CHAMBERS' EDINBURGH JOURNAL

 CONDUCTED BY WILLIAM AND ROBERT CHAMBERS, EDITORS OF 'CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE, ' 'CHAMBERS'S EDUCATIONAL COURSE, ' &c. 

 No. 456. NEW SERIES. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1852. PRICE 1-1/2_d. _

MRS CHISHOLM. 

This lady will be ranked with the memorable persons of the age; herenthusiastic and ceaseless endeavours to do good, the discretion andintelligence with which she pursues her aims, and her remarkableself-sacrifices in the cause of humanity, placing her in the categoryof the Mrs Frys and other heroic Englishwomen. The history of MrsChisholm's labours up to the present time is worthy of being fullytold. 

Caroline Jones, as this lady was originally called, is the daughter ofWilliam Jones, a respectable yeoman of Northamptonshire; and whenabout twenty years of age, she was married to Captain A. Chisholm ofthe Madras army. Two years after this event, she removed with herhusband to India, where she entered upon those movements of a publicnature that have so eminently distinguished her. Shocked with thedepravities to which the children of soldiers are exposed in thebarrack-rooms, she rested not till she had established a School ofIndustry for girls, which became eminently successful, and, under anextended form, has continued to be of great social importance toMadras. The pupils were taught to sew, cook, and otherwise managehousehold affairs; and we are told, that on finishing theireducation, they were eagerly sought for as servants, or wives, bynon-commissioned officers. In this career of usefulness, Mrs Chisholmemployed herself until 1838, when, for the benefit of her husband'shealth, and that of her infant family, she left India for Australia, the climate of which seemed likely to prove beneficial. At the end ofthe year, she arrived in Sydney, where, besides attending to familymatters, there was plenty of scope for philanthropic exertion. Drawingour information from a small work purporting to present a memoir ofMrs Chisholm, [1] it appears that 'the first objects that came underher notice, and were benefited by her benevolence, were a party ofHighland emigrants, who had been sent to the shores of a country wherethe language spoken was to them strange and unknown, and without afriend to assist or guide them in that path of honourable labour whichthey desired. As a temporary means of relief, Mrs Chisholm lent themmoney to purchase tools and wheelbarrows, whereby they might cut andsell firewood to the inhabitants. The success of this experiment wasgratifying both to the bestower and receiver; in the one it reviveddrooping hopes, the other it incited to larger enterprises ofhumanity. '

In 1840, Captain Chisholm returned to his duties in India, leaving hiswife and family to remain some time longer in Sydney; and from thisperiod may be dated her extraordinary efforts for meliorating thecondition of poor female emigrants. What fell under her notice inconnection with these luckless individuals was truly appalling. Huddled into a barrack on arrival; no trouble taken to put girls inthe way of earning an honest livelihood; moral pollution all around;the government authorities and everybody else too busy to mind whetheremigration was rightly or wrongly conducted--there was evidently muchto be done. In January 1841, Mrs Chisholm wrote to Lady Gipps, thewife of the governor, on the subject; tried to interest others; andalthough with some doubts as to the result, all expressed themselvesinterested. Much jealousy and prejudice, however, required to beovercome. Bigotry was even brought into play. There might be some deepsectarian scheme in the pretended efforts to serve these young andunprotected females. We need hardly speak in the language ofdetestation of this species of obstructiveness, which preventshundreds of valuable schemes of social melioration from being enteredinto. Fortunately, Mrs Chisholm treated with scorn or indifference thevarious means adopted to retard her benevolent operations. Shepersevered until she had organised the Female Emigrants' Home. Shesays: 'I appealed to the public for support: after a time, this appealwas liberally met. There were neither sufficient arrangements made forremoving emigrants into the interior, nor for protecting females ontheir arrival. A few only were properly protected, while hundreds werewandering about Sydney without friends or protection--great numbers ofthese young creatures were thrown out of employment by new arrivals. Ireceived into the Home several, who, I found, had slept out manynights in the government domain, seeking the sheltered recesses of therocks rather than encounter the dangers of the streets. It wasestimated that there were 600 females, at the time I commenced, unprovided for in Sydney. I made an offer to the government ofgratuitously devoting my time to the superintendence of a Home ofProtection for them in the town, and also to exert myself to procuresituations for them in the country. '

While making arrangements for conducting the establishment for femaleemigrants, Mrs Chisholm acquired a consciousness that male emigrantsof a humble class likewise required some degree of attention. Greatnumbers, for want of proper information, did not know what to do withthemselves on arrival. 'At the time labourers were required in theinterior, there were numbers idle in Sydney, supported at the expenseof the government. Things wore a serious aspect; mischief-makingparties, for some paltry gain, fed the spirit of discontent. TheIrish lay in the streets, looking vacantly, and basking in the sun. Apart from them, Englishmen, sullen in feature, sat on gates andpalings, letting their legs swing in the air. Another group wascomposed of Scotchmen, their hands thrust into their empty pockets, suspiciously glancing at everything and everybody from beneath theirbushy eyebrows. Mrs Chisholm ventured to produce a change; sheprovided for the leaders first, shewed how she desired to be thefriend of the industrious man, and went with numbers in search ofemployment, far into the country. She undertook journeys of 300 milesinto the interior with families; and the further she went, the moresatisfactory was the settlement of the parties accompanying this bravelady. "When the public had an opportunity of judging of the effect ofmy system, " writes Mrs Chisholm, "they came forward, and enabled me togo on. The government contributed, in various ways, to the amount ofabout L. 150. I met with great assistance from the country committees. The squatters and settlers were always willing to give me conveyancefor the people. The country people always supplied provisions. MrWilliam Bradley, a native of the colony, authorised me to draw uponhim for money, provisions, horses, or anything I might require; butthe people met my efforts so readily, that I had no necessity to drawupon him for a sixpence. At public inns, the females were sheltered, and I was provisioned myself without charge: my personal expenses, during my seven years' service, amounted to only L. 1, 18s. 6d. Asnumbers of the masters were afraid, if they advanced the money for theconveyance by the steamers, the parties would never reach thestations, I met the difficulty by advancing the fare, confiding in thegood feeling of the man that he would keep to his agreement, and tothe principle of the master that he would repay me. Although inhundreds of cases the masters were then strangers to me, I only lostL. 16 by casualties. At times, I have paid as much as L. 40 forsteamers, and, from first to last, in following out my system, I havebeen the means of settling 11, 000 souls. The largest number that everleft Sydney under my charge, at one time, was 147; but from accessionson the road, they increased considerably. The longest journey of thiskind occupied five weeks, three weeks of which were passed on theroad. "'

One cannot but admire the enthusiasm with which all this was gonethrough. The whole thing was a labour of love, and carried through, aswill be observed, not without vast personal toil, and some degree ofpecuniary outlay. Mrs Chisholm says she lost only L. 16; but how fewpeople in her rank, and with as comparatively moderate means, wouldgive L. 16 to promote any benevolent project whatsoever! The bulk ofmankind content themselves with contributing criticism. They applaudor censure according as the thing looks in the eye of the world: whenmoney is spoken of, they keep discreetly aloof. 

In her enterprise to put female emigrants on the road to fortune, MrsChisholm met with some curious cases of presumption. Many applicationswere made by young women who professed to be governesses, but wereutterly incompetent for the situation. Among others came one whooffered herself as a nursery governess, who, on inquiry, could neitherread nor write nor spell correctly. Another wished for the situationof housekeeper, and with her the following dialogue took place:--'"Canyou wash your own clothes?" "Never did such a thing in my life. " "Canyou make a dress?" "No. " "Cook?" "No. " "What _can_ you do?" "Why, ma'am, I could look after the servants; I could direct them: I shouldmake an excellent housekeeper. " "You are certain?" "Yes, or I wouldnot say so. " "Do you know the quantity of the different ingredientswanted for a beefsteak-pie of the size of that dish, and arice-pudding of the same size?" "O no, ma'am--that's not what I meant:_I'd see that the servants did it!_" "But there might be great waste, and you not know it; besides, all, or nearly all, the servants sent tothis colony require teaching. "

'Nothing, observes Mrs Chisholm, but my faith in Providence, thatthere must be a place fitting for every body in society, enabled me tobear such inflictions: this faith made me labour in seeking somesuitable employment for each, and had I not possessed it, but turnedthem out, their fate would have been inevitable and horrible. '

The business of attending to the 'Home, ' and finding places foreverybody, was not without some pleasant excitement. Mrs Chisholm wassometimes asked to find wives as well as servants; and as a specimenof applications on this delicate head, she gives the following amusingepistle, which is printed as she received it:--

'"REVEREND MADAM--I heard you are the best to send to for a servant, and I heard our police magistrate say, it was best to leave all toyou; and so I'll just do the same, as his honour says it's the best. Ihad a wife once, and so she was too good for me by the far, and it wasGod's will, ma'am; but I has a child, ma'am, that I wouldn't see astraw touch for the world; the boy's only four yeare old: and I has asnug fifty-acre farm and a town 'lotment, and I has no debts in theworld, and one teem and four bullocks; and I'se ten head oh cattle, and a share on eight hundred sheep, so I as a rite to a desentservant, that can wash and cook and make the place decant; and I don'tmind what religion she bey, if she is sober and good, only I'se aProtestant myself; and the boy I have, I promised the mother on herdeath-bed should be a Catholic, and I won't, anyhow, have anyinterference in this here matter. That I do like in writing nothingelse, I wouldn't, mam, on any account in the world, be bound to marry;but I don't wish it altogether to be left out. I'll ge her fourteenwages, and if she don't like me, and I don't like her, I'll pay herback to Sydney. I want nothing in the world but what is honest, somake the agrement as you like, and I'll bide by it. I sends you allthe papers, and you'l now I'm a man wot's to be trusted. I sends youfive pounds; she may get wages first, for I know some of the gals, andthe best on um, to, are not heavy we boxes; and supposing anythingshould happen, I would not like it to be said she come here in rags. Iwants, also, a man and his wife; he must be willing to learn toplough, if he don't now how, and do a good fair day's work atanything; his wife must be a milker, and ha dustrious woman; I'll givethem as much as they can eat and drink of tea and milk, and, whateverwages you set my name down for, I'll be bound to pay it. With all thehoner in the world, I'se bound to remain your servant till death. "There was something, remarks Mrs Chisholm, in the character of thishonest bushman, during his colonial residence, to admire; he hadgained his freedom, sent home money to his parents, and, during a longand tedious illness of twenty months, had attended his sick wife withpatient care. Who would not get up an hour earlier to serve such aman?--I did, for I knew that early in the morning is the _best_ timeto choose a wife. I went first into the governess-room--all asleep; Iunlocked the Home-door--some dressed, others half-dressed, some toovery cross: I have often remarked, that early in the day is the besttime to judge of a woman's temper; but I wish this to be kept asecret. I remained half an hour in the Home; I then went through thetents, could not suit myself, and returned. At the Home-door, I founda girl at the wash-tub; she was at work with spirit; she was rathergood-looking, very neat and tidy. I went into my office, andascertained that, on board ship, her character was good. I desired thematron never to lose sight of her conduct, and report the same to me. Day after day passed, and I was at last fully determined to place herwithin reach of my applicant in the bush--that is, in a respectablefamily in his near neighbourhood; but I was able to arrange better, for I found that, amongst the families wanting situations, there wasone related to her. I immediately engaged them as the bushman'sservants; they were a respectable couple; the man a very prudentperson. I told them to take the girl with them, and get her servicenear them, and on no account to allow her to live with a bachelor. Igave the girl three letters to respectable ladies, and she was engagedby one the fourth day after her arrival at ----. About a fortnightafter, the bushman wrote to thank me for sending him the marriedcouple; and concluded by saying: "With regard to that _other_ matter, upon my word you have suited me exactly; and as soon as our month isup, we is to be married. " I received, says Mrs Chisholm, forty-oneapplications of this kind; but the above is the only girl I ever sentinto the country with a _direct_ matrimonial intention. '

That 'Providence has a place for everybody' is an axiom that cannot betoo strongly insisted on. The difficulty, however, is to know wherethat place is. It will help considerably to relieve us of trouble onthis score, if we bear in mind that we are not limited in our choiceof country. If every place is filled in this old and settledterritory, by all means go away to new regions which lie invitinglyopen for trial. In short, go to America, or go to Australia, and ineither of these find your proper place. There can be no doubt of yourdiscovering it, provided you but look for it. Great in this faith hasCaroline Chisholm laboured. First, she helped women into situations inAustralia; then she similarly helped men; next, she fell on theexpedient of bringing wives and families to join husbands who longedfor their society; and lastly, she organised plans for sending outyoung women to the colony, with a view to balance the inequality ofthe sexes. To execute her designs in a proper manner, she required toknow the real wants and condition of settlers; and, will it becredited, that she set out on long and painful journeys in a coveredspring-van, and did not desist till she had gathered six hundredbiographies!

In 1845, Mrs Chisholm was joined by her husband from India, and sheprepared to return to England. Five years of earnest and successfulendeavour had wonderfully altered the general opinion respecting heroperations. There was no longer any fault-finding. Jealousies had beenovercome. It was now the fashion to speak well of plans that were onceviewed with apathy or suspicion. 'In February 1846, a public meetingwas held at Sydney, for the purpose of taking into consideration thepresenting to Mrs Chisholm, then on the eve of her departure forEngland, a testimonial of the estimation in which her labours onbehalf of the emigrant population were viewed by the colonists. Someidea may be formed of the respect felt for the admirable lady, andacknowledgment of her public services, when eight members of theLegislative Council, the mayor of Sydney, the high-sheriff, thirteenmagistrates, and many leading merchants, formed themselves into acommittee to carry the wishes of the meeting into effect. The amountof each subscription was limited. ' In a short time 150 guineas wereraised, and presented with a laudatory address. 'Mrs Chisholm acceptedthe testimonial, in order to expend it in further promotingemigration, in restoring wives to husbands, and children to parents. In the course of her answer, she said: "It is my intention, ifsupported by your co-operation, to attempt more than I have hithertoperformed. " She left Australia in 1846, bearing with her the warmprayers of the working colonists, whose confidence and gratitude, bothbond and free, she had thoroughly secured, charged with theself-imposed mission of representing in England the claims of thosepowerless classes who have neither honour nor pensions to bestow ontheir advocates. '

Since 1846, Mrs Chisholm has resided near London, and devoted herselfto the promotion of her last great scheme. This is to send emigrantsto Australia, in what are called Family Groups, under the auspices ofthe Family Colonisation Loan Society. The main features of the planare these: suitable and well-recommended persons are enrolled asmembers on paying a small fee; and they are sent out on payingtwo-thirds of the passage-money--the remaining third being paid as aloan by the society, which loan is to be repaid from wages received inthe colony. No security is required for the loan. The society reckonon the integrity and gratitude of the emigrants, and on the principleof associating parties into groups, the members of which exercise amutual supervision. A group consists of twelve adults. Friendlessyoung women are introduced to and grouped with families. Theseintroductions usually take place at Mrs Chisholm's residence onceevery week, when the groups are addressed in a friendly manner, andfurnished with hints for their government on board ship. 

Another important feature in these operations, is to help pooremigrants to remit small sums to friends at home, the difficulty ofmaking such remittances having formerly been very considerable. Toorganise a proper system of remitting, Captain Chisholm has returnedto Australia, and, according to an account given by Mrs Chisholm in aletter to the _Times_, it appears that the system is realising allreasonable expectation. We copy the substance of this letter as afitting conclusion to our sketch. 

'This is the first organised attempt of enabling the English emigrantsin Australia to imitate the generous devotion of the Irish settled inthe United States. While contemplating with admiration the laboriousdevotion proved by the remittance of millions sterling from theAmerican Irish to remove their relations from a land of low wages andfamine, I have always had a firm belief that the English emigrants inAustralia only required the opportunity to imitate the noble example, and the "remittance-roll" is evidence of the correctness of myopinion. 

'Until very recently, there have been no channels through which theAustralian settler could safely and cheaply remit small sums toEngland. 

'When I was resident in Sydney, many emigrants were anxious to sendsmall sums to their friends "at home, " and came to me with money forthat purpose; but I found that the banks charged as much for L. 15 asfor L. 50, and that they altogether declined to take the trouble ofremitting small amounts. On making a representation of this fact tohis excellency Sir George Gipps, he communicated with the banksthrough the Colonial Secretary, and they consented to receive smallremittances from labouring people, if I personally accompanied thedepositor; but, with my other engagements, it was impossible for me tospare many hours in the week to introducing shepherds and stockmen, with their L. 5 or L. 10, to the cashiers of the banks. Many a man, within my knowledge, has gone away on finding that he could not remithis intended present to his relations, and spent the amount in adrunken "spree. " I therefore determined, that on my return to England, I would endeavour to organise some plan which should render labourersremitting their little tributes of affection to their friends nearlyas easy as posting a letter. 

'As soon as the Family Colonisation Society was organised, MessrsCoutts & Co. Consented to appoint agents, and receive the remittancesdue to the society. But in order to teach and encourage the labouringcolonists to take advantage of the power of remitting to England, myhusband saw that it was necessary that some one devoted to the workshould proceed to the colonies. The society was not rich enough to payan agent, or even to pay the expenses of an agent who would workwithout salary; therefore we determined to divide our income, andseparate. My husband proceeded to the colony, to collect and remit theloans of the society's emigrants, and the savings of those emigrantswho wished to be joined by parents, wives, children, brothers, sisters, or other relations. I remained here to assist such relationsto emigrate in an economical, safe, and decent manner, as well as tocarry on the correspondence needful for discovering the relatives oflong-separated emigrants--often a difficult task. We determined towork thus until the labourers' remittances should swell to such anamount as would render it worth the attention of bankers as a matterof business, if the society were not inclined to continue the troubleand responsibility. 

'I am happy to say, my faith in the generous and honest disposition ofBritish emigrants, English, Scotch, and Irish, has not been shaken, and that I may look forward with confidence to a very early date whenthe remittance connection of the Australian emigrants will be eagerlycompeted for by the most respectable firms. 

'My husband writes me, that the people are filled with joy at findingthat they can safely send their earnings, and secure the passage oftheir friends. In seven weeks he received L. 3000 in gold-dust or cash, and confidently expects to remit L. 15, 000 within twelve months, andcould collect double that sum if he were able to visit the diggings. These remittances are not only from the emigrants sent out by thesociety, but from various persons of the humbler class who desire tobe joined by their relations, and wish them to come out under my shiparrangements. 

'It is my intention to return to Australia in the early part of nextyear, and there endeavour to still further promote the reunion offamilies. I have addressed this letter to your widely-spread andinfluential columns, in order to call the attention of the commercialworld to the profits which may be obtained by ministering to a demandwhich is arising among a humble class--in order to call the attentionof statesmen and philanthropists to a new element of peace, order, andcivilisation, more powerful than soldiers--to a golden chain ofdomestic feeling, which is bridging the seas between England andAustralia. Many parents, wives, children, and brothers and sisters, have received remittances for passages. '

More need hardly be said. As is generally known, ships are sailingalmost weekly with emigrants of the class for whom Mrs Chisholm has sowarmly interested herself; and we are glad to know from goodauthority, that already large sums of the lent money have been repaid, proving that the trust put in the honesty of the emigrants has notbeen misplaced. A great scheme, auxiliary to ordinary emigration, istherefore at work, and its usefulness is acknowledged, not only by thepress and the public at large, but by parties ordinarily less alive toprojects of social melioration--ministers of the crown. Every one maywell concur in paying honour to Caroline Chisholm!

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Memoirs Of Mrs Caroline Chisholm. London: Webb, Millington, & Co. 1852. 

A GHOST OF A HEAD. 

Peter Leroux was a poor ploughman in the environs of Beaugeney. Afterpassing the day in leading across the fields the three horses whichwere generally yoked to his plough, he returned to the farm in theevening, supped without many words, with his fellow-labourers, lightedhis lantern, and then retired to bed in a species of shedcommunicating with the stables. His dreams were simple, and littlecoloured with the tints of imagination; his horses were for the mostpart their principal subject. On one occasion, he started from hisslumbers in the midst of his fancied efforts to lift up the obstinatemare, which had taken it into her head to be weak in the legs; anothertime, the 'old gray' had entangled his hoof in the cords of the team. One night, he dreamed that he had just put an entirely new thong tohis old whip, but that, notwithstanding, it obstinately refused tocrack. This remarkable vision impressed him so deeply, that, onawaking, he seized the whip, which he was accustomed to place everynight by his side; and in order thoroughly to assure himself that hewas not stricken powerless, and deprived of the most gratifyingprerogative of the ploughman, he took to smacking it violently in thedead of the night. At this noise, all the stable was in commotion; thehorses, alarmed, neighed, and ran one against the other, almostbreaking their cords; but, with some soothing words, Peter Lerouxmanaged to appease all this tumult, and silence was immediatelyrestored. This was one of those extraordinary events of his life whichhe never failed to relate every time that a cup of wine had made himeloquent, and he found a companion in the mood to listen to him. 

About the same period, dreams of quite a different kind occupied themind of a certain M. Desalleaux, deputy of the public prosecutor inthe criminal court of Orleans. Having made a promising _début_ in thatoffice only a few months previously, there was no longer any positionin the magistracy which he believed too high for his futureattainment; and the post of keeper of the seals was one of the mostfrequent visions of his slumbers. But it was particularly in theintoxicating triumphs of oratory that his thoughts would revel insleep, when the whole day had been given to the study of some case inwhich he was to plead. The glory of the Aguesseaux, and the othercelebrated names of the great days of parliamentary eloquence, scarcely sufficed for his impatient ambition; it was in the mostdistant periods of the past--the times of the marvellous eloquence ofDemosthenes--that he delighted to contemplate the likeness of his ownideal future. The attainment of power by eloquence; such was the idea, the text, so to speak, of his whole life--the one object for which herenounced all the ordinary hopes and pleasures of youth. 

One day, these two natures--that of Peter Leroux, lifted scarcely onedegree above the range of the brute, and that of M. Desalleux, abstract and rectified to the highest pitch of intellectuality--foundthemselves face to face. A little contest was going on between them. M. Desalleux, sitting in his official place, demanded, upon evidencesomewhat insufficient, the head of Peter Leroux, accused of murder;and Peter Leroux defended his head against the eloquence of M. Desalleux. 

Notwithstanding the remarkable disproportion of power which Providencehad placed in this duel, the accused, for lack of conclusive proofs, would in all probability have escaped from the hands of theexecutioner; but from that very scantiness in the evidence arose anextraordinary opportunity for eloquence, which could not fail to besingularly useful to the ambitious hopes of M. Desalleux. In justiceto himself, he could not neglect to take advantage of it. 

In the next place, an unlucky circumstance presented itself for poorPeter Leroux. Some days before the commencement of the trial, and inthe presence of several ladies, who promised themselves the pleasureof being there to enjoy the spectacle, the young deputy had let fallan expression of his firm confidence in obtaining from the jury averdict of condemnation. Every one will understand the painfulposition in which he would be placed if his prosecution failed, andPeter Leroux came back with his head upon his shoulders, to testify tothe weakness of M. Desalleux's eloquence. Let us not be too severeupon the deputy of the public prosecutor: if he was not absolutelyconvinced, it was his duty to appear so, and only the more meritoriousto utter such eloquent denunciations as for a century past had notbeen heard at the bar of the criminal court of Orleans. Oh, if youhad been there to see how they were moved, those poor gentlemen of thejury!--moved almost to tears, when, in a fine and most sonorousperoration, he set before them the fearful picture of society shakento its foundations--the whole community about to enter upondissolution, immediately upon the acquittal of Peter Leroux! If youhad only heard the courteous eulogiums exchanged on both sides, whenthe advocate of the accused, commencing his address, declared that hecould not go further without rendering homage to the brilliant powersof oratory displayed by the deputy public prosecutor! If you had onlyheard the president of the court, making the same felicitations thetext of his exordium, so well, that nothing would have persuaded youthat it was not an academical fête, and that they were not simplyawarding a prize for eloquence, instead of a sentence of death to afellow-creature. You would have seen, in the midst of a crowd of'elegantly-attired members of the fair sex, ' as the newspapers of theprovince said, the sister of M. Desalleux, receiving the complimentsof all the ladies around her; while, at a little distance, the oldfather was weeping with joy at the sight of the noble son andincomparable orator whom he had given to the world. 

Six weeks after this scene of family happiness, Peter Leroux, accompanied by the executioner, mounted the condemned cart, whichwaited for him at the door of the jail of Orleans. They proceededtogether to the Place du Martroie, which is the spot where executionstake place. Here they found a scaffold erected, and a considerableconcourse of persons expecting them. Peter Leroux, with the slow andheavy ascent of a sack of flour going up by means of a pulley to thetop of a warehouse, mounts the steps of the scaffold. As he reachedthe platform, a ray of sunlight, playing upon the brilliant andpolished steel of the instrument of justice, dazzled his eyes, and heseemed about to stumble; but the executioner, with the courteousattention of a host who knows how to do the honours of his house, sustained him by the arm, and placed him upon the plank of theguillotine. There Peter Leroux found the clerk of the court, who hadcome for the purpose of reading formally the order for execution; thegendarmes, who were charged to see that the public peace was keptduring the business about to be transacted; and the assistants of theexecutioner, who, notwithstanding the ill name which has been given tothem, pointed out to him, with a complaisance full of delicateconsideration, the precise position in which to place himself underthe axe. One minute after, Peter Leroux's head was divorced from hisbody, which operation was accomplished with such dexterity, that manyof those present at the spectacle asked of their neighbours if it wasalready finished; and were told that it was; upon which they remarked, that it was the last time they would put themselves so much out of theway for so little. 

Three months had passed since the head and body of Peter Leroux hadbeen cast into a corner of the cemetery, and, in all probability, thegrave no longer concealed aught but his bones, when a new session ofassizes was opened, and M. Desalleux had again to support a capitalindictment. 

The day previous, he quitted at an early hour a ball to which he hadbeen invited with all his family, at a château in the environs, andreturned alone to the city, in order to prepare his case for themorrow. 

The night was dark; a warm wind from the south whistled drearily, while the buzz of the gay scene that he had left seemed to linger inhis ears. A feeling of melancholy stole over him. The memory of manypeople whom he had known, and who were dead, returned to his mind;and, scarcely knowing why, he began to think of Peter Leroux. 

Nevertheless, as he drew near the city, and the first lights of thesuburbs began to appear, all his sombre ideas vanished, and as soon ashe found himself again at his desk, surrounded by his books andpapers, he thought no longer of anything but his oration, which he haddetermined should be even yet more brilliant than any that hadpreceded it. 

His system of indictment was already nearly settled. It issingular, by the way, that French legal expression, a 'system ofindictment'--that is to say, an absolute manner of grouping an_ensemble_ of facts and proofs, in virtue of which the prosecutorappropriates to himself the head of a man--as one would say, 'a systemof philosophy'--that is, an _ensemble_ of reasonings and sophisms, bythe aid of which we establish some harmless truth, theory, or fancy. His system of indictment was nearly completed, when the deposition ofa witness which he had not examined, suddenly presented itself, withsuch an aspect as threatened to overturn all the edifice of his logic. He hesitated for some moments; but, as we have already seen, M. Desalleux, in his functions of deputy-prosecutor, consulted his vanityat least as often as his conscience. Invoking all his powers of logicand skill for turning words to his purpose, struggling muscle tomuscle with the unlucky testimony, he did not despair of finallyenlisting it in the number of his best arguments, as containing themost conclusive evidence against the prisoner; but, unfortunately, thetrouble was considerable, and the night was already far advanced. 

The clock had just struck three, and the lamp upon his table, burningwith a crust upon the wick, gave only a feeble light in the chamber. Having trimmed it, and feeling somewhat excited with his labours, herose and walked to and fro, then returned and sat in his chair, fromwhich, leaning back in an easy attitude, and suspending hisreflections for awhile, he contemplated the stars which were shiningthrough a window opposite. Suddenly lowering his gaze, he encounteredwhat seemed to him two eyes staring in at him through thewindow-panes. Imagining that the reflection of the lamp, doubled bysome flaw in the glass, had deceived him, he changed his place; butthe vision only appeared more distinct. As he was not wanting incourage, he took a walking-stick, the only weapon within reach, andopened the window, to see who was the intruder who came thus toobserve him at such an hour. The chamber which he occupied was high;above and below, the wall of his house was perfectly perpendicular, and afforded no means by which any one could climb or descend. In thenarrow space between himself and the balcony, the smallest objectcould not have escaped him; but he saw nothing. He thought again thathe must have been the dupe of one of those hallucinations thatsometimes visit men in the night; and, with a smile, he appliedhimself again to his labours. But he had not written twenty lines, when he felt, before looking up, that there was something moving in acorner of the chamber. This began to alarm him, for it was not naturalthat the senses, one after the other, should conspire to deceive him. Raising his eyes, and shading them with his hand from the glare of thelamp beside him, he observed a dusky object advancing towards him withshort hops like those of a raven. As the apparition approached him, its aspect became more terrifying; for it took the unmistakable formof a human head separated from the trunk and dripping with blood; andwhen at length, with a spring, it bounded upon the table, and rolledabout over the papers scattered on his desk, M. Desalleux recognisedthe features of Peter Leroux, who no doubt had come to remind him thata good conscience is of greater value than eloquence. Overcome by asensation of terror, M. Desalleux fainted. That morning, at daybreak, he was found stretched out insensible on the floor near a little poolof blood, which was also found in spots upon his desk, and on theleaves of his pleadings. It was supposed, and he took care never tocontradict it, that he had been seized with a hemorrhage. It isscarcely necessary to add, that he was not in a state to speak at thetrial, and that all his oratorical preparations were thrown away. 

Many days passed before the recollection of that terrible night fadedfrom the memory of the deputy-prosecutor--many days before he couldbear to be alone or in the dark without terror. After some months, however, the head of Peter Leroux not having repeated its visit, thepride of intellect began again to counterbalance the testimony of thesenses, and again he asked himself, if he had not been duped by them. In order more surely to weaken their authority, which all hisreasonings had not been able entirely to overcome, he called to hisaid the opinion of his physician, communicating to him in confidencethe story of his adventure. The doctor, who, by dint of long examiningthe human brain, without discovering the slightest trace of anythingresembling a soul, had come to a learned conviction of materialism, did not fail to laugh heartily on listening to the recital of thenocturnal vision. This was perhaps the best manner of treating hispatient; for by having the appearance of holding his fancy inderision, he forced, as it were, his self-esteem to take a part in thecure. Moreover, as may be imagined, he did not hesitate to explain tohis patient, that his hallucination proceeded from an over-tension ofthe cerebral fibre, followed by congestion and evacuation of blood, which had been the causes of his seeing precisely what he had notseen. Powerfully reassured by this consultation, and as no accidenthappened to contradict its correctness, M. Desalleux by degreesregained his serenity of mind, and gradually returned to his formerhabits--modifying them simply insomuch that he laboured with anapplication somewhat less severe, and indulged, at the doctor'ssuggestion, in some of those amusements of life which he had hithertototally neglected. 

M. Desalleux thought of a wife, and no man was more in a position thanhe to secure a good match; for, without speaking of personaladvantages, the fame of his oratorical successes, and perhaps, morestill, the little anxiety which he displayed for any other kind ofsuccess, had rendered him the object of more than one lady's ambition. But there was in the bent of his life something too positive for himto consent that even the love of a woman should find a place thereunconditionally. Among the hearts which seemed ready to bestowthemselves upon him, he calculated which was the particular one whosegood-will was best supported by money, useful relations, and othersocial advantages. The first part of his romance being thus settled, he saw without regret that the bride who would bring him all these, was a young girl, witty, and of elegant exterior; whereupon he setabout falling in love with her with all the passion of which he wascapable, and with the approbation of her family, until at length amarriage was determined upon. 

Orleans had not, for a long time, seen a prettier bride than that ofM. Desalleux; nor a family more happy than that of M. Desalleux; nor awedding-ball so joyous and brilliant as that of M. Desalleux. Thatnight he thought no more of his ambition; he lived only in thepresent. According to French custom, the guests remained until a latehour. Imprisoned in a corner of the saloon by a barrister, who hadtaken that opportune moment to recommend a case to him, the bridegroomlooked, from time to time, at the timepiece, which pointed to aquarter to two. He had also remarked, that twice within a short timethe mother of the bride had approached her, and whispered in her ear, and that the latter had replied with an air of confusion. Suddenly, atthe conclusion of a contra-dance, he perceived, by a certainwhispering that ran through the assembly, that something important wasgoing on. Casting his eyes, while the barrister continued to talk tohim, upon the seats which his wife and her ladies of honour hadoccupied during the whole evening, he perceived that they were empty;whereupon the grave deputy-prosecutor cutting short, as most men wouldhave done under the circumstances, the argument of the barrister, advanced by a clever series of manoeuvres towards the door of theapartment; and at the moment when some domestics entered bearingrefreshments, glided out, in the fond and mistaken belief that no onehad remarked him. 

At the door of the nuptial chamber he met his mother-in-law, who wasretiring with the various dignitaries, whose presence had beenconsidered necessary, as well as some matrons who had joined the_cortège_. Pressing his hand, and with a faltering voice, the motherwhispered to him a few words, and it was understood that she spoke ofher daughter. M. Desalleux, smiling, replied with some affectionatephrases. Most assuredly in that moment he was not thinking of poorPeter Leroux. 

At the moment of closing the door of the chamber, the bride wasalready abed. He remarked, what appeared to him strange, that thecurtains of her bed were drawn. The room was quite silent. 

The stillness, and the strange fact of the close-drawn curtainsembarrassed him. His heart beat violently. He looked around, andremarked her dress and all her wedding-ornaments lying around him, with a graceful air of negligence, in various parts of the room. Witha faltering voice he called upon his bride by name. Having no reply, he returned, perhaps to gain time, towards the door, assured himselfthat it was well fastened, then approaching the bed, he opened thecurtains gently. 

By the flickering light of the lamp suspended from the ceiling, asingular vision presented itself to his eyes. Near his _fiancée_, whowas fast asleep, the head of a man with black hair was lying on thewhite pillow. Was he again the victim of an error of the senses, orhad some usurper dared to occupy his place? At all events, hissubstitute took little notice of him; for, as well as his wife, he wassound asleep, with his face turned towards the bottom of the alcove. In the moment when M. Desalleux leaned over the bed, to examine thefeatures of this singular intruder, a long sigh, like that of a manawaking from slumber, broke the silence of the chamber; and at thesame time the head of the stranger turning towards him, he recognisedthe face of Peter Leroux staring at him, with that very look ofstupified astonishment with which for two hours the unlucky ploughmanhad listened to his brilliant discourse in the criminal court ofOrleans. 

Perhaps, on any other occasion, the deputy-prosecutor, on findinghimself a second time visited by this horrible vision, would havesuspected that he had been guilty of some wicked action, for which hewas doomed to this persecution: his conscience, if he had taken thetrouble to cross-examine it, would have very soon told him what washis crime, in which case, being a good Catholic, he would perhaps havegone out and locked the door of the haunted room until morning, whenhe would have immediately ordered a mass for the repose of the soul ofPeter Leroux; by means of this, and of some contributions to the fundfor poor prisoners of justice, he might, perhaps, have regained histranquillity of mind, and escaped for ever from the annoyance to whichhe had been subjected. At such a time, however, he felt moreirritation than remorse; and he accordingly endeavoured to seize theintruder by the hair, and drag him from his resting-place. At thefirst movement that he made, however, the head, understanding hisintentions, began to grind its teeth, and as he stretched out hishand, the bridegroom felt himself severely bitten. The pain of hiswound increased his rage. He looked around for some weapon, went tothe fireplace and seized a bar of steel which served to support thefire-irons, then returned, and striking several times upon the bedwith all his force, endeavoured to destroy his hideous visitor. Butthe head, ducking and bobbing like the white gentleman with blackspots, whom Punch has never been able to touch, dexterously slippedaside at every blow, which descended harmlessly upon the bed-clothes. For several minutes the furious bridegroom continued to waste hisstrength in this manner, when, springing with an extraordinary bound, the head passed over the shoulder of its adversary, and disappearedbehind him before he could observe by what way it had escaped. 

After a careful search, and considerable raking in corners with thebar of steel, finding himself at length master of the field of battle, the deputy-prosecutor returned to the bed. The bride was stillmiraculously asleep; and, to his horror, he perceived, on lifting thecoverlet, that she was lying in a pool of blood, left no doubt by thebleeding head. Misfortunes never come alone: while seeking for a clothabout the chamber, he struck the lamp with his forehead, andextinguished it. 

Meanwhile the night was advancing; already the window of the chamberbegan to glimmer with the coming day. Furious with the obstacles whichheaven and earth seemed to set in his way, the deputy-prosecutordetermined to solve the mystery. Approaching the bed again, he calledupon his bride by the tenderest names, and endeavoured to awake her, yet she continued to sleep. Taking her in his arms, he embraced herpassionately; but she slept on, and appeared insensible to all hiscaresses. What could this mean? Was it the feint of a bashful girl, orwas he himself dreaming? It was growing lighter; and in the hope ofdispelling the odious enchantments with which he was surrounded, M. Desalleux went to the window, and drew aside the blinds and curtainsto let in the new day. Then the unhappy lawyer perceived for the firsttime why the blood refused to be dried up. Blinded by his anger in hiscombat with the head of Peter Leroux, and while he had supposedhimself to be chastising his disturber, he had, in fact, been strikingthe head of his unfortunate bride. The blows had been dealt so quicklyand with such violence, that she had died without a sigh, or, perhaps, without her assailant's hearing one, in the fury of the struggle. 

We leave to psychologists to explain this phenomenon; but on seeingthat he had killed his bride, he was seized with a violent fit oflaughter, which attracted the attention of his mother-in-law, whoknocked gently at the door, and desired to know the cause of thedisturbance. On hearing the voice of the mother of his wife, histerrible gaiety increased. Running to open the door, he seized her bythe arm, and drawing her to the side of the bed, pulled back thecurtains, and revealed to her the terrible spectacle; after which hislaughter grew still more furious, until at length he sank exhausted onthe floor. 

Alarmed at the shrieks of the mother, all the inmates of the housebecame witnesses of the scene, the report of which spread rapidlythrough the city. The same morning, upon a warrant from theprocureur-general, M. Desalleux was conducted to the criminal prisonof Orleans; and it has since been remarked, as a singular coincidence, that his cell was the same that had been occupied by Peter Leroux upto the day of his execution. 

The end of the deputy-prosecutor, however, was a little less tragic. Declared by the unanimous testimony of the physicians to be insane, the man who had dreamed of moving the world with his eloquence, wasconducted to the hospital for lunatics, and for more than six monthskept chained in a dark cell, as in the good old times. At the end ofthis time, however, as he appeared to be no longer dangerous, hischains were removed, and he was subjected to milder treatment. 

As soon as he recovered his liberty, a strange delusion tookpossession of him, which did not leave him until he died. He fanciedhimself a tight-rope dancer, and from morning to night danced with thegestures and movements of a man who holds a balancing-rod, and walksupon a cord. 

If any one visiting the city of Orleans would take the trouble toinquire of M. Troisétoiles, landlord of the Hôtel Aux Clés de laVille, in the Place du Marché, he would obtain a confirmation of thetruth of this history, together with many other facts andcircumstances, collateral and ramificatory, concerning the bride andbridegroom, their relations and friends, which we have not thoughtnecessary to state. With regard, however, to the tragic event which wehave last described, M. Troisétoiles will simply relate what is knownto the world on the subject--namely, that the deputy-prosecutor, beinginjured in mind by overstudy and application to business, knocked outhis wife's brains on her wedding-night. We, however, although wedecline to mention our sources of information, have been enabled togive the private and secret history of the tragedy, for the truth ofwhich we are equally able to vouch. 

A bookseller in Orleans, sometime afterwards, conceived the idea ofcollecting and publishing a volume of the speeches which he hadpronounced during his short but brilliant oratorical career. Threeeditions were exhausted successively, and not long since a fourth wasannounced. 

DIAMOND-CUTTING. 

The Koh-i-noor, the great diamond that, thanks to the still greaterExhibition, so many have seen, and so many more have heard of, is nowin the hands of skilful diamond-cutters, that, unlike the sablebeauties of Abyssinia, its charms may be augmented by a judiciousreduction in magnitude and gravity. Cut at first with the view ofpreserving intact as much of the stone as possible, it never possessedthe sparkling lustre derived from the scientific disposition of theseveral sides and angles, technically termed facets, of awell-polished diamond. It is now intended to be fashioned into abrilliant; that is, to have the form of two flattened pyramids joinedat the base, the upper pyramid much flatter than the lower one. InEngland, the art of diamond-cutting has ceased to exist, but inHolland it still maintains its ancient pre-eminence; and from thencethe cutters of the Koh-i-noor have been brought to perform anoperation, which, taking into consideration the size of the stone, hadnever previously been accomplished in this country. 

It is not known, with any degree of certainty, whether the ancientinhabitants of the East had any knowledge of the art ofdiamond-cutting; but it is at the same time very clear, that thenations of the West knew nothing of it till a very late period. Evento the latter part of the fifteenth century, the diamond wasappreciated principally for its supposed talismanic properties and itshardness; and as that hardness prevented its hidden beauties frombeing brought to light by cutting and polishing, it was regarded moreas a rare cabalistic curiosity than a precious ornament. Somediamonds, however, whose natural form and polish were more favourableto the development of their clouded brilliancy, foretold the splendourthey would display were it possible to cut and polish them as othergems. Numerous attempts were made to attain this desired end, but allin vain, until, about 1460, Louis de Berghen, a young jeweller ofBruges, succeeded in cutting the first diamond. 

The invention of the art of diamond-cutting has, like many others, whether mythically or not, been mixed up with a love-story. Berghen, it is said, was a poor working-jeweller, who had the audacity to fallin love with his wealthy master's daughter. The young lady wasfavourable to his suit; but on proposing to her father, the old manreproached him for poverty, and sneeringly said, in allusion to thesupposed utter impossibility of the feat: 'When you can cut a diamond, you may marry my daughter, but not before. ' These discouraging wordsinduced a train of reflection in the mind of the young man. Heconsidered how other hard substances were cut; iron, he mentallycogitated, is cut by steel. 'What is steel, ' he exclaimed, a lightbreaking upon him, 'but iron?--the diamond, then, may be cut by adiamond. ' Laying out all his available means in the purchase of twosmall diamonds, he contrived, by cementing them to two pieces of wood, to rub them against each other till they were reduced to dust. Withthis dust, and a machine which he invented, he cut two facets onanother diamond, which he triumphantly exhibited to the old jeweller. But a diamond had never previously been cut: men, wise in theirgeneration, had said that a diamond never could be cut; andconsequently, according to the general mode of treating inventors inthose days, a charge of sorcery was brought against the firstdiamond-cutter. Berghen, thrown into prison, had abundant leisure fordeliberation. Two courses were open to him: one was to keep hissecret, and be burned as a sorcerer; the other, to clear himself ofthat charge by shewing how he cut the diamond by natural means, andthus lose the exclusive benefit of his invention, to which heconsidered he was so justly entitled. He adopted neither. Fortunately, Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, the ruler of Flanders, came tohold his court in the city of Bruges, and was soon informed of thediabolical art of the young jeweller. Charles was passionately fond ofjewels, and possessed a very large diamond. Like the Spaniard, who, ifthe miracle were performed, did not care if Mohammed himself did it, the Bold duke sent for Berghen, and commanded him to cut and polishthe large diamond, as he best could, either by aid of the Prince ofDarkness, or his own unassisted efforts. In due time the work wascompleted; and Charles was so delighted with the brilliant beauty ofthe previously dull stone, that he remunerated the young jeweller withthree thousand ducats. We need not inform the reader how Berghen soonmarried his lady-love; but we may state that, retaining the secret ofdiamond-cutting in his own family, he and his descendants acquiredimmense wealth. After the death of his patron Charles, he removed toParis, where, for two centuries afterwards, the Berquins, as the namewas Gallicised, were the most famous jewellers of their time. 

The after-history of that large diamond, the first ever cut in Europeat least, is perhaps worthy of narration. Charles constantly carriedit with him on his own person, till at last a soldier found it besidethe duke's dead body, on the fatal battle-field of Nancy. Unconsciousof its value, the finder sold it for a crown to a priest; the priest, equally ignorant, sold it for three ducats to a pedler; the pedlersold it for a large sum to the Duke of Florence. From that prince itpassed into the hands of Antonio king of Portugal, who, when a refugeein France, sold it for 70, 000 francs to Nicholas de Harlay, Lord ofSancy; thus it has since been known, in the history of preciousstones, as the Sancy Diamond. Sancy was a faithful adherent to HenryIV. Of France, and, during the civil war, was sent by that monarch tosolicit the assistance of the Swiss. Finding that nothing could bedone without money, he sent a trusty servant to Paris for the diamond, enjoining him never to part with it in life to any one but himself. The servant arrived in Paris, and received the diamond, but neverreturned to his master. After waiting a considerable time, Sancy, feeling confident that the man had been robbed and murdered by one ofthe many hordes of robbers that then infested France, set out toendeavour to gain some traces of him. After many adventures, hediscovered that a person answering the description of the servant hadbeen found, robbed and murdered, in the Forest of Dole, and had beenburied by the peasantry. Sancy immediately had the body disinterred, and found the diamond--the faithful fellow having, in obedience to hismaster's injunction, swallowed it. Sancy pawned the diamond with theJews of Metz, and with the money raised troops for the service of hisroyal master. 'Put not your faith in princes, ' is an adage as sound asit is ancient. Henry, seated on the throne that Sancy's exertionssaved, took occasion of a petty court intrigue to ruin and disgracehis too faithful partisan. The pledged diamond never was redeemed; itremained in the hands of the Israelite money-lenders, till Louis XIV. Purchased it for 600, 000 francs. It then became one of thecrown-jewels of France; but its vicissitudes were not over. In 1791, when the National Assembly appointed a commission of jewellers toexamine the crown-jewels, the Sancy Diamond was valued at 1, 000, 000livres. At the restoration of Louis XVIII. , it was nowhere to befound, and nothing positive has been heard of it since. But as sowell-known and large a diamond could not readily be secretly disposedof without attracting attention in some quarter, it is shrewdlysuspected that a jewel sold in 1830, by the Prince of Peace, for500, 000 francs, to one of the wealthiest of the Russian nobility, wasthe missing Sancy Diamond. 

The operation of diamond-cutting is exceedingly simple, and is withoutdoubt performed by the cutters of the Koh-i-noor at the present timein almost precisely the same manner as invented by Berghen. The stoneis held in the proper position by being embedded, all but the salientangle to be cut or polished, in a solder of tin and lead. It is thenapplied to a rapidly-revolving horizontal iron wheel, constantlysupplied with diamond-dust, and moistened with olive-oil. The anxiouscare and caution required in this operation render it a very tediousone: the cutting of the Koh-i-noor will last many months, and beattended with an immense expense. A still more tedious operation, however, is sometimes performed by diamond-cutters, when it is foundnecessary to cut a stone into two parts; it is termed sawing, and isthus managed:--The stone to be sawn is scratched across in the desireddirection by a very keen splinter of diamond, technically termed a_sharp_. An exceedingly fine iron wire, with a small portion ofsweet-oil and diamond-dust, is then laid upon this guiding scratch;and the workman draws the wire backwards and forwards, as we may seeblocks of stone sawn on a larger scale in the yard of the statuary. Still greater care and attention are required in this operation thanin diamond-cutting: seven months have been occupied in sawing agood-sized stone. Sometimes the diamond is cut by two being cementedeach upon a separate handle, and rubbed together over a box, whichcatches the precious dust as it falls; but the stones thus cut aredisfigured by scratches, and must subsequently be polished upon thewheel. 

For many years India supplied the rest of the world with diamonds; andit was long supposed that they were not to be found in any other partof the globe. The Portuguese settlers in Brazil, seeking for gold, found a number of small stones resembling pebbles, which, from theirsingularity, they kept as curiosities, using them as counters at theircard-tables. An officer, who had been removed from the Portuguesesettlements in India to serve in Brazil, suspected that these stoneswere diamonds, and sent a few to Portugal. The jewellers of Lisbon, having never seen a diamond in its unpolished state, laughed at theidea of such rude pebbles being of any value, and so the inquiry wasfor some time dropped. But the Dutch consul at Lisbon managed toprocure one of the stones, and sent it to Holland, then almost theonly country in Europe where diamond-cutting was pursued as a regularbusiness. The stone, in due time, was returned to the consul in theform of a sparkling brilliant; and the Brazilian diamond-tradeimmediately commenced. The European dealers in diamonds, and manyretired officers of the English and Dutch East India Companies, who, as was customary then, had, on their return to Europe, invested alarge part of their wealth in those precious stones, fearing that agreat reduction in price would follow, were alarmed when the Braziliandiamonds first came into the market. These interested partiespublished pamphlets, warning the public against purchasing theso-called Brazilian diamonds, stating that no diamonds were found inthe Brazils, but that the inferior class of stones was purchased inIndia, sent to Brazil, and from thence imported as Brazilian diamonds. In consequence of these false statements being repeated by persons ofrank and station, a strong prejudice existed against the Braziliandiamond, although it is now well known to be equal in every respect toits Indian brother. The Dutch, who then farmed the Braziliandiamond-mines from the crown of Portugal, met this trick of trade byanother. They dug their diamonds in Brazil, brought them to Holland, and cut them, then sent them to India, from whence they returned toEurope as true Oriental jewels. We may add, that the anticipations ofthe dealers were not verified in defiance of the great influx fromBrazil, and, later still, the discovery of the diamond in the UralMountains: the price of that stone is at present as high as ever itwas. 

ASCENT TO THE BRÊCHE-DE-ROLAND. 

I do not think I shall be accused of exaggeration when I say, that theascent to the Brêche-de-Roland is to the Pyrenean range what thepassage of the Col de Géant is to the Alps. They are both toughundertakings, requiring sound legs and lungs, with a happy andpowerful combination of patience, fortitude, and energy. 

The difficulty of ascending to the Brêche-de-Roland does not consistso much in its height--though this is 9537 feet--as in the nature ofthe ground to be surmounted; and after I had accomplished the feat, Ino longer wondered that several persons had given in, and retracedtheir steps without attaining the Brêche. Before detailing my ascentto this wonderful place, it may be proper to state what it is like. Onthe flanks of the formidable and gigantic Mont Perdu rises MontMarboré, from the summit of which stretches to the west a wall of rockfrom 400 to 600 feet high, in most places absolutely vertical. Thishuge natural wall forms the crest of the Pyrenees, and divides Francefrom Spain at this part of the chain. In the middle of the naturalbarrier is a gap, which, when viewed from the French valley of theGave de Gavernie, appears like a notch made in a jaw by the loss of asingle tooth, but which is in reality a magnificent and colossalportal, 134 feet wide and 330 feet high. 

Of course, legendary lore is not at fault to account in its ownpoetical manner for this natural phenomenon. According to that oracle, the Brêche owes its origin to Roland, the brave Paladin, who, mountedon his war-horse, in his hot pursuit of the Moors, clove with one blowof his trusty sword Durandal a passage through this mighty wall; andit must be admitted that the sides of the gap are so smooth, that itrequires no great stretch of the imagination to suppose that they werefashioned in some such artistical manner. Independently of the Brêcheitself, which alone is highly deserving of a visit, the surroundingscenery is of the most imposing and magnificent character, and thewhole, therefore, most justly ranks as one of the chief lions of thePyrenees. 

The most usual, and by far the most advantageous starting-place, isthe village of Gavarnie, near the Cirque of that name. In myignorance, however, of the toilsome nature of the excursion, I startedfrom Luz, eighteen miles from Gavarnie, where I was sojourning. Reader, were you ever at Luz? Sweet Luz! with its babbling crystalbrook, in which tribes of pigs undergo sanitary ablutions; and itsinn, famous for good cookery and active fleas. If you have been there, you will not have forgotten Madame Cazean--a model of a hostess. Toher I made my wishes known respecting the ascent to the Brêche, andbegged that she would find me a guide. 

In Switzerland, at such a place as Luz, surrounded by numerousexcursion points of great interest, guides would be abundant; here, however, there are only a few, and these are obliged to pursue thecallings of agriculture and hunting to eke out a subsistence. So, whenI demanded a guide, Madame Cazean said she would send to the fieldsfor Jaques St Laur, who was the best guide to the Brêche. And indeedif strength of limb and a huge sinewy frame were the chiefqualifications for the affair, Jaques, I apprehend, would have stoodunrivalled, for I never saw a more sturdy or Titanic mountaineer. 

The arrangements were soon made. We were to start at four o'clock inthe morning--not a moment later: true to his promise, my burly guideappeared before the hotel door at that hour with two ponies, and in afew minutes we were _en route_. The morning broke gloriously. Peak bypeak, the snow-crested first, and successively those beneath, becametinted by the rising sun, while the valleys gave evidence ofapproaching day by casting off their misty mantles. It makes the oldyoung again, and the young to feel the blood dance yet more brisklythrough their veins, to breathe such air as wraps the Pyrenees in itsbalmy folds. The beauties of the valley, or rather gorge, begin atonce. Woods, alternating with precipitous rocks, mountain peaks ofgreat altitude and most picturesque forms, tower aloft; while below, the eye rests upon the _gave_, now deliciously green and peaceful, andnow worming its way with agonised fury through the gorge. Manycascades of rare beauty streamed down from the summit of theprecipices, and we were continually crossing high and narrow bridgessuspended over deep gulfs. The box luxuriates in this defile, springing in tree-like proportions from every ledge. 

Before reaching Gèdres, which is about half-way to Gavarnie, a fine, though tantalising view of the Brêche is obtained. I gazed at theobject of my expedition with anxious eyes, wondering how I was to getto its cloud land amidst the eternal snow-crowned Tours de Marboré;and I longed for the wings of one of the many eagles which sailedmajestically overhead, to transport myself thither at once. 

At Gèdres the view of the Marboré is lost; but there is an almostoverabundance of grand scenery in the mountains that tower to theright and left, and the gorges are filled with foaming cascades andflowers of wondrous beauty. Close to the cascades--so close, that theyseem on the point of being swept away--are mills, not much larger thangoodly-sized boxes, one above the other, like rows of black beadsstrung upon the white torrent. These mills are primitive in theirconstruction, closely resembling the old hand-mill; but they grind thecorn, and what more could the best mill in Europe do?

Beyond Gèdres, a singularly grand and savage scene presents itself, called the Peyrada or Chaos. It is an _éboulement_, or slip of massesof gneiss which have fallen from great heights; and the ruins are soextensive, that it seems as if an entire mountain had been shiveredto fragments. The path winds in zig-zags through a labyrinth ofblocks, among which horse and rider appear like pigmies. The mountainsincrease in majesty as Gavarnie is approached--the Vignemale with itsglaciers to the west; and the Pimène to the east, ranging among thehighest. Gavarnie is a poor village, boasting one inn, in humblekeeping with the place; poor, however, as it was, I was glad to drawbridle before the door, for we had ridden fast and furious, as myblood-stained spurs evidenced. I was about to dismount and recruitmyself with a flask of the best wine, when Jaques peremptorily forbadesuch a proceeding. There was no time to be lost; a stirrup-cup and on. He, however, dismounted, and went into the house for ice-staffs and_crampons_, which were kept at the inn. Provided with these, andpartially refreshed by a glass of very good wine, we hastened on ourway. The morning continued most favourable; not a cloud obscured theoutline of the mountains, and the snow-crested Marboré towered aloft, strongly pencilled against the deep-blue sky. Wonderful animals arethe Pyrenean ponies. Small in stature, and with diminutive limbs, onthey go, over ways rough enough to puzzle a goat, rarely pausing topick their steps, and as rarely stumbling. The path, about half-waybetween Gavarnie and the Cirque, is carried over the torrent by twoterribly narrow planks, without any manner of railing. Over this frailbridge, not three feet wide, my guide, much to my astonishment, rodehis pony; and as my _monture_ evinced no asinine disinclination tofollow, but, on the contrary, evidently regarded the proceeding asnothing extraordinary, I slackened my bridle, pressed my knees alittle closer to the saddle, and committed myself to my fate. Thetorrent rushed at a fearfully giddy rate some twenty feet beneath, andthe roar of waters was terrific; but my steed was proof against thesethings, which would have tried the nerves of a pedestrian tourist, andpassed steadily over the narrow causeway as unswervingly as if it hadbeen the broadest highway in France. This was the last feat of ourhorses; for, after a brisk canter, we dismounted in the arena of theCirque, and turned the animals to graze, a girl who had accompanied usfrom Gavarnie engaging to look after them. We had ridden eighteenmiles, and I doubt whether the distance was ever accomplished in lesstime. 

To render the first impression of the Cirque or _oule_ moreimpressive, a small projecting wall of rock marks the entry to thegigantic amphitheatre. This passed, the end of the world seems gained:a vast semicircle of rocks rises precipitously to the height ofbetween 1000 and 2000 feet. These gigantic walls are divided intothree or four steps or ledges, on each of which rests a glacier, fromwhich stream cascades. That to the left is 1266 feet high, and bearsthe reputation of being the highest waterfall in Europe. The summit ofthis wondrous amphitheatre is crowned by everlasting ice and snow, resting on the crests of the Cylindre, so called from its shape, and10, 500 feet high. The base of this fine mountain is embedded in a hugeglacier, which gives birth to the high fall. Fit companion to theCylindre rises the Tours de Marboré, forming a part of Mont Perdu. Nota scrap of vegetation breaks the ruggedness of the vast semicircle ofrocks. The floor of the Cirque is an irregular heap of rocks, with theexception of a large heap of snow at the base of the precipices, underwhich the waters of the cascades run, like the torrents beneath theSwiss glaciers. 

It was impossible to take in this sublime spectacle at once, sooverpowering were its features; and as we gazed tremblingly at thehuge Cirque, I felt as if on the eve of being crushed by its impendingwalls. 

Within a few yards of the most western cascade, the ascent to theBrêche is made. Without a guide, however, the precise spot would beexceedingly difficult to find; and from its forbidding nature, fewwould be bold enough to make the essay. It is literally a rock-ladder, and is the only locality in the wide sweep of the Cirque affording themeans of ascent. The rugged strata, which are here vertical, serve assteps in which one can insert the toes and fingers; but as theguidebook truly says: 'It is as abrupt as the ascent of a ladder; andwide spaces of smooth rock often intervene without any notch orprojection offering a foothold. To those who cannot look down a sheerprecipice many hundred feet deep without a tendency to giddiness, there is danger in this escalade, as well as in passing over somesmooth projecting shoulders of rocks. ' The climb is, in truth, mostarduous--'bien pénible, ' as my guide said. My _chaussure_ was sadlyagainst me--thin-soled boots, which doubled under me. Let no oneundertake this ascent without being strongly shod. 

As we ascended, new wonders were revealed--more precipices, cascades, and glaciers: it was literally alps on alps. The top of the greatwaterfall was still far above us; and it gave me a very good idea ofits altitude, when, after more than an hour's ascent, I found that wewere still beneath the level of the glacier from whence it issupplied. About two hours were occupied in ascending the first seriesof precipices, above which patches of snow are met with. Our coursenow lay through a kind of vertical gully nearly filled with snow. Upthis we scrambled, taking advantage of the hardness of the snow tomake it our path. Above us rose tremendous precipices, terminating injagged peaks, on which my guide with his practised eye discerned aherd of izzards. I saw them remarkably well through my telescope, balanced, like aërial creatures, on the giddy heights, one amongstthem evidently acting as sentinel. It was beautiful to witness theirwild attitudes, ready, at a moment's warning from their watchfulleader, to bound from crag to crag, or descend the awful precipices, where man's foot has never been. 

My guide, whose heart was evidently more in the hunting than in hispresent business, became half wild with excitement at the sight ofthese izzards. It was the largest herd he had seen that year, and, with many a _sacré_, he bemoaned his fate that he should be withouthis rifle; though I endeavoured to convince him that there was nothingto regret, as he could not at the same time hunt izzards and conductme to the Brêche. 

We now fairly lost sight of the Cirque, and were in the midst of snowand glaciers which covered a steep, inclined about forty-five degrees. The surmounting of this slope was a most fatiguing affair for me, asthe snow was very slippery, and it happened that I retrograded nearlyas often as I advanced. This part of the ascent occupied about anhour. My guide now turned to the left, for the purpose of crossing aglacier, the inclination of which is so great that it is the nextthing to impossible to ascend it. The passage over this glacier, beyond which lies the Brêche, is by far the most dangerous part of theundertaking. At the place where we encountered it, its breadth may beabout four hundred yards; but throughout, its inclination is such thatthe slightest false step would prove fatal, for beneath are precipicesof fearful depth. Here crampons are used. I was fairly exhausted whenI came to the edge of this glacier, and despite the protestations ofmy guide, who declared that there was no time to lose, I threw myselfon the snow, and would, had I been left alone, have been asleep in afew moments. 

It is customary for the few tourists who visit the Brêche to take twoguides, for the purpose of crossing this glacier in safety; and I hadcause to regret my ignorance of the practice, for although I trod mostcautiously in the notches cut by my guide, yet my limbs were so weak, that when about half-way across, I stumbled, and for a moment gavemyself up for lost. Happily, my guide was sufficiently near to graspmy extended arms, and shouting: 'Prenez garde! prenez garde! Courage!courage!' he sustained me until I recovered my balance. Then it wasthat I became fully aware of the mistake I had committed in makingthis excursion without previous training; and I admonished Jaques infuture, to give those who desired to scale the Brêche fair warning ofthe dangers and difficulties attendant upon the undertaking. 

My escape was not rendered the less interesting by a story which myguide related to me of an unfortunate traveller, who when his crampon, by some accident, caught his trousers, lost his balance, and therebeing no friendly hand to arrest him, in an instant sped down thesloping ice with the speed of an avalanche, and was almostinstantaneously lost for ever. 

It was here that Mr Paris, who was rash enough to attempt ascending tothe Brêche without a guide, was obliged to give up the task. 'Thesight of this glacier, ' he observes, 'was too appalling. I could notsummon sufficient resolution to attempt the passage, which was indistance about a quarter of a mile, and wisely, I think, abandoned it. To understand all its terrors, the place must be seen. Once slip, andyou are gone for ever, past all human aid: the death is too frightfulfor contemplation. '

Bracing my shattered nerves for the occasion, I resumed my labour, taking care, however, to hold my guide's hand; and thus moving slowlyand cautiously, I had at length the inexpressible satisfaction ofachieving the formidable passage of this terrible glacier. The rest ofthe journey was comparatively easy, though the elevation--above 9000feet--and the steepness were trying enough. But all sense of fatigueforsook me when the huge portal--the tiny notch as seen fromGèdres--yawned in all its stern magnificence before me. It was a fitreward for all my toil, and I felt that I would have willingly enduredeven greater sufferings to make acquaintance with such a scene as nowmet my astonished gaze. 

Eager to achieve the crowning feat of my undertaking, I hastenedonwards; and with beating heart I soon stood within the jaws of themighty portal, through which swept the howling wind. A step more, andI was in Spain. Glaciers slope away on each side of the wall; but allalong the front of the Brêche, on the French side, the glacier isscooped out into a deep fosse or cavity, by the action of the sun'srays pouring from the south through the opening. A wild world ofmountains appeared to the south, those in the foreground covered withsnow, and the more distant looming hazily over the plains ofSaragossa. And this was Spain!--wondrous land, defying description, and in memory resembling, not realities, but fragments of tremendousdreams. Towards France, the scene is softer. Mountains there are, sky-piled, but there are forests too, the home of wolves

 Cruel as death, and hungry as the grave! Burning for blood; bony, and gaunt, and grim;

and vales of emerald, and silver streams, and gleaming lakes. But howhope to convey anything like a faithful impression of the panoramaseen from the Brêche-de-Roland! I will not attempt it, preferringrather to advise the reader, should he not be stricken in years, tosee it himself. 

My guide produced the contents of his wallet, which, thanks to MadameCazean's provident forethought, were good and abundant; and havingplaced the wine-flasks in the ice--there was enough at hand to ice thegreat Heidelberg tun--I sat down on the ridge of the Brêche, one legin Spain, the other in France, and my body in amiable neutrality. Oh, the delight of that repast! there never was so tender a fowl, neverwine so good. While thus engaged in refreshing exhausted nature, Ieven forgot that the terrible glacier had to be recrossed, and thesteep snow-slopes to be descended. 

The day continued faithful to its early morning promise. A brightsun--unfelt, however, at this great elevation--poured down a flood oflight on the far-stretching glaciers and snow-fields, on which wediscerned izzards, which seemed, when in motion, like points moving inspace. These, and a few eagles, were the only living things that metour eye. Fain would I have spent hours here, but my guide was veryproperly obdurate; and having done great justice to our meal, weprepared to descend. Before leaving the Brêche, where we remained forabout an hour and a half, he conducted me to a small cave on theSpanish side between the Brêche and the glacier, where smugglers passthe night, waiting for the early morning hours to descend into France. Desperate work! and desperate must be the men engaged in it. Beingconsiderably recruited in strength, I found the passage of the glaciermuch less arduous than it was in ascending; and having passed it insafety, we flew down the snow inclines with delightful rapidity, infive minutes clearing ground which cost us an hour to surmount. Wereached Gavarnie at seven o'clock, and pausing for half an hour, rodeon to Luz, where we arrived as the night closed. 

OUR WILD-FRUITS. 

Why is it that the wild _flowers_ of England have attracted so muchattention of late years, whilst the wild _fruits_ have been passedover in silence, and allowed to bud and bloom, to ripen their fruit, and to perish, inglorious and unnoticed? It would be difficult to givea reply to this question; I will therefore not attempt it, but ratherinvite you, my friends, to assist me in removing this reproach fromthe wild-fruits of our land, and give me a little of your attentionwhilst we inquire what these are, and where they grow, and examine alittle into their structure and uses, as well as into theirclassification. In doing so, I think we shall find that, thoughEngland does not indigenously afford so many or such rich fruits asthose which are the products of some other lands, yet that shepossesses several kinds which, even in their uncultivated state, areedible, and pleasant to the taste, and some of which form the stockson which, by budding or grafting, many of the most valuableproductions of our gardens and orchards are established. I think thatmany will be surprised to find, that the list I shall give them offruits indigenous in England is so long and so respectable. The plum, the cherry, the apple and pear tribes--the raspberry, with itsallies--the gooseberry, and currant, red and black--the service-tree, with its pleasant subacid fruit, and the abounding whortleberry andcranberry tribes, which cover immense tracts of our hills with theirmyrtle-like foliage and pretty heath-like bloom, and produce suchharvests of useful fruit freely to whoever will take the trouble ofgathering it--are surely treasures not to be despised!

It is true that in the present day, when the constantly increasingimportation both of fruit and fruit-trees, together with the wonderfulhorticultural improvements which are daily taking place, have broughtricher and better kinds of fruit more or less within the reach even ofour poorest cottagers--when every little valley among the hills isenriched with its beautiful orchards, and every farmhouse and cottagemay boast its luscious plum or cherry trees, and its row of brightfruited raspberry or strawberry plants--when all thrifty housewivesmay, at small expense, have their little store of pleasant jams andjellies made from fruits which used to be beyond the reach of even ourisland kings, and the 'sedulous bees' located on every homesteadpresent us with their amber sweets--we can perhaps scarcelyappreciate the real importance which must have attached to these nowcomparatively worthless fruits at a time when the land on which ourmost populous cities stand was covered by woods and brakes, nay, inmany places by thick, tangled forests, or wild and deep morasses. But, even now, these fruits are treasures to the cotter and the child, aswe shall see in the course of our discussion; and even to persons ofmore luxurious habits, several of those that I have named are of valueand importance. Let us first look at those which rank under thenatural order _Rosaceæ_, under which head we shall find the greatestnumber of our English fruit-bearing plants. We will give a littlebotanical sketch of the general characteristics of this order, aselucidatory of what we may hereafter have to say before we proceed tothe details of any of its members. The chief of these characteristicsare, that in the order _Rosaceæ_ the calyx is in most cases formed offive lobes, _with the petals and stamens rising from it_, the latterbeing generally numerous; the ovaries are several, or solitary, eachof one cell, including, in most cases, one ovule or incipient seed--insome cases many--the style being lateral or terminal. Most flowersthus formed produce edible and harmless fruits. Loudon says: 'Theligneous species, which constitute this order, include the finestflowering shrub in the world--the rose--and trees which produce themost useful and agreeable fruit of temperate climates--namely, theapple, pear, plum, cherry, apricot, peach, and nectarine;' and hemight have included the medlar and service trees. Now, this vast orderis subdivided into several sub-orders or sections, under the first ofwhich are classed all whose fruit is a drupe, of which the plum andcherry are examples. We will then take them first into ourconsideration, and begin by giving an account of what is the structureof a drupe. 

That part of the carpel called the ovary, which encloses the seed, thickens, and changes into a fleshy substance, which, as the fruitmatures, softens, and becomes a juicy, and often delicious pulp; thisis the part which we eat in the plum, cherry, apricot, peach, and allwhich we call stone-fruits. The lining of the ovary at the same timeextends, and hardens into the stony case which encloses the kernel, which kernel is the young seed enlarged and perfected. All fruits ofthis formation are called drupes, as those of the apple and pear formare called pomes, and those of the bramble, and some other tribes, berries. Our woods supply us with two sorts of plum, both edible--thesloe, or blackthorn (_Prunus spinosa_), and the wild bullace (_P. Institia_. ) Every one knows the sloe, at least every one who has spentany part of his youth amidst woodland scenes; but as there are somewho, having been 'all their life in populous cities pent, ' know butlittle of country delights, for their benefit we will describe thegrowth and appearance of our plants, as well as their qualities, obvious or hidden. The sloe is more frequently seen as a spiny shrubthan as a tree; but when the suckers are removed, and the strength ofthe plant is all allowed to go into one stem, it forms a highlycharacteristic small tree. In hedges, it seldom exceeds twenty feet inheight, but in woods and parks, it often attains to thirty. The woodis hard, and takes a fine polish, but is apt to crack, and istherefore seldom used, except for the handles of tools, and other suchpurposes. It throws up very long upright shoots, which make excellentwalking-sticks; indeed, more are made from this tree throughout Europethan from any other. The dry branches are valuable in forming hedges, and protection for young trees, as well as for other agriculturalpurposes. The bark is black, whence its name of blackthorn; theblossoms appear before the leaves, and beautify our hedges with theirdelicate whiteness during the cold month of March, when few othershrubs send forth their blossoms; and this season is therefore calledby country-people 'blackthorn winter. ' The leaves form a bettersubstitute for tea than any other European plant; and they have been, and are abundantly used in the adulteration of that commodity. Thefruit is a plum about the size of a small filbert, of a dark purplehue, coated with a most exquisite blue bloom. The flesh is of a sharp, bitter acid, yet not unpleasant even when raw; when fully ripe, itmakes a tolerable preserve, or pudding, and the juice, when wellfermented, makes a wine not unlike new port. The sloe, as well as thecherry, and all other plants of its tribe, contains in it a portion ofprussic acid; but the quantity is so minute, that there can be noinjury derived from the use of either the leaves or fruit of mostspecies. The common laurel (_Cerasus laurocerasus_) contains it ingreater quantity than any other kind, but even of this the berries maybe eaten with impunity, and are freely used by gipsies, who both eatthem raw and make them into puddings. 

The other plum of our wilds is the bullace (_P. Institia_), the fruitof which differs from that of the sloe in being larger and lessbitter. It is sometimes black, but oftener yellowish and waxy, beautifully tinted with red, and makes better pies and puddings thanthe sloe, for which purposes it is often sold in the markets. InProvence, where, as in other parts of France, this plum abounds, it iscalled 'Prune sibanelle, ' because, from its sourness, it is impossibleto whistle after eating it! The entire plant is used for much the samepurposes as the sloe. Old Gerard says, that its leaves are 'goodagainst the swelling of the uvula, the throat, gums, and kernels underthe ears, throat, and jaws. ' How far modern physicians might agree inthis is doubtful; possibly they might class the prescription, as hedoes some of those of his predecessors, under the head of 'old wives'fables. ' Both the plum and cherry send out from their bark a sort ofgum, which exudes freely, particularly in old and diseased trees. Itwas formerly supposed to be sovereign against some diseases. Thenumber of varieties which have been grafted on these wild stocks isvery great. So long ago as 1597, Gerard recounts: 'I have threescoresorts in my garden (at Holborn), all strange and rare: there be inother places many more common, and yet yeerely commeth to our handsothers not knowne before. ' The bark of both kinds of wild plum wasformerly much used in medicine, and considered equal to the Peruvianbark in cases of intermittent fever. But we must not forget, inrecounting the _uses_ of these and other fruits, to take into ourconsideration the important additions that their free growth affordsto the sources of enjoyment and amusement of our youthful populationin country districts. 'Snagging' (for sloes are called _snags_ in somecounties), nutting, blackberry picking, cherry hunting--all in theirturn form attractions to the boys and girls in our villages; and manya merry party sallies forth into the woods on a half or whole holiday, with satchel, bag, and basket, to enjoy the fresh air and brightsunshine, and to leap, and jump, and rejoice in all the wild vagariesof youth among the fresh uplands and hills, scrambling over allobstruction--the elder climbing the old trees, and rifling them oftheir spoil--the younger and less adventurous hooking down thebranches, and claiming the right of all they can collect 'by hook orby crook. ' But wo to the poor mothers who have to mend the garments inwhich the onslaught has been made!--wo to the little boy or girl whosemother has not the good sense to discern, in her child's rosy cheeksand bright eyes, a compensation for the rags in the frock or trousers, which is sure to be the consequence of a day spent in harrying theshrubs and briers! But many centuries must our youth have thus'imbibed both sweet and smart' from yielding to these woodlandattractions. May not we fancy whole herds of our little British orAnglo-Saxon ancestors rushing forth into the almost inaccessible woodswhich in those days clothed our island, their long sunny hair hangingto the waist--for 'no man was allowed to cut his hair until he hadslaine an enemy of his country in the field, or at least taken hisarmes from him'--clothed in linen, their fair skins disfigured by theblue woad with which they were accustomed to paint themselves, andarmed with cross-bows, all as merry, as idle, and as reckless as thechildren of the present century? We may fancy these little Leowulphsand Siegfrieds, with their admiring little Edgithas and Edithaslooking on, whilst they climbed the tall trees with the agility ofwild-cats and squirrels, most proud when they could attain the richestand ripest fruit, and but spurred on to greater enthusiasm by theknowledge that wolves and bears were by no means rare visitors inthose pristine forests. Or we may picture to ourselves their parentsand elders, after a long summer-day spent in hunting the wild-boar, the bear, or the more timid deer, rejoicing to slake their thirst, andrefresh themselves with the cool and pleasant, though somewhat crudefruit, of the plum and bullace trees; and in doing so, we may perhapscome nearer to having some just idea of their real worth, and be ledto see how graciously God adapts his gifts to the wants andcircumstances of his creatures. 

The cherry is the next wild fruit which claims our attention, and ofthis we find two varieties. The first, the gean-tree (_Cerasussylvestris_), called by the peasants in Suffolk and Cheshire, 'Merny-tree, ' from the French word _merisier_, is found in most partsof England in woods and coppices. This fruit is also called in somecountries coroon, from _corone_, a crow. Its flowers are in nearlysessile umbels of the purest white; its leaves broadly lance-shapedand downy beneath, pointed and serrated, with two unequal glands atthe base. The fruit is a drupe, globose, fleshy, and devoid of bloom. Several varieties occur in this species, differing chiefly in thecolour of the fruit, which is, however, usually black. The wood isfirm, strong, and heavy. Evelyn includes it in his list offorest-trees, and describes it as rising to a height of eighty feet, and producing valuable timber: he says, 'if sown in proper soil, theywill thrive into stately trees, beautified with blossoms of surpassingwhiteness, greatly relieving the sedulous bees and attracting birds. 'The wood is useful for many purposes, and polishes well. Though thecherry is now classed among the fruits native to this isle, authorsinform us that it was introduced by the Romans. Evelyn says: 'It was680 years after the foundation of Rome ere Italy had tasted a cherryof their own, which being then brought thither out of Pontus, did, after 120 years, travel _ad ultimos Britannos_. ' Its name is derivedfrom Kerasoon, the city whence it was first brought into Europe byLucullus; and so valuable did he consider the acquisition, that hegave it a most conspicuous place among the royal treasures which hebrought home from the sacking of the capital of Armenia. The fruit ofthe gean-tree is rather harsh till fully ripe, and then becomessomewhat vapid and watery, yet it is very grateful to the palate aftera day's rambling in the woods; and, moreover, this wild stock is thesource whence we have, by culture, obtained the rich varieties whichnow grace our gardens. The cherry is a very prolific tree. We haveheard of one, the fruit of which sold for L. 5 per annum for sevensuccessive years; but it requires care in pruning, as it produces itsfruit generally at the points of the branches, which should thereforenever be shortened. Phillips says: 'Cherries bear the knife worse thanany other sort of fruit-trees, and we would therefore impress on thepruner, that though the fruit was won by the sword, it may be lost bythe knife!' The other species of cherry is the bird-cherry (_Cerasuspadus_), a pretty little smooth-branched tree, with doubly-serrate, acute leaves, and beautiful white blossoms, which grow in long-shapedracemes, hanging in pendulous clusters, and forming an elegantornament to the hedges and woods in May. It grows chiefly in Scotlandand the north of England, where the peasants call the fruit, which issmall, black, and harsh, 'hagberries. ' This fruit can scarcely becalled edible, but it gives an agreeable flavour to brandy; and inSweden and other northern countries is sometimes added to home-madewines. There is, or was, a feast celebrated in Hamburg, called theFeast of Cherries, in which troops of children parade the streets withgreen boughs ornamented with cherries, to commemorate a triumphobtained in the following manner:--'In 1432, the Hussites threatenedthe city of Hamburg with immediate destruction, when one of thecitizens, named Wolf, proposed that all the children in the city, fromseven to fourteen years of age, should be clad in mourning, and sentas suppliants to the enemy. Procopius Nasus, chief of the Hussites, was so touched with this spectacle, that he received the youngsuppliants, regaled them with cherries and other fruits, and promisedthem to spare the city. The children returned crowned with leaves, holding cherries, and crying "Victory!"'

THINGS TALKED OF IN LONDON. 

 _September 1852. _

Progress, in one or other of the many forms in which it has of latepresented itself, is now the prime subject of talk; and if theprogress be real, it would not be easy to find a more satisfactorycause of conversation. Go-ahead people take much interest in the oceansteam-boat question; and now that the Collins line of steamers issupported by a grant from the United States government, double theamount of that paid to the British line, it is said that we are to beirrecoverably beaten in the passage of the 'ferry, ' as Jonathan callsit, between Liverpool and New York. East sailing is no doubt anessential desideratum in these days--but what a price to pay for it! Aquarter of a million on one side the Atlantic, and half a million onthe other: as though there were not enterprise enough in either landto undertake the work--and do it well too--without a subsidy. Oneresult may be safely predicated--that the winner will be the first togive in; and the timid may comfort themselves with the assurance, thatneither national prosperity nor 'decadence' depends on the issue. Aline to run from Liverpool to Portland, in the state of Maine, is incontemplation; and the Cunard Company are building fourscrew-steamers--the _Andes_, _Alps_, _Jura_, and _Etna_--which are tocarry the mails to Chagres, as well as New York. 

The first steam-collier has come into the Thames, having run thedistance from Newcastle in forty-eight hours. Forty hours, we aretold, will surface in future, when the stiffness of the new machineryshall have worked off. She consumed eight tons of coal on the voyage, and brought 600 tons as cargo, the whole of which was discharged inthe day, and the vessel went back for a further supply. Apart from thefacilities for loading and unloading, the certainty with which thesesteamers will make the passage, will benefit the citizens of London, by saving them from the rise in price which inevitably follows thefall of the thermometer in December. 

But with all this, our already crowded river is becoming overcrowded, to remedy which a promising project is afoot for a new dock atPlaistow Marshes, a few miles below London Bridge, where a fleet ortwo of the ever-multiplying ships may find accommodation. The extentis to be ninety acres, with a mile of wharfage, and nearly 200, 000feet of fireproof warehouse-room. How far this will meet the want, maybe inferred from the fact, that the tonnage of the port of London hasincreased from 990, 110 tons in 1828, to 2, 170, 322 tons in 1852. And ifan experience of three years may be relied on, the increase is to beprogressive; for of new British-built ships in 1849, the amount was121, 266 tons; in 1850, 137, 530 tons; in 1851, 152, 563 tons. Such anaugmentation shews, that we have nothing to fear from repeal of theNavigation Laws; and the fruits of unrestriction are shewn in theincreased size of ships, in their improved external form, and interioraccommodation. It may be mentioned here, that the Lords of theAdmiralty have ordered that all ships' log-books sent to theirdepartment shall be true and faithful copies, with a track-chart ofthe winds experienced on the outward and homeward voyage, in additionto the usual information. Steam-vessels are to keep a record of thequantity of coal on board at noon each day--of the time it isestimated to last--and of the number of miles steamed in the previoustwenty-four hours. 

Railways, too, exhibit signs of progress. The gross proceeds of thetraffic for the first seven months of 1851 amounted to L. 8, 254, 303, while for the same portion of the present year the sum is L. 8, 504, 002;a result the more striking when it is remembered that last year we hadthe Exhibition. The new lines opened in 1851 comprised not more than269 miles--the smallest amount in any year since 1848--so that, at theend of December, we had 6890 miles of railway actually opened, and5101 miles authorised and still to be made. It is clear that thegreater portion of the latter will never be attempted, seeing thatpeople have really found out that railways are not exempt from theoperation of the great natural laws of supply and demand. Some of thefacts of last year's traffic are astounding: the total number ofpassengers conveyed was 85, 391, 095--twelve millions more than in thepreceding year; and the aggregate returns amounted to L. 14, 997, 459. What a difference when compared with the sum paid for travel andtransport twenty years ago! In the United States, the number of milesof railway actually open is 13, 200, which, by the end of 1855, it isexpected will be increased to 18, 000 or 20, 000. There are 27, 000 milesof electric telegraphs, but in this estimate the five or six linesbetween any two places are all counted. On one of the lines from NewYork to Washington, 253, 857 messages were sent in the year ending lastJuly, the toll for which amounted to 103, 232 dollars--over L. 20, 000. 

Notwithstanding all this material development, in some respects thereis no advance--except it be of fares, which on some lines running outof London have been increased in accordance with 'arrangements'between companies who seem desirous of substituting wholesale monopolyfor wholesome competition. Murmurs on every side already attest theeffects of such a change of system, and it is to be hoped thatimperative means will be found of insuring more attention than atpresent to the comfort and safety of passengers. No one out of theposition of a director or shareholder can see any good reason whyEnglish railway carriages should be less comfortably fitted up thanthose of the continent. How is it that second-class carriages are tobe seen abroad with stuffed seats and padded backs, and never inEngland? It cannot be that we do not pay enough for the accommodation. We pay too much--a fact worth remembering with railway amalgamationlooming in the future; an event which must not take place without thepublic coming in demonstrably as third party. 

The British Association have met, and gone through their usual routineof business, with what results--beyond the reports in the publicprints--will be best shewn by the movement of science for the next fewmonths. It is always something that knowledge is increased; butwhether the accumulating of fact on fact, to the neglect ofgeneralising those facts, be the true means thereunto, remains to beproved. Science has been soaring in search of facts; for the committeeappointed to manage the Kew Observatory, thinking that the phenomenaof meteorology would answer further questioning, have sent up aballoon, with instruments and observers, to make a series ofobservations. The temperature was read off from highly sensitivethermometers at each minute during the ascent, so as to ascertain thedifference of the heat of successive strata of the atmosphere, and therate of variation. In the first flight, the party reached the heightof 19, 500 feet, and came to a temperature of 7 degrees, or 25 degreesbelow the freezing-point, which, considering the state of thetemperature at the surface, was an unexpected result--in fact, anabnormal one; and not dissimilar to that which so much astonished ourneighbours across the Channel when Barral and Bixio went up. But if itbe abnormal, as is said, it is remarkable that precisely the sametemperature was met with at about the same height on the secondascent. Another object was, to bring down specimens of air fromdifferent altitudes, for analysis; to try the effect of theactinometer at great elevations; and to note the hygrometriccondition. There are to be four ascents, so as, if possible, to obtainsomething like satisfactory data by repetition; and in due time, detailed reports of the whole of the observations will be made public. 

As ozone is at present attracting attention, it might have been worthwhile to ascertain the proportion of this constituent in the higherregions of the atmosphere. According to Messrs Frémy and Becquerel, the term ozone ought to be abandoned; for, after a series of carefulexperiments, they have come to the conclusion, that there is no realtransformation of matter in the production of ozone, but that it isnothing more than 'electrified oxygen, ' or oxygen in a particularstate of chemical affinity. Further research will perhaps show uswhether they or Schoenbein are in the right. At all events, theinquiry is interesting, particularly at this time, when cholera--towhich ozone is antagonistic--is said to be again about to pay us avisit; and seeing that the doctrine of non-contagion, put forth soauthoritatively by our General Board of Health, is disputed; and thata certain morbific influence can be conveyed and imparted, is shewn byabundant evidence to be alike probable and possible. What took placelately in Poland is cited as a case in point. Excavations were beingmade at Lask, near Kalisch, which laid open the cemetery where thebodies of those who died of cholera in 1832 had been buried. All whowere engaged in the work died, and the disease spread fatallythroughout the neighbourhood. What an important question here remainsto be settled! and how is it to be settled while people are uncleanand towns undrained?

Astronomers have given good proof of activity during the present year, by the discovery of four new planets and one new comet--two of them byMr Hind, who has now the merit of having discovered half a dozen ofthese minor members of our planetary system. Fifty years ago, such anachievement would have made an exalted reputation; but in these daysof keen enterprise in science, as well as in commerce, we do not thinkmuch of finding such little worlds as those in question. If nothingshort of the marvellous is to satisfy us, who shall say that even thiswill not present itself to the far-piercing ken of the new monstertelescope--refracting, not reflecting--established on WandsworthCommon, at the cost of an amateur astronomer, for the promotion of thecelestial science? Lord Rosse has now a competitor; and with a tube ofeighty feet in length, and the power of looking direct at the distantobject, may we not hope to hear of great discoveries by means of thenew instrument? Photographers will be able to obtain what has longbeen a desideratum--a large image of the moon; and the sun willdoubtless have to reveal a few more secrets concerning his physicalconstitution, to say nothing of the remote and mysterious nebulæ. Apropos of the sun, Father Secchi, of the observatory at Rome, hasbeen questioning the great luminary with philosophical apparatus, toascertain whether any difference could be detected in the heat fromdifferent parts of its surface, and the proportion lost in its passagethrough the atmosphere. He finds that the equatorial region is thehottest; and that, as on our earth, the temperature diminishes towardsthe poles: it is in the central region that spots most frequentlyappear. The result of the investigations is that, after allowing forabsorption, the heat which comes to the earth corresponds in amount tothat inferred from photometric experiments, whereby the experimentsmade at Paris and at Rome confirm each other. 

Now that Mr Fox Talbot has so praiseworthily given up his patent rightto Talbotypes, except in the matter of portraits, the art ofphotography will find itself stimulated to yet further developments;and with free practice, many new applications of it will bediscovered. Magic-lantern slides, for instance, obtained from thenegative image, are already lowered in price, while their style andfinish are singularly beautiful. The architect of the bridge now beingbuilt over the Neva, at St Petersburg, is turning it to account in avery practical manner. Being an Englishman, he has had to endure muchjealousy and misrepresentation, and attempts have been made toprejudice the authorities against him. To counteract these designs, hetakes every week photographs of the work, which distinctly shew itsprogress, and these he sends to the emperor, who looks at them in astereoscope of the largest size, and can thus satisfy himself of theactual condition of the bridge by means which malice or envy would noteasily falsify. If the photograph shews finished arches, of what usewill it be to deny their existence? People out of Russia may perhapsfind it worth while to try the same experiment; and before long, a neworder of 'detectives' on elevated stations, will be taking photographsof all that passes in the streets, and pickpockets _in delicto_ willfind their offence and their likeness imprinted by one and the sameprocess. With such a means of detection, and all the police stationsconnected by telegraphic wires, what are the thieves to do?

Manchester shews itself earnest in the cause of education, by havingestablished a Free Library of 16, 000 volumes for reference, and 5000for lending, and paid for it by voluntary subscription--L. 800 of whichwas contributed by 20, 000 of the working-classes. To their honour beit recorded! But the inhabitants have done yet more; they have madeover the library to the town-council, that it may become one of theirpublic institutions, and have agreed to pay a half-penny rate toprovide the necessary funds for its perpetual maintenance. May theyhave their reward!

Considering that educational reform or renovation may erelong belooked for at Oxford, in accordance with the recommendations of theUniversity Commission, it behoves other parts of the kingdom to befully awake to the importance of the subject. 'There is a spreadingconviction, that man was made for a higher purpose than to be a beastof burden, or a creature of sense;' and it will not do to stifle thisconviction. Comprehensive endeavours must be made to educate andenlighten; to touch the heart as well as to train the intellect. Andit must not be forgotten, that education involves very much besidesmere book-learning--the mechanical duties, namely, of everyday life. Something of the latter is to be tried in the City Hospice andSoup-kitchen just opened near the foot of Holborn Hill. Though fittedup in an old house, it is a training institute of a new kind, whereindividuals of both sexes will acquire useful knowledge in a practicalway, best explained by a passage from the report of the opening:

'In one portion of the educational department is an ironing-table, provided with the necessary utensils, for the purpose of instructingthe women and girls in that necessary portion of domestic science, from the finest description of work down to the very coarsest. Adjoining this is a table laid out _en famille_; this also beingconsidered, and justly so, no unimportant branch of knowledge. Inanother portion is a table prepared for a large party: every varietyof glass likely to be required being properly placed, and every napkinbeing differently folded, so as to enable the ambitious neophyte tosuit the taste of all mistresses. Beyond this is a small closet, witha window resembling those of an ordinary-sized house; and this the menand women are both taught to clean, while the closet itself serves asa cover for the simple operation of polishing boots and shoes. To thissucceeds a table, upon which are placed the utensils for cleaningplate, and on another table the instruments for cleaning lamps. ' Suchan establishment ought to prosper; and perhaps this one will, if thegiving away of soup for nothing, which is another part of itsfunctions, does not kill it. There seems something incongruous inencouraging industry and self-reliance with one hand, and helplessnesswith the other. 

On the whole, it must be admitted that we are making progress, andthose who think so, may very properly talk about it. Among a largenumber, the Crystal Palace becomes daily a greater subject ofimportance. Soon the last portions of the famous structure will beremoved from Hyde Park, to rise in renewed beauty on the hill-slope atSydenham; where the restored edifice is to become a permanent objectof interest, far transcending all previous achievements in the way ofexhibitions. 

Of foreign matters which have attracted attention, there is theremarkable fall of _grain_, not rain, in Belgium, a few weeks since, of a kind altogether unknown in that country. Some of it has beensown, with a view to judge of it by the plant; meanwhile, the learnedare speculating as to its origin. The Dutch, pursuing their steadycourse of reclamation, have just added some hundreds of acres to theirterritory on the borders of the Scheldt; and it is said that the grandenterprise of draining the Haarlemmer-Meer is at last completed, therebeing nothing now left but a small running stream across the lowestpart of the basin. The quantity pumped away in the last eight monthsof 1851, averaged a little over three inches per month, a smallamount, apparently; but when it is known, that lowering the lake oneinch only took away four million tons of water, we may form a fairidea of the importance of the work, and of the quantity lifted in theeight months. The depth at the beginning of this year was three feeteight inches, and this is now discharged. To have carried such a workto a successful issue, may be ranked among the greatest of engineeringtriumphs. 

To turn to another part of the world: there is something interestingfrom the Sandwich Islands. The king wishes to assimilate hisgovernment to that of England, to guard against the casualty of a_coup d'état_, and a small military force has been organised fordefence. The Report of the Minister of the Interior states, that 130persons had taken the oath of allegiance within the year, of whom 66were citizens of the United States; 31 British; 15 Chinese; and 18 ofother countries. The foreign letters received and sent numbered24, 787--more than half to the United States; besides which 31, 050domestic letters were transmitted among the group of islands. Thereare 535 free-schools, of which 431 are Protestant, with 12, 976scholars, and 104 Roman Catholic, with 2056 scholars. There were 1171marriages; and the population returns shew that the number of nativesis still slowly on the decrease, the births among them having been2424, while the deaths were 5792. 

ADVENTURES OF A YORKSHIRE GROOM. 

Letters from Parma, of the 9th instant, announce that the resolutionhas been taken at Vienna to deprive the Duke of Parma of theadministration of his states, and to put in a regency, of which Wardis to be the head. The elevation of Ward affords not only a singularinstance of the mutability of human affairs, but of the tendency ofthe Anglo-Saxon race, when transplanted to foreign countries, toemerge to eminence, and surpass others by the homely but rarequalities of common-sense and unfaltering energy. Ward was a Yorkshiregroom. The Duke of Lucca, when on a visit to this country, perceivingthe lad's merit, took him into his service, and promoted him, throughthe several degrees of command in his stable, to be head-groom of theducal stud. Upon Ward's arrival in Italy with his master, it was soonfound that the intelligence which he displayed in the management ofthe stables was applicable to a variety of other departments. In fact, the duke had such a high opinion of Ward's wisdom, that he very rarelyomitted to consult him upon any question that he was perplexed todecide. As Louis XII. Used to answer those who applied to him on anybusiness, by referring them to the Cardinal d'Amboise, with the words:'Ask George, ' so Charles of Lucca cut short all applications with 'Goto Ward. ' He now became the factotum of the prince, won, in thedisturbances which preceded the revolutionary year of 1848, adiplomatic dignity, and was despatched to Florence upon a confidentialmission of the highest importance. He was deputed to deliver to theGrand Duke the act of abdication of the Duke of Lucca. Soon after, in1849, when the Duke of Lucca resigned his other states to his son, Ward became the head counsellor of this prince. Ward was on oneoccasion despatched to Vienna in a diplomatic capacity. Schwarzenbergwas astonished at his capacity; in fact, the _ci-devant_ Yorkshirestable-boy was the only one of the diplomatic body that could makehead against the impetuous counsels, or rather dictates, ofSchwarzenberg; and this was found highly useful by other members ofthe diplomatic body. An English gentleman, supping one night at theRussian ambassador's, complimented him upon his excellent ham. 'There's a member of our diplomatic corps here, ' replied Meyendorff, 'who supplies us all with hams from Yorkshire, of which county he is anative. ' Ward visited England. The broad dialect and homely phrasebetraying his origin through the profusion of orders of all countriessparkling on his breast, he rarely ventured to appear at evening_soirées_. Lord Palmerston declared he was one of the most remarkablemen he had ever met with. Ward, through all his vicissitudes, haspreserved an honest pride in his native country. He does not concealhis humble origin. The portraits of his parents, in their home-spunclothes, appear in his splendid saloon of the prime-minister ofParma. --_Newspaper paragraph. _

DURATION OF PLANTS. 

The several kinds of plants vary exceedingly in their degrees oflongevity, some being annual, perfecting their growth within a year, ripening their seeds and perishing; others are perennial, and continueto grow and flourish for years and centuries. Warm and cold climateshave much influence on the duration of plants, and, in some fewinstances, plants that are annual in cold climates become perennialwhen transplanted into warm regions, and the contrary whentransplanted from warm to cold ones. There are some kinds of treesthat are very short-lived, as the peach and the plum; others reach agreat age, as the pear and the apple. Some kinds of forest-trees areremarkable for their duration, and specimens are in existenceseemingly coeval with the date of the present order of things on ourglobe. The oak, chestnut, and pine of our forests, reach the age offrom 300 to 500 years. The cypress or white cedar of our swamps hasfurnished individuals 800 or 900 years old. Trees are now living inEngland and Constantinople more than 1000 years old, of the yew, plane, and cypress varieties; and Addison found trees of the boababgrowing near the Senegal, in Africa, which, reckoning from theascertained age of others of the same species, must have been nearly4000 years of age. It may be remarked, that plants of the same varietyattain about the same age in all climates where they areproduced. --_American Courier. _

THE RETURN TO LEZAYRE. 

BY THE REV. JAMES GILBORNE LYONS, LL. D. 

Lezayre is the name of a beautiful district in the Isle of Man. 

 I came to the place where my childhood had dwelt, To the hearth where in early devotion I knelt-- The fern and the bramble grew wild in the hall, And the long grass of summer waved green on the wall: The roof-tree was fallen, the household had fled, The garden was ruined, the roses were dead, The wild bird flew scared from her desolate stone, And I breathed in the home of my boyhood--alone. 

 That moment is past, but it left on my heart A remembrance of sadness which will not depart: I have wandered afar since that sorrowful day, I have wept with the mournful, and laughed with the gay; I have lived with the stranger, and drank of the rills Which go warbling their music on loftier hills; But I never forgot, in rejoicing or care, That mouldering hearth, and those hills of Lezayre. 

 Yet droop not, my spirit! nor hopelessly mourn Over ills which the best and the wisest have borne: Though the greetings of love, and the voices of mirth, May for ever be hushed in the homesteads of earth; Though the dreams and the dwellings of childhood decay, And the friends whom we cherish go hasting away, No young hopes are scattered, no heart-strings are riven, No partings are known in the households of Heaven. 

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*** _This School Geography has been a considerable time inpreparation, and will be found one of the most complete works of thekind. _

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CORNELIUS NEPOS. Illustrated with Copious English Notes and Prefaces. Forming one of the Volumes of the LATIN SECTION of CHAMBERS'SEDUCATIONAL COURSE. 

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ELOCUTION: with a SELECTION of PIECES. By WILLIAM GRAHAM, F. E. I. S. , Teacher of Elocution in the Naval and Military Academy, and theScottish Institution for the Education of Ladies. Forming one of theVolumes of CHAMBERS'S EDUCATIONAL COURSE. 

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CHAMBERS'S POCKET MISCELLANY: forming a LITERARY COMPANION for theRAILWAY, the FIRESIDE, or the BUSH. 

VOLUME X. 

_To be continued in Monthly Volumes. _

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