sound of the cannon, and briskly she flew along the rope, amid the murmured raptures of the crowd, till she had travelled about half the distance. But there, alas ! she stopped dead, nor could any expedient of shaking the rope, &c., induce her to advance another inch. The fact was, that the rope was not stretched tightly enough to produce an uninterrupted line in an inclined place. Its own weight caused it to form a considerable curve, and the dove decidedly refused to advance an inch up hill. Thus foiled in their scenic effect, the masters of the ceremonies were fain to light their bonfire in an ordinary and less ambitious way. This was soon done. The dry brushwood blazed up in an instant, and the already wide circle around the fire was soon enlarged by the heat, which drove back the thick ranks by its rapidly increasing power. Then, indeed, the scene became truly picturesque, and well worthy of the pencil of a Rembrandt. Nothing can be conceived more striking than the appearance of the multitude, with their motley variety of costume, their dark, sunburnt faces, and expressive features, seen in the strongly contrasted light and shade, as the blazing pile, burning waywardly, according to the squally gusts of the wind, threw now on one side, and now on the other, the fierce brilliance of its broad, red gleam. Soon after the pile was lighted, the clergy, with the banners, the relics, and the principal part of the procession, left the bonfire, and returned down the hill to the village. This appeared to be the signal that all semblance of a religious ceremony might now be dropped. The remainder of the evening was given up to unrestrained merry-making and carousing. The dance around the fire, which, when formerly it was lighted at the same period of the year, in honour of the sun, was intended to typify the motion of the stars, and has been preserved, though meaningless, since the Christianization of the festival, was duly performed. Cattle were brought, and made to leap over the burning embers, to preserve them from disease, and from the malice of the fairies. Boys and girls rushed in, and snatched from the glowing mass a half-consumed morsel, to be carefully preserved till next St. John's eve, for good luck; shouts and cries rose, on all sides, from the excited multitude; and the whole scene, over which a solemn and religious spirit had so recently presided, became one of frolic and confusion. One after another the surrounding hills were lighted up, each with its crowning bonfire, and the reflections of many others, still more distant, were seen in the sky, imparting to the heavens, in every direction, the ruddy glow of a golden sunset. Then groups of girls, in their holiday trim, might be seen stealing off, and mounting the various points of the hills, to try if they could see nine fires at once; for, if they can do this, they are sure of being married in the course of the year. The more soberly disposed and steady among the crowd were leaving the village in parties, varying in number, when we started on our walk back to Morlaix. We left, however, a sufficient multitude behind us, who were apparently little disposed to bring their revelling to so early a conclusion. We did not return by the road we had come, but by Lanmeur, there falling into the grande route from Paris to Brest. The whole country through which we passed was illumined by a succession of fires. And on many of the hills a shadowy circle of ghost-like figures might be seen moving around the distant flames. We found no less than three bonfires blazing in different places in the very middle of the road, over which two or three diligences would have to pass in the course of a few hours. Several fires were burning in the streets and open spaces of the town, when we got to Morlaix, and lighted up, with a strange and striking effect, the picturesque old houses, and the grotesque figures and carving on their highly-ornamented fronts. We found the inmates of the Hôtel de Paris still stirring, though it was long past the hour at which, on any other occasion, they, as well as all others in the good town of Morlaix, would have been at rest; and we both agreed that our pilgrimage to the shrine of St. John had been far from the least interesting day of our wanderings. [The work is liberally illustrated with characteristic scenes, drawn and etched by A. Hervieu, and representing remarkable customs, festivals, &c.] Periodicals. FRASER'S MAGAZINE [Is this month less personal than customary, and, accordingly, more abundantly amusing. The two papers which have most of this objectionable smatch, are a review of Milman's History of Christianity, and the usual political dish, this time entitled Lord Stanley's Bill. In the first of these articles, the "bulky appendix to Gibbon," as Mr. Milman's work is termed, is severely handled; and phials of critical, or, rather, polemic wrath, are poured upon Gibbon's "artificial and tur gid style," and Mr. Milman's imitation of it, as his work, is unfairly condemned. Again, he is accused of adopting Gibbon's spirit, and of sympathizing with some of the magnates of ecclesiastical history, whom it has been the fashion, time out of mind, to abuse-Julian and Athanasius, for examples. But, we pass on to pleasanter matters; as the first of a series of papers on Modern Greece, describing the progressive regeneration of that Phoenixlike country. A chapter on Eloquence, with parallels, is a charming paper, full of excellent criticism and nice discernment. A Shabby Genteel Story is a smart affair, in Fraser's broad style-a tale of a Margate lodging-house, of which here are the keepers."] 66 Mr. Gann had nothing to do from morning till night. He was now a fat, baldheaded man, of fifty; a dirty dandy on week-days, with a shawl waistcoat, a tuft of hair to his great double chin, a snuffy shirt-frill, and enormous breast-pin and seals: he had a pilot-coat, with large mother-of-pearl buttons, and always wore a great rattling telescope, with which he might be seen for hours on the sea-shore, or the pier, examining the ships, the bathing-machines, the ladies' schools, as they paraded up and down the Esplanade, and all other objects which the telescopic view might give him. He knew every person connected with every one of the Deal and Dover coaches, and was sure to be witness to the arrival or departure of several of them in the course of the day; he had a word for the hostler about "that grey mare," a nod for the "shooter," or guard, and a bow for the dragsman: he could send parcels for nothing up to town; had twice had Sir Rumble Tumble (the noble driver of the Flash-o'-lightning-lightfour-inside-post-coach) "up at his place," and took care to tell you that some of the party were pretty considerably "sewn up," too. He did not frequent the large hotels; but, in revenge, he knew every person who entered or left them; and was a great man at the Bag of Nails, and the Magpie and Punchbowl, where he was president of a club; he took the bass in "Mynheer Van Dunk," "the Wolf," and many other morsels of concerted song, and used to go backwards and forwards to London, in the steamers, as often as ever he liked, and have his "grub," too, on board. Such was James Gann. Many people, when they wrote to him, addressed him James Gann, Esq. His reverses and former splendours afforded a never-failing theme of conversation to honest Gann and the whole of his family; and it may be remarked, that such pecuniary misfortunes, as they are called, are by no means misfortunes to people of certain dispositions, but actual pieces of good luck. Gann, for instance, used to drink liberally of port and claret, when the house of Gann and Blubbery was in existence, and was henceforth compelled to imbibe only brandy and gin. Now he loved these a thousand times more than the wine; and had the advantage of talking about the latter, and of his great merit in giving them up. In those prosperous days, too, being a gentleman, he could not frequent the public-house as he did at present; and the sanded tavern-parlour was Gann's supreme enjoyment. He was obliged to spend many hours, daily, in a dark unsavoury room, in an alley off Thames-street; and Gann hated books and business, except of other people's. His tastes were low; he loved public-· house jokes and company; and now being fallen, was voted, at the Bag of Nails and the Magpie before-mentioned, a tip-top fellow, and real gentleman, whereas he had been considered an ordinary vulgar man by his fashionable associates at Putney. Many men are there who are made to fall, and to profit by the tumble. As for Mrs. G., or Jooly, as she was indifferently called by her husband, she, too, had gained by her losses. She bragged of her former acquaintances in the most extraordinary way, and, to hear her, you would fancy that she was known and connected to half the peerage. Her chief occupation was taking medicine, and mending and altering of her gowns. She had a huge taste for cheap finery, loved raffles, tea-parties, and walks on the pier, where she flaunted herself and daughters as gay as butterflies. She stood upon her rank, did not fail to tell her lodgers that she was a gentlewoman," and was mighty sharp with Becky the maid, and poor Carry, her youngest child. 66 [Woman and the Social System is "a rapid sketch of the degrading effects of every false religious system on the female character, in every age, on the one hand, and the ennobling results of Christianity on that character,"- - with an exposition of the wicked delusion-the sore that is just now festering in a political shroud. Extracts from a Journal between Chili and Jamaica are pleasant reading enough. A Pictorial Rhapsody, by Michael Angelo Titmarsh, is a harum-scarum-half-jest, half-earnest-notice of the Exhibition of the Royal Academy, in which Mr. Mulready's Postage-cover is attempted to be defended. The only remaining paper that we can notice, is, on the removal of the ashes of Buonaparte to Paris, whence we extract the following:] The approaching departure of the re mains of Buonaparte from St. Helena recals to us the time when he was laid there, and to the feelings which his entombment then occasioned. How can we better express them than in some beautiful verses written immediately on the arrival of the tidings of his death! The news arrived in Liverpool in the July of 1821; thence to fly, like wild-fire, over the world. The verses we are about to quote were anonymous, but we well know who wrote them. Why does not he write verses now? NAPOLEON. The mighty sun had just gone down And silent was the island shore, And breathless all the broad red sea, And motionless, beside the door, Our only tree, our ancient palm, When Buonaparté died. An ancient man, a stately man, Came forth beneath the spreading tree; A trembling hand had partly cover'd Something that spake of other days, Said I, perchance this faded hand, Young Buonaparte's battle-cry, Perchance, had kindled this old cheek; He hath been with him, young and old; His soul was as a sword, to leap At his accustom'd leader's word; I love to see the old man weepHe knew no other lord. As if it were but yesternight, This man remembers dark Eylau,- The memories of worser time Fresh stands the picture of his prime,- I enter'd, and I saw him lie Within the chamber, all alone; I drew near, very solemnly, He was not shrouded in a shroud, He had put harness on to die, The eagle-star shone on his breast; Ye would have said some sainted sprite What thoughts had calm'd his dying breast No sculptur'd pile our hands shall rear; Shall grace and guard thy grave. The eagle stooping from the sky Obituary. The late King of Prussia.-The following account of the last moments of His Majesty is given by a Berlin correspondent, in Galignani's Messenger. On the morning of the 7th inst. a courier was sent from Berlin, by the Empress of Russia, with a pressing letter to her husband, informing him that all hope was at an end, and that death was near at hand. When the interview between the king and his eldest daughter took place, he could only embrace her. The Empress fell on her knees before the little camp-bed, which the king would not quit during his illness. At the head of the bed was the portrait of Queen Louisa; the king pointed to this with a gesture to his daughter, indicating his hope of speedily joining his deceased wife in heaven. The last sacrament was administered by Dr. Eybert, the protestant bishop. The king was, at this time, so weak that he could scarcely speak. The Princesses were in the adjoining room, and very few persons were allowed to be present at this solemn ceremony. The Prince de Wigenstein, the oldest friend and servant of the king, was in profound grief. The immediate symptoms of approaching death commenced on the morning of the 7th. An immense crowd, at this time, surrounded the palace. It will be easily conceived, that in an absolute monarchy, governed from the year 1797 by the same king, who, through good and evil fortune, had maintained his popularity, a change of government was calculated to produce a profound_sensation. At about half-past twelve, the Emperor of Russia arrived, at full gallop, in his little travelling carriage, by the Rue Royale, in front of the small Palace. The Emperor immediately jumped out, in his travelling dress, followed by one of his aides-de-camp. The people took him for a simple military courier. In the saloons of the first floor, he embraced his wife and relations; and immediately proceeded to the bedside of the dying king, who was become speechless, but recognised his sonin-law. The Emperor knelt down, and kissed the hand of his father-in-law. The king died without suffering. At three o'clock in the afternoon, there was no longer any sign of breathing, and a small looking-glass, which was held before the mouth, remained without a mark. The Prince Royal then closed the eyes of his father, and the Emperor of Russia was the first to salute him as William IV. The king having died on Whit-Sunday, when all the population were moving about, the news of his death spread rapidly. The mourning is general, and within a few hours, even the poorest workmen were seen with crape on their arms. The Rev. Alexander Crombie, LL. D., died at his house in York Terrace, Regent's Park, on the 11th inst. Dr. Crombie was the author of the Gymnasium, and several other popular works. Many years since, he established an Academy at Greenwich, which he conducted with considerable success. He was a distinguished Fellow of the Royal Society; and died in his seventy. ninth year. Ac "The writer of these few lines enjoyed the advantage and happiness of the friendship (of this learned and venerable man) for about half a century, and ever found him to be a man of the most inflexible honour and integrity. He possessed, in the highest degree, a keen and penetrating intellect. As a scholar and a critic, a metaphysician and a theologian, his name has long and deservedly stood high among the first writers of the land. quainted, in early life, with such eminent men as Price and Priestley, and the amiable Geddes, he was, and he continued to be, the advocate of liberal principles-the friend of civil and religious liberty; but, as a sound Christian divine, and a sincere admirer of the British constitution, he openly despised, and indignantly repudiated, the cant of spurious liberality, both in religion and politics, which has, in later years, so extensively tainted the human mind. The last effort of his pen-on the demoralizing effect of the ballot-was not long ago ably and candidly reviewed, and with due commendation, by a gentleman evidently of kindred spirit, in the excellent journal which has now the goodness to insert this imperfect tribute of Artificial Memory.-A humorous comment on such systems was made by a waiter at an hotel where Feinaigle dined, after having given his lecture on artificial memory. A few minutes after the Professor left the table, the waiter entered, with uplifted hands and eyes, exclaiming, "Well, I protest the memory-man has forgotten his umbrella!" Painting and Cookery.-The Baron C. F. Von Rumohr is considered one of the most learned judges of painting and cookery in all Germany. His critical works on art are in high repute: among them may be mentioned the Essay On Raffaelle and his Contemporaries; on The Origin of the Architecture of the Middle Ages; on Hans Holbein; and the History written, moreover, one of the best cookery-books and Theory of Carving in Wood and Ivory. He has extant.-Mrs. Jameson. Rubens and the Lion.-It is related that Rubens caused a remarkably fine and powerful lion to be brought to his house, in order to study him in every variety of attitude. One day, Rubens observing the lion yawn, was so pleased with this action, that he wished to paint it, and he desired the keeper to tickle the animal under the chin, to make him repeatedly open his jaws; at length, the lion became savage at this treatment, and cast such furious glances at his keeper, that Rubens attended to his warning, and had the lion removed. The keeper is said to have been torn to pieces by the lion shortly afterwards; apparently, he had never forgotten the affront.-Mrs. Jameson. French Cookery.-Once or twice in my life, I have wondered what caused the French cooks to be so superior to the English. The proverb says: "So many Frenchmen, so many cooks." The meat in Calais accounted to me in a moment for it. In England, the meat is generally good; therefore, less pains has been bestowed in dressing it; but, if the cag-mag I saw had not been stewed, larded, and gravied over, it would have been untouchable. Our wild beasts, at the Zoological Gardens, would not have growled a grace over it.-From the Journal of Old Barnes, the Pantaloon; Bentley's Miscellany. Catholicity. Mr. Pugin, the architect, has received from the Pope, as a slight testimony of his zeal in the erection of Catholic churches in Britain, a medal of the five saints canonized in the last canonization of May, 1839; and, also, a rosary blessed by his Holiness, to which are annexed various indulgences for each time of its being recited. Transportation.-It has been determined by the Government, that transportation to New South Wales shall cease after the present year: Norfolk Island is, in future, to be the convict settlement. Lament. From Lane's new translation of the Arabian Nights.) I passed by an undistinguished tomb, in the midst of a garden, with seven anemones upon it; And I said; "Whose tomb is this?" The soil answered: "Be respectful, for this is the restingplace of a lover." So I said: "God keep thee, O victim of love, and lodge thee in the highest stage of paradise!" How miserable are lovers among the creation, when even their tombs are covered with vile dust! Were I able, (O tomb,) I would make of thee a garden, and water it with my streaming tears. Curran.-"Do you see anything ridiculous in this wig?" said one of his brother judges to Curran. "Nothing but the head," he answered. Oddity. In a staymaker's shop-window, in the Strand: "Wanted a man to bone." Inland Navigation.-A project is on foot for improving the navigation of the river Nen, from the sea to Peterborough, so as to render that place an inland seaport, connecting itself with the towns of Northampton, Leicester, Market Harborough, Stamford, &c.; and, at the same time, to drain 50,000 acres of fens, to lay dry Whittlesea Mere, and to carry lines of road through the drained country, so as to diminish the distance between London and Hull, ten miles and upwards.-Gloucestershire Chron. Conversion.-A zealous person, in attempting to convert a negro, who was all but incorrigible, as an argumentum ad hominem, told Cuffy that the wicked did not live half their days. "Dat dare is queer," said Cuffy; "him no lib out half him day, hah. Well, den, I 'spose him die 'bout 'leben o'clock forenoon.' Staffa.-Professor Sedgwick's explanation of this phenomenon, is, that it was once in a fluid state, and red hot, but that in cooling, under great pressure, crystallization commenced. In this operation, there were central points; from which the crystals sprang, forming a mass of spheres, or globes, which, on being compressed closely together, would assume a hexagonal form. Vast tracts of mud are found to solidify in the same manner; and the earthen kettle in a glass-house, which is suffered to cool gradually, exhibits the same formations, in passing from a fluid state to that of a solid body. Sir John Herschel, the celebrated astronomer, has left Slough, where he has resided for many years, for Hawkhurst, in Kent. His astronomical apparatus, the most perfect and extensive of any in the possession of a private individual, and which has been inspected by the most eminent astronomers who have visited this country from all parts of the world, has lately been removed from Slough to his new residence.-Times. [The famed forty-feet telescope, constructed by Sir William Herschel, in the grounds at Slough, was removed many years since, when an instrument of smaller dimensions, but more accurate construction, was set up in its place by Sir John Herschel.] Assam Tea.-The accounts which have been received of the cost of production of this new tea, with every charge for conveyance, render it likely that the Assam Company will considerably undersell the Chinese; and it is considered that Assam Tea will, probably, be now classed with good and fine Congou. It is declared, by the most competent persons, to be a good, strong, and very useful description; holding out the expectation, that, by continued attention to the culture, and improved experience in the manufacture, it will become a most valuable and important article of commerce, and gradually lessen the entire dependance upon China which has hitherto prevailed.-Evidence of Mr. Larpent, Chairman of the East India Company. Dinner.-No one gives a dinner to any one whom he suspects of wanting one.-New Monthly Mag.[It is difficult to say which predominates, in the preceding paragraph-truth or sarcasm.] Definition of a Lover.-A lover has been pithily described as a man who, in his anxiety to obtain possession of another, has lost possession of himself. Model Farm.-Lord Moreton has opened for public inspection, a model farm at Cromhall, for the purpose of shewing to his neighbours the advantages of carrying on farming operations on the most improved principles. The farm books are open to all persons wishing to see them, and periodical reports are made of the results of all systems of agriculture adopted.-Bury Herald. Finis.-In 1605, a couple, in the city of Delft, in Holland, having lived most lovingly together, seventy-five years in wedlock,-the man being 103, and the woman ninety-nine years of age,—died within three hours of each other, and were buried in the same grave.-Fuller. Literary Discovery.-Professor Lee, Trinity College, Cambridge, is stated, in the Shrewsbury Chronicle, to have brought to light, in a Syriac translation, one of the lost books of Eusebius, the erudite expounder of Christianity in the third century. The English in France.-So favourite a residence has Ingouville become for those English who expatriate themselves, in search of claret and brandy, duty free, that the side of the hill, which overlooks the high road between Havre and Graville, is being cut into terraces, for new rows of houses and gardens. Portrait Superstition.-In Britanny it is commonly believed that, if any body draws a likeness of another, and carries it away with him, he holds, at any distance of time or place, an unlimited power over the original, whose death he may cause, at any time, by the destruction of the portrait. Strawberries.-The village of Plougastel, near Brest, is famous for strawberries. Whole fields are loaded with the fragrant crop; and the quantity produced is immense. They are brought over to Brest by boat-loads, and are sold at a price which must enable almost every one to eat them ad libitum. London Library (see present volume, p. 112).— The preliminary arrangements, we are happy to learn, are progressing well, and some influential names have been added to the Provisional Committee. A meeting of the friends to the proposed Institution is called for Wednesday next, at which the Earl of Clarendon will preside. The want of such an Establishment as the projected one is more and more felt every day; and, on all sides, persons are surprised that the Plan has not before been taken up with such zeal as its promoters are now shewing in its success. In the "Proposal," it is truly observed:-"The simple experiment of establishing a really good and extensive collection of books, on the principle of lending them out to read, has been tried successfully in Germany; in France; in the capitals of most civilized countries; even in many of the more considerable towns of England, according to the wants and capabilities of the place; -but seems to have been quite unthought of in London and its neighbourhood, where a greater number of readers are congregated than anywhere else on the surface of the earth." It is proposed that the collection shall be what is called a general" one; amply furnished with standard works (Foreign as well as English) in the historical, biographical, and any way descriptive or narrative departments; with all books of true poetic or scientific genius; with all great works of fiction; with all works, in short, which belong to general, as distinguished from professional, education. The terms are easy: £5 per share, and £2 annual subscription; and the plan may be safely commenced with 1000 subscribers. " LONDON: Published by GEORGE BERGER, Holywell Street, Strand. Printed by WHITEHEAD & Co. 76, Fleet Street, where all Communications for the Editor may be addressed. |