Ex Libris C. K. OGDEN

TEN THOUSAND

WONDERFUL THINGS

COMPRISING

WHATEVER IS MARVELLOUS AND RARE, CURIOUS ECCENTRIC AND EXTRAORDINARY

IN ALL AGES AND NATIONS

ENRICHED WITH HUNDREDS OF AUTHENTIC ILLUSTRATIONS

EDITED BY

EDMUND FILLINGHAM KING, M.A,

LONDON GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS, LJMITED

BROADWAY, LUDGATE HILL MANCHESTER AND NEW YORK

STANDARD WORKS OF REFERENCE.

UNIFORM WITH- THIS VOLUME.

LEMPRIERE'S CLASSICAL DICTIONARY. WALKER'S RHYMING DICTIONARY.

MACKAY'S THOUSAND AND ONE GEMS OF ENGLISH POETRY.

D'ISRAELI'S CURIOSITIES OF LITERATURE. BARTLETT'S FAMILIAR QUOTATIONS. CRUDEN'S CONCORDANCE TO THE BIBLE. THE FAMILY DOCTOR.

PREFACE.

A BOOK OF WONDERS requires but a brief introduction. Our title-page tells its own tale and forms the best expo- sition of the contents of the volume.

Everything that is marvellous carries with it much that is instructive, and, in this sense, " Ten Thousand Wonderful Things," may be made useful for the highest educational purposes. Events which happen in the regular course have no claim to a place in any work that professes to be a regis- ter of what is uncommon; and were we to select such Wonders only as are capable of familiar demonstration, we should destroy their right to be deemed wondrous, and, at the same time, defeat the very object which we profess to have in view. A marvel once explained away ceases to be a marvel. For this reason, while rejecting everything that is obviously fictitious and untrue, we have not hesitated to insert many incidents which appear at first sight to be wholly incredible.

In the present work, interesting Scenes from Nature, Curiosities of Art, Costume and Customs of a bygone period rather predominate; but we have devoted many of its pages to descriptions of remarkable Occurrences, beau- tiful Landscapes, stupendous Water -falls, and sublime Sea- pieces. It is true that some of our illustrations may nor

1C99398

PIS? All.

be beautiful according to the sense in which the word is generally used; but they are all the more curious and characteristic, as well as truthful, on thst account ; for whatever is lost of beauty, is gained by accuracy. Whit is odd or quaint, strange or startling, rarely possesses much claim to the picturesque and refined. Scrape the rust off an antique coin, and, while you make it look more shining, you invariably render it worthless in the eyes of a collector. To polish up a fact which derives its value either from the strangeness of its nature, or from the quaintness of its narra- tion, is like the obliterating process of scrubbing up a painting by one of the old masters. It looks all the cleaner for the operation, but, the chances are, it is spoilt as a work of art.

We trust it is needless to say that we have closed our pages against everything that can be considered objtc- tionable in its tendency ; and, Avhile every statement in this volume has been culled with conscientious care from authentic, although not generally accessible, sources, we have scrupulously rejected every line that could give offence, and endeavoured, in accordance with what we profess in our title-page, to amuse by the eccentric, to startle by the unexpected, and to astonish bv the marvellous.

INDEX TO ENGRAVINGS

	So*"1
	... 492	CANDLJ18TICK, A BBMAHKABtB, I*
AMULBT BHOTCHB	... 496 ... 332		333 87
OF TUB	... 210 ... 27 JD ... 308	, Djr.OHI'.Kl's, ANCIKNT , HBNXV Till. '8	614 3(U 1%
CHUBCH ...	... 433 ... 425	CHAPTSK-HOr?K, A, IN IHh 1JMK Of CHIKFTA1N, ANC1BNT SCOTTrSH	600 SIX)
BAGPIPES BANDOMKRS	... 37 ... C05 ... 6fiO SNT 581,585	WOOOKN Col. 1, Alt	31(5 134 It fi!»7
BECT1VB ABBEY	... 392	COMB, A CUKIODS INDIAN	Oiif, 6.', 7 74
OF SAINT MURA	... 412 r THB	213, 220, 29«, — — , GERMAN, Of THK 16lH	207 f-W (> 13 tin
BHANK, THB	2	CnCKtNG STOOL	324 620 4.-, 7 G53
HIITCKS OF BABVLO.V BKIDGK OVKK THB THAMES, THB	... 613 JIBST 428 ... 63	BAGGBB 0V BAOUI, T)B COURCT	203 2R3 421 2Z5
		8T»«KT	I!

INDEX TO ENGRAVINGS.

DINrfBB fABTY IW THB 1 7TH CENTUBY	609	HKLMET OF SIB JOHN CROSBY	r~\n
DRINKING CUP, A CURIOUSLY SHAPED	101 413		•JS-> 26
' VESSEL, A DBCOHATIVB	336	HINDOO ADORATION OF THB SALAGBAM
DROPPING WELL OF KNABESBOBOUGH...	143	HOOPS, LADIES', IN 1740	6
BUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS, OB OBNITHO- RYNCHUS PABADOXUS BYAK WITH HEADS, SKULL HOUSE, AND	273 277	IMPLEMENTS USED IN BUDDHIST TEW-	473 fi'l
— • WAB BOAT IN BORNEO DYAKS CF BORNEO, WAB DANCB OF THB	640 641	INCENSE CHABIOT, AN ANCIENT	613
	130	WHICH LORDS BALMEBINO AND
HER EXECUTION	263	PBESSION OF BRAND; PUNIPHMK.N?
	183	OF PUNISHMENT ; PILLORY, STOCKS,
TIME OF CHARLES I FAWKES HALL. OLD MANOB HOUSE OF *KTE OF THR FEDEBATION OF THR	213	LONDON BRIDGR 6( IRRIGATION, TURKISH MACHINE FOR ...	), 90 (iSl
Fioo (JAMES), THE CHAMPION PBIZE- F1GHTKR OF 1733	113	LONGIiD TO II., AND THE CHUBCH OF DONORS	657
FISHERMAN, BULGtRIAN	407 417	SCOTS, TO EARL HUNTIET INNBB TBMPLB LANS	2!3 43
FTTLLERTON'S (COLONEL) DEVICE *OB			M 177
TUNEHJSAL JAB OAPDF.N, EGYPTIAN	431 349	KNIGHT'S COSTUMB o* THE 13in CENTURY	480
GATE, THE, ON OLD LONDON 3RIDGB ...	501 6f,l	LOCOMOTIVE, THE FIRST	M !>7 15 473
GREY MAN'S PATH, THB	528		681
GUY, THOMAS, POBTRAIT 0*	606	MAY-POLES	315 101 484
BEART OF LOUD EDWARD BRUCE AND CASE 246, •BLkET, AS BABLY BKGLIBH	393 247 632	WILL AT LISSOY MIRROR, A MAGICIAN'S MONSOONS MONSTROUS HEAD-DBESS OF 1732	7f, 3t4 ISO

INDEX TO ENGRAVINGS

		T4»
, HOLS CUT, OF ASIA MINOB KOBAYSHIBB FLOOD!* MOSQUE OF OMAB • ST. SOPHIA MUMMERS, OR ANCIENT WAITS MUMMY CASES MUSICAL INSTBUMENT, HINDOO AMESK ... C2S	414 126 317 104 14 409 <m ,629 405 636 105 529 237	BAl'TAELLB, TOMB CF b<S> RALEIGH'S (SIB WALTER) AKCIENT RESI- DENCE AT BLACKWALI 161 BBVOLV UR, A, OF THE FIFTEENTH CSNTUBY 3O B1NG, FORMEllLf THB FBOrBKTX OF CHAULES 1 263 KINGS, CALCINATED 408 — SABDONYX, WITH CAMBO HBAD OP QUEEN ELIZABETH 372
JTAOBA, THB KEBUCHADNBZZAH, MASK OJ
ROCK OF CASHEL, THB 353 BUINS OF CLONMACNOI9 613 SACK-POT, OLD ENGLISH 621
NELL GWYNNB'S LOOKING-GLASS
NEWTON'S (SIB ISAAC) O«SERVATOBT ...	10	SAINT GROKGB 8 HALL, GIBRALTAR ... 7
OLD LONDON BBIDGB, GATE ON THB ...	561 120 493	SCEPTRE, IVOBY, OF LOUIS XII 476 SCHOOL, A CHINESE 625 SCHIPTURAL ANTIQUITIES :-DBUM, OB
TIMES OF THB ANCIENT BBITONS...	79	GOATS 22 SEPULCHRAL VASB 320, C17
FLOWERS	82 S3	SNAKE CHARUEB 300 80UTH STACK LIGHTHOUSE 2W
PENNSYLVANIA JOUBNAL, PAC-SIMILE OF		NEST OP THB 386
1765 »EST HOUSB DUEING TUB *LAU-SB IN TOTHIf.L FIELDS >ETEB THB GBEAT, HOC3B OF, A! ZAANDAM	63 673 646	STAMP, MEDICINE, ANTIQUB BOH. IN ... 449 STANDARDS, EGYPTIAN 396 ASSYBIAN ... ... 584,685 STEAM BOAT, FAC-SIMILB O» THB KB8T 301 STICKS, OLD WALKING 3£
FONT DU GABD, THE OBBAT AQUEDUCT OP FOPK'S CHAIB POPVLAB AMUSEMENTS IW 1743 PORCELAIN FIGUKB3 POTTERY IN CHINA, TH1? ART OP	485 312 577 50 C17 321	' CURIOUS ANTIQUK 696 , THB HAWTHOBNDElf 3-53 , THB SETON 357 SUMMERS' MAGNET, OB IOADSTOJTB ... 41
FBIKSTS OF 8IKKIM	221 1!)9 664	OF ' 620 THBASHINO COBN, ANCIENT METHOD OF 67
IN 1644 VTTLPIT OP JOHN KNOX AT ST. ANDREW'S	292 270 680 131	TOMB, ANCIENT GBEEK, INTEBIOB T1EW OP 617
VTIiAMIDS OF EGYPT	• OF BAFFAELLB ,„ M ., 68*

Till

INDEX TO ENGRAVINGS.

TOMB OP CECILIA METELLA TOPB, THE SAXCHI	477	ASES TErTONIC, BUT-SHAPED tSO ATiHALL ... 380
TKIPOD, AW AlfCIKHT	::: -Si
WHICH IT IS OBIAi:. KD TYBBELLA, AXGLO-SAXCK	Wl ... 624
GREEK	oCi	, Al'OIS.K 672
A BEFCLCBKAL, Of

aaitt ...

INDEX.

Abbey Biiiidtnam, The Arrangement of... 658

/vliraham and Sarah 101

A oyssinian Ladies, Dress of the 491

Abyssinian Lady, Tattooed 495

Advertisement, an American Ill

Advertisements, Curious ... 406, 447, 455. 478

in the last Century ... 207

of a Dying-speech Book 116

— New Style of 249

a Pudding as an

of a Fleet Parson ...

A False Find

A Female Sampson

A Fine Old Soldier

A Floating City

A Funeral appropriately conducted Aged Persons, instances of many Dyir.g

Ages of Celebrated Men

A Great Marvel seen in Scotland

A Happy Family

A Harmless Eccentri

ric

Albertus Mairnus, Receipts from...

Ale Too Strong

Alexandria, Pharos at

Alcerme Invasion of Ireland ...

A Last Chance

All Humbugs

A Lucky Find

A Man in a Vault Eleven Days ... Carries his House on his Head

Selling his own Body ...

- aged One Hundred Years

A Monster

Ambassador, French, Entry into Lor.don 262

— — why Held by the Arms ... 102

Amphitheatres 102

Amulets worn by Egyptian Females ... 120

Brotche 332

Amusements in the 15th Century ... i54

in 1743, Popular 56

An apparent Singularity accounted for... 293

An Eccentric Tourist 139

Ancients, Credulity of the 144

A ntrlo-Sa> one, Sepulchral Barrow of ... 26 Animals, Food ot 24

- Communication between ... 294

Animation, Suspended 374

Ann* Itoleyn, fc.xecui.ion of ..

Antimony

Antipathies

Unaccountable

Antiquities, Egyptian

A poilo, Oracles of, in France

Arabian Horses ...

Arabs, Horsea of the Archbishop, an, Washing Feet Arch, A Ucautiful A remarkable Old Man Armlet, Ancieut ... „

Armour, Ancient, Curious Pleoe ol ... 341

Arms, Abyssinian 6 H

Artists, Duration of Life amongst ... 19U

A Sea above the Sky 81

Ash, the Shrew 397

Ass, The lltf

Assiduity and Perseverance 3^1

Attar of Hoses, Origin of 343

Attar of Roses 2H8

A Woman takes the Lighted Match ... 40

Defends a Post singly ... 62

Authors, some Learned, Amusements

of 137

A Unique Library 211

Aztec Children ... „, 37

Babes of Bethlehem, Tr.f ... +~ «. «80

Bagpipec, Irish - ... 605

Ballot, Origin of the ... ~ ... 673

Bandoliers ... 600

Bank, A M attrass for f» 323

Banner, The Templars', called L'eauseant 604

Banquets of the Ancients 439

Bara, a Machine used in Sicily 415

Barbers 94

Barometer, Incident connected wi'h ... 138

Bartholomew Fair in 1700, Handbill of... 148

liastille of Paris, Storming of the ... 184

Bazaar, A lurkish 614

Hear, a Shaved 17

Beard, Care of the 603

Beau Brnmmell (a) of the 17th Century 61

Bcctive Abbey 392

Bedesmen in the time of Henry VII. ... 693

Hcdlord Missal. The 407

Bee, The Queen 25

Bees, Obtuient to Training 95

Beggars, Severe Enactment against ... 302

, selected as Models by Painters 2>1

Bell, The Great, of Bur man 669

of Rouen 650

Bells 193

— of the Ancients ... ... ... 279

of St. Mura 411

Bell-Shrine, an Ancient 347

Bellows, JPiimitivel'airof 637

Bible 118, 372, 490

, Bunjan's 121

, Summary of the 169

, used by Charles I. on the Scaffold 271

Billy in the Salt-box 181

rds, the Ear oX, not to be Deceived ... 228

Blind Jack

Granny ... .„

Workman ...

Boat, Burmese ... ...

Bobart, Jacob ... ...

Boiling to Death

Bolton Abbey, Origin ol ...

23

067 22

INDEX.

r*e« Bombardier Beetle, The ... _ ... 63 Bones, Adaptation of to Age ... ... 62 Uook-shaped Watch ... ~. ... 323 Boots an object of Honour ... ... 232 Boydell, Alderman .- ... 9 Brama, the Hindoo Deity ... 555 Bramins, Philosophy of the 371 Brank.fhe... ... .. 2 Brass Medal, of our Saviour 241 Break fasting Hut in 1745 158	Chess, in India, How it Originated ... 30* Chieftain, Ancient Scottish 6oO Chilcott, the Giant 71 Child, Test of Courage in a 133 Children of Aged Parents 310 China, Origin of the Great Wall of ... 233 Chinese Dainties 91 Ivory Balls 144 Method of Fishing 3i5 Punishment of the Kang ... 134
Bridge, Old London, The Gate or".. "! 561 Chinese 439	School 525 Therapeutics 369
Britannia Tubular Brirfge 172 British Islands, Size of the 245 Brooch, Ancient Scandinavian 401 Bruce, Lord Edward, Case containing the Heart of 215 Brunswick, House of, Anecdote of the ... 459 Bnekinger, Matthew 53 Buddist Temples, Instruments used in... 621 Bumper 163 Bunyan'n, John, Tomb 158 Burial Places of Distinguished Men ... 390	Christmas Customs, Bygone 14,19 Chris'ening, Novel Mode of Celebrating a 393 Chronology of Remarkable Events ... 218 Church nf Donore, James 1 1. and (he ... 657 Cigars, Extraordinary Fashion in ... 274 Circumstance, a Curious 430 Extraordinary 15 Cistern of Majolica Ware 597 Clock at Hcrnh'ith. Watchmen Imitating 20 .Wonderful 167 Clocks Early ... ... 171
Burn- ah, Elephant God of 537 Bust, Etrurian, An Ancient 677 Bynjr, Admiral, Execution of 1S2 Caderldris 118 Cagots, The 6t8 Calculation, Interesting 474 Cambridge Clods ... ... 20 Camden Cup 25Q Camel, as a Scape-Goat 522 Cameleon, The Eye of the 479 Candles in the Church 449 Cannon, Ancient, rai>ed from the Sea ... 40 , at the Siege of Constantinople . 69	Clonmacnois, Ruins of ... ... ... 2S9 Coachmen of the Time of Charles 11. ... 257 Cock Fighting at Schools 219 Coffee 15* Coffee and Tea 122 Coffee-house in London, the First ... 4 Attractions in 1760 ... 41 Coin, The First, with Britannia on It ... 4«8 Coinage, Variations in the 6.iO Coincidences, some Curious 43* Collars, Stone, Ancient 6*5 Column at Cussi 5:53 Comb, Curious Indian 657 Conecte, Thomas 433 Confectionary Art in 1660 373
Canute, Th* Discovery cf the Body of ... 176 Cardinals, Colour of the Hat for 234 Cards, Games with, in the 16th Century . 618 Carfax Conduit 333 Carronades 149 Carrara, Francis, Cruelty of EOt Carriage, Turkish 655 Cascade deg Pelerines 135 Cat, Instinct in a _ ... 353 Catacombs at Rome 87 Cataract, Extraord'nary 223	Conjuring, Public Taste for. in 1718 ... 123 Convay Church, Inscription in 112 Coral Keefg 73 Coronations, Prices for Scafs at ICO Expenses at 233 Corpulent Man ... 73 Corpulence, Cure for , 80 Cost cf Articles in the 14lh Centnry ... 330 Costume, Ancient Female 71,7s Costumes ... 395, 437, 536, 544, 547, 630, 65 1
Cat-Clock, A 631 Cats, White 51 with Knotted Tails ... ... ... 238 Caves, The Hawthornden 3-2 Chaffinch Contest 651 Chalice, lona. The Golden 422 Changes of Fortune 371	Cranmcr's (Archbishop) Dietary 137 Credulity, Extraordinary Instance of ... 311 Cricket-Matches Extraordinary 403 Criminal, a Rich and Cruel 4-50 Criminals, Old Custom Relating to ... 698 Cromwell's Bridge at Glcngariff 648 Cross of Cong, The 457
Chapter-House in Henry Vllth's time ..'. 699 Charing Cross, Autobiography of ... 128 Charity instead of Pomp 407 • Rewarded by a Mendicant ... 257 Charlemagne, Clock presented V ... 145 Charles I., Anecdote rclatir. .j 174	.Ordeal of the 463 Crown of Charlemagne 377 Cueking-Stool, The 1 Cupid, The, of the Hindoos 230 Curious Fcais „ 181, 239 Law ... 8
CherryTrea'T}' ..'.'" ^""~."' .'." 458	Cttrionsly-shaped'Vessel .'.'.' ~.' .".' 371

	INDEX.	XI
	»»8Kl	Pi.*
Cariously-ahaped Drinking Cups	413	Edicts against Fiddler* ... „.	"'3 10
Custom, Means of attracting	683	Egypt
Customs Singular Loc&i ... ...	653	Pyramids of	KiO
Dairy's Elixir Dagger, An Ancient Dagobert, Ancient Chair of Dance, Curious Provincial in France ... Dances, Fashionable of the last Century Dancine: Rooms Dead, Fashions for the Dead Bodies, Preservation of ... 251, 23 Death, Boiling to Lunar Influence in — — Pressing to Decorative Drinking Vessel Delia Kobbia Ware Demons, Bribing the Dervishes, Dancing Desolation, Scene of.	173 673 421 679 220 57 524 ), 638 663 3 JO 515 601 631 669 329	Esryptian Toys in the British Museum... Elephant Detects a Robber, An ... ... Elephants Frightened at Pigs ... Energy, A Triumph of England before the Romans ... ... Englishman. A Fat Epitaph, an Inculpatory Etna, Mount, Great Eruption of Changes of Europa, Kuins of „ Exchequer-bills, Origin of Execution, in 1793 Extraordinary Tree Extravagance at. Elections Oriental	l> 193 88 vt 203 451 401; 507 076 84 183 149 499 228
Eyam, The Desolation of
Destitute Cats, Asylum for Dial and Fountain in Leader.hall Street Dilemma	2SO E53 499	Fallacy of the Virtues of a Seventh Son... False Accusers, Punishing Farmers, Illustrious	315 230 3*>4
Dinner, an Egyptian	637	Fashionable Disfigurement	213
in Cniria	696	Fajcnce, The, of Hcury II. of France ...	591
Party in the 17th Century Dioc-cnes in a Pithos, not. Tub	609 101	Feasts, Anglo-Saxon Federation, Fete of the	517 2H8
Disorders Cured by Fright Dispute and appropriate Decision Dog (A) ExtinguUhins: a Fire	S07 140 20	Female Intrepidity, Extraordinary Ferrers, Earl, Execution of Figg, Champion	107 113
, Combination of Instinct and Force	284	Finger Rings, Porcelain	488
, A. Sensible, Refusing to Bait a Cat — — , Persevering	76 80	Fire at Harwell, Cambridseshire Fire-arms in the Tower of London	~29
.Friendship	8-1	Fire-engines, When first made	223
, A Piscatorial	307	Fish, Shooting	432
, Sensible	376	, High Price of, in London	312
, in Japan	(>22	, Extraordinary Ponds and	501
, Kicures of on Ancient Tombs	682	. Tame	059
Doir-wheel The Old	1(11	, Wonderful .
Dole in consequence of a Dream Doles... „.	603 399	Fishermen, Bulgarian Fleet Marriages, about 1740	vrt 2:0
Down among the Dead Men Dress, Forty years ago	185 212	Floods, the Morayshire Flying Coach ...	228
Dress in London 18,114,253,295 , Fastidiousness at an Old Age ,. 243	Fog of 1783, The Great Font at Kilcarn, The	414 417
of the Ancient Britons	79	Food of the Ancients	450
Drinking Bouts in Persia	647	Foot- Racing in 1699	457
Drinlis, Intoxicating, Antiquity of Dropping Wells Druids' Seat	611 142 464	Foreigners in London in 1£67 Fortune, Change of Fox Killed by a Swan	371 371 4
Drunkenness, the Offspring of Duns in the Mahratta Country Dyats of Borneo	606 379 275	Francis I., Funeral Oration of Franklin's Celebrated I/otter to Strahan Frederick the Great at Table	30." so 67!>
Ears, Character Indicated by Earthenware. English Earthquake Panic , Swallowed np by an • at Lisbon Nottingham, in 1818	88 675 620 329 200 230	French Dress Assignats, the Origin ~. Friars, Preaching „ . .». Frost Fairs M •• m , Extraordinary ... ... ... Funeral, an Eccentric ... ~. ...	253 221 67 209 395 4S1
Earthquakes S9S	,«a
Fast India House, the First	200	Game Preserves at Chnntilly	303
Eat ins tor a Wager	4	Gamblers, Chinese, Playingfor Fingers...
Eccentric Enplishman, An	433	Gambling:. Legalised	141
Eccentrics, a Couple of ... „.	318| Extraordinary	sen
Echo, Extraordinary	341	Gaming, a National Taste for	207
Eddjstone Lightl-ou»e ...	108	Gander, an Old m	S7

xii

Garden, an Egyptian 349 at Kenii worth, when in its Prime 611 .Love of 419 .Sacred 420 , The Hanging, of Babylon .. 553 Carriers Cnp .. 233 Gauntlet of Henry, Prince of Wales .. 661 George II., Proclamation for 200 Georgians as Topers .. 511 Giant Tree ... ... 229 Gibraltar, Siege of 6 Gigantic Bones ... M ... ~. 248 Glaives . 504 Glove Money 5C3 Gloves, Anne Boleyn's 600 . Origin of "Pin Money 275 Grace Knives 611 Graham Island 443 Graves of the Stone Period 363 Greek Vases 501 Gretna Green Marriage* 159 Grey Man's Path, The 623 Grinning for a Wager 13	Horses, Different Sort* of, in the 16th Century 3oa Feeding one another 3«« Vicious, Novel Way of Curing ... 174 Hot Cross Buns 2-51 House, Novel Way of Designating a ... 639 of Hens' Feathers 644 Household Rules of the 16th Century ... 61* How Distant Ages are Connected ... 2oO Hudson, Jeffery, the Dwarf of the Court of Charles 1 472 '• Humbug," Origin of the Term 97 Hume, Dairld. on his own Death... ... 215 Hundred Families' Lock 435 Hunting Party, a Regal 3fll Husband, Novel way of Purchasing a ... 275 Hydra, Extraordinary Reproductive Power of the ... 490 ce, Ground 606 snorance and Fear ... 290 mpostor, An ^ CO mpudence or Candour ? Which it lit ... 239 ncens-e Chariot, An Ancient ... ... 613
Groat, a Castle for a 470 Grotto, Remarkable, and Story connected with it 625	mlian Ju?glers, European Balancing ... 293 nhumanity, Extraordinary Instances of 4-36
Guillotine, Decapitation by the 8 Gnu, Celebrated 563 Gunpowder, Making a Candlestick of ... 249 Hackney Coach, The Earliest 211 Hair, Ancient, Quantity and Colour of the 4 , Price of Human 242 , Remarkable Preservation of ... 122 — -, Transplantation of 40 , Turned Grey by Fright 327 , Two ol the Fathers, on False ... 24 Hamster Bat, The . . 265	nsccts, Wonderful Formation of the Eye in 467 nsect Life, Minuteness of 333 nstinct of Animals 410 nsurance Agent, Canvass of an 4*5 meresting and Fanciful Belique ... 243 nventors, The Perils of 141 rrigation, Turkish Machine for 349 '• It's much the same Now" 94 James It. and the Church of Donore ... 657 James II., Spent by the Cojjwration of
Handbills, Distributing 378 from Peckham Fair, in 1728 72 Hanging a Mayor 110 " Happy Dispatch" in Japan, The ... 678 Head Breaker, A ;-33	Coventry at the i-ntertainment of, in his Progress through Coventry ... 378 Javanese, Superstition of the 244 Jenny's Whim 174 Jewel, A Curious, which belonged to James I . . 456
Ornament, Antique 393 Hejira, The 223	Jews, Wealth of the 359 Johnson, Dr., A Visit to the Residence of 4i
Helmet, Early English 632 of Sir John Crosby .„ ... 620 Henry I., Dream of 26 II., Stripped when Dead 39 V., Cradle of 418	Joy, William, the English Sampson ... 178 Judas Iscariot, Legends of 339 Judges attending Public Balls 303 Salaries 440 Jugglers in Japan fi2H
VIII., Curious Extracts from the Household Book of Lady Mary, Daughter of 399 Highlander, A Remarkable 238 Highwaymen in 1782 5 Hindoo Computation 507 Riies, Cruelty of 627 Historical Anecdote !66 Holy Water Sprinkler 533 Homer in a Nutshell 127 Hooking a Bojr instead of a Fish 319 Hoops, in 1740 6 Horse, A, Getting himself Shod 76 1 1 ors<«-race, Indenture of a „. ... 52 Horses of the Arab* ... «. ... 498	Ki Ware, Death of the Earl of 173 Killed by eating Mutton and Pudding ... 73 King Edward 1., Household Expenses of 231 , Fine for Insulting a 149 ofKippen, The 139 John and Pope Innocent 463 King-Maker, Warwick the 627 King's Bed, Ceremonial for Makbg the £63 Cock Grower, The ... 127 Dishes with the Cook's Naaoe ... 235 — Stone, The, at Kingston 461 Kitchen, Spacious 383 Knight's Costume of the 13th Century ... 480 Knives and Forks 133 Kuox, Joto, The Pulpit of; at St. Andrew* 2o»

xiri

Lad/, Origin of the Word Lafrmi, and the Use mada of it Lambeth Wells, the ApoiJo Gardens . . Lamps, Roman Land, Change in the Value of Landslip nt Colebroke, Shropshire Lantern, Curious Lauderdale, The Duchess of LawoftheMozeas	147 623 272 437 196 184 400 403 454 131	Mary Queen of Scots, her C:\ndlesilck ... 4.'t< Maternal Aflection in a Dumb Woman ... 14»» Maypole in the Strand 63-4 • , Fate of the Last, in the Strand 634 Maypoles 100 Mecca, The Black Stone at 660 Medmenham Abbey 42J Memento-Mori Watch 265 Mental Affection, A Curious 3i5 Merman, A 10
Laws, a Hundred years ago, Severity of.. Leadenhall Street, Old Dial and Foun- rain in Legend, A Superstitious Legends among savage Nations Length of Life without Bodily Exercise.. Lepers, Treatment of, in England	234 653 351 146 274 493 169	Mexican Tennis 375 Michaelmas-day, Origin of eatinir Goose on 19S Military Hats in Olden Time ~ 75 MillatLissoy 469 Miraculous Escape 266 Misers, Two 459 Missal, The Bedford 163 Mob Wisdom 2«4
Letter, Extraordinary Lettsom's (Dr.) Reasons Lewson, The Eccentric Lady Life, An Eventful in Death Lighting the Streets, Bequests for Lightning, Calmuc's Opinion of Living, Style of, among the Nobility of the 15th Century , in the ICth Century ... Lizards, Swallowing Loaf Sugar	322 71 221 427 443 310 63 533 357 41 166	Monasteries, Libraries of destroyed ... 334 Monkeys Demanding their Dead ... 415 Monkish Prayers 38* Monks, Gluttony of the , ... 347 and Friars 6SO Monsey (Dr.) bequeaths his own Body ... 93 Monsoons ... 179 Monument, Rock-cut, of Asia Minor ... 44-1 Monuments, AVayside 587 Mosque of Omar 316 Mother Mapp, the Bone Setter .., ... 158 Mountains, Height of 14ft
Locomotives, the First Locusts London Localities in the 16th Century... London Water Carrier in Older. Time ... in 17E6, State of London Resorts a Hundred Years Ago... Longevity Long Meg and her Daughters ... Lord Mayor's Feast in 1663 Lotteries Louis XVI., Execution of	96 151 526 258 H7 197 269 394 551 619 258	Mouth, Character of the 106 M.IVs and Mavors, Privateers 176 Mulgrave, Origin of the House of ... C02 Mullet and Turbot, with the Romans ... 488 Mummy Cases 409 Murderess, a Young but Cruel 392 Music, Effect of, on a Pigeon 64 of the Hindoos 683 Sea 361 Musical Instrument, A Curious 628 Musical Instruments, Burmese 629
Luxury in 1562 Lynch's Castle, Galway Mackarel, Price of Madnesss, Siuiden Recovery from Madyn, the Capital of Persia, Magnifi- cence of, when invaded by the Saracens A.D.636 Magic Rain Stone Magician's Mirror and Bracelet Maenet, The Summers' or Loadstone ... Magnificence of Former Tines	41S 681 676 168 554 168 344 41 111 92	Names, Strange Custom about 295 Naors,The 636 Narrow Escape 121 Nature, Wonderful Provision of 65 Nebuchadnezzar, Gold Mask of 105 Necklace, Ancient Jet 62» Negro, Bill of Sale for a, in 1770... ... 3» Nell Gwynne's Looking-Glass 237 Never Sleeping in a Bed 831 Newspapers, Vacillating 614 New South Wales, Dances of the Natives of 225
Mahomet, Personal Appearance of Mail, Ancient suit of Malady, Extraordinary llaiidrin, the Smuggler Manners, Ancient, of the Italian Man without Hands Manufacture, One of the Effects of Marat, Funeral of Marriage Custom, Curious	671 483 670 167 585 77 143 375 643	Newton, A Visit to the Observatory of .. 10 New Zealand, The Wingless Bird of .. 807 Norman Caps .. 44 North American Indian War Dispatch .. 45 Nose, Effect of a New 103 Nostrums 63 Nun, The First English 330 Nut Cracsers, Ancient 239
\ ow Mary, Queen of Scots, her First Letter h) Bullish	419 370	,' Remarkable ... .'.'.' .'.. ' ... ' 405 Old Age, Dying of, at Seventeen Years ... 47 Old Books . .7 MO

INDEX.

Old London Signs Opera, The First	118 667	Prayers, Unusual Locality for Saying ... Praying by Machinery	171 314
Opium, Best Position for Smoking	675	by Wheel and Axle	5:*)
Oraefa Mountain, in Ireland	356	Pre-Adamite Bone Caverns	i:»»
Ornaments, Personal Antique 293, 400, 417	,452	Precocious Children	01
Orthography in the Sixteenth Century ...	17	Presence of Mind — Escape from a Tiger Priests in Burmah, Knavery of the	H:JD 2H8
Pagoda, The Great Shocmadoo	572	ofSibkim
Pailoos, Chinese	625	Prince of Wales, Origrin of the Crest of the	Ho
Panama, Isthmus of, Passage through ...	143	Pnnce Rupert, at Evcrton	2!U
Paper	619	Prolific Author	320
Papyrus,The Parental Authority, Too Much	513	Proteus Anguinus, The "• ... Psalm, Value of a Long ,	in •M
Paris Garden at Blackfriars	465	Pterodactylus, The	3(0
Parlour Dogs	320	Pulpit, Refieshments for the	1:02
Passport, A Traveller's Pastimes, Popular	679 514	Punishing by Wholesale Punishment, Ancient Instrument of ...	("so (ISO
Pate's de Foies Gras _	142	, Russian	651
Peacocks	366	and Torture, Ancient Instru-
Pear- Tree, Great	454	ments of 6	3, R.S
Pearls, British	363	Puritan Zeal	57il
, Fondness of the Romans for ...	208	Purple, Tyrian
Pedestrian Feat, Wonderful	327
Peg Tankards Penn, Tea Service which belonged to ... Penny Post, Origin of the	43 201 47	Quackery in the Olden Time Queen Elizabeth, Banquets of , Drepscs of ... ..	671 411 501
Pensylvania Journal , ... ... ...	63
Perfumes	253	— — — f Old Verses on... ., Side saddle of	201
Persecution	430	, State Coach of	123
Perseverance rewarded by Fortune	637 287		151
Persia, Drinking Bouts in Personal Charms Disclaimed	547 118	Rnffaelle, Tomh of ... "•	ces
Peru, Condor in Peruvian Bark	170 61	Raffle, A, in 1725 Raleigh, Sir Walter, Residence of Ranelagh ... ... ... ... ...	•ir IN 201
Pest-house, during the Plague, inTothill Fields	673	Ranz des Vaches	173
Pestilence, The Black Peter the Great at Zaandam	402 511	Ravilliac, Kxecution of	402 1132
Physic, A Friend to Physick for the Poor, Choice Receipts for Pigeon Catching near Naples Pig, Roast, Advertisement of, in 1726 ...	287 117 437 46	Receipts, Quaint ... Red Sea, Luminous Appearance of the... Regiments, The Modern Names of Reichstadt, The Duke de	153 •iol W.t 435
Pike, An Old	667	Relics ... ... ... ... ...	39-i
Pilgrim Fathers, Chair belonging to ... Pillory for Eating Flesh in Lent Plague in England, The Corpse Bearers during the Plantagenets, Yellow Hair in the Time .. Plate, Use of, in tho time of Honry VIII. Platypus, the Duck-billed Playbill, Curious , in the time of William III. ... Ploughing and Threshing, Ancient Poets, Enslish, Fates of ihe Families of. Pogonias Vocal Fish Poison Cup, The	186 63 183 283 103 523 273 227 630 66 471 478 435	, A Group of .Rescued Remarkable Events and Inventions ... Revenge, New Mode of Rheumatism. Strange Cure for tho Rhinoceros, First in Europe Richardson, the Showman Ringing ihe Changes Rings, Calcinated Rites, Hindoo, Cruelty of Roads in 1780 RockofCashel Romans in Britain, Dress of Native Fe-	2fil 61S 11,5 423 201 055 251 192 40-4 C27 •A-n 352
Poisoning the Monarch Police, London, Disgraceful State of ... Pont du Card, Great Aqueduct of Pope's Chair Porcelain, Anecdote In	]3 193 313 577 517	males at that Period Rouen, The Great Bell of. Royal Touch, The Royal Giants, Specimens of Prisoner, Expenses of ...	8f 650 42 2 GO
Port Coon Cave ... ... ... ...	516
Poft Haste One Hundred Years ago "Postman." The, Paragraph from, in	182	Sack Pot, Old English ... w Sacro Catino, The ...	521 COS
1097 . . .	219	Sadler's Wells	113
Pottery in China, Art of	321	Saint George, TomV of	231
Vowersci/wt Fall, Phenomenon at tht ...	304	Saint Lawreuue ... „	4'j|

INDEX.

Bslagram, Hindoo Adoration of the Sand Columns in Africa ... Sandwiches, Origin of the... Sardonyx Ring, with ~

Queen Elizabeth, in

Kev. Lord Thynne Bcape Goat, Camel as a Sceptre, Ivory, of Louis XII.

School, Chinese

School Expenses in the Olden Tim

Science and Persevera

Scottish Wild Cattle

Scriptural Antiquities

Sea, Phosphorescence of the

Sea Perpent, Immense

Sea-Urchin, Wonderful (

Second Sight

Seeinsr Two Generations

Self.Nburishment ...

Selkirk and the Dancing Goat*

Sepulchral Vase from f eru

Sermons, Anecdotes in

Berpent, Anecdote of a ..

Seven, Tha Number

Sevres Porcelain, Prices of

i-ex, Change of

" Siorza," Origin of the Title

Shakspeare's Jug ...

Sham Prophets

Sharks, The Queen's

Sheba, The Queen of

Sheep Killer, Hnntintr _ ..

Shell Fish, in 1675, Price of

Shetland, The Noss in

Shield, Ancient Danish

Shilline, Cutting a Wife off with a

Shocking Depravity

Shoes, l.ontr-toed. Origin of

Shrine, Curious Figures on a

Shrine of St. Sebald at Nuremberg

Simoom, The

Skin, Human, a Drum made of ... Slave Advertisements Slave Trade, Iniquities of the Slaves, Recent Piices of Sleep, Protracted ...

, State of the Mind during

Sleeper, An Extraordinary...

Smoking, Attachment to ...

Snake Charmers

Snakes. Power of Fascination La ...

Snow Storm, Memorable ...

Snuff Boxes, Ancient

Snuff, Time Wasted in taking

Something like a Feast

Somnambulism

Sound, Phenomena of

Southcottian Delusion, /

South-stack Liehthouse

Spain, Wealth of, under the Moois

Spider, Bite of the Tarantul;

Spiders Fond of Music

Spirit Drinker, An Aged

Spontaneous Combustion ...

Sports of the Lower Classes

Sportsman, A Royal

Springs, Iniermittent

Rtaiw Coach in 170«

on of the ...	610	Stag.Hunt in the 16th Century Stags like Cattle, Driving	'ft 208
rnieo Head of	563	Stamps, Antique Roman 44E Standards, Ancient Banner and ... 39«	,643 ,633
		State Coach in 1796
^possession of	373 190	Statue, Metal, the Largest in the World.. Steam boat, Facsimile of the First	454 301
II. '..'. '.'.	476	Stevens's Specific	50
	525	St. George's Cavern	421
den Time Triumphs of .	427 123	St. James's Square St. Paul's, Old	12S 163
...	273	St. Paul and the Viper	125
	216	St. Winifred's Well .. ...	303
lie .'.'.' .'.'.'	413	Sticks, Old Walking	387
	42	Stirrups	671
nstruction of..	475	Stomach Brush	55
	65	Stoneware	619
	211	Ptrasbnrg, Curious Custom at ... .:.	185
	315	Strength, Feats of, in 1789	9
o'at» '.'.' .'.'.	22	Street Cries of Modern Egvpt	401
	320	Stuff Ball at Lincoln, Origin of the	49
	147	Sultan, City ol the	103
...	85	Sun and Moon, Worship of the	81
	354	Superstition in 1856	638
	4S7	Curious	424
Ye	189 651	, Death caused by in France	124 519
	575	Vitality of	474
	319	Sweating Sickness	110
	203	Sweets, Artificial	679
	518 208	Sword, Curious Antique Kxecutioner's	696 340
f	17-i	The Hawthorndcn	353
	32-1	The Seton ...
	•T'O	Fish and Whales	665
r with a	339	Sword-Breaker, An Ancient	673
...	117
>f "!	646	Taking a Man to Pieces	79
a rcmberg	202 271 662	Tappstry, The Bajeux Tar and Feather, Notices to Taxation, Universality of	642 38 318
3eof I!! .'."	398	Tea	94
	25	Tea-Drinkers, The First, Puzzled	632
he '." ".'.	175	Teapot, The	4S2
	435	Temple of Pou-tou, The	673
	4*3	at Simonbong	620
during	350	Temples of Bmmbanam	442
...	28	Terrier, Anecdote of a	358
	322	Thames, Frost Fair on the	106
	299	, The First Bridge over the ...	423
on in !!.' !!.*	64 327	Thanksgiving Day in 1697 Theatre, Roman, at Orange	627 368
t .	209	Theatres in the Time of Shakespeare ...	697
lag	612	The First H ermits- Why so Called ..	125
	129	The Ruling Passion ... ... IS	S, 32
!!!	72	Theodora de Verdion	207
	367	Thief Caught in his own Trap, The	77
'haw of the .'.'.'	230	Singular Discovery of a	115
	239	Thugs, The —	674
eMoois	235	Titrer Cave at Cuttack	361
ila	13	Tilburv ff „. ...	1*9
	157	Time. Division of, in Persia	€3*
...	2 28	Tobacco, Origin of the Use of ^	57
	431	Toilet, Absurdities of the ~.	6'J6
a	155	Boxes, Egvotiau	381
	4-13	Tomb, Chinese "..	503
	455	of Ciccilia Metclla ...	477
„ !H	155 of Darius „

xvi

INDEX.

Tomb of the Emperor Maximilian at Insprn* 59° "Too Late." quoth Bolae 489 Tope, the Sanchi 3S9 Topers, Georgians as »• Toping in the Last Ccnturj ... . 314 Torture "j Chamber at Nuremberg ... . 615 Tower of the Thundering Winds... . 93 Trajan, Arch of, at Beneventum... . 11.4 Trance, A ... 354 at Will 462 Trap-door Spider 333 Travelling, Common in Olden Times ... 108, 162 in the United States 2HS Treaty-Stone at Limerick 5«3 Tree, Extraordinary Situation for » ... 31-1 Trees, Age of -; 6^1	Volition, Suspended ... .. — 199 Voltaire, English Letter of -. ... 423 Vow, Singular Hindoo 658 Vagers. Curious 373 Valking-Sticks, Old 3W Vail, Governor, Execution of ... ... 15* Vallace, the Hero of Scotland 99 War Boat, A Uyak, in Borne.} tV Dance of the Dyaks of Borneo ... 6-W Chariot of Ancient Egypt 3( Warwick, the King-Maker 627 Washing Account, Method of Keeping ... Washington 683 Watch, An Antique ••• 3»53 — presented by Louis XIII. to Charles I. of England <UO Watches, the First in Ensland 615 Water lor Old Lonrto-t, Supply of ... 282 Preservative Power of Coal-pit ... 25
Tri- od, Ancient 619 Trivial Circumstances, A Great Result	Times ... 648 Snakes, Battle of 4/0
Tumbrel, The 2 Tunisians, Ingenuity ofthe »» Turban. The, in Arabia «" Turkish Mode of Reparation 3:6 Twin-Worm, Extraordinary Formation ofthe 131 Types, the Invention of »" Umbrella, Anglo-Saxon 62-1 Upas Tree J*J Useful and the Beautiful 647 Vampiro, The Blood-sucking *-7 Varnish-Tree of the Japanese «}5	Weapon, Ancient 6HO U. A Poison 6" Weaver-Bird, The Sociable ... . 410 Weddin*. A, A Hundred Years Ago .. 640 Weight, Reducing J Whipping Prisoners 1'5 Whitehall, Ceiling of ( - l-l Whitsuntide, at Durham Cathedral Why a Man Measures more in tie Morning than in the Evening 75 Wife, Diving for a 479 \Vi-rg 17,31 WiU, Eccentric ... - '* William the Conqueror, Courtshio of ... fioa
—Greek 1«J Greek, Prices of 3s Roman, in Black Ware 3/ Sepulchral, of Greek Pottery ... 616 Sepulchral, of Ancient Egypt ... 607 Teutonic, Hut-shaped 580	Wind Mills, The Firrt 5:7 Witch-Testing, at Newcastle, in 164» ... 21 Wolves in England *i* Woman, The Hairy, of Burmah 677 Woman's Cleverness *«' Women of hngland, The ... ^. ... i°»
Venetians, Trie 428 Vengeance, Novel Mode of taking ... 6S(	Wonderful f:scape - 215, 300 Wrens (Sir Christopher) Cost of Churches lil
VesuriusTcrater of, in 1829 165 Vinesrar on the Skin, Effect of 11 Vishnu, Incarnations of 64o Volcanic Eruption in Japan 60 Volcano of Jurullo, Formation of the ... lt>3	Writing Materials <JJJI Writings, Terra Cotta 4t Yorkshire Tike, The ** Yorkshire in the Last Century ... ~. s«

TEN THOUSAND

WONDERFUL THINGS,

PUNISHMENTS IN PROVINCIAL TOAVNS IX THE OLDEN TIME.

The instruments most in vogue with our ancestors were three — th« cucking-stool, the brank, and the tumbrel.

The Cucking-stool was used by the pond in many village greens about one hundred years ago or little more, and then deemed the best corrective of a scolding woman.

By the sea, the quay offered a convenient spot. The barbican, at Plymouth, was a locality, doubtless terrible to offenders, however care-

THK CUCKING-STOOL.

less of committing their wordy nuisance of scolding. Two pounds were paid for a cucking-stool at Leicester in 1 768. Since that it has been placed at the door of a notorious scold as a warning. Upon admission to the House of Correction at Liverpool, a woman had to undergo the severity of the cucking-stool till a little before the year 1803, when Mr. James Neild wrote to Dr. Lettsom. The pump in *the men's court was the whipping-post for females, which discipline continued, though not weekly.

Kingston-upon-Thames. ». d.

1572. The making of the cucking-stool 80

Iron work for the same ...... 30

Timber for the same ....... 76

Three brasses for the same, and three wheels . . 410

£134

At Marlborough, in 1625, a man had id. for his help at the cuckicg o( •»oan Keai.

(2 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;

Gravesend.

16U6i The porters for ducking of Goodwife Campion . 20

Two porters for laying up the ducking-stool . r. 8

The Brank, for taming shrews, was preferred to the cucking-stooi in some counties, and was used there for the same purpose. The brank was in favour in the northern counties, and in Worcestershire, though there wen;, notwithstanding, some of the other instruments of punishment used, called in that county gum-stools.

The brank was put over the head, and was fastened with a padlock. There are entries at Worcester about mending the " scould's bridle and cords for the same."

The cucking-stool not only endan- gered the health of the party, but also gave the tongue liberty 'twixt every dip. The brank was put over the head, and was fastened with a pad- lock.

THE BBAJ.K.

The tumbrel was a low-rolling cart or carriage (in law Latin, tnm- berella) which was used as a punishment of disgrace and infamy. Millers, when they stole corn, were chastised by the tumbrel. Persons were sometimes fastened with an iron chain to a tumbrel, and conveyed bare- beaded with din and cry through the principal streets of towns.

THB TUMBREL.

Court of Hustings Book, 1581. (Li/me.) " The jury present that the tumbrell be repaired 'and maintained from

time to time, according to the statute." lii 1583, Mr. Mayor was to provide a tumbrel before AU Saints iJay,

under a penalty of 10*.

MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. ANCIENT METHOD OF KEEPING A WASHING ACCOUNT.

Bhakerley Marmion, in his " Antiquary," says :— "I must rev'rence and prefer the precedent Times before these, which ccrnsum'd their wits in Experiments; and 'twas a virtuous Emulation amongst them, that nothing Which might profit posterity should perish."

"Without a full adherence to this dictum, we would nevertheless admit that we are indebted to the past for the germ of many of our most im- portant discoveries. The ancient washing tablet, although of humble pretensions to notice, is yet a proof of the simple and effective meana frequently adopted in olden times for the economy of time and ma- terials.

A reference to the engraving obviates a lengthened explanation. It will there be seen that if the mistress of a family has fifteen pillow- covers, or so many collars, or so many bands, to be mentioned in the washing account, she can turn the circular dial, by means of the button or handle, to the number corresponding with the rough mark at the bottom of the dial, above which is written sheets, table-cloths, &c. This simple and ingenious contrivance, obviates the necessity of keeping a book.

The original " washing board," from which the engraving is taken, was of a larger size, and showed the numbers very distinctly. Similar dials may be made of either ivory or metal.

TEX THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;

The quality and colour of the hair was a subject of speculative theory for the ancients. Lank hair was considered indicative of pusil- lanimity and cowardice ; yet the head of Napoleon was guiltless of a curl ! Frizzly'hairwas thought an indication of coarseness and clumsiness. The hair most in esteem, was that terminating in ringlets. Dares, the his- torian, states that Achilles and Ajax Telamon had curling locks; such tbo was the hair of Timon, the Athenian. As to the Emperor Augustus, nature had favoured him with such redundant locks, that no hair-dresser in Rome could produce the like. Auburn or light brown hair was thought the most distinguished, as portending intelligence, industry, a peaceful disposition, as well as great susceptibility to the tender passion . Castor and Pollux had brown hair ; so also had Menelaus. Black hair ('oes not appear to have been esteemed by the Romans ; but red was an object of aversion. Ages bofore the time of Judas, red hair was thought a mark of reprobation, both in the case of Typhon, who deprived his brother of the sceptre of Egypt, and Nebuchadnezzar who acquired it in expiation of his atrocities. Even the donkey tribe suffered from this til-omened visitation, according to the proverb of "wicked as a red ass." Asses of that colour were held in such detestation among the Copths, that •»very year they sacrificed one by hurling it from a high wall.

THE FIRST COFFEE HOUSE IS LOXDOX.

Coffee is a native of Arabia, supposed by some to have been the chief mgredient of the old Lacedemonian broth. The use of this berry was not known in England till the year 1657, at which time Mr. D. Edwards, a Turkey merchant, on his return from Smyrna to London, brought with him one Pasquet llossee, a Greek of Ragusa, who was used to prepare this liquor for his master every morning, who, by the wav, never wanted company. The merchant, therefore, in order to get rid of a crowd of visitants, ordered his Greek to open a coffee-house, which he did in St. Michael's Alley, in Cornhill. This was the first coffee-house opened vi London.

EATIXG FOE A WAGEE.

The handbill, of which the subjoined is a literal copy, was circulated by the keeper of the public-house at which the gluttony was to happen, as an attraction for all the neighbourhood to witness : —

" Bromley in Kent, July 14, 1726. — A strange eating worthy is to preform a Tryal of Skill on St. James's Day, which is the day'of our Fair for a wager of Five Guineas, — viz. : he is to eat four pounds of bacon, a bushel of French beans, with two pounds of butter, a quartern loaf, and to drink a gallon of strong beer !"

FOX KILLED 1ST A SWAN.

At Peusey, a swan sitting on her eggs, on one side of the rivei, ibwrved a fox swimming towards her from the apposite side ; rightly judging she could best grapple with the fox in her own element, she plunged into the water, and after beating him off for some time with ber -wings, at length succeeded in drowning aim.

MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 0

HIGHWAYMEN IN 1782.

Oil Wednesday, the 9th January, 1782, about four o'clock in the after- noon, as Anthony Todd, Esq., Secretary to the Post-office, was going in his carriage to his house at "Walthamstow to dinner, and another gentle- man with him, he was stopt within a small distance of his house by two highwaymen, one of whom held a pistol to the coachman's breast, whilst the other, with a handkerchief over his face, robbed Mr. Todd and the gentleman of their gold watches and what money they had about them. As soon as Mr. Todd got home all his men-servants were mounted on horses, and pursued the highwaymen ; they got intelligence of their passing Lee-bridge, and rode on to Shoreditch ; but could not learn anything farther of them.

The same evening a gentleman going along Aldermanbury, near the church, was accosted by a man with an enquiry as to the time ; on which the gentleman pulled out his gold watch. Tne man immediately said, " I must have that watch and your money, sir, so don't make a noise." The gentleman seeing nobody near, he delivered his gold watch ajid four guineas, with some silver. The thief said he was in distress, and hoped the gentleman would not take away his life if ever he had the oppor- tunity.

Sunday, the 13th January, 1782, about twelve o'clock, a man was, by force, dragged up the yard of the French-Horn Inn, High Holborn, by some person or persons unknown, and robbed of his watch, four guineas, and some silver ; when they broke his arm and otherwise cruelly treated him. He was found by a coachman, who took him to the hospital.

AN ARCHBISHOP WASHING THE FEET OF THE POOH.

In the Gentleman's Magazine, we find the following observance : — Thursday, April 15, 1731. — Being Maunday- Thursday, there was dis- tributed at the Banquetting-house, "Whitehall, to forty-eight poor men, and forty-eight poor women (the King's age 48) boiled beef and shoulders of mutton, and small bowls of ale, which is called dinner ; after that, large wooden platters offish and loaves, viz., undress'd, one large old ling, and one large dry'd cod ; twelve red herrings, and nine- teen white herrings, and four half quartern loaves ; each person had one platter of this provision: after which was distributed to them shoes, stockings, linnen and woolen cloath, and leathern bags, with one penny, two penny, three penny, and four penny pieces of silver, and shillings : to each about £4 in value. His Grace the Lord Archbishop of York, Lord High Almoner, performed the annual ceremony of washing the feet of a certain number of poor in the Royal Chapel, Whitehall, which was formerly done by the Kings themselves, in imitation of our Saviour's pattern of humility, &c. James II. was the last King who performed tli is in person. His doing so was thus recorded in the the Chapel Royal Register. — " On Maunday Thursday April 16 1685 our gracious King James ye 2d wash'd wip'd and kiss'd the feet of 52 poor men wu' wonder- ful humility. And all the service of the Church of England usuaU on that occasion was performed, his Maty being psent all the time.''

TKN 1HOUSAND WONDEKl?tJL THINGS;

A LUCKY FIND.

Sunday, April 1. — A few days ago, Sir Simon Stuart, of Hartley, in Hampshire, looking over some old writings, found on the back of one of them a memorandum noting that 1,500 broad pieces were buried in a certain spot in an adjoyning field. Whereupon he took a servant, and after digging a little in the place, found the treasure in a pot, hid there in the time of the late civil wars, by his grandfather, Sir Nicholas Stuart. — Gentleman"1 s Magazine, 1733.

HOOPS IN 1740.

The monstrous appearance of the ladies' hoops, when viewed be- hind, may seen from the following cut, copied from one of Rigaud's

views. The exceed- ingly small cap, at this time fashionable, and the close up- turned hair beneath it, give an extraor- dinary meanness to the head, particu- larly when the libe- rality of gown and petticoat is t&ken into consideration : the lady to the left wears a black hood with an ample fringed cape, which envelopes her shoulders, and reposes on the summit of the hoop. The gentleman wears a small wig and bag ; the skirts of his coat are turned back, and were sometimes of a colour different from the rest of the stuff of which it was made, as were the cuff's and lappels.

SIEGE OF GIBRALTAR.

Gibraltar had been taken by a combined English and Dutch fleet in 1704, and was confirmed as a British possession, in 1713, by the peace ot Utrecht ; but in 1779 it was assailed by the united forces of France and Spain, and the siege continued till the 2nd of February, 1783. The chief attack was made on the 13th September, 1782. On the part of the be- siegers, besides stupendous batteries on the land side, mounting tw hundred pieces of ordnance, there was an army of 40,000 men, undo' the command of the Due de Crillon. In the bay lay the combined fleets of France and Spain, comprising forty-seven sail of the line, beside ten battering ships of powerful construction, that cost upwards of £50,000 each. From these the heaviest shells rebounded, but ultimately two of them wero set on fire' by red-hot shot, and the others were destroyed to prevent them from falling into the hands of the British commander. Tho rest of the fleet also suffered considerably ; but the defenders escaped with very little loss. In this engagement 8,300 rounds were fired by

MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 7

the garrison, more than half of which consisted of red-hot balls. j-Miting this memorable siege, which lasted Tipwards of three years, the entire expenditure of the garrison exceeded 200,000 rounds, — 8,000 barrels of powder being used. The expenditure of the enemy, enormous as this quantity is, must have been much greater ; for they frequently fired, from their land-batteries, 4,000 rounds in the short space of twenty-four hours. Terrific indeed must have been the spectacle as the

SAINT GEORGE S HALT,, GIBHALTA

immense fortress poured forth its tremendous volleys, and the squadron and land-batteries replied with a powerful cannonade. But all this waste of Imman life and of property was useless on the part of the assail- ants ; for the place was successfully held, and Gibraltar still remains one of the principal strongholds of British power in Europe.

During the progress of the siege, the fortifications were considerably strengthened, and numerous galleries were excavated in the solid rock, having port-holes at which heavy guns were moxmted, which, keeping up an incessant fire, proved very efficacious in destroying the enemy's en- campments on the land side. Communicating with the upper tier of these galleries are two grand excavations, known as Lord Cornwallis's and St. George's Halls. The latter, which is capable of holding several hundred men, has numerous pieces of ordnance nointed in various direc- tions, ready to deal destruction on an approaching enemy.

8 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;

KEEPING WHITSUNTIDE AT DUSHAM CATHEDRAL.

The following curious account of the consumption of provisions in the cathedral of Durham, during Whitsun week, in 1347, together with the prices of the articles, is taken from the rolls of the cellarer, at present in the treasury at Durham : — six hundred salt herrings, 3s. ; four hun- dred white herrings, 2s. 6d. ; thirty salted salmon, 7s. 6d. ; twelve fresh salmon, 5s. 6d. ; fourteen ling, fifty-five "kelengs;" four turbot, 93s. Id.; two horse loads of white fish, and a "congr," os. lOd. ; *'playc," "sparlings," and eels, and fresh water fish, 2s. 9d. ; nine carcases of oxen, salted, so bought, 36s. ; one carcase and a quarter, fresh, 6s. ll'|d. ; a quarter of an oxe, fresh, bought in the town, 3s. 6d. ; •even carcases and a half of swine, in salt, 22s. 2jd. ; six carcases, fresh, 12s. 9d; ; fourteen calves, 28s. 4d. ; three kids, and twenty-six sucking porkers, 9s. 7£d. ; seventy-one geese with their feed, lls. lOd. : fourteen capons, fifty-nine chickens, and five dozen pidgeons, 10s. 3d. ; five stones of hog's lard, 4s. 2d. ; four stones of cheese, butter, and milk, 6s. 6d. ; a pottle of vinegar, and a pottle of honey, 6£d. ; fourteen pounds of tigs and raisins, sixteen pounds of almonds, and eight pounds of rice, 3s. 7d. ; pepper, saffron, cinnamon, and other spices, 2s. Gd. ; one thousand three hundred eggs, los. 5d. — sum total, £11 4s. Similar consumptions took place during the week of the feast of St. Cuthbert, and other feasts, among the monks of Durham, for a long period of years.

CURIOUS LAW.

The following curious law was enacted during the reign of llichard I. for the government of those going by sea to the Holy Land : — "He who kills a man on shipboard, shall be bound to the dead body and thrown into the sea ; if the man is killed on shore, the slayer shall be bound to the dead body and buried with it. He who shall draw his knife to strike another, or who shall have drawn blood from him, to lose his hand ; if he shall have only struck with the palm of his hand without drawing blood, he shall be thrice ducked in the sea."

DECAPITATION BY THE GUILLOTINE.

A gentleman of intelligence and literary attainments, makes, in an account of his travels on the continent, the following most singular re- marks on an execution he witnessed, in which the culprit was beheaded by the guillotine : — " It appears," says he, " to be the best of all pos- sible modes of inflicting the punishment of death ; combining the greatest impression on the spectator, with the least possible suffering to the victim. It is so rapid, that I should doubt whether there were any suffering ; but from the expression of the countenance, when the execu- tioner held up the head, I am inclined to believe that sense and conscious- ness may remain for a few seconds after the head is off. The eyes seemed to retain speculation for a moment or two, and there was a look in the ghastly stare with ^hich they stared upon the crowd, which ira plied that the head was aware of its ignominious situation."

MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. ALDERMAN BOTDELL.

It was the regular custom of Mr. Alderman Boydell, who was a very early riser, at live o'clock, to go immediately to the pump in Ironmonger Lane. There, after placing his wig upon the hall at the top of it, he used, to sluice his head with its water. This well-known and highlv respected character, who has done more for the British artist than all the print-publishers put together, was also one of the last men who wore a three-cornered hat.

FEATS OT? STRENGTH IN 1139.

April 21,— The following notice was given to the public : — " For the benefit of Thomas Topham, the strong man, from Islington, whose per- formances have been looked upon by the Royal Society and several persons of distinction, to be the most surprising as well as curious of any thing ever performed in England ; on which account, as other entertainments are more frequently met with than that he proposes, he humbly hopes gentlemen and ladies, &c., will honour him with their presence at the Nag's Head, in Gateshead, on Monday the 23d of this instant, at four o'clock, where he intends to perform several feats of strength, viz. : — He bends an iron poker three inches in circumference, over his arm, and one of two inches and a quarter round his neck ; he breaks a rope that will bear two thousand weight, and with his fingers rolls up a pewter dish of seven pounds hard metal ; he lavs the back part of his head on one chair, and his heels on another, and suffering four men to stand on his body, he moves them up and down at pleasure ; he lifts a table six feet in length, by his teeth, with a half hundred weight hanging at the further end of it ; and, lastly, to oblige the publick, he will lift a butt full of water." "Each person to pay one shilling." This "strong man" fell a victim to jealousy, as is proved by the following : — " August 10th, 1749, died, Mr. Thomas Topham, known by the name of the strong man, master of a publick house in Shoreditch, London. In a fit of jealousy, he stabbed his wife, then cut his own throat and stabbed him- self, after which he lived two days."

ELEPHANTS FRIGHTENED AT PIGS.

" Then on a tyme there were many grete clerkes and rad of kyng Alysaunder how on a tyme as he sholde have a batayle with ye kynge of Inde. And this kynge of Inde broughte with hym many olyphauntis berynge castelles of tree on theyr backes as the kynde of the is to haue armed knyghtes in ye castell for the batayle, them ne knewe Alysaunder the kynge, of the olyphauntes that they drad no thynge more than the jarrynge of swyne, wherefore he made to gader to gyder all ye swyne that myghte be goten, and caused them to be dryuen as ny the olyphantes as they myghte well here the jarrynge of the swyne, and thenne they made a pygge to crye, and whan the swyne herde the pygges a none they made a great jarrynge, and as soone 'as the olyphauntes herde that, they began to fie eche one, and keste downe the castelles and slewe the knyghtes that were in them, and by this meane Alysaunder had ye vyctory," — Liber Festivals, printed by W. C'axton in 1483-

10

TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;

A VISIT TO THE OBSERVATORY OP SIR ISAAC 1T5WTOX.

The memory of a great and good man is imperishable. A thousand years may pass away, but the fame that has survived the wreck of time remains unsullied, and is even brighter with age.

"The actions of the just Smell sweet, and blossom in the dust."

In an age of progress like our own we have frequently to regret the destruction (sometimes necessary) of places associated with the genius of the past ; but in the case of Sir Isaac Newton we have several relics

"~~

INTEBIOB OF SIB ISAAC NEWTOS S OBSEHVATORT.

existing, none of which, perhaps, are more interesting than the house in 'which he resided, still standing in St. Martin's Street, on the south side of Leicester Square. The engravings of the interior and exterior of this building have been made from drawings made on the spot. The house was long occupied as an hotel for foreigners, and was kept by a M. Pagliano. In 1814 it was devoted to the purposes of education. The Observatory, which is at the top, and where Sir Isaac Newton made his astronomical researches, was left in a dilapidated condition until 1824, when two gentlemen, belonging to a committee of the school, had it repaired at their own expense, and wrote a brief memoir of the philoso- pher, which was placed in the Observatory, with a portrait of him.

In this housd Sir Isaac Newton resided for many years ; and it was here, according to his biographer, that he dispensed, under the superin- tendence of his beautiful niece, an elegant hospitality. Our sketch gives a good idea of the appearance of the exterior of the house at the present

MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.

11

day ; the front, it will be seen, has been well plastered, which, although clean and pleasant-looking to some eyes, seems to us to destroy the cha- racter of the building. The old doorway, with a projecting top, lias also been removed. The interior of the house is in excellent repair, and has undergone very little change. The cornices, panelling, and the epacious staircase, are not altered since the days of Newton. The rooms

DOUSE OF SIU ISAAC NEWTON, ST. MABTIN'S STIiEKT, 1BICESTBB SQUASH.

are very large. Tradition states it was in the back drawing-room that the manuscript of his work, the "New Theory of Light and Colours," was destroyed by fire, caused by a favourite little dog in Sir Isaac's ab- sence. The name of this canine incendiary was Diamond. The man- ner in which the accident occurred is thus related : — The animal was wantoning about the philosopher's study, when it knocked down a candle, and set fire tc i Hsap of manuscript calculations upon which he had been employed for j^ars. The loss was irretrievable ; but Sir Isaac onlv ex-

12 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS)

claimed with simplicity, "Ah, Diamond, Diamond, you little know what miscliief you have been doing !"

Passing upstairs, and looking slightly at the various rooms, which are all well panelled, but which do not require particular notice, we reached the little observatory shown in the engraving. There, in the room in which Sir Isaac has quietly studied, and in which he may have held conferences with the most distinguished of his contemporaries, we found two shoemakers busily at work, with whom we had some pleasant conversation. Our artist has represented the interior of the observatory, with its laborious occupants, worthy sons of St. Crispin. Shoemakers are well known to be a thoughtful 'class of men, although sometimes they unfortunately do not make the best use of their knowledge. Brand, the historian and author of the excellent book on " Popular Antiquities," was at one time a shoemaker ; so was Bloomfield, the poet, who, when working at the "last" in Bell Alley, near the Bank, strung together the charming recollection of his plough-boy life. We could give a long list of shoemakers who have been eminent for talents.

We have not the exact date at which Newton came to reside here, but certainly he was living in this house, at intervals, after 1695, when he was appointed Warder of the Mint, of which establishment he rose to be Master in the course of three years. The emoluments of this office amounted to £1200 a-year, which enabled him to live in ease and dignity.

In 1703 he was chosen President of the lloyal Society — an honourable post, to which he was annually elected until the time of his death.

POISOXIXG TITE MOXAHCH.

An idea of the popular notions about poisoning in the middle of the seventeenth century, may be formed from the following extract from an old tract, published in 1652, with the title of "Papa Patris, or the Pope in his Colours" : — " Anno Dom : 1596 ; one Edward Squire, sometimes a scrivener at Grenewich, afterwards a deputy purveyor for the Queene's stable, in Sir Francis Drake's last voyage was taken prisoner and carried into Spainc, and being set at liberty, one Walpole, a Jesuite, grew acquainted with him, and got him into the Inqtiisition, whence he re • turned a resolved Papist, he persuaded Squire to undertake to poysori the pummell of the Queene (Elizabeth's) saddle, and, to make him constant, made Squire receive the Sacrament upon it ; he then gave him the poyson, showing that he should take it in a double bladder, and should prick the bladder full of hoales in the upper part, when he should use it (carrying it within a thick glove for the safety of his hand) should after turne it downward, pressing the bladder upon the pummell of the Queene's saddle. This Squire confest. Squire is now in Spaine, and for nis safer dispatch into England it was devised that two Spanish prisoners taken at Gales should be exchanged for Squire and one Ilawles, that it might not be thought that Squire came over but as a redeemed captive. The Munday sennight after Squire returned into England, he, understand- ing the horses were preparing for the Queene's ridingabroad, laidhis hand, and crushed the poyson upon the pummell of the Queene's saddle, saying, 1 God save the Qneene,' the Queene rode abroad, and as it should seem

MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS AND QUAINT. 13

laid not her hand upon the place, or els received no hurt (through God's goodnesse) by touching it. Walpole, counting the thing as done, im- parted it to some principall fugitives there, but being disappointed of his hope, supposing Squire to have been false, to be revenged on him sent one hither (who should pretend to have stolne from thence) with letters, wherein the plot of Squires was contained ; this letter was pretended to be stolne out of one of their studies. Squire, being apprehended, con- fessed all without any rigor, but after denied that he put it in execution, although he acknowledged he consented to it in the plot, at length he confessed the putting it in execution also."

GRINNING FOR A WAGER.

June 9, 1786. — On Whit-Tuesday was celebrated at Hendon, in Mid- dlesex, a burlesque imitation of the Olympic Games. One prize was a gold-laced hat, to be grinned for by six candidates, who were placed on a platform, with horses' collars to exhibit through. Over their heads was printed in capitals, —

Detur Tetriori ; or

The ugliest grinner

Shall be the winner.

Each party grinned five minutes solus, and then all united in a grand chorus of distortion. This prize was carried by a porter to a vinegar merchant, though he was accused by his competitors of foul play, for rinsing his mouth with verjuice. The whole was concluded by a hog, with his tail shaved and soaped, being let loose among nine peasants ; any one of which that could seize him by the queue, and throw him across his shoulders, was to have him for a reward. This occasioned much sport : the animal, after running some miles, so tired his hunters that they gave up the chase in despair. A prodigious concourse of people attended, among whom were the Tripoline Ambassador, and several other persons of distinction.

BITE OP THE TARANTULA SPIDER.

A Neapolitan soldier who had been bitten by a tarantula, though apparently cured, suffered from an annual attack of delirium, after which he used to sink into a state of profound melancholy ; his face becoming livid, his sight obscure, his power of breathing checked, accompanied b}' sighs and heavings. Sometimes he fell senseless, and devoid of pulsa- tion ; ejecting blood from his nose and mouth, and apparently dying, llecourse was had to the influence of music ; and the patient began to revive at the sound, his hands marking the measure, and the feet beiug similarly affected. Suddenly rising and laying hold of a bystander, he began to dance with the greatest agility during an uninterrupted course of four-and-twenty hours. His strength was supported by administering to him wine, milk, and fresh eggs. If he appeared to relapse, the music was repeated, on which he resumed his dancing. This unfortunate being used to fall prostrate if the music accidentally stopped, and imagine that the tarantula had again stung him. After a few years he died, in one of these annual attacks of delirium.

TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL T1.U.NG8;

BYG02TE CHRISTMAS CUSTOMS. ' Now, too, is heard

The hapless cripple, tuning through the street* His carol new ; and oft, amid the gloom Of midnight hours, prevail th' accustom'd souno.8 Of wakeful wails, whose harmony (composed Of hautboy, organ, violin, and flute, And various other instruments of mirth), Is meant to celebrate the coming time."

The manner in which this period of the year has been observed ha* often varied. The observances of the day first became to be pretty

THB HUXHEBS, OB AXCIEXT WAITS.

general in the Catholic church about the year 300. By some of oui ancestors it was viewed in the double light of a religious and joyful season of festivities. The midnight preceding Christmas-day every person went to mass, and on Christmas-day three different masses were sung with much solemnity. Others celebrated it with great parade, splendour, and conviviality. Business was superseded by merriment and hospitality ; the most careworn countenance brightened on the occasion. The nobles and the barons encouraged and participated in the various sports : the industrious labourer's cot, and the residence of proud royalty, equally resounded with tumultuous joy. From Christmas-day to Twelfth-day there was a continued run of entertainments. ]S*ot onlj

MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.

15

did our ancestors make great rejoicings on, lilt before and after Christ- inas-day. By a law in the time of Alfred, the " twelve days after the nativity of our Saviour were made festivals;* and it likewise appears from Bishop Holt, that the whole of the days were dedicated to feasting. Our ancestors' various amusements were conducted by a sort of master of the ceremonies, called the " Lord of Misrule," whose duty it was to keep order during the celebration of the different sports and pastimes. The universities, the lord mayor and sheriffs, and all noblemen and gentlemen, had their "lords of misrule." These "lords" were tirst

THE LOBD OP MISBULE.

preached against at Cambridge by the Puritans, in the reign of James I., as unbecoming the gravity of the university.

The custom of serving boars' heads at Christmas bears an ancient date, and much ceremony and parade has been occasionally attached to it. Henry II. " served his son (upon the young prince's coronation) at the table as server, bringing up the boar's head with trumpets before it."

The custom of strolling from street to street with musical instruments aud singing seems to have originated from a very ancient practice which

* Thus we have the origin of Twelfth-day.

16 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;

prevailed, of certain minstrels who were attached to the king's court and other great persons, who paraded the streets, and sounded the hour — thus acting as a sort of watchmen. Some slight remains of these still exist, but they no longer partake of the authoritative claim as they originally did, as the " lord mayor's music," &c. It may not, perhaps, be generally known, that even at the present day " waits" are regularly sworn before the " court of burgesses" at "Westminster, and act under the authority of a warrant, signed by the clerk, and sealed with the arms of the city and liberty ; in addition to which, they were bound to provide themselves with a silver badge, also bearing the arms of West- minster.

In the north they have their Yule log, or Yuletide log, which is a huge log burning in the chimney corner, whilst the Yule cakes arc baked on a "girdle," (a kind of frying-pan) over the fire ; little lads and maidens assemble nightly at some neighbouring friends to hear the goblin story, and join in "fortune-telling," or some game. There is a part of an old song which runs thus :

" Now all our neighbours' chimneys smoke.

And Christmas logs are burning ; Their ovens they with baked meate choke,

And all their spits are turning."

Among the plants usual to Christmas are the rosemary, the holly, and the mistletoe. Gay says :

" When rosemary and bays, the poet's crown, Arc bawled in frequent cries through all the town, Then judge the festival of Christmas near — Christmas, the joyous period of the year. Now with bright holly all your temples strow, With laurel green and sacred mistletoe."

A MEEMAIf.

" The wind being easterly, we had thirty fathoms of water, when at ten o'clock in the morning a sea monster like a man appeared near our ship, first on the larboard, where the master was, whose name is William Lomone, who took a grappling iron to pull hirn up ; but our captain, named Oliver Morin, hind

jio.u±cu. ^uvci niuiiii, iiuuu.ered him, being afraid that the monster would drag him away into the sea. The said Lomone struck him on the back, to make him turn about, that he might view him the better. The monster, being struck, showed his face, having his two hands closed as if he had expressed some anger. Afterwards he went round the ship : when he was at the stern, he took hold of the helm with both hands, and we were obliged to aiake it fast lest he should damage it. From thence he proceeded to the starboard, swimming still as men do. When he came to the forepart of the ship, he viewed for some time the figure that was in our prow, which rep;«sented a beautiful woman, and then he rose out of the water as if he had been willing to catch that figure. All this happened in the sight of the whole crew. Afterwards he came again to the larboard, where they presented to him a cod-fish hanging down with a rope ; he handled it without spoiling it, and then removed the length »f a cable and came again to the stern, where be too> outf> of the helm &

MARVELLOUS, RARE, CLRIOUS, AND QUAINT. 17

second time. At that very moment, Captain Morin got a harping-iron ready, and took it himself to strike him with it ; but the cordage being entangled, he missed his aim, and the harping-iron touched only the monster, who turned about, showing his face, as he had done before. Afterwards he came again to the fore part, and viewed again the figure in our prow. The mate called for the harping-iron; but he was frightened, fancying that this monster was one La Commune, who had killed himself in the ship the year before, and had been thrown into the sea in the same passage. He was contented to push his back with the harping-iron, and then the monster showed his face, as he had dene at other times. Afterwards he came along the board, so that one might have given him the hand. He had the boldness to take a rope held up by John Mazier and John Deffiete, who being willing to pluck it out of his hands, drew him to our board ; but he fell into the water and then removed at the distance of a gun's shot. He came again immediately near our board, and rising out of the water to the navel, we observed that his breast was as large as that of a woman of the best plight. He turned upon his back and appeared to be a male. Afterwards he swam again round the ship, and then went away, and we have never seen him since. I believe that from ten o'clock till twelve that this monster was along our board ; if the crew had not been frighted, he might have been taken many times with the hand, being only two feet distant. Tha' monster is about eight feet long, his skin is brown and tawny, without any scales, all his motions are like those of men, the eyes of a propor- tionable size, a little mouth, a large and flat nose, very white teeth, black hair, the chin covered with a mossy beard, a sort of whiskers under the nose, the ears like those of men, fins between the fingers of his hands and feet like those of ducks. In a word, he is a well-shaped man. Which is certified to be true by Captain Oliver Morin, and John Martin, pilot, and by the whole crew, consisting of two and thirty men." — An article from Brest, in the Memoirs of Trevoux. — This monster waa mentioned in the Gazette of Amsterdam, October 12, 1725, where it is said it was seen in the ocean in August, same year.

A SHAVED BEAE.

At Bristol I saw a shaved monkey shown for a fairy ; and a shaved bear, in a check waistcoat and trousers, sitting in a great chair as an Ethiopian savage. This was the most cruel fraud I ever saw. The un- natural position of the beast, and the damnable brutality of the woman- keeper who sat upon his knee, put her arm round his neck, called him husband and sweet-heart, and kissed him, made it the most disgusting spectacle I ever witnessed ! Cottle was with me. — Southey.

THE ORIGIN OF WIGS.

As for the origin of wigs, the honour of the invention is attributed to the luxurious Sapygians in Southern Italy. The Louvain theologians, who published a French version of the Bible, affected, however, to dis- cover the first mention of perukes in a passage in the fourth chapter of Isaiah. The Vulgate has these words : " Decalvabit Dominus verticem tiliarum Sion, et Dominus crinem earum midabit." This, the Louvain

2

18 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;

gentlemen translated into French as follows : " Le Seigneur dechevelera les tetes des filles de Sion, et le Seigneur decouvrira leurs perruques;" which, done into English, implies that " The Lord will pluck the hair from the heads of the daughters of Sion, and will expose their periwigs."

DKESS nr 1772.

The year 1772 introduced a new style for gentlemen, imported by a number of young men of fashion who had travelled into Italy, and formed an association called the Maccaroni Club, in contradistinction to the Beef-steak Club of London. Hence these new-fashioned dandies were styled Maccaronies, a name that was afterwards applied to ladies

of the same genus. The accom - panying cut delineates the pe- culiarities of both. The hair of the gentleman was dressed in an enormous toupee, with very large curls at the sides ; while behind it was gathered and tied up into an enormous club, or knot, that rested on the back of the neck like a porter's knot ; upon this an exceedingly small hat was worn, which was some- times lifted from the head with the cane, generally very long, and decorated with extremely large silk tassels ; a full white handkerchief was tied in a large bow round the neck ; frills from the shirt-front projected from the top of the waistcoat, which was much shortened, reaching very little below the waist, and being without the flap-covered pockets. The coat was also short, reach- ing only to the hips, fitting closely, having a small turn-over collar as now worn ; it was edged with lace or braid, or decorated with frog-but- tons, tassels, or embroidery ; the breeches were tight, of spotted or striped silk, with enormous bunches of strings at the knee. A watch was car- ried in each pocket, from which hung bunches of chains and seals : silk stockings and small shoes with little diamond buckles completed the gentleman's dress. The ladies decorated their heads much like the gen- tlemen, with a most enormous heap of hair, which was frequently siir- mounted by plumes of large feathers and bunches of flowers, until the head seemed to overbalance the body. The gown was open in front ; hoops were discarded except in full-dress ; and the gown gradually spread outward from the waist, and trailed upon the ground behind, shewing the rich laced petticoat ornamented with flowers and naedlework ; the sleeves widened to the elbow, where a succession of ruffles and lappets, each wider than the other, hung down below the hips.

MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. CHRISTMAS OBSERVANCES PUT DOWN BY THE PURITANS,

19

During the Commonwealth, when puritanical feelings held iron sway over the rulers of the land, and rode rampant in high places, many strong attempts were made to put down what they were pleased to term superstitious festivals, and amongst these was that of Christmas Day. So determined was the Puritan party to sweep away all vestiges of evil creeds and evil deeds, that they were resolved to make one grand attempt upon the time-honoured season of Christmas. The Holly and the

PKOCLAIMINS THE NON-OBSEBVANCE Of CHRISTMAS.

Mistletoe-bough were to be cut up root and branch, as plants of the Evil One. Cakes and Ale were held to be impious libations to superstition ; and the Koundheads would have none of it.

Accordingly, we learn that, in the year 1647, the Cromwell party ordered throughout the principal towns and cities of the country, by the mouth of the common crier, that Christmas Day should no longer be observed — it being a superstitious and hurtful custom ; and that in place thereof, and the more effectually to work a change, markets should be held on the 25th day of December.

This was attacking the people, especially the country folks, in their most sensitive part. It was hardly to be expected that they would quietly submit to such a bereavement ; nor did they, as the still-existing " News-letters " of those days amply testify.

20 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ,

TEE MANNER OF WATCHMEN INTIMATING THE CLOCK AT HERENUtriH IN GERMANY.

VIII. Past eight o'clock ! 0, Herrnliuth, do thou ponder ; Eight souls in Noah's ark were living yonder.

IX. 'Tis nine o'clock ! ye hrethren, hear it striking ; Keep hearts and houses clean, to our Saviour's liking.

X. Now, hrethren, hear, the clock is ten and passing ; None rest but such as wait for Christ embracing.

A I. Eleven is past ! still at this hour eleven,

The Lord is calling us from earth to heaven.

XII. Ye brethren, hear, the midnight clock is humming ; At midnight, our great Bridegroom will be coming.

I. Past one o'clock ; the day breaks out of darkness : Great Morning-star appear, and break our hardness !

II. 'Tis two ! on Jesus wait this silent season, Ye two so near related, will and reason.

III. The clock is three ! the blessed Three doth merit The best of praise, from body, soul, and spirit.

IV. 'Tis four o'clock, when three make supplication, The Lord will be the fourth on that occasion.

V. Five is the clock ! five virgins were discarded, When five with wedding garments were rewarded.

VI. The clock is six, and I go off my station ;

Now, brethren, watch yourselves for your salcation.

A DOG EXTINGUISHING A FIRE.

On the evening of the 21st February, 1822, the shop of Mr. Coxon, chandler, at the Folly, Sandgate, in Newcastle, was left in charge ol his daughter, about nine years of age, and a large mastiff, which is generally kept there as a safeguard since an attempt was made to rob the shop. The child had on a straw bonnet lined with silk, which took fire from coming too near the candle. She endeavoured to pull it off, but being tied, she could not effect her purpose, and in her terror shrieked out, on which the mastiff instantly sprang to her assistance, and with mouth and paws completely smothered out the flame by pressing the bonnet together. The lining of the bonnet and the child's hair only were burnt.

CAMBRIDGE CLODS.

About sixty years since, two characters, equally singular in their way, resided at Cambridge : Paris, a well-known bookseller, and Jack- son, a bookbinder, and principal bass-singer at Trinity College Chapel m that University ; these two gentlemen, who were both remarkably corpulent, were such small consumers in the article of bread, that their abstemiousness in that particular was generally noticed ; but, to make amends, they gave way to the greatest excess and indulgence of their appetites in meat, poultry, and fish, of almost every description. So one day, having taken an excursion, in walking a few miles from home.

MARVELLOUS, RAKB, CURIOUS; AND QUAINT. 21

.hey were overtaken by hunger, and, on entering a public-house, the only provision they could procure was a clod of beef, weighing near four • teen pounds, which had been a day or two in salt ; and this these two moderate bread consumers contrived to manage between them broiled, assisted by a due proportion of buttered potatoes and pickles. The land- lord of the house, having some knowledge of his guests, the story got into circulation, and the two worthies were ever after denominated the Cam bridge Clods !

WITCH-TESTIKG AX NEWCASTLE IX 1649.

March 26. — Mention occurs of a petition in the common council books of Newcastle, of this date, and signed, no doubt, by the inhabitants, concerning witches, the purport of which appears, from what followed, to have been to cause all such persons as were suspected of that crime to be apprehended and brought to trial. In consequence of this, the magistrates sent two of their sergeants, viz. — Thomas Shevill and Cuth- bert Nicholson, into Scotland, to agree with a Scotchman, who pretended knowledge to find out witches, by pricking them with pins, to come to Newcastle, where he should try such who should be brought to him, aud to have twenty shillings a piece, for all he should condemn as witches, and free passage thither and back again. "When the sergeants had brought the said witch-finder on horseback to town, the magistrates sent their bell-man through the town, ringing his bell and crying, all people that would bring in any complaint against any woman for a witch, they should be sent for, and tried by the person appointed. Thirty women were brought into the town-hall, and stripped, and then openly had pins thrust into their bodies, and most of them were found guilty. The said reputed witch-finder acquainted Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Hobson, deputy-governor of Newcastle, that he knew women whether they were witches or no by their looks ; and when the said person was searching of a personable and good-like woman, the said colonel replied, and said, surely this woman is none, and need not be tried, but the Scotchman said she was, and, therefore, he would try her ; and presently, in the sight of all the people, laid her body naked to the waist, with her cloathes over her head, by which fright and shame all her blood contracted into one part of her body, and then he ran a pin into her thigh, and then suddenly let her cloathes fall, and then demanded whether she had nothing of his in her body, but did not bleed ! but she being amazed, replied little ; then he put his hands up her cloathes and pulled out the pin, and set her aside as a guilty person, and child of the devil, and fell to try others, whom he made guilty. Lieutenant-Colonel Hobson, per- ceiving the alteration of the aforesaid woman, by her blood settling in her right parts, caused that woman to be brought again, and her cloathes pulled up to her thigh, and required the Scot to run the pin into the same place, and then it gushed out of blood, and the said Scot cleared her, and said she was not a child of the devil. The witch-finder set aside twenty-seven out of the thirty suspected persons, and in conse- quence, fourteen witches and one wizard, belonging to Newcastle, were executed on the town moor.

TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS

ALEXANDER SELKIRK AXD THE DAXCING GOATS.

The adventures of Alexander Selkirk, an English sailor, who, more than one hundred and fifty years since, was left alone on the island of Juan Fernandez are very wonderful.

This extraordinary man sought to heguile his solitude by rearing kids, and he would often sing to them, and dance with his motley group around him. His clothes having worn out, he dressed himselt in gar- ments made from the skins of such as run wild about the island ; these he sewed together with thongs of the same material. His only needle was a long slender nail ; and when his knife was no longer available, he made an admirable substitute from an iron hoop that was cast ashore.

Upon the wonderful sojourn of this man, Defoe founded his exquisite tale of " Robinson Crusoe," a narrative more extensively read and better known than perhaps any other ever written.

JACOB BOBAET.

A curious anecdote of Jacob Bobart, keeper of the physic garden at Oxford, occurs in one of Grey's notes to Hudibras — " He made a dead rat resemble the common picture of dragons, by altering its head and tail, and thrusting in taper sharp sticks, which distended the skin on each side till it resembled wings. He let it dry as hard as possible. The learned immediately pronounced it a dragon ; and one of them sent an accurate description of it to Dr. Magliabecchi, librarian to the Grand Duke pf Tuscany ; several fine copies of verses were wrote on so rare a subject ; but at last Mr. Bobart owned the cheat. However, it was looked upon as a masterpiece of the art ; and, as such, deposited in the Museum."

MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.

BLIND JACK.

The streets of London, in the reigns of Queen Anne and Georges I. find II., were infested •with all sorts of paupers, vagabonds, impoa tors, and common adventurers; and many, who otherwise might be considered real objects of charity, by their disgusting manners and

general appearance in public places, rather merited the interference of the parish beadles, and the discipline of Bridewell, than the countenance and encouragement of such persons as mostly congregated around common street exhibitions. One-eyed Granny and Blind Jack were particular nuisances to the neighbourhoods in which the first ractised ner mad-

24 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;

drunk gambols, and the latter his beastly manner of performing on the flageolet. John Keiling, alias Blind Jack, having the misfortune to lose his sight, thought of a strange method to insure himself a livelihood. He was constitutionally a hale, robust fellow, without any complaint, saving blindness, and having learnt to play a little on the flageolet, he conceived a notion that, by performing on that instrument in a different, way to that generally practised, he should render himself more noticed by "the public, and be able to levy larger contributions on their pockets.

The manner of Blind Jack's playing the flageolet was by obtruding the mouth-piece of the instrument up one of his nostrils, and, by long custom, he could produce as much wind as most others with their lips into the pipe ; but the continued contortion and gesticulation of his mus- cles and countenance rendered him an object of derision and disgust, as much as that of charity and commiseration.

THE YORKSHIRE TIKE.

Ah iz i truth a country youth, Neean us'd teea Lunnon fashions ; Yet rartue guides, an' still presides, Ower all mah steps an' passions. Neea coprtly leear, bud all sincere, Xeea bribe shall ivver blinnd me, If thoo can like a Yorkshire tike, A rooague thoo' 11 niwer finnd me. Thof envy's tung, seea slimlee hung, Wad lee aboot oor country, Neea men o' t' eearth booast greter

wurth, Or mare extend ther boounty.

Oor northern breeze wi' uz agrees,

An' does for wark weel fit uz ;

I* public cares, an' all affairs,

Wi' honour we acquit uz.

Seea gret a moind is ne'er confiand,

Tu onny shire or nation ;

They geean meeast praise weea weel

displays

A leearned'iddicasion. Whahl rancour rolls i' lahtle soula, By shallo views dissarning, They're nobbut wise 'at awiue prize Gud manners, sense, and leearnin.

TWO OF THE FATHERS ON FALSE HAIR.

Tertullian says, " If you will not fling away your false hair, as hate- ful to Heaven, cannot I make it hateful to yourselves, by reminding you that the false hair you wear may have come not only from a criminal, but from a very dirty head ; perhaps from the head of one already damned ?" This was a very hard hit indeed ; but it was not nearly so clever a stroke at wigs as that dealt by Clemens of Alexandria. The latter informed the astounded wig-wearers, when they knelt at church to receive the blessing, that they must be good enough to recol- lect that the benediction remained on the wig, and did not pass through to the wearer ! This was a stumbling-block to the people ; many of whom, however, retained the peruke, and took their chance as to the percolating through it of the benediction.

FOOD OP ANIMALS.

Linnaeus states the cow to eat 276 plants, and to refuse 218 ; the goat eats 449, and declines 126; the sheep takes 387, and rejects 141 ; the horse likes 262, and avoids 212 ; but the hog, more nice in its provision than any of the former, eats but 72 plants, and rejects 171.

MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AXD QUAINT. 2«

SLAVE ADVERTISEMENTS.

The following announcements are curious, as showing the merchandise %ht in which the negro was regarded in America while yet a colony ul fireat Britain: —

FRANCIS LEWIS, lias fur SALE,

A Choice Parcel of Muscovado and Powder Sugars, in Hogsheads, J-*- Tierces, and Barrels ; Ravens, l)uck, and a Negro Woman and Negro Boy. — The Coach-House and Stables, with or without the Garden Spot, formerly the Property of Joseph Murray, Esq ; in the Broad Way, to be let separately or together : — Inquire of said Francis Lewis.

New York Gazette, Apr. 25, 1765.

rphis Day Kun away from John 31' Comb, Junier, an Indian Woman, -*- about 1 7 Years of Age, Pitted in the face, of a middle Stature and Indifferent fatt, having on her a Drugat, Wastcoat, and Kersey Petticoat, of a Light Collour. If any Person or Persons, shall bring the said Girle to her said Master, shall be Rewarded for their Trouble to their Content. American Weekly Mercury, May 24, 1726.

A Female Negro Child (of an extraordinary good Breed) to be given •**• away ; Inquire of Edes and Gill.

Boston Gazette, Feb. 25, 1765.

To be Sold, for want of Employ.

A Likely Negro Fellow, about 25 Years of Age, he is an extraordinary good Cook, and understands setting or tending a Table very well, likewise all Kind of House Work, such as washing, scouring, scrubbing, &c. Also a Negro Wench his Wife, about 17 Years old, born in this City, and understands all Sorts of House Work. For farther Particular inquire of the Printer. New York Gazette, Mar. 21, 1765.

PRESERVATIVE POWER OF COAL-PIT "WATER.

The following is extracted from the register of St. Andrew's, in New- castle : — "April 24th, 1695, wear buried, James Archer and his son Stephen, who, in the moneth of May, 1658, were drowned in a coal-pit in the G alia- Flat, by the breaking in of water from an old waste. The bodys were found intire, after they had lyen in the water 36 years and 11 months."

THE QUEEN BEE.

Reaumur relates the following anecdote of which he was a witness : — A queen bee, and some of her attendants, were apparently drowned in a brook. He took them out of the water, and found that neither the queen bee, nor her attendants were quite dead. Reaumur exposed them to a gentle heat, by which they were revived. The plebeian bees recovered rirst. The moment they saw signs of animation in their queen, they ap- proached her, and bestowed upon her all the care in their power, linking »nd rubbing her ; and when the queen had acquired sufficient foi x t( move, they hummed aloud, as if in triumph !

2*

TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;

DKEA1I OF KIXG HENRY I.

A singular dream, which happened to this monarch when passing ovei to Normandy in 1130, has been depicted in a manuscript of Florence of Worcester, in Corpus Christi College, Oxford. The rapacity and oppres- sive taxation of his government, and the reflection forced on him by his own unpopular measures, may have originated the vision. He imagined himself to have been, visited by the representatives of the thrse most important grades of society — the husbandmen, the knights, and the clergy — who gathered round his bed, and so fearfully menaced him, that

he awoke in great alarm, and, seizing his sword, loudly called for his at- tendants. The drawings that accompany this nar- rative, and represent each of these visions, appear to have been executed shortly afterwards, and are valuable illustrations of the general costume of the period. One of them is introduced in this place.

The king is here seen sleeping ; behind him stand three husbandmen, one carrying a scythe, another a pitchfork, and the third a shovel. They are each dressed in simple tunics, without girdles, with plain close-fitting sleeves ; the central one has a mantU; fastened by a plain brooch, leaving the right arm free. The beards of two of the'se figures are as ample as those of their lords, this being an article of fashionable indulgence within their means. The one with the scythe wears a hat not unlike the felt hat still worn by his descend- ants in the same grade : the scroll in his left hand is merely placed there to contain the words he is supposed to utter to the king.

SEPULCHllAL BAEKOW OF HIE AXGI.O-SAXONS.

The engraving on the next page is copied from a plate in Douglas's Nenice and represents one of the most ancient of the Kentish bariows opened by him in the Chatham Lines, Sept. 1779 ; and it will enable the reader at once to understand the structure of these early graves, and the inte- resting nature of their contents. The outer circle marks the extent of the mound covering the body, and which varied considerably in eleva- tion, sometimes being but a few inches or a couple of feet from the level of the ground, at others of a gigantic structure. In the centre of the mound, and at the depth of a few feet from the surface, an oblong rec- tangular grave is cut, the space between that and the outer circle being tilled in with chalk, broken into small bits, and deposited carefully and

MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAIKT. 27

firmly around and over the grave. The grave contained the body of a male adult, tall and well-proportioned, holding in his right hand a spear, the shaft of which was of wood, and had perished, leaving only the iron head, 15 inches in length, and at the bottom a flat iron stud (a), having, a small pin in the centre, which would appear to have been driven into the bottom of the spear-handle ; an iron knife lay by the right side, with remains of the original handle of wood. Adhering to its under side were very discernible impressions of coarse linen cloth, showing that the warrior was buried in full costume. An iron sword is on the left side, thirty-five and a quarter inches in its entire length, from the point to the bottom of the handle, which is all in one piece, the wood-work which covered the handle having perished ; the blade thirty inches in length and two in breadth, flat, double - edged, and sharp-pointed, a great por- tion of wood covering the blade, which indicates that it was buried with a scab- bard, the external covering being of leather, the inter- nal of wood. A leathern strap passed round the waist, from which hung the knife and sword, and which was secured by the brass buckle (6) , which was found near the last bone of the vertebra?, or close to the os sacrum. Between the thigh-bones lay the iron umbo of a shield, which had been fastened by studs of iron, four of which were found near it, the face and reverse o'f one being represented at (c.) A thin plate of iron (d), four and a half inches in length, lay exactly under the centre of the umbo, having two rivets at the and, between which end the umbo were the remnants of the original wooden (and perhaps hide-bound) shield ; the rivets of the umbo having apparently passed through the wood to this plate as its bracer or stay. In a recess at the feet was placed a vase of red earth, slightly ornamented round the neck with concentric circles and zigzag lines.

AN OLD GANDER.

Willoughby states in his work on Ornithology, that a Mend of his possessed a gander eighty years of age; which in the end became so ferocious that they were forced to kill it, in consequence of the havock it committed in the barn-yard. He also talks of a swan three centuries old ; and several celebrated parrots are said to have attained from one hundred to one hundred and iiftjjr years.

23 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL TILINGS ,

M. Brady, Physician to Prince Charles of Lorraine, gives the follow- ing particulars of an extraordinary sleeper : —

" A woman, named Elizabeth Alton, of a healthful strong constitution, who had been servant to the curate of St. Guilain, near the town of Mons, about the beginning of the year 1738, when she was about thirty- six years of age grew extremely restless and melancholy. In the month of August, in the same year, she fell into a sleep which held four days, notwithstanding all possible endeavours to awake her. At length she awoke naturally, but became more restless and uneasy than before ; for six or seven days, however, she resumed her usual employments, until she fell asleep again, which continued eighteen hours. From that time to the year 1 753, which is fifteen years, she fell asleep daily about three o'clock" in the morning, without waking until about eight or nine at night. In 1754 indeed her sleep returned to the natural periods for four months, and, in 1748, a tertian ague prevented her sleeping for three weeks. On February 20, 1 755, M. Brady, with a surgeon, went to see her. About live o'clock in the evening, they found her pulse extremely regular ; on taking hold of her arm it was so rigid, that it was not bent without much trouble. They then attempted to lift up her head, but her neck and back were as stm as her arms. He hallooed in her ear as loud as his voice could reach ; he thrust a needle into her flesh up to the bone ; he put a piece of rag to her nose flaming with spirits of wine, and let it burn some time, yet all without being able to disturb her in the least. At length, in about six hours and a half, her limbs began to relax ; in eight hours she turned herself in the bed, and then suddenly raised herself up, sat down by the fire, eat heartily, and began to spin. At other times, they whipped her till the blood came ; they rubbed her back with honey, and then exposed it to the stings of bees ; they thrust nails under her finger-nails ; and it seems these triers of experiments consulted more the gratifying their own curiosity than the recovery of the unhappy object of the malady.

A FAT ENGLISHMAN.

Keysler, in his travels, speaks of a corpulent Englishman, who in pass- ing through Savoy, was obliged to make use of twelve chairmen. He ia said to have weighed five hundred and fifty pounds, or thirty-nine stone four pounds.

A HAPPT FAMILY.

A gentleman travelling through Mecklenburgh, some years since, witnessed a singular association of incongruous animals. After dinner, the landlord of the inn placed on the floor a large dish of soup, and gave a loud whistle. Immediately there came into the room a mastiff, an Angora cat, an old raven, and a remarkably large rat, with a bell about its neck. They all four went to the dish, and, without disturb- ing each other, fed together ; after which the dog, cat, and rat, lav before the fire, while the raven hopped about the room. The landlord, after accounting for the familiarity of these animals, informed his guest

MARVELLOUS, RARE, CtlRlOUS, AITD QUAINT. 29

that the rat was the most useful of the four ; for the noise he made had completely freed his house from the rats and mice with which it was before infested.

ANCIENT FTRE-AHMS IX THE TOWEE OF 10JTDON ABMORY.

We have just now hefore iis a drawing of an old piece of ordnance, formed of bars of iron, strongly hooped with the same material, which forms a striking contrast with the finely- wrought cannons which may be seen in store at "Woolwich Arsenal, and elsewhere, at the present day. The exact date and manner of the' introduction of cannon is a matter which has caused much dispute. The earliest mention of the use of can- non on shipboard is in Rymer's " Fcedera." It is an order to Henry Somer, Keeper of the Private "Wardrobe in the Tower, to deliver to Mr. Goveney, Treasurer to Queen Philippa, Queen of Sweeden, Denmark, and Norway, (who was then sent by her uncle, Henry the FourtK, to her husband, in the ship called the Queen's Hall,) the following military stores : 1 1 guns, 40 petras pro gunnes, 40 tumpers, 4 torches, 1 mallet, '2 fire-pans, 40 pavys, 24 bows, 40 sheaves of arrows.

After the old cannon composed of bars of iron, hooped together, had been some time in use, hand-cannon, a simple tube fixed on a straight stake, was used in warfare, charged with gunpowder and an iron bullet. This was made with trunnions and casabel precisely like the large cannon. In course of time, the touch-hole was improved, and the barrel cast in brass. This, fixed to a rod, had much the appearance of a large sky- rocket. "What is now called the stock was originally called the frame of the gun.

Various improvements were from time to time made in the hand-gun, amongst which was a pan fixed for containing the touch-powder. In rainy weather, this became a receptacle for water ; to obviate which, a small piece of brass made to turn on a pin was placed as a cover. This done, there was a difficulty in preserving the aim in consequence of the liability of the eye to be diverted from the sight by the motion of the right hand when conveying the lighted match to the priming. This was, to a certain extent, prevented by a piece of brass being fixed to the breech and perforated. The improved plan for holding the lighted match for firing the hand^-guns is shown in the engraving of the Buckler and Pistol ; it consists of a thin piece of metal something in, shape of an S reversed, the upper part slit to hold the match, the lower pushed up by the hand when entended to ignite the powder.

After the invention of the hand-cannon, its use became general in a very short space of time in most parts of the civilized world.

Philip de Comines, in his account of the battle of Morat, in 1476, says he encountered in the conferate army 10,000 arquebusiers.

The arquebusiers in Hans Burgmain s plates of the " Triumph of Maximilian the First," have suspended from their necks large powder flasks or horns, a bullet bag on the right hip, and a sword on the left; while they carry the match-lock in their hands.

Henry the Eighth's Walking-stick, as the Yeomen of Guard at the Tower call it, is a short -spiked mace, in the head of which are thre«

30

fEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;

short guns or pistols, which, may be fired at very primitive touch -Loles by a match.

" The llevolver has four barrels, and although clumsy in construction, ia not very different in principles from those recently introduced.

t. Kenry the Eighth's "\Vaiking-stick. 2. A Revolver of the Fifteenth century. 3. Buckler, with Pistol inserted.

The use of the pistol inserted inside the buckler is O^T-.C.ZS as '.he lattei ffords protection to the person while using tte former

MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.

31

WIGS.

In 1772 the Maccaronies, as the exquisites of that time were called, wore wigs similar to 1, 2, 3, with a large toupee, noticed as early as 1751, in the play of the Modern Husband : " I meet with nothing but a parcel of toupet coxcombs, who plaster up their brains upon their peri- wigs, ' alluding to the pomatum with which they were covered. Thoae worn by the ladies in 1.7V2 are given as 4, showing the rows of curls

at the sides. The pig-tails were worn hanging down the back, or tied up in a knot behind, as in i>. About 1780 the hair which formed it was allowed to stream in a long lock down the back, as in 6, and soon afterwards was turned up in a knot behind. Towards the end of the century, the wig, as a general and indispensable article of attire to young and old, went out of fashion.

A FA1SE FIND.

At Falmouth, some years ago, the sexton found coal in digging a grave ; he concluded it must be a mine, and ran with the news and the specimen to the clergyman. The surgeon explained that they had stolen a French prisoner who died, and filled his coffin with coal that the bearers might not discover its emptiness.

TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;

BELLS.

As far back as the Anglo-Saxon times, before the conclusion of the seventh century, bells had been in use in the churches of this country, particularly in the monastic societies of Northumbria ; and were, there- fore, in use from the tirst erection of parish churches among us. Those of France and England appear to have been furnished with several bells. Jn the time of Clothaire II., King of France, and in the year 610, the

were frequently made of bass. And as early as the ninth century many were cast of a large size and deep note.

Weever, in his work on funeral monuments, says — " In the little sanc- tuary at Westminster, King Edward III., erected a clochier, and placed therein three bells, for the use of St. Stephen's Chapel. About the biggest of them were cast in the metal these words : —

"King Edward made mee thirty thousand weight and three ; Take me down and wey mee, and more you shall tind mee."

" But these bells being taken down in the reign of Henry Till., one """^ underneath with a coal :—

"But Henry the Eight, V/ill bait me of my weight."

This last distich alludes to a fact mentioned by Stow, in his survey of London— ward of Farringdon Within to wit — that near to St. Paul's School stood a clochier, in which were four bells, called Jesus' bells, the greatest in all England, against which Sir Miles Partridge staked an hundred pounds, and won them of Henry VIII., at a cast of dice.

Matthew Paris observes, that anciently the use of bells was prohibited in time of mourning. Mabillon adds, that it was an old practice to ring the bells for persons about to expire, to advertise the people to pray for them — whence our passing-bell. The passing-bell, indeed, was anciently for two purposes — one to bespeak the prayers of all good Christians for a soui just departing ; the other to drive away the evil spirits who were supposed to stand at the bed's foot.

This dislike of spirits to bells is mentioned in the Golden Legend, by Wynkyn de Worde. " It is said, evill spirytes that ben in the regyon ot thayre, doubte moche when they here the belles rongen ; and this is the :ause why the belles ben rongen when it thondreth, and when grete tem- peste and outrages of wether happen ; to the ende that the nends and wycked spirytes shold be abashed and flee, and cease of the movvnge of '.empeste. Another author observes, that the custom of ringing bells a1 'Jie approach of thunder is of some antiquity ; but that the design was lot so much to shake the air, and so dissipate the thunder, as to call the people to church, to pray that the parish might be preserved from the terrible effect of lightning.

Warner, in his history of Hampshire, enumerates the virtues of a bcU, by translating the tines from the " Helpe to Discourse : —

MARVELLOUS, KARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. &S

" Men's death's I tell by doleful knell; Lightning and thunder I break asunder. On Sabbath all to church I call ; The sleepy head I raise from bed ; The winds so fierce I doe disperse ; Men's cruel rage I doe assuage."

Four of the bells of the ancient Abbey of Hexliam were dedicated or baptised ; and although the old bells no longer exist, the legends ti[x/n

TUB CUEFEW BELL.

the whole six have been preserved, and a free translation given by Mi. Wright, is as follows : —

t. Even at our earliest sound,

The light of God is spread around.

2. At the echo of my voice. Ocean, earth and air, rejoice.

3. Plend thy mellow tones with mine, Silver voice of Catherine !

4. Till time on ruin's lap shall nod. John shall sound the praise of (MM!.

5. With John in heavenly harmony, Andrew, pour thy melody.

G. Be mine to chant Jehovah's fame, While 31 aria is my name.

These epigraphs or legends on bells, are not uncommon. Tlie l»'uv. . C. Lukis, in his notices on church bells, read at the Wilts Archsecio- t-d Meeting, gave the following instances : —

?* TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS

At Aldbourne, on the first beU, we read, " The gift of Jos. Tizzir and Wm. Gwynn.

" Music and ringing we like so well.

And for that reason we gave this boll.*' On the fourth bell is,—

" Humphry Symsin gave xx pound to buy this bell, And the parish gave xx more to make this ring go ••oil."

A not uncommon epigraph is,- -

" Come when I call To serve God all." At Chilton Foliatt, on the tenor, is,—

" Into the church the living 1 call, And to the grave I summon all. Attend the instruction which I give, That so you may for ever live."

At Devizes, St. Maiy, on the first bell, is, —

" I am the first, altho' but small. I will be heard above you all." And on the second bell is, —

" I am the second in this ring, Therefore next to thee I will sing."

Which, at Broadchalk, is thus varied : —

" I in this place am second bell, I'll surely do my part as well." On the third beU at Coin is,—

" Robert Forman collected the money for casting this bel"

Of well-disposed people, as I do you tell." At Bath Abbey, on the tenth bell, is,—

" All you of Bath that lisar me sound, Thank Lady Hopton's hundred pound."

On the fifth bell at Aiaesbiiry is, —

" Be strong in faith, praise God well, Frances Countess Hertford's bell."

And, on the tenor, —

" Altho' it be unto my loss, I hope you will consider my cost."

At Stcwe, Northamptonshire, and at St. Mary the Virgin. Oxfori. ^x find, —

" Ue it known to all that doth me see, That Newcombc, of Leicester, made me."

At St. Michael's, Coventry, on the fourth bell, is,— " I ring at six to let men know When to and from their work to go."

On the seventh bell is, —

" I ring to Sermon with a lusty borne, That all may come and nouc can stay a*, hciun/''

MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 36

On the eighth bell is —

" I am and have been called the common bell To ring, when fire breaks out to tell."

At St. Peter' s-le-Bailey, Oxford, four bells were sold towards finishing the tower, and in 1792 a large bell was put up, with this inscription : —

" "With seven more I hope soon to be For ages joined in harmony."

But this very reasonable wish has not yet been realized ; whereas at St. Lawrence's, Reading, when two bells were added to form a peal of ten. >n the second we find —

" By adding two our notes we'll raise, And sound the good subscribers' praise."

The occasion of the erection of the "Westminster Clock-tower, is said to have been as follows : — A certain poor man, in an action for debt, being fined the sum of 13s. 4d., Radulphus Ingham, Chief Justice of the King's Bench, commiserating his case, caused the court roll to be erased, and the fine reduced to 6s. 8d., which being soon after discovered, Ingham was amerced in a pecuniary mulct of eight hundred marks, which was employed in erecting the said bell-tower, in which was placed a bell and a clock, which, striking hourly, was to remind the

regarded ; as other bells were frequently called Tom, as fancied to pro- nounce that name when stricken — that at Lincoln, for instance, and that at Oxford — this also followed the fashion, of which, to what I remember of it before it was hung up, I may add another proof from a catch made by the late Mr. Eccles, which begins —

" 'Hark, Harry, 'tis late — 'tis time to be gone, For Westminster Tom, bj my faith, strikes one. "

Hawkins, in his " History of Music," says, — " The practice of ringing bells in change, or regular peals, is said to be peculiar to England : whence Britain has been ^termed the ringing island. The custom seems to have commenced in the time of the Saxons, and was common before the Conquest. The ringing of bells, although a recreation chiefly of the lower sort, is, in itself, not incurious. The tolling of a bell is nothing more than the producing of a sound by a stroke of the clapper against the side of the bell, the bell itself being in a pendant position, and at rest. In ringing, the bell, by means of a wheel and a rope, is elevated to a perpendicular ; in its motion, the clapper strikes forcibly on one side, and in its return downwards, on the other side of the bell, producing at each stroke a sound." There are still in London several societies of ringers. There was one called the College Youths (bell-ringers, like post- boys, never seem to acquire old age). Of this it is said Sir Matthew Hale, Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench, was, in his youthful days, a member ; and in the life of that upright judge, by Burnet, some far»j

" 4. If any one shall wear his hat

When he is ringing here? lie straightway then shall sixpence

pay In cyder or in oeer

" 5. If any one these articles

Ilefuseth to obey, Let him have nine strokes of the

rope, And so depart away."

Sti TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS:

nre mentioned which favour this relation. In England the practice of ringing has been reduced to a science, and peals have been composed which bear the names of their inventors ; some of the most celebrated of these were composed about fifty years ago by one Patrick. This man was a maker of barometers. In the year 1684, one Abraham lludhall, of the citv of Gloucester, brought the art of bell-founding to great perfection. His descendants in succession have continued the business of casting bells; and by a list published by them at Lady Day, 1774, the family, in peals and od'd bells, had cast to" the amount o"f 3,594. The peals of St. Ihmstan's in the East, St. Bride's, London, and St. Martin' s-in-the- Fields, are among the number. The following " Articles of Panging" are upon the walls of the belfry in the pleasant village of Dunster, in Somersetshire. They are dated 1787 : —

" ). You that in ringing take delight,

Be pleased to draw near ; These articles you must observe,

If you mean to ring here •' 2. And first, if any overturn A bell, as that he may, He forthwith for that only fault

In beer shall sixpence pay. 3. If any one shall curse or swear When come within the door. He then shall forteit for that fault As mentioned before.

HILL OF SALE FOR A XEGEO IN 1770.

" Know all Men by these Presents, That I, Elizabeth Treat, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk, widow, in consideration of the sum of £25 13s. 4d. to me in hand, paid before the ensealing hereof bv Samuel Breck, of Boston aforesaid, merchant, the receipt whereof I do hereby acknoAvledge, have granted, bargained, and sold, and by these presents do fully and absolutely grant, bargain, and sell urlo the said Samuel Breck, my Negro man named Harry, aged about forty years, with his apparel, to have and to hold the said Negro man Harry, with his apparel, uuto the said Samuel Breck, his executors, administrators, and assigns, to his and their only proper use, benefit, and behoof for ever ; And I, the said Elizabeth Treat, for myself, my heirs, executors, and administrators, do covenant, that at the time of ensealing, and until the delivery hereof, I am the true and lawful owner of the said Negro man, and th'at he is free from all former sales, charge?, and incumbrances whatsoever, and that I will warrant and defend the said Negro man unto the said Samuel Mreck, his heirs, and assigns for ever, against the lawful claims and demands of all persons whomsoever.

" Witness my hand and seal, this tenth day of October, Anno Domini, one thousand seven hundred and seventy, in the tenth year of His Majesty's reign

" Signed, sealed, and delivered in preserve of us.

"T 110 MAS MELVILLE. "ELIZABETH TKEAT."

" MAUT "WHITE.

MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 37

THE AZTEC CHILDIIEN.

Among the animated curiosities wliich are occasionally exposed to th« pize of the wonder-loving public, we may prominently notice the AZTRC CHILDREN— two singular Lilliputians who were recently exhibiu-d throughout the kingdom. Maximo and Bartolo (for by these names the two Aztec children have been baptized) are by some medical men supposed to be of the respective ages of twenty-two and sixteen. Professor Owen, stated them to be ten or twelve, and seven or nine in 185:3. The height of the boy (the elder is about three feet, and the girl dues not reach quite two feet six inches. Their limbs, though slender, are proportionate ntnj well formed, and the general development of their figures is remarkably graceful. The cranium is peculiar, being narrower thnn that of any other

races of beings known to the world; and though the face is somewhat prominent, the features are regular and the countenances agreeable, and, after a short acquaintance, highly interesting. Each has a beautiful head •if jet black hair, which flows gracefully in curls. They are lively and intelligent, showing considerable aptitude for mental training, and have already learned to give utterance to several expressions which can ba readily understood by visitors.

Since the arrival of these prodigies from the United States, they have been the objects of curious ethnological speculations. Dr. Latham does not consider them as a new species of the yenus homo. Professor Owen regards them as instances of impeded development, and Dr. CouoUy wa« Biruck with their resemblance to idiots.

38 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ,

NOTICES TO TAR AND FEATHER.

The original handbills of the committee for Tarring and Feathering subjoined, are of singular interest, as they were the earliest emanations of the spirit that led to England's losing her American colonies, and the consequent rise of the United States : —

To the Delaware Pilots.

fPHE Regard we have for your Characters, and our Desire to promote your future Peace and Safety, are the Occasion of this Third Address to you.

In our second Letter we acquainted you, that the Tea Ship was a Three Decker ; "VVe are now informed by good Authority, she is not a Three Decker, but an old black Ship, without a Head, or any Ornaments.

The Captain is a short fat Fellow, and a little obstinate withal. — So much the worse for him. — For, so sure as he rides rusty, "VVe shall heave him Keel out, and see that his Bottom be well fired, scrubb'd and paid. — His Upper- Works too, will have an Overhawling — and as it is said, he has a good deal of Quick Work about him, We will take particular Care that such Part of him undergoes a thorough Rummaging.

We have a still worse Account of his Owner ; — for it is said, the Ship POLLY was bought by him on Purpose, to make a Penny of us : and that he and Captain Ayres were well advised, of the Risque they would run, in thus daring to insult and abuse us.

Captain Ayres was here in the Time of the Stamp- Act, and ought to have known our People better, than to have expected we would be so mean as to suffer his rotten TEA to be funnel' d down our Throats, with the Parliament's Duty mixed with it.

We know him well, and have calculated to a Gill and a Feather, how much it will require to fit him for an American Exhibition. And we hope, not one of your Body will behave so ill, as to oblige us to clap him in the Cart along Side of the Captain.

We must repeat, that the SHIP POLLY is an old black Ship, of about Two Hundred and Fifty Tons burthen, without a Head, and without Ornaments,— and, that CAPTAIN AYRES is a thick chunky Fellow.— As such, TAKE CARE TO AVOID THEM.

Your Old Friends, THE COMMITTEE FOR TARRING AND FEATHERING .

Philadelphia, December 7, 1773.

To Capt. Ayres, of the Ship Polly, on a Voyage from London to

Philadelphia. SIR,

\fyTe are informed that you have, imprudently, taken Charge of a Quantity

of Tea ; which has been sent out by the India Company, under tilt

Auspices of the Ministry, as a Trial of American Virtue and Resolution.

Now, as your Cargo, on your Arrival here, will most assuredly bring

you into hot water ; and as you are perhaps a Stranger to these Partt,

we have concluded to advise you of the present Situation of Affairs in

Philadelphia — that, taking Time by the Forelock, you may stop short

MAllVKLLOUS, P.A11E, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 39

in your dangerous Errand — secure your Ship against the Hafts of com- bustible Matter which may be set on Fire, and turned loose against her r and more than all this, that you may preserve your own Person, from the Pitch and Feathers that are prepared for you.

In the first Place, we must tell you, that the Pennsylcanians are, to a Man, passionately fond of Freedom ; the Birthright of Americans , and at all Events are "determined to enjoy it.

That they sincerely believe, no Power on the Face of the Earth has a Right to tax them without their Consent.

That in their Opinion, the Tea in your Custody is designed by the Ministry to enforce such a Tax, which they will undoubtedly oppose ; and in so doing, give you every possible Obstruction.

We are nominated to a very disagreeable, hut necessary Service. — To oui' Care are committed all Offenders against the Rights of America ; and hapless is he, whose evil Destiny has doomed him to suffer at our Hands.

You are sent out on a diabolical Service ; and if you are so foolish and obstinate as to compleat your Voyage ; by bringing your Ship to Anchor in this Port ; you may run such a Gauntlet, as will induce you, in your last Moments, most heartily to curse those who have made you the Dupe of their Avarice and Ambition.

What think you Captain, of a Halter around your Neck — ten Gallons of liquid Tar decanted on your Pate — with the Feathers of a dozen wild Geese laid over that to enliven your Appearance ?

Only think seriously of this — and fly to the Place from whence you came — fly without Hesitation — without the Formality of a Protest — and above all, Captain Ayres let us advise you to fly without the wild Geese Feathers. Your Friends to serve

THE COMMITTEE as before subscribed.

Philadelphia, Nov. 27, 1773.

B. FRANKLIN'S CELEBRATED LETTER TO STRAHAN.

As a sequel to the foregoing notices, we give Dr. Franklin's celebrated letter, written in the actual heat of the first outbreak.

Philadelphia, July 5, 1775.

Mr. STRAHAN, — You are a member of Parliament, and one of that majority which has doomed my country to destruction. You have begun to burn our towns, and murder* our people. Look upon your hands They are stained with the blood of your relations ! You and I were long friends; you are now my enemy, and

I am, yours, B. FRANKLIN.

HENRY II. STRIPT WHEN DEAD.

1189. Immediately upon his death, those that were about him applied their market so busilie in catching and niching awaie things that laie readie for them, that the king's corps laie naked a long time, till a child covered the nether parts of his body with a short cloke, and then it seemed that his surname was fulfilled that he had from his childhood, which was Shortmantell, being so called, because he was the first who brought short plokes out of Anjou into England.

40 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS:

Tn.VNSl'LANTATIOlf OF HAIR.

1'he Signer Dottore Domenico Nardo addressed a letter to the Academy ef Padua, in 1826, on the subject of the growth of hair after death, and even after its separation from the body. The latter property had been previously observed by Krafft. The Signor Nardo recounts the results •>f experiments made on his own person in the transplantation of hair, and relates, that by transplanting quickly a hair, with its root, from a pore of his head, into a pore of his chest, easily to be accomplished bv widening the pore somewhat with the point of a needle, introducing the root with nicety, and exciting within the pore itself, by friction, a slight degree of inflammation, the hair takes root, continues to vegetate, and grows ; in due season changes colour, becomes white, and falls.

ANCIENT CANNON KAISED FROM THE SEA,

A fisherman of Calais some time since, drew up a cannon, of very ancient form, from the bottom of the sea, by means of his nets. M. de Jlheims has since removed the rust from it. and on taking off the breech was much surprised to iind the piece still charged. Specimens of the powder have been taken, from which, of course, all the saltpetre has dis- appeared after a submersion of three centuries. The ball was of lead, and was not oxidized to a depth greater than that of a line.

COFFEE-HOUSE ATTRACTIONS IX 1760.

The great attraction of Don Saltero's Coffeehouse was its collection of rarities, a catalogue of which was published as a guide to the visitors. It comprehends almost every description of curiosity, natural and arti- ficial. " Tigers' tusks ; the Pope's candle ; the skeleton of a Guinea- pig ; a fly-cap monkey ; a piece of the true Cross ; the Four Evangelists' heads cut on a cherry-stone ; the King of Morocco's tobacco-pipe ; Mary Queen of Scot's pincushion ; Queen Elizabeth's prayer-book ; a pair o'f Nun's stockings ; Job's ears, which grew on a tree ; a frog in a tobacco- stopper ;" and five hundred more odd relics ! The Don had a rival, as appears by "A Catalogue of the Rarities to be seen at Adams's, at the Koyal Swan, in Kingsland Road, leading from Shoreditch Church, 1756." Mr. Adams exhibited, for the entertainment of the curious, " Miss Jenny Cameron's shoes ; Adam's eldest daughter's hat ; the heart of the famous Hess Adams, that was hanged at Tyburn with Lawyer Carr, January IS, 1736-7; Sir Walter Raleigh's tobacco-pipe; Vicar of Bray's clogs; engine to shell green pease with ; teeth that grew in a fish's belly ; Black Jack's ribs; the very comb that Abraham combed his son Isaac and Jacob's head with; Wat Tyler's spurs; rope that cured Captain l.owry of the head-ach, ear-ach, tooth-ach and belly-ach ; Adam's key of the fore and back door of the Garden of Eden, &c., &c." These are only a few out of five hundred others equally marvellous.

A. WOMAN TAKES THE LIGHTED MATCH FROM A BOMB.

During the siege of Gibraltar, in 1782. the Count d'Artois came to St. llocli, to visit the place and works. While his highness was inspect-

MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 41

ing the lines, in company with the Duke de Crillon, they both alighted with their suite, and all lay flat upon the ground, to avofd the effects of a bomb that fell near a part of the barracks where a Frenchwoman had a canteen. This woman, who had two children in her arms at the time, rushed forth with them, and having seated herself, with the utmost sang-froid, on the bomb-shell, she put out the match, thus extricating from danger all that were around her, many of whom witnessed this courageous and devoted act. His highness rewarded this intrepid female by bestowing on her a pension of three francs a day, and engaged to pro- mote her husband after the siege ; while the Duke de Crillon, imitating the generous example of the prince, ensured to her likewise a daily pay- ment of live francs.

THE STJMMEHS MAGNET, OR LOADSTONE.

Among the great naval officers of Elizabeth's reign must be ranked Sir George Summers, the discoverer of the Bermudas, often called the Summers Islands from that circumstance. Here is a representation given of what the descendants of Sir George Summers call the " Summers magnet, or loadstone." It is in the possession of Peter Franklin Bellamy, Esq., surgeon, second son of Dr. Bellamy, of Ply- mouth. The tradition in the family is that the admiral before going to sea used to touch his needle with it. The stone is dark-coloured, the pre- cise geological formation doubtful. This curious stone, with armature of iron, was probably an ancient talisman.

SWALLOWING LIZAEDS.

Bertholin, the learned Swedish doctor, relates strange anecdotes of lizards, toads, and frogs ; stating that a woman, thirty years of age, being thirsty, drank plentifully of water at^a pond. At the end of a few months, she experienced singular movements in her stomach, as if some- thing were crawling up and down ; and alarmed by the sensation, con- sulted a medical man, who prescribed a dose of orvietan in a decoction of fumitory. Shortly afterwards, the irritation of the stomach increasing, she vomited three toads and two young lizards, after which, she became more at ease. In the spring following, however, her irritation of the stomach was renewed ; and aloes and bezoar being administered, she vomited three female frogs, followed the next day by their numerous progeny. In the month of January following, she vomited five more living frogs, and in the coxirse of seven years ejected as many as eighty.

r. Bortholin protests that he heard them croak in her stomach !

42 TEN 1HOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;

IMMENSE SEA SERPENT.

A species of sea-serpent was thrown, on shore near Bombay in 1819. It was about forty feet long, and must have weighed many tons. A violent gale of wind threw it high above the reach of ordinary tides, in •which situation it took nine months to rot; during which process travellers were obliged to change the direction of the road for nearly a quarter of a mile, to avoid the offensive effluvia. It rotted so completely that not a vestige of bone remained.

THE EOYAL TOUCH.

For many ages one of the regal prerogatives in this country was to touch for the cure of regius morbus, or scrofula ; a disease too well known to need any description. At different periods hundreds of persons as- sembled from all parts of the country annually to receive the royal interposition. Lists of the afflicted were published, to afford a criterion for determining as to its success ; and from Edward the Confessor to the reign of Queen Anne, its efficacy appears to have obtained a ready and general belief.

The ceremony was announced by public proclamations ; one of which we copy from " The Newes," of the 18th of May, 1664. " His Sacred Majesty" (Charles II.) "haying declared it to be his royal will and purpose to continue the healing of his people for the Evil during the month of May, and then to give over until Michaelmas next, I am com- manded to give notice thereof, that the people may not come up to town in the interim, and lose their labour."

An extract from the " Mercurius Politicus" affords additional informa- tion. " Saturday," says that paper, " being appointed by His Majesty to touch such as were troubled with the Evil, a great company of poor afflicted creatures were met together, many brought in chairs and flaskets, and being appointed by His Majesty to repair to the banqueting-house, His Majesty sat in a chair of state, where he stroked all that were brought unto him, and then put about each of their necks a white ribbon, with an angel of gold on it. In this manner His Majesty stroked above six hundred ; and such was his princely patience and tenderness to the poor afflicted creatures, that, though it took up a very long time, His Majesty, who is never weary of well-doing, was pleased to make inquiry whether there were any more who had not yet been touched. After prayers were ended, the Duke of Buckingham brought a towel, and the Earl of Pembroke a basin and ewer, who, after they had made obeisance to His Majesty, kneeled down, till His Majesty had washed."

This sovereign is said to have touched nearly one hundred thousand patients.

With Queen Anne the practice was discontinued. But so late as the 2Sth of February, 1712, little more than two years before her death, the following proclamation appeared in the " Gazette" : — " It being Her- Ma- jesty's royal intention to touch for the Evil en "Wednesday, the 19th of March next, and so to continue weekly during Lent, it is Her Majestv's

MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 43

«ommand that tickets be delivered the day before at tie office in White- hall ; and that all persons shall bring a certificate signed by the Minister and Churchwardens of their respective parishes, that they have never received the royal touch." Dr. Johnson, when an infant, was brought, with others, for this purpose ; " and when questioned upon the subject, confessed he had a faint recollection of an old lady with something black about her head."

A religious service, of which Dr. Heylin, Prebendary of "Westminster, in his "Examen Historicum," has given us the particulars, accompanied the ceremony ; which, as a document of pious interest, we transcribe : — " The first Gospel is the same as that on the Ascension-day, Mark xvi. 14, to the end. At the touching of every infirm person these words are repeated : ' They shall lay their hands on the side, and they shall recover.' The second Gospel begins with the first of St. John, and ends a Ithese words : (John i. 14 :) ' Full of grace and truth.' At the putting the angel about their necks were repeated, ' That light was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.'

' Lord, have mercy upon us.'

' Christ have mercy upon us.'

' Lord have mercy upon us. Our Father, &c.'

' Minister. — 0 Lord, save thy servants :'

' Response. — Which put their trust in thce.'

' M. — Send unto them help from above :'

' 11. — And ever more defend them.'

' M. — Help us, 0 God, our Saviour!'

' R. — And for the glory of thy name sake deliver us : be merciful unto us, sinners, for thy name sake !' M. — 0 Lord, hear our prayer :' R. — And let our cry come unto thee.'

The Collect. — Almighty God, the eternal health of all such as put their trust in thee, hear us, we beseech thee, on the behalf of these thy servants, for whom we call for thy merciful help ; that they receiving health, may give thanks unto thee in thy holy Church, through Jesus Christ our Lord ! Amen.' " ' The peace of God,' &c."

PEG TAXKAEDS.

The pegging, or marking the drinking cups, was introduced by St. Dunstan, to check the intemperate habits of the times, by preventing one man from taking a larger draught than his companions. But the device proved the means of increasing the evil it was intended to remedy; for, refining upon Dunstan's plan, the most abstemious were required to drink precisely to a peg or pin, whether they could soberlv take sucn a quantity of liquor or not. To the use of such cups may be traced the origin of many of our popular phrases. When a person is much elated, we still say, "He is in a merry pin;" ana, "He is a peg too low," when he is not in good spirits. On the same principle we talk of " taking a man down a peg," when we would check forwardness.

44 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS,

XORMA.X CAPS.

Tliere is nothing more amusing to the traveller on the continent, thaR to observe the extraordinary variety of those head-appendages, many of them heir-looms for generations in some families, all more or less prized according to the richness of materials employed upon them, and the peculiarity of shape. There is no article of dress more important to the Jformande, whatever may be her means, than the cap which so jauntily and triumphantly asserts the dignity of the wearer. The wives <>f termieres who ca'n afford such luxuries as expensive lace and trimmings, spend a little income in the decoration of their caps. Many cost upwards

of three thousand francs for the materials and manufacture ; and these, as we have before observed, are handed from mother to daughter through successive years, and are highly prized.

In the primitive villages of Normandy, on some holidays, it is a pleasing sight to see the dense army of caps, with flaps fanning the air, and fol- lowing the gesticulatory movements of their talkative and volatile owners. When the weather is doubtful, the cap-wearers take care to be provided with a red umbrella of a clumsy construction, remarkably heavy, and some- what similar, perhaps, to the original with which Jonas Hanway braved the jeers of a London populace in first introducing it.

MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.

NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN "WAR DESPATCH.

45

The following is a facsimile of a gazette of a tribe of North American ludians, who assisted the French forces in Canada, during the war between France and England : —

Explanation of the Gazette, giving an account of one of their expedi- tions. The following divisions explain those on the plate, as referred (o by the numbers : —

1. Each of these figures represents the number ten. They all signify, that 18 times 10, or 180 American Indians, took up the hatchet, or declared war, in favour of the French, which is represented by, the hatchet placed over the arms of France.

2. They departed from Montreal — represented by the bird just taking wing from the top of a mountain. The moon and the buck show the time to have been in the tirst quarter of the buck-moon, answering to July.

3. They went by water — signified by the canoe. The number of huts, such as they raise to pass the night in, shows they were 21 days on tlieii passage.

46 TKN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;

4. Then they came on snore, and travelled seven days by land — represented by the foot and the seven huts.

5. When they arrived near the habitations of their enemies, at sun- rise— shown by the sun being to the eastward of them, beginning, at they think, its daily course, there they lay in wait three days — repre- sented by the hand pointing, and the three huti

6. After which, they surprised their enemies, in number 12 times 10, or 120. The man asleep shows how they surprised them, and the hole in the top of the building is supposed to signify that they broke into gome of their habitations in that manner.

7. They killed with the club eleven of their enemies, and took five prisoners. The former represented by the club and the eleven heads, the latter by the figures on the little pedestals.

8. They lost nine of their own men in the action — represented by the nine heads within the bow, which is the emblem of honour among the Americans, but had none taken prisoners — a circumstance they lay great weight on, shown by all the pedestals being empty.

9. The heads of the arrows, pointing opposite ways, represent the buttle.

10. The heads of the arrows all pointing the same way, signify the flight of the enemy.

BECEiriS FROM ALBEETUS 1TAGMJS.

If thon tcylt make a Carbuckle stone, or a thyng shynimj in the nyyht. — Take verye many of the lyttle beastes shyninge by nyghte, and put them beaten smale in a bottel of glasse, and close it, and buryc it in hoate horses doting, and let it tarye xv dayes, afterwarde thou shalte destyll water of them Peralembicum, which thou shalt put in a vessel of Christal or glasse. It giueth so great clearnesse, that euery man may reade and write in a darke place where it is. Some men make this water of the gall of a snale, the gal of a wesel, the gall of a feret, and of a water dogge : they burie them in doung and destyll water out of them.

If thou ivylt see that other men can not see. — Take the gall of a male cat, and the fat of a hen all whyte, and mixe them together, and anoint thy eyes, and thou shalt see it that others cannot sec.

If the hart, eye, or brayne of a lapwyng or blacke plover be hanged vpon a mans necke it is profitable agaynste forgetfulnesse, and sharpetli mans vnderstanding. — " Albertus Magnus." Black Letter : very old.

ADVEETISEitEXT OF KOAST PIG IX 1726.

" On Tuesday next, being Shrove Tuesday, there will be a fine Iwg barbyqu'd whole, at the house of Peter Brett, at the Rising Sun, in Islington Road, with other diversions. — Note. It is the house where the ox was roasted whole at Christmas last."

A hog barbecu'd is a West Indian term, and means a hog roasted whole, staffed with spice, and basted with Madeira wine. Oldfield, an eminent glutton of former days, gormandised away a fortune of fifteen hundred pounds a-year. Pope thus alludes to him, —

41 Oldfield, with more than harpy throat er.du'd, Cries, ' Send me, 0, gods, a whole hog larbeatfd r "

MARVELLOUS. RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 47

DYING OP OLD AGE AT SEVENTEEN TEAKS.

March 19th, 1754, died, in Glamorganshire, of mere old age and a gradual decay of nature, at seventeen years and two months, Hopkins Hopkins, the little "Welchman lately shown in London. He never weighed more than seventeen pounds, but for three years past no more than twelve. The parents have still six children left, all of whom no way differ from other children, except one girl of twelve years of age, who weighs only eighteen pounds, and bears upon her most of the marks of old age, and in all respects resembles her brother when at that age.

"WE DAE BEEN:"

In Ayrshire there is a tradition, that the family motto of De Bruce — " We have been," originated from a lady named Fullarton, married to a cadet of the family of Cassilis. They had been gained to favour England during the chivalrous achievements of Wallacp. <md still continued zealous partisans of Edward. Before Bruce avowed his purpose to eman- cipate his country, he came, disguised as a palmer, to acquaint himself how far he could rely on aid from the people. A storm compelled him, and a few faithful adherents, to take shelter on the coast of Ayrshire . Extreme darkness, and the turbulence of the billows, deprived them of all knowledge where they landed ; and as, in those unhappy times, the appearance of a few strangers would create alarm, the chiefs dispersed in different directions. Bruce chanced to go into the house of Mr. Kennedy, where the servants treated him with great reverence. The lady had gone to bed, and the prince wished they would not disturb her, but per- nut him to sit by the fire till day ; however, one damsel had given her immediate notice of the visitor. He was ushered into her presence. She eyed him with scrutinizing earnestness. " "We hae been — we hae been fause," said she, in the Scottish dialect, "but a royal ee takes me back to haly loyalty. I seid ye, mes royal de Bruce, I ken ye weel. We hae been baith untrue to Scotland, but rest ye safe : and albiet a' that's gane, Meg Fullarton wad dee in your cause."

OKIGENT OP THE PENNY POST.

The penny-post was devised in 1683, by one Mr. David Murray, an upholder in Paternoster Row. It soon became an object of attention to Government; but so low were its profits that one Dockwra, who suc- ceeded Murray, had a pension of only £200 a year given him in lieu cf it. This occurred in 1716.

A BAFFLE IN 1725.

May 8. The following copy of an advertisement, in the Newcastle Courant of this date, may be considered curious: — "On Friday in the race week, being the 28th of May, at the Assembly House, in^Westgate, will be raffled for, 12 fine Fans, the highest three guineas, the worst 5s., at half a Crown per Ticket. Note : the lowest throw is to have the second best Fan, value £3, the other according to the height of the numbers which shall be thrown. There will be an assembly after for those who raffia."

TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;

4 VISIT TO THE RESIDENCE OF DR. JOHNSON, IX INNER TEMPLE LiSi, LONDON.

In one of the dreary, old-fashioned houses leading from the arched entrance to the Temple, which almost every passenger through Temple Bar must have remarked, whether he is a stranger, or a resident in the metropolis, Dr. Johnson, who occupies one of the most distinguished positions in the literature of our country, resided for several years.

It was in this place that Dr. Johnson became acquainted with his future biographer, Boswell, who thus describes their first meeting : —

"A few days afterwards I called on Davies, and asked him if he thought I might take the liberty of waiting on Mr. Johnson at his cham- bers in the Temple. He said I certainly might, and that Mr. Johnson would take it as a compliment. His chambers were on the first floor of No. 1, Inner Temple Lane, and I entered them with an impression given me by the Rev. Dr. Blair, of Edinburgh, who described his having found the giant in his den. He received me very courteously ; but it must be confessed, that his apartment, and furniture, and morning dress, were sufficiently uncouth. His brown suit of clothes looked very rusty ; he had on a little, old, shrivelled, unpowdered wig, which was too small for his head ; his shirt neck and knees of his breeches were loose, his black worsted stockings ill drawn up, and he had a pair of unbuckled shoes by way of slippers ; — but all these slovenly particulars were for- gotten the moment he began to talk."

The "den" in which the "giant" lived, the staircase leading to it, and indeed the whole appearance of the locality, has reccntlv undergone

MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 49

demolition, and its interesting features knocked down to the highest bidder, to be, let us hope, preserved in some museum or other place ol safety.

Dr. Johnson resided at various times in Holborn, the Strand, and

uther places, and died, as iir is well known, in No. 8, Bolt Court, Fleet Street, in 1784. His remains were placed in a grare under the statue of Shakspere, in, "Westminster Abbey, and near the resting-place of hia friend and companion, David Garrick.

ORIGIN OP THE STUFF BALL AT LINCOLN.

During the want of employment in the manufactories in 1801, Mrs. Chaplain, of Blankney, in Lincolnshire, formed a patriotic institution for the encouragement of the local trade of the district. A ball was given at Lincoln for the benefit of the stuff manufactory, at which ladies were admitted gratis, on their appearance in a stuff gown and petticoat, spun, wove, and finished within the county, and prodxicing a ticket

3

60 TEN THOUSAND tVONDEttFUL THINGS ;

signed, by the weaver and dyer at Louth, one of which tickets was delivered with every twelve yards of stuff. The gentlemen were required to appear without silk or cotton in their dress, stockings excepted. The impulse thus given to trade, was of the most signal service in relieving distress, and at the same time promoting habits of industry.

STEVENS'S SPECIFIC.

In the reign of Charles II., Dr. Jonathan Goddard obtained 5,000/. for disclosing his secret for making a medicine, called " Gutt<e Anf/li- cance" And in 1739, the Parliament of England voted 5,000^. to Mrs. Stevens for a solvent for stone.

The celebrated David Hartley was very instrumental in procuring this grant to Joanna Stevens. He obtained also a private subscription to the amount of £1,356, published one hundred and fifty-five successful cases, and, by way of climax to the whole, after eating two hundred pounds weitjht of soap ! David himself died of the stone.

AN IMPOSTOK.

From the Testament of Jerome Sharp, printed in 1786 : — " I entered," says the narrator, "with one of my friends, and found a man resembling an ourang-outang crouched upon a stool in the manner of a tailor. His complexion announced a distant climate, and his keeper stated that he found him in the island of Molucca. His body was bare to the hips, having a chain round the waist, seven or eight feet long, which was fastened to a pillar, and permitted him to circulate out of the reach of the spectators. His looks and gesticulations were frightful. His jaws never ceased snap- ping, except when sending forth discordant cries, which were said to be indicative of hunger. He swallowed Hints when thrown to him, but pre- ferred raw meat, which he rushed behind his pillar to devour. He groaned fearfully during his repast, and continued groaning until fully satiated. When unable to procure more meat, he would swallow stones with frightful avidity ; which, upon examination of those which he acci- dentally dropped, proved to be partly dissolved by the acrid quality of his saliva. lu jumping about, the undigested stones were heard rattling in his stomach."

The men of science qiiickly set to work to account for these feats, so completely at variance with the laws of nature. Before they had hit upon a. theory, the pretended Molucca savage was discovered to be a peasant from the neighbourhood of Besanoon, who chose to turn to account liis natural deformities. When staining his face for the purpose, in the dread of hurting his eyes, he left the eyelids unstained, which completely puzzled the naturalists. By a clever sleight of hand, the raw meat was left behind the pix'-rr, and cooked meat substituted in its' place. Some asserted his passion for eating behind the pillar to be a proof of his savage origin; most polite persons, and more especially kings, being addicted to feeding in public. The stones swallowed by the pretended savage were taken from a vessel left purposely in the room full of them ; small round stones, encrusted with piaster, which afterwards gave them the appearance of having been masticated in the mouth. Before the dis- covery of all this, the impostor had contrived to reap a plentiful harvest.

MARVELLOUS, RARK, OURiOLSj AND QTJAINT. 51

PERUVIAN BAEK.

In 1693, the Emperor Kanghi (then in the thirty-second year of his feign, and fortieth of his age) had a malignant fever, which resisted the remedies given by his physicians ; the emperor recollected that Tchang- tchin, (Father Gerbillon), and Pe-tsin, (Father Bouret) two Jesuit mis- sionaries, had extolled to him a remedy for intermittents, brought from Europe, and to which they had given the name of chin-yo (two Chinese words, which signify "divine remedies;11} and he proposed to try it, but the physicians opposed it. The emperor, however, without their knowledge took it, and with good effect. Sometime afterwards, he ex- perienced afresh several fits of an intermittent, which, though slight, made him uneasy ; this led him to proclaim through the city, that any person possessed of a specific for this sort of fever, should apply without delay at the palace, where patients might also apply to get cured. Some of the great officers of his household were charged to receive such remedies as might be offered, and to administer them to the patients. The Europeans, Tchang-tching, (Gerbillon) Hang-jo, (Father de Fon- tenay, Jesuit) and Pe-tsin, (Bouret) presented themselves among others, with a certain quantity of quinquina, offered it to the grandees, ai>d instructed them in the manner of using it. The next day it was tried on several patients, who were kept in sight, and were cured by it. The officers, or grandees who had been appointed to superintend the experi- ment, gave an account to the Emperor of the astonishing effect of the remedy, and the monarch decided instantly on trying it himself, provided the hereditary prince gave his consent. The prince, however, not only refused, but was angry with the grandees for having spoken so favour- ably of a remedy, of which only one successful trial had been made ; at hist, after much persuasion, the Prince reluctantly grants his consent, and the emperor takes the bark without hesitation, and permanently recovers. A house is given by the emperor to the Europeans, who had made known the remedy, and through the means of Pe-tsin (Father Bouret) presents were conveyed to the King of France, accompanied with the information, that the Europeans (that is, the French Jesuits) were in high favour.— Histoire Generate de la Chine, $c. tome xi. p. 168, 4to. Paris, 1780. WHITE CATS.

In a number of "Loudon Gardener's Magazine," it is stated that white cats with blue eyes are always deaf, of which extraordinary fact there is the following confirmation in the " Magazine of Natural History,'' No. 2, likewise conducted by Mr. Loudon : — Some years ago, a white cat of the Persian kind (probably not a thorough-bred one), procured from Lord Dudley's at Hindley, was kept in a family as a favourite. The -ox^iftl was a female, quite white, and perfectly deaf. She produced, at •*arious times, many litters of kittens, of which, generally, some were quite white, others more or less mottled, tabby, &c. But the extra- ordinary circumstance is, that of the offspring produced at one and tha same birth, such as, like the mother, were entirely white, were, like her, invariably deaf; while those that had the least speck of colour on their fur, as invariably possessed the usual faculty of hearing.

52 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS ;

A WOMAN DEFENDS A FORT SINGLY.

Lord Kames in his " Sketches of the History of Man," relates an ex- traordinary instance of presence of mind united with courage.

Some Iroquois in the year 1690, attacked the fort de Vercheres, ia Canada, which belonged to the French, and had approached silently, hoping to scale the palisade, when some musket -shot forced them to re- tire : on their advancing a second time they were again repulsed, in wonder and amazement that they could perceive no person, excepting a woman who was seen everywhere. This was Madame de Vercheres, who conducted herself with as much resolution and courage as if supported by a numerous garrison. The idea of storming a place wholly unde- fended, except by women, occasioned the Iroquois to attack the fortress repeatedly, but, after two days' siege, they found it necessary to retire, lest they should be intercepted in their retreat.

Two years afterwards, a party of the same nation so unexpectedly made their appearance before the same fort, that a girl of fourteen, the daughter of the proprietor, had but just time to shut the gate. \Vith this young woman there was no person whatever except one soldier, but not at all intimidated by her situation, she showed herself sometimes in one place, sometimes in another, frequently changing her dress, in order to give some appearance of a garrison, and always tired opportunely. In short, the faint-hearted Iroquois once more departed without success. Thus the presence of mind of this young girl was the means of saving the fort.

INDENTURE OF A HORSE-HACK BETWIXT THE EARLS OF MORTON AND ABERCORN AND THE LORD BO I'D K.

As indicating the state of the English language amongst the nobility of Scotland in 1621, the following is curious : —

"Ane Indentour of ane Horse-raise betuix my Lords Mnrtoun, Alter - come, and Boyde. — The erle of Mortoun obleissis himselff to produce George Ruthert'uirdis Barb Naig : The erle of Abercorne obleissis him to produce his gray Naig : My lord Boyd obleissis him to produce his bay horse ; Upone the conditions following. Thay ar to run the first Thurs- day November nixtocum, thrie mett myleis of Cowper raise in Fyff. The waidger to be for euery horse ten dowbill Anegellis. The foirmest horse to win the hail thretty. Ilk rydare to be aucht scottis stanewecht. And the pairtie not comperaud, or refuisand to consigne the waidger, sail undergo the foirfaltour of this sowme, and that money foirfaltit salbe additt to the staik to be tane away be the wynner. Forder, we declair it to be lesum to ony gentilman to produce ans horse and the lyk waidger, and thay salbe welcum. Subscrybith with all our handis, at Hammiltoune the fyfteine day off August 1621. MORTON, ABEBCORNE, BOYDE.

EAKLY USE OF CHOCOLATE.

An advertisement in " The Public Adviser," from Tuesday, June 10th, to Tuesday, June 23d, 1657, informs us that " in Bishopsgute-strcet, in Queen's-head-alley, at a Frenchman's House, is an excellent West India drink, called Chocolate, to be sold, where you may have it ready at auj time, and also unmade, at reasonable rates."

MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 53

MATTHEW BUCKING EH.

Of all the imperfect beings brought into the world, few can challenge, for mental and acquired endowments, any thing like a comparison to vie with this truly extraordinary little man. Matthew Euckinger was a

native of Nuremberg, in Germany, where he was born, June 2, 1674, without hands, feet, legs, or thighs ; in short, he was little more than the trunk of a man, saving two excrescences growing from the shoulder- blades, more resembling fins of a fish than aims of a man. He was the last of nine children, by one father and mother, viz. eight sons and one daughter ; after arriving at the age of maturity, from the singularity of

54 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;

his case, and the extraordinary abilities he possessed, he attracted the notice and attention of all persons, of whatever rank in life, to whom lie was occasionally introduced.

It does not appear, by any account extant, that his parents exhibited him at any time for the purposes of emolument, but that the whole of his time must have been employed in study and practice, to attain the wonderful perfection he arrived at in drawing, and his performance on parlous musical instruments ; he played the flute, bagpipe, dulcimer, and trumpet, not in the manner of general amateurs, but in the style of a finished master. He likewise possessed great mechanical powers, and conceived the design of constructing machines to play on all sorts of musical instruments.

If Nature played the niggard in one respect with him she amply repaid the deficiency by endowments that those blessed with perfect limbs could seldom achieve. He greatly distinguished himself by beautiful writing, drawing coats of arms, sketches of portraits, history, landscapes, &c., oost of which were executed in Indian ink, with a pen, emulating in perfection the finest and most finished engraving. He was well skilled in most games of chance, nor could the most experienced gamester or juggler obtain the least advantage at any tricks, or game, with cards or dice.

He used to perform before company, to whom he was exhibited, various tricks with cups and balls, corn, and living birds ; and could play at skittles and ninepins with great dexterity ; shave himself with perfect ease, and do many other things equally surprising in a person so de- ficient, and mutilated by Nature. His writings and sketches of figures, landscapes, &c., were by no means uncommon, though curious ; it being customary, with most persons who went to see him, to purchase some- thing or other of his performance ; and as he was always employed in •writing or drawing, he carried on a very successful trade, which, together with the money he obtained by exhibiting himself, enabled him to sup- port himself and family in a very genteel manner. The late Mr. Herbert, of Cheshunt, in Hertfordshire, editor of "Ames's History of Print- in$,M had many curious specimens of Buckinger's writing and drawing, the most extraordinary of which was his own portrait, exquisitely done on vellum, in which he most ingeniously contrived to insert, in the flow- ing curls of the wig, the 27th, 121st, 128th, 140th, 149th, and the 150th Psalms, together with the Lord's Prayer, most beautifully and fairly written. Mr. Isaac Herbert, son of the former, while carrying on the business of a bookseller in Pall-Mall, caused this portrait to be engraved, for which he paid Mr. Harding fifty guineas.

Buckinger was married four times, and had eleven children, viz., one by his first wife, three by his second, six by his third, and one by his last. One of his wives was in the habit of treating him extremely ill, frequently beating and other ways insulting him, which, for a long time, he very patiently put up with ; but once his anger was so much aroused, that he sprung upon her like a fury, got her down, and buffeted her with his stumps within an inch of her life ; nor would he suffer her to arise tutil she promised amendment in future, which it seems she prudently

MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 56

adopted, through, fear of another thrashing. Mr. Buckinger was but twenty-nine inches in height, and died in 1722.

•WOXDEEFTTL PROVISION OF NATTJRE

The insects that frequent the waters, require preaaceous animals to keep them within due limits, as well as those that inhabit the earth ; and the water-spider (Argyroneta aquatica) is one of the most remark- able upon whom that- office is devolved. To this end, her instinct instructs her to fabricate a kind of diving-bell in the bosom of that element. She usually selects still waters for this purpose. Her house- is an oval cocoon, filled with air, and lined with silk, from which threads issue in every direction, and are fastened to the surrounding plants. In this cocoon, which is open below, she watches for her prey, and even appears to pass the winter, when she closes the opening. It is most commonly, yet not always, under water ; but its inhabitant has filled it for her respiration, which enables her to live in it. She conveys the air to it in the following manner : she usually swims on her back, when her abdomen is enveloped in a bubble of air, and appears like a globe of quicksilver. "With this she enters her cocoon, and displacing an equal mass of water, again ascends for a second lading, till she has sufficiently filled her house with it, so as to expel all water. How these little animals can envelope their abdomen with an air-bubble, and retain it till they enter their cells, is still one of Nature's mysteries that has not been explained. It is a wonderful provision, which enables an animal that breathes the atmospheric air, to fill her house with it under water, and by some secret art to clothe her body with air, as with a garment, which she can put off when it answers her purpose. This is a kind of attraction and repulsion that mocks all inquiries.

STOMACH BRUSH.

One of the Court Physicians, in the reign of Charles II., invented an instrument to cleanse the stomach, and wrote a pamphlet on it ; and ridiculous as a chylopoietic-scrubbing-brush may appear, it afterwards g-ot a place among surgical instruments, and is described as the Excutor Ventriculi, or cleanser of the stomach; but the moderns not having stomach for it, have transferred it to the wine merchant, who more ap- propriately applies it to the scouring the interior of bottles. Heister gives a minute description of it, and very gravely enters on the mode and manner of using it : the patient is to drink a draught of warm water, or spirit of wine, that the mucus and foulness of the stomach may bo washed off thereby : then, the brush being moistened in some convenient liquor , is to be introduced into the oesophagus, and slowly protruded into tne stomach, by twisting round its wire handle. When arrived in the stomach, it is to be drawn up and down, and through the oesophagus, like the sucker in a syringe, till it be at last wholly extracted. Some recommend plentiful drinking in the operation, to be continued till no more foulness is discharged. But though this contrivance is greatly extolled, and said to prolong life to a great age, especially if practiced once a week, month, or fortnight ; yet, there are very few (probably, because tried by very few) instances of its happy effects.

56 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;

POPTOAR AMUSEMENTS ET 1743.

In Merrie England of the Olden Time, we find the following copy of a hand-bill announcing performances : —

By a company of English, French, and Germans, at Phillips's ^ew Wells, near the London Spa, Clerkenwell, 20th August, 1743.

This evening, and during the Summer Season, will be perform™! several new exercises of Rope-dancing, Tumbling, Vaulting, Equilibres, Ladder-dancing, and Balancing, by Madame Kerman, Sampson Kogetzi,

Monsieur German, and Monsieur Dominique ; with a new Grand Dance, called Apollo and Daphne, by Mr. Phillips, Mrs. Lebrune, and others ; singing by Mrs. Phillips and Mrs. Jackson ; likewise the extraordinary performance of Herr Von Eeckenberg, who imitates the lark, thrush, blackbird, goldfinch, canary-bird, flageolet, and German flute ; a Sailor's Dance by Mr. Phillips ; and Monsieur Dominique flies through a hogs- head, ana forces both heads out. To which will be added The Harlot's Progress. Harlequin by Mr. Phillips ; Miss Kitty by Mrs. Phillips. Also, an exact representation of the late glorious victory gained over the French by the English at the battle of Dettingen, with'the taking of the White Household Standard by the Scots Greys, and blowing up the bridge, and destroying and drowning most part of the French armv. To begin every evening at five o'clock. Every one will be admitted for a pint of wine, as usual.

MARVELLOUS, RAKE, Cl RIOUS, AND QUAINT. 57

DANCING ROOMS.

Dancing rooms were much frequented a century or so ago in London, which was then pretty well supplied with this means of recreation. We lind that there were rare dancing doings at the original dancing room at the^eW-end of King-Street, Bloomsbury, . in the year 1742 Hickford's great room, Pant on- Street, Haymarket, « . 174o

Mitre Tavern, Charing-Cross, , . . .

Barber's Hall, . . . . . . . 1745

Richmond Assembly, . . . . . 1745

Lambeth Wells . . . . . , ; ' . 1747

Duke's long room, Paternoster Row . . . . 1748

Large Assembly Room at the Two Green Lamps, near Exeter

Change, (at the particular desire of Jubilee Dickey !) . 1749

The large room next door to the Hand and Slippers, Long-lane,

West Smithfield 1750

Lambeth Wells, where a Penny Wedding, in the Scotch manner,

was celebrated for the benefit of a young couple, . . 1 752

Old Queen's Head, in Cock-lane, Lambeth, . . . 1755

and at Mr. Bell's, at the sign of the Ship, in the Strand, where, in 1755, a Scotch Wedding was kept. The bride "to be dressed without any linen ; all in ribbons, and green flowers, with Scotch masks. There will be three bag-pipes ; a band of Scotch music, &c. &e. To begin precisely at two o'clock. Admission, two shillings and sixpence."

ORIGIN OF THE T7SE OF TOBACCO.

'• Maister John Xicot, Counsellor to the Kyng, beeyng Embassadour for the Kyng in Portugall, in the yeres of our Lorde, 1559, 60, 61, wente one daye to see the Prysons of the Kyng of Portugall, and a gentleman beeyng the keeper of the saide Prisons presented hym this hearbe, as a strange Plant brought from Florida ; the same Maister Nicot, hauyng caused the saide hearbe to be set in his garden, where it grewe and mul- tiplied marveillously, was vpon a tyme aduertised, by one of his Pages, that a young man, a kinne to that Page, made a saye of that hearbe bruised, both the herbe and the joice together upon an ulcer whiche he had vpon his cheeke nere vnto his nose, coming of a Noli me tangere whiche bega to take roote already at the gristles of the Nose, wherewith lie founde hym self marveillously eased. Therefore the said Maister Xicot caused the sicke yong man to be brought before hym, causing the said herbe to be continued to the sore eight or tenne daies, this saide Noli me tangere, was vtterly extinguished and healed : and he had sent it, while this cure was a working to a certaine Physition of the Kyng of Portiigall of the moste fame, for to see the further workyng and effect of the said Nicotiane, and sending for the same yong man at the end of tenne daies, the said Phisition seeyng the uisage of the said sicke yong man certified, that the saide Noli me tangere was utterly extinguished, as in deede he never felt it since. Within a while after, one of the Cookes of the said Embassadour hauyng almost cut off his Thombe, with » great choppyng knife, the steward of the house of the saide gentleman

3*

58 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;

ranne to the saide Nicotians, and dresssed him there with fyve or sLxe times, and so in the ende thereof he was healed : from that time forwarde this hearbe began to bee famous throughout all Lisbornc, where the court of the Kyng of Portugall was at that presente, and the vertue of this saide hearbe was preached, and the people beganne to name it the Ambsssadour's hearbe ! Wherefore there came certaine daies after, a gentleman of the country, Father to one of the Pages of the Ambassa- dour, who was troubled with an vlcer in his Legge, hauyng had the same two yeres, and demaunded of the saide Ambassadour for has hearbe, and vsing the same in suche order as is before written, at the ende of tenne or twelve daies he was healed. From that time fourth the fame of that hearbe encreased in such sorte, that manye came from all places to have that same herbe. Emong all others there was a woman that had her face covered with a Ringworme rooted, as though she had a Visour on her face, to whom the saide L : Ambassadour caused the herbe to be given her, and told how she should vse it, and at the ende of eight or tenne daies, this woman was thoroughleye healed, she came and shewed herself to the Ambassadour, shewing him of her healyng. After there came a captain to presente his sonne, sick of the Kinges euill to the saide L: Ambassadour, for to send him into France, vnto whom there was saye made of the saide hearbe, whiche in fewe daies did beginnc to shewe greate signes of healing, and finally was altogether healed of the kinges euill. The L: Ambassadour seeing so great effectes proceeding of this hearbe, and hauing heard say that the Lady Montigny that was, dyed at Saint Germans, of an vlcer bredde in her breast, that did turn to a Noli me tanyere, for which there could never be remedey bee founde, and likewise that the Countesse of Ruffe, had sought for all the famous Fhisitions of that Realme, for to heale her face, unto whom they could give no remedy, he thought it good to communicate the same into Fraunce, and did send it to Kyng Fraunces the seconde ; and to the Queen Mother, and to many other Lords of the Courte with the maner of governyng the same : and how to applie it vnto the said diseases, even as he had found it br experience ; and chiefly to the lorde of Jarnac governour of Rogell, with whom the saide Lorde Ambassadour had great amitie for the service of the Kyng. The whiche Lorde of Jarnac, told one dave at the Queenes Table, that he had caused the saide Nicotians to be distilled, and caused the water to be dronke, mingled with water Euphrasie, otherwise called eyebright, to one that was shorte breathed, and was therewith healed." — J'oyfvll News ovt of the newe found worlde, 4-c., 1577.— Slack Letter.

ANCIENT INSTRUMENTS OF PUNISHMENT AND TOETtTRE IN THE TOWEE OF LONDON.

There are few tilings among the valuable collection of antiquities pre- served in the Tower of London, which excite so much interest as the grim-looking objects forming the group figured in the accompanying engraving.

With the executioner's axe, that long list of unfortunates who have met their fate within the walls of til* Tower, or on Tower Hill, since th«

MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 59

time of Henry VIII., have been beheaded. Among them1 may be enu- merated Queen Anne Boleyn, whom Henry first presented to his people as their Queen while standing with her on the Tower Stairs, after she had been conveyed thither from Greenwich with every possible pomp. Crowds of gilded barges, with gay banners waving at their sterns, then lined the stream. The noblest of the land were in the young Queen's train or were waiting to receive her. Loud rounds of cannon, and soft, merry strains, announced her arrival ; and the burly King stepped for- ward" to kiss her in the sight of the assembled multitude. On the same day, three short years afterwards, she was led forth to execution within the Tower walls. The good Sir Thomas More and the chivalrous Earl of Surrey, Lady Jane <3rey and her young husband, the gallant Raleigh, and a host of others, also perished by that sad symbol of the executioner's office.

The block is said to be of less ancient date, but is known to have been used at the execution of three Scotch lords — the unfortunate adherents of the Pretender — a little more than a century ago. On the top part of the block, there are three distinct cuts, two of them very deep and pa- rallel, and the other at an angle and less effective.

The horrible instrtunent«of torture called the " Scavenger's Daughter," was, in the " good old days," used as a means of extorting confession. The head of the culprit was passed through the circular hole at the top, and the arms through those below. The whole of this part of the machine opens in somewhat the same manner as a pair of tongs, the upper part \>eing fixed round the neck and arms, and the semi- circular irons placed on the legs. The body was then bent, and a strong iron bar was passed through the irons connected with the head and arms, and those in which vhe legs were placed. " The culprit would then," as one of the " Beef- eaters" who attends on visitors makes a point of observing, " be doubled up into very small compass, and made exceedingly uncomfortable."

The Bilboes need little explanation, being only a strong rod of iron, with a nob at one end, on which are two moveable hoops, for the pur- pose of holding the legs ; these being fixed, and a heavy iron padlock put on the proper part — the wearer was said to be in a Bilboe. Instru- ments of this description were much used on board of ship for the pur- pose of securing prisoners of war.

The Iron Collar is a persuader of a formidable description, for it weighs upwards of 141bs.. and is so made that it can be fixed on the neck and then locked. Such a necklace would, we think, be sufficiently inconvenient; but it is rendered still more uncomfortable by sundry prickles of iron knowingly placed.

The Thumb-screw, also preserved in the Tower, is a characteristic example of a species of torture at one time much resorted to. The engraved example has been constructed so as to press both thumbs; nevertheless, it is a convenient little instrument, which might be easily carried about in the pocket. We have met with varieties of the thumb- screw in several collections — some for the accommodation of one thumb only. In the Museum of the Royal Antiquarian Society of Scotland there are some thumb-screws which are said to have been used ujcn the Covenanters.

60

TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS,

Times have changed for the better since the " Scavenger's Daughter," and the other matters represented, were amongst the mildest of the methods used for the purposes of punishment and intimidation. The s, the public whipping-posts, boilings, and burnings in Smithiiald

1 . The Executioner's Axe. 2. The Block on which Lords Balmerino, Lovat, &c., •ere beheaded. 3. The Scavenger's Daughter. 4. Spanish Bilboes. 5. Massive Iron Collar for the Neck. 6. Thumb-Screw.

and elsewhere, the exhibition of dead men's heads over gateways, the boot, the rack, the pillory, the practice of making men eat their own books in Cheapside, drawing on hurdles to the place of execution, and then hanging, drawing, and quartering, chopping off hands and ears, and other revolting punishments, have gone out of use, and it is gratify- ing to know tKvt we are all the better for it.

MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.

61

A BEAU BRUMMELL OF THE 1?TH CENTTTBT.

This very curious representation of a first-rate exquisite is copied from a very rare broadside, printed in 1646, and styled The Picture of an English Anticke, with a List of his ridiculous Habits and apish Gestures The engraving is a well-executed copperplate, and the description beneath i-s a brief recapitulation of his costume : from which, we learn that he wears a tall hat, with a bunch of riband on one side, and a feather on the other ; his face spotted with patches; two love- locks, one on each side of his head, which hang upon his bosom, and are tied at the ends with silk rib- and in bows. His beard on the upper lip encompassing his mouth ; his band or collar edged with lace, and tied with band-strings, secured by a ring; a tight vest, partly open and short in the skirts, be- tween which and his breeches his shirt protruded. His cloak was carried over his arm. His breeches were ornamented by "many dozen of points at the knees, and above them, on either side, were two great bunches of riband of several colours." His legs were incased in " boot-hose tops, tied about the middle of the calf, as long as a pair of shirt-sleeves, double at the ends like a ruff-band ; the tops of

his boots very large, fringed with lace, and turnod down as spurres, which gingled like the bells of a morrice-dancer as he the " feet of his boots were two inches too lon." In his r

low as his

a morrice-dancer as he walked ;" long." In his right hand he carried a stick, which he " played with" as he " straddled" along the streets " singing."

FOE REVENGE.

In North Wales, when a person supposes himself highly injured, it if not uncommon for him to go to some church dedicated to a celebrated saint, as Llan Elian in Anglesea, and Clynog in Carnarvonshire, and there to offer his enemy. He kneels down on his bare knees in the church, and offering a piece of money to the saint, calls down curses and rerisfortunes upon the offender and his family for generations to come ; in the most firm belief that the imprecations will be fulfilled. Sometime* they repair to a sacred well instead of a church.

62 TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;

A FE3IALE SA1IPSOX : FEOH A HANDBILL.

September 4th, 1818, was shown at Bartholomew Fair, " The strongest woman in Europe, the celebrated French Female Hercules, Madame Gobert, who will lift with her teeth a table five feet long and three feet wide, with several persons seated upon it ; also carry thirty- six weights, fifty-six pounds each, equal to 2,016 Ibs., and will disengage herself from them without any assistance ; will carry a barrel containing 340 bottles ; also an anvil 400 Ibs. weight, on which they will forge with four ham- mers at the time she supports it on her stomach ; she will also lift with her hair the same anvil, swing it from the ground, and suspend it in that position to the astonishment of every beholder ; will take up a chaii by the hind stave with her teeth, and throw it over her head, ten feet from her body. Her travelling caravan, (weighing two tons,) on its road from Harwich to Leominster, owing to the neglect of the driver, and badness of the road, sunk in the mud, nearly up to the box of the wheels ; the two horses being unable to extricate it she descended, and, with apparent ease, disengaged the caravan from its situation, without any assistance whatever."

TBEES THAT GEOW SHIE1S.

"We saw on the slope of the Cerra Dnida," says M. Humboldt, ' ' shirt trees, fifty feet high. The Indians cut off cylindrical pieces two feet in diameter, from which they peel the red and fibrous bark, without mailing any longitudinal incision. This bark affords them a sort of garment which resembles a sack of a very coarse texture, and without a seam. The upper opening serves for the head, and two lateral holes are cut to admit the arms. The natives wear these shirts of Marina in the rainy season ; they have the form of the ponchos and manos of cotton which are so common in New Grenada, at Quito, and in Peru. As in this climate the riches and beneficence of nature are regarded as the primary causes of the indolence of the inhabitants, the missionaries do not fail to say in showing the shirts of Marina, ' in the forests of Oroonoko, garments are found ready made upon the trees.' "

A FEMALE YENTBILOQTJIST.

A female ventriloquist, named Barbara Jacobi, narrowly escaped being burnt at the^stake in 1685, at Haarlem, where she was an inmate of the public Hospital. The curious daily resorted thither to hear her hold s. dialogue with an imaginary persuTiage with whom she conversed as if concealed behind the curtains of her bed. This individual, whom she jailed Joachim, and to whom she sidressed a thousand ludicrous ques- tions, which he answered in the same familiar strain, was for some time supposed to be a confederate. But when the bystanders attempted to search for him behind the curtains, his voice instantly reproached them with their curiosity from the opposite corner of the room. As Barbara Jaccbi had contrived to make herself familiar with all the gossip of the city of Haarlem, the revelations of the pretended familiar were such as to cause considerable embarrassment to those who ber^t her with impertinent questions.

MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.

63

CALMtrc OPINION OF LIGHTNING.

The Calniucs liold the lightning to be the fire spit out of the mouth of a dragon, ridden and scourged by evil Dtemons, and the thunder they make to be his roarings.

THE HEADING OF TTTE EXPIRING PENSYLVANIA JOtniNAl.

Journalism has had its trials and difficulties in England as well as in America ; but we do not remember to have ever seen a more quaint last .Number, than the subjoined fac-simile exhibits : —

AND

WEEKLY ADVERT I SER.

EXPIRING .-In. Hopes of aResura»czronloI,IFE ag[«f/j.

AM sorry to be oblised to ac. quaint my Read- ers, that as The STAMP- ACT, is fear'd to be ob- ligatory upon us after the Kr»t of November ensuing, (the fatal To-morrow) the Publisher of this Paper un- able to bear the Burthen, has thought it expedient TO STOP

awhile.in order to deliberate, whether any Methods can be found to elude the Chains forged for us, and escape the insupportableSlavery; which it is hoped, from the last Representations now made against the Act, may be ef- fected. Mean while, I must earnestly Request every In- dividual of my Subscribers, many of whom have been

long behind Hand, that they wouJdimmediately Discharge their respective Arrers, that I may be able, not only to support myself during the Interval, but, be better pre- pared to proceed again with this Paper, whenever an opening for that Purpose ap- pears, which I hope will be soon. WILLIAM BRADFORD.

NOSTKUJJS.

Unsuccessful gamesters used formerly to make a knot in their linen ; of .ate years they have contented themselves with changing their chair as a remedy against ill-luck. As a security against cowardiceyit was once only necessary to wear a pin plucked from the winding sheet of a corpse. To .insure a prosperous accouchement to your wife, you had but to tie her girdle to a bell and ring it three times. To get rid of warts, you were to fold up in a rag as many peas as you had warts, and throw them upon the high road ; when the unlucky person who picked them up became your substitute. In the present day, to cure a tooth-ache, you go to your dentist. In the olden time you would have solicited alms in honour of St. Lawrence, and been relieved without cost or pain.

64 TEX THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS;

PRECOCIOUS CHILDREN.

Baillet mentions one hundred and sixty-three children endowed with extraordinary talents, among whom few arrived at an advanced age. The two sons of Quintilian, so vaunted by their father, did not reach their tenth year. Hermogenes, who, at the age of fifteen, taught rhetoric to Marcus Aurelius, who triumphed over the most celebrated rhetoricians of Greece, did not die, but at twenty-four, lost his faculties, and forgot all he had previously acquired. Pica di Mirandola died at thirty-two ; Johannes Secundus at twenty-five ; having at the age of fifteen composed admirable Greek and Latin verses, and become profoundly versed in jurisprudence and letters. Pascal, whose genius developed itself' at ten years old, did not attain the third of a century.

In 1791, a child was born at Lubeck, named Henri Heinekem, whose precocity was miraculous. At ten months of age, he spoke distinctly ; at twelve, learnt the Pentateuch by rote, and at fourteen months, was perfectly acquainted with the Old and New Testaments. At two years of &ge, he was as familiar with Ancient History as the most erudite authors of antiquity. Sanson and Danville only could compete with him in geographical knowledge; Cicero would have thought him an "alter ego," on hearing him converse in Latin ; and in modern languages lie was equally proficient. This wonderful child was unfortunately carried off in his fourth year. According to a popular proverb — "the sword wore out the sheath."

EFFECT OF MUSIC ON A PIGEON.

Bingley gives a singular anecdote of the effect of music on a pigeon, as relate'd by John Lockman, in some reflections concerning operas, prefixed to nis musical drama of Rosalinda. He was staying at a friend's house, whose daughter was a fine performer on the harpsichord, and observed a pigeon, which, whenever the young lady played the song of " Speri-si," in Handel's opera of Admetus (and this only), would descend from an adjacent dove-house to the room-window where she sat, and listen to it apparently with the most pleasing emotions ; and when the song was finished it always returned immediately to the dove- house.

POWER OF FASCINATION IN SNAKES.

Some animals are held in universal dread by others, and not the least terrible is the effect produced by the rattle-snake. Mr. Pennant says, that this snake will frequently lie at the bottom of a tree, on which a squirrel is seated. He fixes his eyes on the animal, and from that moment it cannot escape : it begins a doleful outcry, which is so well known that a passer by, on hearing it, immediately knows that a snake is present. The squirrel runs up the tree a little way, comes down again, then goes up and afterwards comes still lower. The snake continues at the bottom of the tree, with his eyes fixed on the squirrel, and his attention is so entirely taken up, that a person acci- dentally approaching may make a considerable noise, without so much a« the snake's turning about. The squirrel comes lower, aad at last

MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT. 66

leaps down to the snake, whose mouth is already distended for its recep- tion. Le Vaillant confirms this fascinating terror, by a scene he wit- nessed. He saw on the branch of a tree a species of shrike trembling as if in convulsions, and at the distance of nearly four feet, on another branch, a large species of snake, that was lying with outstretched neck and liery eyes, gazing steadily at the poor animal. The agony of the bird was so great that it was deprived of the power of moving away, and when one of the party killed the snake, it was found dead upon the gpot — and that entirelv from fear — for, on examination, it appeared not to have received the slightest wound. The same traveller adds, that a ehort time afterwards he observed a small mouse in similar agonizing convulsions, about two yards from a snake, whose eyes were intently iixed upon it ; and on frightening away the reptile, and taking up the mouse, it expired in his hand.

SECOND SIGHT.

About the year 1725, the marvellous history cf a Portuguese woman set the whole world of science into confusion, as will be found by refer- ring to the "Mercure deFrance." This female was said topossess the gift of discovering treasures. "Without any other aid than the keen penetra- tion of her eyes, she was able to distinguish the different strata of earth, and pronounce unerringly upon the utmost distances at a single glance. Her eye penetrated through every substance, even the human body ; and she could discern the mechanism, and circulation of all animal fluids, and detect latent diseases ; although less skilful than the animal inag- netisers, she did not affect to point out infallible remedies. Ladies could learn from her the sex of their forthcoming progeny.

The King of Portugal, greatly at a loss for water in his newly built palace, consulted her ; and after a glance at the spot, she pointed out an abundant spring, upon which his Majesty rewarded her with a pension, the order of Christ, and a patent of nobility.

In the exercise of her miraculous powers, certain preliminaries were indispensable. She was obliged to observe a rigid fast ; indigestion, or the most trifling derangement of the stomach, suspending the marvellous powers of her visual organs.

The men of science of the day were of course confounded by such prodigies. But instead of questioning the woman, they consulted the works of their predecessors ; not forgetting the inevitable Aristotle. By dint of much research, they found a letter from Huygens asserting that there was a prisoner of war at Antwerp, who could see through stuffs of the thickest texture provided they were not red. The wonderful man was cited in confirmation of the wonderful woman, and vice versa.

CHARACTER INDICATED BY THE EARS.

According to Aristotle, large ears are indicative of imbecility ; while small ones announce madness. Ears which are flat, point out the rustic and brutal man. Those of the fairest promise, are firm and of middling size. Happy the man who boasts of square ears ; a sure indication of sublimity of soul and purity of life. Such, according to Suetonius, Mtit the ears of the Emperor Augustus.

hb TEX rai.'SAXD WOXDERFDL THINGS;

GROANING BOARDS

Groaning boards were the wonder in London in 1GS2. An elm plank was exhibited to the king, which, being touched by a hot iron, invariably produced a sound resembling deep groans. At the Bowman Tavern, in Drury Lane, the mantel-piece did the same so well that it was supposed to be part of the same elm-tree ; and the dresser at the Queen's Arm Tavern, St. Martin le Grand, was found to possess the same quality. Strange times when such things were deemed wonderful ; even to meriting exhibition before the monarch.

ANCIENT PLOUGHING AND THRESHING.

The ancient plough was light, the draught comparatively easy ; but then the very lightness required that the ploughman should lean upon it with

N

AJfCIBNT MODE O» FLOCGHnfO.

Ids whole weight, or else it would glide over the soil without making i angle furrow. " Unless," said Pliny, " the ploughman stoop forward, to press down the plough, as well as to conduct it, truly it will turn aside." Oxen were anciently employed in threshing corn, and the same custom is still retained in Egypt and the east. This operation is effected by trampling upon the sheaves, and by dragging a clumsy machine, furnished with three rollers that turn on their axles. A wooden chair is attached to the machine, and on this a driver seats himself, urging his oxen backwards and forwards among the sheaves, which have previously been thrown into a heap of about eight feet wide and two in height. The grain thus beaten out, is collected in an open place, and shaken against the wind by an attendant, with a small shovel, or, as it is termed, a winnowing fan, which disperses the chaff and leaves the grain uninjured : —

MARVELLOUS, RARE, CURIOUS, AND QUAINT.

67

' Thus, with autumnal harvests cover'd o'er, And thick hestrewn, lies Ceres' sacred floor ; While round and round, with never-wearied pain, The trampling steers beat out th" unnumber'd grAi

HOSIER.

Horace further tells us, that the threshing floor was mostly a smooth space, surrounded with mud walls, having a barn or garner on one side ; occasionally an open field, outside the walls, was selected for this purpose, vet uniformly before the town or city gates. Such was the void place wherein the king of Israel, and Jehosnaphat, king of Judah, sat each of