*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 47770 ***

                        THE SATURDAY MAGAZINE.

[Illustration: Seal, with a picture of a human figure holding a cross,
and the text: COMMITTEE OF GENERAL LITERATURE & EDUCATION]

  No 65.                      JULY 6TH, 1833.               {PRICE
                                                            {ONE PENNY.

UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE COMMITTEE OF GENERAL LITERATURE AND
EDUCATION, APPOINTED BY THE SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE.




                   THE HISTORY AND CULTURE OF SILK.

[Illustration: FEEDING THE SILK WORMS.]

[Illustration: CLEARING THE COCOONS.]

The culture and manufacture of Silk, appears originally to have been
confined to the Empire of China, and even at the present time, no
country produces this useful material in such large quantities, or
of so fine a description. When silk was first brought into Europe,
so little was known of its origin, that the most absurd tales were
told respecting it; by some it was said to be a kind of fleece, which
adhered to the branches of trees; by others, the bark of the tree
itself, and by another party, the production of a flower.

The scarcity and consequent value of silk, when it was first introduced
at Rome, may be estimated by the fact, that more than two hundred
years after that time, the Emperor Aurelian refused his Empress a
garment of this material, on account of its immense price, twelve
ounces of gold being the charge for one pound of Silk. It was not
till the year 552, that the eggs of the insect, by which the silk is
produced, were brought into Europe. Two monks employed as missionaries,
had succeeded in penetrating into the Chinese Empire, and having
obtained a thorough knowledge of the whole process of rearing the
silk-worm, and manufacturing the silk, they on their return, repaired
to Constantinople, and gave an account of their enterprise to the
Emperor Justinian. Induced by the offer of a great reward, they once
more returned to China, and succeeded, after many efforts, in eluding
the vigilance of that suspicious people, and bringing to Constantinople
a number of the eggs of the silk-worm, concealed in the head of a
walking-cane; these were hatched by the heat of a hot-bed, and being
afterwards carefully fed and attended to, the experiment, which had
cost these enterprising men so much toil, was perfectly successful, and
the cultivation of the silk-worm became very general over the whole of
Greece. In the year 1146, we still find the management of these useful
creatures, and the manufacture of their spoils, in Europe, confined to
the Greek Empire.

In 947, Roger, the first King of Sicily, invaded Greece, and having
sacked the cities of Athens, Thebes, and Corinth, led into captivity
a considerable number of silk-weavers, whom he forcibly settled at
Palermo, obliging them to instruct his subjects in the art, and in
twenty years, the Sicilian silks are said to have attained great
excellence, from the variety of patterns in which they were wrought.
The manufacture of this important article, gradually spread through
the whole of Italy and Spain, but it was not until the beginning of
the sixteenth century, in the reign of Francis the First, that it was
introduced into France. In 1554, while its manufacture was yet but
little known in England, a curious law was passed by the tyrannical
Mary, for the purpose of assisting the consumption of home productions,
by which it was enacted, "that whoever shall wear silk, in or upon his
or her hat, bonnet, or girdle, scabbard, hose, shoes, or spur-leather,
shall be imprisoned during three months, and forfeit ten pounds,"
making, however, a few exceptions in favour of persons of distinction.
The manufacture of stockings from silk, appears about this time to have
been making some progress, although, in this country at least, they
were considered a peculiar rarity, for that luxurious and expensive
Prince, Henry the Eighth, was obliged to wear cloth hose, except when,
by great chance, he was able to obtain from Spain, a pair of silk
stockings for gala days.

The Broad-Silk manufacture in England, had its origin in the following
occurrence. In the year 1585, the Duke of Parma, governor of the
Netherlands, then in the possession of Spain, having taken the city of
Antwerp, where a large and flourishing manufactory existed, consigned
it during three days, to unchecked plunder and destruction: the ruin
of this noble city was a death-blow to the commerce of Flanders, and
its flourishing manufactures were dispersed over different countries.
A large portion of the manufacturers and merchants, employed in the
silk trade, took refuge in England, where they ultimately settled, and
taught the art they had imported. For many years, however, foreign
goods were preferred to those of English make, but still improvements
were constantly and steadily taking place, and, at the present time,
the fabrics of this country are fully equal, if not superior to those
of any other nation.

A curious occurrence, showing the perfection to which the English
fabric has arrived, took place in 1824. A French manufacturer came over
to England, and settled in London; a feeling of jealousy seems to have
arisen against him, and it was broadly hinted that his manufactory was
merely a cloak for the purpose of smuggling French silks. An inquiry
was instituted, and his premises searched, when thirty-seven pieces
of goods were seized, and condemned as foreign; and it was only after
producing the individuals by whom they had actually been made, that he
was able to remove the impression that they had been smuggled.

In 1685, the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and the persecution of
the protestants in France, compelled many merchants, manufacturers and
workmen to take refuge in England. Of these, a large number who had
been employed in the silk manufacture resorted to Spitalfields, and at
the present time, descendants of these emigrants may be found on the
spot, engaged in the same employment. About the end of the sixteenth
century, the Rev. William Lea, of St. John's College, Cambridge,
invented a machine for the purpose of knitting stockings, by which the
work was so much improved that vast quantities were exported, and their
being of English manufacture was considered, in foreign countries,
as a recommendation of their good qualities. About the same time,
Henry the Fourth of France was making great exertions to extend the
cultivation and manufacture of silk in his empire. To attain this end,
he offered every facility to enterprising men, and, as an extraordinary
inducement, proffered patents of nobility to such large manufacturers
as should support their establishments successfully for the period of
twelve years. He also extended the cultivation of the worm over the
whole of France; but, probably on account of the climate, was obliged
to abandon his plans in all but the more southern departments.

The success of the French king caused, at the time, many attempts to
breed the worms to be made in England, but they all appear to have been
unsuccessful, and the same result attended experiments made in our
American colonies. In the year 1825, a company was formed, entitled
'the British, Irish, and Colonial Silk Company;' about eighty acres of
ground were purchased near Michelstown, in the county of Cork, and the
whole were planted with white mulberry-trees. The rearing of the worms
was confided to an experienced foreigner, Count Dandolo, but, from
some reason or other, the undertaking was abandoned. The cause of such
repeated failures is not thoroughly understood; the severity of the
climate has been assigned as a reason, but silk has been successfully
produced in some parts of Prussia, and the climate of Pekin, in China,
is colder than that of Scotland. But whatever success might attend an
experiment of the sort, it is clear that, in a mercantile point of
view, the project would never succeed, on account of the number of
hands that would be required, and the higher rate of wages. In several
parts of the East Indies, the silk-worm has been introduced, as might
have been expected, with complete success; and, in Bengal alone, the
factories find employment for upwards of two hundred thousand persons.


                      THE MANAGEMENT OF THE WORM.

Silk is the production of a species of Moth, called the _Phalæna
mori_ or Mulberry moth, and its original locality, as we have already
stated, appears to have been China or Persia. The changes that
butterflies or moths undergo, having already been described at page
212 of Vol. II., it will be needless to repeat them. The substance
which the animal spins to protect itself when in the Pupa state, is
the silk, which, before it is dyed or bleached, is of a bright yellow
colour more or less inclining to orange. The Silk-worm in not the
only creature that produces substances of this description, for many
other kinds of butterflies and moths do the same; a kind of silk has
also been manufactured from the webs of spiders, and as they require
less attention than the Silk-worms, the plan might have answered,
had it not been for the ravenous appetites of the little spinners,
who, when brought together in any quantity very speedily devour each
other. Certain shell-fish also produce a kind of silky thread; as, for
instance, the muscle, but more particularly the _pinna_, a large kind
of shell-fish found in the Mediterranean and other seas.

The time that elapses while the silk-worm is undergoing its changes,
varies according to the warmth of the weather, and the quantity of
nourishment with which it is supplied; the Chinese, who are very
particular on this head, take the greatest pains to supply the little
creature with food, as on this they say depends the quantity of silk
which the worm will produce. They calculate that the same number of
insects, which would, if they had attained their full size, in from
twenty-three to twenty-five days, produce twenty-five ounces of silk,
would only yield twenty ounces if their growth occupied twenty-eight
days, and only ten ounces if forty days. During the first twenty-four
hours of the creature's existence, the patient Chinese feeds the
objects of his care forty-eight times, or once every half hour, and
during the second day and night thirty times, and so on, reducing the
number of meals as the worms grow older; the care bestowed on their
culture, and the numerous precautions taken to preserve them clean and
warm, are curiously expressed in the following extract from on old
Chinese work on the subject.

     "The place where their habitation is built must be retired, free
     from noisome smells, cattle and all noises; a noisome smell, or
     the least fright, make great impressions upon so tender a breed;
     even the barking of dogs and the crowing of cocks are capable of
     putting them in disorder, when they are newly hatched.

     "For the purpose of paying them every attention, an affectionate
     mother is provided for the worms, who is careful to supply their
     wants; she is called _Isan-mon_, mother of the worms. She takes
     possession of the chamber, but not till she has washed herself
     and put on clean clothes, which have not the least ill smell;
     she must not have eaten any thing immediately before, or have
     handled any wild succory, the smell of which is very prejudicial
     to these tender creatures; she must be clothed in a plain habit,
     without any lining, that she may be more sensible of the warmth
     of the place, and accordingly increase or lessen the fire, but
     she must carefully avoid making a smoke or raising a dust, which
     would be very offensive to these tender creatures, which must be
     carefully humoured before the first time of casting their slough.
     Every day is to them a year, and has in a manner the four seasons;
     the morning is the spring, the middle of the day the summer, the
     evening the autumn, and the night the winter."

While it remains in the state of a caterpillar, the Silk-worm changes
its coat four times, and previous to each moult refuses its food, and
appears in a very sickly condition. As soon as its nest or cocoon is
finished, and it has changed into the pupa-state, the cocoons are
carefully removed from the place where the animal had formed them; and
after those which it is intended to keep, that they may perfect their
changes and lay eggs for the ensuing year, are removed, the remainder
are placed in large vessels, each covered with a thick blanket; they
are then exposed to heat sufficiently powerful to destroy the life
of the pupæ. This is generally accomplished by placing the vessels in
an oven, heated to about the same degree as that of a baker after his
loaves are drawn; here they are suffered to remain for about an hour,
they are then withdrawn, but the blanket that covers them, is not
removed for the space of five or six hours.

The first process in preparing the silk, is winding it off the cocoons:
for this purpose, after the rough outsides are removed, several
handfuls at a time are thrown into a vessel containing water, and
placed over a gentle fire, the water is then allowed to be heated to
nearly the boiling point; a short stunted brush formed of heath or any
other shrub of that description, is now gently moved about among the
cocoons, and on withdrawing it from the water, the ends of the silk are
found to have adhered to it in several places; the winder then gathers
together with her fingers, as many ends as she intends the first
description of thread to consist of, and hands them to an assistant,
whose office it is to turn the reel as soon as the silk is laid upon
it; the principal workwoman, in the mean time, continually adds to the
thread the ends of fresh cocoons, as soon as the first are exhausted.

The silk, when reeled off in this manner, is called _singles_, and is
used in weaving to form the _weft_, that is, the thread that crosses
the cloth from side to side. Another description of silk threads, are
called trams, and these consist of two or three _singles_ twisted
together; but the strongest and most valuable sort is the _organzine_,
which is formed by placing skeins of _singles_ upon a reel, and
as they are wound off, they are, by the assistance of machinery,
strongly twisted. Two or three of these are then taken, and the whole
again twisted together to form a stronger thread; this thread is the
_organzine_, and is used for the warp or length of the cloth.

The process of making organzine, is called _throwing_, and the
throwsters form a very important branch of the silk business. Before
the year 1719, the whole of the thrown silk used in England came from
abroad, but at that time Sir Thomas Lombe and his brother erected a
large mill at Derby for the purpose of forming organzine, and obtained
an exclusive patent for its manufacture, for the term of fourteen
years; at the expiration of that term, they applied for a renewal of
their patent, but it was refused by Parliament, and the trade has since
then been open to competition. Some idea may be formed of the extent to
which the silk manufacture is carried on at present in England, by the
fact that no less a quantity than four million, six hundred and ninety
three thousand, five hundred and seventeen pounds of raw silk were
imported for home consumption, in the year ending January 1831.

The substance on which this valuable caterpillar feeds, is the leaf
of the Mulberry Tree; and Providence as if to ensure the continuance
of this useful species, has so ordained it, that no other insect will
partake of the same food; thus ensuring a certain supply for the little
spinster.

       *       *       *       *       *

The engravings which illustrate this article are copied from original
Chinese drawings: the first shows the apartment in which the worms
are fed, and the manner in which the little trays containing them are
arranged. In the second, the cocoons being completed by the insect, are
being cleared of dirt and dead leaves, before they are removed from the
frames on which they had spun. The third represents the winding off
the silk into _singles_, but the windster appears for the moment to
have left her post for the purpose of blowing the fire. In the fourth
engraving, a Chinese silk-loom, is shown; the figure seated above,
among the machinery, appears to assist the labour by means of her
weight.

[Illustration: WINDING THE SILK FROM THE COCOONS.]

[Illustration: CHINESE MODE OF WEAVING THE SILK]




     NARRATIVE OF A SAILOR LEFT ON AN ISLAND IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN.


Early in the year 1825, the subject of this narrative was, at the
age of seventeen, placed on board a ship employed in the South Sea
Fishery. The ship being in the latitude of the Gallapagos, a group of
islands situated about two hundred miles west of Peru, she directed
her course towards them for the purpose of obtaining wood and water.
Here they found an American brig which had arrived there, a day or two
previous, with the same intention. They came to an anchor fronting
a sandy beach of no very great extent, with high hills, and lofty
woods terminating the prospect; the inland parts at a little distance
seemed impracticable from the great thickness of the forests. A number
of hands were despatched on shore in the long-boat, but not meeting
with so desirable a place for watering at they expected, some of
the men entered the woods in search of the "Quick freshes," while
others proceeded along shore to find one less objectionable. Of the
former party was young Lord, who, separating from the rest, entered
unconsciously into the thickest part of the country. Having wandered on
in this wild labyrinth for nearly two hours, without finding water, or
being able to knock down any of the large birds which he chased from
among the wild furze and thickets, he began to think of returning.
Being perfectly satisfied in his own mind that he was proceeding in the
direction for the ship, he pursued the path he had chosen; evening,
however, began to wrap the forest in a deeper gloom, and only just
sufficient light remained to show him that he had arrived at a place
clothed with some fine trees, beyond which the woods grew so thick as
to render them impassable. The fact now first flashed upon him, that
he had proceeded in all probability some miles into the interior, and
he cheerfully made up his mind to pass the night in the woods, not
doubting that on the morrow, he should readily find his way back to the
vessel. In this comfortable hope, after having fortified himself with a
draught of water from a spring, he ascended one of the trees; and here,
notwithstanding the loud screaming of the nightbird, and the continued
whoopings of innumerable owls, "making night hideous," worn out by
fatigue and watching, he slept till morning.

It may be imagined that at the first glimpse of daybreak, he was not
a little anxious to get out of the wood, for he now began to suffer
severely from want of food. For some hours he wandered about in the
intricacies of this wild and uninhabited spot, supported in the hope
that his toils were near their termination. Often did he listen in
breathless attention to catch the sound of any signal-gun to guide
his footsteps, and often did he shout in expectation of being heard
by those who might have been despatched in search of him. He ascended
the high trees, but his view was constantly intercepted by forests and
elevated hills wooded to their summits. Hunger now forced on him the
necessity of seeking some means of subsistence; he accordingly prepared
with his knife a formidable bludgeon, and scarcely had an hour passed
when, startled by a rustling among the underwood, he expected some kind
of animal to sally forth, but was surprised to see a large black snake
glide out from its concealment and raise its head, "nimble in threats,"
at his approach. Having got within range of his stick, he immediately
"rapped" it "o' the coxcomb," whereupon it rolled itself up, and after
a few twists and twirls remained stationary, with its forked tongue
thrust out of its mouth.

In this desolate situation night again overtook him, and although the
climate of the island, notwithstanding its latitude, is generally
mild, and the middle of the day pleasantly warm, yet the mornings
and the evenings are rather cold; consequently, he had to struggle
against both cold and hunger without any apparent remedy. The simple
circumstance of having met with a snake in the day did not seem of
much consequence, but the idea of meeting one in the night, occasioned
by his hearing those peculiar noises usually made by them at this
period, kept him in continual anxiety. He ascended a tree, and having
eaten some of the leaves, remained during the obscurity of a night
intensely dark, with his spirits dreadfully depressed, for he now began
to fear that the ship would sail without him; his situation appeared
hopeless, and he passed a sleepless and desponding night; the noises
kept up in the woods convinced him that many birds of prey existed
upon the island. When day began to appear, he descended from the tree,
and had not gone many paces when he perceived a large owl perched,
with the most imperturbable gravity, upon a low bough, with its large
eyes intently fixed on him, but as if unconscious of his appearance.
He quietly approached near enough to knock it on the head, and thus
he had the good fortune to provide himself with a breakfast. Having
eaten sufficiently of this carrion, which left his mouth as bitter as
wormwood, he set out with a determination of moving in a right line,
which could not fail of bringing him to the sea-shore at some part of
the island. Towards evening he was seized with a most painful sickness,
and felt cold and disheartened; he had not seen during this day any
four-footed animal.

The night set in dark and rainy, and he took up his quarters at the
base of a mountain, determined to ascend to the summit in the morning,
in the hope of gaining a view of the sea; but the first thing he did
was to shelter himself in one of the low trees which had the thickest
foliage, and which proved, in some measure, a defence against the
tempestuous weather which now set in. In this dismal situation he fell
asleep; and on awakening found himself in a very feeble condition, and
completely wet through. Towards morning the weather cleared up, and
he proceeded with no very great expedition to climb the mountain, for
his strength was nearly exhausted; after great exertion he succeeded
in gaining the top, and with great joy found that it commanded a view
of the anchorage: but he also made another discovery, which, in its
event, threatened to prove more fatal to this unfortunate youth than
all his former adventures; the ship to which he belonged had put to
sea, and the American brig was at that moment loosening her sails. The
distance from the place where he stood to the sea-beach, was at least
three miles; and the well-known signal warned him that not a moment was
to be lost. The perfect hopelessness of all succour, should she sail
before he could arrive at the beach, rendered him desperate; he rushed
down the mountain, sick, dizzy, and faint, his limbs with difficulty
performing their office; he succeeded after nearly two hours of great
fatigue and difficulty in reaching the bay where he first landed; but
what was his horror on beholding the white sails of the American brig
dwindled to a mere speck upon the horizon!

Though naturally of an almost unconquerable spirit, the hopelessness
of his situation overpowered him, and he fell down in agony upon the
sand which he grasped in agitated spasm. Here he lay until the day was
pretty far advanced. On recovering a little, the want of food became
insupportable; he hobbled along shore in search of shell-fish, but was
obliged to put up with wild shrubs. He sheltered himself this night
in the woods which skirted the see, and in the morning returned to
the task of procuring subsistence. With this intent he walked along
the beach, and at a rocky part of the shore he perceived several
seals; some of them were reposing on the sand, while others lay upon
the rocks. Approaching very silently, and selecting one whose head
presented a fair mark, he with a few blows secured the prize. Being
unable to make a fire he proceeded to cut it up, and selecting a piece
of the liver, ate it ravenously; this he had no sooner done than he
was seized with excessive sickness, and was obliged to lie upon the
sand for a length of time, completely exhausted. Having refreshed
himself with some water, he again pursued his path along shore, when
by great good fortune he fell in with a tortoise; this he also quickly
despatched, and the flesh agreeing with his stomach renovated his
strength; he was soon afterwards enabled to return to the place where
he had left the seal, which he forthwith cut up into long strips, and
laying them upon the sand, left them to dry, intending to try another
piece for breakfast in the morning, the remains of the tortoise
sufficing only for that evening.

In this manner, he existed for some days, sleeping in the woods at
night, and roving abroad in the day; but the supply of seals at last
failed him, nor could he find another tortoise, and starvation began
once more to stare him in the face. It happened that the weather was
particularly pleasant, and he often refreshed himself by sleeping
on the warm sand; a gun would have been the means of supplying him
with plenty of water-fowl, and he often had the vexation of seeing
quantities of such birds fly past him with impunity. One morning when
he had wandered some distance, allaying his appetite with whatever
he could find upon the coast, he sank down beside a small bank quite
exhausted, and fell asleep. On awaking, he found that he had overlaid
a snake; its species was different from the one he had killed in the
woods, and it was not quite dead; the unexpected occurrence not a
little startled him, and, placing his stick under its speckled belly,
he tossed it into the sea. He had not the good fortune, with all
his industry, to meet with any provision, he therefore crawled back
to the bay. In the morning, which was very serene and pleasant, he
sauntered along, but with the same want of success as on the foregoing
day; nothing could he find to recruit his strength, which now became
seriously impaired, not only from the deprivation, but the quality, of
the food which he had been obliged to eat. The morning being very far
advanced and the sun pleasantly warm, he threw himself, or rather fell,
down upon the shore, and obtained in sleep a respite from the pangs of
hunger.

On awaking, he beheld the amphibious and black bullyhead of a large
seal, who, like himself, was basking in the sun and enjoying a sound
sleep; it had taken up its situation, singular as it may appear,
almost within the grasp of our famished Crusoe. Astonished at the
companionable qualities displayed by his unctuous friend, for "misery
acquaints a man with strange bed-fellows," he raised himself up, and
gazed perfectly panic-struck on the uncouth monster, who soundly
reposed with the utmost tranquillity. From what has been related, it
will be concluded that poor Lord was not at this time very strong, and
unfortunately he had let fall his club about twenty paces before he
sank down upon the shore, and feared that if he got up to fetch it,
he might disturb his reposing companion. He therefore determined on
commencing an attack with his knife. He suddenly darted forward, and
succeeded in encircling the seal in his arms and legs, and rolling with
the creature over and over; but the seal was too strong in despite of
all he could effect, and they both rolled into the sea.

Vexed and confounded at the escape of his prey, the more so when he
found his hands much lacerated in the encounter, he crawled on shore,
where he luckily recovered his knife which he had dropped on the spot
where they floundered. As he did not expect another visit from this
animal, he picked up his club, and began to pursue his road back,
benumbed with cold, and much reduced by the heavy fatigue of the
day; he had not gone half a mile, when, to his great joy, he beheld
a tolerably large tortoise moving up from the sea towards the woods.
Exerting his utmost strength, he was so successful as to arrive in
sufficient time to intercept its retreat, and he proceeded to despatch
it without delay. This supply came very opportunely, and after this
meal he found himself so much the better, that he reached the tree,
where he put up for the night, and slept without disturbance. The next
morning he finished the remains of the tortoise, and he then mustered
up resolution to enter the forest, in order to keep a look-out from
the mountain from whence he had beheld the American ship prepare for
sailing. He succeeded in gaining the summit, and remained all this day
viewing the distant horizon, but no sail appeared, and the night passed
heavily. About the middle of the next day, he was obliged by hunger to
return to the beach, the island being destitute of berries or fruits.

In this manner he subsisted till the morning of the twenty-first day,
which found him on the top of the mountain, reduced to the greatest
extremity, and more like an apparition than a human being; "sharp
misery had worn him to the bone," and he expected to die very shortly.
As his eye wandered round the glittering expanse, he thought he
distinguished in the extreme distance a dark speck, which he took to
be a sail. He gazed at it most intensely, but it did not seem to move,
and he concluded it was a rock; in order to be convinced, he lay down,
and brought the stem of a small tree to bear upon the distant object,
which he now perceived moved along the level horizon. It must be a
ship, but she was passing the island, and he kept anxiously looking, in
the expectation of her fading from his view. In a short time he could
perceive her to be a vessel of some size, but his heart sank within him
when he observed soon afterwards that she stood away upon a different
tack. In about half an hour she tacked again, and it now became evident
that she was making for the island. The joy of the poor sufferer at
this welcome sight broke out in sundry raptures and transports. He
rushed down the mountain with such little caution, that he stumbled
over the broken rocks, and pitched headlong down the broken and rugged
descent. After many painful efforts, he staggered from the woods to
the sea-shore, and, when he beheld the ship come fairly into the bay,
and anchor, a boat hoisted out, and pull with long and rapid strokes
towards him, he fell overpowered upon the sand.

On the boat reaching the shore, the poor fellow appeared at his last
gasp, and all he could articulate was "Water, water!" One of the
sailors brought some in a can, and suffered him to drink his fill; soon
afterwards he again swooned away, and in this state they carried him
alongside, where he became sensible, but unable to speak or move. His
helpless condition rendered it necessary to hoist him on board. Nothing
could exceed the kind and humane treatment which he received from
Captain Cook, and the surgeon of the ship, to whose skill and attention
may be attributed his ultimate recovery, as from the quantity of water
the sailor suffered him to drink (which the surgeon succeeded in
dislodging from his stomach,) in his miserable and emaciated state, the
medical gentleman, when he first saw him, had but faint hopes of his
surviving; indeed, this gentleman declared that he could not have lived
upon the island many hours longer. In a short time, he was well enough
to leave his cot, when he was informed by Captain Cook, that about a
week's sail from the Gallapagos, he had luckily fallen in with the ship
by which Lord had been left, when the master told him, that a youth had
been missed, and was left upon the island; this induced the Captain to
bear up for the place, otherwise he had no intention of making it.

This individual was afterwards Master's Assistant on board his
Majesty's ship Druid.

[Abridged from the _United Service Journal_.]

       *       *       *       *       *

It is easy to exclude the noontide light by closing the eyes; and it
is easy to resist the clearest truth, by hardening the heart against
it----KEITH on _Prophecy_.

       *       *       *       *       *

"Where did your Church lurk, in what cave of the earth slept she, for
so many hundreds of years together, before the birth of Martin Luther?"
The reply is, that she _lurked_ beneath the folds of that garment of
many colours, which the hands of superstition had woven and embellished
for her, and wherewith she was fantastically encumbered and disguised.
She _slept_ in that cavern of enchantment, where costly odours and
intoxicating fumes were floating around, to overpower her sense, and
to suspend her faculties; till, at last, a voice was heard to cry,
_Sleep no more_. And then she started up, like a strong man refreshed,
and shook herself from the dust of ages. Then did she cast aside the
gorgeous "leadings," which oppressed her, and stood before the world, a
sacred form of brightness and of purity,----LE BAS.




             ON THE SIGNS OF THE SEASONS IN RURAL PURSUITS.


"Our forefathers probably paid more attention to the periodical
occurrences of Nature, as guides for direction in their domestic and
rural occupations, than we of the present day are accustomed to do.
They seem to have referred to the Book of Nature more frequently and
regularly than to the almanack. Whether it were, that the one being
always open before them, was ready for reference, and not the other,
certain it is, that they attended to the _signs of the seasons_, and
regarded certain natural occurrences as indicating, and reminding them
of, the proper time for commencing a variety of affairs in common life.

The time was (perhaps it is not yet gone by), when no good housewife
would think of brewing when the beans were in blossom. The bursting of
the alder-buds, it was believed, announced the period at which eels
begin to stir out of their winter quarters, and, therefore, marked the
season for the miller or fisherman to put down his traps, to catch them
at the wears and flood-gates. The angler considered the season at which
tench bite most freely to be indicated by the blooming of the wheat;
and when the mulberry-tree came into leaf, the gardener judged that he
might safely commit his tender exotics to the open air, without the
fear of injury from frosts and cold. Then there was a variety of old
sayings, or proverbs, in vogue, such as--

    When the sloe-tree is white as a sheet,
    Sow your barley, whether it be dry or wet.

    When elder is white, brew and bake a peck;
    When elder is black, brew and bake a sack.

People talked of "the cuckoo having picked up the dirt," alluding
to the clean state of the country at the time of the arrival of the
cuckoo; and of "blackthorn winds," meaning the bleak north-east winds,
so commonly prevalent in the spring, about the time of the blowing of
the blackthorn. Virgil, in the recipe he gives in his _Georgics_, for
the production of a stock of bees, states that the process should be
begun,

    Before the meadows blush with recent flowers,
    And prattling swallows hang their nests on high.

And Shakspeare, in his _Winter's Tale_, speaks of

                          ----Daffodils
      That come before the swallow dares, and take
      The winds of March with beauty.

The intelligent observer of nature, from whose writings we have
been permitted to make some extracts, has been greatly struck with
coincidences of this kind; and he mentions, with interest, an idea
suggested in the same work, of forming "a calendar, by which the
flowering of a plant should acquaint us with the appearance of a bird,
and the appearance of an insect tell us the flowering of a plant."

Following up this idea, he annexes a plan of such a calendar, in
which each month, except "dark December," contains notices of these
occurrences in nature. The grounds for his remarks are extremely
curious, and worthy of our observation. In associating the wasp with
the hawthorn-leaf in April, the author says, "Wasps seem to delight
in frequenting hawthorn-hedges in the spring, as soon as the early
foliage comes out. What is it that attracts them to these haunts?
Perhaps they come in search of the larvæ of other insects which feed
on the hawthorn. That wasps, whose ordinary food seems to be fruit,
yet occasionally devour insects, there can be no doubt, as, even in
summer, they may often be seen to attack and devour the flies in the
windows. When they make their first appearance in spring, there
is no fruit for them; therefore they may, at that season resort to
hawthorn-hedges, which abound with the larvæ of various insects. The
song of the cuckoo is found to occur at the time of the appearance of
the _Papilio cardamines_, (or orange-tipped butterfly.) It is a common
remark, that the cuckoo is seldom heard in July, and this _papilio_ is
rarely met with so late. In the end of November, the little winter-moth
_(Phalæna brumaria,)_ is classed with the late-flowering _asters_."
We add an account of this insect in the author's own words. "This
modestly-attired little moth is found abundantly throughout the greater
part of the months of November and December. Its delicate texture,
and weakly form, would seam to mark it as an insect ill calculated
to endure the inclement season appointed as its proper period of
existence. But nature knows her own business best; and, accordingly,
these slender creatures brave the tempestuous weather they are doomed
to encounter, totally regardless of the cold, the wet, the winds, and
the fogs of November and December;

     These little bodies, mighty souls inform!

Let it blow, or rain, or shine, there they are sporting and dancing
away, under the sheltered sides of banks and hedges, with a resolute
hardihood and perseverance that are truly admirable, apparently
enjoying themselves as much as the butterfly in the sultry sun-beams of
July."

   [From a paper by the Rev. W. T. BREE, in the _Magazine of Natural
                               History_.]

       *       *       *       *       *

If a man will look at most of his prejudices, he will find that they
arise from his field of view being necessarily narrow, like the eye
of the fly. He can have but little better notions of the whole scheme
of things, as has been well said, than a fly on the pavement of St.
Paul's Cathedral can have of the whole structure. He is offended,
therefore, by inequalities, which are lost in the great design. This
persuasion will fortify him against many injurious and troublesome
prejudices.----CECIL.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Christian member of a Christian household has this heavenly and
solacing assurance, "that so strong, so unearthly become the bonds
which unite those who have long lived together in the unity of the
Spirit, no less than community of blood; that they undoubtedly
enjoy," even in absence, "a certain, though undefinable, fruition of
each other's presence; they hear each other's voices speaking in the
depth of their bosoms, dissuading, approving, comforting, rejoicing,
and thus realize, to its fullest extent, that blessed privilege,
alas! how seldom enjoyed, or even understood, of the communion of
saints."----_The Rectory of Valehead._

       *       *       *       *       *

We cannot keep our bodies long here, they are corruptible bodies, and
will tumble into dust; we must part with them for a while, and if ever
we expect and desire a happy meeting again, we must use them with
modesty and reverence now.----SHERLOCK.

       *       *       *       *       *

                                 DEATH.

  . . . . . . . . . . . . . Death!
  What art thou, O thou great mysterious terror!
  The way to thee we know; diseases, famine,
  Fire, sword, and all thy ever-open gates,
  Which day and night, stand ready to receive us;
  But what's beyond them?--Who shall draw that veil?
                     [HUGHES'S _Siege of Damascus_.]


               ANSWER, by the late Rev. S. BISHOP, M. A.

  _Beyond?_ and, _Who shall draw that veil?_--The man
  Whom Christian Spirit hath ennobled can:
  He from th' abyss beyond, the veil shall tear,
  For 'tis his triumph, that DEATH is not there!
  That there is all sublime devotion's scope;
  All rest from sorrow; all expanse of hope;
  There perfect souls, the path he treads, who trod;
  There Immortality! there Heaven! there GOD!




                       THE GREAT BELL OF MOSCOW.

In our first volume, (p. 20,) we gave a history of Bells, with a table
of the weights of some of the most remarkable. The following account of
the GREAT BELL OF MOSCOW, is furnished in compliance with the request
of some of our youthful readers in the country.

In the churches of Russia in general, the bells are numerous and of
large size. They are hung, particularly at Moscow, in belfries, or
steeples separated from the churches; they do not swing like our bells,
but are fixed to the beams, and rung by a rope tied to the clapper
and pulled sideways. One of these bells in the belfry of St. Ivan's
Church, at Moscow, weighs more than fifty-seven tons. It is used only
on important occasions. "When it sounds," says Dr. Clarke, "a deep and
hollow murmur vibrates all over Moscow, like the fullest and lowest
tones of a vast organ, or the rolling of distant thunder."

"The Great Bell of Moscow, known to be the largest ever founded, (its
weight being upwards of four hundred and thirty thousand pounds,) is in
a deep pit in the midst of the palace of the Kremlin, (the central and
highest part of the city). It is said to have fallen, in consequence
of a fire, from a beam to which it was fastened. But this is not the
fact. The bell remains in the same place where it was originally cast.
It never was suspended; the Russians might as well attempt to suspend
a first-rate line-of-battle ship with all her guns and stores. A fire
took place in the Kremlin, the flames caught the building erected over
the pit where the bell yet remains, in consequence of which the metal
became hot; and water thrown to extinguish the fire fell upon the bell,
causing the fracture which has taken place. The engraving will give an
accurate view of its present appearance, and also of the descent into
the cave by means of a double ladder. The entrance is by a trap-door,
placed even with the surface of the earth." Dr. Clarke then describes
his falling into the pit down the stairs, by which he narrowly escaped
with his life. "The bell," he continues, "is truly a mountain of metal.
It is said to contain a very large proportion of gold and silver.
While it was in fusion, the nobles and the people cast in, as votive
offerings, their plate and money. I endeavoured, in vain, to assay
a small part: the natives regard it with superstitious veneration,
and would not allow even a grain to be filed off. The compound has a
white shining appearance, unlike bell-metal in general, and perhaps
its silvery aspect has strengthened if not excited the conjecture
respecting the costliness of its ingredients.

On festival days, peasants visit the bell as they would resort to a
church; considering it an act of devotion, and crossing themselves as
they descend and ascend the steps. The bottom of the pit is covered
with water and large pieces of timber; these, added to the darkness,
render it always an unpleasant and unwholesome place, in addition to
the danger arising from the ladders leading to the bottom."--(_Travels
in Russia, by the late_ DR. CLARKE.)

With the assistance of six Russian officers, Dr. Clarke took the
dimensions. He was unable to measure the base, that being buried in the
earth, but within two feet of its lower extremity, the circumference
was found to be sixty-seven feet four inches. The perpendicular height,
from the top, measures twenty-one feet four inches and a half. In
the stoutest part, that in which it should have received the blow of
the hammer, its thickness is twenty-three inches. They were able to
ascertain this, by placing their hands under water where the rent had
taken place; this, is above seven feet high from the lip of the bell.
This bell is supposed by Dr. Clarke to have been founded in 1653,
during the reign of Alexis, although the Russians for the most part
maintain, probably on account of the female figure with which it is
ornamented, that it was cast during the reign of their Empress Anne.
This great and powerful princess succeeded Peter the Great on the
throne in 1725.

[Illustration: THE GREAT BELL OF MOSCOW.]

       *       *       *       *       *




  ANECDOTE OF THE LATE BENJAMIN WEST, PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY.

In the month of June, 1745, one of his sisters, who had been married
some time before, and who had a daughter, came with her infant to spend
a few days at her father's. When the child was asleep in the cradle,
Mrs. West invited her daughter to gather flowers in the garden, and
committed the infant to the care of Benjamin during their absence,
giving him a fan to flap away the flies from molesting his little
charge. After some time, the child happened to smile in its sleep, and
its beauty attracted his attention. He looked at it with a pleasure
which he had never before experienced, and observing some paper on a
table, together with pens and red and black ink, he seized them with
agitation, and endeavoured to delineate a portrait; although at this
period he had never seen an engraving or a picture, and was only in
the seventh year of his age. Hearing the approach of his mother and
sister, he endeavoured to conceal what he had been doing; but the old
lady observing his confusion, inquired what he was about, and requested
him to show her the paper. He obeyed, entreating her not to be angry.
Mrs. West, after looking some time at the drawing with evident
pleasure, said to her daughter, "I declare, he has made a likeness of
little Sally;" and kissed him with much fondness and satisfaction.
This encouraged him to say, that _if it would give her any pleasure,
he would make pictures of the flowers which she held in her hand;_
for the instinct of his genius was now awakened, and he felt that he
could imitate the forms of those things which pleased her sight. This
happened in America, near Springfield in Pennsylvania, where West was
born.----GALT'S _Life of West_.

       *       *       *       *       *

However frequently you are injured, if real penitence and contrition
follow the offence, a Christian is always bound to forgive.----BISHOP
PORTEUS.

       *       *       *       *       *

The nominal professions of religion with which many persons content
themselves, seem to fit them for little else than to disgrace
Christianity by their practice.----MILNER.

       *       *       *       *       *

A kind refusal is sometimes as gratifying as a bestowal: he who can
alleviate the pain of an ungracious act is unpardonable unless he do
so.




                         ANNIVERSARIES IN JULY.


                              MONDAY, 8th.

  1397 _The Union of Calmar_, by which Norway, Sweden and Denmark,
       were formed into a single kingdom, under Margaret of Denmark,
       commonly called the "Semiramis of the North." This union lasted
       till 1520, when Sweden became again an independent state under
       Gustavus Vasa.

  1797 Died, at Beaconsfield, _Edmund Burke_.


                             TUESDAY, 9th.

  1497 _Vasco de Gama_ sailed from Belem, near Lisbon, on a voyage of
       discovery, which terminated in his finding the passage to the
       East Indies by the Cape of Good Hope, while Columbus was seeking
       the shores of Asia, by sailing continually to the West, and in
       so doing discovered the _New World_. The Portuguese navigator,
       by patiently pursuing the Coast of Africa, and at length
       doubling the Cape, which terminates this continent on the south,
       actually arrived on this long-sought coast the 22nd of May, 1499
       after a voyage of one year and ten months.

  1762 _Catherine II._ deposed her husband, Peter III., and caused
       herself to be proclaimed Empress of all the Russias.

  1816 The countries of La Plata and Paraguay declared themselves free,
       and assumed the name of the United Provinces of South America.


                           WEDNESDAY, 10th.

  1212 London Bridge was nearly consumed by a fire, which broke out
       at both ends at the same time. In this conflagration near 3000
       persons perished, the sides of the bridge being occupied by
       rows of houses, there was, consequently, no escape for the
       unfortunate inhabitants, thus hemmed in by the fire on two
       sides, and the water behind.

  1472 The Town of Beauvais saved from falling into the hands of the
       Burgundians by the courage and zeal of the women, who, when the
       garrison, exhausted by a long resistance, were on the point
       of giving way, came to their assistance, led by one Jeanne de
       Hachette. This heroine herself threw down from the walls the
       Burgundian officer, who was about to plant his standard on them.
       Louis XI. made an honourable marriage for her, and commanded
       that the event should be annually commemorated by a procession,
       in which the females should walk first; a custom which prevails
       to this day.

  1559 _Henry II. of France_ died of a wound in the eye, received in
       a tournament from the Count de Montgomery. In his last moments
       the monarch commanded that the unfortunate, but innocent, cause
       of his death should not be molested; but, fifteen years after,
       he was arraigned for the fact, and sacrificed to the revengeful
       feelings of Catherine de Medicis.


                            THURSDAY, 11th.

  1708 The _Duke of Marlborough_ and _Prince Eugene_ obtained a great
       victory over the French at Audenard, or Oudenarde, on the
       Scheldt.


                             FRIDAY, 12th.

  1536 Death of _Erasmus_.--He was one of the most learned men of the
       extraordinary age in which he flourished. Equally courted by the
       Sovereigns of France and England, and by the Popes of the House
       of Medici, he could never be induced to abandon the learned
       pursuits in which he delighted, for the employments or benefices
       so profusely offered to him. The cotemporary of Luther, it has
       been said of him, that there was not an error which Luther
       sought to reform that Erasmus had not made the subject either of
       severe censure or keen satire; yet, restrained by the natural
       timidity of his temper, by his love of peace, and hoping that
       mild measures would produce a gradual amelioration of the vices
       he so loudly censured, he chose rather to assume the character
       of a mediator between Luther and the Church of Rome, than openly
       to join the party of the reformers. He died at Basle, in the
       sixty-ninth year of his age, and was interred in the Cathedral
       of that town.


                            SATURDAY, 13th.

  1771 _Captain Cook_, in the Endeavour, returned to Portsmouth, having
       sailed round the world.

  1788 A dreadful storm took place in France, which desolated the
       country and destroyed the harvest for a space of fifty leagues.

  1789 The first breaking out of the French Revolution; the mob of
       Paris forcibly entered the Hospital des Invalides, and possessed
       themselves of the arms deposited there.

  1793 Marat, the coadjutor of Robespierre and Danton, and one of the
       worst monsters the Revolution produced, was assassinated by
       Charlotte Cordé.


                             SUNDAY, 14th.

  SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 1223 Died at Mantes, in the forty-third
       year of his reign, and the fifty-ninth of his age, _Philip II.
       of France_, called by his historians Philip-Augustus. He was the
       great rival of Richard Coeur de Lion of England.

  1824 _Riho Riho_, or _Tamehameha II., King of the Sandwich Islands_,
       died in London; his wife, who came to this country with him, had
       died about a week before.




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       *       *       *       *       *

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES:

Errors and inconsistencies in punctuation have been retained.

The "oe" ligature is represented herein as "oe".

In the masthead, the "o" in "No" and the "TH" in "6TH" were
superscripts.

On page 5, the word "bullyhead" was split between lines, with "bully-"
on one line and "head" on the next; it has arbitrarily been made
"bullyhead" rather than "bully-head".





End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Saturday Magazine, No. 65, July
6th, 1833, by Various

*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 47770 ***