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184 THE Ii^ABBR. [No. 359, Satikkpay,
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ITtftVnrfttTO ^J-vtiUU& ' v* #
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Clitics are not tne legislators, Vut the...
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^ Naturai History is gaining more and mo...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
184 The Ii^Abbr. [No. 359, Satikkpay,
184 THE Ii ^ ABBR . [ No . 359 , Satikkpay ,
Ittftvnrfttto ^J-Vtiuu& ' V* #
Clitics Are Not Tne Legislators, Vut The...
Clitics are not tne legislators , Vut the judges and police of literature . They do not make laws—theyiaterpret and try to enforce them . —Edinburgh Beviev }'
^ Naturai History Is Gaining More And Mo...
^ Naturai History is gaining more and more favour -with the general public , and as an indication , of this increasing favour Tve observe periodical writers more frequently choosing Natural History topics . In the Quarterly there are three articles on this many-branching subject—one on "Ferns / 3 one on CI Salmon , " and one on " Rats "—all interesting ; the last is unusually so , and ¦ mR make even the gentle reader think of Hats with something less of horror , and more of sympathy than heretofore . Many of the details are very amusing \ e . a .:
When tats have once found their way into a-ship they are secure as long as the cargo is on board , provided they can command the great necessary- —water . If this is -well guarded , they will resort to extraordinary expedients to procure it . In a rainy night they ¦ will come on deck to drink , and "will even , ascend the rigging to sip the moisture which Iie 3 in the folds of the sails . "When reduced to extremities they ¦ w ill attack the spirit-casks and get so drunk that they are unable to walk home . The land-rat will , in like manner , gnaw the metal tubes which in public-houses lead from the spirit-store to the tap , and is as convivial on these occasions as his nautical relation . The entire race have a quick ear for running liquid , and they constantly eat into leaden pipes , and much to their astonishment receive a douche-bath in consequence . Nor is the rat without a touch of Christian feeling :, as a Sussex clergyman testifies in the following :
Walking out in some meadows one evening , he observed a great number of rats migrating from one place to another . He stood perfectly still , and the whole assemblage passed close to him . His astonishment , however , was great when he saw amongst the number an old blind rat , which , held a piece of stick at one end in its mouth , wliile another had hold of the other end of it , and thus conducted its blind companion . A kindred circumstance -was witnessed m 1757 by Mr . Purdew , a surgeon ' s mate on board the Lancaster . Lying awake one evening in his berth , he saw a rat enter , look cautiously round , and retire . He soon returned leading a second rat , who appeared to be blind , by the ear . A third rat joined them shortly afterwards , and assisted the original conductor in picking up fragments of biscuit , and placing them before their infirm parent , as the blind old patriarch was supposed to be . ' Then , as to sagacity , what thinlc you of this ?—
Incredible as the story may appear of their removing hens' eggs by one fellowlying on his back and grasping tightly his ovoid burden with his fore paws , whilst his comrades drag him away by the tail , we have no reason to disbelieve it , knowing as we do that they will carry eggs from the bottom to the top of a ~ house , lifting them from stair to stair , the first rat pushing them up on its hind and the second lifting them with its fore legs . They will extract the cotton from a flask of Florence oil , dipping in their long tails , and repeating the manoeuvre until they have consumed every drop . We lave found lumps of sugar in deep draveers at a distance of thirty feet from the place where the petty larceny was committed : and a friend saw a rat mount a table on which a drum of figs was placed , and straightway tip it over , scattering its contents on the floor beneath , where a score of his expectant brethren sat watching- for the -windfall . ¦ But the writer is guilty of a strange oversight when he adds that the rat's " instinct is no less shown in the selection of suitable food . " There is
nothing in the selection of food more intelligent than in the union of an acid with a l ) ase . Rats are worth three shillings a dozen for " sporting purposes ; " consequently vat-catching is a branch of human industry : — The underground city of sewers becomes one vast hunting ground , in which men regularly gain a livelihood by capturing them . Before entering the subterraneous world the associates generally plan what routes they -will take , and at what point they ¦ will meet , possibly with the idea of driving their prey towards a central spot .
They go in couples , each man carrying a lighted candle -with a tin reflector , a bag , a Bieve , and a spade , the spade and sieve being used for examining any deposit which promises to contain some article of value . The moment the rat sees the light he runs along the sides of the drain just above the line of the sewage water , the men follow , and speedily overtake the winded animal , which no sooner finds his pursuers gaining upon him than ho sets up a shrill squeak , in the midst of which he is seized with the bare hand behind the ears , and deposited in the bag . In this manner a dozen will sometimes be captured in as many minutes . When driven to bay at the end of a blind sewer , they will often fly at the boots of their pursuers in the most determined
manner . In Paris there is an annual hunt of the rats : — We are informed that they have established a company in Paris , upon the Hudson ' s Bay principle , to buy up all the rata of the country for the sake of their skin . The soft nap of tho fur when dressed is of the most beautiful texture , far exceeding in delicacy that of the beaver , and tho hatters consequently uso it as a substitute . The hulo ib employed to make tho thumbs of tho best gloves , tho elasticity and closeness of its texture rendering it preferable to kid . We must not draw further from this amusing paper , which no reader should pass over in scorn . He may turn from it , if he please , to the more dignified literature of « Homer and his Successors in Epic Poetry ? ' to the gossip of county history iu the article on « NorUiamptonshire ; " to biography in that on "Six Charles Napier , " or to politics in the closing article ; but after all the " " Hats" will probably remain longest in Ms mind . A . lively writer in Blackwood deplores in his « letters from a Lighthouse " tho dulncss of our periodical literature , contrasting it with the piquancy and stirring interest of tho literature formerly contributed to Reviews and Maffazin . es : — b
anL nS Id am wh ? T '"'" / « vc a very great regard in the abstract for tho S can 5 > Sbl ? h , ™ I i ? ( ° r affcCt ) as much intorcat [ n tl ™ quondam doings ? wo tLCand ve ^« or r / ° * gentleman whoso fortune it was to bo born some KrinoftfrvoM ? " «> o « timo i *>« t is it reasonable to expect mo to wade s £ f £ Z ffi & p ^^ M' ^ ^^ s ^
at a pinch—or rather xa . spita of innumerable pinches—I might bring myself to submit even to that nuisance , and enjoy in comparative tranquillity the reall salubrious air of the heritage of the Pharaohs , provided I were not perpetually reZ tered by jabbering about hieroglyphs , and monoliths , and <) rus , and Osiris and the beetles , and the ibis , and the leeks , and the crocodiles , and Necho , and Psatomis aad Rhamses ( who was no relation of the Dalhousies ) , and other myths , reptiles ve / rA _ tables , and divinities , who at one time molested the Delta . ' . Again : —" Next comes an ecclesiastical monomaniac , maundering—0 me—about the Council Chalcedon ! I thought we really had done with councils . Most of us of the Pro . testant way of thinking , are well pleased to be rid , once and for ever , of a controversy
which was understood to have been settled at the Reformation ; and we are entitled to object to its revival . So about Italian , history . We don ' t want to hear about I > uke Sforza this , or Count Paolo that;—the record of their crimes , intrigues murders , rapes , and adulteries ought to have no manner of interest , and really has none , except to a few antiquar ians with diseased appetites;—and if deeds of this kind axe worthy of promulgation at this time of day , I am serious in thinking that we do injustice to such native heroes as Turpiu and Abershaw , by giving the foreigners a decided quarterly preference . Next I observe that an awful deal of drivel is current about Niebuhr and the Romans .
'" Ticket-of-Leave Men" are twice brought forward in tins number of Blackwood—once too often , surely ? There is humour as well as good counsel in the following suggestion : — Chains , bolts , and locks are of little use , except to make a noise . Bells are troublesome for the servants to . put up , and give false alarms in wiad y nights . I propose three things . A little dog , a big dog , and a revolver . The little dog to ivalce the big one , who sleeps soundly , especially after dinner , and the big dog to wake the many-mouthed barker , and assist in a scuffle , if a scuffle ensues . As a further precaution , I would suggest some rather unintelligible notice , such as "Burglars decimated on these premises , " large enough to be read by moonlight ; if iu Kunic characters , so much the better , for crime is naturally superstitious . Imagine Ticket-of-Leave spelling out the threat of "decimation , " and puzzling himself-with its vague horrors ! ..
The second part of . " Scenes of Clerical Life" closes the story of the " sad fortunes of the Rev . Amos Barton , ' and closes it with a pathos so exquisite that we do not remember anything in fiction more touching or more lifelike . There is a capital scene of half a dozen parsons dining together , a scene lambent with good-humoured satire ; and the ' flare-up' of the rebellious maid-servant against the intrusive Countess is also humorously written ; but nothing in the story approaches the quiet truth and beauty of Milly ' s death , and the desolation which it leaves behind .
Mr . Fuoude , in an admirable article vaFraser , " Gleanings from the'Record Office , " expresses the wonder he has felt , in reading modern histories , at the facility with which men will fill in the chasms of their information with conjecture j will guess at the motives which have prompted actions ; and will pass their censures , as if all secrets of the past lay out on an . open scroll before them . Indeed , the facility of historical verdicts is only surpassed by the facility of journalist divinations into the f intentions' of £ o * -e ; S u . etatosmen . In vacno movement is easy . Strange also the harshness of our historical verdicts : —
There are many reasons for this harsh method of judging . We must decide of men by what we know , and it is easier to know faults than to know virtues . Faults are specific , easily described , easily appreciated , easily remembered . And again , there is , or may "be , hypocrisy in virtue ; but no one pretends'to vice who is not vicious . The bad things which can be proved of a man ive know to be genuine . He was a spendthrift , he was an adulterer , he gambled , he fought a duel . These are blots positive , unless untrue , and when uncorrected tinge the whole character . Moreover : — All men feel a necessity of being on some terms with their conscience , at their own expense , or at another ' s . If they cannot part with their faults , they will at least call them by their right name when they meet with such faults elsewhere . How inaccurate our judgments may be is well suggested iu the following : —
Historians are fond of recording the supposed sufferings of the poor in the days ot serfdom and villanage ; yet the records of the strikes of the last ten years , when told by the sufferers , contain pictures no less fertile in tragedy . We speak of famines and plagues under the Tudora and Stuarts ; but the Irish fumine , and the Irish playue of 1847 , the last page of such horrors which has yet been turned over , is the most horrible of all . We can conceive a description of England during the year -which has just closed over us , true in all its details , containing no one statement which can be challenged , no single exaggeration which can be proved . And this description , if given without tho correcting traits , shall make ages to come marvel why the Cities of tho Plain were destroyed , and England was allowed to survive . The frauds of trusted
men , "high in power and high in supposed religion ; the wholesale poisonings ; the robberies ; tho adulteration of food — nay , of almost everything exposed for sale—the cruel usage of women—children murdered for the burial fees—life and property insecure in open day in tho open streets—splendour sucli as tho world never suw before upon earth , with vice and squalor crouching under its walls—let all this be written down by an enemy , or lot it be ascertained licreafter by the investigation of a posterity which desires to jndgu us as we generally have judged our forefathers , and few years will show darker in the English nnnals than the year which hns so hitoly closed behind us . Yet wo know , in tho honesty of our hearts , how unjust sucli a picture would lin .
la the same Magazine , Swedenborg is made the subject of an enthusiastic article by a writer who declares , in all the emphasis of italics , that Swedenboug is the greatest psychological observer tlmtjjthc world has yet produced perhaps so ; Imt the writer has , strangely enough , refrained from citing even one specimen of this psychological sagacity , although he cites several specimens of his pretended clairvoyance . " The Three Numbers" is a translation from the Prcnch , not acknowledged , but betrayed by its badness as a translation . " Little Lessons for Li tilt' i ' ocls is an admirable aucl well-timed criticism of the main defects in the volumes ol verso which claim th « rank of poetry . We must lind room for the lollowmg remarks on criticism : —
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 7, 1857, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_07021857/page/14/
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