole, including the body, considerably exceeded five hundred-
weight.
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
79
TAKING A MAN TO PIECES AND SETTING HIM TIP AGAIN.
"Don John, of Austria," says Staveley, "Governor of the Nether-
lands for Philip the 2d of Spain, dying at his camp at Buge (Bouges, a
mile from Namur), was carried from thence to the great church at
Havre, where his funeral was solemnised, and a monument to posterity
erected for him there hy Alexander Farnese, the Prince of Parma.
Afterwards his body was taken to pieces, and the bones, packed in mjails,
were privately carried into Spain, where being set together with small
wires, the body was rejointed again, which being filled or stuffed with
cotton, and richly habited, Don John was presented to the king entire,
leaning on his commander's staff'. Afterwards the corpse being carried
to the church of St. Laurence, at the Escurial, was there buried near
his father, Charles V., with a fitting monument for him."
ORNAMENTS OF FEMALE DRESS IN THE TIMES OF THE ANCIENT BRITONS.
Fig. 1 is a necklace of beads, each bead being cut so as to represent
a group of several, and give the effect of many small round beads to
what are in reality long and narrow ones. Fig. 2 is a necklace of sim-
pler construction, consisting of a row of rudely-shaped beads, its centre
being remarkable for con-
taining a rude attempt at ] f\
representing a human face, i /
the only thing of the kind -*
Hoare discovered of so an-
cient a date in Britain. Fig.
3 is another necklace, con-
sisting of a series of cu-
rious little shells, like the
hirlas horn used by the Bri-
tons, which are perforated
lengthways, and thus strung
together. Fig. 4 is a pin
of iron, supposed to have
been used as a fastening for
a mantle ; it is ornamented
with two movable rings.
Fig. 5 is a small gold orna-
ment, checkered like a chess-
board, and suspended from
a chain of beautiful workmanship, which, in taste and execution, bears
a striking similarity to our modern curb-chains. Fig. 6 is an ear-ring,
a bead suspended from a twisted wire of gold. Fig. 7 is a brass orna-
ment, and Fig. 8 a similar one of gold : such ornaments are usually
found upon the breasts of the exhumed skeletons of our barrows, and
were probably fastened on their clothes as ornaments. Their cruciform
character might lead to a doubt of their high antiquity, if we were not
aware of the fact, that the symbol of the cross was worn, as an amulet
or ornament, ages before the Christian era.
80 TKN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
I.AKUK EEL.
Latelv, near Maldon, an eel was taken, measuring Jwfcct six
in Ifiujt'li, Kfi-i-ntf<'it in tjirt It, and weighing '>(> JJOHIH/S, the largest of the
\er caught, or described in natural history.
PERSEVERING DOG.
A boast being made of the obedience of a Newfoundland dog in fetching
and carrying, the master put a marked shilling under a large square
stone by the road side, and, having ridden on three miles, ordered the
dog to go back and fetch it. The dog set off, but did not return the
whole day. He had gone to the place, and being unable to turn the
stone, sat howling by it. Two horsemen came by and saw his distress,
and one of them alighting removed the stone, and iinding the shilling.
put it in his pocket, not supposing that the dog could possibly be looking-
for that. The dog followed the horses for upwards of twenty miles,
stayed in the room where they supped, got into the bed-room, got the
breeches in which the fatal shilling had been put, made his escape with
them, and dragged them through mud and miie, hedge and ditch, to
his master's hm
CURE FOR CORPULENCE.
A few years ago, a man of about forty years of age, hired himself as a
labourer, in one of the most considerable alt-lux -went s in the City: at
this time lie was a personable man; stout, active, and not fatter tLan a
moderate-si/ed man in high health should be. His chief occupation was
to superintend the working of the new beer, and occasionally to set up
at night to watch the sweet-wort, an employment not requiring either
activity or labour ; of course, at these times, lie had an opportunity of
tasting the liquor, of which, it appears, lie always availed himself;
beside-, this, lie had constant access to the new beer. Thus leading a
quiet inactive lite, lie began to increase in bulk, and continued to enlarge,
until, in a very short time, he became of such an unwieldy si/e, as to In-
unable to move about, and was too big to pass up the brewlnuise stair-
it' by any accident he fell down, he was unable to get up again
without help. The integuments of his face hung down t<> the shoulders
and breast: the fat was nut confined to any particular part, but diffused
over the whole of his body, arms, legs, A;e., making his appearance such
as to attract the attention of all who saw him. lie left this service to go
into the country, being a burthen to himself, and totally useless to }\\-
employers. About two years afterwards lie called upon bis old masters
in very different shape to that above described, being reduced in si/e
nearly half, and weighing little more than ten stone. The account that.
he gave of himself was, that us soon as he had quitted the Inewhouse he
went into l.cdfonlshire. where having soon spent the money he had
earned, and being unable to work, lie was .brought into such a state of
poverty, as to be scarcely dhlo to obtain the siistenanc,- of life, often
a whole day without fooil : that he drank very little, and that was
I'.y this mode of living hi- began to diminish in si/e, so
08 to be able to walk about with tolerable CUM. II, then engaged him-
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AXD QUAINT. 81
self to a farmer, with whom he stayed a considerable time, and in the
latter part of his service he was able to go through very hard labour,
being sometimes in the field ploughing and following various agricultural
concerns, for a whole day, with no other food than a small pittance .of
bread and cheese. This was the history he gave of the means by which
this extraordinary change was brought about. He added, his health had
never been so good as it then was.
WORSHIP OF THE SUX AND MOOX.
The Sun was first worshipped, probably, as a bright manifestation of
God, but soon began to be regarded as the Deity himself. The Moon, in
the absence of the Sun, and next in splendour, would succeed it iu
superstitious attention. And so we rind the Romans, as well as the
Saxons, dedicating the first and second days of the week respectively
to these " great lights." Formerly, festivals were held on the appearance
of a !Xew Moon ; and in some parts of England it is still customary
to bless it, and in Scotland at the same time to drop a courtesy. And
in times not long past, the influence of the Moon was considered to
be so great as to regulate the growth of air, and the effect of medi-
cine, and to cause steeples and other elevated buildings to bend from
their upright positions.
A SEA ABOVE THE SKY.
This belief is curiously illustrated bv two legendary stories pre-
served by Gervase of Tilbury. " One Sunday," he says, " the people of a
village in England were coming out of church on a thick cloudy day,
when they saw the anchor of a ship hooked to one of the tombstones ;
the cable, which was tightly stretched, hanging down from the air. The
people were astonished, and while they were consulting about it, sud-
denly they saw the rope move as though some one laboured to pull up
the anchor. The anchor, however, still held fast by the stone, and a
great noise was suddenly heard in the air, like the shouting of sailors.
Presently a sailor was seen sliding down the cable for the purpose of
unfixing the anchor ; and when he had just loosened it, the villagers
seized hold of him, and while in their hands he quickly died, just as
though he had been drowned. About an hour after, the sailors
above, hearing no more of their comrade, cut the cable and sailed
away. In memory of this extraordinary event, the people of the
village made the hinges of the church d'oors out of the irou of the
anchor, and ' there they are still to be seen.' At another time, a mer-
chant of Bristol set sail with his cargo for Ireland. Some time after
this, while his family were at supper, a knife suddenly fell in through
the window on the table. When the husband returned, he saw the
knife, declared it to be his own, and said that on such a day, at such an
hour, while sailing in an unknown part of the sea, he dropped the knife
overboard, and the day and hour were known, to be exactly the time
when it fell through the window. These accidents, Gervase thinks, are
a clear proof of there being a sea above hanging over us." St.
Patrick's Pinyatori/. It;/ Jho*. Wri<jht. 1844.
82 TEX THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
THE PAFYEUS.
Paper as we now have it, that is to say, paper made of the pulp of
fibrous materials, pressed into thin sheets, dried, and, when intended
for writing or printing purposes, sized, is of comparatively modern intro-
duction to Europe and "Western Asia ; although the Chinese appear to
have formed paper out of silk pulp, mixed with the inner pith of the
bamboo, as early at least as 95 A. D. : not from time immemorial, as
some authors have stated, because the circumstance is well attested, that
in the time of Confucius, the Chinese wrote with a style on the inner
bark of trees.
Before the invention of paper, the surfaces employed for writing upon
were numerous. Surfaces of lead or other metal ; tables covered with
wax, skins of animals, (parchment in fact) all were used ; but no one
of these was ever so extensively employed as the Egyptian papyrus,
whenever the latter material could be obtained. So soon, however, as
PAPTBPS ROLL, FROM A SPECIMEN ITU TRB BRITISH^HUSBUK .
the Saracens in the seventh century conquered Egypt, the exportation of
papyrus was at an end ; and writing surfaces beca'me so scarce in Europe
that many ancient documents of great value were erased in order to
render them adapted for being written on once more. Thus perished
many treasures of antiquity.
As the Saracens closed the avenue of supply for the ancient papyrus,
so they compensated to Europe for this deprivation by discovering the
manufacture of ordinary paper at least paper made* in the ordinary
modern fashion, though the material was cotton, not linen. This dis-
"v.ry was made some time anterior to the year 706 A.D., for at that
l>eriod a manufactory of paper existed at Samarcand. In the eighth
i-entury the Saracens conquered Spain, and introduced into the Penin-
sula, amongst other arts, that of the manufuetmv of paper, which art
was a long time finding its way into ..thn- parts of Kurope, in Italynot
until the eleventh or twelfth* century. The vast amount of papyrus
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AM) QUAINT. 83
which must have been employed in Italy, may be inferred from the
number of rolls or scaj)ioH this substance discovered in Herculaneum and
Pompeii ; also from a perusal of many existing documents bearing
directly or indirectly on this branch, of commerce. Even so late as the
commencement of the sixth, century, Cassiodorus congratulated the
world on the abolition, by King Theodoric, of the high duty on papyrus
from Egypt ; and he spoke in high iiown terms of the great utility of the
material. The latest papyrus roll known is of the twelfth centurv, con-
taining a brief of Pope Paschal II., in favour of the Arehiepiscopal see of
Ravenna.
The various species of papyrus plants belong to the natural order
PAPTBCS WITHOUT FLOWERS.
PAPYKUS WITH FLO WEES.
" Cyperacece," or sedges, of botanists; a main characteristic of which is
a certain triangularity of stem. The method of constructing a writing
surface from these stems was as follows : The available portion being
cut off (it was seldom more than twelve inches in length), and split, or,
more properly speaking, unfolded into thin sheets, which were glued
together transversely in such a manner that the original length of the
papyrus stem became the breadth of the future sheet ; the length of
which might be increased at the pleasure of the operator. Frequently
the manufactured scrolls were more than thirty feet long. As different
methods prevail in the manufacture of our ordinary paper, so in like
manner there were different processes of fashioning the papyrus into
shape. The rudest manufacture appears to have been that of Egypt, and
the best papyrus sheets appear to have been made in Rome during the
84 TKN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
Augustine yra. The preceding sketch represents a papyrus roll, copied
from a specimen in the Egyptian Room of the British Museum.
Considering the numerous pieces entering into the composition of the
roll, of which our illustration represents a portion, the lines of juncture
are remarkably well concealed, only a sort of grain being visible. The
surface, moreover, is smoothed, and its colour very much like that of
India paper. The hieroglyphics are coloured as is usual, red is the
predominant tint, and the colours are no less well demarcated and sepa-
rate than they would have been on glazed paper.
Our preceding wood-cuts represent the Sicilian or Syrian papyrus,
hitherto termed cypents papyrus, in two states of development one with
flowers, the other without. In order that inflorescence may take place,
the plant requires to be well supplied with water.
EXECUTION IN 1733.
Friday, March 9 "Was executed at Northampton, William Alcock,
for the murder of his wife. He neve.r own'd the fact, nor was at all
concerned at his approaching death ; refusing the prayers and assistance
of any persons. In the morning he drank more than was sufficient, yet
sent and paid for a pint of wine, which being deny'd him, he would not
enter the cart before he had his money return'd. On his way to the
gallows he sung part of an old song of " Robin Hood," with the chorus,
"Deny, derry, down," &c., and swore, kick'd, and spurn'd at every
person that laid hold of the cart ; and before he was turn' d off, took oil'
his shoes, to avoid a well known proverb ; and being told by a person in
the cart with him, it was more proper for him to read, or hear somebody
read to him, than so vilely to swear and sing, he struck the book out
of the person's hands, and went on damning the spectators and calling
for wine. Whilst psalms and prayers were performing at the tree he did
little hut talk to one or other, desiring some to remember him, others to
drink to his good journey, and to the last moment declared the injustice
of his case.
DOG FRIENDSHIP.
At Bishops Stortford there were two dogs, which belonged to nobody,
and lived upon the quay of the river or canal there. They took the
greatest delight in rat hunting, and when the maltsters went about at
night to see that all was safe, these dogs invariably followed them.
Their mode of proceeding was very ingenious. As soon as the door of
the malt-house was unlocked, one rushed in and coursed round the
wan-house, not chasing any rat which might start, but. pursuing its
way among the malt. The other stood at the door and snapped at the
rats as (hey endeavoured to escape. The one standing at the door was
known to kill six rats, all of \vhieh had rushed to the door at the same
time. The next room they came to, they would change posts ; the one
which hunted before, now standing at the door and wiring the prey.
I'.y tlii means the do._r* killed in the malt ing-houses of one maltster
alone, upwards of 2,000 rats in the course of one year. One of them
on one occasion killed sixty-seven in less than five minutes. They
seemed to pursue the sport simply for their amusement.
MARVELLOIS, HARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 85
ALi HOlHTtiS.
Just as a strolling actor at Newcastle had advertised his benefit, a
remarkable stranger, no less than the Prince Annamaboo, arrived, and
placarded the town that he granted audiences at a shilling a-head. The
stroller, without delay, waited on the proprietor of the Prince, and for a
good round sum prevailed on him to command his Serene Highness to
exhibit his august person on his benefit night. The bills of the day
announced that between the acts of the comedy Prince Annamdboo
would give a lively representation of the scalping operation, sound the
Indian tcar-ichoop in all its melodious tones, practice the tomahawk
exercise, and dine d In cannibal. An intelligent mob were collected to
witness these interesting exploits. At the conclusion of the third act,
his Hiyhncss marched forward flourishing his tomahawk, and shouting,
" Ha, ha .' ho, ho /" K"ext entered a man with his face blacked, and a
a piece of bladder fastened to his head with gum ; the Prince, with an
enormous carving-knife, began the scalping part of the entertainment,
which he performed in a truly imperial style, holding up the piece of
bladder as a token of triumph. Next came the war-whoop, an un-
earthly combination of discordant sounds ; and lastly, the banquet,
x-i insisting of raw beef-steaks, which he rolled up into roiileaus, and
devoured with right royal avidity. Having finished his delicate repast,
lie wielded Iris tomahawk in an exulting manner, bellowed " Ha, ha !
ho, ho .'" and made his exit. The beneficiarc strolling through the
market-place the following-day, spied the most puissant Prince Anna-
maboo selling penknives, scissors, and quills, in the character of a Jew
pedlar. "What!" said the astonished Lord Toicnley, "my Prince, is
it you ? Are you not a pretty circumcised little scoundrel to impose
upon iis in this manner ?" Moses turned round, and with an arch look,
replied, " Princh be d d! I rash no Princli ; I rash acting like you.
Your troop rash Lords and Ladies last night ; and to-night dey vil be
Kings, Pr inches, and Emperor! I rash humpuas, you rash Jnnnjwys,
all vash humpugs ."'
KEDrCIXG WEIGHT.
A gentleman, of great respectability in the mercantile world, who
weighed thirty-two stone nine pounds, put himself upon a strict diet of
four ounces of animal food, nix ounces of bread, and two pounds of liquid,
in twenty-four hours. In one week he lost thirty pounds -weight, and in
six months he was diminished the astonishing quantity of one hundred
and thirty-four pounds. His health and spirits Avere much improved, and
considering his remaining size of twenty-three stone, he was very active.
AXECDOTE OF A SEHPEXT.
Lord Monboddo relates the following singular anecdote of a serpent :
" I am well informed of a tame serpent in the East Indies, which
belonged to the late Dr. Vigot, once kept by him in the suburbs of
Madras. This serpent was taken by the French, when they, invested
Madras, and was carried to Pondieherry in a close carriage. But
from thence, he found his way back again to his old quarters, though
Madras was above one hundred miles distant from Pondicherrv."
86
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
ENGLAND BEFOKE THE ROMANS.
Before the Roman invasion, the dress of its chieftains consisted of a
close coat or covering for the body, called by Dio a tunic, and described
as checkered with various colours in divisions. It was open before, and
had long close sleeves to the wrist. Below were loose pantaloons, called
bv the Irish brii/is, and by the Romans brayes and bracce ; whence the
modern term "breeches." Over their shoulders was thrown the mantle
or cloak, called by the Romans
sriy it HI, and derived from the
Celtic word sale, which signi-
fied a skin or hide, and which
was the original cloak of the
country. Diodorus tells us that
it was of one uniform colour,
generally either blue or black,
the predominating tint in the
checkered trousers and tunic
being red. On their heads they
wore a conical cap, which de-
rived its name from the " cab,"
or hut of the Briton, which was of similar form. On their feet were shoes
made of raw cow-hide, that had the hair turned outward, and which
reached to the ankles. Shoes so constructed were worn within the last
few years in Ireland ; and we engrave two from specimens in the Royal
Irish Academy. One is of cow-hide, and drawn together by a string
over the foot ; and the other has a leather thong, which is fastened be-
neath the heel inside, and, passing over the instep, draws the shoe like a
purse over the foot. It is of untanned leather.
ROMANS IN BRITAIN DRESS OF NATIVE KKMAI.IIS \T Til \T J'KKIOD.
The British gwn, from whence comes the modern "gown," descended
to the middle of the thigh, the sleeves barely reaching to the elbows : it
was sometimes confined hy a girdle. Beneath this a longer dress reached
to the ancles. The hair was trimmed after the Roman fashion; and
upon the feet, when covered, were sometimes worn shoes of a costly
character, of which we know the Romans themselves to have been fond.
An extremely beautiful pair was discovered upon opening a Roman
burial-place at Southfleet in
Kent, in 1802. They were
placed in a stone sarcophagus,
between two large glass urns
or vases, each containing a
considerable quantity of burnt
bones. They were of superb
and expensive workmanship,
being made of fine purple
leaihur, reticulated in the form of hexagons all over, and each hexago-
nal division worked with gold, in an elaborate and beautiful manner.
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
87
\t ATA CO MBS
ROME.
Amid the ruins of stately temples, and numerous remains of the " Eter-
nal City," there are no objects which have such great and general in-
terest as the subterranean churches, dwellings, and places of sepulchre of
the early Christians, which perforate, by a net-work of excavations, the
neighbourhood of Rome.
The great increase in the extent and magnificence of Rome during tha
times of the Republic, led to the formation of quarries in the surrounding
part?. The peculiar nature of the soil has caused the excavations to be
88 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
made in a manner similar to that used in the working of coal, iron, stone,
lime, &c. The useful material has, in fact, been cleared away, leaving
long ranges of dark eaves and After the stone had been re-
moved from these underground quarries, it was, for many centuries,
custom n v to work out the sand for the purpose of making cement.
Yitrin ins has stat< .-d that the sand obtained from the Esquiline pits was
preferable to any other. Ultimately the quarries and sandpits extended
to a distance of upwards of liftecn miles on. one side of Rome. Tails of
this lar_;-e ran-'- of excavations were from time to time used a- burial-
grounds by such of the Romans as could not afford the cost of burning
the bodies' of their dead relations. And, in addition, the Esquiline hills
became infested by banditti, and was from these various causes rendered
almost impassable
*ln these excavation-, it is said, that not only persons, but cattle, con-
trived to support existence : and although it was well known that large
numbers were lodged in these dismal dwellings, their intricacy ami num-
berless entrance.- rendered them a comparatively secure retreat. It is
related that attempts were made to cover the galleries with earth, in
order to destroy those who were concealed within.
_- I . t-V~v |-\ * 1 % ^ n ' 1 "U'-' SI ' (| f time the catacombs became,
H tC 3Lj V 1 W ^ T '" IA ' . i: "' n "'' " I1( ' <"' tvvo ' neglected
|--- r> ir%^ an< l filled U P w i tn rubbish, and remained
r I I f\ f*\T if ^ or a P ei 'i o< l f upwards of one thousand
^^IL'U years untouched and almost unknown. In
T~C* ^ r? P\/Y/~ T\ the sixteenth century the whole range of
' t J L- I V I (_ B\ the eat ae, tin!' ;>ened, and numerous
iHcriptions and other matters c 'with
the struggles amd hanlshi]>s of the early
Christians l)ronght to light. The annexed
brief memorial will show ti. lettering.
MiiH!> (!- I'l NISH.MKXT.
Anlt pa. ions of some ancient instruments of
punishment and torture, all n:-. - h-rrible in their thuMter, the
use of which, for May a long been happily abandoned. As a
companion to this irroiip. we ha d a few of the instruments of
punishment bv which criminals of a vulgar character were sought to be
of these i> tlie '.'Ion's brand, the mark of which
rendered a man infamous for life. Figure 1, p. !>0 j'epresents the,
instrument itself. Figure '_'. the mark brandt d in, which latter
has been engra\ ! iln- exact si/". The device, which is deeply cut
into the ni !i us was used before the invention of the
!>rop and the Wheel f..;- Kxeeiition and torture.
"The Stocks and Whipping-post, although long since remo\.-<l
London P.rid^e, may be ne t with in retired country places. We have
notii ..iractcristi. T Dean, (iloucester-
shire, where some of the may-poles, day-wheels, and other curi'm- I'elies,
till be seen.* In some ioatan and Whippiu^-posS
* A good sptfimcn was (icniolishvtl at Tottciihirra uot long .
MARVELLOUS, RAKE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 89
were richly carved, and clamped with iron work of an ornamental cha-
racter. We remember seeing the stocks used within the last thirty years,
once at Xewcastle-on-Tyne, and once at Gateshead, the adjoining town.
The culprit in the one instance was an elector, who, in the excess of zeal
and beer, during an old-fashioned contested election, rushed into one of
the churches during the Sunday's service, and shouted out, " Bell (one of
the candidates) for ever." He was speedily taken hold of, and placed for
several hours in the stocks in the churchyard ; and, as the stimulating
effect of the strong drink passed away, he looked a deplorable object,
decked as he was with numerous cockadies, the " favours " of the candi-
date, whose cause he so indiscreetly supported.
The punishment of the barrel we should think to have been adapted
for drunkards who could preserve a perpendicular position.
In the histories of London, it is mentioned that bakers and other
dealers caught giving false weight, or in any other ways cheating the poor,
were exhibited occasionally in this manner ; but more frequently they
were placed in the parish dung-cart, and slowly drawn through the
streets of the district.
The Whirligig, a circular cage which could be moved swiftly round on.
a pivot, was, in bygone days, in use for offenders in the English army.
There was another instrument used for the same purpose called the Horse,
which was made in rude resemblance of the animal whose name it bore.
The body was composed of planks of wood, which formed a sharp angle
along the back. On this the soldier was seated, and his legs fastened
below to several heavy muskets. This is said to have been a very severe
and dangerous punishment. In addition to the above, and flogging, im-
prisonment, &c., there were three ancient methods of punishment in the
English army viz., beheading, hanging, and drowning. The latter of
these, according to Grose, was in use only in the reign of Richard I. This
author observes that, some centuries ago, capital punishment was rare in
our army, the men having generally property, which was confiscated in.
case of ill conduct. He, however, refers to some terrible means which
were resorted to for the purpose of preserving discipline. Hanging was
chiefly confined to spies; who were taken to a tree in sight of the camp,
and yet sufficiently distant, and there hung- up. In many instances,
when a corps or a considerable body of men were guilty of crime, for
which the established punishment was death, to prevent too great a weak-
ening of the army, the delinquents, Grose says, " were decimated, that is,
only every tenth man was taken, A number of billets, equal to that of
the body to be decimated, were put into a helmet, every tenth billet being
marked with the letter D, or some other character signifying death ; the
helmet was then shaken, in order to mix them, and the soldiers, filing off
singly from the right, passed by the commanding officers, before whom,
on a table, stood the helmet ; as they passed, each drew a billet and pre-
sented it to an officer placed to receive them. If the billet had the fatal
mark; the soldier was seized and marched into the rear."
This wholesale method of capital punishment must have been a solemn
affair. At times, it was customary to punish the man at the right hand
of companies; without giving them the chance of the billet on the prin-
90 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS j
ciple that these were the most influential persons, and must, from their
companionship with the others, have been acquainted with and have pos-
1. llraiid for Marking Felons. 2. Impression of Brand. 3. Punishment for
Dnmkurds, formerly in use at Newcartle-on-Tyne. 4. The Whirligig, a nrilit;ir\
ni.-thoil of punishment. 5. Pillory, Stocks, and Whipjiin.u; Tost, formerly on London
Bridge.
1 the means of checking or giving information, which would prevent
offences.
regulations of the English army during the time of Henry VIII.,
and pn-\ i,,us ivigns, may be met with in " Grose's Military Antiquities."
MARVELLOUS., RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 91
ORIGIN OF THE TERM " HUMBITG."
This, now, common expression, is a corruption of the word Hamburgh,
and originated in the following nianm r : During a period when war
prevailed on the Continent, so many false reports and lying bulletins
were fabricated at Hamburgh, that at length, when any one would
signify his disbelief of a statement, he would say, " You had that from
Hamburgh;" and thus, "That is Hamburgh," or Humbug, became a
common expression of incredulity.
MARRIAGE LOTTERY.
It has often been said figuratively that marriage is a lottery ; but we
do not recollect to have met with a practical illustration of the truth of
the simile, before the following, which is a free translation of an adver-
tisement in the Louisiana Gazette : "A young man of good figure and
disposition, unable, though desirous to procure a wife, without the pre-
liminary trouble of amassing a fortune, proposes the following expedient
to attain the object of his wishes. He offers himself as the prize of a
lottery to all widows and virgins under 32. The number of tickets to
to be 600, at 50 dollars each. But one number to be drawn from the
wheel, the fortunate proprietor of which is to be entitled to himself and
the 30,000 dollars."
CHINESE DAINTIES.
The common people of the country seem to fare hardly and sparingly
enough, but one of our envoys praises mucli of the good cheer he found at
the tables of the great men. They had pork, fish, and poultry, prepared
in a great variety of ways, and very nice confectionery in abundance.
The feasts, moreover, were served up in a very neat and cleanly manner.
But there was one dainty which much offended their nostrils, and nearly
turned their stomachs when it was named to them. It was not stewed
dog or fricaseed pup. Xo ; it consisted of three bowls of hatched eggs /
When the Englishmen expressed some surprise at the appearance of this
portion of the repast, one of the native attendants observed that hatched
eggs formed a delicacy beyond the reach of the poor a delicacy adapted
only for persons of distinction ! On inquiry, it was found that they cost
in the market some thirty per cent, more than fresh eggs. It seems that
they always form a distinguished part of every great entertainment, and
that it is the practice, when invitations are sent out, to set the hens to
hatch. The feast takes place about the tenth or twelfth day from the
issuing the invitations, the eggs being then considered as ripe, and
exactly in the state most agreeable and pleasant to the palate of a
Cliinese epicure.
RECEIPTS FROM ALBERTTJS MAGNUS.
" Bubo a shriek owle, is a byrd wel inough knowen, which is called
Magis of the Chaldes, and Hysopxis of the Greekes. There bee mar-
\iaylous vertues of this Fowle, for if the hart and ryght foote of it be
put upon a raan sleeping, hee shall saye anone to thee whatsoever thou
shalt aske of him. And thys hath beene prooucd of late tyme of our
92 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
brethren. And if any man put thys onder his arme hole, no Dog wyll
barkc at hym, but keepe silence. And yf these thynges aforcsayde
ioyned together with a wyng of it be hanged up to a tree, byrdcs wyl
gather together to that tree."
" When thou wylt that thy wyfe or wenche shewe to thee all that shee
hath done, take tlie hart of a Doove, and the heade of a Frog, and drye
them both, and braie them vnto poulder, and lay them vpon the brest of
her sleeping, and shee shall shew to thee all that shee hath done, but
when shee shall wake, wipe it awaye from her brest, that it bee not
lifted vp."
"Take an Adders skyn, and Auri pigmentum, and greeke pitch of
Reuponticum, and the waxe of newe Bees, and the fat or greace of an
Asse, and breake them all, and put them all in a dull seething pot full
of water, and make it to seeth at a slowe fire, and after let it waxe cold,
and make a taper, and euery man that shall see light of it shall seeme
headlesse." The Secrecies of Nature, setfoorthby Albertus Magnus in
Latine, nocfi/i' translated into Enylish. Imprinted at London by me
Wyllyam Copland. No date. Black letter, very old.
THE MAGPIE STOXIXG A TOAD.
There is a story told of a tame magpie, which was seen busily employed
in a gaiden, gathering pebbles, and with much solemnity, and a studied
air, dropping them in a hole, about eighteen inches deep, made to receive
a post. After dropping each stone, it cried, Cutiack ! triumphantly,
and set off for another. On examining the spot a poor toad was found in
the hole, which the magpie was stoning for his amusement.
ADAPTATION OF BOKES TO AGE IX THE HUM AX FliAME.
Growth produces in the species a somewhat remarkable change in the
mechanical qualities of the bones. This important part of our organism
enlists of three constituents fibre, cartilage, and the earthy mutter
already mentioned called phosphate of lime. From the fibre they derive
t h e ir toughness ; from the cartilage their elasticity ; and from the lime
their hardness and firmness. Nothing can be more admirable in the
economy of our body than the manner in which the proportion of these
constituents adapts itself to the habitudes of age. The helpless infant,
exposed by a thousand incidents to external shocks, lias bones, the chief
constituents of which being gristly and cartilaginous, are yielding and
elastic, and incur little danger of fracture. Those of the youth, whose
augmented weight and increased activity demand greater strength, have
a larger proportion of the calcareous and fibrous elements, but still enough
of the cartilaginous to confer upon the solid framework of his bodv the
greatest firmness, toughness, and elasticity. As age advances, prudence
and tranquil habits increasing, as well as the weight which the bones
have to sustain, the proportion of the calcareous constituent increases,
giving the requisite hardness and strength, but diminishing the tough-
unl elasticity.
While the hones thus change their mechanical qiialities as age advances,
they diminish in number, the frame consequently having fewer joints
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
0.1
and less flexibility. The bones of a child, whose habits require greater
bodily pliability, are more numerous than those of an adult, several of
the articulations becoming ossified between infancy and maturity. In
like manner, the bones at maturity are more numerous than in advanced
age, the same progessive ossification of the joints being continued.
It has been ascertained by anatomists that, on attaining the adult
state, the number of bones constituting the framework of the human
body is 198 ; of which 52 belong to the trunk, 22 to the head, 64 to the
arms, and 60 to the legs.
TOWEE. OF THE THUNDEKING WINDS.
The Great "Wall is certainly a wonderful monument of ancient times ; but
it is almost the only one that we read of in China, except a famous Temple,
or Tower, partly in ruins, which stands on an eminence in the neighbour-
hood of Hang-chow-foo. It is called the " Tower of the Thundering
Winds," and is supposed to have been built about 2,500 years ago.
DK. 1IONSEY BEQrEATHS HIS OWN BODY.
This eccentric person died at the great age of 96, and was for half a
century, physician to Chelsea Hospital. He left his body for dissection,
94 TEX THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
and a few days before he died, wrote to Mr. Cruikshanks, the Anatomist,
,ing him to know, whether it would suit his convenience to do it, as
he felt he could not live many hours, and Mr. Forster, his surgeon, was
then out of town. He died as he predicted, and his wishes with respect
to his body, were strictly attended to.
TEA.
A folio sheet of the time of Charles II. entitled " An Exact De-
scription of the Growth, Quality, and Virtues of the Leaf Tea, by
Thomas Garway, in Exchange Alley, near the Royal Exchange,
in London, Tobacconist , and Seller and Retailer of Tea and Coffee,"
informs us that " in England it hath been sold in the leaf for six
pounds, and sometimes for ten pounds the pound weight ; and in respect
of its former scarceness and dearness, it hath been only tised as a regalia
in high treatments, and entertainments, and presents made thereof to
princes and grandees till the year 1657. The said Thomas Garway did
purchase a quantity thereof, and first publikely sold the said Tea in
leaf and drink, made according to the direction of the most knowing
merchants and travellers in those eastern countries : and upon know-
ledge and experience of the said Garwav's continued care and industry,
in obtaining the best Tea, and making drink thereof, very many noble-
men, physicians, merchants, and gentlemen of quality, have ever since
sent to him for the said leaf, and daily resort to his house, in Exchange-
Alley, to drink the drink thereof."
IT'S MUCH THK SAMK xow.
The following lines, from the (fciiflrnin/i'n Miu/azinc of 1733, will
us some idea of what fashionable life was at that period:
The Town Lady's Answer to, "What tho' I am a Country Lass."
What tho' I am a London dame,
And lofty looks I bear, ;i
I carry, sure, us good a name.
As those who russet wear, a.
What tho' my eloaths are rich brocades ?
My skin it is more- \vhitr, a
Than any .t'th'- country maid*
That in the fields delight, a.
What tho' I to assemblies go,
And :it the < (peril's shine, a ?
It is a tiling all jrirl:nust do,
That will he ladies tine, a :
And while I hear Faustina sing,
Before the king ;nul queen, ;t
By Eyes they are upon the wing,
To see, if I am seen, a.
My lYko and Imperial Tea
Are brought me in the Morn, a,
At Noon Champaign and rich Tokay
My table do adorn, a.
The Evening then does me invite
To play at dear Quadrille, a :
And sure in this there's mure delight,
Than in a purling rill, a.
Then since rny Fortune does allow
Me to live as I please, a;
I'll never milk my father's cow
Nor press his corning cheese, a.
Hut take my swing both night and day,
I'm sure it is no sin, a :
And as for what the grave ones say,
I value not a pin, a.
Tin- lurh'-r's pnlr, one uf the popular n-lics of Mcirie England, is still
I > be .seen in some of the old street.-, ol' London and in country towns,
Dinted with its red, blue, and yellow stripes, and surmounted with
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 95
a gilt acorn. The lute and violin were formerly among the furniture of
a barber's shop. He who waited to be trimmed, if of a musical turn,
played to the company. The barber himself was a nimb'le-tongued,
pleasant- witted fellow. William Rowley, the dramatist, in "A Search
for Money, 1609," thus describes him : " As wee were but asking the
question, steps me from over the way (over-listning us) a news-searcher,
viz. a barber : hee, hoping to attaine some discourse for his next patient,
left his bancr of basons swinging in the ayre, and closely eave-drops our
conference. The saucie treble-tongu'd knave would insert somewhat of
his knowledge (treble-tongu'd I call him, and thus I prove't : hee has a
reasonable mother- tonger, his barber- surgions tongue ; and a tongue
betweene two of his lingers, and from thence proceeds his wit, and 'tis a
snapping wit too). Well, sir, hee (before hee was askt the question,) told
us that the wandring knight (Monsier L' Argent) sure was not farre off;
for on Saterday-night hee was faine to watch till morning to trim some of
his followers, and its morning they went away from him betimes. Hee
swore hee never clos'd )iis eyes till hee came to church, and then hee
slept all sermon-time ; but certainly hee is not farre afore, and at yonder
taverne showing us the bush) I doe imagine hee has tane a chamber." In
ancient times the barber aftxl the tailor, as news-mongers, divided the
crown. The barber not only erected his pole as a sign, but hung his
basins upon it by way of ornament.
BEES OBEDIENT TO TRAINING.
Though it is customary in many rural districts of England, when bees
are swarming, to make a clanging noise with metal implements, imder the
impression an erroneous one we believe that it will induce the swarm
to settle, it is not generally supposed that bees are susceptible of being
trained to obey in many respects the orders of their teacher. Such,
however, is the fact, and an instance of it occurs in the following adver-
tisement, which we have copied from an old newspaper. We give it as
we find it, but it is not very clear what locality is meant by " their
proper places " :
"At the Jubilee Gardens, Dobney's, 1772. Daniel Wildman rides,
standing upright, one foot on the saddle, and the other on the horse's
neck, with a curious mask of bees on his face. He also rides, standing
upright on the saddle, with the bridle in his mouth, and, by firing a
pistol, makes one part of the bees march over a table, and the other part
swarm in the air, and return to their proper places again."
A HAN SELLING HIS OWN BODY.
Anatomists and surgeons have frequently incurred the odium of being
precipitate in their post mortem examinations. It has been charged
upon the illustrious Vessalius, and, in more modern times, on Mons. de
Lassone, and others ; nay, credulity has gone so far, as to suppose, that
subjects have occasionally been kept till wanted ; nor is such a notion
altogether extravant, when we find an article of this kind offered to
Joshua Brookes, the anatomical lecturer, in the following terms :
" Mr. Brooke, i have taken it into consideration to send this poor man
96 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
to you, being greatly in distress, hopeing you -will find sum employment
for him in silling the dead carcases ; and if you can find him no employ-
ment, the berer of this wishes to sill himself to you, as he is weary of
this life. And I remain your humble servant, " Joii^r DAVIS."
THE FIEST LOCOMOTIVKS.
It is little more than thirty years ago, when, on the river Tyne, a large
fleet of peculiarly-formed vessels was to be seen daily employed in the
carriage of coals to the ships from the " staiths," which projected into
LOCOMOTIVE.
1:0111 the various colliery tramways. At that period, there was
only one very small and ill-constructed steam-packet for the conveyance
of pus-enters betwi en Newcastle and Shields, and a-ainst Avhich so much
prejudice existed, that the majority of persons preferred the covered
wherries, wlueh, for some centuries before, hud been in use ; yet so slow
and uncertain was this menus of transit between the two towns, that
as in a hurry often found it advisable to walk the intervening dis-
t in.-.-, \\-hich is about ei^ht miles.
Th. collieries situated away from the river had tramways of wood let
ito the ordinary mads, in such a manner as to form wheel-tracks for
These, drawn by horses, were the only means thought of for
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAIVr.
97
bringing the coals to the river bank. Some of these tramways were
nearly as old as the times of Queen Elizabeth or James I when the
increase of London and other causes began to overcome the prejudice
against the use of -sea-coal." Many of the tramwavs passed^amfd
green and shadowy woods and other pleasant places, and we have often
THE PBESEXI LOCOMOTIVE A3fD TKAIN.
thought when wandering through them, of the difficulties that beset
travellers at that time. Even at a more recent date, in 1673, day coaches
were considered dangerous, and it was suggested that the multitude of
them in London should be limited, and not more than one be allowed to
<?ach shire, to go once a week backwards and forwards, and to perform the
whole journey with the same horses they set out with, and not to travel
98 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
more than thirty miles a day in summer, and twenty -live in winter.
The arguments advanced in favour of these proposals were, that coaches
and caravans were mischievous to the public, destructive to trade, and
prejudicial to the laud because, firstly, they destroyed the breed of good
horses, and made men careless of horsemanship ; secondly, they hindered
the breed of watermen, who were the nursery of seamen ; thirdly, they
lessened the revenue.
In 170;J, the road from Petworth to London (less than 50 miles) was so
bad that the Duke of Somerset was obliged to rest a night on the road.
In March, 1739 or 1740, Mr. Pennant, the historian, travelled by the
stitt/e, then no despicable vehicle for country gentlemen, and in the first
day, with " much labour," got from Chester to "Whitcchurch twenty
miles; and, after a " wondrous effort," reached London before the com-
mencement of the sixth night.
Without entering into an account of the rapid improvement of the
English roads soon after the time of Pennant, we may mention that, at
about the date 1705, the colliery tramways underwent considerable
improvement, by plating the wooden rails in many parts with iron :
stone-ways were tried in some instances, but were not found successful ;
and in course of time the old tramways were covered with cast-iron rails
laid on the old foundations. Inclined planes, with fixed steam-engines,
also came into use ; and at the same time the idea of a locomotive engine
wa- attracting attention iu various directions. In 1805 a machine was
used on a tramway near Merthyr Tydvil, and soon after this the " Iron
lliirsc," >howu in the engraving, was placed upon the wagon way of the
\Vylam Colliery, from Wylam to Xcwburn, on the Tyne, near Newcastle,
and greatly astonished all who saw it drawing along, at the rate of three
miles and a half per hour, from fifteen to twenty wagons of coals, making
all the while a horrible and snorting noise, difficult to describe, and send-
ing forth at the same time tire and dense clouds of black smoke. George
connexion with Messrs. Dodd and Losh ; and in 1825 the projection of
the Liverpool and Manchester Railway afforded a further opportunity for
their development. The opposition jo the use of steam-engines on tin's
line of railway seems singular enough at the present day; still it was
very great. The use of horses was, however, found to be too expensive,
and George Stcphenson having stated that he could work a locomotive
with safety at a rate of from six to eight miles an hour (" I knew," said
he, "that if I told them more than that, they would look upon in.- as
more fit for a lunatic house than to give evidence in the Mouse of
Commons''), a reward of /)<)<)/. was offered for the best locomotive engine.
A trial took place in October, 1*1'') oti/i/ /Vv/,///-.srro/ t/i-nrn aiju .
the steam locomotive engines which were ottered in competition. ' Of
tic ^ , one \\as withdrawn at the commencement of the experiment. Tin;
Ity:" liv Mraithwait and Kricsson, met with an accident; and the
" Sanspareil," by llackworth, attained a velocity of fifteen miles an hour,
with a gross load of nineteen tons, but at length gave way, owing to an
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 99
accident ; the remaining engine, constructed by Robert Stephenson and
Mr. Booth, succeeded in performing more than was stipulated.
The contrast between the date mentioned at the commencement of our
article and the present time is remarkable : the old and clumsy fleet has
vanished from the Tyne ; a railway carries passengers from Newcastle to
Shields in a few minutes ; numerous steam vessels sail upon the river,
some of large size; which travel to various and distant ports. On the
colliery railway hundreds of locomotives are at work, and hundreds of
thousands of miles of iron rails spread over a wide extent of the civilized
world ; and, in addition to other wonders, the electric telegraph will, ere
long, outrival the power of Puck, the fairy, and "put a girdle round the
world in (less than) forty minutes."
SIR WILLIAM WALL.VCE THE HEEO OF SCOTLAND.
1305. This year was marked by the capture of Sir William Wallace.
It appeal's that the King of England had anxiously sought to discover his re-
treat, and that, tempted by the prospects of the rewards his baseness might
earn for him, Ralph dc Haliburton, one of the prisoners taken a short
time previously at Sterling, had proffered his services for that purpose.
Upon being seized, he was conveyed to the castle of Dumbarton, and
thence to England. He was brought to London, "with great numbers
of men and women," says Stow, " wondering upon him. He was lodged
in the house of William Delect, a citizen of London, in Fenchurch-
streeet. On the morrow, being the eve of St. Bartholomew, lie was
brought on horseback to Westminster, John Segrave and Geoffrey,
knights, the mayor, sheriffs, and aldermen of London, and many others,
both on horseback and on foot, accompanying him ; and in the great hall
at Westminster, he being placed on the south bench, crowned with
laurel for that he had said in times past that he ought to bear a crown
in that hall, as it was commonly reported and being appeached for a
traitor by Sir Peter Malorie, the king's justice, he answered, that he was
never traitor to the king of England, but for other things whereof he
was accused, he confessed them." These circumstantial and minute
details, inartificially as they are put together, and homely or trivial as
some of them may be thought, are yet full of interest for all who would
call up a living picture of the scene. Wallace was put to death as a
traitor, on the 23rd of August, 1305, at the usual place of execution
the Elms in West Smithfield. He was dragged thither at the tails of
horses, and there hanged on a high gallows, after which, while he yet
breathed, his bowels were taken out and burnt before his face. The
barbarous butchery was then completed by the head being struck oft',
and the body being divided into quarters. The head was afterwards
placed on a pole on London-bridge ; the right arm was sent to be set up
at Newcastle, the left arm to Berwick, the right foot and limb to Perth,
and the left to Aberdeen.
AN ELEPHANT DETECTS A ROBBER.
An officer in the Bengal army had a very fine and favourite elephant,
which was supplied daily in his presence with a certain allowance of
100
TEN THOUSAND -\YONDEKFUL THINGS
food, but being compelled to absent himself on a journey, the keeper of
the beast diminished the ration of food, and the animal became daily
thinner and weaker. When its master returned, the elephant exhibited
the greatest signs of pleasure ; the feeding time came, and the keeper
laid before it the former full allowance of food, which it divided into
two parts, consuming one immediately, and leaving the other untouched.
The officer, knowing the sagacity of his favourite, saw immediately the
fraud that had been practiced, and made the man confess his crime.
JIAY-I'OI.KS.
dance
May-pole, dirked with .u-arlamls, round which the' rustics used to
in this month, yet. stands in a few of our villages through the whole
circle of the year. A May-pole formerly stood in the Strand, upon the
site of the church by Somerset House, but was taken down in 1717. The
village May-pole we en-rave still remains by the ruins of St. Briavel
Oaaue, Forest of Dean, (nonoestanhixe, and forma an object of consider-
able inter. >( to tlie visitor. Several in the village could remember the
May-day dancers, and the removal and s, ttin- up of the .May-pole. No
whatever of this old Kn-lish festival lias, however, bei'ii taken for
J-ean. The .May-|>ole i, about sixty feet hi-h ; about half- way up
i- the rod to which it was usual to fasten' the garlands and ribbons. * Let
>erve, that in many parts of Dean Forest, those who love to trace
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
101
the remains of old manners and customs will find ample employment.
The people are civil and hospitable ; their manner of address reminds us
of the wording of the plays of Shakspere's times ; and in most houses,
if a stranger calls, cider and bread are offered, as in the olden time.
THE OLD DOC WHEEL.
About a century and a half ago, the long-backed "turnspit" dog,
ie curious apparatus here shown, yclept the " Old Dog Wheel," i
and
the curious apparatus here shown, yclept ^he " Old Dog Wheel," were
to be found in most farm houses ; simple machinery has, however, now
been substituted for the wheel which the dog was made to turn round,
like the imprisoned squirrels and white mice of the present day ; and not
only the dog wheels, but also the long-backed "turnspit" dog have
almost disappeared. That which we engrave, however, still exists, and
may be seen by the curious, at the Castle of St. Briavel, which stands
on the borders of the Forest of Dean, in Gloucestershire.
ABRAHAM AXD SARAH.
The Talmudists relate that Abraham, in travelling to Egypt, brought
with him a chest. At the custom-house the officers exacted the duties.
Abraham would have readily paid them, but desired they would not
open the chest. They first insisted on the duties for clothes, which
Abraham consented to pay ; but then they thoiight by his ready acqui-
escence that it might be gold. Abraham consents to pay for gold. The}'
now suspect it might be silk. Abraham was willing to pay for silk, or
more costly pearls in short, he consented to pay as if the chest contained
102 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
the most valuable of things. It was then they resolved to open and
examine the chest ; and, behold, as soon as the chest was opened, that
great lustre of human beauty broke out which made such a noise in the
laud of Egypt it was Sarah herself! The jealous Abraham, to conceal
her beauty, had locked her up in this chest.
AGES OF CELEBEATED MEN.
Hippocrates, the greatest physician the world has ever seen, died at
the age of one hundred and nine, in the island of Cos, his native country.
Galen, the most illustrious of his successors, reached the age of one
hundred and four. The three sages of Greece, Solon, Tholes, and Pitta-
ens, lived for a century. The gay Democritus outlived them by two
years. Zeno wanted only two years of a century when he died. Dio-
genes ten years more ; and Plato died at the age of ninety-four, when the
eagle of Jupiter is said to have borne his soul to heaven. Xenophon, the
illustrious warrior and historian, lived ninety years. Polemon and
Epicharmus ninety-seven ; Lycurgus eighty-live ; Sophocles more than a
hundred. Gorgias entered his hundred and eighth year ; and Asclepi-
ades, the physician, lived a century and a half. Juvenal lived a hun-
dred years ; Pacuvius and Varro but one year less. Carneades died at
ninety ; Galileo at sixty-eight ; Cassini at ninety-eight ; and Newton at
eighty-five. In the last century, Fontenelle expired in his ninety-ninth
year; Buffon in his eighty- first ; Voltaire in his eighty-fourth. In the
present century, Prince Talleyrand, Goethe, Rogers, and Niemcewicx are
remarkable instances. The Cardinal du Belloy lived nearly a century ;
and Marshal Moncey lately terminated a glorious career at eighty-five.
I:ITI:<T OF A NKW NOSK.
Van Helmont tells a story, of a person who applied to Taliacotius to
have his nose restored. This person, having a dread of an incision being
made in his own arm, for the purpose of removing enough skin therefrom
for a nose, got a labourer, who, for a remuneration, suffered the skin for
the nose to ! taken from his arm. About thirteen months after, the
adseitioits nose suddenly became cold, and, after a few days, dropped
off, in a state of putrefaction. The cause of this unexpected occurrence
having been investigated, it was discovered that, at the same moment in
which the nose grew cold, the labourer at Bologna expired.
ri;i NCII Diir.ss.
Sigebcrt was buried in St. Medrad's church, at Soissons, where his
statue is still seen in long clothes, with the mantle, which the Romans
called cft/HHti/i*. This was the dress of Colvil's children, whether as more
noble and majestic, or that they looked on the title of Augustus as here-
ditary in their family. However it be, long clothes were, for several
ages, the dress of persons of distinction, with a border of sable, ermine,
in- miniver. Under Charles V. it was emblazoned with all the pieces of
the coat of arms. At that time, neither ruffs, collars, nor bands were
known, being introduced by Henry II. 'Till this time the neck of the
French king was always quite bare, except Charles the Wise, who is
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 103
everywhere represented with, an ermin collar. The short dress anciently
worn in the country and the camp, came to be the general fashion
under Louis XI. but was laid aside under Louis XII. Francis I. revived
it, with the improvement of flashes. The favourite dress of Henry II.
and his children was a tight, close doublet, with trunk hose, and a cloak
scarce reaching the waist. The dress of French ladies, it may be sup-
posed, had likewise its revolutions. They seem for nine hundred years,
not to have been much taken up with ornament. Nothing could require
less time or nicety than their head-dress, and the disposition of their hair.
Every part of their linen was quite plain, but at the same time ex-
tremely fine. Laces were long unknown. Their gowns, on the right
side of which was embroidered their husband's coat of arms, and on the
left that of their own family, were so close as to shew all the delicacy of
their shape, and came up so high as to cover their whole breast, up to
their neck. The habit of widows was very much like that of the nuns.
It was not until Charles VI. that they began to expose their shoulders.
The gallantry of Charles the VII. 's Court brought in the use of bracelets,
necklaces, and ear-rings. Queen Anne de Bretagne despised those
trinkets ; and Catherine de Medicis made it her whole business to invent
new.
A LAST CHANCE.
John Jones and Jn. Davis, condemn'd for robberries on the high-
way, were executed at Tyburn. l)avis feign' d himself sick, and desir'd
he might not be ty'd in the cart : But when he came to the tree, while
the hangman was fastening the other's halter, he jumpt out of the
cart, and ran over two fields ; but being knock'd down by a country-
man, was convey'd back and hang'd without any more ceremony.
Jones confessed he had been confederate in several robberies with Gordon,
lately executed. Gentleman's Magazine 1733.
A convict running away over two fields at Tyburn, and then being
caught by a countryman ! How strange this seems, when we look at the
streets and squares which now cover the locality, and when the only
countrymen now seen there are those who come up from the rural districts !
YELLOW HAIR IX THE TIME OP THE PLAXTAGEXETS.
Yellow hair was at this time esteemed a beauty, and saffron was used
by the ladies to dye it of a colour esteemed " odious" by modern ladies.
Elizabeth also made yellow hair fashionable, as hers was of the same
tint. In the romance of King Alisaunder, we are told of Queen Olym-
pias :
" Hire yellow hair was fair atyreil
With riche strings of gold wyred,
And wryen hire abouteii all
To hire gentil myddel small."
THE CITY OF THE SITXTAX.
The Mosques of Constantinople are the most wonderful objects of that
renowned city. More than 300 are picturesquely distributed in conspi-
cuous parts, and form a most attractive feature to the eye of the traveller.
The city itself is built upon seven gentle hills, which is the main cause
104
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
not only of its grandeur of appearance, but also of its salubrity and com-
parative cleanliness. There are fourteen chief or imperial mosques, all
lofty, and magnificent in their general dimensions, and built from base
to dome, of enduring materials, chiefly of white marble, slightly tinged
with grey. Some of these have two, some four, and one (that of Sultan
Achmet) has even six of those light, thin, lofty, arrowy, and most grace-
ful towers called minarets. The mosque of San^a Sophia was once a
Christian cathedral, and is rich in historical recollections. This mosque
ranks as one of the grandest cditices. The ridge of the first hill on which
the city stands, setting nut from the north eastern part, is covered bv the
Serai or palace of the Sultan, behind which, a little on the n v, r* "I tin-
hul, the dome of Santa Sophia shows itself. The colleges and hospital*
which are generally attached to or near the great mosques, offer no strik-
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
105
Ing architectural features ; but some of the detached chapels or sepul-
chres (turbes), where sultans, viziers, and other great personages repose,
are handsome.
GOLD MASK FROM THE BANKS OF THE EUPHRATES.
This interesting relic of remote antiquity is at present preserved in the
Museum of the East India Company. It was found hy Colonel Rawlin-
MASK OF NBBUCHADNEZZAE.
son while engaged in prosecuting the discoveries commenced by Layard
and Botta, at Nineveh and Babylon ; and is supposed to have belonged to
King Nebiichadnezzar. In exhuming from the mounds of these long-lost
rival cities, the instructive remains of this once gigantic Power, the
Colonel discovered, in a perfect state of preservation, what is well believed
to be the mummy of Nebuchadnezzar. The face of the rebellious
monarch of Babylon, covered by one of those gold masks usually found
in Assyrian tombs, is described as very handsome the forehead high
106 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
and commanding, the features marked and regular. The mask is of
thin gold, and independent of its having once belonged to the great
monarch, has immense value as a relic of an ancient and celebrated
people.
The Arab tribes encamping aboxit Wurka and other great mounds
search in the loose gravel with their spears for coffins. Gold and silver
ornaments, which have been buried in these graves for centuries, are
worn by the Arab women of the present day ; and many a rare object
recovered from them is sold and melted by the goldsmiths of the East. The
Arabs mention the discovery, by some fortunate shepherd, of Iloyal
tombs, in which were crowns and sceptres of solid gold.
FROST FAIR OK THE THAMES.
" I went crosse the Thames," says Evelyn, January 9, lG83-;4, "on
the ice, which now became so thick as to bear not only streetes of
boothes, in which they roasted meate, and had divers shops of wares,
^uite acrosse as in a towne, but coaches, carts, and horses passed over.
So I went from "Westminster Stayres to Lambeth, and din'd with the
Archbishop. I walked over the ice (after dinner) from Lambeth Stayres
to the Horseferry.
" The Thames (Jan> 1C) was filled with people and tents, selling all
sorts of wares as in a citty. The frost (Jan? 24) continuing more and
more severe, the Thames before London was still planned with boothes in
formal streetes, all sorts of trades and shops furnished and full of com-
modities, even to a printing-press^, where the people and ladyes took a
fancy to have their names printed on the Thames. This humour took so
universally, that 'twas estimated the printer gained 5 a-day, for
printing a line only, at sixpence a day, besides what he got by ballads,
&c. Coaches plied from Westminster to the Temple, and from several
other staires to and fro, as in the streetes, sleds, sliding with skeates, a
bull-baiting, horse and coach races, puppet playes and interludes,
cookes, tipling, and other lewd places, so that it seem'd to be a baccha-
nalian triumph, or carnival on the water."
" It began to thaw (Feb. 5), but froze againe. My coach crossed from
Lambeth to the Horseferry at Millbank, Westminster. The booths Avere
almost all taken down ; but there was first a map, or landskip, cut in
copper, representing all the manner of the camp, and the several actions,
sports, and pastimes thereon, in memory of so signal a frost."
inr, niAKUTF.i: or THK MOUTH.
We give the following extract from a very old work ; not only because
it contains several shrewd observations, but also because it is a good
specimen of the -spelling and diction which prevailed in the sixteenth
ei-ntury, at which period there is internal evidence that the book was
written, though it bears no date on the title page :
"The mouth greate and wyde hetokeneth wrath, boldnes and warre.
And such men are commonly glottons. A wyde mouth withoute meesure,
as thought it wen; cutte and stretched out, sygnifieth ravening inhu-
manitif, wickednes, a warlyke hart and cruell, like unto beastes of the
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 107
sea. Such men are greate talkers, boasters, babblers, enuious, lyars,
und full of follye. The mouthe that hathe but a lyttle closynge and a
lyttlc openynge, sygnyfyeth a fearful man, quyet, and yet unfaithfull.
The mouthe that is verye apparent and rounde with thycknes of lyppes,
sygnyfyeth vnclenlynes, follye, and cruelltye. The mouth whyche hath
a quantitie in his sytuation with a lyttle shutting, and srnylynge eyes
wyth the reste of the face, sygnyfyeth a carnall man, a lover of daunces,
and a greate lyar. When the mouthe turneth in speakinge it is a sygne
that it is infected with some catarre or murre as is manyfest ynough.
The long chynne declareth the man to be veiy lyttle subiecte to anger,
and of a good complexion : and yet he is somewhat a babbler and a
boaster of hymselfe. They that have a lyttle chinne, are much to be
avoyded and taken heede of, for besydes all vices with the whyche they
are fylled they are full of inipietye and wyckednes and are spyes, lyke
unto serpents. If the ende of the chynne be round it is a sygne of feminine
maners and also it is a sygne of a woman. But the chynne of a man
mustc be almoste square/' " The most excellent, profitable, and please, nt
bookc of the famous doctour and expert ^-istroloffien ^-ircandam or Ale-
andrin." ***. Now ready turnedout of French into our ntlr/are tonge,
by Will. Warde. Black letter. ]S T o date.. Printed by J. liowbothum.
EXECUTION OF EARL FERRERS FOR MURDER, 1760.
Lord Ferrers was hung for the deliberate and cruel murder of his
steward, Mr. Johnson, and his execution at Tyburn furnishes a curious
instance of the exhibition of egregious vanity in a man who was just
about to meet an ignominious death, and of misplaced pride in his family
who could actually decorate the scaffold with the emblems of respectful
mourning.
His lordship was dressed in his wedding-clothes, which were of light
colour, and embroidered in silver. He set out from the Tower at nine
o'clock, amidst crowds of spectators. First went a large body of con-
stables, preceded by one of the high constables ; next came a party of
grenadiers and a party of foot; then the sheriff, in a chariot and six, the
horses dressed with ribbons ; and next, Lord Ferrers, in a landau and
six, escorted by parties of horse and foot. The other sheriff's carriage
followed, succeeded by a mourning-coach and six, conveying some of the
malefactor's friends ; and lastly, a hearse and six, provided for the pur-
pose of taking the corpse from the place of execution to Surgeons' Hall.
The procession was two hours and three-quarters on its way. Lord
Ferrers conversed very freely during the passage. He said, " the appa-
ratus of death, and the passing through such crowds of people, are ten
times worse than death itself; but I suppose they never saw a lord
hanged, and perhaps they will never see another." He said to the
sheriff, " I have written to the king, begging that I might suffer where
my ancestor, the Earl of Essex, the favourite of Elizabeth, suffered, and
was in great hopes of obtaining that favour, as I have the honour of
being allied to his Majesty, and of quartering part of the royal arms. I
think it hard that I must die at the place appointed for the execution of
common felons."
108 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
The scaffold was hung with black bj- the undertaker, at the expense
of Lord Ferrers' family. His lordship was pinioned with a black sash,
and was unwilling to have his hands tied, or his face covered, but was
persuaded to both. On the silken rope being put round his neck, he
turned pale, but recovered instantly. Within seven minutes after leav-
ing the landau, the signal was given for striking the stage, and in four
minutes he was quite dead. The corpse was subjected to dissection.
STRANGE FUNERAL OBSEQTJIKS.
The following, taken from an old magazine, is a singular manifestation
of eccentricity in a person who, from the books he selected to be buried
with him, was evidently a man of an educated and refined mind :
Died, May 4, 1733, Mr. John Underwood, of "Whittlesea, in Cambridge-
shire. At his burial, when the service was over, an arch was turn'd over
the coffin, in which was placed a small piece of white marble, with this
inscription, " Non omnis moriar, 1733. Then the six gentlemen who
follow'd him to the grave sung the last stanza of the 20th Ode of the
2d book of Horace. No bell was toll'd, no one invited but the six gen-
tlemen, and no relation follow'd his corpse; the coffin was painted
green, and he laid in it with all his cloaths on ; under his head was
placed Sanadon's "Horace," at his feet Bentley's " Milton ;" in his
right hand a small Greek Testament, with this inscription in gold
letters, " /u ev TM (Sav^a, J. U," in his left hand a little edition of
" Horace" with this inscription, " Musis Amiens, J. U. ;" and Bentley's
" Horace" under his back. After the ceremony was over they went back
to his house, where his sister had provided a cold supper ; the cloth
being taken away the gentlemen sung the 31st Ode of the 1st Book of
" Horace," drank a chearful glass, and went home about eight. He
left aboiit 6,000/. to his sister, on condition of her observing this his
will, ordcr'd her to give each of the gentlemen irn guineas, und desir'd
they would not come in black cloaths. The will mils thus, "Which
done I would have them take a chearful glass, and think no more of
John Underwood."
QUICK TRAVELLING IN OLD TIMT.s.
Saturday, the seventeenth day of July, 1619, Bernard Calvert, of
Andover, about three o'clock in the morning, tooke horse at St. George's
Church in Southwarke, and came to Dover about seavcn of the clocke the
same morning, where a barge, with eight oares, formerly sent from
London thither, attended his suddaine coming : he instantly tooke barge,
and went to Callice, and in the same barge returned to Dover, about
three of the clocke the same day, where, as well there as in diverse other
places, he had layed sundry swift horses, besides guides : he rode back
trnjii thence to St. George's Church in Southwarke the same evening, a
little after eight o'clock, fresh and lusty. State's Annul*.
EDDYSTONE LIGHTHOUSE.
As the arts and sciences improved, so did the construction of Light-
houses, until one of the greatest accomplishments of engineering skill,
ever attempted upon such works, was exhibited in the construction of the
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
109
Eddystone Lighthouse, which is, indeed, much more entitled than the
Pharos of Alexandria to be considered one of the wonders of the world.
The rock on which this tower is built is placed about twelve miles south-
west of Plymouth, and consists of a series of submarine cliffs, stretching
from the west side (which is so precipitous that the largest ship can ride
THE EDDTSTONB LIGHTHOUSE.
close beside them) in an easterly direction, for nearly half a mile. At
the distance of about a quarter of a mile more is another rock, so that a
more dangerous marine locality can hardly be imagined. Both these
rocks had proved the cause of many fatal shipwrecks, and it was at last
resolved to make an attempt to obviate the danger. In the year 1696, a
gentleman of Essex, named "Winstanley, who had a turn for architecture
and mechanics, was engaged to erect a lighthouse upon the Eddystone
rock, and in four years he completed it. It did not, however, stand long,
for while some repairs were in progress under his direction in 1703, on
110 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
the 26th November, a violent hurricane came on which blew the light-
hoxise down, and Mr. Winstanley and all his workmen perished nothing
remaining of the edifice but a few stones and a piece of iron chain.
In the spring of 1706 an Act of Parliament was obtained for rebuilding
the lighthouse, and a gentleman named Rudyerd, a silk mercer, was the
engineer engaged. He placed live courses of heavy stones upon the rock
and then erected a superstructure of wood. The lighthouse on the Bell
Rock, off the coast of Fife, and the one placed at the entrance of the
Mersey on the Black Hock, are similarly constructed, so that there seemed
to be good reason for adopting the principle. Mr. Smeaton thought that
the work was done in a masterly and effective manner ; but in 1755 the
edifice was destroyed by lire, and he was next retained as the engineer
for this important building.
The result of his labours has justly been considered worthy of the ad-
miration of the world, for it is distinguished alike for its strength, dura-
bility, and beauty of form. The base of the tower is about twenty-six
feet nine inches in diameter, and the masonry is so formed as to be a part
of the solid rock, to the height of thirteen feet above the surface, where
the diameter is diminished to nineteen feet and a half. The tower then
rises in a gradually diminishing curve to the height of eighty-five feet,
including the lantern, which is twenty-four feet high. The upper ex-
tremitv is finished by a cornice, a balustrade being placed around the base
of the lantern for use as well as ornament.
The tower is furnished witli a door and windows, and the whole edifice
outside bears the graceful outline of the trunk of a mighty tree, combin-
ing lightness with elegance and strength. Mr. Smeaton commenced his
labours in 1756, and completed the building in four years. Before com-
mencing operations he took accurate drawings of the exterior of the rock,
and the stones, which were brought from the striking and romantic dis-
trict of Dartmoor, were all formed to fit into its crevices, and so prepared
as to be dovetailed together, and strung by oaken plugs. When put into
their places, ami then iinnly cemented, the whole seemed to form, and
does indeed constitute, a part'of the solid rock.
s \\r.\HNii SICKNESS.
The Sweating Sickness first visited England Anno Dom. 1483, and
repeated its visitations 1 IS.",, 1,">0(5, 1517, 1528, and last of all, 1551.
This epidemic disease raged with such peculiar violence in England,
and had so quick a crisis, that it was distinguished by the name of
l-'l>Iii'in<'i-ii Tirilinuiii'ii. This singular fever seems to have been of the
most simple, though of the most aeuto kind, and notwithstanding princes
and nobles were its chief victims, the physicians of the day never agreed
upon the method of treating it.
The splendid French embassy, which arrived in Kngland in 1550, found
the court-feslivities damped by a visitation of that strange and terri lie
malady.
" Tiiis pestih -nee, first brought into the island by the foreign merce-
naries who composed the army of the Earl of Richmond, afterwards
Jlenry VII., now made its appearance for the fourth and last time in
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
Ill
our annals. It seized principally, it is said, on males, on such as were
in the prime of their age, and rather on the higher than the lower
classes : within the space of twenty-four hours, the fate of the sufferer
was decided for life or death. Its ravages were prodigious ; two princes
died of it ; and the general consternation was augmented, by a super-
stitious idea which went forth, that Englishmen alone were the destined
victims of this mysterious minister of fate, which tracked their steps,
with a malice and sagacity of an evil spirit, into every distant country
of the earth whither they, might have wandered, whilst it left unassailed
all foreigners in their own."
AN AMERICAN ADVERTISEMENT.
The following is an early specimen of that system of poetical advertis-
ing which in recent times has become so common. It is always inte-
resting to note the origin of customs with which we subsequently become
familiar :
Notice to the Public, and especially to Emigrants, who wish to settle
on Lands. The Subscriber offers for Sale, several Thousand Acres of
Land, situated in well settled Front Townships, in Lots to suit
Purchasers.
Particulars about Location,
May be known by application.
For quality of soil, and so forth,
Buyers to see, on Nag must go forth.
This much I'll tell ye plainly,
Of big trees ye' 11 see maiulj*.
'Bout Butter Nut and Beach,
A whole week I could preach ;
But what the plague's the use of that ?
The lands are high, low, round, and flat.
There's rocks and stumps, no doubt
enough,
And bogs and swamps, i\u& quantum-tuff)
To breed the finest of Musquitoes ;
As in the sea arc bred Bonitos,
No lack of fever or of ague ;
And many other things to plague you.
In short, they're just like other people's,
Sans houses, pigsties, barns, or steeples.
"What most it imports you to know,
'S the terms on which I'll let 'em go.
So now I offer to the Buyer,
A Credit to his own desire,
For butter, bacon, bread, and cheese,
Lean bullocks, calves, or ducks and
geese,
Corn, Tates, flour, barley, rye,
Or any thing but Punkin-Pte.
In three, four years, Aye, five or six,
If that won't do, why let him fix.
But when once fix'd, if payment's slack,
As sure as Fate, I'll take 'em back.
THOMAS DALTON.
Kingston Brewery, (Canada,) Nov. 2, 1821.
MAGNIFICENCE OF FORMER TIMIX
Account how the Earl of Worcester lived at Ragland Castle in Mon-
mouthshire, before the Civil Wars, ichich began in 16-11.
At eleven o'clock in the forenoon, the Castle gates were shut, and the
tables laid ; two in the dining-room ; three in the hall ; one in Mrs.
"Watson's apartment, where the chaplains are, (Sir Toby Mathews being
the first ;) and two in the housekeeper's room for the lady's women.
The Earl came into the dining-room attended by his gentlemen. As
soon as he was seated, Sir Ealph Blackstone, Steward of the house,
retired. The Comptroller, Mr. Holland, attended with his staff, as did
the Sewer, Mr. Blackburne ; the daily waiters, Mr. Clough, Mr. Selby,
and Mr. Scudamore ; with many gentlemen's sons, from two to seven
112 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
hundred pounds a year, bred up in the Castle ; my Lady's Gentleman
Usher, Mr. Harcourt ; my Lord's Gentlemen of the Chamber, Mr.
Morgan and Mr. Fox.
At the first table sat the noble family, and such of the nobility as came.
At the second table, in the dining-room, sat Knights and Honourable
Gentlemen, attended by footmen.
In the hall, at the first table sat Sir Ralph Blackstone, Steward ; the
Comptroller, Mr. Holland ; the Secretary ; the Master of the Horse, Mr.
Delewar ; the Master of the Fish Ponds, Mr. Andrews ; my Lord Her-
bert's Preceptor, Mr. Adams ; with such Gentlemen as came there under the
degree of a Knight, attended by footmen, and plentifully served with wine.
At the second table in the hall, (served from my Lord's table, and with
other hot meats,) sat the Sewer, with the Gentlemen Waiters and Pages,
to the number of twenty-four.
At the third table in the hall, sat the Clerk of the Kitchen, with the
Yeomen Officers of the House, two Grooms of the Chamber, &c.
Other Officers of the Household were, Chief Auditor, Mr. Smith ; Clerk
of the Accounts, Mr. George Wharton ; Purveyor of the Castle, Mr.
Salsbury ; Ushers of the Hall, Mr. Movie and Mr. Croke ; Closet Keeper,
Gentleman of the Chapel, Mr. Davies ; Keeper of the Records; Master of the
Wardrobe ; Master of the Armoury ; Master Groom of the Stable for the War
Horses ; Master of the Hounds ; Master Falconer ; Porter and his man.
Two Butchers ; two Keepers of the Home Park ; two Keepers of the
Red Deer Park.
Footmen, Grooms, and other menial Servants, to the number of 150.
Some of the footmen were brewers and bakers.
Out Officers. Steward of Ragland, William Jones, Esq. ; the Governor
of Chepstow Castle, Sir Nicholas Kemys, Bart. ; Housekeeper of Worces-
ter House, in London, James Redman, Esq.
Thirteen Bailiffs.
Two Counsel for the Bailiffs to have recourse to.
Solicitor, Mr. John Smith.
S.VDLER'S WELLS.
"T. GL, Doctor in Physic," published, in 1684, a pamphlet upon this
place, in which he says:" The water of this well, before the Reforma-
tion, was very much famed for several extraordinary cures performed
thereby, and w;is thereupon accounted sacred, and called Holy-well.
The priests belonging to the priory of Clerkenwell using to attemt there,
made the people believe thai the virtue of the water proceeded from the
efficacy of their prayers ; but at the Reformation the well was stopped,
upon the supposition that the frequenting of it was altogether super-
stitious ; and so by degrees it grew out of remembrance, and was wholly
lost until then found out ; when a gentleman named Sadler, who had
lately built a new music-house there, and being surveyor of the high-
ways, had employed men to dig gravel in his garden, in the midst
whereof they found it stopped up and covered with an arch of stone."
After the decease of Sadler, Francis Forcer, a musician of some eminence
in his profession, became proprietor of the well and music-room ; he was
MARVELLOUS, HAKE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
113
succeeded bv his son, who first exhibited there the diversions of rope-
dancing and" tumbling, which were then performed in the garden. The
rural vicinity of the " Wells," long made it a favourite retreat of the
pleasure-seeking citizens.
CHA.MPIOX FIGG.
James Figg, a native of Thame, in Oxfordshire, was a man of remark-
able athletic strength and agility, and signalized himself greatly over any
of his country competitors in the art of cudgel-playing, single-stick,
and other gymnastic exercises. Having acquired a considerable know-
ledge of the broad-sword, he came to London, and set up as master in
114 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
that science, undertaking to teach the nobility and gentry of his day the
noble art of self defence ; and championed himself against all comers.
He took a waste piece of ground, the corner of Wells and Castle-streets,
Oxford-road, and erected a wooden edifice, which, in imitation of the
Romans, he denominated an amphitheatre ; and established here a
regular academy, to train pupils in the practice of cudgeling, broad-
sword, &c. &c., as well to use it, on fixed occasions, for the exhibition
of prize-fighting. He had many followers, and we find him commemo-
rated and praised by most of the wits of his time. " The Tattler,"
"Guardian," and "Craftsman," have equally contributed to preserve
his memory, as have several writers. Bramstone, in his " Man of Taste"
tells us :
" In Figg the prize-fighter by day delight,
And sup with.Colley Gibber every night."
Another writer notices him in the following lines :
" To Figg and Broughton he commits his breast,
To steel it to the fashionable test."
Sutton, the pipe-maker of Gravesend, was his rival, and dared the
mighty Figg to the combat. Twice they fought, with alternate advan-
tage ; but, at the third trial, a considerable time elapsed before victory
decided for either party ; at length the palm of victory was obtained by
Figg. In short, neither Ned Sutton, Tom Buck, nor Bob Stokes, could
resist, or stand against his skill and valour. He was never defeated but
once, and then by Sutton, in one of their previous combats, and that was
generally supposed to have been in consequence of an illness he had on
him at the time he fought.
When Faber engraved his portrait from a painting by Ellys, he was
at a loss what he should insert, as an appropriate motto, and consulting
with a friend what he should put, .was answered, "A Fi</<j for the
///.s/j." This was immediately adopted, and the print had a rapid sale.
Figg died in 1734. William 1 lander a noted scholar of his, fought
at the amphitheatre, in 17l^>, with Christopher Clarkson, from Lanca-
shire, who was called the Old Soldier. The fashion of attending prize-
fighting matches had attained its highest zenith in Figg's time, and it
was looked upon as a very great proof of self-denial in an amateur if he
failed a meeting on those occasions.
From Figg's theatre he will not miss a night,
Though cocks, and bulls, and Irish women, tight.
Kigg left a widow and several children ; so recently as 1794 a daughter-
in-law of his was living, and resided in Charles-street, Westminster,
where she kept a house, and supported herself very decently by letting
lodgings, aided by a very small income.
n::i>s IN 1,17:;.
The wardrobe of a country gentleman is thus given from a will, dated
1 . r >7:;, in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, in Bray ley and Britton's
(>'i-n//n'<- 11/nnfrnfoi "I give unto my brother Mr'. William Sheney
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 115
my best black gown, garded and faced with velvet, and my velvet cap ;
also I will unto iny brother Thomas Marcal my new shepe colored gowne,
garded with velvet and faced with cony ; also I give unto my son Tyble
my shorte gown, faced with wolf (skin), and laid with Billements lace ;
also I give unto my brother Cowpcr my other shorte gowne, faced with
foxe ; also I give unto Thomas Walker my night gown, faced with cony,
with one lace also, and my ready (ruddy) colored hose ; also I give unto
my man Thomas SAvaine my doublet of canvas that Forde made me, and
my new gaskyns that Forde made me ; also I give unto John Wyldinge
a cassock of shepes colour, edged with ponts skins ; also I give unto John.
Woodzyle my doublet of fruite canvas, and my hose with fryze bryches ;
also I give unto Strowde my frize jerkin with silke buttons ; also I give
Symonde Bisshoppe, the smyth, my other frize jerkyn, with stone buttons ;
also I give to Adam Ashame my hose with the frendge (fringe), and lined
with crane-coloured silk ; which gifts I will to be delivered immediately
after my decease."
ORIGIX OF THE CREST OF THE PRIXCE OF "WALES.
The loss of the French at the battle of Cre9y was immense. There fell
1,200 knights ; 1,400 esquires ; 4,000 commissioned officers ; 30,000 rank
and file ; Dukes of Lorraine and Bourbon ; Earls of Flanders, Blois, Har-
court, Vaudemont, and Aumale ; the King of Bohemia ; the King of Ma-
jorca. The "English lost one esquire, three knights, and less than one
hundred rank and file. Here did they first use field artillery ; and on
this battle-field did the young Prince of Wales adopt the ostrich plumes
and motto of the slain King of Bohemia, Avho, being blind, desired to be
led at a gallop between two knights into the thick of the fight, and thus
met death. Those feathers and the two words " Ich clien," " I serve,"
are to this day the heraldic bearings of the Prince of Wales, whom God
preserve ! So much for Cre^y or Cressy !
SINGULAR DISCOVERY OF A THIEF IX 1822.
On Februaiy 20, as a servant in the employ of J. L. King, Esq., of
Stogumber, was entering a field, his attention was attracted by a mag-
pie, which appeared to have escaped from a neighbouring house. The
bird spoke so uncommonly plain that the man was induced to follow it.
" Cheese for Marget, Cheese for Marget" was its continual cry, as it
hopped forward, till it stopped behind a hay-stack, and began to eat.
On inspection, a number of hams, a quantity of cheese, &c., were dis-
covered, which had been stolen, a short time previously, from Mr.
Bowering, of Williton. The plunder was deposited in sacks, on one of
which was marked the name of a person residing in the neighbourhood,
which led to the apprehension of four fellows, who have been committed
to Wilton gaol.
EFFECT OF VINEGAR OX THE SKIX.
By the use of vinegar the Spanish General Vitellis, made his skin hang
about him like a pelisse ; but of the wonderful dilatability of the skin, no
instance equals the Spaniard who showed himself to Tan-Horn, Silvius,
Piso, and other learned men at Amsterdam. Taking up with his left
116 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
hand the skin of his right shoulder, he would bring the same up to his
mouth : again he would draw the skin of his chin down to his breast like
a beard, and presently put it upwards to the top of his head, hiding both
his eyes therewith ; "after which, the same would return orderly and
equally to its proper place.
ADVERTISEMENT OF A DYING SPEECH BOOK IN 1731
Newgate literature was more popular in the last century than it is now.
The following is an advertisement in the Gentleman' 's Magazine of the
above date :
" A General History of Executions for the year, 1730. Containing the
lives, actions, dying speeches, confessions and behaviour, of sixty male-
factors executed at Tyburn, and elsewhere; particularly three un-
fortunate young gentlemen, viz., Mr. Goodburn, a Cambridge scholar,
Mr. Johnston, and Mr. Porter, son to the late Lord Mayor of Dublin :
and of several notorious highwaymen, foot-pads, street-robbers, and
housebreakers, as Dalton, Everet, Doyle, Newcomb, &c. , and of the live
young highwaymen taken at Windsor, said to have formed a design to
rob the Queen there. To which is added, the trial of William Gordon
at Chelmsford for a robberv on the highway ; an account of the incen-
diaries at Bristol, and the apprehending John Power, for sending
threatening letters, and firing Mr. Packer's house; also the life of
Col. Ch s. Together with an alphabetical list of all the persons in-
dicted or tried at the Old Bailey, the year past. With the judgment of
the couit respectively passed upon each, referring to the pages in the
session books for the trials at large. Printed for R. Newton at St.
John's Gate, and sold by the booksellers price bound 2s. 6d. "
ADVERTISEMENT OF A FLEET PAKSOX.
In the last century, when marriages were allowed to be transacted
we cannot say solemnized in the Fleet Prison, and the adjacent
taverns, the pronigate wretches who disgraced their sacred profession by
taking part in such iniquities, were obliged to bid against one another
for custom here is one of their advertisements :
G. R.
At the true Chapel
at the old Red Hand and Mitre, three doors from Fleet Lane and
next Door to the White Swan ;
Marriages are performed by authority by the Reverend Mr. Symson
educated at the University of Cambridge, and late Chaplain to the
Earl of Rothes.
N.B. Without Imposition.
i in-: AS*.
In all countries, this sure-footed and faithful animal is adopted as an
emblem of stupidity, from the patience with which it submits to punish-
ment and endures privation. A pair of ass's ears is inflicted upon a child
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 117
in reproof of his duncehood ; and through life we hear every blockhead
of our acquaintance called an ass. "Whereas the ass is a beast of great
intelligence ; and we often owe our safety to its sure and xmerring foot
beside the perilous precipice, where the steps of the man of science would
have faltered.
The Fathers of the Church, and the Disciples of the Sorbonne, per-
suaded of the universal influence of the Christian faith, believed the dark
cross on the back of the ass to date only from the day on which our
Saviour made his entry into Jerusalem. The ass of the desert was an
animal of great price. Pliny mentions that the Senator Arius paid for
one the sum of four hundred thousand sesterces. Naturalists have fre-
quently remarked the extraordinary dimensions of an ass's heartj which
is thought an indication of courage ; and it is the custom of the peasantry
of some countries to make their children wear a piece of ass's skin about
their person. The ass's skin is peculiarly valuable, both for the manu-
facture of writing-tablets and drums ; which may be the reason why a
dead ass is so rarely seen. It is too valuable to be left on the highway.
In many places, the ass serves as a barometer. If he roll in the dust,
fine weather may be expected ; but if he erect his ears, rain is certain.
Why should not these animals experience the same atmospheric influences
as man ? , Are we not light-hearted in the sunshine, and depressed in a
heavy atmosphere ?
CHOICE RECEIPTS FROil " PHTSICK FOE THE POOR. LONDON, 1657."
To make any one that SIcepeth answer to whatsoever iliou ask. Take
the heart of an oul, and his right legg, and put them upon the breast of
one that sleepeth, and they shall reveal whatsoever thoii ask them.
To knoio any Man or Woman's minde when they are Asleep. Take
the hart of a dove, and the legg of a frog, dry it well, and beat them to
powder in a morter, put this up in a linnen cloth, with three or four
round pibble stones, as big as wallnuts, then lay this upon the parties
pit of their stomach, and they shall tell you all things that they have
done, if there is anything remarkable that troubles them.
To make the Nose Bleed. Take the leaves of yerrow, put it up in thy
nose ; this will make the nose bleed immediately.
lo make a Tooth Drop out. Mizaldus saith that if you make a powder
of earth-worms and put it in the hollow of a rotten tooth, it will im-
mediately drop out.
How strange must have been the education and intelligence of the period,
when people could write, publish, and practice such incredible trash !
SHOCKING DEPRAVITY.
The following account, from an old magazine, affords a strange and
lamentable instance of a wretch just about to die, being only intent with
his latest breath to defame his own mother :
Mary Lynn, condemn'd last Assizes for the County of Norfolk, was
burnt to ashes at a stake, for being concern'd in the murder of her mis-
tress ; and Smith, the principal, was hang'd for the same fact. She
deny'd her being guilty, and said Smith could clear her if he would.
118 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
She behaved with decency, and died penitent. Smith was drunk at the
Callows ; and seem'd to have but little sense either of his crime or
punishment ; however, desired all masters to pay their servants' wages
on Saturday night, that they might have money to spend, and not run
in debt. Said, " My mother always told me I should die in my shoe?,
but I will make her a liar ;" so threw them off.
PERSONAL CHARMS DISCLAIMED.
If any human being was free from personal vanity, it must have been
the second Duchess d'Orleans, Charlotte Elizabeth of Bavaria. In one
of her letters (dated 9th August, 1718), she says, " I must certainly be
monstrously ugly. I never had a good feature. My eyes are small, my
nose short and thick, my lips broad and thin. These are not materials
to form a beautiful face. Then I have flabby, lank cheeks, and long
features, which suit ill with my low stature. My waist and my legs are
equally clumsy. Undoubtedly I must appear to be an odious little
wretch ; and had I not a tolerable good character, no creature could
endure me. I am sure a person must be a conjuror to judge me by my
eyes that I have a grain of wit."
CADER IDRIS.
On the very summit of Cader Idris there is an excavation in the solid
rock, resembling a couch ; and it is said that whoever should rest a night
in that seat, will be found in the morning either dead, raving mad, or
endued with supernatural genius.
OLD LONDON SHIXS.
Some notion of the houses arid shops of old London may be gathered
by a visit to Bell Yard, near Temple Bar ; Great Winchester Street, near
the Bank ; the wooden houses near Cripplegate Chxirch ; and a few other
districts which were spared by the Great Fire of 1666. In Bell Yard, for
instance, the national feeling for improvement has from time to time
i -fleeted changes : the lattices of diamond-shaped lead-work, carved
pendants, and the projecting signs of the various tradesmen, have dis-
appeared, and here and there sheets of plate glass have been used, to give
a somewhat modern appearance to the places of business. Still the pro-
jecting and massive wood-work of the shops, and the peculiar picturesque
appearance of the houses, cannot be altogether disguised ; and if any <>t
our readi-rs, who mav be curious in such matters, will walk up Bailey's
Court, on the west side of Mell Yard, he will there see a group of wooden
buildings exactly like the great mass which was cleared by the fire. In
some of the pictures of London of about this time, the shops of the
various tradesmen were chiefly ungla/ed, and above the door of each was
suspended the silver swans ; tin- gulden swans; the chained swans ; the
golden heads; mitres; bells lilaek, red, white, and blue; rising and
.-i-tting suns; moons of different phases; men in the moon; sceptres;
crowns, and many other devices, which, even at that time, were uccessary
to distinguish one shop from another. The chequers; St. George and
f lie dragon ; royal oaks ; king's heads ; and double signs, such as the
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAIXT. 119
horse-shoe and magpie ; bell and crown ; bell and horns, and such like,
were more particularly set apart for the use of the various hostelries.
Everyone, however, who had a London shop of any kind or consequence,
had his sign. Many of them were well carved in wood, and ornamented
with emblazonry and gilding.
No doubt if it were possible to find at the present time the same
picturesque architectural displays as were to be met with in London in
(iueen Elizabeth's days, our artistic friends would be able to pick up
many a nice subject for their pencils, but in those days there were plenty
of drawbacks ; the pavement was bad, the drainage was worse, and from
the eaves of the houses and pents of the shops, streams of water ran down
in wet weather upon the wayfarers, and, by lodging in the thoroughfares,
made the London streets something in the same state as those of Agar
Town and some other neglected parts of the metropolis. "We must not
forget that in the days to which we allude there were no nagged foot-
paths, and that the only distinction from the horse and cart roads, and
that for the foot passengers, was a separation by wooden posts, which, in
genteel places, were made supports for chains. People, however, got
tired of this bad state of things, and measures were taken to put a stop
to the streams of water from the roofs, &c. After the Great Fire, an
enactment was made for an alteration in the spouts, &c. ; all barbers'
poles, and projecting signs, and other projections were to be done away
with, and other changes made for the better. Up to the reign of Queen
Anne, we find, by reference to views of Cheapside and the neighbourhood
of the Monument, that the projecting signs were still in use ; and that
even at that recent date, many of the London shops in the important
neighbourhoods above mentioned were without glazing, and looked much
lik e some of the greengrocers' sheds in use now in Bermondsey and some
other places.
Severe measures seem to have been at length taken against the pro-
jecting signs, and most of them disappeared, and then it became a most
difficiilt matter either to address letters, or find a man's shop. In Dr.
Johnson's day, he and other persons gave the address " over against " a
particular sign, or so many doors from such a sign. In consequence of
this uncertainty, many houses in London, which from their association
with eminent men would possess much interest now, cannot be pointed
out ; and it was a wonderful benefit to the metropolis when the plan of
numbering the houses in each street was hit upon. But for this,
considering that the population has doubled in the last fifty years, it is
difficult to know how the genius of Rowland Hill would have worked his
plan of London post-office delivery, or business could be carried on with
any kind of comfort.
The booksellers and publishers seem to have been the last, with the
exception of the tavern-keepers, to give up the old signs. After the
Great Fire, some of the ancient signs which were cut in stone, and which
had escaped the conflagration, were got out of the ruins, and afterwards
placed in the front of the plain, yet solid, brick buildings which were
erected after that event. Some of these the " Chained Bear," the
" Collared Swan," the " Moon and Seven Stars," and " Sun," in Cheap-
120
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
side, and some others which we now engrave are still preserved. The
carved wooden sign of the " Man in the Moon," in Wych Street, Strand,
is a rare example ; and the " Horse-shoe and Magpie," in Fetter Lane,
is one of the last of the suspended signs to be now found in the City.
Amongst the painted signs of London taverns worth notice, is one in
Oxford-street (nearly opposite Rathbone-place), said to have been painted
by Hogarth. The subject is " a man loaded with mischief." He lias a
stout woman on his shoulders, together with a monkey, in;i<r|>ie, etc. The
male figure shown in this street picture seems to bear up pretty well under
his burden.
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 121
XABROW ESCAPE. CALM RELIANCE ON PROVIDENCE.
In the year Ioo2, Francis Pelusius, of sixty-three years old, digging
a well forty foot deep in the hill of St. Sebastian, the earth ahove him
fell in upon him to thirty-five foot depth ; he was somewhat sensible before
of what was coming, and opposed a plank, which by chance he had with
him, against the ruins, himself lying under it ; by this means he was
protected from the huge weight of earth, and retained some room and
breath to himself, by which he lived seven days and nights without food or
sleep, without any pain or sorrow, being full of hope, which he placed in God
only. Ever and anon he called for help, as being yet safe, but was heard
by none, though he could hear the motion, noise and words of those that
were above him, and could count the hours as the clock went. After the
seventh day, he being all this while given for dead, they brought a bier
for his corpse, and when a good part of the well was digged up, on a
sudden they heard the voice of one crying from the bottom. At first
they were afraid, as if it had been the voice of a subterranean spirit ; the
voice continuing, they had some hope of his life, and hastened to dig
to him, till at last, after they had given him a glass of wine, they drew
him up living and well, his strength so entire that to lift him out he
would not suffer himself to be bound, nor would use any help of another.
Yea, he was of so sound, understanding, that, jesting, he drew out his
purse and gave them money, saying He had been with such good hosts,
that for seven days it had not cost him afarthuxj,
CEILING OF WHITEHALL.
The celebrated painting on the roof of the Banqueting House, has been
restored, re-painted, and refreshed, not fewer than three times. In the
reign of James II., 1687, Parrey Walton, a painter of still life, and the
keeper of the king's pictures, was appointed to re-touch this grand work
of art, which had then (as appears by the Privy Council Book) been
painted only sixty years. Walton was paid 212 for its complete restora-
tion, which siun was considered by Sir Christopher Wren, " as very
modest and reasonable." It was restored a second time by the celebrated
Cipriani ; and for a third time by a painter named Rigaud.
BUNYAN'S BIBLE.
John Bunyan's Bible (printed by Bill and Barker) bound in morocco,
and which had been his companion during his twelve years' unjustifiable
confinement in Bedford gaol, where he wrote his " Pilgrim's Progress,
was purchased at the sale of the library of the Eev. S. Palmer, of
Hackney, March, 1814, for the late Samuel Whitbread, Esq., for the
sum of 21. This Bible, and the " Book of Martyrs," are said to have
constituted the whole library of Bunyan during his imprisonment.
SPECIMENS OP ROYAL GRANT*.
In 1206, King John grants to W. de Camville a licence to destroy
game in any of the royal forests, which proves the origin of the Game
Laws.
1238. Henry III. gave 5001. to Baldwyn, Emperor of Constantinople.
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
1342. King Edward III. forgives to the mayor and citizens of London
the indignation and rancour of niind that he had conceived against them.
1344. The king grants to Adam Thorp, the trimmer of his beard,
certain lands at Eye, near Westminster. The scrupulous attention which
Edward III. paid to that ornament of his face, may be seen in his bronze
effigy in Westminster Abbey, which was taken from a mask after his
death.
1409. The king settles on Joan of Navarre, his queen, 10,000^. per
annum.
1417. Henry V. grants to Joan Warin, his nurse, an annuity of 201.
during life.
1422. The jewels which had belonged to King Henry V., and were
valued at so large a sum as 40,000/., were delivered to Sir Henry Fitz
Hugh, and his other executors, for the payment of his personal debts.
1422. The " Pysane," or great collar of gold and rubies, was pawned
by the king to his uncle, Cardinal Beaufort, who is supposed, at the time
of his death, to have amassed more wealth than any subject in England.
COFFEE AND TEA.
The bill for attendance at the Dorchester Assizes in 1686 of Mr. John
Bragge, the town-clerk of Lyme, presents this novelty the article
coffee is charged 2d. This may have been drunk at a coffee-house.
Coffee was introduced from Turkey in 1650.
An advertisement in the " Mcrcurius Politicus," Sept. 30, 1658,
instructs how "That excellent and by all physitians approved C/timt
drink, called by the Chineans Tcha, by other nations, tay alias tec, is
sold at the Sultana's Head Coffee-house, in Sweeting' s-rcnts, by the
Exchange, London. "
There was a " cophce-house" in St. Michael's-alley, Cornhill, about
1657. Tea, coffee, and chocolate were placed under the excise. There
was no tax upon these commodities when imported, but when made into
drink, as tea was, at 8d. a gallon, and sold at these houses.
nr.M AiiKAHi.r, I-KKSKKVATION OF in MAX n AIKSINOI; TTIE NORMAN PERIOD.
In 1839 a cofh'n was discovered in the abbey church of llomsey, which
had originally contained the body of a female of the abovecarly time. The
bones had entirely decayed, but the hair, with its characteristic in-
destructibility, was found entire, and appeared as if the skull had only
recently been removed from it, retaining its form entire, and having
plaited tails eighteen inches in length. It is still preserved in a glass
case, lying upon the same block of oak which has been its pillow for
centuries.
ITIil.K' T\>ri; FOll CONJUEING IX 1718.
One of the amusements of 17 is was the juggling exhibition of a fire-
'liter, whose name was De Eigbtrehight, a native of the valley of An-
nivi in the Alps. This tremendous person ate burning coals* chewed
Hainm- ItrimMone and strtillairctl \\, licked a red-hot poker, placed a red-
hot heater OH his tongue, kindled coals on his tongue, sufli-red them 1o
!" MO-.MI, mid broiled meat on them, ate melted pitch, brimstone, bee*-
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 123
wax, sealing-wax, and rosin, with a spoon ; and, to complete the busi-
ness, he performed all these impossibilities five times per diem, at the
Duke of Marlborough's Head, in Fleet-street, for the trifling receipts of
2s. 6d., Is. 6d., and Is. Master Hightrehight had the honour of exhibit
ing before Lewis XIV., the Emperor of Germany, the King of Sicily,
the Doge of Venice, and an infinite number of princes and nobles and
the Prince of Wales, who had nearly lost this inconceivable pleasure by
the envious interposition of the Inquisition at Bologna and in Piedmont,
which holy office seemed inclined to try their mode of burning on his body,
leaving to him the care of resisting the flames and rendering them
harmless ; but he was preserved from the unwelcome ordeal by the in-
terference of the Dutchess Royal Regent of Savoy and the Marquis
Bentivoglia.
THE TRIUMPHS OP SCIENCE AND PERSEVERANCE.
Distance seems not to have entered into the calculations of the
engineers who built those monuments of human skill carriage -road*
over the Alps. They were after a certain grade, and they obtained it,
though by contortions and serpentine windings that seem almost
endless. Thus the Simplon averages nowhere more than one inch
elevation to a foot, and, indeed, not quite that. Thirty thousand men
were employed on this road six years. There are six hundred and
eleven bridges in less than forty miles, ten galleries, and twenty houses
of refuge, while the average width of the road is over twenty-five feet.
The Splugen presents almost as striking features as the Simplon. From
these facts, some idea may be gathered of the stupendoiis work it must
be to carry a carriage-road over the Alps.
CHRISTMAS PIE.
The following appeared ia the Neiccastle Chronicle, 6th January,
1770:
" Monday last was brought from Howick to Berwick, to be shipped for
London, for Sir Henry Grey, hart., a pie, the contents whereof are as
follows: 2 bushels of flour, 201bs. of butter, 4 geese, 2 turkeys, 2
rabbits, 4 wild ducks, 2 woodcocks, 6 snipes, 4 partridges, 2 neats'
tongues, 2 curlews, 7 blackbirds, and 6 pigeons : it is supposed a very
great curiosity, was made by Mrs. Dorothy Patterson, house-keeper at
Howick. It was near nine feet in circumference at bottom, weighs about
twelve stones, will take two men to present it at table ; it is neatly fitted
with a case, and four small wheels to facilitate its use to every guest
that inclines to partake of its contents at table."
THE UPAS, (POISON) TREE.
"We give here an instance of the extravagancies of ancient travellers, this
tissue of falsehoods being taken from " Foersch's Description of Java :"
The Sohon Upas is situated in the Island of Java about twenty-
seven leagues from Batavia, fourteen from Soulis Charta, the seat
of the Emperor, and between eighteen and twenty leagues from Tinkjoe,
the present residence of the Sultan of Java. It is surrounded on all
sides by a circle of high hills and mountains ; and the country round
124 TEX THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
it, to the distance of ten or twelve miles from the tree, is entirely
barren. Xot a tree, nor a shrub, nor even the least plant or grass is to
be seen. I have made the tour all around this dangerous spot, at
about eighteen miles distant from the centre, and I found the aspect of
the country on all sides equally dreary. The easiest ascent of the hills
is from that part where the old Ecclesiastick dwells. From his house the
criminals are sent for the poison, into which the points of all warlike
instruments are dipped. It is of high value, and produces a consider-
able revenue to the Emperor. The poison which is procured from this
tree is a gum that issiies out between the bark and the tree itself, like
the ctnnjihor. Malefactors, who for their crimes are sentenced to die, arc
the only persons who fetch the poison ; and this is the only chance they
have of saving their lives. After sentence is pronounced upon them by
the Judge, they are asked in Court, whether they will die by the hands
of the executioner, or whether they will go to the Upas-tree for a box of
poison ? They commonly prefer the latter proposal, as there is not only
some chance of preserving their lives, but also a certainty, in case of
their safe return, that a provision will be made for them in future by tho
Kmperor. They are also permitted to ask a favour from the Emperor,
which is generally of a trifling nature, and commonly granted. They
arc then provided with a silver or tortoise-shell box, in which they arc
to put the poisonous gum, and are properly instructed how to proceed
while they are upon their dangerous expedition. They are always told
In attetld to the direction of the wind, as they are to go towards the tree
before the wind ; so that the effluvia from the tree is always blown from
them. They go to the house of the old ecclesiastic, who prepares them
by prayers and admonitions for their future fate ; he puts them on a long
It at hern cap with two glasses before their eyes, which comes down as fur
as their breast; and also provides them with a pair of leather gloves.
They are conducted by the priest, and their friends, and relations, about
two miles on their journey. The old Ecclesiastick assured me that in
upwards of thirty years, he had dismissed above seven hundred criminals
in the manner described, and that scarcely two out of twenty hav
turned. All the Malayans consider this tree as an holy instrument of
the great prophet to punish the sins of mankind, and, therefore, to die
of tfifl poison of the Upas is generally considered among them as an
honourable death. This, however, is certain, that from fifteen to eighteen
miles round this tree, not only no human creature can exist, but no
animal of (in;/ kind lias ever been discovered, there are no Jish in tho
waters, and when any birds lly so near this tree that the effluvia reaches
tin in, they drop down dead.
DI'ATII I \r-i:i) BY STTPERSTITIOX.
In Hamburg, in 1784, a singular accident occasioned the death of a
young couple. The lady going to the church of the August in l-'riars,
knelt down near a Mausoleum, onianienled with divers figures in marble,
among which Avas that of Death, armed with a scythe, a small piece of
the Millie hein^ loose, fell on the hood of the lady's mantelet. On her
return home, she mentioned the circumstance as a matter of indifference
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 125
to her husband, who, being a credulous and superstitious man, cried out
in a terrible panic, that it was a presage of the death of his dear wife.
The same day he was seized with a violent fever, took to his bed, and
died. The disconsolate lady was so affected at the loss, that she was
taken ill, and soon followed him. They were both interred in the same
grave ; and their inheritance, which was very considerable, fell to some
very distant, relations.
ST. PAUL AXD THE VIPER. THE CHURCH AT MALTA.
Not far from the old city of Valetta, in the island of Malta, there is
a small church dedicated to St. Paul, and just by the church, a mira-
culous [statue of the Saint with a viper on his liand ; supposed to be
placed on the very spot on which he was received after his shipwreck on
this island, and where he shook the viper off his hand into the fire,
without being hurt by it. At which time the Maltese assure us, the
Saint cursed all the venomous animals of the island, and banished them
for ever ; just as St. Patrick treated those of his favourite isle. Whether
this be the cause of it or not, we shall leave to divines to determine,
though if it had, St. Luke would probably have mentioned it in the Acts
of the Apostles ; but the fact is certain, that there are no venomous
animals in Malta.
THE FIRST HERMITS WHY SO-CALLED.
Hermits, or Eremites, (from the Greek tpiipos, a desert place,) were
men who retired to desert places to avoid persecution ; they lodged in
eaves and cells :
" Where from the mountain's grassy side,
Their guiltless feast they bring ;
A scrip with herbs and fruit supply'd,
And water from the spring."
The first hermit was Paul, of Thebes, in Egypt, who lived about the
year 260 ; the second, was St. Anthony, also of Egypt, who died in 345,
at the age of 105.
ST. JAMES'S SQUARE.
The author of A Tour through the Island of Great Britain (Daniel
Defoe), second edition, 1738, gives us the following particulars of this
aristocratic locality: "The alterations lately made in St. James's
Square are entitled to our particular notice. It used to be in a very
ruinous condition, considering the noble houses in it, which are inhabited
by the first quality. But now it is finely paved all over with heading-
stone ; a curious oval bason full of water, surrounded with iron rails on
a dwarf wall, is placed in the middle, mostly 7 feet deep and 150
diameter. In the centre is a pedestal about fifteen feet square, designed
for a statue of King William III. The iron rails are octagonal, and at
each, angle without the rails, is a stone pillar about 9 feet high, and a
lamp on the top. The gravel walk within the rails is about 26 feet broad
from each angle to the margin of the basin. It was done at the expense
of the inhabitants by virtue of an act of parliament. The house that
once belonged to the Duke of Ormond, and since to the Duke of Chandos,
126
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
is pulled down and makes three noble ones, besides fine stables and coach-
houses behind, and two or three more good houses in the street leading
to St. James's Church. This noble square wants nothing but to have the
lower part of it, near Pall Mall, built -of a piece with the rest, and the
designed statue to be erected in the middle of the basin.
"His Royal Highness the Prince of "Wales has taken the Duke of
Norfolk's house, and another adjoining to it, which are now (October,
1737) actually repairing for his town residence ; Car It on House being too
small for that purpose."
THE MORAYSIIIRE FLOODS.
In the month of August, 1829, the province of Moray and adjoining
districts were visited by a tremendous flood. Its ravages were most
destructive along the course of those rivers which h;ivc their source in
the Cairngorm mountains. The waters of the Findhom and the Spey,
and their tributaries, rose to an unexampled height. In some parts of
their course these streams rose lil'ty t'ect above their natural level. Many
houses were laid desolate, much agricultural produce was destroyed, and
il lives were lost. The woodcut in our text represents the situation
of a boatman called Sandy Smith, and his family, in the plains of Forres.
" They were huddled together," says the eloquent historian of the Floods,
" on a spot of ground a few ft t square, some forty or fifty yards beloTT
their inundated dwelling. Sandy was sometimes standing and sometimes
hitting on a small OMK, and, as the beholders fancied, watching with
intense an.xit ty the pnen-x ,,f the flood, and trembling for every lai^e
tre.- that it brought sweeping past them. His wife, eo\eivd with a
blanket, sat shi\ering on a bit of a log, one child in her lap, and a girl of
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 127
about seventeen, and a boy of about twelve years of age,, leaning against
her side. A bottle and a glass on the ground, near the man, gave the
spectators, as it had doubtless given him, some degree of comfort. About
a score of sheep were standing around, or wading or swimming in the
shallows. Three cows and a small horse, picking at a broken rick of
straw that seemed to be half-afloat, were also grouped with the family."
The account of the rescue of the sufferers is given with a powerful
dramatic effect, but we cannot afford space for the quotation. The
courageous adventurers who manned the boat for this dangerous enter-
prise, after being carried over a cataract, which overwhelmed their boat,
caught hold of a floating hay-cock, to which they clung till it stuck
among some young alder-trees. Each of them then grasping a bough,
they supported themselves for two hours among the weak and brittle
branches. They afterwards recovered the boat under circumstances
almost miraculous, and finally succeeded in rescuing Sandy and his
family from their perilous situation.
TBEAX3IEXT AXD CONDITION OF W01IEX IX FOMIEB, TIMES.
From the subversion of the Iloman Empire, to the fourteenth or fif-
teenth century, women spent most of their time alone, almost entire
strangers to the joys of social life ; they seldom went abroad, but to
be spectators of such public diversions and amusements as the fashions
of the times countenanced. Francis I. was the first who introduced
women on public days to Court ; before his time nothing was to be seen
at any of the Courts of Europe, but grey-bearded politicians, plotting
the destruction of the rights and liberties of mankind, and warriors
clad in complete armour, ready to put their plots in execution. In the
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries elegance had scarcely any existence,
and even cleanliness was hardly considered as laudable. The use of
linen was not known ; and the most delicate of the fair sex wore woollen
shifts. In Paris they had meat only three times a week ; and one hun-
dred livres, (about five pounds sterling,) was a large portion for a young
lady. The better sort of citizens used splinters of wood and rags dipped
in oil, instead of candles, which, in those days, were a rarity hardly to
be met with. Wine was only to be had at the shops of the Apothecaries,
where it was sold as a cordial ; and to ride in a two -wheeled cart, along
the dirty rugged streets, was reckoned a grandeur of so enviable a
nature, that Philip the Fair prohibited the wives of citizens from en-
joying it. In the time of Henry VIII. of England, the peers of the
realm carried their wives behind them on horseback, when they went to
London ; and in the same manner took them back to their country seats,
with hoods of waxed linen over their heads, and wrapped in mantles of
. cloth to secure them from the cold.
HOMER IX A NUTSHELL.
Huct, Bishop of Avranches, thus writes in his autobiography:
' ' When his Highness the Dauphin was one day confined to his bed by
a slight illness, and we who stood round were endeavouring to entertain
him by pleasant conversation, mention was by chance made of the person
128 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
who boasted that he had written Homer's Iliad in characters so minute,
that tlu- whole could be enclosed in a walnut shell. This appearing in-
credible to many of the company, I contended not only that it might be
done, but that I could do it. As they expressed their astonishment at
this assertion, that I might not be suspected of idle boasting, I im-
mediately put it to the proof. I therefore took the fourth part of a com-
mon leaf of paper, and on its narrower side wrote a single line in so small
a character that it contained twenty verses of the Iliad : of such lines
< -licit page of the paper could easily admit 120, therefore the page would
contain 2400 Homeric verses : and as the leaf so divided would give
eight pages it would afford room for above 19,000 verses, whereas the
whole number in the Iliad does not exceed 17,000. Thus by my single
line I demonstrated my proposition."
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF CIURTXG CROSS AND CUKAPSIDE CHOSS.
The following interesting "Autobiographies" of the Old London
Crosses, are extracted from Henry Peacham's Dialogue between the C'/v.,sw
/// Cheap and Chariny Cross, confronting/ each other, as fearing their
J'till in these uxcertainc times, four leaves, 4to. 1641.
" C'hariiir/ Cross. I am made all of white marble (which is not pcr-
<. ived of euery one) and so cemented with mortar made of the purest
lime, Callis sand, whites of eggs and the strongest wort, that I defie all
hatchets and hammers whatsoever. In King Henry the Eighth's daies I
was hinged, and should have been degraded for that I had: Then in
F.dward the Sixe, when Somerset-house was building, I was in danger ;
:il'tT that, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, one of her footmen had like
to have run away with me ; but the greatest danger of all I was in, when
I quak'd for fear, was in the time of King James, for I was eight times
begged: part of me was bespoken to make a kitchen chimney for a
chide oonstable in Shoreditch; an inn-keeper in Holborn had bargained
iur as much of me as would make two troughes, one to stand under a
pumpe to water his guests' horses, and the other to give his swine their
nu ate in ; the rest of my poore carcase should have been carried I know
no', whith'T to the repaire of a decayed stone bridge (as I was told) on
the top of Harrow-hill. Our royall forefather and founder, King Edward
the First you know, built our sister crosses, Lincolne, Granthame,
\Yolmrne, Northampton, Stonie-Stratfonl, Ihmstable, Saint Alhanes,
and ourselves here in London, in the 21st yeare of his raignc, in the
yeare 1'JWi."
" CftMMMI Cross. After this most valiant and excellent king had
built me in tonne, answerable in beauty and proportion to the rest, 1 fell
to decay, at which time one John Ilatherly, maior of London, having
first obtained a licence of King Henry the' Sixt, anno 1441, I was u-
j >; i i red in a beautiful manner. John Fisher, a mercer, after that gave
600 Brakes to my new erecting or building, which was finished anno
1 IM, and after in the second yeare. of Henry the Kighth, J was gilded
o\er against the coming in of Charles the Fii't, F.mperor, and newly then
rild.d against the coronation of King F.dward the Sixt, and gilded a
uuiio 106-1, against the coronation of King Philip. Lord, how ol'tcu have
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 129
I been presented by juries of the quest for incombrance of the street,
and hindring of cartes and carriages, yet I have kept my standing ; I
shall never forget how upon the 21st of June, anno 1581, my lower
statues were in the night with ropes pulled and rent down, as in the
resurrection, of Christ the image of the Virgin Mary, Edward the Con-
i''SMir, and the rest. Then arose many divisions and new sects formerly
unheard of, as Martin Marprelate, MUU Penrie, Browne, and sundry
others, as the chronicle will inform you. My crosse should have been
taken quite away, and a Piramis errected in the place, but Queen
Elizabeth (that queen of blessed memory) commanded some of her privie
councell, in her Majesties name, to write unto Sir Nicholas Mosely, then
Maior, to have me againe repaired with a crosse ; yet for all this I stood
bare for a yeare or two after : Her Highness being very angry, sent
expresse word she would not endure their contempt, but expressly com-
manded forthwith the crosse should be set up, and sent a strict command
to Sir William llider, Lord Maior, and bade him to respect my antiquity ;
for that is the ancient ensigne of Christianity, &c. This letter was dated
December 24, anno 1600. Last of all I was marvellously beautified and
adorned against the eomming in of King James, and fenced about with
sharp pointed barres of iron, against the rude and villainous hands of
such as upon condition as they might have the pulling me down, would
be bound to ritie all C'heapside."
It is scarcely necessary to say that both crosses have long since dis-
appeared, and their sites become uncertain, although the name of Charing
Cross still distinguishes an important London district.
SOMETHING LIKE A FEAST.
Leland mentions a feast given by the Archbishop of York, at his
installation, in the reign of Edward IV. The following is a specimen:
300 quarters of wheat, 300 tuns of ale, 100 tuns of wine, 1,000 sheep,
104 oxen, 304 calves, 304 swine, 2,000 geese, 1,000 capons, 2,000 pigs,
400 swans, 104 peacocks, 1,500 hot venison pasties, 4,000 cold, 5,000
custards hot and cold. Such entertainments are a picture of manners.
EGVPTIAX TOYS IX THE BI1ITI.SII MU6EOT.
The truth of the old proverb, that "there is nothing new under the
sun," will be recognised on an examination of the interesting group
which forms the subject of our engraving. Here are dolls of different
shapes, some of them for good children, and some, perhaps, for bad ;
foot-balls, covered with leather, &c., the stitches in parts still firmly
adhering; models of fishes and fruit; and round pellets, which the
"small boys" of the present day would call "marbles." These toys
have been played with by little Egyptians who have been dead and
buried three or four thousand years.
Many of the toys that hold 'places in the English and other markets,
are, so far as fashion is concerned, of considerable antiquity, having
been made, without any alteration in pattern, by certain families for
several generations. In the mountainous districts of the Savoy and
Switzerland, large numbers, both of children and grown persons, arc
130
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
constantly employed in the manufacture of Noah's-arks, milkmaids, &c.
Some of the animals carved in wood, and sold here for small prices,
show considerable skill in the imitation of the forms of nature, and
could only be produced at their present cost, owing to the cheapness of
living in those districts, and to the systematic division of labour.
tr the birth-place of Prince Albert is a very large manufactory of
military toys, such as drums, trumpets, helmets, &c. ; and in parts of
Holland
" The children take pleasure- in making
What the children of England take pleasure in lireaking."
THE I'Vl;\MIHS (IF IK.Yl'T.
The Pyramids of Egypt, especially the two largest of the Pyramids of
MARVELLOUS, HARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
131
Jizeh, are the most stupendous masses of building, in stone, that human
labour has ever been known to accomplish. The Egyptian Pyramids, of
which, large and small, and in different states of preservation, the
number is very considerable, are all situated on the west side of the
Nile, and they extend, in an irregular line, and in groups, at some dis-
tance from each other, from the neighbourhood of Jizeh, in 30 N. lat. as
far south as 29 N. lat., a length of between 60 and 70 miles. All the
Pyramids have square bases, and their sides face the cardinal points.
The Pyramids of Jizeh are nearly opposite to Cairo. They stand on a
plateaxi or terrace of limestone, wich is a projection from the Libvan
mountain-chain. The surface of the terrace is barren and irregular,
and is covered with sand and small fragments of rock ; its height, measured
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
from the base of the Great Pyramids, is 164 feet above the Nile in its
low state, taken at an average of the years 1798 to 1801. The north-
east angle of the Great Pyramid is 1700 yards from the canal which runs
between the terrace and the Nile, and about live miles from the Nile itself.
Herodotus was informed by the priests of Memphis that the Great
Pyramid was built by Cheops, King of Egypt, about 900 B. c., or about
450 years before Herodotus visited Egypt. He says that 100,000 men
were employed twenty years in building it, and that the body of Cheoj
was placed in a room beneath the bottom of the Pyramid, surrounded by
a vault to which the waters of the Nile were conveyed through a subter-
ranean tunnel. A chamber under the centre of the Pyramid has indeed
been discovered, but it does not appear to be the tomb of Cheops. It i;
about 56 feet above the low-water level of the Nile. The second Pyra-
mid was built, Herodotus says, by Cephren, or Cephrenes, the brother
and successor of Cheops ; and the third by Mycerinus, the son of Cheops.
TEST OF COr RAGE IX A CHILD.
In the education of their children, the Anglo-Saxons only sought to
render them dauntless and apt for the two most important occupations
of their future lives war and the chase. It was a usual trial of a child's
courage, to place him on the sloping roof of a building, and if, without
screaming or terror he held fast, he was styled a stout hercc, or brave
boy. Howcl.
i TIOX OF KAVII.L1AC, WHO A^SAsSlXATKD IIKMiV Till: !'<>.
OF HtAV
The scene is thus described in a volume published in 1728 :
"This Francis ivavilliac was born in Angoulcsmc, by profession a
lawyer, wlio, after the committing of that horrid fact, being sei/ed and
put upon the rack, May 27; the 25th he had sen? ath passed
mi him, and was executed accordingly in the manner following. He
was ln-oiight out of prison in his shirt, with a torch of two pound weight
lighted in one hand, and the knife wherewith lie murdered the king
chained to the other ; lie was then set upright in a dung-earl, wherein
he was carried to the gieve or place of execution, where a strong scaffold
was built; at his coming upon the scaffold he crossed himself, a sign
that he dyt d a Papist; then, be was bound to an engine of wood made
like St. Andrew's cross; which done, his hand with the knife chained
to it was put into a furnace, then naming with lire and brimstone,
wherein it was in a most terrible manner consumed, at which he cast
forth horrible cries yet would he not confess any thing ; after whicli the
executioner having made pincers red hot in the same furnace, they did
pinch the brawn of his arms and thighs, the calves of his legs, with
other fleshy parts of his body, then they poured into thewoiinds scalding
oil, rosin, pitch, and brimstone mettea together; but to make the
act of his tragedy equal in torments to the rest, they caused
four strong horx s to lie lu-ought to tear his body in pieces, where
bean ready 1o sutler his last torment, he was again questioned, but
would not reveal any thing, and so died without calling upon God, or
speaking one word concerning Heaven : his flesh and joints were so
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 133
strongly knit together, that these four horses cotild not in a long time
dismember him, but one of them fainting, a gentleman who -was present,
it i ounted upon a mighty strong horse, alighted, and tyed him to one of
the wretch's limbs, yet for all this they were constrained to cut the
ilesh under his arms and thighs with a sharp razor, whereby his body
was the easier torn in pieces ; which done, the fury of the people was so
great, that they pulled his dismembered carcass out of the executioner's
hands, which they dragged up and down the dirt, and, cutting oft* the
flesh Avith their knives, the bones which remained were brought to the
place of execution, and there burnt, the ashes were cast in the wind,
being judged unworthy of the earth's burial ; by the same sentence all
Ids. goods were forfeited to the king. It was also ordained that the
house where he had been, born should be beaten down, a recompence
being given the owner thereof, and never any house to be built again
upon that ground ; that within fifteen days after the publication of the
sentence, by sound of trumpet in the town of Angoulesme, his father
and mother should depart the realm, never to return again ; if they did,
to be hanged up presently : his brethren, sisters, and other kindred were
forbidden to carry the name of Ravilliac, but to take some other, and
the substitute of the king's attorney-general had charge to see the
execution of the sentence at his peril."
KNIVES AXD FOltKS.
" In all ancient pictures of Eating, &c. knives are seen in the hands
of the guests, but no Forks." -Turner's Saxons.
" Here I will mention a thing," says Coryat in his ' Crudities,' " that
might have been spoken of before in the discourse of the first Italian
toun. I obserued a custome in all those Italian cities and townes through
which I passed, that is not vsed in any other country that I saw in my
t raules, neither doe I think that any other nation of Christendome doth
vse it, but only Italy. The Italians, and also most strangers that are
commoraiit in Italy, doe alwaies at their meales vse a little forke when
they cut their meate. For while with their knife, which they hold in
one hand, they cut their meatc out of the dish, they fasten their forke,
which they hold in their other hand, upon the same dish, so that what-
soever he be that sitting in the company of others at meate, should vn-
aduisedly touch the dish of meate with his fingers from which all at the
table doe cut, he will give occasion of offence unto the company, as
hauing transgressed the laws of good manners, in so much that for his
error he shall be at the least broue-beaten, if not reprehended in words.
This form of feeding, I vnderstand, is generally vsed in all places of
Italy, their forkes being for the most part made of yron or steele, and
some of siluer ; but those are used only by gentlemen. The reason of
this their curiosity is, because the Italian cannot by any means indure
to have his dish touched with fingers, seeing all men's fingers are not
alike clean. Hereupon I myself thought good to imitate the Italian
fashion by this forked cutting of meate, not only while I was in Italy,
but also in Germany, and oftentimes in England, since I came home :
being once quipped for that frequent vsing of my forke, by a certain
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
-entleman, a familiar friend of mine, one Mr. Laurence Whitaker, who
in his merry humour doubted not to call me at table furcifer, only for
vsing a forke at feeding, but for no other cause." Coryafs Crudities,
Kill.
Even when Heylin published his Cosmography, (1652,) forks were
still a novelty. See his Third Book, where having spoken of the ivory
sticks used by the Chinese, he adds, " The use of silver forks, which is
by some of our spruce gallants taken up of late, came from thence into
Italy, and from thence into England." Antiquarian Repertory.
K3. r
^
rinxi>i:
o;u,.u;.
The Chinese arc very quiet and orderly; and no wonder, because' they
arc afraid of the great bamboo stick.
The mandarins (or rulers of towns) often sentence offenders to lie
upon the ground, and to have thirty strokes of the bamboo. But the
Wooden collar is worse than the bamboo stick. It is a great piece of
wood with a hole for a man to put his head through. The men in
wooden collars are brought out of their prisons everv morning and
chained to a wall, where cveryl.ody passing by can si^e them. They
caniiut |e,-d thcinsehes in their wooden collars, because they cannot
bring their hands to their mouths ; but sometimes a son may be seen
MARVELLOUS, HARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
135
feeding his father, as he stands chained to the wall. There are men also
whose business it is to feed the prisoners. For great crimes men are
strangled or beheaded.
^?>:-F=" fr? 1
CASCADE DES PELERINES.
There is a waterfall in Chamouni which no traveller should omit
going to see, called the Cascade des Pelerines. It is one of the most
curious and beautiful scenes in Switzerland. A torrent issues from
the Glacier des Pelerines, high up the mountain, above the Glacier
130 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
du Bossons, and descends, hy a succession of leaps, in a (loop gorge,
from precipice to precipice, almost in one continual cataract ; Imt,
it is :ill the while merely gathering force, and preparing for its last
magnificent deep plunge and recoil of beauty. Springing in one round
condensed column out of the gorge, over a perpendicular cliff, it strikes,
at its fall, with its whole body of water, into a sort of vertical rock basin,
which one would suppose its prodigious velocity and weight would split
into a thousand pieces ; but the whole cataract, thus arrested, at
Middenly rebounds in a parabolic arch, at least sixty feet into the air ;
and then, having made this splendid airy curvature, falls with great
and beauty into the natural channel below. It is beyond mear-uvc
beautiful. It is like the fall of divine grace into chosen hearts, that
send it forth again for the world's refreshment, in something like such a
shower and spray of loveliness, to go winding its life-giving course after-
wards, as still waters iu green pastures. The force of the recoil from the
] (lunge of so large a body of water, at such a height, is so great, that
-tones, thrown into the stream above the fall, may be heard amidst
the din striking into the basin, and then are instantly seen careering in
the arch of Hashing waters. The same is the < ase with bushes and pieces
of wood, which the buy., are always ootrrfe in throwing in, for the
curiosity of visitors, who stand below, and see each object invariably
carried aloft with the cataract, in its rebounding atmospheric gambol:,.
When the sun is in the right position, the rainbows play about the fall
like the glancing of supernatural wings, as if angels were taking a
shower-bath. If you have "the head and the legs of a chamois,"
you may climb entirely above this magnificent scene, and look out
over the cliff right down into the point where the cataract shoots like
the lightning, to be again shot back in ten thousand branching jits of
diamond*.
INT. oNNKCTKD WITH TIIK li.UIOM KTF.H.
In navigation, the barometer has become an important element of
guidance, and ::. most int'Te-thig incident is r.rninted by ('apt. Uasil
Hall, indicative of its value in th< . While cruising off the
- <ith America, in the Medusa IV; '.ay. when within the
tropics, the commander of a britr in company was dining with him. After
dinner, the conversation turned un Ilic natural phenomena of the region,
when Captain I Fall's led to the barometer
in the state-room wl,- and t<> bis surprise lie observed
it to evince violent and IVeqin-::! all. -;.t inn. Kis experience told him to
expect bad weather, and he mentioned it (> In- iVi.-nd. il! : companion,
however, only laugi. day was splendid in the extreme, the sun
was shining with its utmost brilliance, and not a cloud specked the deep
blue sky above. Pmt Captain Hall was too uneasy to be satisfied with
ban- appearances. He hurried his friend to his ship, and gave imme-
diate directions for shortening the top hamper of the frigate as speedih
a- pus-ibl,.. His lieutenants and the men linked at him in unit" urprise,
and on.' or two of the former ventured the inutility of the
proceeding. The captain, however, persevered. The sails were furled ;
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS; 137
the topmasts were struck ; in short, everything that could oppose the wind
was made as snug as possible. His friend, on the contrary, stood in
under every sail.
The wisdom of Captain Hall's proceedings was, however, speedily evi-
dent ; just, indeed, as he was beginning to doubt the accuracy of his
instrument. For hardly had the necessary preparations been made, and
while his eye was ranging over the vessel to see if his instructions had
been obeyed, a dark hazy hue was seen to rise in the horizon, a L ;
tint rapidly overspread the sullen vavcs, and one of the most tremen-
dous hurricanes rant upon the vessels that ever seaman encountered
on liis ocean home. The sails of the brig were immediately toiu to
ribbons, her niasts went by the board, and she was left a complete wreck
on the tempestuous surf which raged around her, while the frigate v>
driven wildly along at a furious rate, and had to scud under bare poll .
across the wide Pacific, full three thousand miles, before it could be said
that she was in safety from the blast.
AHCHBisnor CKAXJIKK'S HIETAEY.
In this curious document, quoted by AVarton (Hist, of Poet, iii., 177,
edit. 1840) an archbishop is allowed to have two swans or two capons in
a dish, a bishop one ; an archbishop six blackbirds at once, a bishop live,
a dean four, an archdeacon two. If a dean lias four dishes in his first
course, he is not afterwards to have custards or fritters. An Archbishop
may have six snipes, an archdeacon two. Rabbits, larks, pheasants, and
partridges, are allowed in these proportions. A canon residentiary is to
have a swan only on a Sunday ; a rector of sixteen marks, only three
blackbirds in a week.
TILE KING'S COCK CEO WEE.
A singular custom, of matchless absurdity, formerly existed in the
English Court. During Lent, an ancient officer of the crown, styled
the King's Cock Grower, crowed the hour each night within the precincts
of the Palace. On the Ash Wednesday, after the accession of the house
of Hanover, as the Prince of Wales (afterwards George II) sat down to
supper, this officer abruptly entered the apartment, and in a sound re-
sembling the shrill pipe of a cock, crowed past ten o'clock ! The astonished
prince, at first conceiving it to be a premeditated insult, rose to resent
the affront, but upon the nature of the ceremony being explained to him,
he was satisfied. Since that period, this silly custom has been dis-
continued.
CHINESE DELICACIES.
The Chinese eat, indiscriminately, almost every living creature which
comes in their way ; dogs, cats, hawks, owls, eagles and storks, are re-
gular marketable commodities : in default of which a dish of rats, field-
mice, or snakes, is not objected to. Cockroaches, and other insects and
reptiles are used for food or for medicine. Their taste for dogs' flesh
is quite a passion. Young pups plump, succulent, and tender fetch
good prices at the market -stalls, where a supply is always to be found.
A dish of puppies, prepared by a skilful cook, is esteemed as a dish fit
138 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
for the gods. At every grand banquet it makes its appearance as a hash
or stew. A young Englishman attached to our Canton factory, dining
one day with a wealthy Hong merchant, was determined to satisfy his
curiosity in Chinese gastronomy by tasting all or most of the numerous
dishes which were successively handed round. One dish pleased him so
well that he ate nearly all that was put before him. On returning home-
wards some of his companions asked him how he liked the dinner, and
how such and such dishes ; and then began to imitate the whining and
barking of half a dozen puppies. The poor young man then understood,
for the first time, that he had been eating dog, and was very angry,
and very sick at the stomach. Other Europeans, however, have been
known to declare that they succeeded in conquering a prejudice, and that
a six weeks old pup, properly fattened upon rice, and dressed d la Chinoise,
was really a bonne louche.
A GREAT 3IABYEL SEEN IN SCOTLAND.
The following strange and almost incredible account is given by Lind-
say, of Pitscottie: " About this time (the beginning of the sixteenth
century) there was a great marvel seen in Scotland. A bairn was born,
reckoned to be a man-child, but from the waist up was two fair persons,
with all members pertayning to two bodies ; to wit, two heads, well-
eyed, well-eared, and well-handed. The two bodies, the one's back was
fast to the other's, but from the waist down they were but one personage ;
and it could not be known by the ingene of men from which of the
bodies the legs, &c., proceeded. Notwithstanding the King's Majesty
caused great care and diligence on the up-bringing of both bodies ; caused
nourish them, and learn them to sing and play on instruments of music.
Who within short time became very ingenious and cunning in the art of
music, whereby they could play and sing two parts, the one the treble,
and the other the tenor, which was very dulce and melodious to hear ;
the common people (who treated them also) wondered that they could
speak diverse and sundry languages, that is to say, Latin, French,
Italian, Spanish, Dutch, English, and Irish. Their two bodies long
continued to the age of twenty-eight years, and the one continued long
before the other, which was dolorous and heavy to the other ; for which,
when many required of the other to be merry, he answered, " How can
I be merry which have my true marrow as a dead carrion about my
back, whicn was wont to sing and play with me : when I was sad he
would give me comfort, and I would do the like to him. But now I
have nothing but dolour of the having so heavy a burthen, dead, cold,
and unsavoury, on my back, which taketh all earthly pleasure from me
in this present life ; therefore I pray to God Allmighty to deliver me out
of this present life, that we may 'be laid and dissolved in the earth,
wherefrom we came, &c."
Iluchanan, who relates the same strange tale, avers that he received
it from "many honest and credible persons, who saw the prodigy with
their own eyi s." He adds that the two bodies discovered different tastes
Mini appetites; that they would frequently disagree and quarrel, and
would consult each other, and concert measures lor the good
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 139
of both ; that when any hurt was done to the lower parts, each upper
body felt pain ; but that when the injury was above the junction, then
one body only was affected. This monster, he writes, lived twenty-eight
years, but died wretchedly ; one part expiring some days before the
other, which, half-putrilied, pined away by degrees.
THE KING OF KIPPED.
The following anecdote is valuable, inasmuch as it gives us an idea of
the manners which a King of Scotland could practice without offence to
his subjects :
King James V. was a very sociable, debonnaire prince. Residing at Stir-
ling in Buchanan of Arnpryor's time, carriers were very frequently
passing along the common road with necessaries for the use of the king's
family. One of these being near Arnpryor's house, and he having some
extraordinary occasion, ordered him to leave his load at his house and
he would pay him for it ; which the carrier refused to do, telling him he
was the king's carrier, and his load was for his majesty's use. To which
Arnpryor seemed to have small regard, compelling the carrier, in the
end, to leave his load ; telling him, if King James was King of Scotland,
he was king of Kippen, so that it was reasonable he should share with
his neighbour king in some of these loads so frequently carried that road.
The carrier representing this usage, and telling the story as Arnpryor
spoke it, to some of the king's servants, it came at length to his majesty's
ears, who, shortly thereafter, with a few attendants, came to visit his
neighbour king, who was, in the meantime, at dinner. King James
having sent a servant to demand access, was denied the same by a tall
fellow with a battle -axe, who stood porter at the gate, telling him there
could be no access till dinner was over. This answer not satisfying the
king, he sent to demand access a second time ; upon which he was desired
by the porter to desist, otherwise he would find cause to repent his rude-
ness. His majesty finding this method would not do, desired the porter
to tell his master that the good man of Ballangeich desired to speak with
the King of Kippen. The porter telling Arnpryor so much, he, in all
humble manner, came and received the king, and having entertained
him with much sumptuousness and jollity, became so agreeable to King
James, that he allowed him to take so much of any provision he found
carrying that road as he had occasion for ; and, seeing he made the first
visit, desired Arnpryor in a few days to return him a second at Stirling,
which he performed, and continued in very much favour with the king,
always thereafter being termed King of Kippen while he lived.
AN ECCENTRIC TOT/HIST.
Sir Hildebrand Jacob, of Yewhall, in Oxfordshire, died at Malvern
in 1790. He succeeded his grandfather, Sir John, 1740, his father,
Hildebrand, having died in 1739. He was a very extraordinary
character. As a general scholar, he was exceeded by few ; in his know-
ledge of the Hebrew language he scarcely had an equal. In the earlier
part of his life, one custom which he constantly followed was very re-
markable. As soon as the roads became pretty good, and the fine weather
140 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS J
u to set in, his man was ordered to pack-up a fuw tilings in a port-
manteau, and with these his muster and himself set off, without knowing
whither they were' going. When it drew towards evening, they enquired
at the lirst village they saw, whether the great man in it was a lover of
books, and had a tine library. If the answer was in the negative, they
went on farther; if in the affirmative, Sir Hildcbrand sent his compli-
ments, that he was come to see him ; and there he used to stay till time
or curiosity induced him to move elsewhere. In this manner Sir Hilde-
brand had", very early, passed through the greatest part of England,
without scarcely ever sleeping at an inn, unless where the town or village
did not afford one person in it civilized enough to be glad to see a gentle-
man and a scholar.
HANGING A MAYOR.
On the right of the road leading towards Cacrgwrle, and about a mile
from Mold, is an old structure, which presents a singular specimen of
the style of domestic architecture during the ages of lawless violence in
which it was erected : it consists of an ancient square tower of three
stories, and appears to have been designed as a place of fortified habi-
tat ion. .During the wars between the houses of York and Lancaster, it
was inhabited by Rciuallt ab Gruffydd ab Bleddyn, who was constantly
engaged in feuds with the citizens of Chester, in 1495, a considerable
number of the latter came to Mold fair, and a fray arising between the
hostile parties, ^reat slaughter ensued on both sides; but Reinallt, who
obtained the victory, took the mayor of Chester prisoner, and conveyed
him to his mansion, where he hung him on the staple in his great hall.
To avenge this affront, a party of two hundred men was despatched
from Chester to seize Reinallt, who, retiring from his house into the
adjoining woods, permitted a few of them to enter the building, when,
rushing from his concealment, he blocked up the door, and, setting lire
to the house, destroyed them in the flames; he then attacked the re-
mainder, whom he pursued with great slaughter ; and such as escaped
the sword weiv drowned in attempting to regain their homes. The staple
on which the mayor was hung still remains fixed on the ceiling of the
lower apartment.
ii:i;NAL AFFECTION IX A DUMU WOMAN.
Mary, Countess of Orkney, was both deaf and dumb ; she was man it d
in the year 1701.5, by signs. Shortly after the birth of her first child,
the nurse, with considerable astonishment, saw the mother cautiously
approach the cradle in which the infant was sleeping, evidently full of
some decj) design. The Countess, having perfectly assured herself that
the child really slept, raised an immense stone which she had concealed
under her shawl, and, to the horror of the nurse, (who was an Irish-
woman, and like all persons of the lower orders in her country, and
indeed in most countries, was fully impressed with an idea of the pecu-
liar cunning and mali^nitv of " dmnliies,") lifted it with an apparent
intent to lling it down vehemently. ISefore the nurse could interpose,
,d Hung the stone, .not, however, as the servant had ap-
prehended, at the child, but on the floor, where, of course, it mtide a
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 141
great noise. The child immediately awoke, and cried. The Countess,
who had looked with maternal eagerness to the result of her experiment,
I'dl on her knees in a transport of joy. She had discovered that her
child possessed the sense which was wanting in herself. She exhibited
on many other occasions similar proofs of intelligence, but none so
interesting.
THE PERILS OF INVENTORS.
The dangers which inventors have frequently to encounter are very
great. Among many instances we may mention the following :
Mr. Day perished in a diving bell, or diving boat of his own construc-
tion, at Plymouth, in June, 1774, in which he was to have continued for
a wager, twelve hours, one hundred feet deep in water, and probably,
perished from his not possessing all the hydrostatic knowledge that was
necessary. Mr. Spalding was professionally ingenious in the art of con-
structing and managing the diving bell, he had practised the business
many years with success. He went down, accompanied by one of his
young men, twice to view the wreck of the Imperial East Indiaman,
at Kish Bank, in Ireland ; on descending the third time, in June, 1783,
they remained about an hour imder water, and had two barrels of air
sent down to them, but on the signals from below not being repeated,
after a certain time, they were drawn up by their assistants, and both
found dead in the bell.
BRIBERY.
The triumphant exposure and punishments of corrupt bribe-takers on
a grand scale belongs to the close of the seventeenth century. In 1095
Sir John Trevor, the Speaker of the House of Commons, was compelled
to put the question himself that he should be expelled. A bill for
securing the right application to poor orphans of freemen of London of
funds belonging to them could not be carried without purchasing the
support of influential members and of the Speaker himself, at a bribe for
the latter of 1,000 guineas !
Sir Thomas Cook, the governor of the East India Company, paid
167,000 in one year for bribes to members of the House, of which Sir
Basil Firebrace took for his share 40,000. Corruption was universal,
therefore deemed venial.
- LEGALISED GAMBLING.
The following statement shows the extent to which lotteries encouraged
a spirit of gambling among the people, and we may hence appreciate the
soxmdncss of the policy which dictated their suppression :
The Post Soy of December 27, says: "We are informed that the Par-
liamentary Lottery will be fixed in this manner : 150,000 tickets will
be delivered out at 10/. each ticket, making in all the sum of 1,500,000/,
sterling ; the principal whereof is to be sunk, the Parliament allowing
nine per cent, interest for the whole during the term of 32 years, which
interest is to be divided as follows: 3,750 tickets will be prizes from
1,000/. to of. per annum during the said 32 years ; all the other tickets
will be blanks, so that there will be 39 of these to one prize, but then
142 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
each blank ticket will be entitled to fourteen shillings a year for the
term of 32 years, which is better than an annuity for lite at ton per
cent, over and above the chance of getting a prize." Such was the
eagerness of the publick in subscribing to the above profitable scheme,
that Mercers'-hall was literallv crowded, and the Clerks were found in-
competent to receive the influx of names. 600,000/. was subscribed
January 21 ; and on the 28th of February, the sum of 1,500,000/. was
completed.
ONE OF THE EFFECTS OF MAXO'ACTUBES.
How greatly does the introduction of a manufacturing establishment
into a town where none previously existed, alter its whole character and
condition !
It is said that the burgh of Lanark was, till very recent times, so poor
that the single butcher of the town, who also exercised the calling of a
weaver, in order to till up his spare time, would never venture upon the
speculation of killing a sheep till every part of the animal was ordered
beforehand. When he felt disposed to engage in such an enterprise, he
usually prevailed upon the minister, the provost, and the town-council,
to take shares ; but when no person came forward to bespeak the fourth
quarter, the sheep received a respite till better times should cast up.
The bellman or akeUymatl, as he is there called, used often to go through
the streets of Lanark with advertisements such as are embodied in the
following popular rhyme :
" Bell-ell-ell !
There's a fat sheep to kill !
A leg for the provost,
Another for the priest,
The bailies and deacons,
They'lltaktheneist;
And if the fourth leg we connot sell,
The sheep it maun leeve and gae back to the hill !"
PATES DE FOIES GKAS.
Strasbourg is the great market for pates do foics yras, made, as it is
known, of the livers of geese. These poor creatures are shut up in coops,
so narrow they cannot turn round in them, and then stuffed twice a day
with Indian corn, to enlarge their livers, which have been known to
swell till they reached the enormous weight of two pounds and a half.
Garlick, steeped in water, is given them, to increase their appetites?'
This invention is worthy of the French nation, where cooks are great us
nobles.
INSCRIPTION IX CONWAY CHURCH.
Here lyeth the body of Nicholas Hookes, of Conway, gentleman,
(who was the forty-first child of his father, \Vni. Hookes, Ksq., by
Alice, his wife,) the father of twenty-seven children, who died the 27th
day of March, Ki.'JT.
DHOPITM:-W1-;r.LS.
, If ytm journey through Yorkshire, l>e sure to stop opposite the ruins of
Knaretboroogh Castle, because, on the south-west bank of the river 2udd>
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 143
you will observe the petrifying spring of Knaresborough, the celebrated
dropping- well where the peasants and the needy crowd to make their
humble fortunes by afterwards retailing small sprigs of trees, such as
the elder or ash, or pieces of the elegant geranium, the wild angelica, or
the lovely violet, turned into " obdurate stone."
Every spring does not possess the petrifying properties of that of
Knaiesborough ; but there are, doubtless, many dropping- wells distri-
buted over the earth's crust ; and some of these are well known to
possess the property of petrifying various objects submitted to the action
of their waters. For example : we have seen birds' nests, with the eggs,
and delicate sprigs of moss surrounding them, and even the fibres of
\vool turned into stone, aye, and delicate flowers. "Whence is this extra-
ordinary power ? From the soil over which the waters flow ! The limpid
streams absorb the silicious particles, and deposit them in the intimate
structure of the mat .'rials submitted to the action of the water.;; and
144 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
flms we find the materials of which the earth's cmst is composed, always
undergoing a change.
Twentv gallons are poured forth every minute from the top of the
Knaresboroim'h cliff, and the beauty of the scene can only be appreciated
by those Avlio have stood upon the margin of those " stony waters" and
beheld the crystal fluid descend from above witli metallic fall.
CHINESE IVOHY BALLS.
Nothing can afford a greater proof of the patience and perseverance, as
well as of the taste of a Chinese handicraft snian, than one of these elegant
baubles, each ball being exquisitely carved, and no two alike in pattern.
Kach of the balls rolls freely within that which encloses it, an,d is visible
through apertures ; so that however many there be, the beauties of each
can be examined, and the number of the whole counted. Much time is
spent upon the carving of these toys, for the cleverest artist will employ a
whole month in the execution of each separate ball ; consequently the
labour of two years is not unfrequently bestowed on the production of
a single toy, which is formed out of a solid globe of ivory, and has no
junction in any part. The outside of this globe is first carved in some
very upen pattern, and is then carefully cut with a sharp, line instru-
ment, through the openings, till a complete coating is detached from the
8olid part inside, as the peel of an orange might be loosened with a scoop
from the fruit, without being taken off. One hollow ball is thus formed,
with a solid one inside of it. The surface of the inner ball is then carved
through the interstices of the outer one, and when finished, is subjected
to the same operation as the first ; and thus a second hollow ball is pro-
duced, still with a solid one of smaller dimensions inside. This process
i repealed again and again, the ditliculties increasing as the work pro-
. till at length only a small ball, of the si/e. of a marble, is left iu
the criit re, which is also ornamented with figures cut upon it, and then
the ingenious but useless bauble is complete 1 . This process is said to be
ruicd under water.
CREDULITY OF THE ANCIENT.-.
The credulity of even the learned men in the early ages may be judged
of by the following facts :
Marcus Varro writeth, that there was a town in Spain undermined
with rabbits ; another likewise in Thcssaly by moles or molewharps. In
Africa the people were compelled bylocusts'to leave their habitations;
and out of <iyaros, an island, one of the Cyclades, the islanders were
forced by rats and mice to tly away ; moreover in Italy the' city of
!.ewa; di lro\ed by serp< nts. ' I n Ktliiopia there is 'a -reat coun-
try lies waste and desert, b\ reason it was loruierlv dispeopled by
scorpions; and if it be true that Thcophrastus ivpoYteth, the Tre-
riens were chased away by certain worms called scolopeiidres. Annius
writes, thai an ancient city situate near the Yolscian Lake, and
called Contending was in times past overthrown by pismires,
and that the place is thereupon v ulgarlv called to this da\ , the Camp of
Ant-. In Midia, s.,jt|, Ijjodoiu-. ''iciilu--, Hi <ifh an infinite
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 145
number of sparrows that cat up and devoured the seed which was cast
into the ground, so that men were constrained to depart from their old
habitations, and remove to other places.
CLOCK PRESENTED TO CHARLEMAGNE.
The French historians describe a clock sent to Charlemagne in the
year 807, by the famous eastern caliph, Haroun al Raschid, which was
evidently furnished with some kind of wheelwork, although the moving
power appears to have been produced by the fall of water. This clock
was a rather wonderful affair, and excited a great deal of attention at
the French court. In the dial of it were twelve small doors forming the
divisions for the hours, each door opened at the hour marked by the
index, and let out small brass balls, which, falling on a bell, struck the
hours a great novelty at that time. The doors continued open until the
hour of twelve, when twelve figures representing knights on horseback
came out and paraded round the dial plate.
REMARKABLE EVENTS, INVENTIONS, &C.
Mcmnon, the Egyptian, invents the letters, in the year 1822, before
Christ.
The Alexandrian library, consisting of 400,000 valuable books, burnt
by accident, B. C. 52.
Silk first brought from India, 274 : the manufactory of it introdiiced
into Europe by some monks, 551 : first worn by the clergy in England,
in 1534.
Glass invented in England by Benalt, a monk, A. C. 400.
The University of Cambridge founded A. C. 915.
Paper made of cotton rags was in use, 1000 ; that of linen rags in
1170: the manufactory introduced into England, at Dartford, 1588.
Musical notes invented, 1070.
Justices of the Peace first appointed in England in 1076.
Doomsday-book began to be compiled by order of William, from a
survey of all the estates in England (and finished in 1086), 1080.
Glass windows began to be used in private houses in England in 1180.
Surnames now began to be used, first among the nobility, in 1200.
The houses of London and other cities in England, France, and Ger-
many, still thatched with straw in 1233.
Tallow candles so great a luxury, that splinters of wood were used
for lights, 1298.
Wine sold by apothecaries as a cordial, 1298.
Gunpowder and guns first invented by Swartz, a monk of Cologn,
1340 ; Edward 3rd had four pieces of cannon, which contributed to gain
him the battle of Cressy, 1346 ; bombs and mortars were invented in
the same year.
Cards invented in France for the king's amusement in 1391.
Windsor Castle built by Edward 3rd, 1386.
Guildhall, London, built 1410.
About 1430, Laurentius, of Haarlem, invented the aft of Printing,
which he practised with separate wooden types. Guttenburg afterwards
146 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
invented cut metal types : but the art was carried to perfection by Peter
Schoeffer, who invented the mode of casting the types in matrices. Fre-
derick Corsellis began to print at Oxford, in 1468, with wooden typi > ;
but it was William Caxton who introduced into England the art of print-
ing with fusile types, in 1474.
Shillings first 'coined in England, 1505.
Silk stockings iirst worn by the French King, 1543 ; first worn in Eng-
land by Queen Elizabeth in 1561.
Tobacco iirst brought from Virginia into England, 1583.
Watches first brought into England from Germany, in 1597.
Regular Posts established from London to Scotland, Ireland, &c., 1635.
The Plague rages in London, and carries off 68,000 persons, 1665.
The great fire of London began, September 2nd, and continued three
days, in which were destroyed 13,000 houses, and 400 streets, 1666.
Jea first used in England, 1666.
The Habeas Corpus act passed, 1678.
William Penn, a Quaker, receives a charter for planting Pensylvania,
1680.
Bank of England established by King William 1693.
The first public Lottery was drawn same year.
The first British Parliament, 1707.
The Cathedral Church of St. Paul, London, rebuilt by Sir Christopher
Wren, in 37 years, at one million expense, by a duty on coals, 1710.
Westminster Bridge, consisting of 15 arches, begun 1738, finished
in 1750, at the expense of 389,000/., defrayed by parliament.
Commodore Anson returns from his voyage round the world, 1771.
The British Museum erected at Montagu House, 1753.
149 Englishmen are confined in the black-hole at Calcutta, in the
East Indies, by order of the Nabob, and 123 found dead next moruiii".
175--,.
LEGENDS AJIONii sAVAtii: NATIONS.
It is curious to note how savages endeavour to account for the prodi-
gies of nature. In the island of Samoa, one of the Sandwich group,
there is the following legend.
Mafuic is their god of earthquakes, who was deemed to possess great
power, but lias, according to the Samoans, lost much of it. The way in
which thej-jsay this occurred is as follows : One Talago, who possessed a
charm capable of causing the earth to divide, coming to a well-known
spot, cried, " Rock, divide ! I am Talago ; come to work !" The earth
separating at his command, he went down to cultivate his taro patch.
His son, whose name was Tiitii, became acquainted with the charm, and
watching his father, saw him descend, and the earth close after him.
At the same spot, Tiitii said, "Rock, divide! I am Talago ; come to
work !" 'Hi. rock did not open, but on repeating the words and stamp-
ing his foot violently, the earth separated, and he descended. Being a
youii- man, he made a -re at noise and hustle, notwithstanding the
am ice dt his father to be quiet, lest Mafuie would hear him. The M,H
then asked, " Who is Mafuie, that I should be afraid of him?'' Ob-
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 147
serving smoke at a distance, he inquired the cause of it. Talago said,
" It is Mafuie heating his oven." Tiitii determined to go and see, not-
withstanding all the persuasions of his father, and met Mafuie, who
inquired who he was, " Are you a planter of taro, a builder, or a
twister of ropes ?" " I am a twister of ropes," said Tiitii ; "give me your
arm, and I shall show you." So, taking the arm of Mafuie, he twisted
it off in a moment. Such a practical illustration of his powers soon
made Mafuie cry out, "2fa fia ola, na fia ola!" I desire to live, I
desire to live ! Tiitii then took pity upon him, and let him go. The
natives, on feeling an earthquake, exclaim, " Thanks that Mafuie has
but one arm ! if he had two, he would shake the earth to pieces."
ORIGIN OF THE WOED LADY.
It was the custom at the time of the Plantagenets, and previously, for
ladies of distinction and wealth regularly to distribute money or food to
the poor. The title of lady, is derived from the Anglo-Saxon, and
literally signifies giver of bread. The purse, with similar meaning, was
named as a receptacle for alms, and not as an invention for the preser-
vation of money.
ANECDOTES IX SEEMONS.
The fashion which once prevailed of introducing historical anecdotes
into addresses from the pulpit, is illustrated by the following extract
from a sermon by the Martyr Bishop Ridley :
Cambyses was a great emperor, such another as our master is ; he
had many lord-deputies, lord-presidents, and lieutenants under him.
It is a great while ago since I read the history. It chanced he had
under him, in one of his dominions, a briber, a gift-taker, a gratifier of
rich men ; he followed gifts as fast as he that followed the pudding, a
hand-maker in his office, to make his son a great man; as the old saying
is, " Happy is the child whose father goeth to the, devil." The cry of
the poor widow came to the emperor's ear, and caused him to flay the
judge quick, and laid his skin in his chair of judgment, that all judges
that should give judgment afterward should sit in the same skin.
Surely it was a goodly sign, a goodly monument, the sign of the judge's
skin : I pray God we may once see the sign of the skin in England.
STATE OF LONDON IN 1756.
The state of the police regulations in the metropolis at the above date,
is exhibited in the following extract from an old magazine :
At one o'clock this morning (Oct. 4, 1756), the Hon. Captain Brudenel
was stopped in his chair, just as it entered Berkeley-square, from the
Hay -hill, by two fellows with pistols, who demanded his money ; he gave
them five-sixpences, telling them he had no more, which having taken,
they immediately made off. The captain then put his purse and watch
under the cushion, got out, drew his sword, and being followed by one
of the chairmen with his pole, and the watchman, pursued them up the
hill, where the Hon. Captain West, who was walking, having joined
them, one of the fellows having got off, they followed the other into
148 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
Alhrmarle-mews, Avhere finding himself closely beset, he drew a pistol,
and presented it, upon which the captain made a lunge at him, and ran
him through the body. The fellow at the same time fired his pistol,
which, the captain being still stooping, went over his head and shot the
watchman through the lungs ; at the instant the pistol was discharged,
while the fellow's arm was extended, the chairman struck it with his pole
and broke it ; he was then seized and carried with the watchman to the
round-house in Dover-street, where Mr. Bromtield and Mr. Gataker, two
eminent surgeons, came ; but the captain would not suffer the villain to
be dressed, till he discovered who he and his confederates were ; when he
acknowledged they were both grenadiers in Lord Howe's company. The
poor watchman died in half an hour after he was shot ; and the soldier
was so disabled by his wound that he was carried in a chair to Justice
Fielding, who sent him to New Prison, where he died. 1 '
FBOM A HANDBILL OF BARTHOLOMEW FAIR. IN 1700.
The following extract is worth notice, inasmuch as it shows that in the
matter of amusement, the tastes of the lower orders of the present day
are not much improved since the last century :
" You will see a wonderful girl of ten years of age, who walks back-
Avards up the sloping rope driving a wheelbarrow behind her ; also you
will see the great Italian Master, who not only passes all that has yet
hi ru seen upon the low rope, but he dances without ft pole upon the
head of a mast as high as the booth will permit, and afterwards stands
upon his head on the same. You will be also entertained with the merry
conceits of an Italian scaramouch, who dances on the rope with two
children and a dog in a wheelbarrow, and a duck on his head."
PASSAGE THROUGH THE ISTHMUS OF PANAMA SUGGESTED THREE
HUNDRED YEARS AGO.
Ancient d'liibr. In the Town Library (Stadt Bibliotlick) of Nurem-
berg is preserved an interesting globe made by John Schoncr, professor
of mathematics in the Gymnasium there, A.D. 1520. It is very re-
markable that the passage through the Isthmus of Panama, so much
sought after in later times, is, on this old globe, carefully delineated.
II MIGHT OF MOl'NTAINS.
The perpendicular height of Snowdon is, by late admeasurements,
1,190 yards above tin- level of the sea. This makes it, according In
Pennant, 210 yards higher than Cader Jdris. Some state Wliernside, in
Yorkshire to be tlie highest mountain in South Britain, and more than
4,000 feet. Eebrdlyn i 3,324 led, i'.eu Lomond 3,262. Mont Blanc
rises l."i,(jsi) feet; the American Chunborazo is 20,909 feet, the hi
,<1 e\er trodden by man; and the mountains of Thibet above 25, 000
lie highest at present known.
INTKHIirrilo.N or Till: WKLl'lM; WILLOW INTO KM, !. \XD.
The .W/> Jiul>i/tt<ir<i, that is the Vi'illow of Babylon, or our Knglish
weeping Willow, is a native of the Levant, the coast of Persia, and
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 149
other places in the East. The manner of its introduction into England
is curious ; the account is as follows : Pope, the celebrated poet, having
received a present of Turkey figs, observed a twig of the basket, in which
they were packed, putting out a shoot. The twig he planted in his gar-
den ; it soon became a fine tree, and from this stock, all our weeping
Willows have descended. This species of "Willow is generally planted
by a still pool, to which it is a beautiful appropriate ornament ; and
when in misty Aveather, drops of water are seen distilling from the ex-
tremities of its branches, nothing can be more descriptive than the title
it has obtained of the wcepiiif/ WiUoic.
FINE FOB, INSULTIXG A KING.
The use of gold and silver was not unknown to the "Welsh in 842,
when their laws were collected. The man who dared to insult the King
of Aberfraw, was to pay (besides certain cow& and a silver rod) a cup,
which would hold as much wine as his majesty could swallow at a
draught ; its cover was to be as broad as the king's face ; and the whole
as thick as a goose's egg, or a ploughman's thumb-nail.
CARROXADES*
This species of great gun, so much used on board of ships, is gene-
rally accounted a modern invention, taking its name from the Carron
foundry wheie they were made. In the patent office, however, will be
found a notice dated September, 1727, to the following effect: " That
his Majesty was pleased to grant to Henry Brown, Esquire, a patent for
the sole use and benefit of his new invention of making cannon and
great guns, both in iron and brass, which will be much shorter and
lighter, and with less powder will carry farther than those of equal bore
now in use, and which, it is said, will save great expense to the public."
EXTRAVAGANCE AT ELECTIONS.
On the death of Sir James Lowther, his son "William stood for the shire
of Cumberland, and entertained 3,650 gentlemen freeholders at a dinner,
at which were consumed 768 gallons of wine, 1,454 gallons of ale, and
5,814 bottles of punch. Sir James appears to have been eccentric in some
of his habits, for after his decease 30,000 in bank notes were discovered
in a closet, and 10,000 in the sleeve of an old coat.
MARTIX LUTHER'S TAXKAED.
This interesting relic of the great Reformer is of ivory, very richly
carved, and mounted in silver gilt. There are six medallions on its
surface, which consist, however, of a repetition of two subjects. The
upper one represents the agony in. the garden, and the Saviour praying
that the cup might pass from Him ; the base represents the Lord's
Supper, the centre dish being the incarnation of the bread. This tan-
kard, now in the possession of Lord Londesborough, was formerly in the
collection of Elkington of Birmingham, who had some copies of it
made. On tKe lid, in old characters, is the following inscription
" c. ii. L., 31DXXHII." This drinking vessel, which, independent of its
150
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
artistic merit, was no doubt highly valued as a mere household posses-
sion, brings to mind many recollections of the life of him who raised
himself from a very lowly position to one of great power and usefulness.
Martin Luther, who was the son of John Letter or Lauther (which
name our Reformer afterwards changed to Luther) and Margaret Lin-
drum, was horn iu the little town of Islebcrn, in Saxony, on Novem-
ber loth, 1 is:; His father was a miner. Luther died'in I/ill), and
priiici-s, earls, nobles, and students without number, attended the tune-
ful of tin- miner's son in the church of Islehern. On this occasion,
Mi-la!i<-tli<.ii dcli\iT.-d tin- t'uni-ral oration.
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 151
HOT CEOSS BUS*.
How strange the folios-ing reads from an old journal ! and how odd the
state of things to give rise to such an intimation !
1793.
Wednesday, 27th March.
ROYAL BUN HOUSE, CHELSEA, GOOD FRIDAY.
No Cross Buns.
Mrs. Hand respectfully informs her friends, and the public, that in
consequence of the great concourse of people which assembled before
her house at a very early hour, on the morning of Good Friday ; by
which her neighbours (with whom she has always lived in friendship and
repute,) have been much alarmed and annoyed; it having also been
intimated, that to encourage or countenance a tumultuous assembly at this
particular period, might be attended with consequences more serious
than have hitherto been apprehended ; desirous, therefore, of testifying
her regard and obedience to those laws by which she is happily protected,
she is determined, though much to her loss, not to sell Cross Buns on
that day, to any person whatever ; but Chelsea Buns as usual.
Mrs. Hand would be wanting in gratitude to a generous public, who,
for more than fifty years past, have so warmly patronized and encouraged
her shop, to omit so favourable an opportunity of offering her sincere
acknowledgments for their favours ; at the same time, to assure them
she will, to the utmost of her power, endeavour to merit a continuance
of them.
LOCUSTS.
The locusts are remarkable for the hieroglyphic that they bear upon
the forehead. Their colour is green throughout the whole body, except-
ing a little yellow rim that surrounds their head, and which is lost at
the eyes. This insect has two upper wings, pretty solid. They are green,
like the rest of the body, except that there is in each a little white spot.
The locust keeps them extended like great sails of a ship going before
the wind. It has besides two other wings underneath the former, and
which resemble a light transparent stuff pretty much like a cobweb, and
which it makes use of in the manner of smack sails, that are along a
vessel. But when the locust reposes herself, she docs like a vessel that
lies at anchor ; for she keeps the second sails furled under the others.
X ELIZABETH'S LAWS.
The following extract from a very old book is truly curious :
" (Jueene Elizabeth, in the xiiii and xviii veres of hir gracious rayne,
two Actes were made for ydle vagrantc and maistcrlesse persons, that
vsed to loyter, and would not worke, should for the first offence haue a
hole burned through the gristle of one of his eares of an ynch compasse.
And for the second offence committed therein, to be hanged. If these
and such lyke lawes were executed iustlye, treulye, and scverelye (as they
ought to be,) without any respect of persons, favour, or friendshippe, this
dung and filth of ydlenesse woulde easily be reiected and cast oute of
thys Commonwealth, there woulde not be so many loytering ydle per-
152 TEX THOUSAXD WONDERFUL THINGS ;
sons, so many Ruffians, Blasphemers, Swinge-Buckelers, so many
Drunkards, Tossepottes, Dauncers, Fydlers, and Minstrels, Dice-
players, and Maskers, Fencers, Theeves, Enterlude-players, Cut-
purses, Cosiners, Maisterlesse Seruantes, Jugglers, Roges, sturdye
Beggars, counterfaite Egyptians, &c., as there are, nor yet so manye
Plagues to bee amongst vs as there are, if these Dunghilles and filthe "in
Commonweales were remooued, looked into, and cleane caste oute, by
the Industrie, payne, and trauell of those that are sette in authoritir,
and haue gouernment." " A Treatise against Dicing, Daunciny, Vaino
playes or Enterluds. " li lack Letter ; no date.
THE INVENTION OF TYPES.
The honour of the invention of movable types has been disputed by
two cities, Haarlem and Mentz. The claims of Haarlem rest chiefly
upon a statement of Hadrien Junius, who gave it upon the testimony of
Cornelius, alleged to be a servant of Lawrence Coster, for whom the* in-
vention is claimed. The claims of Mentz, which appear to be more con-
clusive, are in favour of Peter Schajffer, the assistant and son-in-law of
John Faust, better known as Dr. Faustus. The first edition of the
Speculum bumante. salratimtis was printed by Coster at Haarlem, about
the year 1440, and is one of the earliest productions of the press of which
the printer is known. The celebrated Bible, commonly known as the
Mentz Bible, without date, is the first important specimen of printing
with moveable metal types. This was executed by Gutenberg and Faust,
or Fust, as it is sometimes spelt, between the years 1450 and M55.
The secret of the method then becoming known, presses were speedily
established in all parts of Europe, so that before the year 1500 there
were printing-offices in upwards of 220 different places in Austria,
Bavaria, Bohemia, Calabria, the Cremonese, Denmark, England, Flanders,
France, Franconia, Frioul, Geneva, Genoa, Germany, Holland, Hungary,
Italy, Lombardy, Mecklenburg, Moravia, Naples, the Palatinate, Pied-
mont, Poland, Portugal, Rome, Sardinia, Upper and Lower Saxony,
Sicily, Silesia, Spain, Suabia, Switzerland, Thessalonica, Turkey, Tuscany,
the Tyrol, Venice, Verona, Westphalia, Wurtemberg, &c.
This vast and rapid extension of the art, combined with the skill
which the earlier printers displayed in it, seems to be totally incompatible
with the date assigned to the invention, and it is more than probable,
that the art having been long practised in private under continued at-
tempts at secrecy, it at length broke into publicity after it had already
attained a considerable degree of perfection.
THE PROTEUS ANGBlXtTS.
It has been satisfactorily proved that the polypus cannot see its prey,
but is only aware of its presence by the actual agitation of the water,
from its remaining altogether passive when a thin piece of glass is in-
terposed between them. There are many Monads, which, without pos-
h.-isin-r any trace of an eye, are yet susceptible of light. An equally
fxtraonluiary phenomenon presents itself in the Proteus anguinus.
This singular animal is found in the subterranean lakes of the inter-
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 153
miiiable stalactital caverns in the limestone range of the Carniolan
Alps, where the author saw it. In appearance it is between a fish and
a lizard ; it is of a flesh-colour, and its respiratory organs, which are
connected with lungs, so as to enable it to breathe above or below the
water, form a red crest round the throat, like a cock's comb. It has no
eyes, but small points in the place of them, and light is so obnoxious to
it, that it uses every effort to exclude it, by thrusting its head under
stones. It is reported also to exist in Sicily, but is known nowhere else.
BTJJIPEE.
The jolly toper is so fond of the thing we call a lumper, that he
troubles not himself about the name, and so long as the liquor is but
fine and clear, cares not a farthing in how deep an obscurity the ety-
mology is involved. The sober antiquarian, on the contrary, being
prone to etymology, contemplates the sparkling contents of a full glass
with much less delight than he does the meaning, the occasion, and the
original of the name. The common opinion is, that
the bumper took its name from the grace-cup ; our
Roman Catholic ancestors, say they, after their
meals, always drinking the Pope's health in this
form, au bon Pere. But there are great objections
to this ; the Pope was not the bon Pere, but the
Saint Pere ; amongst the elder inhabitants of this
kingdom, the attribute of sanctity being in a man-
ner appropriated to the Pope of Rome, and his see.
Again, the grace-cup, which went round of course,
after every repast, did not imply anything extraor-
dinary, or a full glass. Drinking-glasses were not
in use at the time here supposed, for the grace-cup
was a large vessel, proportioned to the number of
the society, which went round the table, the guests
drinking out of one cup, one after another.
COFFEE.
From a number of the " Public Advertiser," of May 19 to May 26,
1657, we have ' In Bartholomew-lane, on the back side of the Old
Exchange, the drink called Coffee is advertised as to be sold in the
inorniny, and at ihree of the clock in the afternoon.
OTAIXT HECEIPTS.
The following Receipts are taken from a work entitled, " New
Curiosities in Art and Nature, or a Collection of the most valuable
Secrets in all Arts and Sciences. Composed and Experimented by Sieur
Lemery, Apothecary to the French King. London : John King, Little
Britain. 1711."
To make one Wake or Sleep. You must cut off dexterously the head
of a toad alive, and at once, and let it dry, in observing that one eye be
shut, and the other open ; that which is found open makes one wake,
and that shut causes sleep, by carrying it about one.
154 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
Prcserratice against the Plague. Take three or four great toads,
seven or eight spiders, and as many scorpions, put them into a pot well
stopp'd, and let them lye some time ; then add virgin-wax, make a
good tire till all become a liquor, then mingle them all with a spatula,
and make an ointment, and put it into a silver box well stopp'd, the
which carry about you, being well assured that while you carry it about
you, you will never be infected with the plague.
We give the above as indicating the delusions which prevailed with
respect to certain nostrums as late as the year 1711.
EXECUTION OF GOVEENOE WALL IK 1802.
As the following account, by a gentleman who witnessed the scene,
avoids all disgusting details, we give it as containing a description of
some of the circumstances which attended the execution, at the com-
mencement of the present century, of a criminal of the higher class. The
wretched man was hung for murder and barbarity : his victims were the
men he had under his charge as Governor of the Island of Goree :
" As we crossed the Press-yard, a cock crew ; and the solitary clanking
of a restless chain was dreadfully horrible.
" The prisoner entered. He was death's counterfeit, tall, shrivelled, and
pale ; and his soul shot so piercingly through the port-holes of his head
that the tirst glance of him nearly petrified me. I said in my heart,
putting my pencil in my pocket, God forbid that I shoiild disturb thy
last moments ! His hands were clasped, and he was truly penitent.
After the yeoman had requested him to stand up, ' he pinioned him,' as
the Newgate phrase is, and tied the cord with so little feeling that the
governor, who had not given the wretch the accustomed fee, observed ' You
have tied me very tight ;' upon which Dr. Ford, the chaplain, ordered
him to slacken the cord, which he did, but not without muttering,
' Thank you, sir,' said the governor to the doctor : ' it is of little moment.'
I ! then observed to the attendant, who had brought in an immense iron
shovel-full of eoals to throw on the fire, ' Ay, in one hour that will be a
blaxing tire,' then turning to the doctor, questioned him : 'Do tell me,
sir: I am informed I shall go down with great force; is it so?' After
ilie construction and action of the machine had been explained, the
doctor questioned the governor as to what kind of men he had at Goree :
'Sir, he answered, 'they sent me the very riii'-raff.' The poor
soul then joined the doctor in prayer; and never did 1 witness more
contrition at any condemned sermon than ho then evinced.
"The sheriff arrived, attended by his officers, to receive the prisoner
from the keeper. A new hat was then partly flattened on his head, for
owing tu its being too small in tin; crown, it stood many inches too high
behind. As we were crossing the Press Yard, the. dreadful execrations
of some of the felons so shook his frame that he observed, the clock had
struck ; and quickening his pace, he soon arrived at the room where the
sheriff was to give a receipt for his body, according to the usual custom.
Owing, however, to sonic informality in the wording of this receipt, he
was not brought out as soon as the multitude expected ; and it was this
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AXD QUAINT. 155
delay which occasioned a partial exultation from those who betted as to
a reprieve, and not from any pleasure in seeing him executed.
"After the execution, as soon as I was permitted to leave the prison, I
found the Yeoman selling the rope with which the malefactor had hcen
suspended, at a shilling an inch ; and no sooner had I entered Newgate-
street, than a lath of a. fellow, passed threescore years and ten, who had
just arrived from the purlieus of Black Boy Alley, woe-hegone as Romeo's
apothecary, exclaimed, ' Here is the identical rope at sixpence an inch.' "
STAGE-COACH IN 1760.
Aysconijli's Nottingham Courant of this date, contained the following
advertisement : The flying machines on steel springs set off from the
(S\v;m with Two Necks Inn, Lad-lane, London, and from the Angel Inn
in Sheffield, every Monday and Thursday morning at five o'clock, and
lies the first night from London at the Angel Inn in Northampton, the
second at the Blackmoor's Head Inn, Nottingham, and the third at
Sheffield. Each passenger to pay II . 17s., and to he allowed fourteen
pounds of luggage. Performed (if God permit) hy John Hanforth and
Samuel Glanville.
BLIND
A young man, in Greenock, of the name of Kid, who was blind
from his infancy, finished the model of a sixty-four gun ship,
of about five feet keel, planked from the keel, with carriages for the guns,
and eveiy necessary material and apparelling of a .ship of that rate, with-
out any assistance whatever, or other instrument than a small knife and
hammer.
OF THE LOWER CLASSES IN 1749.
The following handbill is curious, on account of the light it sheds on
what was considered attractive to the million a hundred years ago :
"AcconUny to Law. September 22, 1749. On Wednesday next, the
27th inst., will be run for by Asses (! !) in Tothill Fields, a purse of
gold, not exceeding the value of Fifty Pounds. The first will be entitled
to the gold ; the second to two pads ; the third to thirteen pence half-
penny ; the last to a halter fit for the neck of any ass in Europe. Eacli
ass must be subject to the following articles :
" No person will be allowed to run but Taylors and Chimney-sweepers]
the former to have a cabbage-leaf fixed in his hat, the latter a plumage
of white feathers ; the one to use nothing but his yard-wand, and the
other a brush.
" No jockey -tricks will be allowed upon any consideration.
" No one to strike an ass but the rider, lest he thereby cause a retro-
grade motion, under a penalty of being ducked three times in the river.
" No ass will be allowed to start above thirty years old, or under ten
months, nor any that has won above the value of fifty pounds.
" No ass to run that has been six months in training, particularly
above stairs, lest the same accident happen to it that did to one nigh "a
town ten miles from London, and that for reasons well known to that
place.
156 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
"Each ass to pay sixpence entrance, three farthings of which
arc to be given to the old clerk of the race, for his due care and
attendance.
" Every ass to carry weight for inches, if thought proper."
Then follow a variety of sports, with " an ordinary of proper victuals,
particularly for the riders, if desired."
" Run, 'lads, run .' there 1 s rare sport in Tuthill Fields /"
STATE COACH AT THE PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT IN 1796.
Never was a greater assemblage of persons collected together than on
this occasion : in the Park and in Parliament-street there were at least 20, 000
people. Bv the repair of the state coach, which has undergone several
material alterations since the damage it received at the opening of the
last session, the king is now secluded from the sight. Hitherto, the
upper pannels of it had always been of glass, so that the multitude could
sec the king in all directions, through the front, through the sides, as
well as through the windows in the doors : it has been newly glazed,
and the whole of the carriage is lined with sheet copper, musket proof ;
between the crimson lining of the carriage is a wadding of fine wool,
cuated with buffalo skin, the nature of which is so close that no bullets
can penetrate it.
HISTORICAL ANECDOTE.
On the dollars, stivei s, &c. , coined at the town of Dordrecht in Holland,
is the figure of a mikmaid sitting under her cow, which figure is also ex-
hibited in relievo on the water-gate of the place. The occasion was as
follows : In the noble struggle of the United Provinces for their liberties,
the Spaniards detached a body of forces from the main army, with the
view of surprising Dordrecht. Certain milk-maids, belonging to a rich
farmer in the vicinity of the town, perceived as they were going to milk,
iinc soldiers concealed under the hedges. They had the presence of
mind to pursue their occupation without any symptoms of alarm. On
their return home they informed their master of what they had seen, who
gave information to the Burgomaster, and the sluices were let loose, by
which great numbers of the Spaniards were drowned, and the expedition
d< featcd. The States ordered the farmer a handsome revenue for the loss
he sustained by the overflowing of his lands, rewarded the women, and
perpetuated the event in the manner described.
TOMB OF JOHN III .\ VAN.
Who has not read the " Pilgrim's Progress," " that wonderful book,"
writes Mr. Macaulay, " which, while it obtains admiration from the most
fastidious critics, is loved by those who are too simple to admire it r''
\Vc can remember our own delight on reading, for the tirst time, the pre-
cious volume. This was in the days of <>ur childhood, when we were
deeply imbued with the fairy lore which at that time was so plentifully
.supplied, and so cairerly devoured.
I oh u I'.unvan was buried in Bunhill Fields bury ing-ground, City-road ;
and the tablet on his tomb, which the en^ravin^ verv convetlv repre-
sents is as follow; :" Mr. John J'linyan, author of the ' I'il^riia'^
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 157
Progress,' ob. 12 Aust. 1688, cot. 60." Formerly there were also the fol-
lowing lines :
" The Pilgrim's Progress now is finished,
And death has laid him in his earthly bed."
Bunhill Fields burying-ground was opened as a suburban cemetery in
1665, in the time of the great plague, and was a favourite burying-place
with the Dissenters. Here are buried Daniel Defoe ; Dr. Isaac Watts ;
Joseph Kitson the antiquary ; Dr. Thomas Goodwin, the chaplain who at
tended Cromwell's death-bed ; George Fox, the founder of the Quakers ;
the mother of John "Wesley ; Lieut. -General Fleetwood, son-in-law of
Oliver Cromwell; Thomas Stothard, R.A., and other eminent men.
SPIDERS FOXD OF 3irSIC.
Spiders hear with great acuteness, and it is affirmed that they arc
attracted by music. Disjonval relates the instance of a spider which
158 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
used to place itself on the ceiling of a room over the spot where
a lady played the harp, and which followed her if she removed to
another part; and he also says that the celebrated violinist Berthome,
when a boy, saw a spider habitually approach him as soon as he began
to play, and which eventually became so familiar that it would h'x it si If
on his* desk, and on his arm. Bettina noticed the same effect with a
guitar, on a spider which accidentally crossed over it as she was playing.
BEEAKFASTIXG HTT IN 1745.
This quaint announcement, in a handbill of the time, shows how cheaply
those who lived a century or so past could enjoy suburban pleasures in
miTrie Islington :
" This is to give notice to all Ladies and Gentlemen, at Spencer's
original Breakfasting-Hut, between Sir Hugh Middleton's Head and St.
.lohn Street Road, by the New River side, fronting Sadler's "VVells, may
lie had every morning, except Sundays, line tea, sugar, bread, butter,
:md milk, at fourpence per head ; eott'ee at threepence a dish. And in
the afternoon, tea, sugar, and milk, at threepence per head, with good
attendance. Coaches may come up to the farthest garden-door next to
the bridge in St. John Street Road, near Sadler's Wells back gate.
-V<//V . Ladies, &c., are desired to take notice that there is another person
i-t up in opposition to me, the next door, which is a brick-house, and
faces the little gate by the Sir Hugh Middleton's, and therefore mistaken
fur mine; hut mine is the Uttlr boarded place by the river side, and my
baekdoor faces the same as usual ; for
1 :mi not dead, I am not gone,
Nor liquors do I sell ;
Kut, as at lirst, 1 still go on,
<, to use you well.
Xo passage to my lint I have,
The river ruus before ;
ThiTi'l'ore your euro I humbly (rave,
J'ray don't mistake my door.
" Yours to serve, S. BPEJTCER,"
SPOXTANKOI'S COMBl'STIOX.
In fxToux's Journal dc Medicine, is an accoifnt of a very fat woman,
twenty-eight years of age, who was found ou lire in her chamber, where
nothing else was Im ruing. The neighbours heard a noise of something
like frying, and when the; body was removed it left a layer of black
. The doctor conceives (hat the combustion began in the internal
parts, und that the clotlies \vereburnt secondarily.
ji \r:> TIM: r.o\i:-sc.
She was the daughter of a man named Wall is, a. bone-setter at Uin-
dou, in Wiltshire, ami sister to the celebrated " Polly 1'eachem," who
married the Ihikeof liolton. I'pon some fn/nili/ quarrel, Sally Walli-.
left, her professional parent, and wandered up ami down the country in a
mis. rable manner, calling herself " Craxy Sally," and pursuing, in her
perambulations, a course that fairly just iii'ed the'title. Arriving at i
Kpsom, she succeeded iu liuinl)iigging the worthy bumkins of that place,
so decidedly, that a subscription was set on foot to keep her among them ;
but her fame extending to the metropolis, the dupes of London, a nu-
merous class then as well as now, thought it no trouble to go ten miles to
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 159
see the conjuror, till at length, she was pleased to bless the afflicted of
London with her presence, and once a week drove to the Grecian Coffee-
house, in a coach and six with out-riders ! and all the appearance of
nobility. It was in one of these journeys, passing through Kent-street,
in the Borough, that being taken for a certain woman of quality from
the Electorate in Germany, a great mob followed and bestowed on her
many bitter reproaches, till Madame, perceiving some mistake, looked out
of the window, and accosted them in this gentle manner, " Confound
you, do'nt you know me 't I am Mrs. Mapp, the bone-suffer /" upon
which, they instantly changed their revilings into loud huzzas.
TWO CERTIFICATES OF GKETXA-GllEEN JIAKIUAGES AT DHTEBEXT DATES.
" This is to sartfay all persons that my be consernid, that A B from
the parish of C in the County of D and E F from the parish of G and in
the county of H and both comes before me and declayred themseless both
to be single persons, and now mayried by the form of the Kirk of Scot-
land, and agreible to the Church of England, and givine ondre my hand,
this 18 th day of March 1793."
" Kingdom of Scotland
" County of Dumfries
" Parish of Gretna
" These are to certify, to all whom, it may concern, that John N . . . .
from the parish of Chatham in the County of Kent, and Ilosa H . . . .
from the Parish of St. Maries in the County of Nottingham, being both here
now present and having declared to me that they are single persons, but
have now been married conformable to the Laws of the Church of Eng-
land, and agitable to the Kirk of Scotland. As witness our hands at
Springfield this 4 th day of October 1822.
" Witness " Witness me.
Jane Itae David Lang.
John Ainslie." John N
BosaH...."
THE WOMEX OF ENGLAND.
The women here are generally more handsome than in other places,
sufficiently endowed with natural beauties, without the addition of
adulterate sophistications. In an absolute woman, say the Italians, are
required the parts of a Dutch woman, from the girdle downwards ; of a
French woman, from the girdle to the shoulders : over which must be
placed an English face. As their beauties, so also their prerogatives are
greater than any nation ; neither so servilely submissive as the French,
nor so jealously guarded as the Italians ; but keeping so true a decorum,
that as England is termed the Pergatorie of Servants, and the Hell of
Horses, so is it acknowledged the Paradise of Women. And it is a
common by- word amongst the Italians, that if there were a bridge built
across the narrow seas, all the tcomen in Europe would run into England .
For here they have the upper hand in the streets, the upper place at
the table, the thirds of their husband's estates, and their equal share of
all lands ; privileges with which other women are not acquainted, They
160 TEX THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
were in high esteem in former times amongst foreign nations, for the mo-
destie and gravitie of their conversation ; but of late so much addicted to
the light garb of the French, that they have lost much of their ancient
honour and reputation amongst knowing and more sober men of foreign
countries who before admired them. Peter Heylin's Cosmographie, 1652.
PRICES TOE SEATS AT CORONATIONS.
On consulting Stowe, Speed, and other antiquaries, it appears that the
price of a good place at the coronation of "William the Conqueror was a
blank ; and probably the same at that of his son William Ilufus. At that
of Henry I. it was a crocard, and at King Stephen's and Henry the
Second's a pittard. At King Richard's and King John's, it was nfuskin ;
and rose at Henry the Third's to a dodkin. In the reign of Edward I.
the coins began to be more intelligible ; and we iind that for seeing his
coronation a Qwas given, or the half of aferliny, or farthing, which was,
as now, the fourth part of a sterling, or penny. At the coronation of
Edward II. it was a farthing ; and at that of Edward III. a halfpenny,
which was very generally given. In the reign of Richard II. it was a
penny, and continued the same at that of Henry IV. But at that of
Henry V. it was two pennies, or half of a f/rossiis, or groat ; and the same
at that of Henry VI. and of Edward IV. ; nor do we find it raised at the
coronation of Richard III. or that of Henry VII.
At that of Henry VIII. it was the whole r/russus, or groat, nor was
the price altered at those of Edward VI. and Queen Mary ; but at Queen
Elizabeth's it was a teston, tester, or sixpence. At those of James I.
and Charles I. a shilling was given ; which sum was advanced to half
a crown at the coronations of Charles and James II. At King William's
and Queen Anne's, it was a crown ; and at George the First's the show
was seen by many at the same price.
At the coronation of George II. some gave half a guinea ; but at that
of George III. and Queen Charlotte, anno 1761, curiosity seems to have
risen to an amazing height. On this occasion the price given for single
seats were almost incredible ; in some houses ten guineas, and in ordinary
houses five guineas. Great and universal anxiety prevailed to see this
grand spectacle, from the reflection how improbable it was that many
who were there could ever have an opportunity of witnessing the like
:iLrain. As an instance of this extreme anxiety, it is confidently related,
that a gentleman was prevailed on to take a room for his lady, at the
price ot one hundred and forty guineas ; but the appointment of the
solemnity of the coronation falling unluckily at the exact time when she
expected to be delivered, she actually further prevailed on her husband
to let a skilful man-midwife, nurse, &c., attend her, and to hire another
room, lest the hurry of the day should bring on her labour, when it
might be impossible for her to be removed without endangering her life.
ANCIENT HOUSE AT BLACK W.\ 1.1. -SAID TO HK TIIK IIKSI pr.NCK OF
sll; W.U.TliK KM. HIGH.
The house shown in the engraving is interesting from two pauses ; first,
that it was the house in which Sir Walter Raleigh smoked his first pipe
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
161
of tobacco in. England, and secondly, that it is one of the few relics
remaining of those picturesque old houses of the days of Queen Bess.
The house is built of strongly framed timber, which, in recent years, has
been plastered over ; and the carved heads that ornament the gables, and
which are good both in design and execution, show that this house is at
least 350 years old.
162 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
At the present time a tavern has been built between this house and the
river. Formerly, however, there was, no doubt, a trimmed garden and
terrace towards the Thames,|from which the inhabitants may have watched
,>rogress of Queen. Elizabeth from the Tower to her palace at
Gfeenwich.
It is singular to notice the fashion of these old houses, arising from the
value of space within walled towns ; each floor projects over the other, so
that the upper apartments have more room than the lower. While, in an
artistic point of view, we cannot help regretting the disappearance of the
able and quaint gables, for sanitary and other reasons we must be
content with the change.
\MiiASSADORS WHY HELD BY THE AMIS AT THE OTTOMAN COTTRT.
A dervise addressed Hajaxet, emperor of the Turks, 1495, for alms,
and while the charitable Sultan searched for his money, the treacherous
beggar wounded liim with a dagger, and was instantly slain by the
royal attendants. This incident is rendered memorable by its bavin:;
occasioned the ungracious restraint under which even the ambassadors
of Christian powers were subject to in former times when they received
an audience from the Ottoman Emperor.
They were held by the arms by two attendants, when they approached
the throne, nor were their arms loosed till they had quitted the presence.
TRAVELLING- IX 1760.
The nobility and gentry were accustomed to make their long journey.--
in ponderous family-carriages, drawn by four horses. These vehicles
would be laden at the top with an array of trunks and boxes, while
perhaps six or seven persons, with a lapdog, would be stowed within.
The danger of famine on the road was averted by a travelling larder of
baskets of various condiments ; the risk of thirst would be provided
against, by bottles of usquebaugh, black cherry-brandy, cinnamon-water,
.sack, port, or strong beer: while the convoy wotild be protected by a
basket-hilled sword, an old blunderbuss, and a bag of bullets and a great
horn of gunpowder.
OLD ST. !'UI,'s.
In the old cathedral was a tmver of stone, in height from the ground
260 feet, on which was a spire of wood, covered with lead, 274 feet hi^-li,
In the tower was a celebrated peal of bells; and somewhat above the
stone-work was a " faire dial," from which there was order taken in tlie
ightei -nth year of Kdward III. that the rich chasing and gilding should
be always kept in good preservation. On this dial was the figure of an
aii^-el pointing to the hours of both day and night a device more ap-
propriate than most of the clock-hands in present use. From this lofty
steeple, which formed Mich an important feature of old London, the
chimes rung merrily on saints' days and holidays; and at times the
choristers mounted up aloft and ehaunted forth their orisons at dawn
and sunset a custom still observed at Durham Cathedral. He fore the
lire of London, the spire of St. Paul's was more than once destroyed or
damaged by fire and lightning.
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 163
On Candlemas Eve, 1444, about two o'clock in the afternoon, the light-
ning fired the steeple. The citizens came forth and succeeded in over-
coming the fire ; it, however, broke forth again at night, and but little
of the spire was saved. In the year 1<5G1, in the month of June, there
fell a prodigious quantity of rain, attended with thunder and lightning.
St. Paul's steeple was struck within a yard of the top. At first, a little
fire appeared, resembling the light of a torch, and in eight minutes the
weather-cock fell ; and the wind rising high, the fire within an hour
afterwards destroyed the steeple down to the very battlements, and then,
in consequence of the mass of burning timber that fell from the spire,
burnt so violently that the iron-work and the bells melted and fell upon
the stairs in the church ; the east and west roofs catching fire communi-
cated with the north and south, and destroyed them all. Much damage
was also done to other parts.
The spire was again reared, and the damaged bells properly replaced.
In addition to the bells in the tower of old St. Paul's there was a common
bell, the property of the city, hung in a suitable building, closely ad-
joining to the Cathedral, which was rung that the inhabitants might
assemble at wardmotes and other important occasions. Another fire
damaged the ancient church, and then the great fire of 1666, swept
steeples, bells, churches, and all before it.
THE BEDFORD MISSAL.
In January, 1786, when the Bedford Missal was on sale, with the rest
of the Duchess of Portland's collection, King George III. sent for his
bookseller, and expressed his intention to become the purchaser. The
bookseller ventured to submit to his majesty, that the article in question,
as one highly curious, was likely to fetch a high price. " How high ':"
exclaimed the king. " Probably two hundred guineas," replied the book-
seller. " Two hundred guineas for a Missal!" exclaimed the Queen,
who was present, and lifted up her hands with astonishment. "Well,
well," said his Majesty, " I'll have it still; but since the Queen thinks
two hundred guineas so enormous a price for a Missal, I'll go no further."
The biddings for the royal library did actually stop at that point ; and
Mr. Edwards carried off the prize by adding three pounds moie. The
same Missal was afterwards sold at Mr. Edwards's sale, in 1815, and
purchased by the Duke of Marlborough, for 637 15s.
FORMATION OF THE VOLCANO OF JOKTJLLO.
The Mexican volcanoes of Orizaba, Popocatapetl, Jorullo, and Coliina
appear to be connected with each other, being placed in the direction
of a line running transverse to the former, and passing east and west from
sea to sea.
As was first observed by Humboldt, these mountains are all situated
between north latitude 18 59' and 19 12'. In an exact line of direction
with the other volcanoes, and over the same transverse fissiu-e, Jorullo
was suddenly elevated on the 29th of September, 1759. The circum-
stances attending the production of this volcano are so remarkable, that
we shall here notice them in some detail.
164
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ',
An extensive plain, called the Malpays, was covered by rich fields of
cotton, sugar-cane, and indigo, irrigated by streams, and bounded by
basaltic mountains, the nearest active volcano being at the distance of
eighty miles. This district, situated at an elevation of about 2600 feet
above the level of the sea, was celebrated for its beauty and extreme fer-
tility. In June, 1759, alarming subterranean sounds were heard, and
these were accompanied by frequent earthquakes, which Avere succeeded
by others for several weeks, to the great consternation of the neighbouring
TOLCANO OF JOBULLO, UKilCO.
inhabitants. In September tranquillity appeared to be re-established,
when, in the night of the 28th, the subterranean noise was again heard,
and part of the plain of Malpays, from three to four miles in diameter,
rose up like a mass of viscid thud, in the shape of a bladder or dome, to a
height of nearly 1700 feet; llames issued forth, fragments of red-hot
stones were thrown to prodigious heights, and, through a thick cloud of
ashes, illumined by volcanic lire, the softened surface of the earth was
seen to swell up like an agitated sea. A huge cone, above 500 feet high,
with rive smaller conical mounds, suddenly appeared, and thousands ol'
lesser cones (called by the natives homitos, or ovens,) issued forth from
the upraised plain. These consisted of clay intermingled with decom-
posed basalt, each cone being a fiDiutrolle, or gaseous vent, from which
issued thick vapour. The central cone of Jorullo is still burning, and on
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 165
one side has thrown up an immense quantity of scoriaceous and basaltic
lavas, containing fragments of primitive rocks. Two streams, of the tem-
perature of 186 of Fahrenheit, have since burst through the argillaceous
vault of the hornitos, and now now into the neighbouring plains. For
many years after the first eruption, the plains of Jorullo were uninhabit-
able from the intense heat that prevailed.
CHATER OF VESTJVirS IX 1829.
The water Stromboli, which has been in activity since the most ancient
times, presents at present the same appearances a*s those which were des-
cribed by Spallanzani, in 1788. It is constantly tilled with lava in a
state of fusion, which alternately rises and falls in the cavity. Having
ascended to ten or twelve yards below the summit of the walls, this boil-
ing fluid is covered with large bubbles, which burst with noise, letting
enormous quantities of gas escape from them, and projecting on all sides
scoriaceous matter. After these explosions, it again subsides, but only
to rise again and produce like efiects these alternations being repeated
166 TEX THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
regularly at intervals of some minutes. In craters where the lava is less
lluid than in. that of Stromboli, new cones are sometimes formed in the
midst of the Crater, which lirst rise in the form of a dome, and then burst
out so as to form a small active volcano in the middle of the crater of tlu v
great one. This phenomenon is often presented within the crater of
Vesuvius, and was more particularly -witnessed in 1829.
LOAP SUGAK.
In 1553 a sugar-loaf was presented to Mr. "Waldron, of Bovey House,
which weighed 7 Ibs., at Is. Id. per Ib. (7s. 7d.)
The late Lord Rolle married the last of that branch of the Waldron
family. The house remains about ten miles west of Lyme. The sugar-
loaf was charged at a high rate, considering the greater value <?f money
in Queen Mary's reign. This article began to be highly prized. The
sugar-cane, which had been grown from the year 1148 in Sicily, had
been imported into Madeira A. D. 1419. About the year 1 J03 the art of
refining sugar, before called "blanch powdre," was discovered by a
Venetian ; before which the juice, when selected instead of honey for
sweetening, was used as it came from the cane. Only twenty-seven
years from this date, in 1526, it was imported from St. Luear in Spain
by r.ristol merchants. Let not the present of the Mayor of Lyme be
c >!iMdeivd as a cheap article produced in abundance in the islands of the
\Vest Indies. The sugar-cane was not imported thither into 15arba4oes
tlie JJraxils till the year 1(511. How surprising the result of
ollicial inquiries in the year IN.JO into the consumption, of sugar ! It
amounted to 7, 523,1 NT ewt>., or 30 Ibs. each individual of the United
Kingdom*
M SITXSIOX nii i:s AT J'llKYBOURG,
There are two suspension bridges in Freybourg ; one remarkable for its
' length, the- oilier for its extreme beauty. The latter connects the
tup of two mountains, swinging over a frightful gulf that makes one
dr/.-/.y to look down into. There are no buttresses or masomvork in sight
at a little distance ; shafts are sunk in the solid rock of the mountain-.,
down which the wires 1hat sustain it are dropped. Then- it stretches, a
nuTe black line, nearly three hundred feet in the heavens, from summit
to summit. It looks like a spider's web flung across a chasm : its delicate
tracery showing lear and distinct against the sky. AVhile you are
looking at the fairy creation suspended iu mid-heaven, almost expecting
the next breexc will wait it away, you see a heavy waggon driven on it;
you shrink back witli horror at 'the rashness tha't could trust so frail a
structure at that di/xy height ; but, the air-hung cobweb sustains the
pressure, and the vehicle passes in safety. Indeed, weight steadies it;
while the wind, as it .sweeps down the gulf, m:ik> I it swing under you.
The large suspension bridge is supported on four cables of iron wire, each
oiii' com|Mrd of one thousand and fifty-six wires. As the .Menai bridge
of \Vule, is often said to be longer than this, I give the dimension.-, of both
ind them in .Mr. Murray: -Kreybourg: length, nine hundred and
fi\c feet ; height, one hundred and Ke\enly-i'our feet; breadth, twenty-
tight feet. Mcnai: length, live hundred and eighty feet; height, oiie
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 167
hundred and thirty feet ; breadth, twenty-five feet. A span of nine
hundred and five feet, withcmt any intermediate pier, seems impossible at
first, and one needs the testimony of his own eyes before he can full}'
believe it.
WONDERFUL CLOCK.
Towards the end of the last century, a clock was constructed by a
Genevan mechanic named Droz, capable of performing a variety of sur-
prising movements, which were effected by the figures of a negro, a
shepherd, and a dog. When the clock struck, the shepherd played six
tunes on his flute, and the dog approached and fawned upon him. This
clock was exhibited to the King of Spain, who was highly delighted with
the ingenuitv of the artist. The king, at the request of Droz, took an
apple from the shepherd's basket, when the dog started up and barked
so loud that the king's dog, which was in the same room, began to bark
also. We are moreover informed that the negro, on being asked what
hour it was, answered the question in French, so that he could be under-
stood by those present.
HAKDKIX THE SMUGGLER, 1757.
Mandrin was the son of a peasant in Dauphiny who dealt in cattle.
His first employment was buying and selling horses, by which he sub-
sisted several years. But having on some occasion committed a murder,
he was obliged" to fly from justice, and in his absence was condemned by
the Parliament of Grenoble to be broken on the wheel. Being now a
fugitive, and destitute of employment, he learned to counterfeit money,
and by this fraud made considerable gain, till, being discovered, the
officers of the Mint at Lyons issued a warrant for apprehending him, and
he was again obliged to qiiit the country. While he was wandering
about from place to place, and hiding himself in caves and woods, he be-
came acquainted with a gang of smugglers, and associating with them
was, after some time, made their captain. As this gang was very nume-
rous, he was less cautious of being seen, and having at length lost his
sense of fear by habitual danger, he frequently entered towns and cities,
raised contributions on the king's officers by force, and spread the same
terror among others that others had brought upon him. But in propor-
tion as he became more formidable he was, in fact, less secure ; for the
Government found it necessary to detach after him such a force as he
could not resist, and the Farmers-General offered 48,000 livres reward
for taking him. After many times attacking his party in a running
fight, in which several were cut off, Mandrin, with eight of his men, took
shelter in a castle on the frontiers of Savoy. They were closely pursued
by several detachments, under the command of Colonel de Molie're, who
entered the King of Sardinia's territory after him, without having first
obtained leave. Moliere was immediately opposed by a great number of
peasants: whether they were instigated by Mandrin, or whether they
were jealous of their privilege, is not known ; but all his expostulations
being fruitless, and being determined not to relinquish his prey, for whom
he hoped to receive so considerable a reward, he forced his way against
them, killing twelve and wounding many others. Mandrin waited the
168 TEX THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
issue of this contest in his castle, -where he was soon besieged by 150 men,
who attacked the place with great vigour. Mandrin and his partisans
defended themselves like men who had nothing to fear in a battle equal
to being taken alive ; and after several of them were killed, and the
castle gates burst open, they retreated, fighting from chamber to chamber,
and from story to story, till, reaching the garret, and being able to pro-
ceed no further, they were at last overpowered by numbers, having killed
twenty of their adversaries, and spent all their ammunition. Mandrin,
Avith those that survived of his little party, were carried prisoners to
Valence in Dauphiny. * * * Mandrin was examined every day
from the 13th of May to the 25th, in order to discover his accomplices.
In the mean time several of his associates were put to the torture to dis-
cover what they knew of him, and were afterwards broken on the wheel,
that death might give a sanction to their testimony.
He himself was subjected to torture, but without eliciting anything
further than he had previously revealed. Throughout he steadfastly re-
fused to betray his comrades, and conducted himself with much dignity
and heroism. On the day of his execution he received absolution from
Father Gasperini, a Jesuit, who had administered to him the consolations
of religion during his confinement.
Before he was led out of the prison, his shoes and stockings were taken
from him ; but, though barefooted, he walked along with great firmness
and a good grace. When he came to the cathedral to perform the amende
honortiblr, he asked forgiveness of the monks and priests for his want of
respect to their order, and was then conducted to the scaffold. He
mounted with great composure, and addressed himself in a short and pa-
thetic exhortation to the spectators, especially the young persons of both
sexes ; he then sat down on the nave of the wheel, and loosened the
buttons of his shirt-sleeves himself. Then he entreated pardon of the
custom-house officers, whom he had so often and so grossly injured ; and
turning to the penitents who surrounded the scaffold -with his oonfeMOT
and two other eminent persons of his order he earnestly recommended
himself as the object of their prayer, and immediately delivered himself
up to the executioner. He received eight blows on his arms and legs,
and one on his stomach, and was intended to have been left to expire of
the wounds ; but as the executioner was going down from the scaffold, an
order came to strangle him; the bishop and all the considerable persons
at Valence having interceded for this mitigation of his punisnment.
.Mandrin was twenty-nine years of age, about five feet five inches higli,
well made, had a long visage, blue eyes, and sandy chcsnut hair ; he had
something rough in his countenance, and a strong robust port; he was
perpetually smoking tobacco, with which he drank plentifully of any
liquor that was at hand, and ate till the last with a good appetite.
SUDDKN i;r.nvr.i:y i I:<>.M M.UINKSS.
The following extraordinary account is taken from the Qentkmatfp
Maifdzim: of 1784: "About six years since, a seafaring person was
taken into the Asylum for Maniacs at York ; during the space of five
years and six months he never expressed any desire for sustenance, and
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 169
was fed in the manner of an infant. The servants undressed him at
night, and dressed him in the morning ; he never spoke, and remained
with his hody bent all day, and was regarded by all about him as an
animal nearly converted into a vegetable. About the middle of May,
1783, he suddenly astonished the people round him with saying, ' Good
morrow to you all.' He then thanked the servants for the care they had
taken of him, and appeared perfectly sane. A few days after, he wrote a
letter to his wife, in which he expressed himself with great propriety.
On the 28th of May following he was allowed to leave the hospital, and
return to his family ; and has now the command of a ship in the Baltic
trade, and is in full enjoyment of perfect health, both in mind and body.
This very singular case is attested by Dr. Hunter, F.R.S., of York, in a
letter to Dr. Percival, of Manchester, and by the servants now at the
Asylum in York."
SUMMARY OF THE BIBLE.
The following table is published, as containing accurate particulars
of the English version of the Bible :
In the Old Testament.
Books, 39
Chapters, 929
Verses, 23,214
Words, 592,493
Letters, 2,728,100
In the New Testament.
Books, 27
Chapters, 260
Verses, 7,959
Words, 181,253
Letters, 838,380
Total.
Books, 66
Chapters, 1,189
Verses, 31,173
Words, 773,746
Letters 3,566,480
The middle chapter and the shortest in the Bible is the hundred and
seventeenth Psalm ; the middle verse is the eighth of the hundred and
eighteenth Psalm. The twenty-first verse of the seventh chapter of
Ezra, in the English version, has all the letters of the alphabet in it.
The nineteenth chapter of the second book of Kings and the thirty-
seventh chapter of Isaiah are alike.
THE LEPROSY. LAZARS. LAZAR-HOTISES.
That loathsome disorder, leprosy, was introduced into England in the
reign of Henry I., and was supposed to have been brought out of Egypt,
or perhaps the East, by means of the crusaders. To add to the horror,
it was contagious, which enhanced the charity of a provision for such
miserables, who were not only naturally shunned, but even chased by
royal edict, from the society of their fellow-creatures.
Lepers, or Lazars, were sick persons removed out of monasteries to
cells or hospitals, always built out of cities and towns. Their usual
maintainence was, from liberty allowed them to go upon every market-
day, to the market, where with a dish, called a clap dish, they would beg
corn.
Their sickness and loathsome appearance giving great disgust, many
withheld their charity, upon which account they were afterwards re-
strained from begging at large, but permitted to send the proctor of the
hospital, who came with his box one day in every month to the churches,
and other religious houses, at time of service ; and there received the
voluntary charity of the congregations. This custom is said to be the
origin of the present practice of collecting briefs.
170 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS j
The leprosy was much more common formerly, in this part of the
globe, than at present. It is said, that there were in Europe lif'teon
thousand hospitals founded for them. Perhaps near half the hospitals
that Avere in England were built for lepers.
Lepers were so numerous in the twelfth century, that by a decree of
the Lateran Council under pope Ale\ p ander III., A.D. 1179, they we n
empowered to erect churches for themselves, and to have their own mi-
nisters to officiate in them. This shows at once IIOAV infectious and offen-
sive- their distemper was.
And on this account, " In England where a man was a leper, and
was dwelling in a town, and would come into the churches, or among
his neighbours when they were assembled, to talk to them to their annoy-
ance or disturbance, a writ lay DC Leproso amovendo." What follows is
remarkable. The writ is for those lepers " who appear to the sight of all
men, they are lepers, by their voice and their sores, the putrefaction of
their flesh, and by the smell of them."
And so late as the reign of Edward VI. multitudes of lepers seem to
have been in England ; for in 1 Edw. 6. c. 3. in which directions are
given for carrying the poor to the places where they were born, &c. we
read the following clause : " Provided always, that all leprous and poor
/icil-rcd creatures may, at their liberty, remain and continue in such
houses appointed for lepers, or bed-red people, as they now be in."
1184 to 1191. The leprosy was at this period, and long after, a cruel
epidemic in our country, possibly brought by the crusaders from the Holy
Land, and spread here by filth and bad diet. It was supposed to be
infectious, and was shunned as the plague ; so that, had it not been for
these pious institutions, multitudes must have perished under this loath-
some disorder.
Among other wild fancies of the age, it was imagined that the persons
afflicted with leprosy, a disease at that time (1327, Edward II.) very
common, probably from bad diet, had conspired with the Saracens to
poison all springs and fountains ; and men being glad of any pretence
to get rid of those who were a burthen to them, many of those unhappy
people were burnt alive on the chimerical imputation.
('.very one of the luxar-houses had a person, called o. fare-yoer, who
used to beg daily for them.
THE COXDOB, IN r-EIUT.
Dr. Pickering, of the United States Antarctic Expedition of 1839, being
in the vicinity of the Andes, attempted the ascent of one of the summits ;
by noon he had reached a high elevation, and looking up, he espied a huge
condor soaring down the valley. He stopped to observe the majestic
bird as it sailed slowly along. To his surprise it took a turn around
him, then a second and a third, the last time drawing so near that he
lie^m to apprehend that it meditated an attack. He describes himself
as In -ing in the worst possible condition for a fight, his strength being
exhausted by climbing, and his right hand having been lamed for some
days from a hurt. The nature of the groimd, too, was anything but
favourable for defence ; but there was nothing left but to prepare for a
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 171
light, and with this intent he took a seat and drew his knife. At the
instant, as if intimidated by the sight of the weapon, the bird whirled
off in another direction. Dr. Pickering confessed, however humiliating
the acknowledgment, that he was at the time very well satisfied with
the condor's determination to let him alone.
COST OF SIR CHRISTOPHER WREX's CHURCHES.
The following is an account of what the undermentioned churches cost
building, the designs for which were furnished by Sir Christopher
Wren :
4,354
St. Paul's 736,752
Allhallows the Great
Broad-street
Lombard-street
St. Alban's, Wood-street
St. Anne and Agnes. . . .
St. Andrew's, Wardrobe.
Holborn...
5,641
3,348 7
8,058 15
3,165
2,448 10
7,060 16 11
9,000
St. A-tholin's 5,685 5 10
St. Austin's 3,145 3 10
St. Benet, Grailchurch.. 3,583 9 oi
Paul's Wharf.. 3,328 18 10
-Fink 4,129 16 10
' 11
1
6
St. Jiride's ............ 11,430
St. Bartholomew's ...... 5,077 1
Christ Church ........ 11,778 9
St. Clement, Easteheap.. 4,365 3
- Danes ...... 8,786 17
St. Dionis Back Church 5, 737 10
Ok
8
5,207 11
10
St. Edmund the Kin . . ,
St. George, Botolph-lane 4,509 4
St. James, Garlick-hill. . 5,357 12 10
- Westminster.. 8,500
St. Lawrence, Jewry ---- 11,872 1 9
St. Michael, Basin-hall 2,822 17
- Royal ......
7,455 7 9
St. Michael, Queenhithe
Wood-street.
Crooked-lane
Cornhill . .
St. Martin, Ludgate..
St. Matthew, Friday-sT.
St. Margaret Pattens
-Lothbury
St. Mary, Abchurch . .
Magdalen
Somerset
at Hill 3,980 12
Aldcrmanbury. 5,237 3
leBow 8,071 18
le Steeple ....
St. Magnus, Lond. bridge
St. Mildred. Bread -street
Poultry
s. cl.
3 8
2 11
5 11
5 11
8
2
4
1
M
94
P
6
1
7,388 8 7?
9,579 19 10
3,705 13 6i
4,654 9 7J
5,042
2,554
4,641
4,686
5,378 18
2,301 8
4,986 10
5,340 8
4,922 2
4,291 12
6,579 18
St. Nicholas Cole Abbev 5,042 6 11"
St. Olav, Jewry 6,580 4 10
St. Peter's, Cornhill.... 5,647 8 2
St. Swithin, Canon-street 4,687 4 6
St. Stephen, Wallbrook . 7,652 13 8
Coleman-str, 4,020 16 6
St. Ycdast, Foster-lane.. 1,85315 6
EARLY CLOCKS.
The first clock which appeared in Europe, was probably that which
Eginhard (the secretary of Charlemagne), describes as sent to his royal
master by Abdalla, King of Persia. " A horologe of brass, wonderfully
constructed, for the course of the twelve hours, answered to the hour-
glass, with as many little brazen balls, which drop down on a sort of
hells underneath, and sounded each other." The Venetians had clocks
in 872, and sent a specimen of them that year to Constantinople.
SINGULAR SPECIMEN OF ORTHOGRAPHY IX THE SIXTEENTH CEXTURY.
The following letter was written by the Duchess of Norfolk to Crom-
well, Earl of Essex. It exhibits a curious instance of the monstrous
anomalies of our orthography in the infancy of our literature, when u
spelling book was yet a precious thing :
" My fiary gode'lord, her I sand you in tokyu hoff the neweyer, a
172 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
glasse hoff Setyl set in Sellfer gyld, I pra you tak hit in wort. An
hy wer habel het showlde be bater. I woll hit war wort a m crone."
Thus translated:
' ' My very good lord, Here I send you, in token of the new year, a
glass of setyll set in silver gilt ; I pray you take it in worth. An I were
able it should be better. I would it were worth a thousand crown."
DEATH OF THE EARL OF KILDARE.
In 1513, died the most powerful baron and active soldier of his age,
Fitzgerald, Earl of Kildare. He had been, during thirty years, at
different times, chief governor of Ireland, and was too potent to be set
aside, otherwise his strong attachment to the house of York would pro-
bablv have been his ruin. The untameable spirit of the earl sometimes
involved him in trouble, from which he was extricated by a lucky blunt-
ness ; as when once, when charged before Henry VIII. with setting fire
to the cathedral of Cashel, "I own it," said the earl, "but I never
would have done it had I not believed that the archbishop was in it."
The king laughed, and pardoned the ludicrous culprit. The Bishop of
Meath was his bitterest foe. He accused him to Henry of divers mis-
deeds, and closed his accusation with ' ' Thus, my liege, you see that all
Ire-land cannot rule the earl." "Then," said the perverse monarch,
" the earl shall rule all Ireland," and instantly made him lord- deputy.
The English loved the earl because he was brave and generous, and
because his good humour equalled his valour. Once, when he was in a
furious paroxysm, a domestic who knew his temper, whispered in his
ear, " My lord, yonder fellow has betted me a fine horse, that I dare not
take a hair from your lordship's beard ; I pray, my lord, win me that
wager." The earl's features relaxed, and he said to the petitioner,
' Take the hair, then, but if thou exceedest thy demand, my list shall
meet thy head."
THE BRITANNIA TUBULAR BRIDGE.
This is one of the most remarkable structures in the world, the design
of the celebrated architect, Sir It. Stephcnson. This bridge is on the
line of the Chester and Holy head Railway, crossing the Menai Straits,
within sight of Telford's Chain Suspension Bridge. It is made of cast
iron of a tubular form, in the tube of which the railway passes. Four
of these span the Strait, and are supported by piles of masonry ; that on
the Anglesea side is 143 feet 6 inches high, and from the front to the
end of the wing walls is 173 feet. These; wing walls terminate in
pedestals, on which repose colossal lions of Egyptian character. The
Anglesea pier is 196 feet high, 55 feet wide, and 32 feet long. In the
middle of the Strait is the Britannia Rock, from which the bridge derives
its name ; on this the Britannia pier is raised. It is equi-distant from
the Anglesea and Carnarvon piers, being 460 feet in the clear from each,
and sustains the four ends of the four long tubes, which span the
distance from shore to shore. There are two pairs of short and two of long
tubes, the lengths of these pairs In-ing 250 feet and 470 respectively.
The Egyptian lions an- '2,'j feet 6 inches long, 12 feet 6 inches high,'s
feet wide, and weigh 80 tons. Two thousand cubic feet of stone wm-
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
173
required for each lion. The total quantity of stone in the bridge is
1,400,000 cubic feet. The weight of malleable iron in the tubes is
10,000 tons ; of cast iron, 1,400 tons. The whole length of the entire
bridge, measuring from the extreme front of the wing walls, is 1,833
feet, and its greatest elevation at Britannia pier, 240 feet above low-
water-mark. The total cost of the structure is 601,865. This won-
derful structure was besun April 13, 1846, and completed July 25, 1850;
opened for traffic Oct. 21, 1850.
DAFFEY'S ELIXIE.
In the Postboy, Jan. 1, 1707-8, is the following curious advertise-
ment ;_ Dafley's fauiou. Elixir Stilutis by Catherine Daffey, daughter
174 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
of Mr. Thomas Daffy, late rector of Redmile, in the valley of Belvoir,
who imparted it to his kinsman, Mr. Anthony Daffy, who published the
same to the benefit of the community and his own great advantage. The
original receipt is now in my possession, left to me by my father. My
own brother, Mr. Daniel Daffy, apothecary in Nottingham, made the
Klixir from the said receipt, and sold it there during his life. Those
who know it, will believe what I declare ; and those who do not,
may be convinced that I am no counterfeit, by the colour, taste, smell,
and operation of my Elixir. To be had at the Hand and Pen, Maiden-
Lane, Covent Garden."
WHIM.
" This was a tea garden, situated, after passing over a wooden bridge
on the left, previous to entering the long avenue, the coach way to where
Kanelagh once stood. This place was much frequented, from its novelty,
being an inducement to allure the curious, by its amusing deceptions,
particularly on their first appearance there. Here was a large garden, in
different parts of which were recesses ; and if treading on a spring, taking
you by stirprise, up started different figures, some ugly enough to frighten
you a harlequin, a Mother Shipton, or some terrific animal. In a large
piece of water, facing the tea alcoves, large fish or mermaids, were show-
ing themselves above the surface. This queer spectacle was first kept by
;i famous mechanist, who had been employed at one of the winter
theatres, there being then two." Angclo's l'/c Xic or Table Tnlk, p. 10(5.
Horace Walpole, more than once alludes to this place of entertainment
in his Letters ; and in 17o<5 a 4to. satirical tract appeared entitled
Jriini/'s U'/iiin ; or <i AV/r (luiilc to the Nobility, Gentry, and other
Imminent I'crsans, in this Metropolis.
noil: KKMTIVI: TO TIII; MVSKMD KXKCTTIONER OP CHARMS i.
It is universally known, that, at the execution of King Charles I., a
man in a vizor performed the office of executioner. This circumstance
has irivcn rise to a variety of ronji dun s-and accounts. In the Gentle-
man's Magazine for November, 1707, and January, 17<>S, are accounts
of one William Walker, who is said to be the executioner. In the same
maga/ine for .lane, 17s I, it is supposed to be a lliehard Brandon, of
whom a long account is copied from an Kxeter newspaper. But William
Lilly, in his " History of his Life and Times," has the following remark-
able passage : " Many have curiously inquired who it was that cut off
his [the king's] head : 1 have no permission to speak of such things : only
thus much I say, he that did it is as valiant and resolute a man as lives,
and one of a competent fortune." To clear up this passage, we shall
present our readers with Lilly's examination (as related by himself)
re the first parliament of King Charles II. in June, Kiiio.
"At my first appearance, many of the young memhers affronted me
highly, and demanded several BOttrrilous questions. Mr. \\Yston held a
paper 1 ... fore his mouth; bade me answer nobody but .Mr. I'rinn; I
;1 his command, and saved in\s< ]f much trouble therein, and when
Mr. I'rinn put any difficult or doubtful (juerv unto me, Mr. \V>
prompted me with a lit question. At last, after almost one hour's
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 175
tugging, I desired to be fully heard what I could say as to the person
that cut Charles I.'s head off. Liberty being given me to speak, I
related what follows, viz. :
"That the next Sunday but one after Charles I. was beheaded,
llobert Spavin, Secretary to Lieutenant-General Cromwell at that time,
invited himself to dine with me, and brought Anthony Pearson, and
several others, along with him to dinner. That their principal discourse
all dinner-time was only who it was that beheaded the king ; one said it
was the common hangman ; another, Hugh Peters ; others were also
nominated ; but none concluded. Piobert Spavin, so soon as dinner was
done, took me by the hand, and carried me to the south window : saith
he, ' These are all mistaken ; they have not named the man that did the
fact ; it was Lieutenant-Colonel Joice. I was in the room when he fitted
himself for the work, stood behind him when he did it ; when done, went
in with him again. There is no man knows this but my master, viz.,
Cromwell, Commissary Ireton, and myself.' ' Doth Mr. Rushworth
know it ?' saith I. ' No, he doth not know it, saith Spavin. The same
thing Spavin since has often related to me when we were alone."
WHIPPING PRISONERS.
Mr. Ellesdon, Mayor of Lyme, in 1595, paid for
s. cl
Four yards of canvas to make a coat to whip the rogues in . 3
Making the same 06
Whipping of three of the ship boys for stealing of Mr.
Hassard's salmon fish in the Cobb 10
(N.B. Salmon was plentiful in the west at this epoch.)
The charge of fourpence made for whipping a boy continued for many
years the same. The whipping of a woman who was a stranger was
little more costly ; but the inflicting such a punishment upon a towns-
woman was remunerated at a higher rate, as may well be supposed,
from a consideration of several circumstances. To take a violent, noisy
woman from her chamber, tie madam to the tumbrel and whip her round
the town, was an undertaking that demanded assistance and protection
to the official or hireling that wielded the thong. In the Town Accompt
Eook are found such entries as those which are given in illustration :
s. (I
1625. For whipping William "Wynter's boy . . . .04
,, Agnes Abbott twice . . . . 24
1644. Paid two soldiers to attend the whipping of a woman . 2 6
Paid to whipping four women . . . . 40
THE INIQUITIES OP THE SLAVE TRADE.
We may form some idea of the temptations which the trade in human
beings held out, even to people who held an honourable position in the
world, from the fact that the captain of a frigate, within a few
years before the slave trade was abolished, Avas known to purchase
slaves in the West India market, have them entered as able seamen, and
compel the artificers to teach them a trade ; so that when the ship
176 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS
returned each was sold at a high rate as a valuable piece of property.
The worst, however, has to be told. Upon sailing from Portsmouth,
some of the best men were sent away upon duty in a ship's boat, in
order that they might be returned " run," by which they lost pay and
clothes, but made room for the negroes lately kidnapped, who were
entered, though they did no work for the ship, as able seamen ! We
have all heard of a naval officer who had his pocket picked at a West-
minster election, and who openly professed his vow, which he rigidly
performed, of flogging every Londoner that joined his ship for this act.
This, it is said, was no idle vow !
DISCOVERY OF THE BODY OF CANUTE THE GREAT.
In June 1766, some workmen who were repairing Winchester Cathe-
dral discovered a monument, wherein was contained the body of King
Canute. It was remarkably fresh, had a wreath round the head, and
several other ornaments of gold and silver bands. On his finger was a
ring, in which was set a large and remarkably fine stone ; and in one of
his hands a silver penny. Archaoloyia, vol. iii. The penny found in
the hand is a singular instance of a continuance of the pagan custom of
always providing the dead with money to pay Charon.
M.P.'S AND MAYORS PRIVATEERS.
William Morfote, who represented Winchelsea in Parliament in 1428,
was a privateer with a hundred men under him. He found it necessary
to obtain the king's pardon in 1435, by the advice of Parliament, there
being a legal difficulty about his having broken prison at Dover Castle.
Two merchants of Sherborne in Dorsetshire were robbed of their cargo,
worth 80, A.D. 1322, by llobert de Battyle. This transaction did not
lose him the good opinion of his townsmen, who chose him Mayor of
Winchelsea a few years later.
ALGERINE INVASION OF IRELAND.
The Algerines landed in Ireland in 1627, killed 50 persons, and
carried off about 400 into slavery. One vessel captured by them was
worth 260,000. They made purchases of stores and provisions they
wanted in the western parts of Ireland bv Baltimore, and in 163*1
carried off 1 00 captives from that town. They landed their poor cap-
tives at llochelle, and marched them in chains to Marseilles. Twenty-
six children are said to have been carried off at one time from Cornwall.
In 1633, Lord Wentworth, appointed lord deputy of Ireland, named
noted pirate vessels off the coast of Ireland and their captures. Persons
in their wills used to leave sums of money for redeeming well-known
captives from bondage in Algiers and other places.
wiu.mr JOY, TIM: ENGLISH SAMPSON.
William Joy was a native of Kent, and born May 2, 1675, at St. Law-
rence, a small village one mile from Itamsgate, in the Isle of Thunet.
\Vln-n very young, he distinguished himself among his juvenile com-
panions and playmates, by his amazing superiority in strength, over any
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 177
antagonist that dare to come in competition with his power, whether in
play or earnest. When about twenty-four years of age, he first began
to exhibit in public his astonishing feats, in a display of personal prowess
inferior to none but the Hebrew champion recorded in holy writ. Among
many other of this man's extraordinary performances may be recorded :
1. A strong horse, urged by the whip to escape his powerful rein, is
restrained and kept from escape solely by the check of his pull, aided by
a strong rope, and this without any stay or support whatever. 2. Seated
upon a stool, with his legs horizontally elevated, solely by muscular
power, he jumps clearly from Ms seat. 3. To prove the agility and
178 TEN THOUSAND M'OXDERFTJL THINGS;
flexibility of his joints, he places a glass of wine on the sole of his foot,
and, in an erect posture, without the least bending of his head or body,
- the glass to his mouth, and drinks the contents, turning his foot
with both hands, to accommodate his draught. 4. Aided by a strong
leather girdle, or belt, and supporting himself by pressing his arms on a
railing, he lifts from the ground a stone of the enormous weight of
'2, _'-}() Ibs. "). A rope fastened to a wall, which had borne 3,500 Ibs. weight,
without giving way, is broke asunder by his amazing strength. The
celebrity of this man attracted the curiosity of King William III., before
whom he exhibited at Kensington Palace ;' likewise before George, Prince
of Denmark, and his royal consort, the Princess, afterwards Queen Anne,
and their son "William, Duke of Gloucester, called the Hope of England.
He also went through a regular course of performances at the Ihike's
Theatre, in Dorset-gardens, Salisbury-square, which was attended by the
first nobility and gentry in the kingdom.
PllICE OP SHELL-FISH IN 1675,
A bill for shell-fish enables us to ascertain the prices paid in
Charles II. 's reign for these delicacies, Mr. Walter Tucker, mayor
of Lyme, Dorset, paid for the judges, for
30 lobsters 1 10
6 crabs 060
100 scallop* 050
300 oysters 040
50 oranges 020
2 7
DISTRIBVTIXfi IIAXH-MLLS.
The month of July 1736 afforded a singular popular csp/osi'nn, con-
trived in the following strange manner : A brown paper parcel, which
had been plaeed unobserved near the side-bar of the Court of King's-
bmeli, Westminster-hall, blew up during the solemn proceedings of the
Courts of Justice assembled, and scattered a number of printed bills,
giving notice, that on the last day of Term live Acts of Parliament
would be publicly burnt in the hall, bet ween the hours of twelve and
one, at the Royal Kxeliange, and at St. Margaret's hill, which were the
(Jin Act, tin' Smuggling Act, the Mortmain Act, the Westminster !
Act, anil tlir Act for burrowing (iOO, ()()()/. on the Sinking fund.
One of the bills was immediately carried to the Grand Jury then
sitting, who found it an infamous libel, and recommended the oil',
of 11 reward to diseo\ ( r tho author.
in NX in:s v.unr.s.
Tin- " Han/ des Vaches," which is commonly supposed to be a si
nir, stands in Swit/ciland for a class of melodies, the literal meaning of
whic-h is cow-rows. The German woid is I\nr< ilu'n rows of cows. It
derives its origin from the manner the cows march home along the Alpine
paths at milking time. Tlu> shepherd goes before, keeping e\i i \
-jler in its place by the tones of his horn, while the whole herd wind
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 179
along in Indian file, obedient to the call. From its association it always
creates home-sickness in a Swiss mountaineer, when he hears it in* a
foreign land. It is said, these melodies are prohibited in the Swiss
regiments attached to the French army, because it produces so many
desertions. One of the " Eanz des Yaches " brings back to his imagina-
tion his Alpine cottage the green pasturage the bleating of. his moun-
tain goats the voices of the milk-maids, and all the sweetness and in-
nocence of a pastoral life ; till his heart turns with a sad yearning to the
haunts of his childhood, and the spot of his early dreams and early happiness.
The Swiss retain their old fondness for rifle-shooting, and there is
annually a grand rifle match at some of the large towns, made up of the
best marksmen in all Switzerland. There are also yearly contests in
wrestling, called Zwing Feste, the most distinguished wrestlers at which
are from Unterwalden, Appenzel, and Berne.
MONSOONS.
These are periodical winds which blow over the Indian Ocean, be-
tween Africa and Hindustan for nearly six months from the north-east,
and during an equal period from the south-west. The region of the
monsoons lies a little to the north of the northern border of the trade-
winds, and they blow with the greatest force and with most regularity
between the eastern coast of Africa and Hindustan. When the sun is
in the southern hemisphere a north-east wind, and when it is in thu
northern hemisphere, a south-west wind blows over this sea. The north-
east monsoon blows from November to March. It extends one or two
degrees south of the equator. It becomes regular near the coasts of
Africa sooner than in the middle of the sea, and near the equator sooner
than in the vicinity of the coasts of Arabia. This wind brings rain on
the eastern coasts of Africa. The south-west monsoon does not extend
south of the equator, but usually begins a short distance north of it. It
blows from the latter end of April to the middle of October. Along the
coast of Africa, it appears at the end of March ; but along the coast of
Malabar, not before the middle of April ; it ceases, however, sooner in
the former than in the latter region. The rainy season on the west coast
of Hindustan commences with the first approach of the south-west mon-
soon. The monsoons prevail also on the seas between Australia and China,
The effect of the struggle which precedes the change in the direction
of the wind in this part of the world is thus described in " Forbes' s
Oriental Memoirs." The author was encamped with the English troops :
"The shades of evening approached as we reached the ground, and
just as the encampment was completed, the atmosphere grew suddenly
dark, the heat became oppressive, and an unusual stillness presaged the
immediate setting-in of the monsoon. The whole appearance of external
nature resembled those solemn preludes to earthquakes and hurricanes in
the West Indies, from which the East in general is providentially free.
We were allowed very little time for conjecture. In a few minutes the
heavy clouds burst over its. I had witnessed seventeen monsoons in
India, but this surpassed them all in its awful appearance and dreadful
effects. Encamped in a low situation on the borders of a lake formed to
180
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS
collect the surrounding water, we found ourselves in a few hours in a
liquid plain ; tent-pins giving way in a loose soil the tents fell down
and left the whole army exposed to the contending elements. It requires
a lively imagination to conceive the situation of a hundred thousand
human beings of every description, with more than two hundred thousand
elephants, camels, horses, and oxen, suddenly overwhelmed by this
dreadful storm in a strange countrv, without any knowledge of high or
low ground, the whole being covered by an immense lake, and surrounded
by thick darkness, which rendered it impossible for us to distin<misli a
sing Ic obiect except such as the vivid glare of the lightning occasionally
displayed m horrible forms. No lan-.m-e ean adequately describe the
\vreek ut a \aage enfiampment thus instantaneously destroyed and
covered with water, amid the cries of old men and helpless women, ter-
(ttted by the pierem- shrieks of their expiring eliildren, unal.le to altord
them relief. Dunn- this dreadful night more than two hm.d.vd persons
"I iim-,. ihonsand eattle perished mi erably, and the morning dawn
exhibited a Bboddng ipectaole!"
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 181
UXrSUAL LOCALITY FOE SAYING PRAYERS.
Francis Atkins was porter at the palace gate, at Salisbury, from the
time of Bishop Burnet to the period of his death in 1761, at the age of
104 years. It was his office every night to wind up the clock, which he
was capable of performing regularly till within a year of his decease,
though on the summit of the palace. In ascending the lofty flight of
stairs, he usually made a halt at a particular place and said his evening
prayers. He lived a regular and temperate life, and took a great deal of
exercise ; he walked well, and carried his frame upright and well balanced
to the last.
BILLY IX THE SALT BOX.
Political caricatures are generally well worth preserving, they fami-
liarize us with the features and peculiarities of celebrated men, and they
tell us what was the popular feeling of the day, ~Wc regret that in
general they are too large for
our pages, but now and then we
meet with a small one which
we are glad to present to our
readers.
Mr. Pitt's budget of 1805 was
not allowed to pass without
severe remarks, and a heavily
increased duty on salt excited
general dissatisfaction. People
said that the grand contriver of
taxes had visited every corner
of the house above stairs, and that he had now descended into the
kitchen ; and the annexed caricature, by Gilray, which was published
at this period, represents the premier alarming the poor cook by popping
his head out of the salt-box, with the unexpected salutation "How
do you do, cookey ?" The person thus apostrophised cries out in con-
sternation, " Curse the fellow, how he has frightened me ! I think, on
my heart, he is getting in everywhere ! who the deuce would haye
thought of finding him in the salt-box ?"
DANGEROrS FEAT.
An extraordinary instance of the rash feats which men with cool heads
and courageous hearts will sometimes perform, was witnessed at Notting-
ham on January 22, 1789. The vane at the top of St. Peter's spire, which
was placed there in 1735, and measured thirty-three inches in length,
having become insecure, the parish otficers agreed with Mr. Robert
"VVooton, of Kegworth, to take it down and reinstate it.
This venturous man, henceforth known as " the steeple climber," com-
menced his undertaking by placing a ladder against the steeple, and
securing it to the wall with tenters : he then mounted that with another
on his shoulder, which he fastened above it in like manner ; and so on
till he reached the top. To prevent himself falling, he was girded
round with belts, which he connected with the ladders by means of
182 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
hooks. In this manner he replaced the vane and cock, and rebuilt four
yards of the steeple.
The celerity with which the man placed the ladders was remarkable.
He began to affix the first at eleven in the morning, and brought the
vane down in triumph by two in the afternoon. The bells were then set
a-ringing, the congregation of people became very great, and Wooton
re-ascended the spire, to exhibit his daring. He extended himself on its
summit, only thirteen inches in diameter, and spread out his arms and
legs. He afterwards balanced himself on the uppermost stave of the
top ladder, and for a quarter of an hour capered about in every
imaginable posture, the admiring crowd beneath expecting momentarily
to witness his descent in a manner much less agreeable than precipitate.
Subsequently, when his undertaking was accomplished, to excite
admiration and obtain money, he again balanced himself on the apex of
the spire, beat a drum, and drank a bottle of ale, in the sight of thou-
sands of people, on a market-day ; but the reprobation of the man's
temerity so far preponderated over public approval, as in a considerable
degree to diminish his expected reward.
POST-HASTE 0>"E HUXDRED YEARS AGO.
Glasgow is now within one minute of London ; in the last century it
was scarcely within a fortnight of it. It is a positive fact that when the
post arrived there a hundred years ago, the firing of a gun announced
its coming in. The members of the clubs who heard it tumbled out of
bed, and rushed down to the club-room, where a tankard of hot herb
ale, or a beverage which was a mixture of rum and sugar, was ready
for them before breakfast. How forcibly do these things bring before us
the size of Glasgow at that time, and the habits of its citizens.
EXECUTION OF ADMIRAL BYXG.
The horrid details of the execution of criminals are wholly unfitted
for our pages, but Admiral Byng was not a criminal ; his life was sacri-
ficed to party spirit and party interests, and an account of his murder
for such it really was is therefore highly interesting, as it enables us
to see the dauntless manner in which a brave man can meet a dreadful
fate, which he knew to be wholly undeserved. The execution took
place on board the " St. George," man-of-war in Portsmouth harbour,
on the 14th of March,. 17o7. The Admiral, accompanied by a
clergyman who attended him during his confinement, and two gen-
tlemen, his relations, walked out of the great cabin to the quarter-
deck, where he suffered, on the larboard side, a few minutes before
twelve o'clock. He was dressed in a light grey coat, white waist-
coat, and white stockings, and a large white wig, and had in each
hand a white handkerchief. He threw his hat on the deck, kneeled
on a cushion, tied one handkerchief over his eyes, and dropped the other
as a signal, on which a volley from six marines was fired, five of whose
bullets went through him, and he was in an instant no more. The sixth
went over his head. From his coming out of his cabin could not be two
minutes till he fell motionless on his left side. He died with great rt-
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
solution and composure, not showing the least sign of timidity. The
RamiUies, the ship the admiral had in the Mediterranean, was riding at
her moorings in the harbour, and about half an hour before he suffered,
she broke her mooring chain, and only held by her bridle, which is
looked on as a wonderful incident by people who do not consider the
high wind at that time.
EXTKAOKDIXAKY TEEE.
The Samoan group of islands in the South Sea lies between the lati-
tudes of 13 30' and 14 30' S, and the longitudes of 168 and 173 W.
In some of these islands there is a most remarkable tree which well de-
serves a place in our roll of extraordinary productions. It is a species of
banyan (Ficus reliyiosa}, and is called by the natives Ohwa. Our sketch
gives a good idea of some of these trees. The pendant branches of many
of. them take root in the ground to the number of thousands, forming stems
from an inch to two feet in diameter, uniting in the main trunk more
than eighty feet above the ground, and supporting a vast system of
horizontal branches, spreading like an umbrella over the tops of the
other trees.
THE PLAGCE IX EXGLAXD.
The Register of Ramsay, in Huntingdonshire, mentions 400 people
who died there of the plague, in or about February 1665, and that it was
introduced into the place by a gentleman, who first caught the infection
by wearing a coat, the cloth of which came from London : the tailor who
made the coat, with all his family, died, as did no less than the number
above mentioned.
But the ravages made by the plague in London, about 1665, are
184 M:.\ THOUSAND WONDERFUL THI.\
well known : it was brought over from Holland, in some Levant
goods, about the close of the year 1664 : its progcss was arrested, in.
a great degree, by a hard frost which set in in the winter ; but
as the spring of 1665 advanced, its virulence advanced. Infected
houses were shut up and red crosses painted on the doors, with this in-
scription, "Lord have mercy upon us." Persons going to market took
the meat off the hooks themselves, for their otcn security, and for the
Butcher's, dropped, their money into pans of vinegar ; for it was supposed
that even their provisions were tainted with the infection. In the
months of August and September the greatest mortality occurred ; for the
deaths of one week have been estimated at 10,000 ! It may be supposed,
that no great accuracy existed in the Registers, to afford a correct esti-
mate ; for, in the parish of Stepney, it is said they lost, within the year,
116 sextons, grave-diggers and their assistants ; and, as the disorder
advanced, the churchyards were incapable of holding more bodies, and
large pits were therefore dug in several parts, to which the dead were
brought by cartloads, collected by the ringing of a bell and the mournful
cry of " Bring out your dead." Add to this, that these carts worked in the
night, and no exact account was kept, as the clerks and sextons were
averse to a duty exposing them to such dangerous consequences, and
often carried off before such accounts as they had taken were delivered
in. All the shops were shut up, grass grew in the most public streets,
until about December 166"), when the plague abated, and the citizens
who had left their abodes for the country, crowded back again to their
residences. The computation is, that this horrible disease carried off
100,000 persons in London : it is singular, that the only parish quite
exempt from infection was St. John the Evanin-lNt, in "NVatling Street.
LANDSLIP AT COLEBROOK, SHROPSHIUK.
A most remarkable circumstance happened there in the morning of the
27th of May, 1773, about four o'clock. Xear 4,000 yards from the river
Severn stood a house, where a family dwelt ; the man got up about three
o'clock, heard a rumbling noise, and felt the ground shake under him, on
which he called up his family. They perceived the ground begin to
move, but knew not which way to run; however, they providentially
and wonderfully escaped, by taking an immediate night, for just as they
got to an adjacent wood, the ground they had left separated from that on
which they stood. They first observed a small crack in the ground about
four or five inches wid'\ and a field that was sown with oats to heave up
and roll about like waves of water ; tho trees moved as it' blown with
wind, but the air was calm and serene ; the Severn (in which nt that
time was a considerable Hood) was agitated very much, and the current
seemed to run upwards. They perceived a great crack ran very quick
up the ground from the river. Immediately about thirty acres of land,
with the hedges and trees standing (except a few that were overturned),
moved with great force and swiftness towards the S ;ided with
great and uncommon noise, compared to a large Hock of sic
swiftly. That part of the land next the river was a small wood, less
than two acres, in which grew twenty large oaks ; a few of them
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
thrown down, and as many more were undermined and over-turned ;
some left leaning, the rest upright, as if never disturbed. The wood was
piished with such velocity into the channel of the Severn (which at that
time was remarkably deep), that it forced the waters up in columns a
considerable height, like mighty fountains, and drove the bed of the
river before it on the opposite shore, many feet above the surface of the
water, where it lodged, as did one side of the wood ; the current being
instantly stopped, occasioned a great inundation above, and so sudden a
fall below, that many fish were left on dry land, and several barges were
heekd over, and when the stream came down were sunk, but none were
damaged above. The river soon took its course over a large meadow
that was opposite the small wood, and in three days wore a navigable
channel through the meadow. A turnpike road was moved more than
thirty yards from its former situation, and to all appearance rendered for
ever impassable. A barn was carried about the same distance, and left
a* a heap of rubbish in a large chasm ; the house received but little
damage. A hedge that was joined to the garden was removed about
fifty yards. A great part of the land was in confused heaps, full of
cracks, from four inches to more than a yard wide. Several very long
and deep chasms were formed in the upper part of the land, from about
fourteen to upwards of thirty yards wide, in which were many pyramids
of earth standing, with the green turf remaining on the tops of some of
them. Hollows were raised into mounts, and mounts reduced into
hollows. Less than a quarter of an hour completed this dreadful scene.
CTJEIOrS CUSTOM AT STRASBOT7BG.
At Strasbourg they show a large French horn, whose history is as fol-
lows : About 400 years ago, the Jews formed a conspiracy to betray the
city, and with this identical horn they intended to give the enemy notice
when to attack.
The plot, however, was discovered ; many of the Jews were burnt alive,
the rest were plundered of their money and effects, and banished the
town ; and this horn is sounded twice every night from the battlements
of the steeple in gratitude for the deliverance.
The Jews deny the fact of this story, except the murdering and pillag-
ing their countrymen. They say the whole story is fabricated to furnish
a pretext for these robberies and murders, and assert that the steeple of
Strasbourg, as has been said of the Monument of London,
" Like a tall bully lifts the head and lies."
DOWX AMOXG THE DEAD 1TEX.
The following is an extraordinary instance of the recklessness of
sailors when in the pursuit of what they call pleasure. In the year
1779, a Mr. Constable, of Woolwich, passing through the churchyard
there at midnight, heard people singing jovially. At first he thought
they were in the church, but the doors were locked, and it was all silent
there : on looking about he found some drunken sailors who had got
into a large family vault, and were regaling with bread, cheese, tobacco.
186
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
and strong beer. They belonged to the Robust, man of war, and having
resolved to spend a jolly night on shore, had kept it up in a neighbouring
alehouse till the landlord turned them out, and then they came here to
finish their evening. They had opened some of the coffins in their dare-
devil drunkenness and crammed the mouth of one of the bodies with
bread, and cheese, and beer. Constable, with much difficulty, prevailed
on them to return to the ship. In their way one fell down in the mud,
and was suffocated, as much from drunkenness as the real danger. The
comrades took him on their shoulders, and carried him back to sleep in
company with the honest gentlemen with whom lie had passed the
evening.
CHAIR BROUGHT OVER TO AMERICA IN THE MAYFLOWER BY THE
PILGRIU FATHERS.
How frequently do we obtain, from the ordinary articles of domestic
life which they were accustomed to use, a correct idea of the habits and
tastes of whole communities which
have long since passed away. A
striking instance of this is the chair,
of which the above is a correct
sketch. It belonged to John Carver,
who was one of the band of single-
hearted men who constituted the
Pilgrim Fathers, and who after first
setting out from Holland, eventually
sailed from Plymouth in England,
in August, 1620. They landed in
Cape Cod Harbour, Xew England,
on the 9th of November following.
Carver, was one of the chief spirits
of the band, and the chair whieli we
have sketched was one of his best
articles of furniture, wliich he took
with him in the Mayflower. He was
elected the first governor of the
community, and died in the year
following his election. How forciblj'
does it show the simplicity of taste,
and the freedom from pomp and
vanity which characterised the de-
voted and fearless men who left their native shores, and sought " freedom
to worship God" in a land to them unknown, that they should have
selected as their iirst governor, an individual, the best chair in whose
house was the homely article which we have here depicted.
A HARMLESS ECCENTRIC.
The annexed cut represents a singular character who was \vell known
about the year 175)0 in the southern part of the county of Cuinliurlaiid.
Her appearance is thus described by a correspondent of the Gentleman's
MARVELLOUS, HARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
187
Magazine of that date : " Though I have seen, her at various times, and
frequently conversed with her, for these 20 years, I have never been
able to learn any particulars respecting her family, friends, or name.
The country people know her bv the appellation of Jenny Barney, from
the manner, I presume, in which she used to mend her clothes. Her
present garb is entirely of her own manufacture. She collects the small
parcels of wool which lie about the fields in sheep farms, spins it on a
rock and spindle of her own making ; and as she cannot find any other
method of making the yarn into cloth, she knits it on wooden needles,
and by that means procures a warm comfortable dress. In the lifetime
of the late Charles Lutwidge, Esq., of Holm Hook, she took possession
of an old cottage, or rather cow-house, on his estate, in which she has
ever since been suffered to continue. Her intellects seem at certain times
greatly deranged, but her actions are harmless, and her language in-
offensive. On that score she is caressed by all the villagers, who supply
her with eatables, &c. , for money she utterly refuses. She seems a person
in her lucid intervals, of much shrewdness, and her understanding is
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
above the common level. This has also been improved by a tolerable
education. Her appearance has been much the same for these 20 years,
so that she must now be nearly 90 years of age ; but of this, as well as
her family and name, she is always silent. She seems to have chosen out
the spot where she now lives, to pass the remainder of her days unknown
to her friends, and in a great measure from a distaste of a wicked world,
to ' prepare herself,' as she often in her quiet hours says, ' for a better.' "
THE RULING PASSION.
A remarkable instance of the irresistible strength of the ruling passion
was to be seen a few years ago in a Londoner, who had kept are tail
spirit-shop, and retired into the adjoining county when he had made a
fortune, to enjoy himself. This man used to amuse himself bv having
one puncheon filled with water, and measuring it off by pints into
another. There was also another retired cit who used every day to
angle in his round wash-hand-basin sized fish-pond for gold-fish. One
fish he knew, because it had once lost its eye in being caught and
he used to say " Confound that fellow, this is the fifth, sixth, &c.,
time that I have caught him this season." It used to provoke him.
INTERESTING REPORT WRITTEN BY SIR CHRISTOPHER \V11EN.
In the history of public buildings and monuments, it is always curious
to note the original plans of those who designed them, and to mark the
different proposals and suggestions which were taken into consideration.
On this account our readers will no doubt be gratified by perusing the
following Report of Sir Christopher Wren, on the ornament which it
would, in his opinion, be most desirable to place on summit of the Monu-
ment, on Fish Street-hill. The Report was drawn up for the use of
the Committee of City Lands :
"In pursuance of an Order of the Comittee for City Landes, I doe
heerwith offer the several designes which some monthes since I showed
His M tie . for his approbation ; who was then pleased to thinke a large
Ball of mctall, gilt, would be most agreeable, in regard it would give an
Ornament to the Town at a very great distance ; not that His M tie . dis-
liked a statue ; and if any proposall of this sort be more acceptable to
the City, I shall most readily represent the same to Hi- M ; .
" I cannot but comend a large Statue, as carrying much dignitie with
it, and that w h would be more valcwablc in the eyes of Forreiners and
strangers. It hath been proposed to cast such a one in Brasse, of 12
foot high for 1,000. I hope (if it be allowed) wee may find those who
will cast a figure for that mony of 15 foot high, w 1 ' 1 ' will suit the givat-
of the pillar, & is (as I take it) the largest at at this day extant,
and this would undoubtedly be the noblest finishing that can be found
rable to soe goodly a workc in all men's juil^'ineiits.
"A Ball of Copper, 9 foot diameter, cast in se\erall peeces with the
Flames and gilt, may well be don with the iron worke and fixing for
&X)lb., and this will be most acceptable of any thing interior to a statue,
by reason of the good appearance at distance, and because one may goe
up into it, & upon occasion use it for fireworkes.
MARVELLOUS, RAKE, CURIOUS, ASD QUAINT. 189
" A Phoenix was at first thought of, & is the ornament in the wooden
modell of the pilar w ch I caused to he made before it was begun ; hut
upon second thoughtes I rejected it, because it will be costly, not easily
undertstood at that highth, aud worse understood at a distance, and
lastly dangerous, by reason of the sayle, the spread winges will carry
in the winds.
" The Belcony must be made of substantial well forged worke, there
being noe need* at that distance of filed worke, and I suppose (for I
cannot exactly guesse the weigh) it may be well performed and fixed ac-
cording to a good designe for fourscore & ten poundes, including painting,
All w ch is humbly submitted to your consideration.
"July 28, 1675. " CHE. WEEX."
CHAXGE OF SEX.
Connected with the plumage of birds is an extraordinary problem
which has baffled all research, and towards the solution of which not the
slightest approach has been made. Among certain of the gallinaceous
birds, and it has been observed in no other family, the females occa-
sionally assume the male plumage. Among pheasants in a wild state,
the hen thus metamorphosed, assumes with the livery a disposition to
war with her own race, but in confinement she is spurned and buffeted
by the rest. From what took place in a hen pheasant in the possession
of a lady, a friend of the late Sir Joseph Banks, it would seem probable
that this change arises from some alteration in the temperament at a
late period of the animal's life. This lady had paid particular attention
to the breeding of peasants. One of the hens, after having produced
several broods, moulted, and the succeeding feathers were exactly those
of a cock. This animal never afterwards laid an egg. The pea-hen,
has sometimes been known to take the plumage of the cock bird. Lady
Tynte had a favourite pea-hen, which at eight several times produced
chicks. Having moultc-d when about eleven years old, the lady and
her family were astonished by her displaying the feathers peculiar to
the other sex, and appealing like a pied peacock. In this process the
tail, which was like that of the cock, first appeared. In the following
year she moulted again, and produced similar feathers. In third year
she did the same, and then had also spurs resembling those of the cock.
The bird never bred after this change of her plumage.
TILBUBY FOET.
The chief fame of Tilbury rests on the formation of the camp here, in
the reign of Queen Elizabeth, to defend London against the Spanish in-
vasion. Although it is unnecessary to recount the well-known circum-
stances which led to the formation of the Tilbury camp, it may not be
out of place to give the famous speech of Queen Elizabeth on the occasion
of her visit :
" My loving People, "We have been persuaded by some that are care-
ful of our safety, to take heed how we trust ourselves to armed multitudes
for fear of treachery ; but assure you I do not desire to live to distrust
h ful and loving people. Let tyrants fear. I have always so be-
190
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS
havecl myself that under God I have placed my chiefest strength and safe-
guard in the loyal hearts and goodwill of my subjects ; and therefore I
am come among you at this time, not as for "my recreation or sport, but
being resolved, in the midst and heat of the battle, to live or die amongst
you all to lay down for my God, and for my kingdom, and for my
people, my honour and my blood even in the dust. I know that I have
but the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart of a king,
and a king of England too ; and I think foul scorn that Parma or Spain,
WA.TKH-GATK OF IILBUBV FOBT.
or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realms
M which, rather than any dishonour shall grow by me, 1 will myself take
up armsI myself will be your general, judge, and rcwarder of every one
of your victories in the Held."
The most full deMTiptioii of Elizabeth's reception at Tilbury is printed
i a sort of do-givl pun,,, headed, "Elizabetha Triumphaus, briefly,
truly, and effectually net forth, declared, and handled by James Aske/
Ine poem mentions, that when about 20,000 well-appointed men had
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 191
arrived, at Tilbury, orders were sent to the various shires to cause the
troops in each to remain until further notice ; and so great was the de-
sire to meet the enemy, that one thousand men of Dorsetshire offered 500
to be allowed to march to the camp at Tilbury.
. The alarm of the Spanish invasion was, however, not the last to threaten
the Londoners, and direct attention to Tilbury.
On the 8th of June, 1667, Ruyter, the Dutch admiral, sailed out of the
Texel with fifty ships, and came to the mouth of the Thames, from whence
he detached Vice-Admiral Van Ghent, with seventeen of his lightest
ships and some fire-ships. Van Ghent in the same month sailed up the
Medway, made himself master of the fort of Sheerness, and, after burn-
ing a magazine of stores to the value of 40,000, blew up the fortifica-
tions. This action alarmed the City of London ; so that to prevent simi-
lar mischief, several ships were sunk, and a large chain put across the
narrowest part of the Medway. But by means of an easterly wind and a
strong tide, the Dutch ships broke through the chain, and sailed between,
the sunk vessels. They burnt three ships, and carried away with them
the hull of the " Royal Charles," besides burning and damaging several
others. After this they advanced as far as Upnor Castle, and burnt the
" Royal Oak," the " Loyal London," and the " Great James." Fearing
that the whole Dutch fleet would sail to London Bridge, the citizens
caused thirteen ships to be sunk at Woolwich, and four at Blackwall,
and platforms furnished with artillery to defend them were raised in
several places. The consternation was very great, and the complaints
were no less so. It was openly said the king, out of avarice, had kept
the money so generously given to him to continue the war, and left his
ships and subjects exposed to the insults of the enemy. After this ex-
ploit, Ruyter sailed to Portsmouth, with a design to burn the ships in
that harbour ; but finding them secured, he sailed to the west, and took
some ships in Torbay. He then sailed eastward, beat the English force
before Harwich, and chased a squadron of nineteen, men-of-war, com-
manded by Sir Edward Spragg, who was obliged to retire into the Thames.
In a word, he kept the coasts of England in a continual alarm all July,
till he received news of the conclusion of peace.
This daring attack was no doubt the cause of Tilbury Fort being made
to assume its present form. It is now a regular fortification, and may be
justly looked upon as the key to the City of London. The plan of the
building was laid out by Sir Martin Beckman, chief engineer to Charles II.,
who also designed the works at Sheerness. The foundation is laid upon
piles driven down, two on end of each other, till they were assured they
were below the channel of the river, and that the piles, which were
pointed with iron, entered into the solid chalk rock. On the land side,
the works are complete ; the bastions are faced with brick. There is a
double ditch, or moat, the innermost of which is 180 feet broad, with a
good counterscarp, and a covered way marked out with ravelins and
tenailles. There are some small brick redoubts ; the chief strength, how-
ever, of this part of the fort consists in being able to lay the whole level
under water, and, by that means, make it impossible for an enemy to
carry on approaches that way. On the river side is a very strong curtain,
192 TKX THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
with the picturesque water-gate shown in our engraving in the middle,
Before this curtain is a platform, in the place of a counterscarp, on which
are planted cannon of large size. These completely command the river,
and would no doubt cripple the ships of an enemy attempting to pass in
this direction. A few years ago there were placed on the platform 106
cannon, carrying from 24 to 46 pounds each, besides smaller ones planted
between them. The bastions and curtains are also planted with guns.
The circular tower shown in the engraving was in existence in the
time of Q,uecn Elizabeth, and was called the Block-house.
BIXGING THE CHANGES.
It is curious to note the number of changes which may be rung on
different peals. The changes on seven bells are 5,040; on twelve
479,001,600, which it would take ninety-one years to ring at the rate
of two strokes in a second. The changes on fourteen bells could not be
rung through at the same rate in less than l(),.37-> years : and uponfour-
and-twenty, they would require more than 117,000 billions of years.
DISGRACEFUL STATE OF THE LOXDOIf POLICE IN 1724.
That notorious burglar, Jack Sheppard, finished his disgraceful career
at Tyburn in the year 1724, and we notice the event, not with the view
of detailing the disgusting particulars of an execution, but because the
ontrages which were allowed to take place after the dreadful scene was
over, exhibit in a striking light the miserable police regulations which
existed at that period, and the manner in which the mob were allowed
to have it nearly all their own way. The Sheriff's officers, aware
of the person they had to contend, with, thought it prudent to
secure his hands on the morning of execution. This innovation
produced the most violent resistance on Sheppard's part ; and the
operation was performed by force. They then proceeded to search
him, and had reason to applaud their vigilance, for he had contrived to
conceal a penknife in some part of his dress. The ceremony of his
departure from our world passed without disorder ; but, the instant the
time expired for the suspension of the body, an undertaker, who had
followed by his 1'ricnds' desire with a hearse and attendants, would have
conveyed it to St. Sepulchre's church-yard for interment ; but the mob,
conceiving that surgeons had employed this unfortunate man, proceeded
to demolish the vehicle, and attack the sable dependants, who escaped
with difficulty. They then seized the body, and, in the brutal manner
common to those wretches, beat it from each to the other till it was
covered with bruises and dirt, and till they reached Long-acre, where
they deposited the miserable remains at a public-house called the Bariey-
mow. After it had rested there a tew hours the populace end red into
an enquiry why they had contributed their assistance in bringing Shcp-
pard to Long-acre ; when they discovered they were duped l>y a bailiff,
who was actually employed by the surgeons; and that they had taken
the corpse from a person really intending to bury it. The elucidation of
their error c\;i-pi rated them almost to phrcnsv, tad a riot immediately
commenced, which threatened the most serious consequences. The in-
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 193
habitants applied to the police, and several magistrates attending, they
were immediately convinced the civil power was insufficient to resist the
torrent of malice ready to burst forth in acts of violence. They therefore
sent to the Prince of Wales and the Savoy, requesting detachments of
the guards ; who arriving, the ringleaders were secured, the body was
given to a person, a friend of Sheppard, and the mob dispersed to attend
it to the grave at St. Martin's in the Fields, where it was deposited in an
elm coffin, at ten o'clock the same night, under a guard of soldiers, and
with the ceremonies of the church.
A TETCUPH OF ENERGY.
After the accession of Tippoo Saib to the throne of Mysore in 1782, the
English made overtures for a termination of the war which had been
commenced by his father, but flushed by the possession of a large army,
a well-filled treasury, a passion for war, and an inordinate sense of his
own importance, Tippoo refused all terms of pacification, and left the
English no alternative but to battle against him as they could. Lord
Macartney, who was at that time the Governor of Madras, on becoming
acquainted with the determination of Tippoo, resolved to prosecute hos-
tilities with the greatest vigour, and having placed Col. Fullerton at the
head of his force, he provided him with an army, collected from various
parts, of 16,000 good troops, and afforded that excellent officer all avail-
able assistance in carrying the war into Tippoo's territory. Fullerton
laid his plans with considerable skill ; he encouraged the natives
to bring and sell provisions to him on his march, effectually checked
devastation and plundering, scrupidously respected the religious opinions
of the Hindus, consolidated and improved the mode of march, and
availed himself of the subtle cunning and nimble feet of the natives
to establish a remarkably complete courier- system, whereby he could re-
ceive and communicate intelligence with a rapidity never before attained
by any European officer in India. He had to choose between two systems
di' strategy either to march through the Mysore territory, and frustrate
Tippoo in his siege of Mangalore ; or boldly to attack Seringapatam, in
order to compel Tippoo to leave Mangalore as a means of defending his
own capital. The colonel decided on the adoption of the latter course, as
promising more fruitful results. Being at Daraporam, 200 miles south of
Seriugapatam, Fullerton resolved to divert the route, and take a circuit
nearer the western coast, where the capture of the strong fort of Palagat-
cherry would afford him a valuable intermediate depot, commanding one
of the chief roads from the Malabar to the Coromandel coasts. On the
18th of October he started. After capturing a few small forts, he ascended
to high ground, where dense forests, deep ravines, and tortuous waters
courses embarrassed every yard of his progress : to fill up the ravines
before he could drag his artillery over them, to throw trees across them
where the depth was too great for filling up, to clear gaps through forests
with the axe, to contend against tremendous rains were only part of the
difficulties he had to meet ; but he met them like a skilful commander,
reached Palagatcherry on the 5th of November, and captured the fort on
the loth, obtaining with it a welcome supply of money, grain, guns,
194
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
powder, shot, and military stores. When the difficulties which Colonel
Fullerton had to encounter, and the triumphant manner in which he
overcame them, are taken into consideration, it will be readily admitted
we think, that his enterprise is well deserving of being recorded as a
striking example of what maybe accomplished by a union of professional
skill and invincible energy. Our engraving represents one of the de-
vices which Colonel Fullerton employed for the purpose of enabling his
forces to pass over a mountain torrent.
STORMING OF THE BASTILLK AT PARIS.
The great Revolution in France, at the close of the last century, was
ill ul \vundrrful events, many of which might be appropriately recorded
mo " r I . <>ne <>f the most striking anionir tli.-m w;is Hie' storming
and capture of tlic Bastille, a vast state-prison whirh was IH--UU to be'
!' l>y Charlea V., and finished by his successor in 1383. The
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AXD QUAINT. 195
demolition of this fortress was the first triumph of the armed populace of
Paris, and it rendered the progress of the revolution irresistible. As
the day closed in on the evening of Monday, the 14th of July, 1789, a
reckless multitude of rioters, after seizing 30,000 muskets and several
pieces of artillery at the Hotel des Invalides, rushed in wild excitement
to the Bastille, rendered hateful to the people by the political im-
prisonment of many hapless men in past times, although less frequently
applied to similar purposes under the milder rule of Louis XVI. An
armed mob of at least 100,000 men, aided by troops who joined them in
e regiments at a time, had not long to contend against the old
TCSS. _ The governor, De Launay, made such a defence as a brave
Boer might at such a juncture ; but his few troops were bewildered and
wavering: he received orders from the Hotel cle Ville which he knew not
whether to obey or resist, but no instructions from the court or the
isters ; and the military aid to the mob became stronger than anv
torce he could bring to bear against them. The chains of three draw-
196 TKN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
bridges wore broken by hatchets ; straw, wood, oil, and turpentine were
brought and kindled, to burn down the gates ; and after many volleys
from the mob had been answered by a few from the fortress, l)c Launay,
seeing no hope of succour, resolved to blow up the place rather than vie It I.
In this he was prevented by the Swiss guards, who formed a part of th<
small garrison, and who, after a parley with the insurgents, opened the
gates, and surrendered. The Bastille was taken. The ruffians, heedirg
nothing but their own furious passions, disregarded the honourable rules
of capitulation ; they beheaded De Launay in a clumsy and barbarous
manner, and putting his head on a pike, carried it through the stre 'ts
shouting, laughing, and singing ; they were prevented only by an ic-
cidental interruption from burning alive a young lady whom they found
in one of the court-yards ; they hung or maltreated many of th'e Swiss
and invalid soldiers ; and they fearfully hacked the bodies of three
or four officers in the endeavour to decapitate them. The prisoners
within, only seven in number, were liberated, and treated with a drunken
revel ; while the Chatelet and other prisons became scenes of renewed
disorders. The sketch which we give above, of the attack on the Bastille,
is taken from a medallion by Andrieu.
D1*HATIOX OF LIFE AMONG AETISTS.
In Gould's Dictionary of Artists, published in 18139, the names, with
the ages, of 1122 persons are given ; which furnish the following remark-
able facts as to the longevity of this class of men. Died under (50 years
old, 474 ; 60 years and under 70, 2-j() : 70 years and under SO, '_>!;$ ; 80
years and under 90, l.'J4 ; 90 years and under 100, 19; above 100, 1.
The mean a-e at death of the whole number being o.3 years ; from which
it would appear that the pursuit of the fine arts has a tranquilizing effect
upon the spirit, and a tendency to moral refinement in the habits and
manners of its professors, extremely favourable to the prolongation of life.
M.i: IN TIIE VALUE OF LAND.
At Brighton, within the present century, a spot of ground was offered
to a hair-divsser in fee, upon condition of shaviTig the possessor for life.
The terms were declined, and the land soon became of immense value.
IN U en; N CABLE \ Ml PATH ! liS.
The following are a few of the more striking manifestations of that
unaccountable feeling of antipathy to certain objects, to which so many
persons are subject, and with instances of whicn in a modified form
perhaps most people arc; acquainted with:
Krasmus, though a native of Rotterdam, had such an aversion to lish,
that the smell of it threw him into a fever.
Ambrose Pare mentions a gentleman, who never could see an eel with-
out fainting.
There is an account of another gentleman, who would fall into convul-
sions at the sight of a carp.
A lady, a native of France, always fainted on seeing boiled lolv
Other persons from the same country experienced the same inconvenience'
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 197
from the smell of roses, though they were particularly partial to the
jdour of jonquils or tuberoses.
Joseph Scaliger and Peter Abono never could drink milk.
Cardan was particularly disgusted at the sight of eggs.
Uladislaiis, king of Poland, could not bear to see apples.
Jf an apple was shown to Chesne, secretary to Francis I., he bled at
the nose.
A. gentleman, in the court of the emperor Ferdinand, would bleed at
the nose on hearing the mewing of a cat, however great the distance might
be from him.
Henry III. of France could never sit in a room with a cat.
The Duke of Schomberg had the same aversion.
M. de Lancre gives an account of a very sensible man, who was so
terrified at seeing a hedgehog, that for two years he imagined his bowels
were gnawed by such an animal.
The same author was intimate with a very brave officer, who was so
terrified at the sight of a mouse, that he never dared to look at one unless
he had his sword in his hand.
M. Vangheim, a great huntsman in Hanover, would faint, or, if he
had sufficient time, would run away at the sight of a roasted pig.
John Rol, a gentleman in Alcantara, would swoon on hearing the word
lana, wool, pronounced, although his cloak was woollen.
The philosophical Boyle could not conquer a strong aversion to the
sound of water running through a pipe.
La Mothe le Vayer could not endure the sound of musical instruments,
though he experienced a lively pleasure whenever it thundered.
The author of the Turkish Spy tells us that he would rather encounter
a lion in the deserts of Arabia, provided he had but a sword in his hand,
than feel a spider crawling on him in the dark. He observes, that there
is no reason to be given for these secret dislikes. He humorously attri-
butes them to the doctrine of the transmigration of the soul ; and as re-
garded himself, he supposed he had been a fly, before he came into his
body, and that having been frequently persecuted with spiders, he still
retained the dread of his old enemy.
LOND02T EESOETS A HmTDRED YEARS AGO.
In addition to the regular theatres, there were many places of amuse-
ment, such as the Vauxhall and Ranelagh Gardens, the site of the latter
being now occupied by the houses that hem in Chelsea College ; the
Rotunda, famous for its music, its gardens, and its piece of water ; Bell-
size House and Gardens on the Hampstead Road, where tea, coffee, and
other refreshments could be had, together with music, from seven in the
morning^ with the advantage of having the road to London patrolled
during the season by twelve " lusty fellows," and of being able to ride to
Hampstead by coach for sixpence a-head ; Perrot's inimitable grotto,
which could be seen by calling for a pot of beer ; Jenny's Whim, at the
end of Chelsea Bridge, where "the royal diversion of duck-hunting"
could be enjoyed, " together with a decanter of Dorchester" for sixpence;
Cuper's Gardens, in Lambeth, nearly opposite Somerset House, through
198
TEX THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
which the "Waterloo Road was ruthlessly driven ; the Marble Hall, at
Vauxhall, where an excellent breakfast was ofi'ered for one shilling :
Sadler's Wells, celebrated both for its aquatic and its wire-dancing at-
tractions ; the Floating Coffee-House, on the river Thames, the Follr
House at Blackwall, Marybone Gardens, the White-Conduit House, ani
a nmltitude of others, to enumerate which would be tedious and un-
profitable. On Sunday, we are told, the " pnobocracy," amused the -Hi-
selves by thrusting their heads into the pillorv at Georgia, by being
sworn at Highgate, or rolling down Flamstead Hill in Greenwich Park.
Some regaled their wives and families with buns at Chelsea and Pald-
ington ; others indulged in copious draughts of cyder at the Castle , in
the pleasant village of Islington ; while the undomcstic cit, in claret -
coloured coat and white satin vest, sipped his beer and smoked his pipe
at Mile End, or at the "Adam and Eve" in Pancras, or "Mother lied
Cap's " at Camden.
QUEEN ELIZABETH'S STATE COACH.
The accompanying engraving is taken from a very old print repre-
senting the state procession of Queen Elizabeth on her way to open
Parliament on April 2nd, 1571. This was the first occasion on which a
state coach had ever been iised by a Sovereign of England, and it wa.*
the only vehicle in the procession ; the Lord Keeper, and the Lords
Spiritual and Temporal, all attending on horseback. It was drawn by
two palfreys, which were decked with trappings of crimson velvet; and,
according to an old authority, the name of the driver was William
Boonen, a Dutchman, who thus became the first state coachman.
TIIK ORIGIN OF EATING GOOSE ON MICHAELMAS DAY.
Queen Elizabeth, on her way to Tilbury Fort, on the 29th of S ep-
tember, loSi), dim d at the ancient seat of Sir Neville Umf'reville, near that
place; and as British Bess had much rather dine oft' a high-seasoned
and substantial di*h than a simple fricassee or ragout, the knight thought
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
199
proper to provide a brace of fine geese, to suit the palate of his royal
guest. After the Queen had dined heartily, she asked for a half-pint
lumper of Burgundy, and drank " Destruction to the Spanish Armada."
She had but that moment returned the glass to the knight, who had done
the honours of the table, when the news came (as if the Queen had been
possessed with the spirit of prophesy) that the Spanish fleet had been
destroyed by a storm. She immediately took another bumper, in order
to digest the goose and good news ; and was so much pleased with the
event, that she every year after, on that day, had the above excellent
dish served up. The Court made it a custom, and the people the same
ever since.
PBE-ADAMITE BOXE CAVEKXS.
Among the wonders of the world, the bone caves of the pro-Adamite
period deserve a prominent place. It is to this period that the ex-
tensive remains of Mammifera? found in the strata of the Pampas of
Buenos Ayres, and in the caverns which are scattered in such vast
numbers over the continents of Europe and America, and even in Aus-
tralia, are to be ascribed. We regret that we can find room for a
description of only one of these caverns, but it is a most extensive one,
and among the first which attracted attention. It is situated at Bay-
lenreuth, in Franconia, and the engraving which we here give repre-
sents a section of it.
The entrance of this cave, about seven feet in height, is placed on the
face of a perpendicular rock, and leads to a series of chambers from fifteen
to twenty feet in height, and several hundred feet in extent, in a deep
chasm. The cavern is perfectly dark, and the icicles and pillars of sta-
lactite reflected by the torches present a highly picturesque efl'ect. The
200 TF.X THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
floor is literally paved with bones and fossil teeth, and the pillars and
corbels of stalactite also contain osseous remains. Cuvier showed that
three-fourths of the remains in this and like caverns were those of bears,
the remainder consisting- of bones of hyenas, tigers, wolves, foxes, glut-
tons, weasels, and other Carnivora.
HOW DISTANT AGES ARE CONNECTED BY INDIVIDUALS.
Mr. Robert Chambers, in a curious and interesting chapter in the
" Edinburgh Journal," entitled " Distant Ages connected by Indivi-
duals," states, in 1847, "There is living, in the vicinity of Aberdeen,
a gentleman who can boast personal acquaintance with an individual
who had seen and conversed with another who actually had been present
at the battle of Flodden Field !" Marvellous as this may appear, it is not
the less true. The gentleman to whom allusion is made was personally
acquainted with the celebi ated Peter Garden, of Auchterless, who died
in 1775, at the reputed age of 131, although there is reason to believe
that he was several years older. Peter, in his young days, was servant
to Garden, of Troup, whom he accompanied on a journey through the
north of England, where he saw and conversed with the famous Henry
Jenkins, who died 1670, at the age of 169. Jenkins was born in 1501,
and was of course twelve years old at the period of the battle of Flodden.
Field ; and, on that memorable occasion, bore arrows to an English noble-
man, whom he served in the capacity of page. " When we think of
such things," adds Mr. Chambers, " the ordinary laws of nature seem to
have undergone some partial relaxation ; and the dust of ancient times
almost becomes living flesh before our eyes."
THi: EARTHQUAKE AT LISBON.
On the 1st of November, 1 ".">,;, a few minutes before 10 a.m. the inha-
bitants of Lisbon were alarmed by several violent vibrations of the ground,
which then rose and fell several times with such force that hundreds of
houses came toppling into the streets, crushing thousands of people. At
the same time the air grew pitchy dark from the clouds of dust that rose
from the crumbling edifices. Many persons ran down to the river side,
in the hope of escaping to the shipping ; but the water suddenly rose some
yards perpendicularly, and swept away e-scrything before it. The quay,
with nearly 200 human beings standing on 'it, all at once disappeared.
Large ships, which were lying high and dry, floated off, and were dashed
against each other or carried down the river. In every direction the
surface of the water was overspread with boats, timber, casks, household
furniture and corpses. The scene on dry land was yet more horrifying.
Churches, government buildings, and private houses, were all imolved
in the same ruin. Many thousands of trembling fugitives had collected
in the great square, when it was discovered that flames were spreading in
every quarter. Taking advantage of the universal panic and confusion,
u band of miscreants had tired the city. Nothing could be done to stav
the pro-re^ of the Humes, and for eiirht days they raged unchecked.
Whatever the earthquake had spared fell a prey to'this new calamity.
" It is not to be expressed by human ton- ue,"* writes an eye-witness.
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 201
' ' how dreadful and how awful it was to enter the city after the fire was
abated ; and looking upwards one was struck with horror in beholding
dead bodies, by six or seven in a heap, crushed to death, half buried and
half burnt ; and if one w r ent through the broad places or squares, nothing
to be met with but people bewailing their misfortunes, wringing their
hands, and crying, ' The world is at an end.' If you go out of the city,
you behold nothing but barracks, or tents made with canvass or ship's
sails where the poor inhabitants lye."
Another eye-witness is still more graphic. " The terror of the people
was beyond description : nobody wept, it was beyond tears ; they ran
hither and thither, delirious Avit'h horror and astonishment beating their
faces and breasts crying misericordia, the world's at an end; mothers
forgot their children, and ran about loaded with crucitixed images. Un-
fortunately, many ran to the churches for protection ; but in vain was
the sacrament exposed ; in vain did the poor creatures embrace the
altars ; images, priests, and people, were buried in one common ruin.
* The prospect of the city was deplorable. As you passed along the
streets, you saw shops of goods with the shopkeepers buried with them,
some alive crying out from under the ruins, others half buried, others
with broken limbs, in vain begging for help ; they were passed by crowds
without the least notice or sense of humanity. The people lay that night
in the field, which equalled, if possible, the horrors of the day ; the city
all in flames ; and if you happened to forget yourself with sleep, you
were awakened by the tremblings of the earth and the howlings of the
people. Yet the moon shone, and the stars, with unusual brightness.
Long wished for day at last appeared, and the sun rose with great splen-
dour on the desolated city in the morning. Some of the boldest, whose
houses were not burnt, ventured home for clothes, the want of which
they had severely felt in the night, and a blanket was now become of
more value than a suit of silk."
STRANGE CURE FOE THE RHEUMATISM.
Bridget Behan, of Castle-waller, in the county of Wicklow, Ireland re-
tained the use of all her powers of body and mind to the close of her long
life, 110 years, in 1807. About six years preceding her death she fell down
stairs, and broke one of her thighs. Contrary to all expectation, she not
only recovered from the effects of the accident, but actually, from thence,
walked stronger on this leg, which, previously to the accident, had been
a little failing, than she had done for many years before. Another re-
markable circumstance relating to this fracture was, that she became per-
fectly cured of a chronic rheumatism of long standing, and from which
on particular occasions, she had suffered a good deal of affliction. A
short while before her death she cut a new tooth.
SILVER TEA SERVICE WHICH BELONGED TO WILLIAM
Articles of ordinary use, however small may be their intrinsic value,
which have once been the property of men who have been good and
great how rare the conjunction! are always invested with a peculiar
interest. They often afford a clue to the tastes of those who once
202
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS
possessed them. On this account we have great pleasure in laying
before our readers, a representation of the silver tea service which
belonged to the celebrated William Penn, the founder and legislator of
Pennsylvania, whom Montesquieu denominates the modern Lycurgus.
He was the son of Admiral Penn, was born at London in 164-1, "and was
educated at Christchurch, Oxford. At college, he imbibed the
principles of Quakerism, and having endeavoured to disseminate them
by preaching in public, lie was thrice thrown into prison. It was during
his first imprisonment that he wrote " No Cross, no Croiai" In [March,
1680 81, he obtained from Charles II. the grant of that territory which
now bears the name of Pennsylvania: in 1682 he embarked for his new
colony, and in the following year he founded Philadelphia. He returned
to- England in 1684, and died in July, 1718. He was a philosopher, a
l<'ii-islator, an author, the friend of man, and, above all, a pious
Christian. In addition to the reasons above given, the sketch of the
t a service is an object of curiosity as showing the state of silversmith's
work in England, at the close of the seventeenth century, for articles of
domestic use.
CURIOUS FIGURES ON A SMALL SIIKIM:.
The figures here given are copied from a curious little bronze strongly
gilt, which was engraved in the " Gentleman's Magazine" for 1833, accom-
panied with a description, by A. J. Kcnipe, Esq., the author of the letter-
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAIXT.
203
press to "Stothard's Monumental Effigies," whose intimate knowledge
in these matters enables him to well authenticate dates ; and he con-
siders this relic may safely be attributed to the early part of the twelfth
century ; it was discovered in the Temple Church, and had originally
formed a portion of a pyx, or small shrine, in which the consecrated
host was kept. Our engraving is more than half the size of the ori-
ginal, which represents the soldiers watching the body of our Lord, who
was, in mystical form, supposed to be enshrined in the pyx. They wear
scull-caps of the Phrygian form, with the nasal like those in the Bayeux
Tapestry ; andthe mailles
or rings of the hauberk
appear, as in the armo\;r
there, sewn down, per-
haps, on a sort of gam-,
beson, but not inter-
laced. They bear kite-
shaped shields, raised to
an obtuse angle in the
centre, and having large
projecting bosses : the
third of these figures is
represented beside the cut
in profile, which will en-
able the reader more
clearly to detect its pecu-
liarities. On two of these
shields are some ap-
proachesto armorialbear-
ings ; the first is marked with four narrow bendlets ; the second is
fretted, the frets being repeated in front of his helmet, or clwpelle defer :
all the helmets have the nasal. A long tunic, bordered, and in one in-
stance ornamented with cross-lines, or chequered, appears beneath the
tunic. The sword is very broad, and the spear, carried by the first
figure, obtuse in the head, a mark of its antiquity. The shoes are
admirable illustrations of that passage of Geoffry of Malmesbury, where,
representing the luxury of costume in which the English indulged at the
time when Henry I. began his reign, he says : " Then was there flowing
hair, and extravagant dress ; and then was invented the fashion of shoes
with curved points : then the model for young men was to rival women
in delicacj?- of person, to mimic their gait, to walk with loose gesture,
half-naked." The curvature of the points of the shoes in the little relic
before us, in conformity with the custom censured by Malmesbury, is
quite remarkable. One turns up, another down ; one to the left, another
to the right ; and scarcely any two in the same direction.
THE QUEER'S SHARKS.
The harbour of Trincomalee swarms with gigantic sharks, and
strange to relate, they are all under British protection ; and if any
one is found molesting or injuring them, the fine is 10, or an im-
204 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
prisonmcnt! How this ridiculous custom originated, it is hard to
s;iv ; hut we art' told, that in the early days of British conquest
in" the East, sailors were apt to desert, and seek refuge in the then
inaccessible wilds of the interior ; and of later years, when civili-
sation has unharred the gates of Cingalese commerce to all nations
of the world, the soldiers of the regiment stationed at Trincomalee, dis-
rimtented with their lot in life, were wont to escape from the thraldom of
the service, by swimming off to American and other foreign vessels,
preferring chance, under a strange Hag, to a hard certainty under their
own. Thus the Uueen's sharks are duly protected as a sort of water-
police for the prevention of desertion both from the army and navy.
OLD VERSES OX W'KKX KI.IXAI5ETH.
The following quaint and curious verses are taken from a very old
volume, entitled A Croirne Garland of (foitldcn J'asv.s, (lathered out
of England's R<n/aJJ Ganh-it, i$-c., fyc. By Riclinrd Johns<i.
A SHORT JL^D SWEET SO3TITET MADE BY ONE OP THE MAIDES OF HONOR UPON THE DEATHS
OP QUEKXK ZLIZAUETII, WHICH SHE SOWED UPON A SAMl'LKl! IN BED StLKE.
To a new tune, or " Phillida fluid
Gone is Elizabeth,
"\Vhom we have lov'd so deare :
She our kind mistrcs was
Full foure and forty ycure.
England she goreni'd well,
Not to be blamed ;
Flanders she govern' d well
And Ireland tamed.
France she befrended,
Spaine she hath foiled,
Papists rejected,
And the I'ope spoyled.
To princes powerfull,
To the world vertuous,
To her foes mercifull,
To her subjects gracious.
Her soule is in heaven,
The world keeps her glory,
Subjects her good deeds,
And so ends my story.
i:\NKI. A(ill.
Ranelagh, of which no traces now remain, was situated on part of
Chelsea Hospital garden, between Church How and the river, to the east
of the Hospital. It takes its name from a house erected in 1691, by
Viscount lianclagh. This house, in which the Viscount had resided
from the period of its being built, was sold in 1733 to an eminent builder
named Timbrell for 3,200, who advertised it for sale in the following
year, as a freehold with garden, kitchen garden, and offices, anil a
smaller house and garden with fruit trees, coach-houses, &c., &c.
These were the lirst vicissitudes of llanelagh, preparatory to its con-
ver>ion into a place of public amusement.
Walpole, in one of his entertaining letters to Mann, April 22nd, 1742,
thus speaks of the gardens, which were then unfinished:
"I have been breakfast iiig this morniiig at Itanelagh Garden; they
have built an immense ampitheatre, with balconies full of little ale-
houses ; it is in rivalry to Vauxhall, and cost abou- twelve thousand
pounds. The building is not finished, but they cot great sums by
people going to sec it and breakfasting in the house : there were yesterday
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 205
no less than three hundred and eighty persons, at eighteen-pence a
piece." Again, under the date May 26th, 1742, he writes to his friend
as follows :
"Two nights ago, Ranelagh Gardens were opened at Chelsea; the
prince, princess, duke, much nobility, and much mob besides were there.
There is a vast ampitheatre, finely gilt, painted, and illuminated ; into
which everybody that loves eating, drinking, staring, or crowding, is
admitted for twelve pence. The building and disposition of the gardens
cost sixteen thousand pounds. Twice a week there are to be ridottos at
guinea tickets, for which you are to have a supper and music. I was
there last night, but did not find the joy of it. Vauxhall is a little
better, for the garden is pleasanter, and one goes by water."
" The only defect in the elegance and beauty of the ampitheatre at
Ranelagh," says the London Chronicle for August, 1763, " is an im-
proper and inconvenient orchestra, which, breaking into the area of that
superb room about twenty feet farther than it ought to do, destroys the
symmetry of the whole, and diffuses the sound of music with such
irregular rapidity, that the harmonious articulations escape the nicest
ear when placed in the most commodious attitude ; it also hurts the eye
upon your first entry.
' ' To remedy these defects, a plan has been drawn by Messrs. "Wale
and Gwin, for adding a new orchestra, which being furnished with a
well-proportioned curvature over it, will contract into narrower bounds
the modulations of the voice, and render every note more distinctly
audible. It will, by its form, operate upon the musical sounds, in the
same manner as concave glasses affect the rays of light, by collecting
them into a focus. The front of this orchestra being planned so as to
range parallel to the balustrade, the whole area also will be disencum-
bered of every obstruction that might incommode the audience in their
circular walk. There is likewise provision made in this plan for a stage
capable of containing 30 or 40 performers, to officiate as chorus-singers,
or otherwise assist in giving additional solemnity on any extraordinary
occasion."
"At Ranelagh House, on the 12th of May, 1767," says the Gentle-
man' 's Magazine, " were performed (in the new orchestra) the much
admired catches and glees, selected from the curious collection of the
Catch Club ; being the first of the kind publickly exhibited in this or
any other kingdom. The entertainments consisted of the favourite
catches and glees, composed by the most eminent masters of the last and
present age, by a considerable number of the best vocal and instrumental
performers. The choral and instrumental parts were added, to give the
the catches and glees their proper effect in so large an amphitheatre ;
being composed for that purpose by Dr. Arne."
The Rotunda, or amphitheatre, was 185 feet in diameter, with an
orchestra in the centre, and tiers of boxes all round. The chief amuse-
ment was promenading (as it was called) round and round the circular
area below, and taking refreshments in the boxes while the orchestra and
vocalists executed different pieces of music. It was a kind of ' Vauxhall
under cover,' warmed with coal fires. The rotunda is said to have been
206
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS
projected by Lacy, the patentee of Drury Lane Theatre. " The
d'a-il" Dr. Johnson declared, " was the finest thing he had ever seen."
The last great event in the history of Ranelagh was the installation
ball of the knights of the Bath, in 1802, shortly after which the place
was pulled down.
TIII: riK".T EAST INDIA norsi:.
The tradition is, that the East India Company, incorporated December
31st, 1600, first transacted their business in the great room of the Nag's
Head Inn, opposite St. Botolph's Church, Bishopsgate Street. The maps
of London, soon after the Great Fire of 1666, place the India House on a
part of its present site in Leadenhall Street. Here originallv stood the
mansion of Alderman Kerton, built in the reign of Edward Vl., rebuilt
on the accession of Elizabeth, and enlarged by its next purchaser,
Sir \V. Craven, Lord Mayor in 1610. Here was born the groat Lord
Craven, who, in 1701, leased his house and a tenement in Lime Street
MARVELLOUS, HARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 207
to the Company at 100 a year. A scarce Dutch etching, in the British
Museum, of which the annexed engraving is a correct copy, shows this
house to have been half timbered, its lofty gable surmounted with two
dolphins and a figure of a mariner, or, as some say, of the first governor ;
beneath are merchant ships at sea, the royal arms, and those of the
Company. This grotesque structiire was taken down in 1726, and upon
its site was erected the old East India House, portions of which yet
remain ; although the present stone front, 200 feet long, and a great part
of the house, were built in 1798 and 1799, and subsequently enlarged by
Cockerel!, R.A., and Wilkins, R.A.
ADYEETISEMEXTS IX THE LAST CEXTLTRY.
The following strange advertisements have been culled at random from
magazines and newspapers circa 1750. They give us a good idea of the
manners and tastes of that period :
" Whereas a tall young Gentleman above the common size, dress'd in
a yellow grounded flowered velvet (supposed to be a Foreigner), with a
Solitair round his neck and a glass in his hand, was narrowly observed
and much approved of by a certain young lady at the last Eidotto. This
is to acquaint the said young Gentleman, if his heart is entirely dis-
engaged, that if he will apply to A. B. at Garraway's Coffee House in
Exchange Alley; he may be directed to have an interview with the said
young lady, which may prove greatly to his advantage. Strict secresy
on the Gentleman's side will be depended on."
" A Lady who had on a Pink coloured Capuchin, edged with Ermine,
a black Patch near her right eye, sat in a front seat in the next Side Box
but one to the Stage on Wednesday night at Drury Lane Playhouse ; if
that Lady is single and willing to treat on terms of honour and generosity
of a married s.tate, it would be deemed a favour to receive a line directed
to C. D., at Clifford's Inn Old Coffee House, how she may be address'd,
being a serious affair."
" To be seen this week, in a large commodious room at the George Inn,
in Fenchurch- street, near Aldgate, the Porcupine Man. and his Son, which
has given such great satisfaction to all that ever saw them : their solid
quills being not to be numbered nor credited till seen ; but give univer-
sal satisfaction to all that ever see them ; the youth being allowed by all
to be of a beautiful and fine complexion, and great numbers resort daily
to see them."
" A Bullfinch, that pipes, ' Britons rouse up your great magnanimity,'
at command, also talks, is to be sold at the Cane Shop facing New Broad
Street, Moorfields ; likewise to be sold, two Starlings that whistle and
talk extremely plain.
" Great variety of fine long Walking Canes."
THEODORA DE VEEDIOST.
This singular woman was born in 1744, at Leipsic, in Germany, and
died at her lodgings, in Upper Charles-street, Hatton Garden, London,
1802. She was the only daughter of an architect, of the name of Grahn,
who erected several edifices in the city of Berlin, particularly the Church
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
of St. Peter's. She wrote an excellent hand, and had learned the mathe-
matics, the French, Italian, and English languages, and possessed a com-
plete knowledge of her native tongue. Upon her arrival in England she
commenced teaching of the German language, under the name of Dr.
John do Vcrdion.
In her exterior, she was extremely grotesque, wearing a hag wig, a
large cocked hat, three or four folio books under one arm, and an um-
hrella under the other, her pockets completely tilled with small volumes,
and a stick iu her right hand. She had a good knowledge of English
books ; many persons entertained her for her advice relative to pur-
chasing them. She obtained a comfortable subsistence from teaching
and translating foreign languages, and by selling books chiefly in foreign
literature. She taught the Duke of Portland the German language, and
was always welcomed to his house, the Prussian Ambassador to ottr
Court received from her a knowledge of the English language ; and
several distinguished noblemen she frequently visited to instruct them
in the French tongue ; she also taught Edward Gibbon, the celebrated
Roman Historian, the German language, previous to his visiting that
country. This extraordinary female has never been known to have ap-
peared in any other but the male dress, since her arrival in England,
where she remained upwards of thirty years ; and upon occasions she
would attend court, decked in very superb attire ; and was Avcll remem-
bered about the streets of London ; and particularly frequent in attending
book auctions, and would buy to a large amount, sometimes a coach-
load. Here her singidar figure generally made her the jest of the com-
pany. Her general purchase at these sales was odd volumes, whicli sho
used to carry to other booksellers, and endcavoxir to sell, or exchange for
other books. She was also a considerable collector of medals and foreign
coins of gold and silver ; but none of these were found after her decease.
She freqti' uteil the Furnival's Inn Coffee-house, in Holborn, dining there
almost every day ; she would have the first of every thing in season,
and \v;i^ :e i-tivmious for a large quantity, as she was dainty in the
quality of what she chose for her table. At times, it is well-known, she
could dispense with three pounds of solid meat ; and we are very sorry
to say, she was much inclined to the dreadful sin of drunkenness. Her
death was occasioned by falling down stairs, and she was, utter much
affliction, at length compelled to make herself known to a German phy-
sician, who prescribed for her, when the disorder she had, turned to a
dropsy, defied all cure, and finished the life of so remarkable a female.
DKiyiXG STAGS LIKE CATTI.i:.
Buried at Dislcy, Cheshire, June 2nd, 1753, Mr. Joseph Watson, in
the 105th year of his age. lie; was born at Moseley Common, in the
parish of Leigh, in the county of Lancaster ; and married his wife from
Ktchells, near Manchester, in the said county. They were an happy
couple ~'2 years. She died in the it 1th year of her age. He was park-
r to the late Peter 1-eigh, Ksq., of Lime, and his father used
to drive and show 7-ed deer to most of the nobility and t>
in that part of the kingdom, to the general satisfaction ui' all who
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 209
ever saw them ; for he could have driven and commanded them at his
pleasure, as if they had been common horned-cattle. In the reign of
Queen Anne, Squire Leigh was at Macclesneld, in Cheshire, in company
with a number of gentlemen, amongst which was Sir Roger Mason, who
was then one of the members for the said county ; they being merry and
free, Squire Leigh said his keeper should drive 12 brace of stags to the
Forest of Windsor, a present to the Queen. Sir Roger opposed it with
a wager of 500 guineas, saying that neither his keeper, nor any other
person could drive 12 brace of red deer from Lime Park to Windsor
Forest on any account. So Squire Leigh accepted the wager from Sir
Roger, and immediately sent a messenger to Lime for his keeper, who
directly came to his master, who told him he must immediately prepare
himself to drive 12 brace of stags to Windsor Forest, for a wager of 500
guineas. He gave the Squire, his master, this answer, that he would,
at his command, drive him 12 brace of stags to Windsor Forest, or to
any part of the kingdom by his worship's direction, or he would lose his
life and fortune. He undertook, and accomplished this most astonishing
performance, which is not to be equalled in the annals of the most
ancient history. He was a man of low stature, not bulky, of a fresh
complexion, pleasant countenance, and he believed he had drank a gallon
of malt liquor a day, one day with another for above sixty years of his
time.
ECCEXTEIC WILL.
The following will, as an exhibition of strange eccentricity, is not
inappropriate to our pages. Mr. Tuke, of Wath, near Rotherham,
who died in 1810, bequeathed one penny to every child that attended
his funeral (there came from 600 to 700) ; Is. to every poor woman
in Wath ; 10s. 6d. to the ringers to ring one peal of grand bobs,
which was to strike off while they were putting him into the grave.
To seven of the oldest navigators, one guinea for puddling him up
in his grave. To his natural daughter, 4 4s. per annum. To his
old and faithful servant, Joseph Pitt, 21 per annum. To an old
woman who had for eleven years tucked him up in bed, 1 Is.
only. Forty dozen penny loaves to be thrown from the church leads at
twelve o'clock on Christmas day for ever. Two handsome brass chande-
liers for the church, and 20 for a set of new chimes.
EXTRAORDINARY FROST.
As an instance of great rarity in England of the severity of a frost, it
is worth notice, that in January, 1808, the rain froze as it fell, and in
London the umbrellas were so stiffened that they could not be closed.
Birds had their feathers frozen so that they could not fly, and many
were picked up as they lay helpless on the ground.
ANCIENT SNTJTT BOXES.
These ancient smiff boxes furnish proof of the love of our ancestors for
the titillating powder. An admiring writer of the last century, reflecting
on the curious and precious caskets in which snuff was then imprisoned,
asks
210 TEX THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
" What strange and wondrous virtue must there be,
And secret charm, snuff! concealed in thee,
That bounteous nature and inventive art,
Bedecking thee thus all their powers exert."
But every age, since snuff was in use, appears to have cherished great
regard for the beauty and costliness of its snuff boxes, and even at the
present time, the snuff box is the recognised vehicle of the highest
honour a corpoiation can bestow. Those here represented are not so
much boxes as bottles. They are richly and elaborately ornamented
with sporting subjects, and no doubt once belonged to some famous
personage. Judging of their very antique form and figures, we are
inclined to think they must have been in use earlier than it is generally
supposed that snuff was introduced into this country.
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
SEEING THE FIRST, AND THE LAST OF TWO GENERATIONS.
Frances Barton, of Horsley, Derbyshire, died 1789, aged 107. She
followed the profession of a midwife during the long period of eighty
years. Her husband had been sexton of the parish seventy years ; so
that this aged pair frequently remarked, that she had twice brought into
the world, and lie had twice buried the whole parish. Her faculties, and
memory in particular, were remarkably good, so that she was enabled
well to remember the Revolution in 1688, and being present at a merry
making on that glorious occasion.
THE EARLIEST HACKNEY-COACH.
The above is a correct representation of one of the earliest forms in
which coaches for hire were first made. They were called Hackney,
not, as is erroneously supposed, from their being first used to carry the
citizens of London to their villas in the suburb of Hackney, but from the
word " hack," which signifies to offer any article for sale or hire. Hack-
ney coaches were first established in 1634, and the event is thus mentioned
in one of StrajjfonTt Letters, dated April in that year :
" One Captain Bailey hath erected some four Hackney-coaches, put his
men in livery, and appointed them to stand at the May-pole in the
Strand, giving them instructions at what rates to carry men into several
parts of the town, where all day they may be had. Other hackney-
men seeing this way, they flocked to the same place, and perform their
journeys at the same rate. So that sometimes there is twenty of them
together, which disperse up and down ; that they and others are to be
had everywhere, as watermen are to be had by the water-side. * * *
Everybody is much pleased with it."
A rNIQrE LIBRARY.
A singular library existed in 1535, at Warsenstein, near Cassel ; the
books composing it, or rather the substitutes for them, being made of
wood, and every one of them is a specimen of some different tree. The
back is formed of its bark, and the sides are constructed of polished
pieces of the same stock. When put together, the whole forms a box ;
and inside of it are stored the fruit, seed, and leaves, together with the
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
moss which grows on the trunk, and the insects which feed upon the
tree ; every volume corresponds in size, and the collection altogether has
an excellent effect.
DRESS FORTY YEARS AGO.
Caricature, even by its very exaggeration, often gives us a better idea
of many things than the most exact sketches could do. This is more
especially the case with respect to dress, a proof of which is here given
by the three caricatures which we
now lay before our readers. They
are copied from plates published
at the period to which they refer,
and how completely do they con-
vey to us a notion of the fashions
of the day !
"With the peace of 1815 com-
menced a new era in English his-
tory ; and within the few years
immediately preceding and fol-
lowing it, English society went
through a remarkably rapid change ;
a change, as far as we can see, of a
decidedly favourable kind. The
social condition of public senti-
ment and public morals, litera-
ture, and science, were all im-
proved. As the violent internal
agitation of the country during
A the regency increased the number
of political caricatures and satirical
writings, so the succession of fa-
shions, varying in extravagance,
which characterised the same
period, produced a greater number of caricatures on dress and on
fashionable manners than had been seen at any previous period. During
the first twelve or fifteen years of the present century, the general cha-
racter of the costume appears not to have undergone any great change.
The two figures here given represent the mode in 1810.
A few years later the fashionable costume furnished an extraordinary
contrast with that just represented. The waist was again shortened, as
well as the frock and petticoat, and, instead of concealment, it seemed
to be the aim of the ladies to exhibit to view as much of the body as pos-
sible. The fops of 1819 and 1820 received the name of dandies, the
ladies that of dandizettes. The accompanying cut is from a rather
broadly caricatured print of a dandizette of the year 1819. It must be
considered only as a type of the general character of the foppish costume
of the period ; for in no time was there ever such a variety of forms in
the dresses of both sexes as at the period alluded to.
We give, with the same reservation, a figure of a dandy, from a carica-
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
tore of the same year. The number of caricatures on the dandies and
DANDIZETli;.
dandizettes, and on their fopperies and follies, during the years 1819,
1820, and 1821, was perfectly astonishing.
FASHIONABLE DISFIGUREMENT.
The extent to which people may be led to disfigure themselves by a
blind compliance with the fashion of the day, was never more strikingly
displayed than in the custom of dotting
the face with black patches of different
patterns. It might easily be supposed
that the annexed sketch is a carica-
ture, but such is not the case ; it is a
correct likeness of a lady of the time of
Charles the 1st, with her face in full
dress. Patching was much admired
during the reign of that sovereign, and
for several succeeding years. Some
authors think that the fashion came
originally from Arabia. No sooner was
it brought to England and France, than
it became an absolute fureur. In the
former country, old and young, the
maiden of sixteen, and the grey-haired
grandmamma, covered their faces with
these black spots, shaped like suns,
moons, stars, hearts, crosses, and lozenges, and some even, as in the
214 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
instance before us, carried the mode to the extravagant extent of shaping 1
the patches to represent a carriage and horses.
A REMARKABLE OLD
Mr. Ingleby, of Battle Abbey, Sussex, died 1798, aged 117. He had
been for upwards of ninety-five years a domestic in the family of Lady
Webster. The following narrative of this remarkable man is by a gentle-
man who visited him in the autumn of 1797 :
" To my great surprise," he says, " I found Mr. Ingleby in a situation
very far removed from the luxuries of life, or the place which might be
deemed necessary for his years. He was in an antique outbuilding, near
the Castle Gate, where his table was spread under an arched roof ; nearly
the whole of the building being filled with billet-wood, and scarcely
ffording room for the oaken bench on which this wonder of longevity
was reclining by the fire. His dress was a full-bottomed wig, and a
chocolate-coloured suit of clothes with yellow buttons. His air and de-
meanour was pensive and solemn ; though there was nothing in his look
which impressed the mind with the idea of a person more than fourscore
years old, except a slight falling of the under jaw, which bespoke a more
advanced age. We were introduced by a matron, who served as a sort
of interpreter between us Mr. Ingleby's deafness not permitting any
regular conversation. When the nurse explained our errand, he replied,
in ajrery distinct but hollow voice, ' I am much obliged to the gentlemen
for the favour they do me ; but I am not well, and unable to converse
vrith them.' He then turned his face to the higher part of the bench on
which he reclined, and was silent. In each of his withered hands he
held a short, rude, beechen walking stick, about three feet high, by the
help of which he was accustomed not only to walk about the extensive
premises in which he passed the most part of his life, but also to take
his little rambles about the town ; and once (for, occasionally, the old
gentleman waS irascible,) he set out on a pedestrian excursion to Hast-
ings, t inquire for another situation in sercice, because his patroness
desired him to be more attentive to personal neatness. It is but justice
to the lady alluded to, to add, that the uncouth abode in which Mr.
Ingleby dwelt was the only one in which he could be persuaded to reside,
and which long familiarity had rendered dear to him. The choice ap-
]iean (I very extraordinary; but such persons, in their conduct, are sel-
dom governed ly the tixed and settled rules by which human life is
ordinarily regulated."
CTTBIOUS MANtJSCEirr.
A very curious manuscript was presented to the Antiquarian Society
of Yorkshire in 1828." It contains sundry rules to be observed by
the household of Henry the sth, and enjoins the following singular
particulars: "None of his Ilighness's attendants to steal any locks,
or keys, tables, forms, cupboards, or other furniture, out of noble-
men's, or gentlemen's, houses where he goes to visit. No herald, min-
strel, falconer, or other, to bring to the Court any boy or rascal ; nor
to keeps lads or rascals in Court to do their business for them. Master
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
cooks not to employ such scullions as shall go about naked, nor lie all
niijld on the (/round before the kitchen fire. Dinner to be at ten, and
supper at four. The Knight Marshall to take care that all such un-
thrifty and common women as follow the Court be banished. The proper
officers are, between six and seven o'clock every morning, to make the
fire in and straw his Highness's Privy Chamber. Officers of his High-
ness's Privy Chamber to keep secret every thing said or done, leaving
hearkening or inquiring where the king is or goes, be it early or late,
without grudging, mumbling, or talking of the King's past time, late or
early, going to bed, or any other matter. Coal only allowed to the
King's, Queen's, and Lady Mary's Chambers. The Queen's Maids of
Honour to have a chet loaf, a manchet, a gallon of ale, and a chine of
beef, for their breakfasts. Among the fishes for the table is a porpoise,
and if it is too big for a horse-load, a further allowance is made for it to
the purveyor." The manuscript ends with several proclamations. One
is " to 'take up and punish strong and mighty beggars, rascals, and
vagabonds, who hang about the Court."
WONDERFUL ESCAPE.
In 1809, a barge was going along the new cut from Paddington
with casks of spirits and barrels of gunpowder. It is supposed that one
of the crew bored a hole in a powder barrel by mistake, meaning to steal
spirits, the gimlet set fire to the powder, and eleven other barrels were
driven to the distance of 150 yards ; but only the single barrel exploded.
DAVID HOIK OX HIS OWX DEATH.
The letter which we here lay before our readers was addressed by
David Hume to the Countess de Boufflers, and is supposed to be the last
that was ever written by that great historian, as he died only five days
afterwards, August 25th. With what calmness did that illustrious phi-
losopher contemplate the rapid approach of his own death !
The letter was torn at the places where the words are printed in italics :
''Edinburgh, 20th of August, 1776.
" Tho' I am certainly within a few weeks, dear Madam, and perhaps
within a few days, of my own death, I could not forbear being struck with
the death of the Prince of Conti, so great a loss in every particular.
My reflection carried me immediately to your situation in this melan-
choly incident. What a difference to you in your whole plan of life ?
Pray, write me some particulars ; but in such terms that you need not
care, in event of decease, into whose hands your letter may fall.
' ' Jly distemper is a diarrhoea, or disorder in my bowels, which 'has
been gradually undermining me these two years ; but within these six
months has been visibly hastening me to my end. I see death approach
gradually, without any anxiety or regret. 1 salute you with great affec-
tion and regard for the last time. " DAVID HUME."
SCETPTUHAL ANTIQUITIES.
The rude musical instruments here represented, have been collected by
modern travellers, and are but little changed from the ancient forms.
216
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS
A. Drum, or Timbrel, of Baked Potter's Clay. AA. Drum in use in the East.
B. Harp. -C. Lutes. I). Inscribed Stone. 1'.. Sandals.
The drum or timbrel marked A, is made of thin baked clay, something in
the shape of a buttle, \\itli parehmenl si retched over the wider part. On
beine struck with the finger, this instrument makes a remarkably loud
sound. These relics are lodged in the London Scriptural Museum, and arc
all ticketed with the texts they serve to illustrate. This arrangement is
very judicious, and gives a great additional interest to the sacred objects
while under inspection.
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
1. Distuft'. 2. Koman Farthing. 3. Stone Money Weights. L Hand Mill.
5. Eastern Wine and Water Bottles.
The distaff was the instrument which wrought the materials for the
robes of the Egyptian Kings, and for the " little coat" which Hannah
made for Samuel ; by it, too, were wrought the cloths, and other fabrics
used in Solomon's temple. By reference to the above engraving, it will
be seen that nothing can be more simple than this ancient instrument,
which is a sort of wooden skewer, round which the flax is wrapped ; it is
then spun on the ground in the same manner as a boy's top, and the
TEX THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
thread wrought off, and wound upon a reel shown in the foreground of
the picture. " Querns," or stoue hand-mills of various sizes, similar to
that represented iu our engraving, have been repeatedly found in con-
nectiou with Itoman, Saxon, and other ancient remains in this country.
They are still to be met with in constant use over the greater part of
India, in Africa, and also those districts of the East, which are more par-
ticularly associated with Holy Writ. It may be worth while to mention
that this description of mill is an improvement upon the method of simply
crushing the corn laid on a flat stone, with another held in the hand.
The "Quern" is a hard stone roughly rounded, aad partly hollowed,
into which another stone, which has a handle, is loosely fitted. The
corn required to be ground is placed in the hollow receptacle, and the
inner stone is moved rapidly round, and in course of time, by immense
labour the wheat, &c. is ground into flour. The Scripture prophecies men-
tion that of two women grinding at the mill, one shall be left and the other
taken, the two-handled mill will explain the meaning of this passage.
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF REMA11KAULTC i:VKM>.
The following curious table is extracted literatim from Arthur
Hopton's Ctiticordiiiicic <>f 1'cars, 1615:
1077. A blazing star on Palm Sunday, ncre the sun.
1100. The yard (measure) made by Henry I.
1110. The moone seemed turned into bloud.
1128. Men wore haire like women.
1180. Paris in France, and London in Englande, paued, and thatching
in both left, because all Luberiek was spoiled thereby with lire.
1189. Robin Hood, and Little John lived. This yeare London obtained
to be gouerned by sheriffes and maiors.
1205. By reason of a frost from January to March, wheate was sold
for a marke the quarter, which before was at 12 pence. Anno
Iti-i/iii 6. John.
1209. London bridge builded with stone : and this yeare the citizens of
London had a grant to choose them a maior.
1227. The citizens of London had libertic to hunt a certain distance
about the citie, and to passe toll-free through England.
1231. Thunder lasted fifteen daies ; beginning the morrow after St.
.Martin's day.
1233. Four sunncs appeared, besiile the. Irtie sunne, of a red colour.
1235. The Jews of Norwich stole a boy and circumcised him, minding
to have crucified him at Easter.
1 - 1 7. The king farmed Q,ueene-hiuc for fifty pounds per annum, to the
citizens.
1 -'>-. (Jrerit tempests upon the sea, and fearfull : and this year the king
(Henry IU.) granted, thai \vhcretofore the citizens of London
were to present the maim- before the kin^ 1 , wlieresoeuer he were,
that now barons of the exchequer should seme.
1291. The Jcwes corrupting Kn^land with VMITV, had tirst a had^e
^iuen them to wean-, that they ini^ht be knowne, and after were
banished to the number of I. JO, (KM) persons.
MARVELLOUS^ RAKE., CURIOUS,, AND QUAINT. 219
1313. ^-This yeare the king of France burned all his leporous and pocky
people, as well men as women : for that he supposed they had
poysoned the waters, which caused his leprosie. About this
time, also, the Jews had a purpose to poysoii all the Christians,
by poysoning all their springs.
136.1. Men and beasts perished in diuers places with thunder and light-
ning, and fiends were scene speake unto men as they trauelled.
1372. The first bailiffes, ia Shrewsbury.
1386. The making of gunnes found ; and rebels in Kent and Essex,
who entred London, beheaded all lawyers, and burnt houses and.
all bookcs of law.
1388. Picked shooes, tyed to their knees with siluer chaines were vsed.
And women with long gownes rode in side-saddles, like the
queene, that brought side-saddles first to England ; for before
they rode astrid.
1401. Pride exceeding in monstroiis apparrelL
1411. Guildhall in London begun.
1417. A decree for lantherne and candle-light in London.
1427. Earn from the 1st of April! to Hollontide.
IdlO.-t-St. John's College in Cambridge being an ancient hostell, was
conuerted to a college by the executors of the Countesse of Rich-
mond and Derby, and mother of Henry VII., in this yeare, as
her will was.
] <j.j2. The new service book in English.
1555. The first use of coaches in England.
1606. The cawsies about London taken down.
1610, Britaines Bursse builded. Hix Hall builded. Aldgate builded
new. Button's Hospitall founded. Moore fields new railed and
planted with trees. Westminster palace paued.
COCK-FIGHTIXG AT SCHOOLS.
Many years ago the scholars at our large schools had regular cock-
fights, which would appear to have been an affair of the school,
recognised by the masters, and the charges for which were defrayed by
them, to be afterwards paid by the parents, just as some innocent excur-
sions and festivities are managed now a days. The credit of the school
was, without doubt, often involved in the proper issue of the fight.
Sir James Mackintosh, when at school at Fortrose in 1776-7, had this
entry in his account, in which books were charged 3s. 6d. :
To cocks' -fight dues for 2 years, 2s. 6d. each, 5s.
Associated are three months' fees at the dancing- school, minuet,
country-dances, and hornpipe, &c. Cock-fighting up to the end of tin-
last century was a very general amusement, and an. . occasion for gam
bling. It entered into the occupations of the old and young. Traveller^
agreed with coachmen that they were to wait a night if there was a
cock-fight in any town through which they passed. A battle between
two cocks had five guineas staked upon it. Fifty guineas, about the
year 17CO, depended upon the main or odd battle. This made the deci-
220
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
sion. of a "long main" at cock-fighting an important matter. The
church bells at times announced the winning of a " long main." Matches
were sometimes so arranged as to last the week. When country gentle-
men had sat long at table, and the conversation had turned upon the re-
lative merits of their several birds, a cock-fight often resulted, as the
birds in question were brought for the purpose into the dining-room,
COMMON TRAVELLING.
"We have here the common travelling dress in use at the com-
mencement of the 12th century, tempus Henry I. and Stephen. The
original is intended for the Saviour meeting the two disciples on the
road to Emmaus. The Saviour wears an under -tunic, and his mantle,
fastened by a narrow band across the chest, is held up by the right
hand. The figures of the disciples are, however, the most curious, the
central one particularly so, as he would seem to wear a dross expressly
invented for travelling : his large round hat, with its wide brim, seems
to be the original of the pilgrim s hat, so well known in later times, and
which formed so distinguishing a mark in their costume. His short
green tunic, well adapted for journeying, is protected by a capacious
mantle of skin, provided
with a "capa" or cowl, to
draw over the head, and
which was frequently used
instead of a hat. He wears
white breeches ornamented
with red cross-stripes ; they
end at the ankle, where they
are secured by a band or
garter, the foot being covered
by close shoes. His compa-
nion wears the common cap
so frequently met with, and
he has his face ornamented
to profusion by moustaches
and beard, each lock of which appears to be most carefully separated and
arranged in the nicest order. lie has an under-tuuic of white, and an
upper one of red, and a white mantle bordered with gold ; he also wears tho
same kind of breeches, reaching to the ankle, but he has no shoes which
frequently appears to be the case when persons were on a journey.
FASHIONABLE DANCES OF THE LAST CENTCKV.
The style of dancing which was fashionable at the latter part of the
last century, may be seen from the following advertisement from a
dancing master, which we have copied from a newspaper of tho year
1775 :--
"At Duke's Long Room, in Paternoster Row, Grown Gentlemen or
Ladies are taught a Minuet, or the Method of Country Dances, with the
modern Method of Footing ; and that in the genteclest, and most expe-
ditious, and private Manner. And for the greater expedition of such
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
gentlemen as chuse to dance in company, there's a complete Set of Gentle-
men assembled every Monday and Wednesday evening for the said pur-
pose. Gentlemen or Ladies may be waited on at their own Houses by
favouring me with a line directed as above. Likewise to be had at my
House, as above, a Book of Instructions for the figuring part of Country
Dances, with the Figure of the Minuet annex'd thereon, drawn out in
Characters, and laid down in such a Manner, that at once casting your
Eye on it, you see the Figure directly form'd as it is to be done ; so that
a person, even that had never learnt, might, by the help of this book,
soon make himself Master of the figuring Part. Such as reside in the
Country, I doubt not, would find it of immediate Service, as they have
not always an Opportunity of having Recourse to a Dancing Master.
Price 10s. 6d. N. Dukes, Dancing Master."
PREACHING FRIARS.
In the romance of "St. Graal," executed in the fourteenth
centiiry, we have this representation of one of these preaching friars
in his rude portable pul-
pit; From the contrast
afforded by their mendi-
cancy, and enthusiasm
in teaching, to the pride
and riches of the higher
clergy, and their con-
stant mixing with the
people, they became ex-
cessively popular. The
preacher in the cut has
a crowded and attentive
audience (though one lady
seems inclined to nap) ;
the costume of the entire
body, who are all seated,
after a primitive fashion,
on the bare ground, is
worthy of note, and may be received as a fair picture of the commonalty
of England about the year 1350.
THE ECCENTRIC LADY LEWSON.
Mrs. Jane Lewson, widow, of Xo. 12, Coldbath Square, London, died
1816, aged 116. Mrs. Lewson, from the very eccentric style of her dress,
was almost universally recognised as Lady Lewson. She was born in
Essex Street, Strand, in the year 1 700, during the reign of William and
Mary ; and was married at an early age to a wealthy gentleman then
living in the house in which she died. She became a widow at the early
age of 26, having only one child, a daughter, living at the time. Mrs.
Lewson being left by her husband in affluent circumstances, though she
had many suitors, preferred to remain in a state of widowhood. When
her daughter married, being left alone, she became very fond of retire-
22 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
rnent, and rarely went out or permitted the visits of any ]>erson. For
the last thirty years of her life she had kept no servant, except one old
female, who died in 1806 ; she was succeeded by the old woman's grand-
daughter, who was married about 1813 ; and she was followed, in the
situation, by an old man, who attended the different houses in the square
to go on errands, clean shoes, &c. Mrs. Lewson took this man into her
house, and he acted as her steward, butler, cook, and housemaid ; and
with the exception of two old lap-dogs and a cat, he was her only com-
panion. The house she occupied was elegantly furnished, but after the
old style ; the beds were kept constantly made, although they had not
been slept in for about fifty years. Her apartment was only occasionally
pwept out, but never washed ; the windows were so encrusted with dirt
that they hardly admitted a ray of light to pass through them. She had
used to tell her acquaintance, that if the rooms were wetted, it might be
the occasion of her taking cold ; and as to cleaning the windows, she
observed that many accidents happened through that ridiculous practice :
the glass might be broke, and the person wounded, Avhen the expense of
repairing the one, and curing the other, would both fall upon her. A
large garden at the rear of the house was the only thing connected with
her establishment to which she really paid attention. This was always
kept in good order ; and here, when the weather permitted, she enjoyed
the air, or sometimes sat and read by way of pastime ; or else chatted on
times past with any of the few remaining acquaintances whoso visits she
permitted. She seldom visited any person except Mr. Jones, a grocer at
the corner of the square, with whom she dealt. She was so partial to
the fashions prevailing in her youthful days, that she never changed the
manner of her dress from that worn by ladies in the reign of George the
First. She always wore powder with a large toupee made of horsehair
on her head, nearly half a foot high, over which her front hair was turned
up ; a cap over it, which knotted under the chin, and three or four curls
hanging down her neck. She generally wore silk gowns, the train long
with a deep flounce all round, a very long narrow waist, very tightly
laced up to her neck, round which was a rutf or frill. The sleeves of her
gown, to which four or five large ruillcs were attached, came below the
elbow ; a large straw bonnet, quite flat, high heeled shoes, a full made
black silk cloak trimmed round with lace, and a gold-headed cane com-
pleted her every day costume for the last eighty years of her life, and in
which habiliments she occusionally walked round the square, when she
was uniformly spoken of by all spectators as Lady Lcirsuii. She never
practised ablutions of any kind, or hardly in any degree, because, as slu
alleged, those persons who washed themselves were always taking cold,
or laying the foundation of some dreadful disorder. Her method was In
besmear her face and neck all over with hog's lard, because that was soft
and lubricating ; and then, because she required a little colour iu her
cheeks to set oil' her IHTMUI to advantage, she had used to paint them with
rose-pink. Her manner of living was so methodical, that she would not
take her tea out of any other than a favourite cu|>. She \\a> equally
particular with respect to her knives, forks, plates, &u. At breakfast she
arranged, in a particular manner, the paraphernalia of her table ; at
MARVELLOUS, RARE,, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 223
dinner she always observed a particular rule as to the placing of the two
or three empty chairs, by which the table was surrounded, but herself
always sat in one favourite chair. She constantly enjoyed an excellent
state of health ; assisted at all times in regulating the affairs of her
household ; and never, until a little previous to her decease, had an hour's
illness. She entertained the greatest aversion to medicine ; and, what is
remarkable, cut two new teeth at the age of 87, and was never troubled
with the toothache. Towards the close of her life her sight failed her.
She lived in live reigns, and was believed to be the most faithful living
chronicler of the age. A few days previous to her decease, an old lady
Avho was her neighbour died suddenly, which had such an effect upon her
that she frequently said her time was also come, and she should soon
follow. She enjoyed the use of all her faculties till that period, when she
became weak and took to her bed ; but steadily refused all medical aid ;
her conduct to a few relations was extremely capricious; and she would
never see any of them ; and it was not until a few hours before her disso-
lution that any relaxation in her temper was manifested. She was in-
terred in Bunhill Fields burying-ground.
WHEN FIRE ENGINES WERE FIRST MADE.
The Phoenix was the tirst fire office established, in 1682. There were
used in towns squirts, or syringes for extinguishing fire, which did not
exceed two or three feet in length. These yielded to the Fire Engine,
with leathern pipes, Avhich was patented in 1676. Water-tight, seam-
less hose was made in Eethnal Green in 1720. About this date
s. d.
A fire engine and pipe for Lyme cost . . ,600
A square pipe, 23 feet long . . . . 1 18
12 leather fire buckets 233
A Fire Engine was considered an appropriate present for an aspirant
to a borough. At Lewes, in 1726, T. Pelham, Esq., gave one, and
having been chosen representative in 1731, he presented a second.
EXTRAORDINARY CATARACT.
In the island of Piilo Penang, in the Straits of Malacca, there is a
cataract which is surpassed by very few in the four quarters of the earth.
It is rarely visited, and, therefore, has been but seldom described ; but,
those who have been fortunate enough to witness it, all agree in the
opinion that it forms one of the wonders of the world. The stream
which supplies it is of considerable volume, and after traversing a long
tract of comparatively level country, is suddenly precipitated almost
without a break into a ravine, nearly two hundred feet below the
summit of the fall. The annexed engraving gives an excellent
representation of the scene. The stream descends with a mighty
roar, and rushes on with a lightning speed. If you take the
trouble of bringing a small looking-glass in your pocket, and come
here about an hour before noon, you will be able to produce some
very beautiful artificial rainbows. But whatever you do, never
attempt to clamber to the top of the rocks, for though, doubtless,
224
TEX THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
the scenery is very sublime up there, the pathway is slippery and
dangerous in the extreme ; and the guides can tell* how two hapless
youths, officers belonging to a regiment stationed here some twenty
years ago, clambered up that hill, and how they shout, <1 with
impli on reaching yon summit, and waved their handkrnOii.-ts
ravely ; but they can also tell the gloomy and disastrous end of all
M i ; now the wild screams echoed far and wide, as both slipped and fell
ong into the surging torrent, and the sun shone brightly upon the
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 225
bright red uniforms as they were hurried over the precipice, and
dashed from rock to rock ; 'and, whilst yet the horror-stricken spec-
tators gazed with speechless agony and terror, the bodies of the poor
young men were borne away and hid by the blood-stained waters
from human recovery.
DANCES OF THE NATIVES IX NEW SOUTH WALES.
The manners and customs of the uncivilized are always legitimate
objects of wonder and curiosity to the civilized. It is on this account
that we give the above sketch of one of the festival dances of the natives
of Australia.
These dances are not only the usual close of their combats, but are
frequent in time of peace. They appear almost necessary to stir up
their blood ; and under the excitement they produce, the whole nature
of the people seems to be changed. To a spectator the effect of one of
these exhibitions almost equals that of a tragic melo-drama.
A suitable place for the performance is selected in the neighbourhood
of their huts. Here a fire is built by the women and boys, while such
of the men as are to take a share in the exhibition, usually about twenty
in number, disappear to arrange their persons. When these prepara-
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
tions are completed, and the fire burns brightly, the performers are seen
advancing in the giiise of as many skeletons. This effect is produced by
means of pipe clay, with which they paint broad white lines on their
arms and legs, and on the head, while others of less breadth are drawn
across the body, to correspond to the ribs. The music consists in beating
time on their shields, and singing, and to it the movements of the dancers
conform. It must not be supposed that this exhibition is a dance in our
sense of the word. It consists of violent and odd movements of the arms,
legs, and body, contortions and violent muscular actions, amounting
almost to frenzy. The performers appear more like a child's pasteboard
supple-jack than anything human in their movements.
This action continues for a time, and then the skeletons, for so they
apear to be, since they truly resemble them, suddenly seem to vanish and
n-appear. The disappearance is effected by merely turning round, for
the figures n.re painted only in front, and their dusky f'oims are lost by
mingling with the dark background. The trees, illuminated by the
fire, are brought out with some of the figures in bold relief, while others
were indistinct and ghost-like. All concurs to give an air of wild-
ness to the strange scene. As the dance proceeds, the excitement
increases, and those who a short time before appear only half alive,
become full of animation, and finally are obliged to stop from
exhaustion.
A rUDDIXG AS AX ADVE11TISKMKXT.
The following fact is interesting, inasmuch as it gives us an insight
into the popular tastes of the period, and the power of mob-law :
In 1718, -lames Austin, inventor of the Persian ink powder, invited
his customers to a feast. There was a pudding promised, which was to
be boiled fourteen days, instead of seven hours, and for which he alh\ved
a chaldron of coals. It weighed 900 pounds. The copper for boiling it
was erected at the lied Lion in Southwark Park, where crowds went to
see it ; and when boiled, it was to be conveyed to the Swan Tavern, Fish
Street Hill, to the tune of "What lumps 'of pudding my mother gave
me." The place was changed to the Rest oration Gardens in St. George's
Fields, in consequence of the numerous company expected, and the
pudding set out in procession with banners, streamers, drums, &c., but
the mob chased it on the way and carried all oft'.
THE DESOLATION OF EYAJI.
The ancient custom of hanging a garland of white roses, made of
writing paper, and a pair of \\liite gloves over the pew of the unmarricil
villagers who die in the ilo\\er of their age, prevailed up to the year 1837
in the village of Fyam, and in most other villages and little towns in the
Peak of Derbyshire. In the year l<>(!o, the plague \\as conveyed to this
unfortunate village, which for a time hud been chieily confined to Lon-
don. The infection, it appears, was carried in a box of woollen clothes;
the tailor, to whom they were directed was, together with his family, the
immediate \ictiins of this fatal importation; and a few days siillircd to
conliriii the fact, that the entire hamlet was deeply infected. A general
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 227
panic ensued, the worthy and truly Christian Rector, the Rev. William
Mompesson, at this eventful and awful crisis, summoned the parish, and
after energetically stating the case, and declaring his decided intention of
remaining at his post, induced his hearers to adopt the measures he was
about to propose, if not for their own preservation, at least for the more
important cause, the preservation of the surrounding country. Eyam,
from this moment, like a besieged city, was cut off from the living world,
and to the zeal and fidelity of this ever-to-be -respected minister was con-
fided the present, as well as eternal welfare of those who were about to
prove to posterity, that devotion to their country, as well as to their God,
was combined in the truly Christian creed taugnt them by this reverend
man. But alas ! it was the will of the Almighty that the ranks of this
devoted nock should be rapidly thinned, though Mr. and Mrs. Mompesson
had been hitherto spared ; but in August, the latter was carried off bv
the fatal disease, in the 27th year of her age ; her monument may still
be seen at no great distance from the chancel door. A number of grave-
stones, bearing date 1666, ^in the church-yard, show that for a time, at
least, the dead had been deposited there in the usual manner. Soon after
the death of Mrs. Mompesson, the disorder began to abate, and in about
two months might be said to have entirely ceased. The pious and
amiable Rector was graciously preserved.
CUKIOrS PLAY BILL.
The following remarkable theatrical announcement is worth preserva-
tion, inasmuch as it forms a curious effusion of vanity and poverty, in the
shape of an appeal to the taste and feelings of the inhabitants of a town
in Sussex :
. (Copy.)
At the old theatre in East Grinstead, on Saturday, May oth, 1758, will
be represented (by particular desire, and for the benefit of Mrs. P.) the
deep and affecting Tragedy of Theodosius, or the Force of Love, with
magnificent scenes, dresses, &c.
Varanes, by Mr. P., who will strive, as far as possible, to support the
character of this fiery Persian Prince, in which he was so much admired
and applauded at Hastings, Arundel, Petworth, Midworth, Lewes, &c.
Theodosius, by a young gentleman from the university of Oxford, who
never appeared on any stage.
Athenais, by Mrs. P. Though her present condition will not permit
her to wait on gentlemen and ladies out of the town with tickets, she
hopes, as on former occasions, for their liberality and support.
Nothing in Italy can exceed the altar, in the first scene of the play.
Nevertheless, should any of the Nobility or Gentry wish to see it orna-
mented with flowers, the bearer will bring away as many as they choose
to favour him with.
As the coronation of Athenais, to be introduced in the fifth act, con-
tains a number of personages, more than sufficient to fill all the dressing
rooms, &c., it is hoped no gentlemen and ladies will be offended at being
refused admission behind the scenes.
N.B. The great yard dog, that made so much noise on Thursday night,
228 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
(hiring the last act of King Richard the Third, will be sent to a neigh-
bour's over the way ; and on account of the prodigious demand for places,
part of the stable will be laid into the boxes on one side, and the granary
be open for the same purpose on the other. Vivut Rex,
THE EAE OF BIEDS NOT TO BE DECEIVED.
The sense of hearing in birds is singularly acute, and their instinct
leads them instantly to detect the slightest variation in the song of
those of their own kind. The following is a laughable instance of this :
A bird-catcher, wishing to increase his stock of bullfinches, took out
his caged bird and his limed twigs, and placed them in such a situation
of hedge and bush as he judged favourable to his success. It so hap-
pened that his own bird was one of education, such as is usually termed
a piping bullfinch. . In the first instance a few accidentally thrown out
natural notes, or calls, had attracted three or four of his kindred
feather, which had now taken their station not far distant from the cage.
There they stood in doubt and curiosity, and presently moving inch by
inch, and hop by hop towards him and the fatal twigs, they again
became stationary and attentive. It was in this eager and suspended
moment that the piping bullfinch set up the old country-dance of
"Nancy Dawson." Away flew every astounded bullfinch as fast as
wings could move, in such alarm and confusion as bullfinches could feel
and they only can venture to describe.
FLYING COACH.
If the Exeter Flying Stage arrived from London at Dorchester in two
days, and at Exeter at the end of the third day, about 1739, the speed
must have been considered surprising. Those who made use of such a
conveyance were doubtless looked upon as presumptuous, neck-or-nothing
mortals.
There was a " Devizes chaise " from London at this time which took a
route through 1 leading, Newbury, and Marlborough.
There is a good house at Morcomb Lake, east of Charmouth, now no
longer in the road, owing to this having been diverted. This was a
road-side inn, where the judges slept. The Fly Coach from London to
K.xctrr K/fjif there the fifth night from town. The coach proceeded the
next morning to Axminster, where it breakfasted, and there a woman
barber shared the coach.
AN AGED SPIRIT DRINKER.
Daniel Bull M'Carthy, of the county of Kerry, Ireland, died 1752, aged
111. At the age of eighty-four he married a fifth wife, a girl little more
than fourteen years of age, by whom he had twenty children one every
subsequent year of his life. It was remarked that he was scarcely ever
seen to expectorate ; nor did any extent of cold ever seem to aft'ect him.
For the last seventy years of his life, when in company, he drank plenti-
fully of rum and brandy, which he always took neat; and, if in com-
pliance with solicitations he took wine or punch, always drank an equal
MARVELLOUS, BARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 229
sized glass of rum or brandy, which he designated a icedge. The tempe-
rature of his body was generally so hot that he could bear but little cloth-
ing, either by day or night upon his person.
GIAXI TREE.
There are few trees in the world like the giant tree in the island of
Pulo Penang, of which the annexed engraving is a correct representation.
It is one of the various kinds of palm, and some idea may be formed of
230 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
its height from the fact that it is twice as tall, and quite as straight, as
the mainmast of a line-of-battle ship ; there are no branches, no twigs
anywhere to he seen, save just at the very summit, and here they bend
over gracefully, something like what one would imagine a large-sized
palm-tree to be, if gazed at through Lord Itosse's telescope. It is a
only specimen of its kind to be met with in the whole island.
PUNISHING FALSE ACCUSERS.
Wisdom may sometimes be learned at a Quarter Sessions, and it
would be advantageous if we occasionally took a hint from our ancestors.
The magistrates at sessions in Charles the First's reign could and did
address themselves to questions arising between parties moving in humble
life, very important to them, and who could now-a-day in vain seek re-
dress in the same quarter. A modern Bridget might continue to charge
men with a breach of promise of marriage without legal measures being-
available against her. This was not so in 1626. Her case was con-
sidered, and her injurious conduct and mode of life were duly estimated,
with what result we shall learn from the following entry in the minute
book of a quarter sessions in Devonshire of that date : " Forasmuch
as it hath appeared unto this Court that Bridget Howsley of Langton,
spinster, liveth idly and lewdly at home, not betaking herself to any
honest course of life, and hath lately falsely and scandalously accused
one [left blank in the original] of Honiton, in Devon, challenging
a promise of marriage from him, which tended much to his disgrace, and
that she is a continual brawler and sower of strife and debate between
her neighbours, inhabitants of Langton aforesaid, this court doth there-
fore think fit and order that the said Bridget Howsley be forthwith com-
mitted to the House of Correction, there to be set on work and remain
for the space of six whole months, and from thenceforth until she shall
find very good sureties for her appearance at the next Sessions, after the
said six months shall be expired, or until she shall procure a master that
will take her into service."
A PHASE OF THE SOUTHCOTTIAN DELTJSIOX.
One of the most remarkable cases on record of combined knavery,
credulity, and superstition, is the belief whicli so extensively prevailed
about fifty years ago in the mission and doctrines of Joanna Southcott,
and of which, strange' to say, some traces remain even to the present day.
Is it not astonishing that so recently as the year 1S14, August 3rd, the
following paragraph which we believe gives a correct statement of the
facts should have appeared in the Courier newspaper!' "Joanna
Southcott lias lately given out that she expects in a fewwceks to become
the mother of the true Messiah. She is nearly seventy years of age. A
cradle of most expensive and magnificent materials has been bespoken by
a lady of fortune for the accouchement, and has been for some days ex-
hibited at the warehouse of an eminent cabinet maker in Aldersgate-street.
Hundreds of genteel persons of both sexes have heeii to see this cradle, in
which her followers believe the true Messiah is to be rocked. The follow-
ing has been given us a< a correct description : ' A child's crib, three feel
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
six inches, by two feet, of satin wood, with brass trellis, side and foot
board ; turned feet, carved and gilt, on castors ; a swing cot, inside
caned, to swing on centre ; at each end gilt mouldings, top and bottom
for gold letters ; a canopy cover, with blue silk ; carved and gilt under
it, a gold ball, and dove, and olive branch ; green stars at each corner,
gilt ; blue silk furniture ; an embroidered celestial crown, with Hebrew
characters, gold letters ; a lambs' -wool mattress, with white fustian
down bed, down pillow, and two superfine blankets.' "
HOUSEHOLD EXPENSES OF KING EDWARD THE FIRST.
Edward the First kept three Christmasses at Rhuddlan castle, in Flint-
shire ; and it is a fact not generally known, that his queen Eleanor, exclu-
sively of theyoung prince Edward, born at Caernarvon, was delivered of a
princess there in 1283. This shows that his entire household must have been
transferred into Wales, at the time his policy was directed to complete
the annexation of the principality of Wales to that of England. In an
ancient record in the tower of London, dated 1281-2, and translated by
Samuel Lysons, Esq., is a curious roll of Edward's expenses when at
Rhuddlan. It consists of four sheets, containing the particulars, under
proper heads, of the sums of money paid for the maintenance of his
household. The sum of the expenses in this roll is 1,395 10s., which
sum, with the expenses of the other roll of the queen's household is
2,220 2s. lOjd. The roll is very curious, but too long to be inserted
here. We append the following as a specimen of the various items it
contains :
Paid on the day of the queen's churching in oblations to
mass . . . . . . . . . . 3
The queen's gift to divers minstrels attending her churching 10
The queen's gift to a female spy 010
A certain female spy, to purchase her a house as a spy .100
For the brethren at the hospital at Rhuddlan . . .011
For a certain player as a gift . . . . . .080
For the celebration of mass for the soul of William de Bajor 1 10
For the messenger carrying letters to the long at London,
to be sent to the court of Rome, for his expenses . .010
Paid sundry bailiffs at the castle 4 10
For the carriage of 80 casks of wine from the water to
the castle 22
For a cart bringing lances and cross bows from Ruthlan
to Hope . .014
For the carriage of 3,000 from the king's wardrobe to
the queen's Avardrobe . . . . . . 10 5
For 600 turves, to place about the queen's stew pond in
the castle . ..' 010
Carriage of figs and raisins to Aberconway . . .001
Paid wages for 1,060 archers at twopence, with 53 cap-
tains at fotirpence, with 10 constables of cavalry at
12d. a day . 68 8 6
Paid the same for 1,040 archers, &e. &c. . ; . 67 4
232
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
GARKICK'S CTTP.
This celebrated Shakspearean relic was presented to David Garrick, by
the Mayor and Corporation of Stratford-upon-Avon, in September,
1769, at the Jubilee which he
instituted in hongur of his fa-
vourite Bard. It measures about
11 inches in height. The tree
from which it is carved was
planted by Shakspeare's own
hand, in the year 1609, and after
having stood 147 vears, was, in
an evil hour, anct when at its
full growth and remarkably
large, cut down, and cleft to
pieces for lire-wood, by order of
the llev. Francis Gastrell, to
whom it had become an object
of dislike, from its subjecting
him to the frequent importuni-
ties of travellers. Fortunately,
the greater part of it fell into
the possession of Mr. Thomas
Sharp, a Avatchmaker of Strat-
ford, who, " out of sincere vene-
ration" for the memorv of its
immortal planter, and well know-
ing the value the world set upon
it, converted the fragments to
uses widely differing from that
to which they had been so sacri-
legiously condemned. Garriek
held this cup in his hand at
the Jubilee, while he sung tin
beautiful and well-known air, which he had composed for the occasion,
beginning
" IMiold this fair goblet, 'twas carved from the tree.
Which, () my sweet Shakspcare, was planted by thcc ;
As a relic I kiss it, and bow at the shrine,
What conies from thy hand must be ever divine !
All shall yield to the Mulberry tree,
Mi'iid to thce,
lili-st Mulberry ;
Matchless was he
"VVho planted thc<>,
And thou like him immortal be ! "
QUICK WORK.
Mr. John Coxcttcr, of Grcenham Mills, Newbury, had two South
down sheep shorn at his factory exactly at five o'clock in the morning,
from the wool of which, after passing its various processes, a complete
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
233
damson coloured coat was made, and worn by Sir John Throckmorton,
at a quarter past six in the evening, being two and three-quarter hours
within the time allotted, for a wager of 1,000 guineas. The sheep were
roasted whole, and a sumptuous dinner given by Mr. Coxctter.
ORIGIN OF THE GREAT WALL OF CIIIXA.
As has been invariably the case in the early history of all the leading
nations of the earth, great confusion and civil discord existed in the
empire of China in its first stages. It was divided into petty prince-
doms, each prince striving to outwit the other, and all anxiously aiming
at the supreme power of the land, till the Emperor Chi-hoang-ti, who
came to the throne aboiit three hundred years before the Christian era,
conquered the whole of the jealous petty princes, and united their states
into one vast empire. But no sooner had he achieved this, than the
Tartars began to be troublesome, and, hoping effectually to exclude their
invasions, this emperor caused to be constructed the often-read-of great
wall of China, a stupendous work of masonry, extending from the sea
to the western province of Shensee and carried over a tract of fifteen
hundred miles, comprising high mountains, deep valleys, and broad
rivers, the wall being supported over the latter by gigantic arches.
Fortified towers were erected at every hundred yards, and its summit
admitted of six horsemen riding abreast. This sovereign is said to be
the founder of the Hau dynasty. The wall proved an insignificant
234 TEX THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
barrier to the Huns or Tartars, who harassed the princes of the Hau
dynasty, and were a very scourge to the farmers of the frontier pro-
vinces. About the year 201, the Hau dynasty gave way to the Tsin,
which latter was founded by a lineal descendant, through many gene-
rations, of the builder of the great w*>.ll. In the sketch which we have
given, our chief object has been to show the extraordinary inflexibility
of the Chinese in carrying their Avail strictly along their frontier line,
in spite of the stupendous obstacles which, intervened in the shape of
mountains and valleys.
PRIVY PURSE EXPENSES OF CHARLES II.
Malone, the well known editor of Shakespeare, possessed a curious
volume an account of the privy expenses of Charles II, kept by Baptist
May. A few extracts from this MS., takeji from. Malone's transcripts,
are here offered :
s. d. j s. d.
My Lord St. Alban's bill . 1,746 18 11 For weighing: the king .... 100
Lady Castlcmaine's debts
Sir E. Vincr, for plate . .
For grinding cocoa-nuts
Paid Laily ('., play money
1,116 1 Paid Hall for dancing on the
850 ; rope 20
580 The Queen's allowance 1,250
300 Paid Lord Lauderdale for
For a band of music 50 ballads 5
To the footman that beat i To a bone-setter attending
Teaguc ') 7 ?> the Duchess of Moiunouth 10
To Mr. Pears, for the charges Paid Terry for waiting on
of a body dissected before thekucnraBBUBC 10
the king 5 1 For 3,685 ribbons for the
Lady C., play money 300
To the Morrice Dancers at Ely 110
''., play money ". 300
.Mr. 'Knight for bleeding the Nell (iwyn 100
king 10 10 j Lost by the kin g at pla\ on
healing 107 10 4
Mrs. ISlague, the king's
valentine .. . 218
For a receipt of chocolate .. 227
Mr. Price, for milking the
10
Twelfth-night '. . . . 220
Paid what wsis borrowed for
the Countess of Castle-
To one that showed tumblers' maine 1,650
tricks 5 7 6,
COLOTJE OF THE HAT FOK ( A KIHN AI.s.
Innocent IV. first made the hat the symbol or cognixance of the car-
dinals, enjoining them to wear a red hat at the ceremonies and proces-
sions, /// taken nf flu'ir b/'inij rctidy to spill their blood for Jesus Christ.
si;\i-;i;m or mi: LAWS A iirM>Ki:i> YI;VKS AI,O.
Two lads were hanged for stealing a purse containing two shillings and
a brass counter. Of ten criminals emu ieted at one sessions, tour \\vre
hanged and six transported. Very often half a doxen were sentenced to
death at a single sessions. On the 17th March, l~~>~>, eight malefactors
were hanged together at Tyburn. It was recorded as a matter ol'sm ^rise,
that, "<>nly MX <-OH\ ids received sentence of death at Gloucester Assi/es."
One of these was a woman named Anne Ockley, who was executed on the
following ,lj,y, on the charge of murdering an illegitimate child. To the
last she denied her guilt, except in not having called in medical advice
MARVELLOUS, HARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 235
for her infant after a bad fall. She took the Sacrament, and begged for
more time to prepare herself for the change ; this favour being denied,
she remained praying for two hours on the drop before she would give
the signal.
MARKING THE KING'S DISHES AVITH THE COOK'S NAMES.
King George II. was accustomed every other year to visit his German
dominions, with the greater part of the officers of his household, and espe-
cially those belonging to the kitchen. Once on his passage at sea, his
first cook was so ill with the sea-sickness, that he could not hold up his
head to dress his majesty's dinner ; this being told to the king, he was
exceedingly sorry for it, as he was famous for making a Rhenish soup,
which his majesty was very fond of; he therefore ordered inquiry to be
made among the assistant-cooks, if any of them could make the above
soup. One named Weston (father of Tom Weston, the player) under-
took it, and so pleased the king, that he declared it was full as good as
that made by the first cook. Soon after the king's return to England,
the first cook died ; when the king was informed of it, he said, that his
steward of the household always appointed his cooks, but that he would
now name one for himself, and therefore asking if one Weston was still
in the kitchen, and being answered that he was, " That man," said he,
" shall be my first cook, for he makes most excellent Rhenish soup."
This favour begot envy among all the servants, so that, when any dish
was found fault with, they used to say it was Weston' s dressing : the
king took notice of this, and said to the servants, it was very extraordi-
nary that every dish he disliked should happen to be Weston' s ; "In
future," said he, " " let every dish be marked with the name of the cook
that makes it." By this means the king detected their arts, and from
that time Weston's dishes pleased him most.
This custom was kept up till late in the reign of George III.
PARLOUS DAYS.
Bloodletting, considered during the last century to be necessary for
every one in health or not, at spring and fall, was an operation performed
by the country surgeons on the labourers on a Sunday morning, at a
charge of 6d. each. Bleeding in bed by a barber was, in the reign of
Charles II., sometimes charged, for a lady, so high as 10s., and for a
gentleman, Is. and 2s. 6d. The operator perhaps harboured the patient
at an additional charge. Barbouring by the year was charged 16s.
Superstition had marked certain days in each month as dangerous for
bloodletting, which were called parlous days. In July, the 1st, 7th,
13th, 12th, 25th, and 20th were of the above kind.
As the whole population had recourse to bloodletting twice a year,
bleeders or barbers were in constant demand.
A FUNERAL APPROPRIATELY CONDUCTED.
During the year 1700, the minister of a parish in Kent was interred at
the age of 96 years ; the gentleman who preached his funeral sermon was
236
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS
82 ; he who read the sendee 87 ; the clerk of the parish was the same
age ; the sexton was 86 ; in addition to which list of aged persons, there
were several present from the adjacent parishes 100 years old each, and
upwards.
ANCIKN'T NUT-CKA.CKEES.
The two quaint instruments pictured in our engraving, of about the
time of Charles I. or II., are made of hard wood rather rudely carved ;
and look as if in their time they had seen good service. The grotesque
heads, with the mouth, affording the means of cracking the nuts, are
examples of the fitness of design for a particular purpose, which charac-
icri/t- many of the objects in domestic use in the middle ages, and up to
the reign yi' Queen Anne, after which ornamental art for household uses
MARVELLOUS, HARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 237
seems almost to have been disused. Even in the time of George III., our
chairs, tables, side-boards, &c., were made heavy, very ugly, and without
any attempt at appropriate pattern.
NELL GWYXXE S LOOKING-GLASS.
This glass is in the possession of Sir Page Dicks, of Port Hall. It
bears the likeness of Xell Gwynne and King Charles, which are modelled
in wax ; and also the supporters, or crest, which Xell assumed, namely,
the lien and the leopard. The whole is curiously worked in coloured
glass beads, and the figures, with the dresses, made to project in very
high relief ; indeed, they are merely attached to the groundwork. In
the upper compartment is Charles in his state dress ; and the bottom
one, that of Nell Gwynne, in her court dress the pattern of which is
238 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
very tasteful. On the right is Charles in his hunting dross. The heads
have retained their colours, which are very appropriate to the subject,
and must have heen a work of considerable time and patience ; but
whether done by Nell or not, there is no record.
A REMARKABLE HIGHLANDER.
In August, 1827, John Macdonald expired in his son's house, in the
Lawiiniarket, Edinburgh, at the advanced age of one hundred and seven
years. He was born in Glen Tinisdale, in the Isle of Skye, and, like the
other natives of that quarter, was bred to rural labour. Early one
morning in his youth, when looking after his black cattle, he was sur-
prised by the sight of two ladies, as he thought, winding slowly round a
hill, and approaching the spot where he stood. When they came up,
they inquired for a well or stream, where a drink of water could be ob-
tained. He conducted them to the " Virgin Well," an excellent spring,
which was held in great reverence on account of its being the scene of
some superstitious and legendary tales. When they had quenched their
thirst, one of the ladies rewarded Macdonald with a shilling, the rirst
silver coin of which he was possessed. At their own request he escorted
them to a gentleman's house at some distance, and there, to his great
surprise and satisfaction, he learned that the two "ladies" were Flora
Macdonald and Prince Charles Stewart.
This was the proudest incident in Macdonald's patriarchal life ; and,
when surrounded by his Celtic brethren, he used to dilate on all the re-
lative circumstances with a sort of hereditary enthusiasm, and more than
the common garrulity of age. He afterwards turned joiner, and bore a
conspicuous part in the building of the first Protestant church which was
erected in the island of North Uist. He came to Edinburgh twenty-
three years before his death, and continued to work at his trade till he
was ninety-seven years of age.
Macdonald was a temperate, regular-living man, and never paid a
sixpence to a surgeon for himself, nor had an hour's sickness in the
whole coxirse of his life. He used to dance regularly on New-year's day,
along with some Highland friends, to the bagpipe. On New-year's day,
1825, he danced a reel with the father, the son, the grandson, and great-
grandson, and was in more than his usual spirits. His hearing was no-
thing impaired, and till within three weeks of his demise he could have
threaded the finest needle with facility, without glasses.
CATS WITH KNOTTED TAlI.s.
We extract the following paragraph from the narrative of a voyager in
the Indian Ocean, because it contains an account of a rarity in natural
history with which few, we believe, are acquainted.
" The steward is again pillowed on his beloved salt nsh, and our only
companion is a Malacca cat, who has also an attachment for the steward s
pilltiw. Puss is a tame little creature, and comes rubbing herself mildly
against our shoes, looking up in our faces, and mewing her thoughts.
Doubtless she is surprised that you have been so long looking at her
without noticing the peculiarity in her tail, which so much distinguishes
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 239
her from the rest of the feline race in other quarters of the globe. Take
her up in your lap, and see for yourself. Did you ever observe such a
singular knot so regular, too, in its formation ? Some cruel monster
must have tied it in a knot whilst puss was yet a kitten, and she has
outlived both the pain and inconvenience. But here comes a kitten, all
full of gambols and fun, and we find that her tail is in precisely the
same condition. So, then, this is a remarkable feature amongst the
whole race of Malayan cats, but for which, no one we meet with, is able
to give us a satisfactory explanation."
CURIOUS FEATS.
In 1553, the following extraordinary exhibition was performed in the
presence of Queen Mary, in her passage through London to West--
minster. It is thus described by Holinshed, in his " Chronicle,"
printed 1577: "AVhenshee didd come to Sainte Paule's church yarde,
Maister Haywood sat in a pageant under a vine, and made to her an
oration in Latine ; and then there was one Peter, a man of Holland, who
didd stand upon the weathercocke of St. Paule's steeple, holdyng a
streamer in his handes of five yardes long, and waving thereof. Hee
sometimes stood on one foot and shook the other, and then hee kneeled on
his knees to the verie grate marvel of al the people. Hee hadd made
two scaffolds under him one above the cross, having torches and
streamers sett xipon it, and another over the ball of the cross, likewise
sett with streamers and torches which could not burne, the wind was so
greate." Our chronicler further informs us, that "Peter didd have
xvi pounds xiii shillings and iii pence given to him by the citie of Lon-
don for his costes and pains, and for all his stuffe."
IMPUDENCE OR CANDOUR, "WHICH IS IT ?
The following advertisement appeared in the St. James's Chronicle of
1772. " Wanted immediately, fifteen hundred, or two thousand pounds,
by a person not worth a groat ; w r ho, having neither houses, land, annui-
ties, or public funds, can offer no other security than that of simple bond,
bearing simple interest, and engaging the repapnent of the sum
borrowed in five, six, or seven years, as may be agreed on by the parties.
Whoever this may suit, (for it is hoped it will suit somebody), by direct-
ing a line for A. Z. in Rochester, shall be immediately replied to, or
waited on, as may appear necessary."
THE SOUTH STACK LIGHT-HOUSE.
Though not so celebrated as the Eddystone, the South Stack Light-
house is unquestionably one of the marvels of science, and as such may
be appropriately described in our pages. It is erected on the summit
of an isolated rock, three or four miles westward from Holyhead, and
separated from the main land by a chasm ninety feet in width. This
splendid structure was raised in the year 1808. The elevation of the
summit of the rock on which it is erected is 140 feet above the level of
the sea at high- water mark ; the height of the tower, from the base to
the gallery, is sixty feet ; and the lantern is twelve feet high from the
240
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS
gallery ; making the total elevation of the light 212 feet ahove high-
water mark. The light is produced by twenty-one brilliant lamps, with
powerful reflectors, placed on a revolving triangular frame, displaying a
full-faced light every two minutes, which, in clear weather, is distinctly
visible at a distance of ten leagues. Latterly there has been an addi-
tion of three red lights placed at the rock, which are more distinctly
visible in foggy weather than the light-house lights. The rough sea
caused by the strong tides about the head rendered the communication
by boat very precarious. In order to obviate the danger, a passage was
contrived by means of two ropes thrown across the gulf, along which the
individual was drawn in a box or cradle, by the assistance of pulleys
atiixed at each end. This plan was superseded by a bridge of ropes,
which was used some years after, though always considered unsafe, on
account of the constant wear of the ropes. In 1827, a modern sus-
pension chain-bridge was thrown over the sound, the span of which is
110 feet, the chains being firmly bolted in the rock on each side, and
carried over two massive stone pillars erected for the purpose. The
chain supports a platform of timber live feet wide, and seventy feet
above high-water mark. The bridge is attained by descending the
irolyhcad mountain in a zigzag direction by a tlight of 380 steps.
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
BRASS JTEDAL OF OTTR SAVIOUR.
241
In 1702, the late Rev. H. Rowlands, author of lion a Antiqua, while
superintending the removal of some stones, near Aberfraw, Wales, for
the purpose of making an antiquarian research, found a beautiful brass
medal of our Saviour, in a tine state of preservation, which he forwarded
to his friend and countryman, the Rev. E. Llwyd, author of the
Archeoloi/ifc Brltanincu, and at that time keeper of the Ashmolean
library at Oxford.
This medal, of which an engraving is subjoined, has on one side
the figure of a head exactly answering the description given by Publius
Lentulus of our Saviour, in a letter sent by him to the emperor Tiberius
and the senate of Rome. On the reverse side, it has the following legend
or inscription, written in Hebrew characters, " This is Jesus Christ, the
Mediator or Reconciler;" or "Jesus, the Great Messias, or Man Media-
tor." And being found among the ruins of the chief Druids resident
in Anglesea, it is not improbable that the curious relic belonged to some
Christian connected with Bran the Blessed, who was one of Caractacus's
hostages at Rome from A.D. o2 to 59, at which time the Apostle Paul
was preaching the gospel of Christ at Rome. In two years afterwards,
A.D. 61, the Roman General Suetonius extirpated all the Druids in the
island. The following is a translation of the letter alluded to, a very
antique copy of which is in the possession of the family of Kellie, after-
wards Lord Kellie, now represented by the Earl of Mar, a very ancient
Scotch family taken from the original at Rome :
" There hath appeared in these our days, a man of great virtue, named
Jesus Christ, who is yet living among us, and of the Gentiles is accepted
as a prophet, but his disciples call him ' the Son of God.' He raiseth
the dead, and cures all manner of diseases ; a man of stature somewhat
tall and comely, with very reverend countenance, such as the beholders
both love and fear ; his hair the colour of chesnut, full ripe, plain to
his ears, whence downwards it is more orient, curling, and waving about
his shoulders. In the midst of his head is a seam or a partition of his
hair after the manner of the Xazarites ; his forehead plain and very
delicate ; his face without a spot or -wrinkle, beautified with the most
242
TEX THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
lovely red ; his nose and mouth so formed that nothing can be repre-
hended ; his beard thickish, in colour like his hair, not very long but
forked ; his look ; innocent and mature ; his eyes, grey, clear, and quick.
In reproving, he is terrible; in admonishing, courteous and fair spoken;
pleasant in conversation, mixed with gravity. It cannot be remarked
that any one saw him laugh, but many have seen him. weep. In pro-
portion of body, most excellent ; his hands and arms most delicate to
behold. In speaking, very temperate, modest, and wise. A man, for
his singular beauty, surpassing the children of men ! "
The representation of this sacred person which is in the Bodleian
library, somewhat resembles that of the print of this medal, when com-
pared together. It was taken from a likeness engraved in agate, and
gent as a present from the sultan for the release of his brother, who was
taken prisoner. There is a well-executed drawing of this at the Mostyn
library, much worse for age.
^lOXSTEOrS HEAD-DRESS.
At no period in the history of the world was anything more absurd
in head-dress worn than that here depicted, which was in vogue
with the fashionables of 1782. The body of this erection was
formed of tow, over which the hair was
turned, and false hair added in great curls,
bobs, and ties, powdered to profusion ; then
hung all over with vulgarly-large rows of
' pearls, or glass beads, fit only to decorate a
chandelier ; flowers as obtrusive were stuck
about this heap of finery, which was sur-
mounted by broad silken bands and great
ostrich-feathers, until the head-dress of a
lady added three feet to her stature, and the
male sex, to use the words of the Spectator,
" became suddenly dwarfed beside her." To
effect this, much time and trouble was wasted,
and great personal annoyance was suffered.
Heads, when properly dressed, "kept for
three weeks," as the barbers quietly phrased
it ; that they would not really " keep longer
may be seen by the many recipes they give for
the destruction of insects which bred in the
flour and pomatum so liberally bestowed upon
them. The description of " opening a lady's head," after a three weeks'
dressing, given in the magazines of this period, it would be imagined,
would have taught the ladies common sense ; but fashion could reconcile
even the disgust that must have been felt by all.
TRICE OF HUMAN II A IK.
Long flaxen hair was bought from the bead at 10s. the ounce, and any
other tine hair at os. or 7s. the ounce in 16G2.
Within the present century the heads of hair of whole families in
,'
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT ; 243
Devonshire were let out by the year at so much rent per poll. An Exeter
perriwig maker went round periodically, cut the locks, and oiled the
numskull of each thus left in stubble.
INTERESTING AND FANCIFUL RELIQUE.
The enamelled jewel, of which we give an engraving, was presented
by Mary, Queen of Scots, to George Gordon, fourth Earl of Huntley.
The precise period at which the gift was made is not now known, though
the time was not improbably during the residence of the Queen in France,
when the Order of St. Michael was conferred on the Duke of Chatel-
herault, the Earl of Huntley, and several other Scottish nobles,
about 154S. The lock of Mary's
hair which is attached to the
small ivory skull, is of a light
auburn, inclining to a gold-
colour ; and if allowance be made
for some fading in the course of
years, and for the hair of the
Queen having generally become
darker as she advanced in life,
the accuracy of Melvil will be
confirmed, when, in speaking of
her after her return to Scotland,
he says, "her hair was light
auburn ; Elizabeth's more red
than yellow." In this particu-
lar little reliance can be placed
upon the portraits of Queen
Mary ; since it is well known,
that in the latter part of her
life, it was a fashionable practice
to wear false hair of various
hues, though in some of her pic-
tures the colour of the locks is
nearly similar to the hue of that
represented in the present. The
skull, from which it issues is
connected by a twisted skein of
silk with the figure of a Cupid shooting an arrow, standing on
a heart enamelled red, transfixed with a dart. On one side the
heart is a setting for a precious stone, now vacant ; and, on the other,
in white letters, the words " Willingly Wounded." From the point of
the heart is a pendant, containing on one side a small ruby, and
having the other enamelled blue with an ornament in white. Our
engraving represents one side of the jewel, of the exact size of the
original.
FASTIDIOUSNESS IN DRESS AT AN OLD AGE.
John Benbow, of Xorthwood, in the parish of Frees, Salop, died 1806,
agsd 107. His occupation was that of a maker of clocks and watches.
244 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
If is steadiness of hand, clearness of intellect, and complete command of
all his faculties, were such that, till within a very few years of his de-
cease, he was enabled to execute, the most intricate and delicate manipu-
lations connected with his business. He lived in three centuries ; and,
at the time of his decease, had a son, a grandson, and several great-
grandchildren, living in the house with him. He was remarkable for
industry, sobriety, early rising, and soon retiring to rest, and was uni-
versally respected for his integrity and ingenuity. His favourite bever-
age was " small beer " brewed of molasses. To the very close of his life
he was remarkable for his extreme attention to his dress and everything
relating to his personal appearance, as will be seen by the following
anecdote. About three years before his death, his tailor brought him
home a new coat ; on examining which he discovered that. the man,
either through not being provided with the necessary material or inad-
vertence, had substituted a cloth collar for a velvet one, which he \vas
accustomed to have added to his garment. Mortified at this circumstance,
and learning that the tailor had not velvet of the necessary quality by
him, he took up his walking-stick and straitway went off to Whitchurch,
a distance of seven miles, to purchase the materials proper to make a new
collar, and, to the astonishment of all his family, returned home in a few
liours.
surEESTmox OF THE JAVA?.
Nowhere has superstition a greater power over the human mind than
among the inhabitants of Java.
\Vhen 1he proper chord is touched, there is scarcely anything too gross
for the belief of these islanders. Mr. Crawfurd relates that some yens
since, it was almost accidentally discovered, that the skull of a buffalo
was superstitiously conveyed from one part of the island to another. The
point insisted upon was, never to let it rest, but to keep it in constant
progressive motion. It was carried in a basket, and no sooner was one
pcr-on relieved from the load than it was taken up by another; for the
understanding was, that some dreadful imprecation was denounced
against the* man who should let it rest. In tnis manner, the scull was
hurried from one province to another, and after a circulation of many
hundred miles, at leii-lh reached the town of Samarang, the Dutch
governor of which sei/ed it, and threw it into the sea, and thus the spell
was broken. The Javanese expressed no resentment, and nothing further
was heard of this unaccountable transaction, ^ione could tell how or
win-re it originated.
The same writer relates a still more extraordinary instance of infatua-
tion. During the occupation of Java by the English, in the month of
Mav 1*11, it was unexpectedly discovered, that, in a remote but popu-
IOM- part of the island, a road, leading to tin- top of the mountain of
Sumbcng, one of the highest in Java, had been constructed. An enquiry
'in foot, it was discovered that the delusion which gave i
. rk had its origin in the province of Hanyunas, in the teiritories of
the Siisunan, and that the infection had spread to the territory of the
Sultan, and thence extended to that of the Europeans. On examination
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
a road was found constructed twenty feet broad, and from fifty to sixty
miles long, and it was wonderfully smooth and well made. One point
which appears to have been considered necessary, was, that this road
should not cross rivers, and in consequence it wound in a thousand ways.
Another point as peremptorily insisted on was, that its straight course
should not be interrupted by any private rights ; and in consequence trees
and houses were overturned to make way for it. The population of whole
districts, occasionally to the amount of five or six thousand labourers,
were employed on the road, and, among a people disinclined to active ex-
ertion the laborious work was nearly completed in two months -such was
the effect of the temporary enthusiasm with which they were inspired.
It was found in the sequel that the whole work was set in motion by an
old woman, who dreamt, or pretended to have dreamt, that a divine
personage was about to descend from heaven on the mountain in question.
Pifity suggested the propriety of constructing a road to facilitate his des-
cent ; and it was rumoured that divine vengeance would pursue the
sacrilegious person who refused to join in the meritorious labour. These
reports quickly wrought on the fears and ignorance of the people, and
they heartily joined in the enterprise. The old woman distributed slips
of palm-leaves to the labourers, with magic letters written upon them,
which were charms to secure them against sickness and accidents. When
this strange affair was discovered by the native authorities, orders were
issued to desist from the work, and the inhabitants returned without a
murmur to their wonted occupations.
SIZE OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS.
The exact size of our own country is a legitimate object of ciiriosity.
We believe the following will be found strictly accurate :
The area of England is estimated at 31,929,340 acres.
Wales 4,320,000
Scotland 16,240,000
S. Isles adjacent to the coast 1,055,080
W. Isles 851,200
Orkneys 153,606
Shetlands 643,840
CASE CONTAINING THE HEART OF LORD EDWARD BRUCE.
Lord Edward Bruce was eldest son of Sir Edward, baron of Kinloss, so
created by James I. in 1603, to whom the king gave the dissolved abbey
of Kinloss, in Ayrshire, after he had been instrumental in his succession
to the crown of England ; whither accompanying the king, he was made
master of the Rolls in 1604, died in 1610, and was buried in the Rolls
chapel. His son, the lord Edward, killed in duel by Sir Edward Sack-
ville in 1613, was succeeded by his brother, who was created Earl of
Elgin in 1633, and an English baron in 1641.
Sir Edward Sackville, by whose hand the Lord Edward Bruce fell,
was younger brother to Richard Sackville, Earl of Dorset, on whose death
he succeeded to the title. He was lord president of the council, a joint
lord keeper, and filled several other distinguished offices under Charles I.,
246 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
to whom he adhered, by whose side he fought at the battle of Edge-hill,
and whose death he took so much to heart, that he never afterwards
stirred out of his house in Salisbury-court, but died there on the 17th of
July, 1652.
Between these noblemen there arose a quarrel, which terminated in
their duel ; and all that is, or probably can be known respecting it, is
contained in the following correspondence, preserved in a manuscript in
Queen's college library, Oxford.
^~ " -
A JLniniciir, Monsieur
" I that am in France, hear how much you attribute to yourself in
this time, that I have given the world leave to ring your praises ; and
for me, the truest almanack, to tell you how much I suffer. If you call
to memory, when as I gave you my hand last, I told you I reserved the
heart for a truer leconcilliation. Now be that noble gentleman, my love
once spoke, and come and do him right that could recite the tryais you
owe your birth and country, were I not confident your honour gives you
the same courage to do me right, that it did to do me wrong. EC
master of your own weapons and time; the place wheresoever, I will
wait on you. By doing this, you shall shorten revenge, and clear the
idle opinion the world hath of both our worths.
"ED. BKL-CK."
A Monsieur, Ifnnsiriir Huron lie Kinlnss.
" As it shall be al\v;iys far from me to seek a quarrel, so will I always
be ready to meet with any that is desirous to make tryal of my valour,
by so fair a course as you require. A witness whereof yourself shall be,
who, within a month, shall reeeive a strict account of time, place and
weapon, where you shall tind me ready disposed to give honourable
satislnetion, by h'im that shall conduct you thither . In the mean time,
be as secret of the appointment, as it seems you are desirous of it.
"E. SACKVILE."
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
247
A Monsieur, Monsieur Baron dc Kinloss.
"I am at Tcrgose, a town in Zeland, to give what satisfaction your
sword can render you, accompanied with a worthy gentleman for my
second, in degree a knight. And, for your coming, I will not limit you
a peremptory day, but desire you to make a definite and speedy repair,
foi your own honour, and fea'r of prevention ; at which time you shall
find me there.
Tenjose, Wth of August, 1613. " E. SACKVILE."
A Monsieur, Monsieur Sackvile.
" I have received your letter by your man, and acknowledge you have
dealt nobly with me ; and now I come, with all possible haste, to meet
you.
" E. BEUCE."
The combat was fierce, and fatal to Lord Bruce.
It has always been presumed that the duel was fought under the walls
of Antwerp ; but the combatants disembarked at Bergen-op-Zoom, and
fought near that town, and not Antwerp.
In consequence of a tradition, that the heart of Lord Edward Bruce
had been sent from Holland, and
interred in the vault or burying-
ground adjoining the old abbey
church of Culross, in Perthshire,
Sir Robert Preston directed a
search in that place in 1808, with
the following result: Two fiat
stones, without inscription, about
four feet in length and two in
breadth, were discovered about
two feet below the level of the
pavement, and partly under an
old projection in the wall of the
old building. These stones were
strongly clasped together with
iron ; and when separated, a
silver case, or box, of foreign
workmanship, shaped like aheart,
was found in a hollow or ex-
cavated place between them.
Its lid was engraved with the arms and name " Lord Edward Bruse ;
it had hinges and clasps ; and when opened, was found to contain a
heart, carefully embalmed, in a brownish coloured liquid. After draw-
ings had been taken of it, as represented in the present engravings, it was
carefully replaced in its former situation. There was a small leaden box
between the stones in another excavation ; the contents of which, what-
ever they were originally, appeared i educed to dust.
Some time after this discovery, Sir Robert Preston caused a delinea-
tion of the silver case, according to the exact dimensions, with an in-
scription recording its exhumation and re-deposit, to be engraved on a
248 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
brass plate, arid placed iipon the projection of the wall where the heart
was found.
It is a remarkable fact, that the cause of the quarrel between Lord
Bruce and .Sir Edward Sackville has remained wholly undetected, not-
withstanding successive investigations at different periods. Lord Cla-
rendon, in his "History of the Rebellion," records the combat as an
occurrence of magnitude, from its sanguinary character and the eminence
of the parties engaged in it. He does not say any thing respecting the
occasion of the feud, although Lord Brace's challenge seems to intimate
that it was matter of public notoriety.
The exact day of the duel is not known, but it was certainly in 1613,
and most probably in August from the date of one of the above letters.
EXTRAORDINARY FEMALE INTREPIDITY.
Early on the 24th of January, 1822, the turnpike-house, about four
miles from Basingstoke, on this side Overton, was attacked, with intent
to enter, by two men, who had taken off some tiles at the back part of
the premises (the roof being very low) to effect their purpose. These
villains knew, it would appear, that a lone woman, Mrs. Whitehousc,
received the tolls at this gate, and that her husband attended a gate as
far distant as Colnbrook. Mrs. Whitehouse, however, very fortunately
possessed three loaded pistols, one of which she tired then a secon.l, and
a third, without effect. These determined ruffians (notwithstanding
being thrice fired at) were, it appears, resolved not to depart without
accomplishing the projected robbery. Mrs. Whitchouse's little hoy,
only 11 years of age, in the mean time had re-loaded a brace of pistols,
one of which Mrs. AVliiti-lumse tired, and wounded one of the despe-
radoes full in the face he fell, and the blood flowed profusely; yet,
:< to i elate, the accomplice had hardihood enough to drag away the
wounded robber ! On observing this, Mrs. \Yhitchouse fired the fifth
pistol at them, but missed them. The fellow who received the contents
of the fourth pistol being supposed to have been killed, and some persons
residing at a considerable distance from the spot 1m ing heard of tin 1 cii -
emiistancc, assembled, and made diligent search at daybreak to discover
the liody of the deceased; but, although the blood could be traced sonic
distance from the house, the body could not be found ; nor were those
concerned in the attack ever found out. The successful resistance,
however, deserves to be recorded.
GIGANTIC BOM:s.
Whenever any bones of unusual magnitude were discovered, it was
invariably the custom to ascribe them to some giant. This was always
SD ii|i to recent years, and no wonder it, was intensely the case at the
early period of I(i<iO. About that period, when the biook or rivulet,
from which the town of Corbridge, in the north of England, derhcs
its name, had been worn away by some impetuous land-Hood, a
skeleton, supposed to be that of a man of extraordinary and prodigious
si/e, was discovered. The length of the thigh bone was nearly six feet,
and the skull, teeth, and other parts proportionally monstrous, so that
MARVELLOUS, RAKE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 249
the length of the whole body was computed at twenty-one feet. It is
conjectured, by the more enlightened men of modern times, that these
strange bones belonged to some large animal that had been sacrificed
by the Romans at the altar dedicated to Hercules, which was found
here some years ago. Notwithstanding that the superstition of our
forefathers has lost nearly all its credit and influence, a singularly
large bone found here is now exhibited in the Keswick Museum as
the rib of the giant Cor.
NEW STYLE OF ADVERTISEMENT.
The following editorial announcement is taken from the Philadelphia
Weekly Mercury, of November 30, 1752, because it forms a complete
novelty in its way, and also affords us an insight into the degree of com-
munication which existed at that period between the large towns and the
provinces in America. It is, moreover, a curious jumble of information,
strangely mixing up the starting of the stage coach with the news of
the day :
f\$ Monday next the Northern Post sets oiit from Neic- York, in order
^-^ to perform his Stage but once a Fortnight, during the "Winter
Quarter ; the Southern Post changes also, which will cause this Paper to
come out on Tuesdays during that Time. The Colds which have infested
the Northern Colonies have also been troublesome here, few Families
having escaped the same, several have been carry'd off by the Cold,
among whom was Darid Brintnall, in the 77th Year of his Age ; he was
the first Man that had a Brick House in the City of Philadelphia, and
was much esteem' d for his just and upright dealing. There goes a
Heport here, that the Lord Baltimore and his Lady are arrived in
Maryland, but the Southern Post being not yet come in, the said Report
wants Confirmation.
MAKING A CANDLESTICK OF GUNPOWDER.
A marvellous escape from destruction is related in the MS. Life of
Alderman Barnes. "One of his brother-in-law's (Alderman Hutchin-
son's) apprentices, stepping up into the back-lofts to fetch somewhat
he wanted, in his heedlessness and haste, stops his candle into a barrel
of gun-powder whose head was struck off, to serve instead of a candle-
stick. But the man reflecting what he had done, was struck with
affrightment, his heart failed him, nor durst he stay any longer, but
running down stairs, leaves the candle burning in the gun-powder cask,
and with horror, trembling, and despair, tells the family what indiscre-
tion he had committed ; they were all immediately as their wits' end,
and well they might, for the lofts were three stories high, very large, and
stowed full with whatever is combustible, as brandy, oil, pitch, tar, rosin,
flax, alum, hops, and many barrels of gun-powder. Had the candle
fallen to one side, or had the least spark fallen from the snuff into the
cask, the whole town had been shaken, and the whole of the house
immediately blown up and in a blaze ; but one of the laboiirers, a stout
fellow, ran forthwith into the loft, and joining both his hands together,
250
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
drew the candle softly up between his middlemost fingers, so that if any
snuff had dropped, it must have fallen into the hollow of the man's hand,
and by this means was Newcastle saved from being laid in ashes." This
must have happened about the year 1684.
THE CAMDEX COT.
The subjoined engraving represents the Silver-gilt Standing Cup and
Cover bequeathed by the celebrated historian, William Camden, Claren-
cieux King at Arms, to the Worshipful Company of Painter Stainers'
Camden's will is recorded in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (in
the register designated III Swann 3, probate granted November 10,
1623), and it has been printed by
Hcarne in his Collection of Cu~
rioim Discourses, Ox. 1720.
After directing the sum of eight
pounds to be given "to the
poore of that place (Chislehurst)
when it shall please God to call
me to his mercie," Camden con-
tinues "I bequeath to Sir
Foulke Grcville, Lord Brooke,
Chancellor of the Exchequer, who
preferred me gratis to my Office,
a peece of plate of ten pounds ;
Item, to the Company of Painter-
Stainers of London, to buy them
a peece of plate in memoriall of
mee, sixteene pounds;" the in-
scription upon which is directed
to be "Giiil. Camdcnus Clarcu-
rcxx, Jilitts Samptonis, Pictoris
Londmentia, clono dedit."
This stately and richly-deco-
rated cup and cover is used mi
Corporation Festivals, in memory
of the illustrious donor. In
height, it is altogether twentv-
three indies and a quarter, the
cover only being eight inches and
three-quarters : and the cup, in-
dependent of the stand, h've indies
and a-half, its greatest diameter being five inches and a-half. The in-
scription encircles the upper rim of the cup ; and directly under it is an
engraved escutcheon of < 'amdcn's nrms ; Or, a less engrailed, between six
cross crosslets fitchee, Sable. The cover presents an object of much
elegance, ;i richly ornamented open pyramid, based on the heads of birds,
tie breasts bending gracefully with cartouche ornaments: the pinnacle
of the pyramid surmounted by a female figure, the riirht hand resting
on a shield, charged with the same arms as shown on the side of the cup.
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AXD QUAINT. 251
The birds' heads have apparently a reference to the phoenix heads in the
second and third quarters of the armorial ensigns, and to the crest of the
Company of Paper-Stainers.
RICHARDSOX, THE SHOWHAX.
This eccentric individual, who died in 1836, left behind him upwards
of 20,000. He was born in the workhouse of Marlow, Bucks, but ran
away from that place in order to seek his fortune in London. After
various vicissitudes, he became the landlord of the Harlequin public-
house, in Drury-lane, where he saved some money, which he embarked
in fitting up a portable theatre, and was known for forty vears as the
" Prince of Showmen," and used frequently to boast that Edmund Kean
and several other eminent actors were brought out by him. His property,
after various legacies to the itinerant company which had attended him
for many years, descended to two nephews and a niece, and he desired
by his will to be buried in Marlow church-yard, in the same grave as his
favourite " spotted boy," a lad who, some years before, was exhibited by
him, and attracted great notice in consequence of the extraordinary
manner in which he was marked on various parts of his body. Some
years since the scenery, dresses, and decorations of Richardson s theatre
were exposed for auction by Mr. George Robins, and 2,000 were bid
for them. They were bought in ; the " old man," as he was technically
denominated, considering them to be worth at least 3,000.
PRESERVATION OF DEAD BODIES.
There is an arched vault, or burying-ground, under the church of
Kilsyth, in Scotland, which was the burying-place of the family of
Kilsyth, until the estate was forfeited, and the title became extinct in
the year 1715; since which it has never been used for that purpose,
except once. The last Earl fled with his family to Flanders, and,
according to tradition, was smothered to death about the year 1717,
along with his lady and an infant child, and a number of other unfor -
tunate Scottish exiles, bythe falling in of the roof of a house in which
they . were assembled. What became of the body of the Earl is not
known, but the bodies of Lady Kilsyth and her infant were emboweled
and embalmed, and soon afterwards sent over to Scotland. They were
landed, and lay at Leith for some time in, a cellar, whence they were
afterwards carried to Kilsyth, and buried in great pomp in the vault
above mentioned. In the spring of 1796, some rude regardless young
men, having paid a visit to this ancient cemetery, tore open the coffin of
Lady Kilsyth and her infant. With astonishment and consternation,
they saw the bodies of Lady Kilsyth and her child as perfect as in the
hour they were entombed. For some weeks this circumstance was kept
secret, ; but at last it began to be whispered in several companies, and
soon excited great and general curiosity.
" On the 12th of June," says the Minister of the parish of Kilsyth,
in a letter to J. Garnet, M.D., " when I was from home, great crowds
assembled, and would not be denied admission. At all hours of the
night, as well as the day, they afterwards persisted in gratifying their
252 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
curiosity. I saw the body of Lady Kilsyth soon after the coffin was
opened ; it was quite entire. Every feature and every limb was as full,
nay, the very shroud was as clear and fresh, and the colours of the
ribbons as bright, as the day they were lodged in the tomb. What ren-
dered this scene more striking and truly interesting was, that the body
of her son and only child, the natural heir of the title and estates of
Kilsyth, lay at her knee. His features were as composed as if he had
been only asleep. His colour was as fresh, and his flesh as plump and
full, as in the perfect glow of health ; the smile of infancy and inno-
cence sat on his lips. His shroud was not only entire, but perfectly
clean, without a particle of dust upon it. He seems to have been only
a few months old. The body of Lady Kilsyth was equally well pre-
served ; and at a little distance, from the feeble light of a taper, it
would not have been easy to distinguish whether she was dead or alive.
The features, nay the very expression of her countenance, were marked
and distinct ; and it was only in a certain light that you could dis-
tinguish anything like the ghastly and agonizing traits of a violent
death. Not a single fold of her shroud was decomposed nor a single
member impaired.
" Let the candid reader survey this sketch ; let him recal to mind the
tragic tale it unfolds ; and say, if he can, that it does not arrest the
attention and interest the heart. For my own part, it excited in my
memory a thousand melancholy reflections ; and I could not but regret
"that such rudeness had been offered to the ashes (remains) of the dead,
as to expose them thus to the public view.
" The body seemed to have been preserved in some liquid, nearly of
the colour and appearance of brandy. The whole coffin seemed to have
been full of it, and all its contents saturated with it. The body had
assumed somewhat the same tinge, but this only served to give it a
fresher look. It had none of the ghastly livid hue of death, but rather
a copper complexion. It would, I believe, have been difficult for a che-
mist to ascertain the nature of this liquid ; though perfectly transparent ;
it had lost all its pungent qualities, its taste being quite vapid.
" The head reclined on a pillow, and, as the covering decayed, it was
found to contain a collection of strong-scented herbs. Balm, sage, and
mint were easily distinguished ; and it was the opinion of many, that
the body was nlled with the same. Although the bodies were thus en-
tire at nrst, I confess 1 expected to see them crumble into dust; especially
as they were exposed to the open air, and the pure aromatic fluid had
evaporated; and it seems surprising that they did not. For several
weeks they underwent no visible change, and had they not been sullied
with dust and drops of grease from the candles held over them, I am
confident they might have remained as entire as ever ; for even a few
months ago (many months after^, the bodies were as firm and compart
as at first, and though pressed with the finger did not yield to the touch,
but seemed to retain the elasticity of the living body. Kveii the shroud,
through torn by the rude hands of the regardless multitude, is still
strung and free from rot.
" Perhaps the most singular phenomenon is, that the bodies seem not
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 253
to have undergone the smallest decomposition or disorganization. Several
medical gentlemen have made a small incision into the arm of the infant ;
the substance of the body was quite firm, and every part in its original
state." To the above remarkable instance we may add the following :
The tomb of Edward the First, who died on the" 7th July, 1307, was
opened on the 2nd of January, 1770, and after the lapse of 463 years,
the body was found not decayed ; the flesh on the face was a little
wasted, but not putrid.
The body of Canute the Dane, who got possession of England in the
year 1017, was found very fresh in the year 1766, by the workmen re-
pairing Winchester Cathedral. In the year 1522, the body of William
the Conqiieror was found as entire as when first buried, in the Abbey
Church of St. Stephen, at Caen ; and the body of Matilda, his wife, was
found entire in 1502, in the Abbey Church of the Holy Trinity in the
same city.
No device of art, however, for the preservation of the remains of the
dead, appears equal to the simple process of plunging them over head
and ears in peat-moss.
In a manuscript by one Abraham Grey, who lived about the middle
of the 16th century, now in the possession of his representative, Mr.
Goodbehere Grey, of Old Mills, near Aberdeen, it is stated, that in
1569, three Roman soldiers in the dress of their country, fully equipped
with warlike instruments, were dug out of a mdss of great extent, called
Kazey Moss. When found, after a lapse of probably about fifteen hun-
dred years, they "were quite fresh and plump.."
PERFUMES.
So perfect were the Egyptians in the manufacture of perfumes, that
some of their ancient ointment, preserved in an alabaster vase in the
Museum at Alnwick, still retains a very powerful odour, though it must
be between 2,000 and 3,000 years old.
FREXCH ASSIGXATS THEIR ORIGIN.
Extraordinary devices for raising money are legitimate subjects for our
pages. Of these devices, the French Assigna.ts are not the least remark-
able. They originated thus in the year 1789, at the commencement of
the great Revolution in France, Talleyrand proposed in the National
Assembly a confiscation of all church property to the service of the state.
The Abbe Maury opposed this project with great vehemence, but being
supported by Mirabeau, it received the sanction of the Assembly by an
immense majority on the 2nd of November. The salaries fixed for the
priesthood were small, and, moreover, were not sufficiently gua-
ranteed ; whence originated much misery to all classes of priests,
from the archbishops down to the humble cures ; and as monastic
institutions were treated in the same way, monks and nuns were
suddenly placed in precarious circumstances regarding the means of sub-
sistence. Here, however, an unexpected difficulty sprang up ; the
National Assembly were willing to sell church property, but buyers were
wanting ; conscience, prudence, and poverty combined to lessen the
number of those willing to purchase ; and thus the urgent claims of the
25-t TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
treasury could not be satisfied. Applications for loans were not responded
to ; taxes had been extinguished ; voluntary donations had dwindled
almost to nothing ; and 400,000,000 of livres were necessary lor the va>t
claims of the year IT'.H). The municipalities of Paris and other eities
sought to ameliorate the state of affairs by subscribing for a certain
amount of church property, endeavouring to find private purchasers lor
i, and paying the receipts into the national exchequer. This, however,
being but a very partial cure for the enormity of the evils, the National
Assembly fell upon the expedient of creating state-paper or bank-notes,
to have a forced currency throughout the kingdom. Such was the birth
of the memorable assignats. Four hundred millions of this paper wen-
put in circulation; and a decree was passed that church property to that
amount should be held answerable for the assignats. Our sketch repn-
sents several of the different forms in which the Assignats were issued to
the public.
i:\KCUX10X OF LOUIS XVI.
The judicial murder of Louis XVI. was the climax of the Revolution
in France. The Convention voted his death at three o'clock on the
MARVELLOUS, HARE, CURIOUS, AXD QUAINT. 255
morning of the 20th January, 1793, and he was taken to execution in
twenty -six hours afterwards.
The guillotine was erected in the middle of the Place Louis XV., a
large open square, having the Champs Elysees on one side, and the gardens
of the Tuileries on the other. The Place bristled with artillery, and
every street and avenue leading to it was crowded with troops and armed
multitudes, who had cannon with them charged with grape-shot ; while
the carriage was surrounded by picked men, who had orders to despatch
the king with their carbines in case of any rescue being attempted. At
about half-past ten, the king, who had been engaged in prayer during the
ride, arrived at the spot ; he descended from the coach, and his con-
fessor followed him. Three executioners approached to remove his upper
garments, but he put them back, and performed that simple office for
himself. He resisted somewhat the indignity of having his hands tied,
and only yielded on the entreaty of his confessor ; and had also to yield
on the subject of cutting off his back hair. He ascended the steps that
led to the platform with a firm bearing, still followed by M. Edgewoi-th.
When on the top, he made a sudden movement towards the edge of the
scaffold, and exclaimed with a loud and firm voice : " Frenchmen, I die
innocent ; it is from the scaffold, and when about to appear before my
256 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
God, that I tell you so. I pardon my enemies ; I pray that France"-
Here Santerre, on horseback, raised his right hand, and cried : ' ' Drums !
Executioners, do your duty !" Several drummers immediately begin by
their noise to drown the sound of the king's voice : and six executioners
brought him to the centre of the scaffold. He exclaimed again : ' ' I die
innocent ; I ever desired the good of my people ;" but his voice could be
heard only by the executioners and the priest. He then knelt down, in
order to place his head in the appointed spot ; the confessor, bending over
him said: "Son of St. Louis, ascend to heaven!" The spring of the
machine was touched, the heavy axe descended in its grooves, and the
once royal head was severed from the body. Samson, the chief execu-
tioner, took up the bleeding head by the hair, and' walked three times
round the scaffold, holding it up at arm's-length to show it to the people.
The troops and the spectators shouted : " Vive la Republique !" put their
hats and caps upon their bayonets and pikes, and waved them in the air,
with prolonged and re-echoing cries of " Vive la Republique !" " Vive la
Xation !'' "Vive la Libertc !" Many of the savage men standing near
the scaffold dipped their pike-heads into the king's blood, and others their
handkerchiefs not as a sacred memento, but as a symbol of the downfall
of all kings ; they even paraded these gore-stained objects before the
windows of the Temple, that perchance the queen and her children might
sec: them. The headless trunk of Louis was put into a large wicker-
basket, placed in the coach, and carried to the cemetery of La Madeleine ;
where, without coffin or shroud, it was thrown into a deep pit, partly
tilled up with quicklime. On that same morning, one Bcnoit Leduc, a
tailor, who had on some occasions worked for Louis, presented a petition
to the Convention, praying to be allowed, at his own expense, to bury
the body of the king by the side of his father, Louis XV., and under the
monument raised to that prince by the city of Sens ; but the Convention
r jeeted his petition, and ordered the executive council to see that
Louis was buried like other criminals.
A MAN A(ii-:i) ONI: nrxDiir.i) YE.VUS CLAIMING \ BOTTLE OF AVIXK.
John Bull, of London, stock-broker, died 1848, aged 100 years. When
at the age of about 9:J, and in the employ <>t' Messix. Spurling, stock-
brokers, he left by mistake in the office of the accountant of the Bank of
Knghind, a large number of banknotes. On duoorering his loss, after
diligently searching for the missing parcel, he went back to the account-
ant's office, partly to acquaint Mr. Since with the circumstance, and
1 tartly as a last hope that he might there find the missing treasure. To
li is great joy he found the pared -<afe in the accountant's possession,
whom he earnestly implored to keep the secret, lest his employers should
think his faculties were failing. Mr. Since of course gave him the re-
quired assurance, and goodnaturcdly added, that when Mr. Bull should
attain tlie age of 100 years, he would treat him to the tinest bottle of
wine in his cellar. Some time before his becoming a centenarian, he was
'iied tin" by his employer, and Mr. Smec had, in all probability, quite
forgotten the fftir J when, true to the engagement, the venerable, but
still active old clerk, made his appearance at the bank on the impoitant
MARVELLOUS, HARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 257
day, and claimed the promised bottle of wine. The claim was promptly
allowed ; and the last birthday of the aged official was one of the happiest
among his friends of the long list of such events which had been its pre-
cursor. After continuing vigorous and active, and almost free from in-
disposition up to this time, he, along with many other aged persons, fell
a victim to that fatal influenza which prevailed so extensively through-
out the country, and more especially in London and its suburbs, during
the autumn of 1847 and the winter of 1848.
CHARITY EEWAEDED BY A RICH AXD LIBEEAL MEXDICAXT.
Within the present century, a beggar in Moorfields used daily to
have a penny given him by a merchant on his way to the Exchange.
The penny was withheld, and the appearance of the merchant mani-
fested his embarrassment and distress. The beggar at length spoke to
him, offered him a loan of 500, and another of the same sum if it
were required. It re-established his affairs.
HACKXEY COACH3IAK OF THE TI3IE OP CHARLES II.
The print from which the engraving on next page is taken, is one of a
set published by Overton, at the sign of the "White Horse" without
Kewgate ; and its similarity to the figures given by Francis Barlow in his
jEsop's Fables, and particularly in a most curious sheet-print etched by
that artist, exhibiting diaries lie Second, the Duke of York, &c., view-
ing the Races on Dorset Ferry, near Windsor, in 1687, sufficiently
proves this Hackney Coachman to have been of the reign of that monarch.
The early Hackney Coachman did not sit upon the box as the present
drivers do, but upon the horse, like a postillion ; his whip is short for
that purpose ; his boots, which have large open broad tops, must have
been much in his way, and exposed to the weight of the rain. His "coat
was not according to the fashion of the present drivers as to the numerous
capes, which certainly are most rational appendages, as the shoulders
never get wet ; the front of the coat has not the advantage of the present
folding one, as it is single breasted.
His hat was pretty broad, and so far he was screened from the weather.
Another convincing proof that he rode as a postillion is, that his boots
are spurred. In that truly curious print representing the very interest-
ing Palace of Xonsuch, engraved by Hoefnagle, in the reign of Queen
Elizabeth, the coachman who drives the royal carriage in which the
Queen is seated, is placed on a low seat behind the horses, and has a
long whip to command those he guides. How soon, after Charles the
Second's time, the Hackney Coachmen rode on a box we have not been able
to learn, but in all the prints of King William's time the coachmen ar&
represented upon the box, though by no means so high as at present ; nor
was it the fashion at the time of Queen Anne to be so elevated as to
deprive the persons in the carriage of the pleasure of looking over their
shoulders.
In 1637, the number of Hackney Coaches in London was confined to
50, in 1652 to 200, in 1654 to 300, in 1662 to 400, in 1694 to 700, in
1710 to 800, in 1771 to 1,000, and in 1802 to 1,100. In imitation of
258
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS
our Hackney Coaches, Nicholas Sauvage introduced the Fiacres at
Paris, in the year 1650. The hammer-cloth is an ornamental covering
of the coach-box. Mr. S. Pegge says, " The coachman formerly used
to carry a hammer, pincers, a few nails, &c., in a leather pouch hanging
to his box, and this cloth was de-vised for the hiding of them from public
view."
It is said that the sum of 1,500, arising from the duty on Hackney
Coaches, was applied to part of the expense in re-building Temple Bar.
A LOXDON WATKK-C.VlUUEtt IN OLDEN T1MKS.
The conduits of London and its. environs, Avhich AVCIV established at
an early period, supplied the metropolis with water until Sir Hugh Mid-
dleton "brought the -Ni w liivir from Amwell to London, and then the
conduits gradually fell into disuse, as the ]N"ew River water was by <li--
laid on in pipes to the principal buildings in the City, and, in the
course of time, let into private houses.
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 259
When the conduits afforded a supply, the inhabitants either carried
their vessels, or sent their servants for the water as they wanted it ; but
we may suppose that at an early period there were a number of men who
for a fixed sum carried the water to the adjoining houses.
The figure of a Water-carrier in the following engraving, is copied
from one of a curious and rare set of cries and callings of London, pub-
lished by Ovcrton, at the " White Horse" without Newgate. The figure
retains the dress of Henry the Eighth's time ; his cap is similar to that
usually worn by Sir Thomas More, and also to that given in the portrait
of Albert Durer, engraved by Francis Stock. It appears by this print,
that the tankard was borne upon the shoulder, and, to keep the carrier
dry, two towels were fastened over him, one to fall before him, the
other to cover his back. His pouch, in which we are to conclude he
carried his money, has been thus noticed in a very curious and rare
260 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
tract, entitled, Green' K (iltoxt, irifJt tin; merry Conceits of Doctor
Pin<Ji-l><te1;e, published 1626 : "To have some store of crownes in his
purse, coaoht in a faire trunke flop, like a boulting hutch."
KXPKXSKS OF A 110YAL PRISONER TWO HUNDRED TEAKS \c,(\
The following curious document is a return, by the Parliamentary
Committee of Revenue, of the expenses of Charles the First and his
retinue, during a residence of twenty days, at Holdenby, in Northamp-
tonshire, in the year 1647, commencing February the 13th and ending
March, the 4th inclusive. Sir Christopher Hatton had built a splendid
mansion at Holdenby in the time of Queen Elizabeth, and to it King
Charles was conveyed a prisoner by the Parliamentary Commissioners,
after he had been given up to them by the Scottish army :
His Majestie's diet of xxviij dishes at xxx/. per diem . 700
The Lords' diet of xx days ...... 320
For the Clarke of the green cloth, kitchen, and spiccry, a
messc of vij dishes ....... 40
Dyctts for the household and chamber officers, and the guard 412.
Board wages for common houshold servants, pott and
scourers, and turnbroaches ..... 36
Badges of Court and riding wages . . . . .140
For linnen for his Majestie's table, the lords and other diets 273
For wheat, wood, and cole 240
For all sorts of spicery store, wax-lights, torches, and
tallow-lights 160
For pewter, brasse, and other necessaries incident to all
officers and carriages 447
WOMAN'S CT/KVI:UM;SS.
It is a singular fact that on one occasion the lives of thousands, pro-
bably, of the Irish Protestants, were saved bv a clever device, which the
unaided wit and presence of mind of a woman enabled her to plan and
execute.
At the latter end of Queen Mary's reign, a commission was signed
Fur the purpose of punishing the heretics in lhat kingdom, and Dr. Cole,
Dean of St. Paul's, was honoured with this Juinume appointment, to
execute which, he set off with great alacrity. On his arrival at Chester,
lie sent for Ihe mayor to sup with him, and in the course of conversation
related his business; then going to his cloak-bag, he took out the box
containing the commission, and having shewn it, with great joy ex-
claimed, ' This will lash the heretics of Ireland.' ]\Irs. Kdmond's, the
landlady, overheard this discourse, and having several relations in Ire-
land, who were Protestants as well as herself, resolved to put a trick
upon the doctor; and while he went to attend the magistrate to the
door, took the commission out of tbe l>ox, and in its room placed a pack
of cards, wit h the knave of clubs uppermost. The xealous doctor, sus-
pecting nothing of the Matter, put up his box, took shipping, and,
arriving safe in Dublin, went immediately to the Viceroy. A council
was called ; ;in d, after a speech, the doctor delivered his box, which
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAIXT. 261
being opened by the secretary, the first thing that presented itself was
the knave of clubs. This sight surprised the Viceroy and the council,
but much more the doctor, who assiired them that he had received a
commission from the Queen, but what was come of it, he could not tell.
' Well, well,' replied the Viceroy, ' you must go back for another, and we
will shuffle the cards in the mean time.' The doctor accordingly hastened
across the channel ; but at Holyhead he received the intelligence of the
Queen's death, and the accession of Elizabeth, who settled on Urs.
Edmonds a pension of forty pounds a year, for saving her Protestant
subjects in Ireland.
DRESS IX THE PROVINCES IX 1777.
In the days when mail-coaches had not begun to run, and when rail-
roads and telegraphs had not entered into the imagination of man, the
style of dress in the provinces was often very different to what it was in
London, and on this account the following paragraph is deserving of
record. We have taken it from a copy of the Nottingham Journal, of
September 6, 1777, where it is headed "Ladies undress." " The ladies'
fashionable undress, commonly called a dishabille, to pay visits in the morn-
ing, also for walking in the country, on account of its being neat, light, and
short, consists of a jacket, the front part of which is made like a sultana ;
the back part is cut out in four pieces ; the middle part is not wider at the
bottom than about half an inch ; the sides in proportion very narrow.
The materials most in vogue are, white muslins with a coloured printed
border chintz pattern, printed on purpose, in borders about an inch deep.
The silks, which are chiefly lutestrings, are mostly trimmed with gauze.
The gauze is tuckered upon the bottom of the jacket, and edged with
different-coloured fringes. The petticoat is drawn \ip in a festoon, and
tied with a true lover's knot, two tassels hanging down from each festoon.
A short gauze apron, striped or figured, cut in three scollops at the
bottom, and trimmed round with a broad trimming closely plaited ; the
middle of the apron has three scollops reversed. The cuffs are puckered
in the shape of a double pine, one in the front of the arm, the other
behind, but the front rather lower. To complete this dress for summer
walking, the most elegant and delicate ladies carry a long japanned
walking-cane, with an ivory hook head, and on the middle of the cane
is fastened a silk umbrella, or what the French call 'a parasol,' which
defends them from the sun and slight showers of rain. It opens by a
spring, and it is pushed up towards the head of the cane, when expanded
for use. Hats, with the feathers spread, chiefly made of chip, covered
with fancy gauze puckered, \ ariegated artificial flowers, bell tassels, and
other decorations, are worn large."
A GROrT OF RELICS.
The Dagger of Raoul de Courcy, of which a representation is included
in the cut over leaf, is an interesting relic, and its authenticity can
be relied upon. Raoul de Courcy, according to the old French chro-
niclers was a famous knight, the lord of a noble castle, built upon a
mountain that overlooks the Yalee d'Or, and the descendant of that
262 TKN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
haughty noble \vho took for his motto: " Neither king, nor prince, nor
duke, nor earl am I, but I am the Lord of Courcy" in other words,
greater than them all. He fell in love with the wife of his neighbour,
the Lord of Fayel, and the beautifid Gabrielle loved him in return. One
night he went 'as usual to meet her in a tower of the Chateau of Fayel,
but found himself face to face with her lord and master, llaoul escaped,
and Gabrielle was ever after closely guarded. Still they found the oppor-
tunity for numcKms interviews, at which they interchanged their vows of
love. At length, Jlaoul, like a true knight, set out to fight beneath the
banner of the Cross, for the possession of the Holy Sepulchre. Ere he
went, at a stolen meeting, he bade the fair Gabrielle adieu, giving to her
" a silken love-knot, with locks of his own hair worked in with the
threads of silk." She gave him a costly ring, which she had always
worn, and which he swore to wear till his last breath. AYhat tears were
shed what kisses were exchanged at this last meeting ! for {he Holy
Land was very far from France in the Middle Ages.
On his arrival in Syria, Italph de Courcy became known as the " Knight
of Great Deeds," for it seems he could only conquer his love by acts of
daring valour. After braving every danger, lie was at length wounded
in the side by an ai-row, at the siege of Acre. The king of England
took him in his arms with respect, and gave him the kiss of hope, but the
arrow was a poisoned one, liaoul felt that he had little time to live. He
stretched out his arms towards France, exclaiming, " France, France !
Grbrielle, Gabrielle!"
He resolved to return home, but he was hardly on board the ship that
was to waft him there, ere he summoned his squire, and begged of him
after he was dead, to carry his heart to France, and to give it the Lady
Fayel, with all the armlets, diamonds, and other jewels which he pos-
sessed, as pledges of love and remembrance.
The heart was embalmed, and the squire sought to deliver his precious
legacy. He disguised himself in a mean dress, but unluckily met witli
the Lord of Fayel, and, not knowing him, applied to him for information
as to how admittance into the chateau could be gained. The Lord of
Fayel at once attacked and disarmed the poor squire, who was wounded
in the side with a hunting-hanger. The precious paeket was soon torn
open, and the heart discovered. The Lord of Fayel hastened home, and,
giving it to his cook, desired that it might be dressed with such a sauce
as would make it very palatable.
liaoul's heart was served up at table, and the fair Gabrielle partook of
it. "When she had finished eating, the Lord of Fayel said "Lady, was
the meat you eat good '?" She replied, that the meat was good. " That
is the reason I had it cooked," said the Castellan; "for know that
this same meat, which you found so good, was the heart of Raoul de
Courcy."
" Lord of Fayel," said Gabrielle, "the vengeance you have taken cor-
responds with the meanness of your soul; you have made me eat his
heart, but it is the last meat I shall ever eat. After such noble food I
will never partake of any other."
She fainted, and only recovered her consciousness a few minutes
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 263
1. Dagger of Raoul dc Courcy. 2. Embroidered Glove, presented by Mary,
Queen of Scotland, on the Morning of her Excution, to one of her Attendants. 3.
Spanish Dagger of the Sixteenth Century. 4. Ring, with Inscription, " Behold
the End," formerly the Property of Charles I. o. Silver Locket, in Memory of the
Execution of Charles I.
before death. Such, is the history of Raoul de Courcy and the Lady Ga-
brielle, as told in the language of the old chroniclers.
The glove shown in the engraving is said to have been presented by
the unfortunate Queen Mary, on the morning of her execution, to a lady
264 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
of the Denny family. The embroidery is of tasteful design, and may
he useful as a contrast with many of the patterns for needlework at pre-
sent in fashion. Moreover, the sight of this memorial brings to recol-
lection a few particulars in connection with this somewhat important
part of both male and female costume.
The ancient Persians wore gloves, and the Romans, towards the decline
of the empire, began to use them. In England they seemed to have
been introduced at a very early period. In the Anglo-Saxon literature
we meet with yhf, a covering for the hand, and in the illuminated M SS.
of that period the hands of bishops and other dignitaries are shown en-
cased in gloves which, in many instances, were ornamented with costly
rings ; while on the tombs of kings and queens, &c., the hands are
shown almost invariably covered.
It is related of the pation Saint of Brussels, who lived in the sixth
century, that she was famous for only two miracles : one consisted in
lighting a candle by means of her prayers, after it had been extin-
guished ; the other happened in this way the fair saint being in a
church barefooted, a person near, with respectful gallantry, took off his
gloves and attempted to place them under her feet. This comfort she
declined ; and, kieking the gloves away, they became suspended at some
height in the church for the space of an hour.
On opening the tomb of Edward the First, some years ago, in West-
minster Abbey, the antiquaries assembled on that occasion were sur-
prised to find no traces of gloves. It has been suggested that in this
instance linen or silk gloves had been used at the burial of the king, but
which arc supposed to have perished with age.
The practice of throwing down a glove as a challenge, is mentioned by
Matthew Paris as far back as 1'24<3 ; and a glove was worn in the hat or
cap as a mistress's favour, as the memorial of a friend, and as a mark to
be challenged by an enemy.
At a time when the Borders were in a state of incessant strife, Bar-
nard Gilpin, who has been so justly called " the Apostle of the .North,"
wandered unharmed amid the confusion. On one occasion, entering a
church (we believe that of Rothbury, Northumberland,) he observed a
glove sxispended in a conspicuous place, and was informed that it had
been hung up as a challenge by some horse-trooper of the district. Mr.
Gilpin requested the sexton to remove it ; who answered, >- Not I sir, I
dare not do it." Then Gilpin called for a Ion- stud', took down the
-love, and put it in his bosom, and in the course of his sermon, said,
"I hear that there is one among vmi who has even in this sacred place
hung up a glove in defiance ;" ami then producing it in the midst of the
!. Cation, he challenged, them to compete with liim in acts of
Christian charity.
Gloves, in former times, were common amongst other ^i ft s offered to
friends at the new year ; and they were received without offence l>y the
ministers of justice. It is related that Sir Thomas More, a- Lord Chan-
cellor, decreed in favour of Mrs. Crooker against the Karl of Anuidel.
On the following New-year's day, in token of her gratitude, she pre-
sented Sir Thomas with "a pair of gloves containing forty angels. " It
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 265
would be against good manners," said the chancellor, "to forsake the
ladies' Xew-year's gift, and I accept the gloves ; the lining you may
bestow otherwise."
The custom of the presentation by the sheriff of a pair of white gloves
to the judge on the occasion of a maiden assize is still in vogue ; and,
judging from the reports in the newspapers, such presents appear to be
of frequent occurrence.
" Gloves, as sweet as damask roses," were highly prized by Queen
Elizabeth, and, in her day, formed such an important item of a lady's
expenses, that a sum was generally allowed for " glove money."
The old fashioned gloves have now a considerable value amongst the
curious. At the sale of the Earl of Arran's goods in 1759, the gloves
given by Henry VIII. to Sir Anthony Denny, sold for 38/. 17s. ; those
given by James I. to Edward Denny, sold for Til. 4s. ; and the mitten
given by Queen Elizabeth to Sir Edward Denny's lady, for 251. 4s.
Some of the English towns which formerly were famous for the manu-
facture of gloves, still keep up their character. Amongst these "Wood-
stock, Yeovil, Leominster, Ludlow, and Worcester may be mentioned.
The Spanish dagger formerly belonged to a governor of Castile, in the
sixteenth century, as is shown by the perforated fetter-lock on the blade ;
and although the initials are engraven there also, we have not been able
to discover any particulars of the original owner. The workmanship
and style of the dagger are of great beauty.
The little ring with the inscription " Behold the end," was once the
property of Charles I., and was presented by him to Bishop Juxon on
the morning of his execution. The silver lockets, on which are the
emblems of death, were extensively manufactured and sold after the
execution of Charles I. They generally bore the date of the king's
death.
THE HAMSTER EAT.
There are various kinds of rats, and one of these is the Hamster, of
the genus Cricetus of Cuvier. Tlxough rare in Europe to the west of
the Rhine, it is widely spread from that river to the Danube on the
south-west, and north-easterly through a vast extent of country into
Siberia. We notice it in our pages on account of its extraordinary
habits. Its life appears to be divided between eating and fighting. It
seems to have no other passion than that of rage, which induces it to
attack every animal that comes in its way, without in the least
attending to the superior strength of its enemy. Ignorant of the art of
saving itself by night, rather than yield, it will allow itself to be beaten
to pieces with a stick. If it seizes a man's hand, it must be killed before
it will quit its hold. The magnitude of the horse terrifies it as little as
the address of the dog, which last is fond of hunting it. When the
hamster perceives a dog at a distance, it begins by emptying its cheek-
pouches if they happen to be filled with grain ; it then blows them up
so prodigiously, that the size of the head and neck greatly exceed that
of the rest of the body. It raises itself on its hind legs, and thus darts
upon the enemy. If 'it catches hold, it never quits it but with the loss
266 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
of its life ; but the dog generally seizes it from behind, and strangles it
This ferocious disposition prevents the hamster from being at peace with
any animal whatever. It even makes war against its own species.
When two hamsters meet, they, never fail to attack each other, and the
stronger always devours the weaker. A combat between a male and a
female commonly lasts longer than between two males. They begin by
pursuing and biting each other, then each of them retires aside, as if
to take breath. After a short interval, they renew the combat, and
continue to fight till one of them falls. The vanquished uniformly
serves for a repast to the conqueror.
KNAVERY OF THE PRIESTS IN BURMA H.
The manner in which an uncivilized people will calmly submit to be
duped by the extortionate rascality of their priests, is strongly ex-
hibited in the kingdom of Burmah. The people who are there held
in the highest estimation are the priests. Any one who pleases
may be a priest. The priests pretend to be poor, and go out
begging every morning with their empty dishes in their hands ; but
they get them well tilled, and then return
to their handsome houses, all shining
with gold, in which they live together in
plenty and in pride. They are expected
to dress in rags, to show that they are
poor ; but not liking rags, they cut up
cloth in little pieces, and sew the pieces
together to make their yellow robes ; and
this they call wearing rags. They pre-
tend to be so modest, that they do not
BUBMESB PBIESI POACHING. jjj^ t() ^^ fl^ f^^ ^ ^ j^
them with a fan, even when they preach; for they do preach in their
way, that is, they tell foolish stories about Buddha. The name they
give him is Guadama, while the Chinese call him Fo. They have five
hundred and fifty stories written in their books about him ; for they say
he was once a bird, a fly, an elephant, and all manner of creatures, and
was so good whatever he was, that at last he was born the son of a king.
Is it not marvellous that a whole people should, for generation after
generation, not only submit to be thus scandalously cheated, but should
also hold those who cheat them in the highest esteem ? A curious fact,
indeed, in the history of mankind.
31IKACULOUS ESCAPE.
One of the most singular circumstances occurred a few years" ago that
ever came within our observation. Mr. Charlton, surgeon, of Wylani,
near Newcastle-on-Tyne, having at a late hour been culled upon in
haste to give his attendance at Ovingham, borrowed a spirited horse of
a friend, that he might proceed with the least possible delay, lie had
not gone above half a mile when he perceived his horse stumble, and he
immediately threw himself from the saddle. It was fortunate he did so,
for the next instant his horse had fallen down a precipice of near seventy
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 267
feet ; and, incredible as it may seem, the animal sustained no injury, but
immediately dashed into the Tyne, and swam to the opposite side.
Search was made after him, and hearing his master's voice, he was heard
to neigh even across the water in token of -recognition, and was ultimately
restored without speck or blemish.
A NATIONAL TASTE FOE
It is a remarkable fact that a taste for gaming appears in some cases
to pervade a whole people, and to become one of the chief national cha-
racteristics. Xo where is this more manifest than among the inhabi-
tants of the Asiatic Islands.
Games of hazard are the favourites of these islanders. Some of them
they have learned of the Chinese, the most debauched of gamesters, and
others of the Portuguese. The only game of hazard, of native origin,
among the Javanese consists in guessing the number of a certain kind of
beans which the players hold in their hands.
But of all the species of gaming that to which the Indian islanders are
most fondly addicted is betting on the issue of the combats of pugnacious
animals, and particularly the cock. The breed in highest estimation is
the produce of Celebes. The people of Java fight their cocks without
spurs ; but the Malays and natives of Celebes with an artificial spur, in
the shape of a small scythe, which, notwithstanding its barbarous appear-
ance, is in reality less destructive than the contrivance employed among
ourselves.
Quail fighting also is extremely common in Java. The most famous
breed of this bird is found in the island of Lombok ; and it is a singular
fact, that the female is used in these bitter but bloodless combats, the
male being comparatively small and timid. Neither do the Javanese
hesitate to bet considerable sums on a battle between two crickets, which
are excited to the conflict by the titillation of a blade of grass judiciously
applied to their noses. They will likewise risk their money on the
strength and hardness of a nut, called kamiri ; and much skill, patience
and dexterity, are exercised in the selection and the strife. At other
times two paper kites decide the fortune of the parties ; the object of
each in this contest being to cut the string of his adversary. On a
favourable day fifty or sixty kites, raised for this purpose, may some-
times be seen hovering over a Javanese city.
A FKIEXD TO PHYSIC.
Mr. Samuel Jessup, who died at Heckington, Lincolnshire, in 1817,
was an opulent grazier and of pill-taking memory. He lived in a very
eccentric way, as a bachelor, without known relatives, and at his decease
was possessed of a good fortune, notwithstanding a most inordinate
craving for physic, by which he was distinguished for the last thirty
years of his life, as appeared on a trial for the amount of an apothecary's
bill, at the assizes at Lincoln, a short time before Mr. Jessup's death,
wherein he was defendant. The evidence on the trial affords the following
materials for the epitaph of the deceased, which will not be transcended
by the memorabilia of the life of any man. In twenty-one years (from
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
1791 to 1816) the deceased took 226,934 pills (supplied by a most highly
respectable apothecary and worthy person of the name of Wright, who
resided at Bottesford), which is at the rate of 10,806 pills a year, or
29 pills each day ; but as the patient begun with a more moderate upjn -
tite, and increased it as he proceeded, in the last five years preceding
1816, he took the pills at the rate of 78 a-day, and in the year 1814, he
swallowed not less than 51,590. Notwithstanding this, and the addition
of 40,000 bottles of mixture, and juleps and electuaries, extending alto-
gether to fifty-five closely written columns of an apothecary's bill, the
deceased lived to attain the advanced age of sixty-five years.
AX IXCULPATORY EPITA.PH.
The following epitaph at West Allington, Devon, is deserving a place
in our record of curiosities, inasmuch as it appears to be a successful at-
tempt in making a monumental stone, both a memorial of the deceased,
iind also a means of reproving the parson of the parish :
" Here lyeth the Body of
Daniel Jeffery the Son of Mich
ael Jeffery and Joan his Wife he
was buried y tf 22 day of September
1746 and in y 18 th year of his age.
This Yoiith When In his sickness lay
did for the minister Send + that he would
Come and With him Pray 4- But he would not ate nj
But When this young man Buried was
The minister did him admit 4- he should be
( 'aried into Church 4- that he might money gect
By this you See what man will dwo + to g.
money if he can -t- who did refuse to come
pray + by the Forcsaid young man."
HTTNTrNG A SHEKP KILLER.
It has been remarked, that when once a dog acquires wild habits, and
takes to killing sheep, he docs far more mischief than a wild beast, since
tu the cunning of the tamed animal he adds the ferocity of the untamed.
A remarkable case of this sort is mentioned in the following paragraph,
which we have copied from the Neircnxtlf Cmn-n/if of the year 1S2I3. It
is also curious to note the account of the chase, and of the jny which the
whole country-side seems to have manifested at the slaughter of
the animal. September 21 A few days ago a dog of a most de-
structive nature infested the fells of iCaldbeck, Carroek, and High Tike,
about sixteen miles south of Carlisle. Little doubt remains of its
being the s;nu< <ln-^ which has lum so injurious to the fanners in the
northern parts of .Northumberland, as no less than sixty sheep or
upwards have fallen victims tu its ferocity. It was thought proper to
lose no lime in attempting to destroy it, and Tuesday last was fixed
upon. Sir II. Fletcher, Hart., of Clca Hall, offered his pack of hounds,
and several other dogs with about fifty horsemen set out from Hesket
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AXD QUAINT. 269
New-market. Several persons with firearms were stationed at different
parts. The dog was descried upon an eminence of Carrock-fell, and on
sight of the pursuers set off by way of Hesket New-market, Stocklewath,
and Barwick-h'eld, then returned by Cowclose, Castle Sowerby, and
attempted to gain the fells again, when Mr. Sewell, farmer at Wedlock,
lying in ambush at Mossdale, fired, and succeeded in shooting him. He
appears to be of the Newfoundland breed, of a common size, wire-haired,
and extremely lean. During the chase he frequently turned upon the
dogs which were headmost, and so wounded several as obliged them to
give up the pursuit. The joy manifested on this occasion was uncommon,
insomuch that on the day following about thirty persons sat down to a
dinner provided at Mr. Tomlinson's, Hesket New-market. Upon the
most moderate computation, excluding the various windings, the chase
could not be less than thirty miles, and occupied no less than six
hours.
LONGEVITY.
Henry Jenkins, of Ellerton-upon-Swale, Yorkshire, died 1670, aged
169. He remembered the battle of "Flodden Field, fought between the
English and the Scotch, September 9, 1513, when he was about twelve
years old. He was then sent to Northallerton with a cartload of arrows,
but an older boy was employed to convey them to the army. At Eller-
ton there was also living, at the same time, four or five other old men,
reputed to be of the age of one hundred years and thereabouts, and they
all testified that Jenkins was an elderly man when first they knew him.
Jenkins was once butler to Lord Conyers ; he perfectly remembered the
Abbot of Fountain's Dale before the dissolution of the monasteries. In
the last century of his life he was a fisherman, and often swam in the
river after he was a hundred years old. In the King's Remembrancer
Office in the Exchequer, there is a record of a deposition in a cause,
taken April, 1665, at Kettlewell, Yorkshire, where Henry Jenkins, of
Ellerton-upon-Swale, labourer, aged 157 years, was produced, and made
deposition as a witness. He was buried at Bolton, Yorkshire. In 1743,
a monument, with a suitable inscription, was erected to perpetuate his
memory.
THE PULPIT OF JOHX KXOX AT ST. ANDREW'S.
John Knox, the great precursor of the Protestant Reformation, having
been driven from Edinburgh by the threats of his opponents, reluctantly
withdrew to St. Andrew's, in the county of Fife, where he continued with
undiminished boldness to denounce the enemies of the reformed faith. It
was in that place that he had first discoursed against the degeneracy of
the Church of Rome, and there he occupied the Pulpit represented in the
accompanying engraving ; and the following curious and characteristic
anecdote connected with his preaching in it, is related in the Manuscript
Diary of James Melville, then a student at the college of St. Andrew's,
and subsequently Minister of Anstruther. "Of all the benefits I haicl
that year (1571) was the coming of that maist notable profet and apostle
of our nation, Mr. Jhone Kuox, to St. Andrew's : who, be the faction
270
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
of the Queen occupying the castell and town of Edinburgh, was com-
pellit to remove therefra, with a number of the best, and chusit to come
to St. Andrew's. I heard him teache there the Prophecies of Daniel
that simmer, and the winter following ; I haid my pen and my little
buike, and tuk away sic things as I could comprehend. In the opening
up of his text he was moderat the space of an half houre ; but when ho
enterit to application, he made me so to grew (thrill) and tremble, that
I could not hold a pen to wryt. He was very weak. 1 saw him every
day of his life go hulic and fear (hoolie and fairly slowly and warily)
with a furring of marticks, (martins) about his neck, a staffe in the auc
hand, and gud godlie Richard Ballanden, his servant!, haldin up the
uther it.rri'/- (;irm-pit), from the Abbey to the .Parish -Kirk : and be the
siid Rirhart and another servant lifted up to the Pulpit, whar he bcltorit
(was obliged) to lean at his lirst entry: hot er he had done with his
sermone he was sa active and vigourous, that he was lyk to tli/ig the,
jin//>if in hlmh (beat it into shivers) and nie out of it."
The interesting relique commemorated in tliis curious extract, is of
that stately style of carving which was introduced towards the close of
the sixteenth century in Protestant preaching-places ; and continued,
though of a more heavy character, throughout the whole of the suc-
' < ding century. A scroll-bracket remaining on the preacher's left.
hand, and some broken pieces at the top of the hack, appear to indicate
that it was once more extended, and had probably a canopy or sounding-
board.
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
271
THE BIBLE rsEI) BY KIXG CHARLES THE FIRST OX THE SCAFFOLD.
There is so much external evidence of the genuineness of this VL-I-V
beautiful and interesting relique, that no doubt can exist as to its per-
fect authenticity, though the circumstance of the King having a Bible
with him on the scaffold, and of presenting it to Dr. Juxon, is not men-
tioned in any contemporaneous account of his death. The only notice
of such a volume, as a dying gift, appears to be that recorded bv Sir
Thomas Herbert, in his narrative, which forms a part of the Memoir* of
the last Tico Years of the Eciyn of that unparalleled Prince of ever-
blessed memory, King Charles I. London, 1702, Svo, p. 129, in the
following passage : " The King thereupon gave him his hand to kiss:
having the day before been graciously pleased under his royal hand, to
give him a certificate that the said Mr. Herbert was not imposed upon
him, but by his Majesty made choice of to attend him in his bed-
chamber, and had served him with faithfulness and loyal affection. His
Majesty also delivered him his Bible, in the margin whereof ho had with
his own hand, written many annotations and quotations, and charged
Mm to give it to the Prince so soon as he returned." That this might
be the book represented in our engraving, is rendered extremely pro-
bable, by admitting that the King would be naturally anxious, that his
son should possess that very copy of the Scriptures which had been pro-
vided for himself when he was Prince of Wales. It will be observed
272 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
that the cover of the volume is decorated with the badge of the Princi-
pality within the Garter, surmounted by a royal coronet in silver gilt,
inclosed by an embroidered border ; the initials C. P. apparently im-
properly altered to an 11., and the badges of the Rose and Thistle, upon
a ground of blue velvet : and the book was therefore bound between the
death of Prince Henrv in 1612, and the accession of King Charles to
the throne in 1625, wnen such a coronet Avould be no longer nsed by
him. If the Bible here represented were that referred to by Herbert,
the circumstance of Bishop Jnxon becoming the possessor of it might be
accounted for, by supposing that it was placed in his hands to be trans-
mitted to Charles II. with the George of the Order of the Garter be-
longing to the late King, well known to have been given to that Prelate
upon the scaffold, January 30th, 1648-9.
LAMBETH WELLS, THE APOLLO GARDENS, AND FlXCIl's GROTTO.
Among the numerous public places of amusement which arose upon
the success of Vauxhall Gardens, which were first opened about 1661,
was one in Lambeth Walk, known as Lambeth Wells. This place was
first opened on account of its mineral waters, which were sold at a penny
per quart. The music commenced at seven o'clock in the morning, and
the price of admission was three pence. A monthly concert under the
direction of Mr. Starling Goodwin, organist of St. Saviour's Church
Southwark, was afterwards held here, and Erasmus King, who had been,
coachman to the celebrated ~l>r. Desagnliers, read lectures and exhibited
experiments in natural philosophy, the price- of admission being raised
to sixpence.
This place was open before 1698, and existed as late as 1752, when
"A Penny Wedding after the Scotch fashion, for the benefit of a young
couple," was advertised to be kept there.
Lambeth Wells at length becoming a public nuisance, the premises were
shut up, and ultimately let as a Methodist Meeting-house. The music
gallery was used as a pulpit; but the preacher being greatly disturbed in
his enthusiastic harangues, he was obliged to quit, when the premises
were coaverted to various purposes, except the dwelling, which is now
known by the sign of the Fountain public-house.
On the site of Messrs. Maudslay's factory, in the Westminster Road,
formerly stood the Apollo Gardens. This place of amusement was
opened in 1788, by an ingenious musician named Claret, who published,
in 1793, a small quarto pamphlet, entitled "Musical Phenomena: An
Organ made without Pipes, Strings, Hells, or Glasses; the only Instru-
ment in the world that will never require to be re-tuned. A Cromatie
Trumpi t, capable of producing just Intervals, and regular Melodies- in
all Keys, without undergoing any change whatever. A French Horn,
answering the above description of the Trumpet."
The Apollo Gardens had one spacious room elegantly fitted up, and
decorated in taste suitably to its intention. The gardens consisted of a
number of elegant pavilions or alcoves, well adapted for the accommoda-
tion of different companies; they were ornamented chiefly with a suc-
cession of paintings, relating to romantic histories, particularly the
MARVELLOUS, RAKE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 273
different adventures of Don Quixote. It had a fine orchestra erected in
the centre of the gardens. The place being ultimately converted into a
receptacle for loose and dissolute characters, the magistracy very properly
suppressed it about the year 1799.
In Gravel Lane, Southwark, was Finch's Grotto, a public garden
and place of amusement, so named from William Finch, the proprietor.
The Grotto was opened to the public in 1770 upon the plan of Vauxhall
gardens. An orchestra and a band of musicians, added to the rural
character of the place, and drew a numerous body of visitors.
Very little is known about the Grotto, but it is supposed to have been
closed early in the present century.
THE DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS, OR ORNITHORYXCHrS PARADOXUS.
Of the genus Ornithornynchus only one species the Paradoxvs has
yet been discovered in the whole world, and it is, therefore, one of the
great curiosities of animal life. It appears to be a union of a quad-
ruped and a bird, and is only to bo found in Xew Holland, where it
inhabits the reeds by the side of rivers. Our engraving represents it
very accurately. It is about twenty inches long, having a flattened
body, somewhat like the otter, and is clothed with a dark soft fur. The
elongated nose very much resembles the beak of a duck, like which
these animals feed upon water insects, shell-fish, and aquatic plants.
The feet are five-toed and webbed, and in the fore-feet this membrane
extends beyond the nails : the male is armed with a spur on each hind
leg. This curious animal, in which a duck's beak is united to the body
of a quadruped, rolls itself up like a hedgehog, when it sleeps in its
burrows on the banks of the streams whence its food is derived.
ORIGIX OF BOLTOX ABBEY.
About midway up the Vale of Bolton, amidst the gloomy recesses of the
woods, the Wharfe, which is otherwise a wide and shallow river, is sud-
denly contracted by two huge rocks, which approach each other so nearly,
that the country folk, or rather the villagers, call it the Stn'd, because
adventurous people stride or leap from one rock to the other. In ancient
274 TEX THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
days, the whole of this valley belonged to Baron Romillie, whose eldest
son having died, left a younger brother, of the name of EGREMONT, solo
heir of the domains and inheritance of this family. One day, however,
when this young man, familiarly called the "Boy of Egremont," was
returning from hunting with the hounds in the leash, he, as he had
done many times before, was going to leap the Strid, when, just as he
had attempted it, the hounds held back, and precipitated him headlong
into the deep and awful chasm, which the impetuous fall of water (thus
produced by the sudden contraction of the river) had worn in the base
of the two rude rocks, and he was never seen afterwards. The Baron,
being now left childless, built the Abbey, and endowed it with the
domains of Bolton.
LEXGXII OF LIFE WITHOUT BODILY EXERCISE.
The Rev. William Davies, Rector of Staunton-upon-Wye, and Vicar
of All Saints, Hereford, died 1790, aged 105. The life of this gentleman
displays one of the most extraordinary instances of departure from all
those rules of temperance and exercise, which so much influence the lives
of the mass of mankind, that is, probably to be found in the whole re-
cords of longevity. During the last thirty-five years of his life, he never
used any other exercise than that of just slipping his feet, one before the
other, from room to room ; and they never after that time were raised,
but to go down or up stairs, a task, however, to \vhicli he seldom sub-
jected himself. His breakfast was hearty ; consisting of hot rolls well
buttered, with a plentiful supply of tea or cott'ee. His dinner was sub-
stantial, and frequently consisted of a variety of dishes. At supper he
generally eat hot roast meat, and always drank wine, though never to
excess. Though nearly blind for a number of years, he was always
elp ert'ul in his manners, and entertaining in his conversation, and was
much beloved by all who knew him. He had neither gout, stone, para-
l\>is, rheumatism, nor any of those disagreeable infirmities which mostly
attend old age ; but died peaceably in the full possession, of all his facul-
ties, mental and corporeal, save his eyesight. Like most long livers he
was very short of stature.
KXTKAOKDIXARY FASHIOX IN CIGARS.
A taste for tobacco in some form or othtr seems to extend over the
whole inhabitable globe. In this respect it matters not whether 11:1
are civilized or uncivilized ; and however completely they may differ from
each other in everything else, they all agree in a fondness for "the
weed." In the mode, however, of indulging in the luxury, there is the
greatest diversity, and no where is this more strikingly manifested than
in the Philippine Islands.
" It is not till evening that the inhabitant of the higher class begin
to stir ; till that time they are occupied in eating, sleeping, and smoking
toliaeco, which is no where more general than on the island of Luzon ;
lor children, before they can Avalk, begin to smoke si-gars. The women
earry their fondness for it to a greater height than the men; for, not
content with the usual small segars, they have others made for them,
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 275
which are a foot long and proportionally thick. These are here called
the women's segars, and it is a most ludicrous sight to see elegant ladies
taking their evening walk, with these burning brands in their mouths."
How widely does the fashion in Luzon differ from the fashion at
Paris !
NOVEL WAT OF PURCHASING A HUSBAND.
The following paragraph, which we have copied from a magazine of
1790, not only gives us a curious instance of female determination in
the pursuit of a husband, but tells us of the price which human hair
was worth at the period when ladies wore such monstrous head-dresses
of false curls.
* ' An Oxfordshire lass was lately courted by a young man of that
country, who was not willing to marry her unless her friends could
advance 507. for her portion ; which they being incapable of doing, the
lass came to London to try her fortune, where she met with a good
chapman in the Strand, who made a purchase of her hair (which was
delicately long and light), and gave her sixty pounds for it, being 20
ounces at 3^. an ounce ; with which money she joyfully returned into the
country, and bought her a husband."
GLOVES. ORIGIN OF "TIN XONET."
Gloves were very common as New Years gifts. For many hun-
dreds of vears after their introduction into England in the 10th century,
they were worn only by the most opulent classes of society, and hence
constitiited a valuable present. They are often named in old records.
Exchange of gloves was at one period a mode of investiture into pos-
session of property, as amongst the ancient Jews was that of a shoe or
sandal; and " glove -money" is to this day presented by High Sheriffs
to the officers of their courts, upon occasion of a maiden assize, or one
in which no cause is tried. Pins, which at the commencement of the
sixteenth century displaced the wooden skewers previously in use, be-
came a present of similar consequence ; and at their iirst introduction
were considered of so much importance in female dress, that "pin-
money " grew into the denomination of dower, which, by the caution of
parents, or justice of a consort, was settled upon a lady at her marriage.
HABITS AND HABITATIONS OF THE DYAKS OF BOENEO.
It is impossible to appreciate properly the courage, determination,
and skill which have been displayed by the gallant Sir James Brooke,
unless we make ourselves acquinted with the character and habits
of the extraordinary race of men over whom he triumphed. The
Dyaks are a savage people who inhabit Borneo. They lived there be-
fore the Malays came, and they have been obliged to submit to them.
They are savages indeed. They are darker than the Malays ; yet they
are not black ; their skin is only the colour of copper. Their hair is
cut short in front, but streams down their backs ; their large moiiths
show a quantity of black teeth, made black by chewing the betel-nut.
They wear but 'very little clothing, but they adorn their ears and arms,
and legs, with Bombers of brass rings. Their looks are wild and fierce,
276
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
DTAK WITH HEADS.
but not cunning like the looks of the Malays. They are not Mahome-
dans ; they have hardly any religion at all. They believe there are some
gods, biit they know hardly any-
thing about them, and they do not
want to kuow. They neither make
images to the gods, nor say prayers
to them. They live like the beasts,
thinking only of this life ; yet they
are more unhappy than beasts, for
they imagine there are evil spirits
among the woods and hills, watching
to do them harm. It is often hard
> to persuade them to go to the top of
? a mountain, where they say evil
^ spirits dwell. Such a people would
? be more ready to listen to a mis-
~ sionary than those who have idols,
and temples, and priests, and sacred
books.
Their wickedness is very great.
It is their chief delight to get the
heads of their enemies. There are
a great many different tribes of
Dyaks, and each tribe tries to cut off the heads of other tribes. The
Dyaks who live by the sea are the most cruel ; they go out into the
boats to rob and bring home, not slaves, but HEADS ! ! And how do
they treat a head when they get it ? They take out
the brains, and then they dry it in the smoke, with
the flesh and hair still on ; then they put a string
through it, and fasten it to their waists. The evening
that they have got some new heads, the warriors
dance with delight, their heads dangling by their
sides ; and they turn round in the dance, and gaze
upon their heads, and shout, and yell with
triumph ! At night they still keep the heads near
them ; and in the day they play with them, as
children with their dolls, talking to them, putting
food in their mouths, and the betel-nut between their
ghastly lips. After wearing the heads many days,
they hang them up to the ceilings of their rooms.
No English lord thinks so much of his pictures, as
the Dyaks do of their heads. They think these heads
are the finest ornaments of their houses. The man
who has most heads, is considered the (jrc/itc^t man.
A man who has no Jictidx is despised! If he wishes to be respected, he
must get a head as soon as he can. Sometimes a man, in order to get a
head, will go out to look for a poor fisherman, who has done him no
harm, and will come back with his head, When the Dyaks tight against
their enemies, they try to get, not only the heads of men, but also the
HEAD OF A DTAK.
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 277
HOUSE OF SEA DYAKS.
heads of women and children. How dreadful it must be to see a poor
baby's head hanging from the ceiling! There was a Dyak who lost all
his property by fire, but he ,
cared not for losing anything,
so much as for losing his pre-
cious heads ; nothing could con-
sole him for his loss ; some of
them he had cut off himself,
and others had been cut off by
his father, and left to him !
People who are so bent on
killing, as these Dyaks are,
must have many enemies. The
Dyaks are always in fear of
being attacked by their ene-
mies. They are afraid ot living
in lonely cottages ; they think
it a better plan for a great
many to live together, that
they may be able to defend
themselves, if surprised in the
night. Four hundred Dyaks
will live together in one hoiase.
The house is very large. To SKULL HOUSE.
make it more safe, it is built upon very high posts, and there are ladders
278 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
to get up by. The posts are sometimes forty feet high ; so that when you
are in the house, you find yourself as high as the tall trees. There is one
very large room, where all the men. and women sit, and taDi, and do
their work in the day. The women pound the rice, and weave the mats,
while the men make weapons of war, and the little children play about.
There is always much noise and confusion in this room. There are a
great many doors along one side of the long room ; and each of these
doors leads into a small room where a family lives ! the parents, the babies,
and the girls sleep there, while the boys of the family sleep in the large
room, that has just been, described.
The Hill Dyaks do not live in houses quite so large. Tet several
families inhabit the same house. In the midst of their villages, there
is always one house where the boys sleep. In this house all the heads of
the village are kept. The house is round, and built on posts, and the
entrance is underneath, through the floor. As this is the best house in
the village, travellers are always brought to this house to sleep. Think
how dreadful it must be, when you wake in the night to see thirty or
forty horrible heads, dangling from the ceiling ! The wind, too, which
comes in through little doors in the roof, blows the heads about ; so that
they knock against each other, and seem almost as if they were still
alive. This is the Dead-house. Such are the men whom the Rajah
Brooke subdued !
SCOTTISH WILD CATTLK.
The wild white cattle, a few of which arc still to be found in Chatel-
herault Park, belonging to the Duke of Hamilton, in Lanarkshire, are
great objects of curiosity, inasmuch as they are identical with the
primitive source of all .our domestic cattle.
The following description of their habits is abridged from an article by
the Rev. "W. Patrick, in the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture :
" I am inclined to believe that the Hamilton breed of cattle is the
oldest in Scotland, or perhaps in Britain. Although Lord Tankerville
has said they have 'no wild habits,' I am convinced, from personal
vation, that this is one of their peculiar features. In browsing their
extensive pasture, they always keep close together, never scattering or
straggling over it, a peculiarity which does not belong to the Kyloe, <>r
any other breed, from the wildest or most inhospitable regions of the
ElghlaXUbi The white eo\vs are also remarkable for their systematic
manner of feeding. At different periods of the year their tactics arc
different, but by those Mquftinted with their habits they are always found
about the same part of the forest at the same hour of the day. In the
height of summer, they always bivouac for the night towards the northern
extremity of the forest ; 1'ioin this point they start in the morning, and
browse to the southern extremity, and return at sunset to their old
rendezvous; and during these p.Tambulations they always feed <-n //m.v.sr.
"The bulls are seldom ill-natured, but when they are so they display
a disposition more than ordinarily savage, cunning, pertinacious, and
revengeful. A poor bird-catcher, when exercising his vocation among
the ' Old Oaks,' as the park is familiarly called, chanced to be attacked
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AXD QUAINT. 279
by a savage bull. By great exertion he gained a tree before his assailant
made up to him. Here he had occasion to observe the habits of the
animal. It did not roar or bellow, but merely grunted, the whole body
quivered with passion and savage rage, and he frequently attacked the
tree with his head and hoofs. Finding all to no purpose, he left off the
vain attempt, began to browse, and removed to some distance from the
tree. The bird-catcher tried to descend, but this watchful Cerberus was
again instantly at his post, and it was not till after six hours' imprison-
ment, and various bouts at ' bo-peep ' as above, that the unfortunate man
was relieved by some shepherds with their dogs. A writer's apprentice,
who had been at the village of Quarter on business, and who returned by
the ' Oaks ' as a ' near-hand cut,' was also attacked by one of these savage
brutes, near the northern extremity of the forest. He was fortunate,
however, in getting up a tree, but was watched by the bull, and kept
there during the whole of the night, and till near two o'clock the
next day.
" These animals are never taken and killed like other cattle, but are
always shot in the field. I once went to see a bull and some cows
destroyed in this manner not by any means for the sake of the sight,
but to observe the manner and habits of the animal under peculiar cir-
cumstances. When the shooters approached, they, as usual, scampered
off in a body, then stood still, tossed their heads on high, and seemed to
snuff the wind ; the manoeuvre was often repeated, till they got so hard
pressed (and seemingly having a sort of half-idea of the tragedy which
was to be performed), that they at length ran furiously in a mass, always
preferring the sides of the fence and sheltered situations, and dexterously
taking advantage of any inequality in the ground, or other circumstances,
to conceal themselves from the assailing foe. In their flight, the bulls,
or stronger of the flock, always took the lead ! a smoke ascended from
them which could be seen at a great distance ; and they were often so
close together, like sheep, that a carpet would have covered them. The
cows which had young, on the first ' tug of war,' all retreated to the
thickets where their calves were concealed ; from prudential motives, they
are never, if possible, molested. These and other wild habits I can testify
to be inherent in the race, and are well known to all who have an oppor-
tunity of acquainting themselves with them."
BELLS OF THE ANCIENTS.
Bells were known in the earliest ages of which we have any certain
account. But the bells of the ancients were very small in comparison
with those of modern times, since, according to Polydore Yirgil, the
invention of such as are hung in the towers, or steeples of Christian
churches, did not occur till the latter end of the fourth, or beginning of
the fifth century ; when they were introduced by Paulinus, Bishop
of Xola. The Jews certainly employed bells, since they are spoken of
in Scriptures ; and the mention of them by Thucydides, Diodorus Siculus,
Suidas, Aristophanes, and other ancient writers, proves that they were
used in Greece ; while Plautus, Ovid, Tibullus, Statins, and a variety of
Latin authors, speak of bells as in use among the Romans. But the so
280 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
bells of the ancients were all made for the hand ; or were of a size to be
affixed to other musical instruments, like those which were occasionally
appended to the drum. Whether, when detached from other instruments,
they were used on other occasions, or only in particular ceremonies, or
as signals, is not known ; nor have we any clue by which to guess whe-
ther they were tuned in concordance with any scale, or whether they
were unisons to each other, or not formed to any particular pitch, tut
merely used as sonoroiis auxiliaries to other instruments, without any
regard to their agreement of tone, cither with one another, or with the
instruments they accompanied.
EARTHQUAKE AT XOTTINGirAM IX 1816.
Earthquakes arc providentially occurrences of great rarity in England.
The one which took place on the 17th of March, 1816, was one of the
most dangerous that has ever been experienced in this kingdom. It ex-
tended over a vast area of country, and in some localities its eft'ects were
felt very severely. As a proof of this, we have copied the following para-
graph from a Nottingham paper of the day :
Nottingham, in common with a great part of the North Midland
district, experienced a smart shock of an earthquake. 1 It was felt at
half-past twelve p.m., and as Divine service, it being Sunday, was
not over at the churches, great alarm was expressed by the con-
gregations. At Si. Peter's and St. Nicholas's, the consternation was so
great, that service had to be suspended for a few seconds, and one lady
was borne out in a state of insensibility. The pillars supporting St.
Mary's tower shook very visibly, but, fortunately, the attention of the
crowded congregation was so engrossed by the eloquence of the sheriff's
chaplain, and the presence of the Judge and his retinue, that the alarm
was but slight, or the rush and loss of life might have been great. In
various parts of the town and neighbourhood, glasses were shaken off
of shelves, articles of domestic use displaced, window- casements thrown
open, and other indications manifest of the influence of the subterra-
nean movement.
STATE OF riU-SKKYATIO.V OK A DMA I) 11ODY.
According to a statement in Ilolinshed, in 110,3, while digging for a
foundation for the church of St. Mary-at-hill, in London, the body of Alice
Hackney was discovered. It had been buried 17o years, and yet the
skin was whole, and the joint pliable. It was kept above ground
four days without annoyance, and then re-interred.
ASVI.l'M I-OK DKSTlTfTK CATS.
Of all the curious charitable institutions in the world, the most curious
probably is the Cat, Asylum at Aleppo, which is attached to one of the
mosques there, and was founded by a misanthropic old Turk, who
being possessed of large granaries, was much annoyed by rats and
mice, to rid himself of which he employed a legion of cats, who so
effectually rendered him service, that in return he left them a sum
in the Turkish funds, with strict injunctions that all destitute and
sickly cats should be provided for, till such time as they took them-
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
281
selves off again. In 1845, when a famine was ravaging in all
Xorth Syria when scores of poor people were dropping- down in
the streets from sheer exhaustion and want, and dying there by
dozens per diem before the eyes of their well-to-do fellow creatures, men
might daily be encountered carrying away sack loads of cats to be fed
up and feasted on the proceeds of the last will and testament of that
vagabond old Turk, whilst fellow creatures were permitted to perish.
T05IB OF SAINT GEORGE.
The tomb of Saint George, England's patron-saint, is situated in the Bay
of Kesrouan, between the Nahr-et-
Kelb and Batroun, surroiinded by
luxuriant gardens and groups of
romantic-looking villages and con-
vents.
George,
The Arabs venerate St.
> whom they style Mar
Djurios, and point to a small ruined
chapel (as in our engraving), ori-
ginally dedicated to him to com-
memorate his victory over the
dragon, which, they say, took place
near to the spot. The tradition is,
that the dragon was about to devour
the king of Bevrout's daughter,
when St. George slew him, and thus
saved the lady fair ; and the cre-
dulous natives point to a kind of
well, upwards of sixty feet deep,
where they stoutly affirm that the
dragon used to come out to feed
upon his victims.
All this is very curious, in-
asmuch as it gives an Arabian
interest to the career of the patron "f,_
saint of England, whose portrait, =1^
in the act of slaying the dragon, "3
constitutes the reverse of most
English coin, and is regarded the as embodiment of English valour.
BEGGAKS SELECTED AS 3IODELS BY P.VIXTEES.
Michael Angelo Buonarotti often drew from beggars ; and report says,
that in the early part of his life, when he had not the means of paying
them in money, he woxdd make an additional sketch, and, presenting
it to the party, desire him to take it to some particular person, who
would purchase it. Fuseli, in his life of Michael Angelo, says that
" a beggar rose from his hand the patriarch of poverty." The same
artist, in one of his lectures, delivered at the Royal Academy, also ob-
serves, that "Michael Angelo ennobled his beggars into Patriarchs and
Prophets, in the ceiling of the Sistjne Chapel."
282 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
Annibal Caracci frequently drew subjects in low life. His Cries of
Boloyna, etched by Giuseppe Maria Mitelli : pub. 1660, in folio, are
evidently from real characters. It will also be recollected, that some of
the finest productions of Murillo, Jan Miel, and Drogsloot, are beggars.
Callot's twenty-four beggars are evidently from nature ; and among
Itembrandt's etchings are to be found twenty-three plates of this descrip-
tion.
Sir Joshua Reynolds frequently painted from beggars, and from these
people have originated some of his finest pictures, particularly his
'"Mercury as a Pickpocket," and "Cupid as a Link-boy." His Count
Ugolino was painted from a pavior, soon after he had left St. George's
Hospital, from a severe fever. Mr. West painted the portrait of a beg-
gar, on the day when he became a hundred years old ; and considered
him as a pensioner for several years afterwards. The same person was
used also as a model, by Copley, Opie, &c. Who can forget the lovely
countenance of Gainsborough's " Shepherd's Boy," that has once seen
Earlom's excellent engraving from it ? He was a lad, well known as a
beggar to those who walked St. James' s-street seventy years ago. The
model for the celebrated picture of the " Woodman," by the same artist,
died in the Borough, at the venerable age of 107.
Mr. Sollekens, in 1778, when modelling the bust of Dr. Johnson, who
then wore a wig, called in a beggar to sit for the hair. The same artist
was not equally fortunate in the locks of another great character ; for
on his application to a beggar for the like purpose, the fellow declined to
sit, with an observation that three half-crowns were not sufficient for the
trouble.
SriTLY OF WATER FOR OLD LOXDOIf.
Leaden pipes conveyed spring water to London city from Tyburn in
1236; and in 1285 the first great conduit of lead was begun there. In
i I 1'2 Henry VI. granted to John Hatherlcy, Mayor, license to take up
200 fother of lead. The pipes from Highbury brought in the water in
1483. We may learn how much was thought of this useful work by
the fact that the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and many worshipful persons
used to ride and view the conduit heads at Tyburn ; and after dinner
there, somewhat different from recent sportsmen, thev hunted a fox.
The water- works at London Bridge were established, in 1512. In 1534,
two-fifteenths were granted by the Common Council for defraying the
expense of bringing water from Hackney to Aldgate to a conduit. But
Peter Morris did not bring his supply of water to the highest parts of
London till the year 1569, and Sir Hugh Middleton's far-famed New
lliver was only rendered available in 1618, that is, a space of sixty-eight
years after the introduction of a stream of pure water into the western
parts of the town of Lyme in Dorset.
COMBINATION' OK INSTINCT AXD FORCE OF HABIT IX A BOG.
A dog which had been accustomed to go with his master regularly for
sometime to Penkridge church, still continued to ^o there by himself
every Sunday for a whole your, while the edifice was under repair, and
divine service was not held. Whenever he could, he would get into the
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 283
family pew and there pass the proper time. His instinct enabled him to
perceive the occasion, and to measure the regular time, but it could carry
him no further. A remarkable exemplification of the difference between
instinct and reason.
YORKSHIRE IN THE LAST CENTURY.
Anecdotes which are apparently trifling in themselves, are often of im-
portance, as exhibiting in a striking light the dialect and social condi-
tion of the people, and the period they refer to. An instance of this is
the following, which has been recorded as the bellman's cry at Bipon, on
the occasion of a great frost and fall of snow, about 1780 :
"I is to gie notidge, that Joanie Pickersgill yeats yewn to neit, to
moarn at moarn, an to moarn at neit, an nea langer, as lang as storm
hods, 'cause he can git na mare eldin."
The Translation.
I am to give notice, that John Pickersgill heats his oven to-night,
to-morrow morning, and to-morrow at night, and no longer as long as
the storm lasts, because he can, get no more fuel.
INSTANCE OF MANY AGED PERSONS DYING ABOUT THE SAME DATE.
The following is taken from a copy of Nile's " Weekly Register,"
published at Baltimore, in the month of January, 1823. It is the list of
deaths which had been notified ta the paper within one week, and we
give it, as a singular instance of the decease of so many persons above
one hundred years old being announced in the same paragraph.
"In Franklin co. Pennsylvania, Elizabeth Campbell, aged 104 several
of her relatives had reached 100. At Troy, ]V. Y., Ann Fowler, 100.
At Tyngsboro', JST. Y., Abigail Hadlock, 104. At Somers, N. Y.,
Michael'Makeel, 103. At Rutland, Oswego, IS". Y., Mrs. Buroy, 110.
At Brunswick, Maine, Gen. James W. Ryan, 107 his wife is yet living,
aged 94 ; they were married together 75 years before his death. At
Georgetown, Col. Yarrow, a Moor, (supposed) 135 ! At the city of New
York, a woman, a native of St. Domingo, 106. At Sargus, Mass., Mrs.
Edwards, 101. In Edgecomb county, H". C., "William Spicer, aged about
112. In Boston, William Homer, 116."
CORPSE BEAKERS DURING THE PIAGUE.
Of all the calamities with which a great city is infested, there can be
none so truly awful as that of a plague, when the street doors of the
houses that were visited with the dreadful pest were padlocked up, and
only accessible to the surgeons and medical men, whose melancholy duty
frequently exposed them even to death itself ; and when the fronts of
the houses were pasted over with large bills exhibiting red crosses, to
denote that in such houses the pestilence was raging, and requesting the
solitary passenger, to pray that the Lord might have mercy upon those
who were confined within. Of these bills there are many extant in the
libraries of the curious, some of which have borders engraved on wood,
printed in black, displaying figures of skeletons, bones, and coifins.
S84 TEX THOUSAND WONDEKFUL THINGS ;
They also contain various recipes for the cure of the distemper. The
Lady Arnndel, and other persons of distinction, published their methods
for making what was then called plague-water, and which are to be
found in many of the rare books on cookery of the time ; but happily
for London, it has not been visited by this affliction since 166<3, a cir-
cumstance owing probably to the (in at Fire in the succeeding year,
which consumed so many old and deplorable buildings, then standing in
narrow streets and places so conlined, that it was hardly possible to know
where any pest would stop.
Kvery one who inspects Agas's Plan of London, engraved in the reign
of Elizabeth, as well as those published subsequently to the rebuilding of
the City after the fire, must acknowledge the great improvements a> to
the houses, the widening of the streets, and the 1'ree admission of fivsh
air. It is to be hoped, and indeed \ V r niav conclud" from the verv great
and daily improvements on that most excellent plan of widening streets,
that this great city will never again witnes> such visitations.
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 285
AN lien the plague was at its height, perhaps nothing could have been
more silently or solemnly conducted than the removal of the dead to the
various pits round London, that were opened for their reception ; and it
was the business of Corpse Bearers, such as the one exhibited in the
preceding engraving, to give directions to the carmen, who went through
the city with bells, which they rang, at the same time crying ' ' Bring
out your Dead." This melancholy description may be closed, by observ-
ing that many parts of London, particularly those leading to the Courts
of Westminster, were so little trodden down, that the grass grew in the
middle of the streets.
The curious relic, of which we herewith give an engraving, was pre-
sented by Mary, Queen of Scots, to her Maid of Honour, Mary Seaton,
of the house of "Wintoun, one of the four celebrated Maries, who were
Maids of Honour to her Majesty.
" Yestreen the Queen had four Maries,
The night she'll hae but three ;
There was Marie Seaton, and Marie Beaton,
And Marie Cannichael and me."
The watch is of silver, in the form of a skull. On the forehead of
the skull is the figure of Death, with his scythe and sand-glass ; he
stands between a palace on the one hand, and a cottage on the other,
with his toes applied equally to the door of each, and around this is the
legend from Horace " Pallida mors ceqito pulsat pede paupervm tttbi-r/Kta
Hegumque turn's." On the opposite, or posterior part of the skull, is a
representation of Time, devouring all things. He also has a scythe,
and near him is the serpent with its tail in its mouth, being an emblem
of eternity ; this is surrounded by another legend from Horace, " Tumpus
286 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THTNGS ;
cilox re rum tuque iiin'ditisti retitsfas." The upper part of the skull is
divided into two compartments : on one is represented our tirst parents
in the garden, of Eden, attended by some of the animals, with the
motto, " Peccandn pertKionem mineritim a'ti-rnam jtosteris merHcre."
The opposite compartment is tilled with the subject of the salvation of
oamptaranvt" Running below these compartments on both sides, there
is an open work of about an inch in width, to permit the sound to come
more freely out when the watch strikes. This is formed of emblems
belonging to the crucifixion, scourges of various kinds, swords, the
flagon and cup of the Eucharist, the cross, pincers, lantern used in the
garden, spears of different kinds, and one with the sponge on its point,
thongs, ladder, the coat without seam, and the dice that were thrown
for it, the hammer and nails, and the crown of thorns. Under all these
is the motto, " Scala caali ad (jlorunn via."
The watch is opened by reversing the skull, and placing the upper
part of it in. the hollow of the hand, and then lifting the under jaw
which rises on a hinge. Inside, on the plate, which thus may be called
the lid, is a representation of the Holy Family in the stable, with the
infant Jesus laid in the manger, and angels ministering to brm ; in the
upper part an angel is nen descending with a scroll on which is written,
" fi/nrift r.cvW.s/.s J)f<>, cf ill term ]>nu- Jioininibns IHK.' coin " In the
distance are the shepherds with their fiocks, and one of the men is in
the act of performing on a cornemuse. The works of the watch occupy
the position of the brains in the skull itself, the dial plate being on a
fiat where the roof of the mouth and the parts behind it under the base
of the brain, are to be found in the real subject. The dial plate is of
silver, and it is fixed within a golden circle richly carved iu a scroll pat-
tern. The hours are marked in large Koman letters, and within them
is the figure of Saturn devouring his children, with this relative legend
round the outer rim of the fiat, " Sieiit nteis sic ct (>in/>ibns Idem.' 11
Lifting up the body of the works on the hinges by which they are
attached, they are found to be wonderfully entire. There is no date,
but the maker's name, with the place of manufacture, " Moy-e, t'.lois,"
are distinctly engraven. IMois was the place where it is believed watches
were first made, and this suggests the probahility of the opinion that, the
watch was expressly ordered by Queen Mary at lUois, when she went
there witli her husband, the Dauphin, previous to his death. The watch
appears to have been originally constructed with catgut, instead of the
chain which it now has, which must have been a more modern addition.
It is now in perfect order, and performs wonderfully well, though it re-
quires to tie wound up within twenty-six hours to keep it goin.n- with
tolerable accuracy. A larice silver beil, of very musical, sound, till.-, the
entire hollow of the skull, and receives the works within it when the
watch is shut ; a small hammer set in motion by a separate escapement,
strikes the hours on it.
This very curious relic must have been intended to occupy a stationary
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 287
place on aprie-dieu, or small altar in a private oratory, for its weight is
much too great to have admitted of its having been carried in any way
attached to the person.
A MOITSTER.
It is almost incredible that such a monster, as the one we are about to
describe should have been allowed to continue his wicked career for some
years, in a civilized country like Trance, little more than a hundred
years ago, but the following paragraph is copied from a Paris journal of
that period 1755, January the 17th and there is every reason to
believe that it is strictly correct. What was his fate we do not know,
but can hardly doubt. The Marquis de Plumartin, whose execrable
crimes are known over all France, has at last been taken in his castle,
by 300 men of the King's Own regiment of foot, and carried to Poitiers,
loaded with irons. The king is going to appoint a commission to try
him. This monster tiirned away his wife sonic years ago, and became,
the terror of Poitou. Neither woman nor man durst appear in the neigh-
bourhood. Having one day lost a cause in one of the king's courts, he
caused the usher and his man, who came to intimate the sentence to him,
to be burnt alive. Some days after, having drawn six of his creditors
into his castle, where he had shut himself up with several of his crew,
he ordered some of his people to drag them into a pond, tied to the tails
of horses, and afterwards fastened them to a stake near a great fire,
where three expired, and the other three died a few days after. Thirty
of the Marshalsea guards, who were sent to apprehend him, having beset
his castle, he barricaded the doors and fired on them from the garret
window, killing the commanding officer and five others. After which
he left the kingdom, but absurdly imagining that his crimes were forgot,
he lately returned."
FERSEVERAXCE REWARDED BY FOETTTNE.
"We have copied the following paragraph from the pages of a local his-
torian, because it gives us a striking instance of what perseverance and
good fortune will accomplish, in raising a man to comparative distinction
from the humblest walks of life.
August 26, 1691 Sir John Duck, bart., departed this life, being Wed-
nesday at night, and was buried upon the Monday after, being the 31st
of August. The wealthiest burgess on the civic annals of Durham. Of
Sir John's birth, parentage, and education, the two first have hitherto
remained veiled in impenetrable obscurity ; as to the third, he was bred
a butcher under John Heslop, in defiance of the trade and mystery of
butchers, in whose books a record still exists, warning John Heslopp that
he forbear to sett John Ducke on worke in the trade of a butcher. John
Duck however grew rich, married the daughter of his benefactor, and
was created a baronet by James II. He built a splendid mansion in
Silver-street, Avhcre a panel still exists recording his happy rise to fortune.
The baronet, then humble Duck, cast out by the butchers, stands near a
bridge in an attitiide of despondency ; in the air is seen a raven bearing in
his bill a piece of silver, which according to tradition fell at the feet of the
288 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
lucky John, and was naturally calculated to make a strong impression on his
mind. He bought a calf, which calf became a cow, and which cow being
sold enabled John to make further purchases in cattle, and from such
slender beginnings, to realise a splendid fortune. On the right of thu
picture is a view of his mansion in Silver-street, and he seems to point at
another, which is presumed to be the hospital he endowed at Lumley.
He died without issue, and was buried at St. Margaret's, where his wife,
Pia Prudens Felix, lies buried beside him.
On Duck the Butchers shut the door ;
But Heslop's Daughter Johnny wed :
In mortgage rich, in offspring poor,
Xor son nor daughter crown'd liis bed.
TRAVELLING IX TILE VXITED STATES EXACTLY OXE HUXDKED YEAHS AGO.
The American advertisement, of which we here give a literal copy, is
deserving of preservation on account of the quaintness of the inn-signs,
the peculiarity of the spelling and diction, the " shifting" of the passen-
gers which it announces, and the general idea it gives us of the way in
which travelling was performed in America at the time when it was
issued.
Philadelphia STAGE -WAGGON, and New- York STAGE BOAT
performs their Stages twice a Week.
TOHN BUTLER, with his waggon, sets out on Mondays from his
*' House, at the Sign of the Death of the Fox, in Strawberry ally,
and drives the same day to Trenton Ferry, when Francis Holman meets
him, and proceeds on Tuesday to Brunswick, and the passengers and
goods being shifted into the waggon of Isaac Fit/randolph, he takes
them to the New Blazing-Star to Jacob Fitzrandolph's the same day,
where Rubin Fitzrandolph, with a boat well suted, will receive them,
and take them to New- York that night. John Butler returning to
Philadelphia on Tuesday with the passengers and goods delivered to him
l>y I-'raneis Holman, will again set out for Trenton Ferry on Thursday,
and Francis Holman, &c. will carry his passengers and goods, with the
same expedition as above to New- York.
Weekly Mercttnj. March 8, 1759.
li'.TE OF THE ri:i>r,i:ATinx. TAKTS 1790.
The leading events of the great Revolution in France, may be fairly
classed with the marvellous, and among our " Ten Thousand Wonderful
Things" there will be found few more wonderful than the civic fothal
of the general federation of the National Guards of France, which took
place on the 14th of July, 1790, and of which the above is a correct re-
presentation, taken from a view by Duplessis Bertaux. The pro-
ceedings of that memorable day had in them a mixture of religious
celebration appanntly singular amon^ a people, who had lately >o
much trampled on religion; but as this celebration was more pagan
than Christian in its character, the singularity becomes less marked.
On the preceding evening, a Ilii'roilraint'. was performed it the cathedral
of Notre Dame- -a kind of sai-ml drama, made up by M. Desaugiers of
scraps from the Bible mixed witli other matter, and set to music ; it pro-
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 289
fessed to tell the story of the taking of the Bastille, and to typify the
sadness, trouble, contusion, joy, and alarm of the Parisians. Then suc-
ceeded a Te Dcinn, chanted in presence of some of the principal federal
and municipal bodies. Early ia the morning of the 14th, amid dense
clouds and heavy rain, the National Guards from all the eighty-three
departments of France, together with deputations from the state army
and navy, began to assemble, 'and speedily formed an immense line from
the Porte St. Antoine to the Porte St. Martin ; whence they marched,
with bands playing and colours flying, to the Champ de Mars, regaled
and cheered by the Parisians on the route. On reaching the great square
of the Tuileries, the procession was headed by the municipality of Paris
and the members of the National Assembly, and followed by a body of
grav-headed veterans. The procession traversed the Seine by one of the
bridges, greeted by salvos of artillery drawn up on the quays, and entered
the Champ de Mars under a triumphal arch almost hidden by flags and
patriotic inscriptions. One o'clock had arrived before the various bodies
forming the procession had taken their destined places in the enclosed
290 TEX THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
parallelogram, surrounded by nearly 300,000 spectators on the raised
terraces, most of whom were by this time drenched by the continuous
rain. In the centre of the area was a lofty altar, half pagan, half
Catholic in its adornments ; and around this altar the provincial National
Guards danced and sang in very excited fashion. The royal family ap-
peared at three o'clock. In an immense gallery near the altar, the
National Assembly were seated, with the king and the president on two
chairs of state exactly equal in height and richness, and the queen and
the rest of the court seated behind a significant interpretation of the
decree just announced. At the instant of the king taking his seat, the
air was rent with cries of Vive li- Hoi! Vive la Nation ! The banners
were unfurled ; 1,800 musicians burst forth with jubilant strains ; cannon
poured out continuous volleys ; Talleyrand, as bishop of Autun, assisted
by sixty chaplains of the Paris National Guards, performed mass at the
altar ; and the banners were blessed by sprinkling with holy- water.
Then Lafayette, dismounting from his white charger, received from the
hands of the king a written form of oath ; he swore to this oath at the
altar, and with his raised arm gave a signal for the countless host to do
likewise every one raising his right hand, and saying J<- li-juri' .' The
king took the oath prescribed to him ; and the queen held up the dauphin
in her arms, as if to denote that he also, poor child, had sworn to defend
the national liberties. At five o'clock the royal family retired, and tin-
crowd began to leave the Champ de Mars. Twenty-five thousand fed'
or provincial deputies went to a royal chateau about a mile distant, where
a dinner had been prepared for them by order of the municipality of Paris,
with Lafayette as chairman of the banquet. At night all Paris was
illuminated ; and for three or four days the feastiugs, reviews, and cele-
brations were numerous, including a grand dance on the site of th
molished Bastille. On the 18th, Lafayette reviewed the provincial or
federate National Guards, and on the 19th they were reviewed by the
king. Paris was intoxicated for an entire week, each man displaying
at once his delight and his vanity.
A MAX CARRIES 3DE8 HOUSE OX HIS HEAD.
Simeon Ellerton, of Craike, Durham, died 1799, aged 104. This man,
in his day, was a noted pedestrian, and before the establishment of
regular "Posts," was frequently employed in walking commissions, from
the northern counties to London and other places, which he executed
with singular fidelity and despatch. He lived in a neat stone cottage of
his own < r.-eting ; and what is remarkable, he had literally carried his
house on his head ; it hein.u- his constant practice to bring back witli him
from every journey which he undertook, some suitable stone, or oth'T
material for his purpose, and which, not unfrequently, he carried 40 or
50 miles on his head.
T r:\OTlANCK AXF> FEAH.
In the year 1712, "Whist on predicted that the comet would appear on
"Wednesday, llth October, at live minutes alter live in the moi
and that the world would be destroy -d by liiv on the Friday following.
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 291
His reputation was high, and the comet appeared. A number of persons
got into boats and barges on the Thames, thinking the water the safest
place. South Sea and India stock fell. A captain of a Dutch ship
threw all his powder into the river, that the ship might not be endan-
gered. At noon, after the comet had appeared, it is said that more than
one hundred clergymen were ferried over to Lambeth, to request that
proper prayers might be prepared, there being none in the church service.
People believed that the day of judgment was at hand, and acted some
on this belief, more as if some temporary evil was to be expected.
There was a prodigious run on the bank, and Sir Gilbert Heathcote,
at that time the head director, issued orders to all the fire offices in
London, requiring them to keep a good look out, and have a particular
eye upon the Bank of England.
ARABIAN HOUSES.
It is a singular circumstance, that it is to the Arabian that England is
indebted for her improved, and now unrivalled, breed of horses for the
turf, the field, and the road.
The Arabian horses are divided into two great branches ; the Kadischi
whose descent is unknown, and the Kochlani, of whom a written gene-
alogy has been kept for 2000 years. These last are reserved for riding
solely, they are highly esteemed and consequently very dear. They are
said to derive their origin from King Solomon's studs. However this may
be they are fit to bear the greatest fatigues, and can pass whole days
without food. They are also said to show uncommon courage against an
enemy. It is even asserted, that when a horse of this race finds himself
wounded and unable to bear his rider much longer, he retires from the
fray, and conveys him to a place of security. If the rider falls upon
the ground, his horse remains beside him, and neighs till assistance is
brought. The Koehlani are neither large nor handsome but amazingly
swift. The whole race is divided into several families, each of which has
its propeu name. Some of these have a higher reputation than others on
account of their more ancient and uncontaminated nobility.
We may not believe, perhaps, all that is told us of the Arabian. It has
been remarked that there are, on the deserts which his horse traverses, no
milestones to mark the distance, or watch to calculate the time ; and the
Bedouin is naturally given to exaggeration, and most of all when relat-
ing the prowess of the animal which he loves as dearly as his children ;
yet it cannot be denied that at the introduction of the Arabian into the
European stables, there was no other horse comparable to him.
IIEAD-QJuARTERS OF PB.IXCE RTTrERT AT EVERTOX, DTJRIXG THE
SIEGE OF LIVERPOOL, IX 1644.
Prince Rupert, assisted by the Earl of Derby, having taken Bolton by
storm, and refreshed his army there for some days, advanced on Liver-
pool, where the Parliament had a strong garrison under the command of
Colonel More, of Bank -hall ; and finding on his approach to the town,
the high ground near it favourable to his design, compared it to a crow's
nest, probably imagining it would be taken with as little difficulty ; but
292
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
the resistance he met with, induced him to declare it was more like an
eagle's nest, or a den of lions.
The siege began about the 2nd of June, and the view exhibits his
head-quarters from that time till the reduction of the place. His main
camp was established round the beacon, about a mile from the town, and
his officers were placed in the adjoining villages, from whence a detach-
ment marched every day, being relieved every twenty-four hours, to
open trenches and erect batteries. From these advances Prince Rupert
frequently attacked the besieged and their works in the way of storm,
but was constantly repulsed with great slaughter of his men. At length,
Colonel More, rinding the town must of necessity surrender, and desirous
it ingratiating himself with the Prince, for the preservation of his house
and effects at l>ank Hall, gave such orders for his soldiers to retire, that
the works on the enemy's side were abandoned, and the loyalists entered
the town at three o'clock in the morning of June 20, putting to the
sword all they met with, till they arrived at the Midi Cross, which then
stood on the site where the Kxchan^e now stands. Here tin- soldiers of
the Castle, drawn up in line, beat a parley, and demanded quarter,
which, on their submitting as prisoners of war, and surrendering the
Castle to the Prince, was granted. Tin; soldiers were then suit to the
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AXD QUAINT. 293
tower, St. Nicholas's Church, and other places of security ; but the Par-
liament-army, soon after the siege, repossessed themselves of the Castle,
and appointed Col. Birch, as governor.
FIEE AT BUKAVELL, CAUBKIDGESHIRE. 1727.
Some strollers brought down a puppet-show, which was exhibited in
a large thatched barn. Just as the show was about to begin, an idle
fellow attempted to thrust himself in without paying, which the people
of the show preventing, a quarrel ensued. After some altercation, the
fellow went away, and the door being made fast, all was quiet ; but the
same man, to gain admittance privately, got over a heap of hay and
straw, which stood near to the barn, and accidentally set it on fire. The
spectators of the show, alarmed by the names, which had comimmicated
to the barn, rushed to the door ; but it happened unfortunately that it
opened inwards, and the crowd pressing violently against the door, there
could be ho escape. Thus the whole company, consisting of more than
160 persons, were kept confined till the roof fell in, and covered them
with fire and smoke : six only escaped with life ; the rest, among whom
were several young ladies of fortune, were reduced to one undistinguish-
able heap of mangled bodies, totally disfigured. The friends of the
dead, not knowing which were the remains they sought, caused a large
hole to be dug in the church-yard, and all the bodies were- promiscuously
interred together, and a tablet erected in the church to perpetuate thi's
most melancholy event.
AX APPARENT SINGULARITY ACCOUNTED FOB.
It is generally well known that birds are very active agents in the
extension of vegetation, and that fruit and flowers are, to a great
extent, rendered prolific by the insects which visit their blossoms ; but
few people are aware of the means through which fish are formed in
lakes and ponds, which are not connected with other waters. Here, also,
an insect is the principal agent. The large water-beetle, which is in
the habit of feeding upon the spawn of fish, occasionally in the evening
climbs iip the stems of rushes, &c. out of the water, sufficiently high to
enable it to take wing ; in these circumstances it has been caught, and,
putting it into water, has been found to give out the spawn with which
it had gorged itself previous to taking flight, both in a digested and
iindigested state ; so that, on trial, it has been found that it produced
fish of various kinds.
EUROPEAN BALANCING EQUAL TO THE INDIAN JUGGLERS.
The astonishing dexterity of the Indian jugglers is known to all, but
many years ago a Spaniard named Cadenas made himself equal, if
not superior to them. He may be truly said to be superior to them,
inasmuch as several of his feats have never been attempted by them.
Don Cadenas extended himself flat on his back on a large table. He then
elevated his legs until they were at right angles with his body ; he was
assisted in keeping this position by a sort of pyramidal cushion, which
was placed under him, a little below the lower end of his back. His feet
and ankles were covered with boots, on which were many small castanets
294 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
and little bells. The tranca, which is a round piece of wood, about 8
feet long and five inches in diameter, handsomely painted, was then laid
horizontally on the soles of his feet, his legs being perpendicular.
Having exactly balanced the tranca, he alternately struck his feet
against it, the castanets, &c., keeping time with the music. In pro-
portion to the strength with which he struck the tranca, with one foot
or both feet, was the height to which he elevated it, always catching it,
in its descent, with great accuracy, on the soles of his feet. Sometimes
by bending his knees and then striking out with his limbs, he threw the
tranca several feet into the air, catching it, in its descent, on his feet,
with as much neatness and more certainty than the Indian jugglers used to
catch the brass balls in their hands. He concluded the performance with
the tranca, by exactly balancing it on the sole of his left foot, and then
by repeated strokes of his' right foot set it rapidly in motion like a
horizontal fly-wheel.
MOB-WISDOM.
A singular instance of a mob cheating themselves by their own
headlong impetuosity, is to be found in the life of Woodward, ths
comedian. On one occasion, when he was in Dublin, and lodged opposite
the Parliament House, a mob who were making the members swear to
oppose an unpopular bill, called out to his family to throw them a Bible
out of the window. Mr. \V. was frightened, for they had no such book in
the house, but he threw out a volume of Shakespere, telling the mob they
Averc welcome to it. They gave him three cheers, swore the members upon
this book, and afterwards returned it without discovering its contents.
COMMUNICATION BETWEKX ANIMALS.
The means by waich animals contrive to communicate their ideas to
each other is a phenomenon which has never been satisfactorily explained.
The two following instances of it are very curious. A gentleman
who was ia the habit of occasionally visiting London from a distant
county performed the journey on horseback, accompanied by a favourite
little terrier dog, which he left at an inn at some distance from
London till his return. On one occasion on calling for his dog the
landlady told him that it was lost ; it had had a quarrel with the great
house dog, and had been so worried and bit that it was thought he
would never recover, but at the end of a few days he crawled out of the
yard, and no one saw him for almost a week, when he returned with
another dog bigger than his enemy, on whom they both fell and nearly
destroyed him. This dog had actually travelled to its own home at
Whitmore in Staffordshire, had coaxed away the great dog in question,
which followed him to 1 St. Alban's to assist in resenting the injury of
its friend. The following story is related of a little spaniel which had
been found lame by a surgeon at Leeds. He carried the poor animal
home, bandaged up bis leg, and after two or three days turned him out.
The dog returned to the surgeon's house every morning till hi-- leg was
perfectly well. At the end of several months, the spaniel nu.iiu pre-
i hiniM-lf in company with another dog, which ha<' i\\> been
lamed ; and he intimated, as well as piteous and intelligent looks could
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 295
intimate, that he desired the same assistance to be rendered to his
friend as had been bestowed upon himself. The combination of ideas
in this case, growing out of the recollection of his own injury, and
referring that to the cure which had been performed ; the compassion
he had for his friend to whom he communicated the occurrence, and
induced to seek relief under his guidance, together with the appeal to
the humane surgeon, is as extraordinary a piece of sagacity as can be
found in all the annals of animals.
STEAXGE CUSTOM! ABOVT
The following anecdote forcibly illustrates the absurd custom which
prevailed many years ago in America, of giving children names, made
up of Scripture sentences. We record the anecdote as being descriptive
of a curious local custom. About the beginning of the present century
a Xew England sea captain having some business at a public office,
which required him to sign his name, was rather tedious in performing
the operation, which did not escape the observation of the officer, who
was a little impatient at the delay, and curious withal to see what sort
of a name it could be that required so long a time to spread it upon
paper. Perhaps the captain had a long string of titles to grace it,
such as honorable, esquire, colonel of militia, selectman of the town
of - , &c., which he chose to make an ostentatious parade of; or
perhaps it was his whim to subscribe the place of his nativity and that
of his residence, together with his age, height, and complexion. He
was mistaken ; for the captain had subscribed nothing but simply his
name, which, when he had done, the officer, after some trouble in
decyphering, found to read thus : Through -Much -Tribulation -We-
Enter-Into-the-Kingdom-of-Heaven Clapp. ' ' Will you please to teH
me, Captain Clapp," said he, with as demure a face as his violent incli-
nation to indulge in a hearty laugh would, allow him to put on,
"what might your mother have called you in your infancy, to save
herself the trouble of repeating a sermon whenever she had occasion
to name her darling?" "Why, sir," replied Captain Clapp, with
laughable simplicity, " when I was little they used to call me Tribby,
for shortness."
DRESS Itf LOXDOX DUEIXG THE LAST CE> T TUEY.
The seven illustrations which accompany this article represent the
progress of dress in London from 1690 to 1779. They speak for them-
selves, and tell their own tale far better than any description in words
could tell it for them. The scale in society to which the persons de-
picted in the engravings belong, is what may be called the upper middle
class, and we thus obtain a more correct idea of the general style of
dress, than we should have done had we confined our observations solely
to the higher ranks.
It is, [however, very curious to notice the value placed upon dress
during the period indicated ; and how frequently its loss is recorded.
Thus we find it mentioned that Lady Anderson, whose house was
robbed at a fire in Red Lion Square in 1700, lost a gown of orange
296
TEX THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
damask, lined with, striped silk. The family of George Heneage,
Esq., at the same time, and by the same casualty, lost "a head,
DBES3 1G90-1715.
DBKSS 1721.
DBBSS, 1725 COMMON LIFE. DRESS, 1733.
with very fine looped lace of very great value, a Flanders' laced
hood, a pair of doxible ruffles and tuckers, two laced aprons, one
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAIXT.
97
edged with point lace, and a large black scarf embroidered with
gold." At the same period the ladies wore Holland petticoats,
DEESS, 1752.
BEKSS CIKCA 1773, 1778.
embroidered in figures with different coloured silks and gold, with
broad orrice at the bottom. In 1702 diamond stomachers adorned the
ladies ; they were composed of that valuable stone set in silver, and sewed
in a variety of figures upon black silk. The men imported the Cham-
paign wig from France. They were made very full, curled, and eigh-
298 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
teen inches in length to the point, with drop locks. In the Post Sat/, of
November 15, 1709, there were advertised as stolen, " A black silk pet-
ticoat, with red and white calico border, cherry-coloured stays, trimmed
with blue and silver, a red and dove-coloured damask gown, flowered
with large trees ; a yellow satin apron, trimmed with white Persian, and
muslin head-clothes, with crow-foot edging ; a black silk furbelowed
scarf, and a spotted hood." Black and beaver hats for ladies were ad-
vertised in 1719, faced with coloured silks, and trimmed with gold and
silver lace. A man of fashion in 1720 wore the full flowing curled wig,
which fell in ringlets half-way down his arms and back, a laced coat,
straight, formal, with buttons to the very bottom, and several on the
pockets and sleeves ; his shoes were square at the toes, had diminutive
buckles, a monstrous flap on the instep, and high heels, a belt secured
the coat and supported the sword. Perukes were a highly important ar-
ticle of dress in 1734. Fans were much used, ladies seldom, appeared
withoTit this useful ornament in their hands. The hoop underwent many
important changes ; sometimes it projected at the sides only, or, like its
ancestor, the fardingale, it spread itself all round in imposing majesty.
High-heeled shoes maintained their place. In 1740 tight sleeves with
full ruffles, small pointed waists, enclosed in whalebone, loose gowns,
called sacques, and cloaks with hoods, named cardinals, were In f/nunfa
monde. Among the gentlemen's costumes, the most striking was the
llinnllu's tail, which was a plaited tail to the wig, with an immense bow
at the top and one at the bottom. Claret coloured clothes were considered
as handsome ; and light blue with silver button-holes, and silver Barters
to the knees, was very fashionable between 1740 and 17ol. The change
to wearing the natural hair instead of wigs took place about 176.3. From
that date the female dress altered by degrees : the cap was enlarged to
an enormous size, and the bonnet swelled in proportion. Hoops were
entirely discontinued. Hats and bonnets of straw, chip, and beaver, be-
came well proportioned, and velvet pelisses, shawls and silk spencers
v,i n contrived to improve rather than injure the form. The male dress
also insensibly changed from formality to ease, and thus, by degrees, the
fashion became what our illustrations represent it to have been in 17"!'.
ATTAR OF EOSES.
Lieutenant Colonel Polier gives a full history of extracting this
ial oil, in vol i. p. 332, of the Asiatic Rcscnrcliot. The roses
irrow, cultivated near Lucknow, in fields of eleven acres each. The
nil is procured by distillation; the petals of the flowers only are
ii-ed; and in that country no more than a quantity of about two
drachms can be procured from an hundred-weight of rose leaves, and even
that in a favourable season, and by the process being performed with the
utmost care. The oil is by accident of different colours ; of a bright
yellow, of a reddish hue, and a line emerald. It is to the mother of
Mebnil Xcssa Iie.irum, afterwards called Nourjehan Begum, or, Lit/lit J'
tlif U'nr/fl, that the fair sex is indebted for this discover}'. On this oc-
the emperor of Hindustan rewarded the inventrcss with a string of
valuable pearls. Nourjehan Begum was the favourite wife of Jehangir,
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 299
and her game the fiercest of India. In a hunting party she killed four
tigers with a matchlock, from her elephant, and her spouse was so de-
lighted at her skill, that he made her a present of a pair of emerald brace-
lets, valued at a lack of rupees, and bestowed in charity a thousand
mohurs.
FLEET MARRIAGES ABOUT 1740.
Many of the early Fleet weddings were really performed at the chapel of
the Fleet ; but as the practice extended, it was found more convenient
to have other places within the Rules of the Fleet, (added to which the
Warden was compelled by act of parliament not to suffer them,) and
thereupon many of the Fleet parsons and tavern-keepers in the neigh
bourhood fitted up a room in their respective lodgings or houses as a
chapel. The parsons took the fees, allowing a portion to the plyers, &c.,
and the tavern-keepers, besides sharing in the fees, derived a profit
from the sale of liquors which the wedding party drank. In some
instances the tavern-keepers kept a parson on their establishment at a
weekly salary of twenty shillings ; while others, upon a wedding -party
arriving, sent for any clergyman they might please to employ, and
divided the fee with him. Most of the taverns near the Fleet kept their
own registers, in which (as well as in their own books,) the parsons
entered the weddings.
EFFECTS OF THE GREAT EARTHQUAKE AT LISBOX.
The earthquake happened on November the 1st, 1755, and its
sphere of action embraced many cities and states. St. Ubee was
totally destroyed. At Cadiz the sea broke down the outer wall, Hooded
the town, and drowned some hundreds of persons. The Cathedral of
Seville was seriously damaged, several houses overthrown, and many
persons injured. The shock was felt, indeed, throughout the whole of
Spain, except in Catalonia, and also in Germany. In many parts of
Great Britain the water in lakes and ponds was violently upheaved, and
ebbed and flowed over the banks. A solemn Fast was consequently com-
manded to be observed on the 6th of February next ensuing, in the hope
to avert, by prayer and penitence, a similar calamity from this country.
A ship at sea, 100 leagues to the westward of Lisbon, had her cabin
windows shattered to fragments, and many vessels in deep water quivered
as if they had struck against a rock. In Morocco the eftects of the shock
were most disastrous. In Mequinez two-thirds of the houses were des-
troyed, and above 300 in Fez. A caravan of 200 persons going along the
coast from Sallee to Morocco were overwhelmed by the sea, and a still
more munerous caravan was swept away by the sudden rise of the inland
rivers. In France and Holland earthquakes were repeatedly felt during
the entire month of November, and occasionally even in December.
SNAKE-CHARMERS.
In the East Indies, the Pambatees, or snake-charmers, come from the
mountains called the Ghauts. They make a trade of catching serpents,
training them and exhibiting them for money. These reptiles are com-
monly the cobra-di-capello, the hooded or spectacle serpent, and of other
300
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS
similar species. A Pambatee will sometimes carry eight or more of them
in a low round basket, in which the serpents lie coiled round one another.
As soon as the lid is removed from the basket, the serpent creeps out
of it. The master plays on an instrument somewhat resembling the bag-
pipe, and the snakes are taught to mark the cadence by the motion of
their heads, till at length they fall asleep. In order to rouse them, the
Pambatee suspends his music and shakes a ring round his arm to which
a piece of red cloth is fastened. The irritated serpent darts at the ring ;
but as the master has taken care to extract the pouch containing the
poison, and to file his teeth, he can do no harm.
The musical instrument just mentioned is called mttf/ontee. It is com-
posed of a hollow calebash, to one end of which is fitted a mouth-piece
similar to that of the clarinet. To the other extremity is adapted a tube
perforated with several holes, which arc successively stopped by the
fingers, like those of the flute, while the player blows into the mouth-
piece. In the middle of the instrument is a small mirror, on which the
serpents fix their eyes while dancing. The above engraving will con-
vey a correct idea of the Pambatee and his instrument.
WOXDKUFUL ESCAPE.
In 1785, at "Winster, in Derbyshire, a show being exhibited at a
public-house, some gunpowder being scattered on the floor of an upper
chamber, took fire, and communicated to the remainder of a barrel, by
which the whole upper part of the house was blown up ; about sixty
persons were below, and not one hurt.
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 301
FAC-SIMILE OF THE FIRST STEAM BOAT.
The triumph of steam navigation is one of the wonders of science ; and,
traversed in all directions as the navigable waters of the earth now are,
by vessels propelled by steam, it is not a little curious to look at the
first rude effort, and to examine the attempt which has been followed by
such extraordinary success.
The world stands indebted, not for the discovery, but for the success-
ful application of steam power to navigation, to Robert Fulton, who was
born in Pennsylvania in 1765, being the son of a poor Irish labourer
who had emigrated to America. He came to London in 1 786, and sub-
sequently, in the character of an inventor and projector, proceeded to
Paris, where, however, he did not meet with much success or encourage-
ment. It is evident, from the following letter to a friend, that while
residing in the French capital, that his attention was even then turned
to the subject of propelling vessels by mechanical power :
Paris, the 20th of September, 1802.
To Mr. FULLER SKIPWITH.
Sir, The cxpence of a patent in France is 300 livers for three years,
800 ditto for ten years, and 1500 ditto for fifteen years ; there can be no
difficulty in obtaining a patent for the mode of propelling a boat which
you have shewn me ; but if the author of the model wishes to be assured
of the mirits of his invention before he goes to the expence of a patent,
I advise him to make the model of a boat, in which he can place a clock
spring which will give about eight revolutions ; he can then combine the
movements so as to try oars, paddles, and the leaves which he proposes ;
if he finds that the leaves drive the boat a greater distance in the same
302 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
time than cither oars or paddles, they consequently are a better applica-
tion of power. About eight years ago the Earl of Stanhope tried an
experiment on similar leaves in Greenland Dock, London, but without
success. I have also tried experiments on similar leaves, wheels, oars,
paddles, and nyars similar to those of a smoak jack, and found oars to
be the best. The velocity with which a boat moves, is in proportion as
the sum of the surfaces of the oars, paddles, leaves, or other machine is
to the bow of the boat presented to the water, and in proportion to the
power with which such machinery is put in motion ; hence, if the sum of
the surfaces of the oars is equal to the sum of the surfaces of the leaves,
and they pass through similar curves in the same time, the effect must
be the same ; but oars have this advantage, they return through air to
make a second stroke, and hence create very little resistance ; whereas
the leaves return through water, and add considerabily to the resistance,
which resistance is increased as the velocity of the boat is augmented :
no kind of machinery can create power ; all that can be done is to apply
the manuel or other power to the best advantage. If the author of the
model is fond of mechanics, he will be much amused, and not loose his
time, by trying the experiments in the manner I propose, and this
perhaps is the most prudent measure, before a patent is taken.
I am, Sir, with much respect, yours, '
ROBT. FULTON.
In the following year, 1803, he appears to have made an experiment
in France of propelling a vessel by mechanism, and though it failed in
consequence of the timbers of the boat being too weak, it served to con-
vince him so completely of ultimate success, that he immediately gave
instructions to Watt and Boulton to prepare a suitable steam engine for
him, and send it to New York. Having returned to that city in 1806,
he set about building a boat, and having received the engines he hud
ordered, he successfully started the first steam-boat in the world on her
trial trip to Albany from New York in August, 1807. Her name wus
the " Clermont" and the above engraving is a correct representation of
her. She was in length 133 feet, in depth 7, and in breadth 18.
SEVERE EXACTMKNT ACAINST I'.F.dc \ i;*.
At the commencement of the reign of Edward VI., a most severe and
extraordinary statute was made for the punishment of vagabonds and
relief of poor persons. It does not appear who were the contrivers of
this instrument, the preamble and general spirit of which were more in
accordance with the tyrannical and arbitrary measures of the preceding
reign, than with the mild and merciful character of the infant sovereign,
who is well known to have taken a very active part in the affairs of
government. It repeals all the. former statutes on this subject, ami
enacts, that if any beggar or other person, not being lame or impotent,
and after loitering or idly wandering for the space of three days or
more, shall not offer himself to labour, or being engaged in any person's
service, shall run away or leave his work, it shall be lawful for the
master to carry him before a justice of peuee, who, on proof of the
offence, shall cause the party to be marked with a hot iron with the
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AXD QUAINT. 303
letter V on the breast, and adjudge him to be his master's slave for the
space of two years, who shall feed him " on bread and water, or at his
discretion, on refuse of meat, and cause the said slave to work by beat-
ing, chaining, or otherwise in such work or labour (how vile soever it
be) as he shall put him unto." If the slave should run away or absent
himself for a fortnight without leave, the master may pursue and punish
him by chaining or beating, and have his action of damage against any
one who shall harbour or detain him. On proof before the justice of the
slave's escape, he is to be sentenced to be marked on the forehead or ball
of the cheek with a hot iron with the letter S, and adjudged to be his
master's slave for ever ; and for the second offence of running away, he
is to be regarded as a felon and suffer death. The children of beggars
to be taken from them, and, with other vagrant children, to be appren-
ticed by the magistrate to whoever will take them ; and if such children
so apprenticed run away, they are to be retaken, and become slaves till
the age of twenty in females, and twenty-four in males, with punish-
ment by chains, &c., and power to the master to let, sell, or bequeath
them, as goods and chattels, for the term aforesaid. If any slave should
maim or wound the master, in resisting correction, or conspire to wound
or murder him, or burn his house or other property, he is to suffer death
as a felon, unless the master will consent to retain him as a slave for
ever ; and if any parent, nurse, or bearer about of children, so become
slaves, shall steal, or entice them away from the master, such person
shall be liable to become a slave to the said master for ever, and the
party so stolen or enticed away restored. If any vagrant be brought to
a place, where he shall state himself to have been born, and it shall be
manifest that he was not so born there, for such lie he shall be marked
in the face with an S, and become a slave to the inhabitants or corpora-
tion of the city for ever. Any master of a slave may put a ring of iron
about his neck, arm, or leg, for safe custody, and any person taking
or helping to take off" such ring, without consent of the master, shall
forfeit the sum of ten pounds.
This diabolical statute, after remaining for two years, was repealed,
on the ground that, from its extreme severity, it had not been enforced.
JUDGES IX THEIR ROBES ATTEyDLXG PUBLIC BALLS.
That the ideas of good taste and propriety which now prevail are
greatly in advance of those which our ancestors entertained, is strikingly
inanifested by the fact, that the dreadful scenes which followed the last
business of a county assize did not prevent a festive beginning of the
same. On the commission day at each county town was held an assize
ball. The judges attended in black silk gowns with band and two-curl
bob-wig. They did not dance, but usually played at whist. What
would be thought now-a-days of judges who went to a public ball room
on commission day, and played at whist in their robes ?
ST. WINIFRED'S WELL.
The most copious spring in Great Britain is St. Winifred's Well, near
the town of Holywell, in Flintshire. The well is an oblong square,
304
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS
about twelve feet by seven. The water passes into a small square court
through an arch ; it has never been known to freeze, and scarcely ever
varies in quantity either in drought or after the greatest rains. The
water thrown up is not less than eighty-four hogsheads every minute.
This sacred well is the object of many pilgrimages, even in the present
day, and several modern miracles are related of the influence of its waters.
Pope Martin V. especially enjoined such pilgrimages, and the monks of
Basingwerk were furnished with pardons and indulgences to sell to the
fT. \VISIFBED S WEtL.
devotees. James the 2nd visited the well in 1G86, and Leopold, King of
the Belgians, in 1819. Apart from all superstitious notions, its waters
doubtless possess many curative properties.
Over the well, Queen Margaret, the mother of Henry VII., erected a
beautiful chapel, whose elegantly fretted roof, and graceful columns
and arches, are generally admired as examples of good architecture. Our
engraving is a correct icpresentation of the interior.
INSTAXCi: OK ASSIDUITY AXD I'KKSKY KRAXCK.
The Rev. Wm. Davy, a Devonshire curate, in the year 1795, begun a
most desperate undertaking, vi/., that of printing himself twenty-six
volumes of sermons, which he actually did, working off page by page,
for fourteen copies ; and continuing this almost hopeless task for twelve
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 305
years, in the midst of poverty!
amounts to a riding passion.
Such wonderful perseverance almost
PHENOMENON AT THE POWERSCOUET FALL.
The Powerscourt Fall, of which the annexed is an engraving, is formed
by the river Dargle, and is situated in the county of Wicklow. When
the river is full, it presents a very errand appearance. The stream preci-
pitates itself over a nearly perpendicular cliff, 300 feet in height, and falls
into a natural basin or reservoir, encircled by rocky masses of considerable
magnitude, whilst the whole
scene is backed by mountains. =^^S-^^
This fall exhibits rather a sin-
gular phenomenon, in the diffe-
rent degrees of velocity with
which the water descends in
different parts of the cascade. ;"'; *59^"J
Thus, on one side, the water s'
may be observed to pour down
with considerable velocity ;
while, on the other side, the
fall, in the upper part, presents
the appearance of a continued
stream of frothy foam, gliding
slowly down the face of the
cliff, though the lower part
moves with greater velocity.
This circumstance is, however,
readily accounted for ; being,
in fact, mainly attributable to
the comparatively small body
of water which forms the cas-
cade. The water, on the one
side, that which descends with
the greater velocity (and this
forms by far the larger portion
of the cascade) meets with no
interruption in its descent, but
falls, almost from the top, to the
bottom in an unbroken sheet.
On the other side, however, the cliff in the upper part deviates
from the perpendicular, and the consequence is, that, owing to the
slope .or inclination of the rock over which it flows, the progress of
the water is checked in that particular part, though lower down,
where the cliff is again perpendicular, it regains its velocity. If the
body of water in this cascade were greater, this phenomenon would
not occur.
HOW CHESS ORIGINATED IN INDIA.
By the unanimous consent of all nations, chess holds the first place
among social amusements. The history of this game has exercised many
306 TEX THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
able pens. According to Sir "William Jones, it is decidedly of Hindoo
invention. "If," says he, in a learned memoir on this subject inserted in
the second volume of the Asiatic Researches, " evidence were required to
prove this fact, we may be satisfied with the testimony of the Per si tins,
who, though as much inclined as other nations to appropriate the ingen-
ious inventions of a foreign people, unanimously agree; that the game
was imported from the west of India in the sixth century of our era.
It seems to have been immemorially known in Hindoostan by the name
of Chctiira >/</<i, the four am/as, or members of an army, which are <//'-
phants, horses, chariots, and foot-soldiers ; and in this sense, the word
is frequently used by epic poets in their description of real armies. By
a natural corruption of the pure Sanscrit word, it was changed by the
old Persians into chetrany ; but the Arabs, who soon after took possession
of their country, had neither the initial nor the final letter of that word
in their alphabet, and consequently altered it farther into shetranj, which
presently found its way into the modern Persian, and at length into the
dialects of India, where the true derivation of the name is known only to
learned. Thus has a very significant word in the sacred language of the
the Brahmins been transformed by successive changes into aj-cdrez,
scficchi, echecs, chess, and by a Avhimsical concurrence of circumstances
given birth to the English word check, and even a name to the e.rrh<-<i>tc,-
of Great Britain.
Of the origin of this game various accounts are given. Some Hindoo
legends relate, that it was invented by the wife of llavanen, king of
Lanca, or Ceylon, to amuse her husband with an image of war, wlicn
Rama, in the second age of the world, was besieging his capital. The
high degree of civilisation which the court of llavanen had attained at so
remote a period is worthy of notice. An ancient Hindoo painting repre-
sents his capital regularly fortified with embattled towers. He there
defended himself with equal skill and valour, whence he and his sub-
jects were denominated magicians and intuits. Uavancn seems to have
been the Archimedes of Lanca; and his science must have appeared
BOpernattml to the invader, llama, and his wild horde of mountaineers,
who were termed in derision satyrs or apes, whence the fable of the
divine Hanooman.
According to another account, the occasion of this invention was as
follows: Behub, a young and dissolute Indian prince, oppressed his
people in the most cruel manner. Nassir, a Brahmin, deeply alllicted l.y
his excesses, and the lamentations of his subjects, undertook to recal the
tyrant to reason. With this view lie invented a game, in which the
king, impotent by himself, is protected only by his subjects, even of the
lowest class, and frequently ruined by the loss of a single individual.
The fame of this extraordinary invention reached the throne, and the
king summoned the Brahmin to teach him the game, as a new ainns,-
ment. The virtuous Brahmin availed himself of this opportunity to
instil into the mind of the yonn^ tyrant the principles of good govern-
ment, and to awaken him to a sense of his duties. Struck by the tiuths
which he inculcated, the prince conceived an esteem for the inventor of
the new game, and assured him of his willingness to confer a liberal
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 307
Temimeration, if lie would mention his own terms. Nassir demanded as
many grains of wheat as would arise from allowing one for the first
square, two for the second, four for the third, and so on, doubling for
each square of the sixty-four on the chess-board. The king, piqued at
the apparently trivial value of the demand, desired him somewhat
angrily to ask a gift more worthy of a monarch to bestow. When, how-
ever, Kassir adhered to his first" request, he ordered the required quan-
tity of corn to be delivered to him. On calculating its amount, the
superintendents of the public granaries, to their utter astonishment,
found the demand to be so enormous, that not Behub's kingdom only,
but even all Hindoostan would have been inadequate to the discharge of
it. The king now admired the Brahmin still more for the ingenuity of
of his request than for the invention, appointed him his prime -minister,
and his kingdom was thenceforward prosperous and happy.
The claim of the Hindoos to the invention of chess has been disputed
in favour of the Chinese ; but as they admit that they were unacquainted
with the game till 174 years before Christ, and the Hindoos unquestion-
ably played it long before that time, the pretensions of the latter must
naturally fall to the ground.
DISOEDEES CUEED BY FEIGHT.
Fabritius makes mention of a gentleman, with whom he was familiar,
who, being unjustly suspected, was tortured upon the rack, and, when
released, found himself quite cured of the gout, which was, before this
violent remedy, rather troublesome Again, we have instances of dis-
orders being cured by fright. We find, in the Journal de Henri IV.,
that, " On Friday, June the 9th, 1606, as Henry IV. of France, and his
Queen, were crossing the water in the ferry-boat of Neuilly, the Duke of
Vendome being with them, they were all three in great danger of being
drowned, especially the queen, who was obliged to drink a great deal
more than was agreeable to her ; and had not one of her footmen, and a
gentleman called La Chatagnieraie, who caught hold of her hair, despe-
rately thrown themselves into the water to pull her out, she would have
inevitably lost her life. This accident cured the king of a violent tooth-
ache ; and, after having escaped the danger, he diverted himself with it,
saying he had never met with so good a remedy for that disorder before,
and that they had ate too much salt meat at dinner, therefore they had
a mind to make them drink after it."
THE AVIXGLESS BEBD OF >*EW ZEALAND.
One of the chief wonders of the world of Ornithology is the Apteryx,
a bird which is found only in New Zealand, and even there, is rapidly
becoming extinct. It is a creature so strange, that no imagination could
have fancied a bird without wings or tail, with robust legs, and with
claws which are suited for digging, and are actually used in forming
excavations, in which this singular bird lays its eggs, and hatches its
voung. If the Apteryx were to become extinct, and all that remained
of it, after the lapse of one or two centuries, for the scrutiny of the
naturalist were a foot in one Museum, and a head in another, with a few
308 TEX THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
conflicting figures of its external form, the real nature and affinities of
this most remarkable species would be involved in as much obscurity
and doubt, and become the subject of as many conflicting opinions among
the ornithologists of that period, as are those of the Dodo in the present day.
The Apteryx is not larger than a full-grown fowl, and has only a rudi-
mentary wing, so covered with the body feathers as to be quite concealed ;
the terminating slender claw may, however, be discerned on examination.
The bill is long and slightly curved, having the nostrils at the ex-
tremity ; its feathers, the sides of which are uniform in stmcture, do not
exceed four and a-half inches in length, and are much prized as material
for mantles or cloaks by the chiefs. It is a nocturnal bird, using its
long bill in search of worms, upon which it principally feeds ; it kicks
with great power, and burrows at the root of the rata, at the base of
THE WINGLESS BIRD.
which tree is also found the extraordinary Splueria Robertaia, a species
of vegetating caterpillar. Detaining the form of the caterpillar, the
fungus pervades the whole body, and shoots up a small stem al>o\v the
surface of the ground, the body of the caterpillar being below the earth
in an erect position. The Apteryx frequently leans with its bill upon llic
earth one of its chief characteristics ani thus, when viewed from a
distance, appears to be standing on three legs.
By the natives of New /calami, these birds are called Kiwis, from
the cry they utter, and they are frequently caught by a cunning imitator
of their tone, who, when they approach, da/xles and frightens them with
a li<rht previously concealed, and throwing his blanket over them thus
secures them.
A n.ovn.vi; CITY.
One of the most wonderful cities in the world is Bankok. It is the
capital of Siam, and is situated on -or rather in the great river Meinam.
Our engraving represents a portion of this unique metropolis, and we
find the following graphic account of it in a volume of recent travels
"The capital of Siam ! Did you ever witness such a sight in
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 309
your life ? On either side of the wide, majestic stream, moored in
regular streets and alleys, and extending as far as the eye can reach, arc
upwards of seventy thousand neat little wooden houses, each house Moat-
ing on a compact raft of bamboos ; and the whole intermediate space
of the river presents to our astonished gaze one dense mass of ships,
junks, and boats, of very conceivable shape, colour, and size. As we
glide along amongst these, we occasionally encounter a stray floating
house, broken loose from its moorings, and hurrying down the stream Avith
I'LOATIXG CITY OF BA> T KOK.
the tide, amidst the uproar and shouts of the inhabitants and all the
spectators. We also observe that all the front row of houses are neatly
painted shops, in which various tempting commodities are exposed for
sale ; behind these again, at equal distances, rise the lofty and elegant
porcelain towers of the various watts and temples. On our right-hand
side, far away as we can see, are three stately pillars, erected to the
memory of three defunct kings, celebrated for some acts of valour and
j ustice ; and a little beyond these, looming like a line-of-battle ship
amongst a lot of cockle-shells, rises the straggling and not very elegant
palace of the king, where his Siamese Majesty, with ever so many wives
and children, resides. Right ahead, where the city terminates, and the
river, making a curve, flows behind the palace, is a neat-looking-fort,
310 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
surmounted with a tope of mango-trees, over which peep the roofs of
one or two houses, and a tall nag-staff, from which floats the royal
pendant and jack of Siam a flag of red groundwoik, with a white
elephant worked into the centre. That is the fort and palace of the prince
Chou Fau, now king of Siam, and one of the most extraordinary and
intellectual men in the East. Of him, however, we shall see and hear
more, after we have bundled our traps on shore, and taken a little rest.
Now, be careful how you step out of the boat into the balcony of the
floating house, for it will recede to the force of your effort to mount, and
if not aware of this, you lose your balance and fall into the river. Now
we are safely transhipped, for we cannot as yet say landed ; but we now
form an item, though a very small one, of the vast population of the city
of Bangkok.
We take a brief survey of our present apartments, and find everything,
though inconveniently small, cleanly and in other respects comfortable,
First, we have a little balcony which overhangs the river, and is about
twenty yards long by one and a half broad. Then we have an excellent
sitting-room, which serves us for parlour, dining-room, and all ; then
we have a little side room for books and writing ; and behind these, ex-
tending the length of the other two, a bed-room. Of course we must
bring or make our own furniture ; for, though those houses inhabited by
the Chinese are pretty well off on this score, the Siamese have seldom any-
thing besides their bedding materials, a few pots and pans to cook with,
a few jars of stores and fishing-net or two. Every house has a canoe
attached to it, and no nation detests walking so much as the Siamese ;
at the same time they are all expert swimmeis, and both men and women
begin to acquire this very necessary art at a very curly age. Without
it a man runs momentary risk of being drowned, as, when a canoe upsets,
none of the passers-by ever think it necessary to lend any aid, supposing
them fully adequate to the task of saving their own lives. ( anm > ail-
hourly being upset, owing to the vast concourse of vessels and boats
plying to and fro; and, owing to this negligence or carelessness in
rendering assistance, a Mr. Uenham, an American missionary, lost his
life some twelve years ago, having upset his own canoe when it was just
getting dusk, and though surrounded by hundreds of boats, not one
deemed it necessary to stop and pick the poor man up."
BEQUESTS FOE I.ICMTINi; Till' STKK1ITS.
There cannot be a greater contrast than between the present and the
ancient mode of lighting the streets of London. "What a picture do tin-
two following bequests present to us of the state of things a hundred
years ago !
John Wardall, by will, dated 20th August, Ki.'iC,, gave to the Grocers'
Company a tenement called the While Hear, in Walbrook, to the intent
that they should yearly, within thirty days after Mieharlmas, pay to the
churchwardens of St. Botolph, Uillingsgate, 4, to provide a ;_<, d and
sufficient iron and glass lantern, with a candle, for the direction of pas-
ts to g<> with more security to and from the water-side, all night
long, to be fixed at the north-east corner of the parish church
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 311
Botolph, from the feast-day of St. Bartholomew to Lady-Day ; out of
which sum 1 was to be paid to the sexton for taking care of the lantern.
This annuity is now applied to the support of a lamp in the place pre-
scribed, which is lighted with gas.
John Cooke, by will, dated 12th September, 1662, gave to the church-
wardens, &c., of St. Michael's, Crooked Lane, 76, to be laid out to the
most profit and advantage, for various uses, and amongst them, for the
maintenance of a lantern and candle, to be eight in the pound at least,
to be kept and hanged out at the corner of St. Michael's Lane, next
Thames Street, from Michaelmas to Lady-Day, between the hours of
nine and ten o'clock at night, until the* hours of four or five iu the
morning, for affording light to passengers going through Thames Street,
or St. Michael's Lane.
EXTRAORDIXA31Y IXSTAXCE OF CREDULITY..
To the honour of the lords of the creation, there are some husbands
who so grieve at the death of their partners, that they will not part with
them when actually dead ; and even go so far as to wish, and try hard,
for their resurrection ; witness Sir John Pryse, of Xewtown, Montgomery-
shire, who married three wives, and kept the first two who died, in nis
room, one on each side of his bed ; his third lady, however, declined the
honour of his hand till her defunct rivals were committed to their proper
place. Sir John was a gentleman of strange singularities. During the
season of miracles worked by Bridget Bostock, of Cheshire, who healed
all diseases by prayer, faith, and an embrocation of fasting spittle, mul-
titudes resorted to her from all parts, and kept her salivary glands in full
employ. Sir John, with a high spirit of enthusiasm, wrote to this
wonderful woman to make him a visit at Xewtown Hall, in order to re-
store to him his third and favourite wife (above mentioned), now dead.
His letter will best tell the foundation on which he built his strange hope,
and very uncommon request :
Purport of Sir J. Pryse's letter to Jlrs. Bridget Rostock, 1748.
Madam, Having received information, by repeated advices, both pub-
lic and private, that you have, of late, performed many wonderful cures,
even where the best physicians have failed, and that the means used
appeared to be very inadequate to the eft'ects produced, I cannot but
look upon you as an extraordinary and highly-favoured person ; and why
may not the same most merciful God, who enables vou to restore sight to
the blind, hearing to the deaf, and strength to the lame, also enable you
to raise the dead to life ? Xow, having lately lost a wife, whom I most
tenderly loved ; my children an excellent step-mother, and our acquaint-
ances a very dear and valuable friend, you will lay us all under the
highest obligations ; and I earnestly entreat you, for God Almighty's
sake, that you will put up your petitions to the Throne of Grace, on our
behalf, that the deceased may be restored to us, and the late dame
Eleanor Pryse be raised from the dead. If your personal attendance
appears to you to be necessary, I will send my coach and six, with proper
.servants, to wait on you hither, whenever you please to appoint. Re-
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
compense of any kind, that you could propose, would be made with the
utmost gratitude ; but I wish the bare mention of it is not offensive to
both God and you. I am, madam, your obedient, &c.
(Pennant's 'Wales, vol. 3, p. 190.) JOHX PRYSE.
HIGH: PKICE OF FISH ix IOXDOX.
It is on record that on January 4, 1809, there being only four cod-fish
in Billingsgate, a fishmonger gave fourteen guineas for them, and
salmon soon after was sold at a guinea a pound !
THI: I.;:::AT .ujn:i)LXT OF POST nr CAUD.
The remains of Homan aqueducts, of great extent and massiveness,
occur in various parts of Europe, over which the Roman dominion oner
extended. Among these, the most celebrated are the Pont (lit Gard,
near Nismes, in the Department du (lard, in the south of France; the
aqueduct over the Moselle, near Metz ; and the aqueduct of Segovia, in
Old Castile. The Pont du Gard (of which we here give an engraving)
was designed to convey the waters of the fountain of Aure to the to\vu
of Nismes, the ancient Nemausus. This aqueduct crosses the beautiful
valley, and the stream of the river (iardon, uniting two steep hills, by
which the valley is hounded at this place. It consists of two tiers of
large arches, the lower of which are eighty feet in span, and a third tier
of small arches, which support the trunk of the aqueduct. The channel
for the Water is above four feet wide, and live deep, and is lined with
cement three inches thick, and covered with a thin coating of red (lay.
The whole work, with the exception of the above-mentioned channel for
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 313
the water, is built without mortar or any other cement ; and its eleva-
tion above the bed of the river Gardon, is not less than a hundred and
fifty feet. The extremities of this splendid structure are in a dilapidated
condition, but the remainder is in a very good state of preservation.
EXTRAORDINARY SITl'ATIOX TOIL A TliEE.
The Lower and Middle* Lakes at Killarney are separated by a penin-
sula, upon which stands the ruin of the Abbey of Muckross, which was
founded in 1440, and re-edified in 1602. The ruin, which consists of
parts of the convent and church, is not remarkable either for extent, or
for beauty of workmanship, but its preservation, seclusion, beauty of
situation, and accompanying venerable trees, render it one of the most
interesting abbey remains in Ireland. The entire length of the church
is about 100 feet, its breadth 24. The cloister, which consists of
twenty-two arches, ten of them semi-circular, and twelve pointed, is
314 TEX THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
the best preserved portion of the abbey. In the centre grows a magni-
ficent yew-tree, as represented in our engraving, which covers as a roof
the whole area ; its circumference is thirteen feet, and its height in pro-
portion. It is more than probable that the tree is coeval with the abbey,
and that it was planted by the hands of the monks who first inhabited
the building. It is believed by the common people that any person
daring to pluck a branch, or in any way attempting to injure this tree,
will not be alive on that day twelvemonth.
TR.VYIXG BY MACHINERY.
Mr. Moorcroft informs us, in his "Journey to Lake Manasawara, in
Undes, a province in Little Thibet," that the inhabitants used the fol-
lowing most extraordinary wav of saying their prayers : It is done 1 hy
motion, which may be effected* by the powers of steam, wind, or water.
A large hollow cylinder, like a drum, is erected, within which is inclosed
all the written prayers the people choose to oiler, and then it is set going,
by being whirled round its own axis ; thus saving the trouble of repeat-
ing them. Mr. Turner, whose travels in Thibet are before the public,
corroborates the account of these whirligigs. They are common, also,
among the Monguls, the Calmucks, and the Kalkas ; so that the engi-
neers for these pious wheels must have a tolerably extensive 1r;;<
this national mode of worship is naturally liable to wear out. But even
this mode is innocence itself, compared with that of a set of savages, who
prtnj i>c<>]>lc to dctiili ; for Lisiansky, in his Voyage round the World,
gives us an account of an extra-religious sect, in the Sandwich Islands,
who arrogate to themselves the power of praying people to death. Who-
soever incurs their displeasure, receives notice that the homicide-litany
is about to begin ; and such are the effects of imagination, that the very
notice is frequently sufficient, with these weak people, to produce the
effect, or to drive them to acts of suicide.
iori.\<; i.v Tin: LASI n:vn uv.
At a Somersetshire hunt dinner, seventy years since, thirteen toasts
used to be drunk in strong beer ; then every one did as he liked. SOUK;
members of the hunt occasionally drank a glass of wine at the wind up,
who were not themselves previously wound Tip. In country towns, after
a dinner at one o'clock P.M., friends used to meet to discuss the local
news over their glasses of strong beer, the merits of which furnished a
daily theme. At Bampton one Knot of gentlemen took four times the
duration of the Trojan war, and even then failed to settle which of the
party brewed the best beer.
A FIN'E OLD SOLDI KK.
Jeremiah Atkins, of the Scar, near Bnmiyard, Herefordshire, died in
17iHi, a.u'i'd 102. He had been a soldier through all the earlier periods of
his manhood, and had seen much service : Mas present at the taking of
:ico, and at the Havannah ; and, on one occasion, being taken
prisoner \>y tin- Indians of North America, was \ < r y near beim: scalped,
as he was only rescued at the moment they were about to perform the
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 315
operation. He was likewise at the taking of Crown Point, in America,
and in the battle of Fontenoy with the Duke of Cumberland, whom he
also accompanied in his resistance to the advance of the Scotch rebels,
being in several df the skirmishes and battles fought on that occasion.
He afterwards went again to America, and took part in the storming of
Quebec, when Wolfe was killed. The last battle in which he was en-
gaged was that of Tournay, in Flanders. This extraordinary man re-
tained the full use of all his natural faculties, save hearing, to the very
close of his life.
POPULAR FALLACY OF THE VIRTUES OF A SEVENTH SOX.
It is believed that a seventh son can cure diseases, but that a seventh
son of a seventh son, and no female child born between, can cure the
king's evil. Such a favoured individual is really looked on with vene-
ration. An artist visiting Axminster in 1828, noticing the indulgence
granted to one urchin in preference to others, and seeing something pur-
ticular in this child, addressed his mother as follows : "This little man
appears to be a favourite: I presume he is your little Benjamin."
" He's a seventh son, sir," said the mother. Affecting an air of surprise,
I expressed myself at the instant as being one very anxious to know what
a seventh son could do ? The mother, a very civil woman, told me that
' ' she did think, to cure all diseases, should be the seventh son of a
seventh son ; but many folk do come to touch my son." In April, 1826,
a respectable looking woman was engaged in collecting a penny from
each of thirty young women, unmarried ; the money to be laid out in
purchasing a silver ring, to cure her son of epileptic fits. The money
was to be freely given, without any consideration, or else the charm
would have been destroyed. The young women gave their pence, be-
cause it would have been a pity for the lad to continue afflicted if the
charm would cure him.
SELF-NOURISHMENT .
That animals may sometimes be kept alive for a long time solely on
nourishment supplied from their own bodies, is evident from the fact
that after a great fall of earth on one occasion from the cliff at Dover,
which buried, a whole family, a hog was found alive five months and
nine days after it had thus been buried ! It weighed about seven
score when the accident happened, and had wasted to about thirty
pounds, but was likely to do well.
CHINESE METHOD OF FISHING.
There is nothing more extraordinary in the history of the different
nations of the world than the ingenuity of the Chinese. They are the
most handy people on the face of the earth, and the lower orders are just
as clever as the higher. A proof of this may be seen at a fishing village
which is contiguous to the town of Victoria, in Hong Kong. It remains
in much the same state as that in which it existed prior to the British
occupation of the island. Old worn-out boats, and torn mat-sails, bam-
boos and dried rushes, these are the principal materials employed in
the construction of their domiciles. The fishing boats are most inge-
316
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
niously built. Each of these has a long projecting bamboo, which is
rigged out from the stem in the form of a bowsprit, only working on a
pivot. From the extremity of this outrigger, a strong rope comm-
unicates with a balance-board, that exactly poises the bamboo out-
rigger, when the net is immersed in water, and the fisherman has
only to walk up and down this plank to raise the net and let it
drop again in the water. But opposite to the island, and on many
of the little insular rocks which constitute the " ten thousand isles,"
of whicli the emperor of China, amongst his vast pretensions to titles,
lays claim to be lord, fishing is conducted on a larger scale, though
worked upon the same principles. Huge poles are driven into the ground
where the water is comparatively shallow, and leading ropes, which pass
over a block-wheel inserted in the tops of these poles, communicate at
(HIM SI! METHOD OF FISHING.
one end with large circular nets, (constructed somewhat in the shape of
a funnel, the upper rim being attached to floats, whilst from the centre
are pendant weights,) the other end being fastened on shore to a balance
plank, which the weight of one man suffices to work.
- 1UE OK OMAK.
The opposite engraving represents the (ireat Mosque at Jerusalem. It
is built on the exact site of Solomon's Temple, and takes its name from
its original founder, the Caliph Omar. It is a Turkish edifice, and is
devoted to the worship of Mahomet.
Titus having taken Jerusalem in the second year of Vespasian's reign,
not one stone was left upon another of that Temple where Christ had
done such glorious things, and the destruction of which he had pre-
dicted. When the Caliph Omar took Jerusalem, in G'3G A.D., it appears
that the site of the Temple, with the exception of a very small part,
had been abandoned by the Christians. Said-Ebcn-Batrick, an Arabian
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AXD QUAINT. 317
GKEA.T MOSQUE AT JKKUSALE1I.
historian, relates that the Caliph applied to the Patriarch Sophronius,
and enquired of him what would he the most proper place at Jerusalem
for building a mosque. Sophronius conducted him to the ruins of Solo-
mon's Temple. Omar, delighted with the opportunity of erecting a
a mosque on so celebrated a spot, caused the ground to be cleared, and
the earth to be removed from a large rock, where God is said to have
conversed with Jacob. From that rock the new mosque took its name
of Gameat-el-Sakhra, and became almost as sacred an object to the
Mussulmans, as the mosques of Mecca and Medina. The Caliph El-
Oulid contributed still more to the embellishment of El-Sakhra, and
covered it with a dome of copper, gilt, taken from a church at Balbeck.
In the sequel, the crusaders converted the Temple of Mahomet, into a
sanctuary of Christ ; but when Saladin re-took Jerusalem, he restored
this edifice to its original use.
The form is an octagon, either side being seventy feet in width ; it is
entered by four spacious doors, the walls are white below, intermingled
with blue, adorned with pilasters, but above, it is faced with glazed
tiles of various colours. The interior is described as paved with grey
marble, the plain walls are covered with the same material in white It
contains many noble columns, in two tiers. The dome is painted, and
gilt in arabesque, whence depend antique vessels of gold and silver ; im-
mediately beneath it stands a mass of limestone, -reported to have fallen
from heaven when the spirit of prophecy commenced. On this sat the
destroying angel, during the slaughter caused by David's numbering the
318 TEX THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
people. From this Mahomet ascended to heaven. Within the scoried
Avails, moreover, are the scales for weighing the souls of men, the shield
of Mahomet, and other relics, besides the entrance to the infernal
regions ; seventy thousand angels ever guard the precious stone.
Entrance to this hallowed edifice has been gained only by two or
three Europeans ; indeed, the Turks will not allow infidels to approach
the sacred enclosure around it, which measures about sixteen hundred
feet in length, by one thousand in width, and is adorned with fountains,
orange, cypress, and other trees.
The mosque itself is esteemed the finest piece of Saracenic architec-
ture in existence, far surpassing St. Sophia in beauty. Its view, com-
bined with the distinguished monuments in the City of the Sultan, in
Egypt, Greece, and Italy, strongly indiices a belief in the accuracy of
an able article in the Quarterly Rcvinr, in which the origin of the five
predominant styles of architecture throughout the world, viz., the By-
zantine, Chinese, Egyptian, Grecian, and Gothic are assigned respec-
tively to the convex and concave curves, to the oblique, horizontal, and
perpendicular lines.
A COUPLE OF ECCENTRICS.
Mr. Pay, the eccentric founder of Fairlop fair, had a housekeeper, who
had lived with him for thirty years, and was equally eccentric. She had
two very strong attachments ; one to her wedding-ring and garments,
and the other to tea. When she died, Mr. Day would not permit her
ring to be taken off; he said, " If that was attempted, she would come
to life again ;" and directed that she should be buried in her wedding-
suit, and a pound of tea in each hand; "and these directions were lite-
rally obeyed.
THE rXlVKIlSALITY OF TAXATION.
The following extract, from the E<linbnrtjh Jlrriar, is not inappro-
priate to OUT pages, inasmuch as it is both a rare specimen of effective
composition, and also serves to show us what the state of taxation was.
in England even within the last forty years. Taxes upon every article
which enters into the mouth, or covers the back, or is placed upon the-
feet taxes upon every thing which it is pleusaut to see, hear, feel, smell,
te taxes upon warmth, light, and locomotion taxes on every-
thing on earth, and the waters under the earth on every thing that
conies from abroad, or is grown at home taxes on the raw material
taxes on every fresh value that is added to it l>y the industry of man
(IMS on the sauce which pamper' s man's appetite, and the drug that
restores him to health on the ermine which decorates the judge, and the
rope which hangs the criminal on the poor man's salt, and the rich
man's spice on the brass nails of the coffin, and the ribands of the bride
at bed or board, cmiahunt or Icrant, we must pay; the schoolboy whips
his taxed top the beardless youth manage s his taxed horse, with a taxed
bridle, on a taxed road: and the dying Englishman, pouring hi-, medi-
cine, which lias paid seven per cent., into a spoon that lias paid fifteen
per cent., flings himself hack upon his chintz bed, which lias paid twenty
MARVELLOUS, RARE;, CUKIOUS, AND QUAINT. 319
two per cent. makes Ms "will on an eight-pound stamp, and expires in
the arms of an apothecary, who has paid a license of an hundred pounds
for the privilege of putting him to death. His whole property is then
immediately taxed from two to ten per cent. Besides the probate, large
fees are demanded for burying him in the chancel ; his virtues are
handed down to posterity on taxed markle ; and he is then gathered to
his fathers to be taxed no more.
SHAM PROPHETS.
William Hackett, a fanatic of the sixteenth century, after a very ill
life, turned prophet, and signified the desolation of England. He pro-
phesied at York and at Lincoln ; where, for his boldness, he was whipped
publicly, and condemned to be banished. He had an extraordinary
fluency of speech, and much assurance in his prayers ; for he said, that
if all England should pray for rain, and he should pray to the contrary,
it should not rain. Hackett had two brother-prophets joined -with him,
Edward Coppinger, named the prophet of mercy, and Henry Arthiugton,
the prophet of judgment. Coppinger, the merciful prophet, declared that
Hackett was the sole monarch of Europe ; and at length they proclaimed
him, July 16, 1592. On the 28th of the same month, however, the
monarch of the whole earth, who had also personated divinity, was
hanged and quartered. Coppinger famished himself in prison, and Ar-
thington was pardoned. Fitz Simon relates, that in a quarrel Hackett
had at Oundle, " He threw down his adversary, and bit oft' his nose ; and,
instead of returning it to the surgeon, who pretended to set it on again,
while the wound was fresh, ate it." Hackett, on the scaffold, made a blas-
phemous prayer, which is recorded by Fitz Simon and Camden, too horrid
to be repeated. He hated Queen Elizabeth, and tried to deprive her of
her crown ; he confessed to the judges that he had stabbed the effigies of
this princess to the heart, with an iron pin ; and a little before he was
hanged, being an accomplished swearer, he cursed her with all manner of
imprecations.
HOOETXCr A BOY INSTEAD OF A FISH.
About five and thirty years ago, as Mr. George Moor was fishing in the
river Tyne at Pipewellgate, Gateshead, he espied something in the water
which seemed like a drowned dog, but the day being clear, and the sun
shining, he thought he perceived a face, upon which he threw his line
to it (which had but three hairs at the hook) and hooked a coat, by which
he fovind it was a boy, but the hook loosing hold, he again cast his line
and struck him in the temple and drew him to the shore, and in less
than quarter of an hour he revived.
CHILDREN OF AGED PARENTS.
Margaret Krasiowna, of the village of Koninia, Poland, died 1763, aged
108. The following extraordinary circumstances are stated, by Eaton,
as connected with the life of this woman : "At the age of ninety-four
she married her third husband, Gaspard Eaycolt, of the village of Ciwous-
zin, then aged one hundred and five. During the fourteen years they
320 TEX THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
lived together she brought him two boys and a girl ; and, what is very
remarkable, these three children, from their very birth, bore evident
marks of the old age of their parents their hair being grey, and a vacuity
appearing in their gums, like that which is occasioned by the loss of
teeth, though they never had any. They had not strength enough, even
as they grew up, to chew solid food, but lived on bread and vegetables,
they were of a proper size for their age, but their backs were bent, their
complexions sallow, with all the other external symptoms of decrepitude.
Though most of these particulars," he adds, " may appear fabulous, they
are certified by the parish registers. The village of Ciwouszin is in the
district of Stenzick, in the palatinate of Scndonier. Gaspard llaycolt,
the father, died soon after, aged 119."
SKPrLCHRAL VASE FIUXM PERU.
The vessel of which the annexed is an engraving, was taken from the
tomb of one of the ancient inhabitants of Peru ; the subjects of the Incas,
or princes who ruled over that
country before it was conquered
by the Spaniards. Vases of this
sort were probably placed in the
sepulchres of the Peruvians to
contain the ashes of the dead, or
offerings to their disembodied
spirits ; usages which are fami-
liar to us through the frequent
allusions to them which we meet
with in the works of the poets of
ancient Home, and the discovery
of urns and lachrymatories in
1 Ionian tombs which have been
in our own and other cemetries.
The specimen which we have
engraved is quadruple, but forms one vessel.
MUST !i:oN CANNON".
The first cannon was cast in Sussex in 1535. In after years bonds
were taken in 1,000 from the owners of the charcoal furnaces, that
none should be sold till a license for the sale or issue of the ordnance had
been procured. Fears were entertained that the enemy would purchase
them.
PROLIFIC AUTHOR.
No one need despair, after the following instance, of shining in quan-
tity, if not in quality : Hans Sacks was a Nuremberg shoemaker, born
there in 1494 ; he was instructed, by the master-singers of those days,
in the praiseworthy art of poetry ; he, therefore, continued ID make verses
and shoes, and plays and pumps, boots and books, until the seventy-
seyi'iiih year of his age ; wnen he took an inventory of his poetieal stock
in trade, and found, according to his narrative, that his works filled
thirty folio volumes, all written with his own hand ; and consisted of
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 321
four thousand two hundred mastership songs, two hundred and eight
comedies, tragedies, and farces (some of which were extended to seven
acts), one thousand seven hundred fables, tales, and miscellaneous poems,
and seventy-three devotional, military, and love songs ; making a sum
total of six thousand and forty-eight pieces, greet and small." Out of
these, we are informed, he culled as many as tilled three massy folios,
which were published in the year 1558-61; and, another edition being
called for, he increased this three volumes folio abridgement of his works,
in the second, fi-om his other works. None but Lope de Vega exceeded
him in quantity of rhyme-making.
THE AUT 01' POXTEKV IX CHIXA.
The Chinese traditions carry back the practice of the potter's art to a
very remote epoch. Father Entrecolles, a French missionary, resided in
China at the beginning of the last century, and his letters published in
Paris, in 1741, supply some curious and interesting information on this
subject. Writing in 1712, he says that at that time ancient porcelain was
very highly prized, and bore large prices. Articles were extant which
were reputed to have belonged to the Emperors Yao and Chun, two of
the most ancient mentioned in the Chinese annals. Yao reigned in
2357 and Chun in 2255 before Christ. Other authorities place the
reign of Chun in 2600 before Christ. It appears from the researches of M.
Stanislaus Julian that, from the time of the Emperor Hoang-ti, who
reigned 2698 to 2599 before Christ, there had always existed a public
officer bearing the title of the Intendant of Pottery, and that it was
under the reign of Hoang-ti that the potter's art was invented by Ivouen-
ou. It is also certain that porcelain, or tine pottery, was common ill
China in the time of the Emperors Han, 163 B.C.
322 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINOs;
In digging the foundations of the palaces, erected by the dynasties of
Han and Thang, from 163 B.C. to 903 A.D. great quantities of ancient
vases were found which were of a pure whiteness, but exhibited little
beauty of form or fabrication. It was only under the dynasty of Song,
that is to say, from 960 to 1278 A.D., that Chinese porcelain began to
attain a high degree of perfection.
Further evidence of the antiquity of the potter's art in China, as well
as of the existence of intercommunication between that country and
Egypt, is supplied by the discoveries of Rossellina, Wilkinson, and others,
who found numerous vases of Chinese fabrication, and bearing ( 'hinese
inscriptions, in the tombs at Thebes. Professor Rossellini found a small vase
of Chinese porcelain with a painting of a flower on one side, and on the
other Chinese characters not differing imich from those used at the pre-
sent day. The tomb was of the time of the Pharaohs, a little later than
the eighteenth dynast}-.
This vase, with its Chinese inscription, is represented in Fig. 1, from
an exact cast made by Mr. Francis Davis.
Another of the Chinese vases, found in the Theban tombs, is repre-
sented in Fig. '2. This is preserved in the Museum of the Louvre. The
shape of the vase is that of a flat-sided flask. A side view is tnven in
Fig. 3.
These flasks are very small. The engravings represent them of their
proper dimensions. Mr. Wilkinson thinks it probable that they ^in-
brought to Egypt from India, the Egyptians having had commercial
relations with that country at a vc TV remote epoch, and that they
came not as pieces of porcelain, but as vessels containing some articles
of importation.
STROXG ATTACHMENT TO S.MOKIXt:.
The following is a curious case of extreme fondness for smoking in a
very poor and very old man. In the year 1810, there died in Dart ford
workhouse, aged 106, one John Gibson. He had been an inmate of the
house for ten years, and till within two months of his death used daily to
perambulate the town. His faculties were entire to the last, lie \vas
so much attached to smoking, that he requested his pij>c, together with
his walking-stick, might be placed in his coffin, which request was
complied with.
KXTi:\ni;i.lNAl:V l.r.TTKK.
The following strange and curious epistle, we are assured, was sent to
a surg"(in of eminence by a malefactor who had been sentenced to <!> ath.
It has a degree of character and quaintness about it Avhich is raivly
found in the letters of convicts. Whether or not the surgeon complied
with his request \ve do not know.
" Sir, I'u-inp- informed that you are the only surgeon in this minify,
in the habit of dissecting dead bodies being very poor, I am desirous
-iny; what remains t<> me of life, with as much comfort as my unhappy
condition admits of. In all probability I shall be executed in the course
of a month : having no friend to intercede for me, nor even to afford
me a morsel of bread, to keep body and soul together till the fatal mo-
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 323
ment arrives, I beg you will favour me with a visit ; I am desirous of
disposing of my body, which, is healthy and sound, for a moderate sum
of money. It shall be delivered to you on demand, being persuaded
that on the day of general resurrection, I shall as readily find it in your
laboratory, as if it were deposited in a tomb. Your speedy answer will
much oblige your obedient sen-ant, JAMES BROWN."
A MATTRESS FOE A BAXK.
In the month of April, 1822, Mrs. Motley, broker, Bedford-street,
Xorth Shields, purchased an old mattress for 2s. from a shipowner, who
was going to reside with his daughter ; in arranging some papers a few
clays ago, he found a document in the hand-writing of his deceased wife,
not intended for his perusal, but that of her son by a former husband,
in which it was stated that property to a considerable amount was de-
posited in the said mattress. His daughter in consequence waited on
Mrs. Motley, and offered her a few shillings to return it. Mrs. M.
naturally supposed that this seeming generosity was not without a cause,
but having sold it to a Mrs. Hill for 3s., for a small consideration she
regained possession of the prize, but on entering her house the original
proprietor and a constable were ready to receive her, and without
ceremony cut open the mattress, when a purse, said to contain lOOgs.,
two gloves tilled with current silver coin, several valuable rings, trinkets,
silver spoons, &c., were discovered. Mrs. Hill had considerably reduced
the mattress to fit a small bedstead without finding the hidden treasure.
ARCHITECTURE FOR EARTHQUAKES.
Sumatra is one of the largest islands in the Indian Archipelago, and
the houses of the inhabitants are deserving of notice, inasmuch as they
furnish a correct and curious specimen of the style of building, which
the frequent occurrence of earthquakes renders the safest in the coun-
tries where such visitations are common.
The frames of the houses are of wood, the under-plates resting on
pillars six or eight feet high, which have a sort of capital, but no base,
and are wider at top than at bottom. The people appear to have no
idea of architecture as a science, though much ingenuity is often shown
in working up their materials. The general appearance of their houses
is accurately represented in the annexed plate. For the floorings they
lay whole bamboos, four or five inches in diameter, close to each other,
and fasten them at the ends to the timbers. Across these are laid laths
of split bamboo, about an inch wide and of the length of the room, which
are tied down with filaments of the rattan, and over these are usually
spread mats of different kinds. This sort of flooring has an elasticity
alarming to strangers when they first tread on it.
The sides of the houses are generally closed in with bamboo, opened
and rendered flat by notching or splitting the circular joints on the out-
side, chipping away the corresponding divisions within, and laying it to
dry in the sun pressed down with weights. This is sometimes nailed to
the upright timbers or bamboos, but in the country parts it is more com-
monly interwoven or matted in breadths of six inches, and a piece or
324
TEX THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
sheet formed at once of the size required. In some places they use for
the same purpose the inner bark procured from some particular trees.
When they prepare to take it, the outer bark is first torn or cut away ;
the inner is then marked out with a proper tool to the requisite size,
usually three cubits by one ; it is afterwards beaten for some time with
a heavy stick to loosen it from the stem, and being peeled off, laid in the
sun to dry, care being taken to prevent its warping. The bark used in
building has nearly the texture and hardness of wood ; but the pliable
and delicate bark of which clothing is made is procured from a bustard
.species of the bread-fruit.
The most general mode of covering houses is with the leal' of a kind of
palm called nipah. These, hefoiv they arc laid on, are formed into
sheets about rive feet long, and as deep as the length of the leaf will ad-
mit, which is doubled at one end over a slip or lath of bamboo. They
are then disposed on the roof so that one sheet shall lap over the other,
and are tied to the bamboos which serve for rafters.
Tin: NUS-; IN MI I;TI..\M>.
Off Hressay is the most remarkable of the rock phenomena of Shetland,
the Moss, a small high island, with a flat summit, girt on all sides by
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 325
perpendicular walls of rock. It is only 500 feet in length, and 170
broad, and rises abruptly from the sea to the height of 160 feet. The
communication with the coast of Bressay is maintained by strong ropes
stretched across, along which a cradle or wooden chair is run, in which
the passenger is seated. It is of a size sufficient for conveying across a
man and a sheep at a time. The purpose of this strange contrivance is
to give the tenant the benefit of putting a few sheep upon the Holm, the
top of which is level, and affords good pasture. The animals are
DISABLE OF >"OSS.
transported in the cradle, one at a time, a shepherd holding them upon
his knees in crossing.
The temptation of getting access to the numberless eggs and young
of the sea-fowl which whiten the surface of the Holm, joined to the
promised reward of a cow, induced a hardy and adventurous fowler,
about two centuries ago, to scale the cliff of the Holm, and establish a
connexion by ropes with the neighbouring main island. Having driven
two stakes into the rock and fastened his ropes, the desperate man was
entreated to avail himself of the communication thus established iu
326 TEN THOUSAND "WONDERFUL THINGS ;
returning across tlie gulf. But this he refused to do, and in attempting
to descend the way he had climbed, he fell, and perished by his fool-
hardiness.
SWALLOWED VP BY AX EARTHQUAKE AND THROWN OUT AGAIN.
A tombstone in the island of Jamaica has the following inscription :
" Here lieth the body of Lewis Galdy, Esq., who died on the 22nd of
September, 1737, aged 80. He was born at Montpellier, in France,
which place he left for his religion, and settled on this island, where, in
the great earthquake, 1672, he was swallowed up, and by the wonderful
providence of God, by a second shock was thrown out into the sea, where
he continued swimming until he was taken up by a boat, and thus mi-
raculously preserved. He afterwards lived in great reputation, and
died universally lamented."
CtTSTOJIS OF THE BORDER BETWEEN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.
In the courts held by the lords wardens of the Marches, a jury was
established : the English lord chose six out of Scotland, and the Scotch
six out of England. The defendant, upon the trials, was acquitted upon
his own oath ; these oaths are singular : we transcribe them. 1. JUROR'S
OATH. You shall clean no bills worthy to be fouled : you shall foul no
bills worthy to be cleaned ; but shall do that which appeareth with truth,
for the maintenance of truth, and suppressing of attempts. So help you
God. 2. PLAINTIFF'S OATH. You shall leile (little) price make, and
truth say, what your goods were worth at the time of their talcing, to
have been brought and sold in the market, taken all at one time, and that
you know no other recovery but this. So help you God. 3. DEFEND A NT'S
OATH. You shall swear, by heaven above you, hell beneath you, by
your part in Paradise, by all that God made in six days and seven nights,
and by God himself, you are whart and sackless, of art, part, way, witt-
ing, ridd, kenning, having, or reciting, of any of the goods and chatties
named in this bill. So help you God. These oaths and proceedings
arose from the frequent incursions of both Scotch and English, on both
sides the wall, to where they had no right.
TURKISH MODE OF REPARATION.
On April 2-jth, 1700, at Constantinople, the Turks were removing the
standard of Mahomet, making a grand procession through the city ; all
Christians, upon this occasion, were forbid to appear in toe streets or at
their windows. But the wife and daughter of the Imperial minister,
being excited by curiosity, placed themselves at a secret window to ob-
thc procession; which was no sooner discovered by the Turks, than
they attacked the ambassador's house, and endeavoured to force an en-
trance. But the servants of the minister opposing them, well-armed, a
dreadful fray ensued, in which no less than one hundred persons lost
their lives, and the ambassador's lady was very severely treated. Some
of the rioters dragged her down into the court-yard, and made prepara-
to strangle her; when a party of Janissari'-s, who were despatched
to her assistance by an aga in the neighbourhood, happily came and pre-
MARVELLOUS, BARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 32~
served her. Upon complaint being made of this outrage, by her Irasband,
to the grand vizier, that minister expressed great sorrow for the insult
that had been offered, and assured him he should have all the reparation
it was possible to procure. A few hours after the vizier sent the Impe-
rial minister a rich present of jewels for his lady, and a bay, which was
found to contain the heads of the three principal rioters.
HAIR TOUTED GREY BY FRIGHT.
There is an interesting anecdote of a boy, in one of the rudest parts of
the County of Clare, in Ireland, who, in order to destroy some eaglets,
lodged in a hole one hundred feet from the summit of a rock, which rose
four hundred feet perpendicular from the sea, caused himself to be sus-
pended by a rope, with a scimitar in his hand for his defence, should he
meet with an attack from the old ones ; which precaution was found
necessary ; for no sooner had his companions lowered him to the nest,
than one of the old eagles made at him with great fury, at which he
struck, but, unfortunately missing his aim, nearly cut through the rope
that supported him. Describing his horrible situation to his comrades,
they cautiously and safely drew him up ; when it was found that his
hair, which a quarter of an hour before was a dark auburn, was changed
to grey.
MEMORABLE SNOW-STORM.
The following characteristic account is taken literatim .from the parish
register of the village of Youlgrave in Derbyshire : "This year 1614-5
Jan. 16 began the greatest snow which ever fell uppon the earth, within
man's memorye. It cover'd the earth five quarters deep uppon the playne.
And for heapes or drifts of snow, they were very deep, so that passengers,
both horse and foot, passed over yates hedges and walles.. It fell at ten
si \\ rail tyrnes, and the last was the greatest, to the greate admiration and
fear of all the land, for it came from the foure ^ of the world, so that all
c'ntryes were full, yea, the south p'te as well as these mountaynes. It con-
tinued by daily encreasing unti Jthe 12 th day of March, (without the sight
of any earth, eyther uppon hilles or valleys) uppon w 1 ' 1 ' daye, being the
Lordes day, it began to decrease ; and so by little and little consumed
and wasted away, till the eight and twentyth day of May, for then all
the heapes or drifts of snow were consumed, except one uppon Kinder-
Scout, w ch lay till Witson week.".
ROADS re 1780.
A squire from the neighbourhood of Glastonbury, journeying to Sarum
in his carriage, about 1780, took care that his footman was provided with
a good axe to lop off any branches of trees that might obstruct the pro-
gress of the vehicle.
WONDERFUL PEDESTRIAN FEAT.
Captain Cochrane, who set out from St. Petersburg in May, 1820, to
v:a11i through the interior of Eussia to the east of Asia, with a view of
ascertaining the fact of a north-cast cape, travelled at the rate of forty -
three miles a day for one hundred and twenty-three successive days. He
328
TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
afterwards walked upwards of four hundred miles without meeting a
human being. Wherever he went he seems to have accommodated him-
self to the habits of the people, however rude and disgusting. With the
Kalmucks, he eat horse-iiesh, elks, and wolves ; and with the Tchutski
he found as little difficulty in pasturing upon bears, rein-deer, and raw
frozen Jislij the latter of which he considered a great delicacy.
BOOK-SHAPED WATCH.
The unique curiosity, of which the annexed is an accurate represen-
tation,- was one of the choicest rarities of the Bernal collection, and
is, therefore, highly appropriate
to our pages. It once belonged
to, and was made for, Bogislaus
XIV., Duke of Pomerania, in
the time of Gustavus Adolphus.
On the dial-side there is an en-
graved inscription of the Duke
and his titles, with the date
1027, and the engraving of his
armorial bearings ; on the bac-k
of the case there are engraved
two male portraits, buildings,
&c. ; the dial-plate is of silver,
chased in relief ; the insides are
chased with birds and foliage.
This watch lias apparently two
separate movements, and a large
bell ; at the back, over the bell,
the metal is ornamentally piem-d
in a circle, with a dragon and
other devices, and the sides are
pierced and en
Jlessichti."
raved in scrolls. It bears the maker's name, " Dionistus
TIIK 1UT.IXG 1'ASSKiX.
Mr. Henry Stribling, farmer, who died at Goodleigh. near I'avnstaple,
August 1st, 1800, in the eightieth year of his age, was one of the great-
est fox -hunters in Devonshire, and had collected such a number of foxes
pads, all of which he had himself cut off when in at the death, that they
entirely covered bis stable door and door-posts. At bis own particular
request, a pad was placed in each of his hands in his coffin, and lie un-
attended to the grave by the huntsmen and whippers-in of the packs
with which he had hunted.
KDKTS \<; UXST riinn.r.ns.
An idea may be formed of the strictness with which all popular amuse-
ments were prohibited when the Puritans had the ascendancy, from 1 he-
fact that in 1650-7 Oliver Cromwell prohibited all persons called fiddlers or
minstrels from playing, iiddling, or making music in any inn, ale-house,
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.
329
or tavern, &c. If they proffered themselves or offered to make music,
they were to be adjudged to be rogues, vagabonds, and sturdy vaga-
bonds, and were to be proceeded against as such.
SCENE OF DESOLATION.
The pass of Keim-an-eigh is one of the numerous wonders of nature.
It is situated on the road from Mac-room to Bantry, in the county of
Cork, and winds through a deep and narrow rocky defile, about two
English miles in length. Its name means, in Irish, " The Path of the
Deer." Perhaps, in no part of the kingdom, is there to be found a
place so utterly desolate and gloomy. A mountain has been divided by
some convulsion of nature, and the narrow pass is overhung on either
side, as seen in our engraving, by perpendicular cliffs clothed in wild
ivy and underwood, with, occasionally, a stunted yew-tree or arbutus
growing among them. At every step advance seems impossible some
huge rock jutting out into the path, or sweeping round it, seeming to con-
duct only to some barrier still more insurmountable ; while from all sides
330 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;
rush down the "wild fountains," and forming for themselves a rugged
channel, make their way onward, the first tributary to the gentle and
fruitful Lee. Nowhere has Nature assumed a more apalling aspect, or
manifested a more stern resolve to dwell in her own loneliness and gran-
deur, undisturbed by any living thing ; for even the birds seem to shun
a solitude so awful, and the hum of bee or chirp of grasshopper is never
heard within its precincts.
THE FIRST ENGLISH NUN.
Face, widow of Edwin, king of Northumberland, is said to have been
the first English nun ; and the first nunnery in England appears to have
been at Barking, in Essex, which was founded by Erkenwald, Bishop
of London, wherein he placed a number of Benedictine or black nuns.
The most rigid nuns are those of St. Clara, of the order of St. 1'rancis,
both of which individuals were born and lived in the same town : the
nuns are called poor Clares, and both they and the monks wear grey
clothes. Abbesses had formerly seats in parliament. In one, held in
694, says Spelman, they sat and deliberated, and several of them sub-
scribed* the decrees made in it. They sat, says Ingulphus, in a parlia-
ment held in 855. In the reigns of Henry III. and Edward I. four of
them were summoned to a national council, viz. those of Shaftsbury,
Barking, "Winchester, and "Wilton.
I'UKSEXCE OF MIXD ESCAPE FItOX A TKiEK.
In 1812, a partv of British naval and military officers were dining in
a jungle at some distance from Madras, when a ferocious tiger rushed in
among them, seized a young midshipman, and filing him across his back.
In the first emotion of terror, the other officers had all snatched up their
iirnis, and retired some paces from their assailant, who stood lashing his
sides with his tail, as if doubtful whether he should seize more prey, or
retire with that which he had already secured. They knew that it is
usual with the tiger, before he seizes his prey, to deprive it of life, by a
pat on the head, which generally breaks the skull ; but this is not his
invariable practice. The little midshipman lay motionless on the hack
of his enemy ; but yet the officers, who were uncertain whether he had
received the mortal pat or not, were afraid to fire, lest they should kill
him together with the tiger, ^"hile in this state of suspense, they per-
ceived the hand of the youth gently move over the side of the animal,
and conceiving the motion to result from the convulsive throbs of death,
they were about to fire, when, to their utter astonishment, the
dropped stone dead; and their young friend sprang from the ca
waving in triumph a bloody dirk drawn from the heart, for which lie
had been feeling with the utmost coolness and circumspection, when the
motion of his hand had been taken for a dying spasm.
COST OF ARTICLES I2f THE FOURTEENTH CEXTVKV.
The following article is taken from Martin 's JUston/ <>f ThrtfonL It
is copied from an original record in that borough, when John lu F"
was mayor, in the tenth year of Edward the Third, A.D. 11336. It is so
MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 331
far curious, as it exhibits an authentic account of the value of many
articles at that time ; being a bill, inserted in the town book, of the ex-
penses attending the sending two light-horsemen from Thetford to the
army, which was to march against the Scots that year.
. (I
To two men chosen to go into the army against Scotland 100
For cloth, and to the tailor for making it into two yoicns 611
For two pair of gloves, and a stick or staff 2
For two horses 115 OT
For shoeing these horses 4
For two pair of boots for the light-horsemen 2 8
Paid to a lad for going with the mayor to Lenn (Lynn),
to take care of the horses (the distance between
Thetford and Lynn is 53 miles 3
To a boy for a letter at Lenn (viz., carrying it thither) .003
Expenses for the horses of two light-horsemen for four
days before they departed 1
LAW AND OBDEB. IX THE STKEETS OF LOXDOX IX 1733.
AVhat an extraordinary state of things does the following extract from
the Weekly Register of December 8th, 1733, disclose ! The stages and
hackney-coaches actually made open war upon private carriages. " The
drivers," says the paragraph, "are commissioned by their masters to
annoy, sink, and destroy all the single and double horse-chaises they can
conveniently meet with, or overtake in their way, without regard to the
lives or limbs of the persons who travel in them. What havoc these in-
dustrious sons of blood and wounds have made within twenty miles of
London in the compass of a summer's season, is best known by the articles
of accidents in the newspapers : the miserable shrieks of women and chil-
dren not being sufficient to deter the villains from doing what they call
their duty to their masters ; for besides their daily or weekly wages, they
have an extraordinary stated allowance for every chaise they can reverse,
ditch, or bring by the road, as the term or phrase is." "Verily, we who
live in the present day have reason to rejoice that in some things there
is a decided improvement upon " the good old times."
XEVEK SLEEl'IXG IX A BED.
Christopher Pivett, of the city of York, died 1796, aged 93. He was a
carver and gilder bv trade ; but during the early part of his life served
in the army, and was in the retinue of the Duke of Cumberland, under
whose command he took part in the battle of Fontenoy, as he did at the
battle of Dettingen under the Earl of Stair ; he was likewise at the siege
of Carlisle, and the great fight of Culloden. His house, after he had
settled at York, being accidentally burnt down, he formed the singular
resolution of never again sleeping in a bed, lest he should be burned to
death whilst asleep, or not have time sufficient, should such a misfortune
again befall him, to remove his property ; and this resolution he rigidly
acted upon during the last forty years of his life. His practice was to re-
pose upon the floor, or on two" chairs, or sitting in a chair, but always
332 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;
with his clothes on. During the whole of this period he lived entirely
alone/ cooked his own victuals, and seldom admitted any one inta his
habitation : nor would he ever disclose to any the place of his hirth, or
to whom he was related. He had many singularities, but possessed, po-
litically as well as socially, a laudable spirit of independence, which he
boldly manifested on several trying occasions. Among other uncommon
articles which composed the furniture of his dwelling, was a human skull,
which he left strict injunctions should be interred with him.
AMULET BKOTCHE.
The subjoined engraving represents an ancient Gaelic Brotchc, which
was made in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and once belonged to a High-
land Chief, Maclean of Lochbuy in the Isle of Mull, being formed of silver
found on his estate. It is of circular form, scolloped, and surrounded by
small upright obelisks, each set with a pearl at top ; in the centre is a
round crystalline ball, considered a magical gem ; the top may be taken oft',
showing a hollow, originally for reliques. On the reverse side of the
brotche are engraved the names of the three kings of Cologne, with the
word consummation. It was probably a consecrated brotche, and worn
not only for the purpose of fastening the dress, but as an amulet.
H. TUCK, PBIXTER, Ifi Jc 17, NEW SIBKKT CLOTH FAIB WEST
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