The Mirror of Literature, Issue 584, Supplement to Vol. 20.

The completion of the Twentieth Volume of this Miscellany presents us with another cause for self-gratulation, and thankful acknowledgement to the reading public. This continued and unimpaired success amidst a myriad of new-born aspirants, is the best proof of our maintenance of public esteem; and so long as our efforts are guided by the same singleness of purpose that first directed them we shall hope for a continuance of such favour. A multitude of contemporaries "whet each other;" "thinking nurseth thinking;" and, in like manner, reading nurseth reading, and awakens a spirit of inquiry, untiring and exhaustless, among all concerned in pursuit and wholesome gratification.

In a retrospect of the hundreds of competitors who have started for the prize of public patronage since our outset, we shall not, perhaps, be accused of vanity in placing to our own account the first appropriation of such means as may have contributed to the partial success of our contemporaries. We owe them nothing but good will; for we rather regard things poetically than politically, and we are anxious to inform and amuse the reader—not to perplex, by constantly reminding him of his uncheery lot in life.

Ten years' establishment in periodical literature may give us a sort of patriarchal feeling towards others; for, with one exception THE MIRROR is the oldest weekly journal of the metropolis. In this comparatively long career, our best energies have been directed to the progressive improvement of each department of the work. The plan of embellishment, which may be said to have originated with THE MIRROR, has been extended and improved, until few subjects are incapable of successful illustration in its pages; due regard being paid to nicety of execution, as well as attractive design. So much for the present, state of our "representative system."

The selection of materials for each sheet of THE MIRROR has been regulated by a desire to extend useful information, and to cultivate healthful indications of public taste. In a journal, like the present, mainly devoted to the accumulation of facts, errors and misstatements are inevitable; but, our own diligence, aided by sharp-sighted Correspondents, has, from time to time, guided us to accuracy in most cases, and directed fruitful inquiry upon matters of no ordinary interest or character. Scientific information, really made popular, and of ready, practical utility, has uniformly found admission in our pages; and, above all, subjects of natural history have received especial attention, in graphic illustrations—which part of our plan has been adopted by every cheap journal of the last four years; or, from the first pictorial description of the Zoological Gardens, before the publication of the catalogue by the Society; while it is a source of gratification to know that within the above period, natural history, from being almost confined to public museums and private cabinets, has become the most popular study and amusement of the present day.

Upon the continued cheapness of our little work, we do not intend to touch, more than by reference to the enlargement of the letter-press as commenced with the present volume. The alteration has, we believe, received general approbation; and, either with regard to the extent of the letter-press, [pg iv] or the condensed character of its subject-matter, we have still the satisfaction of knowing THE MIRROR to continue, as it has often been characterized by contemporaries, "the cheapest publication of the day." Its other merits we are content to leave to the discernment of each reader.

Our future volume will be conducted upon the plan of its predecessors, with such improvements as time and occasion may suggest. To one point, economy of space, we promise our best consideration; though we may not succeed in rivalling Mr. Newberry, who, the good humoured Geoffrey Crayon tells us, was the first that ever filled his mind with the idea of a good and great man. He published all the picture books of his day; and, out of his abundant love for children, he charged "nothing for either paper or print, and only a half-penny for the binding."¹ Rest unto his soul, say we.

This lengthened, but we hope not ill-timed reference to our whole course of Twenty Volumes has left us but little occasion to speak of the present portion, individually; although we trust this reference would be somewhat supererogatory, from the unusual number of Illustrations, and a copious Index to the main subjects, of the volume.

To conclude. We thank all Correspondents for their contributions, and invite their cordial co-operation with our ensuing efforts. So now "plaudite! valete!"

NOTICES

WASHINGTON IRVING, ESQ.

AND HIS WORKS.

Washington Irving was born, in the State of New York, in the year 1782, and is, consequently, in his fifty-first year. His early life cannot better be told than in his own graceful language, prefixed to the most celebrated of his writings as "the author's account of himself."

"I was always fond of visiting new scenes, and observing strange characters and manners. Even when a mere child I began my travels, and made many tours of discovery into foreign parts and unknown regions of my native city, to the frequent alarm of my parents, and the emolument of the town-crier. As I grew into boyhood I extended the range of my observations. My holiday afternoons were spent in rambles about the surrounding country. I made myself familiar with all its places famous in history or fable. I knew every spot where a murder or robbery had been committed, or a ghost seen. I visited the neighbouring villages, and added greatly to my stock of knowledge, by noting their habits and customs, and conversing with their sages and great men. I even journeyed one long summer's day to the summit of the most distant hill, from whence I stretched my eye over many a mile of terra incognita, and was astonished to find how vast a globe I inhabited.

"This rambling propensity strengthened with my years. Books of voyages and travels became my passion, and in devouring their contents, I neglected the regular exercises of the school. How wistfully would I wander about the pier heads in fine weather, and watch the parting ships bound to distant climes; with what longing eyes would I gaze after their lessening sails; and waft myself in imagination to the ends of the earth.

"Farther reading and thinking, though they brought this vague inclination into more reasonable bounds, only served to make it more decided. I visited various parts of my own country; and had I been merely influenced by a love of fine scenery, I should have felt little desire to seek elsewhere its gratification; for on no country have the charms of nature been more prodigally lavished. Her mighty lakes, like oceans of liquid silver; her mountains, with their bright aërial tints; her valleys, teeming with wild fertility; her tremendous cataracts, thundering in their solitudes; her boundless plains, waving with spontaneous verdure; her broad, deep rivers, rolling in solemn silence to the ocean; her trackless forests, where vegetation puts forth all its magnificence; her skies, kindling with the magic of summer clouds and glorious sunshine:—no, never need an American look beyond his own country for the sublime and beautiful of natural scenery."²

Mr. Irving began his career, as an author, in periodical literature. His first work was a humorous journal, entitled "Salmagundi, or the Whim-Whams and Opinions of Launcelot Langstaff, Esq. and Others," originally published in numbers in New York, where it met with a very flattering reception. The date of the first paper is Saturday, January 24, 1827.

Salmagundi has been several times reprinted in this country; and it may be acceptable to know, that the cheapest, if not the most elegant, edition may be purchased for twenty-pence. It would be difficult to explain the merits of Salmagundi to the reader, as they are of the most varied character; but, it may be remarked generally, that a vein of quaint humour and human kindness pervades these early papers, which will bring the reader and writer to the best possible terms.

This lively miscellany was followed by a humorous History of New York, with the somewhat droll nom of Dedrick Knickerbocker as its author. It possesses considerable merit, with a nice perception of the ludicrous; but, on its first appearance, this recommendation was generally overlooked, whether from the local interest of the subject, or the want of due judgment in its readers, it is difficult to determine.

About this period Mr. Irvine's name was heard in England, almost for the first time; his only claims to public notice resting entirely on Salmagundi, and the History of New York. He was indebted for his introduction to the acquaintance of European readers, to a young fellow-countryman of high attainments, who alludes to the above works and their author in the following terms:—"Mr. Irving has shown much talent and great humour in his Salmagundi and Knickerbocker, and they are exceedingly pleasant books, especially to one who understands the local allusions."

A few years subsequent to the publication of Knickerbocker, Mr. Irving visited England, or the "land of wonders," as he facetely terms our favoured isle. During his stay, he wrote a series of papers, illustrative of English manners, which were chiefly printed in America. These papers were afterwards published in a collected form, in England, under the title of "The Sketch-Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent." and dedicated to Sir Walter Scott, "in testimony of the admiration and affection of the author." In the advertisement to the Sketch-Book, Mr. Irving thus modestly refers to its origin:

"The author is aware of the austerity with which the writings of his countrymen have hitherto been treated by British critics: he is conscious too, that much of the contents of his papers can be interesting only in the eyes of American readers. It was not his intention, therefore, to have them reprinted in this country. He has, however, observed several of them from time to time inserted in periodical works of merit, and has understood that it was probable they would be republished in a collective form. He has been induced, therefore, to revise and bring them forward himself, that they may at least come correctly before the public. Should they be deemed of sufficient importance to attract the attention of critics, he solicits for them that courtesy and candour which a stranger has some right to claim, who presents himself at the threshold of a hospitable nation."

Mr. Irving's solicitations were not made in vain, as the rapid sale of several editions must have convinced him; while every journalist in the empire hailed the work as the most beautiful specimen of Transatlantic talent which had been recognised in this country.

The two volumes of the Sketch-Book appeared at different periods; and, at the conclusion of the second, we find the following apologetic postscript: "The author is conscious of the numerous faults and imperfections of his work; and, well aware how little he is disciplined and accomplished in the arts of authorship. His deficiencies are also increased by a diffidence arising from his peculiar situation. He finds himself writing in a strange land, and appearing before a public, which he has been accustomed, from childhood, to regard with the highest feelings of awe and reverence. He is full of solicitude to secure their approbation, yet finds that very solicitude continually embarrassing his powers, and depriving him of that ease and confidence which are necessary to successful exertion. Still the kindness with which he is treated encourages him to go on, hoping that, in time, he may acquire a steadier footing; and thus he proceeds, half venturing, half shrinking, surprised at his own good fortune, and wondering at his own temerity."

The success of the Sketch-Book was followed by the almost equal fortune of "Bracebridge Hall, or the Humorists;" a series of scenes of Old English life, as displayed in one of those venerable halls, that rise, here and there, in a British landscape, as monuments of the hospitality of our ancestors, and better times. In the autobiographical chapter of this work, the writer thus pleasantly refers to his previous success, as "a matter of marvel, that a man, from the wilds of America, should express himself in tolerable English. I was looked upon as something [pg vii] new and strange in literature,—a kind of demi-savage, with a leather in his hand, instead of his head; and there was a curiosity to hear what such a being had to say about civilized society." In referring the circumstances under which he writes his second work on English manners, he says: "Having been born and brought up in a new country, yet educated from infancy in the literature of an old one, my mind was filled with historical and poetical associations, connected with places, and manners, and customs of Europe; but which could rarely be applied to those of my own country. To a mind thus peculiarly prepared, the most ordinary objects and scenes, on arriving in Europe, are full of strange matter, and interesting novelty. England is as classic ground to an American, as Italy is to an Englishman; and Old London teems with as much historical association as mighty Rome." There is, also, great amiability in the concluding paragraph:—"I have always had an opinion, that much good might be done by keeping mankind in good humour with one another. I may be wrong in my philosophy; but I shall continue to practise it until convinced of its fallacy. When I discover the world to be all that it has been represented by sneering cynics and whining poets, I will turn to and abuse it also; in the meanwhile, worthy reader, I hope you will not think lightly of me, because I cannot believe this to be so very bad a world as it is represented."

Soon after the publication of Bracebridge Hall, Mr. Irving left this country, where he had passed two years with literary and pecuniary advantage. He quitted England with a pathetic farewell; declaring that if, as he is accused, he views it with a partial eye, he shall never forget that it is his "fatherland." On the consanguinity of England and America too, and the cultivation of good feeling between them, he thus touchingly expresses himself in Bracebridge Hall: "We ask nothing from abroad that we cannot reciprocate. But with respect to England, we have a warm feeling of the heart, the glow of consanguinity that still lingers in our blood. Interest apart, past differences forgotten, we extend the hand of old relationship. We merely ask, do not estrange us from you, do not destroy the ancient tie of blood, do not let scoffers and slanderers drive a kindred nation from your side. We would fain be friends, do not compel us to be enemies." There is a manly affection in these sentiments which is truly admirable.

Mr. Irving's works, with the exception of his early efforts,³ had been the result of his love of travel: indeed, he describes himself as a traveller who has "surveyed most of the terrestrial angles of the globe." In similar vein, he next produced two volumes of "Tales of a Traveller," narrating legends of the continent, with masterly sketches of the scenery of the respective countries; the incidents of the Tales being fraught with points of grotesque humour, and abounding with pathos and poetic feeling.

To these Tales succeeded a work of greater importance in literature than either of Mr. Irving's previous undertakings. We allude to a History of the Life and Voyages of Columbus, in four vols. 8vo., which appeared in the year 1828. Mr. Irving, at the time this work was first suggested to him, in the winter of 1825-6, was at Bordeaux; and, being informed that a biography was about to appear at Madrid, containing many important and some new documents relative to Columbus, he set off for the Spanish capital, to undertake the translation of the work. Mr. Irving, however, meeting with numerous aids at Madrid, resolved on producing an original history, which he has presented to the public with extreme diffidence: "all that I can safely claim," he observes, "is, an earnest desire to state the truth, an absence from prejudices respecting the nations mentioned in my history, a strong interest in my subject, and a zeal to make up by assiduity for many deficiencies of which I am conscious." This work has been abridged by Mr. Irving to one of the volumes of the Family Library. As we have intimated to the reader, it is of higher pretensions than either of the author's previous writings: a clever critic refers to it as "a spirited and interesting work, in which every thing is as judiciously reasoned as it is beautifully and [pg viii] forcibly expressed," and as "much more grave in its character and laborious in its execution than any of his preceding ones."⁴

Mr. Irving's next production was "A Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada," in which the author's knowledge of Spanish history is made to shine in detailing the chivalrous glories of the New World.

In the spring of the present year it appears that Mr. Irving touched "the golden shores of old romance," and published Tales of the Alhambra; the origin of which work is thus told by the author. A few years since, Mr. Wilkie, the distinguished R.A. and Mr. Irving were fellow travellers on the continent. In their rambles about some of the old cities of Spain, they were struck with scenes and incidents which reminded them of passages in the Arabian Nights. Mr. Wilkie urged his companion to write something that should illustrate those peculiarities, "something in the Haroun Alraschid style" that should have a dash of that Arabian spice which pervades everything in Spain. Mr. Irving set about his task with enthusiasm: his study was the spacious Alhambra itself, and the governor gave the author and his companion, permission to occupy his vacant apartments in the Moorish palace: Mr. Wilkie soon returned to England, leaving Mr. Irving at the Alhambra, where he remained "for several months, spell-bound in the old enchanted pile." The result was two volumes of legends and traditions, which for interesting incident, and gracefulness of narrative, have few parallels in our romance-writing.⁵ They are dedicated, in good taste, to the ingenious originator, Mr. Wilkie.

In person, Mr. Irving is of middle height; and, according to a contemporary, of "modest deportment and easy attitude, with all the grace and dignity of an English gentleman."⁶ Another describes him as "a most amiable man, and great genius, but not lively in conversation." His features have a pleasing regularity, and are lit up, at every corner, with that delightful humour which flows in a rich vein throughout his writings, and forms their most attractive charm.

Having noticed Mr. Irving's principal works, we have left but little occasion to speak of his general style. A contemporary has denominated him the "Goldsmith of the age;" and of Goldsmith we must remember that, in his epitaph, Dr. Johnson observes: "he left no species of writing untouched, and adorned all to which he applied himself"—a tribute which can scarcely be appropriately paid to any writer of our time. However, we know not any author that Mr. Irving so much resembles as Goldsmith: although no imitator, his style and language forcibly remind us of that easy flow so peculiar to the Citizen of the World. But, we have higher warrant for this parallel. "It seems probable," observes a critical writer of considerable acumen, "that Mr. Irving might prove no contemptible rival to Goldsmith, whose turn of mind he very much inherits, and of whose style he particularly reminds us. Like him, too, Mr. Irving possesses the art of setting ludicrous perplexities in the most irresistible point of view, and we think equals him in the variety of humour."⁷

To conclude, we find the literary character of Mr. Irving illustrated in a contemporary journal, with unusual spirit. "There never was a writer," observes the editor, "whose popularity was more matter of feeling, or more intimate than Washington Irving, perhaps, because he appeared at once to our simplest and kindliest emotions. His affections were those of 'hearth and home;' the pictures he delighted to draw were those of natural loveliness, linked with human sympathies; and a too unusual thing with the writers of our time—he looked upon God's works, and 'saw that they were good.' * * * With him the wine of life is not always on the lees. An exquisite vein of poetry runs through every page,—and of poetry, his epithets who does not remember—'the shark, glancing like a spectre through the blue seas.'"⁸

ALPHABETICAL INDEX.

A.B.C. botanical, 336

Abernethian, a true one, 160

Absence, Lord Lyttleton's, 318

Accumulation of Power, 55

Acid, Oxalic, 207

Tartaric, 206

Action in forces, time of, 55

Adam, death of, 133

Adieu, the, by Lord Byron, 12

Adrian and Apollodoras, the architect, 384

Advice, by a Man of the World, 10

Ætna, visit to the summit of, 202

Agincourt, ballad of, 101

Alchemy and Printing, 160

Ale, bad Saxon, 261

Burton, 304

All on one side, 318

Almanacs, Saxon, 54

American Deer, mode of hunting them, 339

Improvements, 102

Navy, 102

Newspapers, 102

Papermaking, 103

Prison Discipline, 286

Wolves, 340

Ancients and Moderns, by Voltaire, 163

Angelica Kauffman, anecdote of, 291

Angler, an odd one, 317

Animal Instinct exemplified, 327

Annuals for 1833:

Amulet, 392—413

Book of Beauty, 386

Comic Offering, 389

Forget-me-not, 282

Friendship's Offering, 399

Hood's Comic, 287

Juvenile Forget-me-not, 334

Literary Souvenir, 420

Picturesque, 386

Antiquities, Domestic, 337

Antwerp, Citadel of, described, 405

City of, described, 369

Painters born at, 380

Aphorisms, choice, 442

Apologues, from the German, 403

Ararat, Mount, described, 313—379

Araspes and Panthea, anecdote of, 258

Architecture, ancient domestic, 274

Archy Armstrong, grave of, 416

Armada, the, by T.B. Macauley, Esq. 399

Armadillo, history of, 56

Armour, old English, 437

Arrogance, Feltham on, 271

Arrow Root, preparation of, 264

Arundel Castle, described, 157

Asmodeus in London, 364

Atmosphere, constitution of, 206

Atmosphere, properties of, 134

Auctions by the Drum, 330

Bachelors, Laws respecting, 35—339

Bagdad, plague at, 75

Bailly, physician to Henry IV., 96

Bar, anecdotes of the, 277

Barbel, large, 96

Bat, new species of, 408

Bath in Persia, described, 145

Baths, ancient and modern, 372

Battle, fish, 354

Beaches, sea, changes of, 79

Bear-hunting in Canada, 91

Beatrice Adony and Julius Alvinzi, a tale, 420

Beauchief Abbey, described, 113

Becket, murder of, 114

Bede, Venerable, memoir of, 440

Beefeaters, origin of, 80

Bees, economy of, 38

Beet root sugar, 88

Beetle, ravages of, 175

Bell, ancient, 345

Belvoir Castle, history of, 129

Bennett, Mr. George, visit to Rotuma, 377

Berwick, siege of, 222

Bewick, the engraver, birthplace of, 17

Bibb, the engraver, 368

Birds, bills of, 96

Birds, how they fly, 134

Birds, migration of, 40

Black Lady of Brabant, 140

Blacking, antiquity of, 192

Blessington, lady, her conversations with Lord Byron, 6—86—110—156—269

Blind Seal, the, a tale, 298

Blood, price of, 71

Bloodless War, 336

Boar's head at Christmas, 431

Bolsover Castle described, 161

Bond, Mr. Sergeant, anecdote of, 278

Bones, waste of, 366

Borough, origin of the term, 211

Boy Burglars, account of, 333

Books, new, noticed and quoted:

Abrantes, Duchess of, her memoirs, 47—106—191

Babbage's Economy of Machinery and Manufactures, 27—54

Barrington's Sketches, 52

Biblical Atlas, 44

British Museum, 140—158

Buccaneer, 428

Byron's Works, 12

Catechism of Phrenology, 45

Characteristics of Women, 117

Contarini Fleming, 10

Double Trial, 125

Elements of Chemistry, 206

Encyclopædia Americana, 102

Excursions in India, by Capt. Skinner, 105

Framlingham, a Poem, 306

Geography, Questions in, 45

[pg 450]

Gordon on Elemental Locomotion, 183—198

Knowledge for the People, 77—134—429

Life of Peter the Great, 300—308

Laconics, 31

Legends of the Library at Lilies, 350—403

Legends of the Rhine, 138

Life of Charlemagne, by G.P.R. James, 92—119

Lives of Scottish Worthies, 221—233

Macculloch's Dictionary of Commerce, 151—279

Memoir of Felix Neff, 147—171

Natural Magic, by Sir David Brewster, 72—107—191

New Gil Blas, 186

Numismatic Manual, 223

Outlines of General Knowledge, 45

Pilgrimage through Khuzistan and Persia, 73—314

Pompeii, 412

Popular Zoology, 57

Private Correspondence of a Woman of Fashion, 157—165—235

Sketches from Venetian History, 60

Songs, by Barry Cornwall, 11—46

Statistical Sketches of Upper Canada, 29—57—91

Taylor's Records of his Life, 291—317

Trials of Charles I., 41

Wild Sports of the West, 298

Brain of Man, 96

Braithwaite's Steam Fire-Engine, 111

Brass-plate Coal-merchants, 56

Bread, legal adulteration of, 366

Brent Tor church, 112

Brevities, 179

Bridewell, in the reign of Elizabeth, 357

Bridge, stupendous, in Spain, 24

Britain, early inhabitants of, 276—371

British Artists' Exhibition, 330—362

British Institution, School of Painting at, 362

British Museum, the, 140

Brougham, Henry, anecdote of, 182

Brydges, Sir Egerton, 86

Bull, national, 240

Burnham Abbey described, 81

Bustard, natural history of, 328

Butterfly, Chameleon, and Serpent, 425

Byron, Lord, conversations with, 6—86—110

and Anastasius, 156

early poems, by, 12

and Earl Grey, 80

and the English, 9

and Mrs. Hemans, 156

and Mr. Hope, 156

on horseback, 110

and Leigh Hunt, 157

and Italian women, 117

his love, 269

letter of, 290

and Moore, 7

personal description of, 7

and Scott, 110

and Shelley, 9

and Madame de Stael, 86

and Venice, 63

Cæsar, Julius, his superstition, 238

Cairngorm, origin of, 77

Caliga, origin of, 112

Caloric, or the matter of heat, 206

Canada, climate of, 57

notes on, 29

Canary Birds, breeding, 111

Candelabra and Lamps of Pompeii, 412

Canning, Mr., statue of, 25

Cannon Clock, 144

Cannon, names of, 160

Canova, vase, containing the heart of, 169

Caprices, national, 439

Caps, laws relating to, 319

Cara, lines to, 272

Carding a Tithe-Procter, 52

Card-playing, indifferent, 318

Cards, second-hand, 425

Caroline, the late Queen, 158

Cartoons at Hampton Court, 287

Cascades and Cataracts, origin of, 97

Cashmere Shawl goat, 94

Castle of Framlingham, 305

Catacombs at Paris, lines on, 338

Castanets, origin of, 160

Cats horticulturists, 80

Cedar trees, large, 341

Chair, ancient, 344

of St. Bede, 440

Chairing, parliamentary, origin of, 176

Chancellor, Lord, his office, 71

Salary, 128

Start in Life, 125

Chapel on the Bridge, Wakefield, described, 401

Chaptel, memoir of, 88

Charlemagne, life of, 93, 128

palace of, 119

Charles I., Trials of, 41

II., progress of, 261

Charters in the British Museum, 336

Chase, the, a sketch, 21

Chatsworth, beauties of, 432

Chimneys, invention of, 139

Chlamyphorus, natural history of, 263

Cholera, a cleanser, 432

Mount, by Montgomery, 315

Christmas, ancient and modern, 419

carols, 430

Dalmatia, 419

Hereford, 438

Kent, 419

Mexico, 438

Norfolk, 419

Why and Because of, 429

Church, Lestingham, described, 297

new, St. Dunstan's, 34

Cigar smoking, motto for, 208

Cinnamon and Cassia, 425

Cinque Ports, their past and present state, 299

Climatology, notes on, 134

[pg 451]

Clockmaking in the 9th century, 127

Coach, the last, 432

Coals, high price of in London, 366

Coffee, duty on, 80

house, London, in 1731, 358

on roasting, 366

Coins, to read in the dark, 191

Colouring Cheese, 425

Colton, the Rev. Mr., 3

Column of Disgrace, 69

Comet of Biela, 185

Comparison, all things by, 368

Compliments, value of, 384

Condors, a pair of living, 303

Continence, anecdotes of, 258

Cookery, Chinese and Russian, 48

Cool Tankard at Newgate, 192

Coronation, expenses of the last, 32

Court Jester, by Fuller, 352

Courtier, an excellent, 352

Cowards, a warning to, 48

Cowley, the poet, 336

Cranmer, education of, 75

Craven, in Yorkshire, cave at, 87

Criminal Law, reform of, 267

Criticism, political, 207

Critics, warning to, 352

Cromwell, character of, 428

Cross Readings, from the Spanish, 144

Crosses, curious ancient, 113—329—360—424

Cornwall, 424

Devon, 424

Eyam, 113

Holbeach, 329

Leighton Buzzard, 329

Neville's, 360

in the Peak, 113

Percy's, 361

Wheston, 113

Crown, British, pawned, 358

Crucifixes, initials on, 430

Crusader, monument of, 441

Crusades, errors respecting, 319

Crystal, origin of, 77

Curran and the Mastiff, 48

Curse of the Black Lady, a legend, 139

Cuttle-fish, ink of, 175

natural history of, 103

Cuvier, memoir of, 137

Dacre, Lady, her eccentricities, 153

Dairyman's Daughter, 112

Damary Oak Tree, 112

Dante's Tomb, 168

Deafness, convenient, 176

Death, punishment of, 71

the actor, epitaph on, 448

Deepdene, notice of, 149

Deer of North America, 339

Dew, explanation of, 304

Derbyshire, antiquities of, 116

Dibdin, the song-writer, 128

Dice, invention of, 384

Dick's Coffee-house, 16

Diorama, Regent's Park, 40

Disease, causes of, 266

effect of on the memory, 190

Disposal of the body for dissection, 292

Distinction and Difference, 343

Dodo, natural history of, 311

Dovaston, Mr., his sketches of Bewick, 18

Dove, the River, 288

Dover, antiquity of, 294

Drama, essay on, 82

Dramatis Personæ, origin of, 447

Drawing an inference, 292

Dream of the Beautiful, 82

Dripping Rock in India, 160

Drop of Dew, by Marvell, 199

Druids and their times, 20

Dryburgh Abbey, lines on, 268—296

Dryden's M'Flecknoe, 208

Ducks, wild, catching in India, 160

Duelling, 343—416

Eagle's Cliff, visit to, 299

"Eclipse," the horse, 354

Economy of Conveyance by Steam, 183

Time and Materials, 54

Edinburgh, by Mr. Cobbett, 287

Egyptian Pyramids and Hindoo Temples compared, 158

Elephant, natural history of, 66

Elephants in the Zoological Gardens, 66

Edmonton, Merry Devil of, 367

Eldon, Lord, his birthplace, 193

Elections, bribery in, 192

Electioneering in Westminster, 351

Electro-Magnet, the largest, 128

Elm, prodigious, 288

Emigration to British America, advantages and disadvantages of, 444

Emigration to Canada, 28

Enchantress, a tale, 386

England and France, former junction of, 448

Ennui, universal, 366

Envy, Owen Feltham on, 64

Epitaph at Bristol, 336

Epitaphs in Cambridgeshire, 368

Errors of the Day, 142

Essequibo, sailing up the, 359—379

Ethelbert and Elfrida, a tale, 323

Euphrates, sailing up, 74

Explosion, tremendous, 272

Extravagance, imperial, 416

Eyam, cross at, 113

Eye, structure of, 72

Eyes and Tears, by Marvell, 199

Eyes, varieties of, 96

Falconry Tenure, 345

Falls of the Genesse, 97—342

Niagara, visit to, 446

Farewell to the Muse, by Lord Byron, 13

Fashionable Manners, effects of, on Tradesmen and Servants, 331—348

Fat Living, 261

Favour, the only one, 80

Ferdinand VII. of Spain, character of, 444

Fern Owl, habits of the, 174

Fielding, Sir John, anecdote of, 279

Fish, consumption of, 415

[pg 452]

Fishing, expensive, 432

Fleurus, battle of, 431

Flour, good, economy of, 366

Flybekins, a humorous story, 389

Fontenelle, genius of, 111

Food, animal and vegetable, 35

Foot of Man, 96

Forest Schools, 111

Framlingham Castle, 305

Francis, Sir Philip, epigram on, 336

French manners, 47

Fruit, effects of, and cholera, 79

maturation of, 39

Funeral garlands, 20

Funerals, Portuguese, 70

Garnets, varieties of, 78

Gazel, a ballad, by Moore, 10

Genesse, river of, 98—342

Genius, tributes to, 168

Geological changes by the sea, 78

Germans, ode to the, by Campbell, 9

Gilpin, John, popularity of, 367

Gipsies, king of, elegy on, 285

of old, 270

Giulietta, a tale, 282

Goat of Cashmere, 94

Goethe, medal of, 143

memoir of, 89—112

Gold-beating, particulars of, 320

Golden sands, 70

Goldsmith, Oliver, brother of, 275—402

Goose on Michaelmas Day, 208

Grace Huntley, Trials of, 393

Grose, Major, in Dublin, 318

Gudiaro, bridge across the, 24

Guides in India, 272

Ha! Ha! Fence, origin of, 448

Hail Storms in India, 128

Hale, Sir Matthew, 267

Hall, old, in Derbyshire, 273

Hampden, John, anecdote of, 160

Hanging, antiquity of, 192

Harvest home custom, 368

Hastings, antiquity of, 294

Hawthorn well, the, 339

Head-dress of the 14th century, 358

Hemans, Mrs., 110

Henry VIII. and Queen Katherine, 261

Hereford, Cathedral of, 324

Hoarding Money, 143

Holland, outline of, 338

Holy Cross, history of the, 392

Home of Love, the, 170

Home Truth, 64

Homeward Voyage, the, 98

Howard, the Hon. Charles, Lines to the memory of, 149

Hunchback, merits of the, 365

Huntsman, the, a tale, 67

Hythe, antiquity of, 294

Ignorance, imperial, 352

Illumination, origin of, 176

Imaum at Muscat, court of, 73

Incident on the coast, 373

in the life of a Rascal, 58

Inconsolable persons, 384

India, Letters from, 100

hail-storms in, 128

servants in, 105

Inheritance, custom of, 276

Innkeepers of former times, 79

Irish bar, anecdotes of, 63—80

Irish Mantle, Spencers account of, 415

Italian, lines from, 339

Jackalls in India, 80

Jack Spencer, eccentricities of, 317

James I., boyhood and education of, 233

Jemmy Maclaine, the highwayman, 291

Jews, persecution of, 319

John, King, death of, 288

Johnson, Dr., birthplace of, 257

and George III., 318

pun by, 272

Jones, Sir William, his plan of study, 358

Judas Iscariot's betrayal of Christ, 120

Judge, upright, one, 267

Juliet, character of, 117

tomb of, 265

Junot and Napoleon, anecdote of, 190

Kemble, John anecdote of, 318

Ken, bishop, 48—336

Kenulph, King, his daughter, a tale, 4

Key, ancient, 337

King William IV., domestic habits of, 303

Kings, poverty of, 358

Knife-handle, antique, 345

Knowledge, how to acquire, 416

Korner, lines from, 38

Laconics, 31

La Fontaine, absence of, 111

Land-storm, tropical, 426

Landers' Voyage and Discoveries on the Niger, 149

Langreish, Sir Hercules and his friend, 63

Last of the Family, 156

Laurencekirk Snuff-boxes, 151

Lawrence, Mr. Justice, 277

Laws of the Navy, ancient, 134

Learned Ladies, 304

Lee, church at, described, 153

Leg, the worst, 368

Lestingham Church described, 297

Levee of the Sheik of Fellahi, 75

Life, progress of, 144

Libels on Poets, 290

Lifting heavy persons, 73

Lines to ——, 226

Lion-killer, 80

Lisbon described, 209

dandy, 69

dinner, 70

dockyard, 70

dogs, 70

vanity, 70

water-carrier, 70

Lock, miniature, 352

Locomotive Engines in America, 192

Lord Mayors of London, 176

Lords, house of, forms of, 325

Lord's Prayer in Arawaak, 320

[pg 453]

Louis XIV., real character of, 84

Lucretia Davidson lines on, 148

Lucretius, extract from, 192

Ludlow Castle, stanzas on revisiting, 67

Lydford Bridge described, 289

Machinery and Manufactures, economy of, 27

Macklin's grand pause, 367

Madonna, Italian hymn to, 34

Magic in the East, true stories of, 26—76

Magic, natural, 72

Making and manufacturing, 55

Maltese Legend, 370

Malt Liquor, antiquity of, 227

Manchester, public buildings of, 177

Infirmary, 178

Royal Institution, 179

Town Hall, 178

Manners, family, history of, 130

Marriage, curious, 271

Marriage custom, 439

Marrying, excuses for not, 336

Mercers and Drapers, respectability of, 320

Merchants, opulent British, 319

Men of no business and paper cutting, 272

Michael Angelo, ecstasy of, 16

Mind on the Body, influence of the, 354

Mistletoe, origin of, 430

Mock-heroics, 304

Monasteries, error respecting, 265

Money, Anne's, 224

of Betrayal, or Price of Blood, 120

Charles, I. and II., 224

Cromwell, 224

Ecclesiastic, 223

Edward I. and IV., 223

Henry VII., 223

James II., 224

Milled, 224

Richard III., 223

Stephen, 223

Moody, the actor, avarice of, 367

Mortality, comparative, in England, 152

Mosaic Pavement described, 409

Muscular strength, extraordinary, 432

Mussulman and Hindoo religion, 80

My Fatherland, 38

Nankeen, varieties of, 416

Napoleon's Return from Elba, 165

National Gallery, the proposed, 64

Natural History, errors in, 38

Nature, luxuriance of, 175

Necklaces, satin-stone, 342

Nell Gwynne and Dr. Ken, 336

Newcastle, grammar-school, 193

Newcastle, the learned duchess of, 161

Newcastle-under-Lyne, election at, 288

New Year's Gifts, 439

Niagara, recent visit to, 446

Niger, discoveries on the, 149

Nightingales in Essex, 144

Norfolk, the late duke of, 86

Norton Lees, hall at, 273

Nugent, Lord and Lady, legends by, 350

Nutria Fur, account of, 279—314

O'Brien, the Irish Giant, 182

Oil in cookery, 352

Old Soldier, the, a sketch, 403

Olive Oil, 79—424

Omen, evil one, 261

Opera and Theatres in London, 365

Opal, beauty of, 77

Oporto described, 49

Oriental Smoking, 170

Ornithorhyncus Paradoxus, the, 189

Ostrich speed, and diet of, 262

stomach of the, 303

Otway's "Venice Preserved," 50

Owen's almshouses, 143

Paddy Fooshane's Fricassee, 108

Painters born at Antwerp, 380

Painter's last passion, 132

retort, 128

Panorama of Stirling, 410

Parliamentary debates, origin of, 128

forms, 326

Parliaments, early, 211—325

Party-spirit, Fuller on, 352

Past, the, a song, 46

Past Times, a song, 46

Pastor, a faithful one, 207

Patriotism, genuine, 438

Peak, Antiquities of, 113

Pearl in the Oyster, 230

Pekin, ancient trade of, 320

Pelican, error respecting, 96

Pennsylvania, settlement of, 208

Pepper, varieties of, 416

Perrier, Casimir, memoir of, 116

Persian Bath, 145

Fable, 228

Peru, discovery of, 432

Peter the Great, anecdotes of, 300—308

character of, 361

Peter Pence, origin of, 343

Peter Simple, life of, 121

Petition to Time, 11

Petit-or, value of, 425

Petrarch's Tomb, 169

Phillips, Col., recollections of, 402

Phrenology, curiosities of, 45

Physician's Fees, 261

Pic Nic at Tempe, 15

Pickpockets, qualifications of, 334

Piracy in olden times, 26

Pitch-in-the-hole, ancient, 320

Pitt, Mr., statue of, 40

Plaint of certain coral beads, 406

Plants, light and air on, 262

in rooms, 263

Poets, Major and Minor, 51

Pompadour, Madame de, her toilette, by Voltaire, 163

Pompeii, antiquities of, 412

Poor Laws, origin of, 327

Popes, List of, 416

Portdown Fair described, 121

Portugal, antiquity of, 48

manners and customs in, 69

Posts for Letters, origin of, 322

Post Office, revenue of, 440

[pg 454]

Potato, economy of, 127

Poverty, Owen Feltham on, 414

Prayer, a fragment, 179

Precious Stones, varieties of, 77

Preservation of the Human Body, 133

Primrose, withered, lines on, 95

Printer, studious, 128

Printing, invention of, 143

from wooden blocks, 55

Prison Discipline in America, 286

Psalmody, origin of, 146

Public Credit explained, 142

Punctuality of Colonel Boswell, 448

Quadroon Girl, a song, 46

Quin and Macklin, 367

Quizzing, literary, 144

Railway, Liverpool and Manchester, 112

Raw Materials, 56

Recollections of a Wanderer 21—373

Records in the Tower of London, 279

Regent-street, charms of, 365

Regulating Power, 55

Relics of Popery, 344

Religious Fastings, 195

Resting-place, the, 354

Review, the first, 176

Rhyming Ruminations on London Bridge, 26

Rising, advantages of early, 16

Robespierre, anecdote of, 95

fall of, 106

Robin Hood, history of, 180—204

Rome, by T. Moore, 364

Romeo and Juliet, story of, 118

Romney, antiquity of, 294

Rose of the Castle, 133

of Edendale, by L.E.L., 335

lines to, 221

Rotuma, island of, described, 376

Roundelaye, ancient, 16

Royalty, freaks of, 207

Rubens, memoir of, 381

Ruby, beauty of, 78

Rye, antiquity of, 295

Salads, antiquity of, 358

Salt, fine basket, 425

good effects of, 265

Saltpetre, manufacture of, 88

Sandwich, antiquity of, 295

Sapphires, beauty of, 77

Sargasso Weed, account of, 136

Satin-stone Necklaces, 342

Saving time in natural operations, 55

Savoyard, the, a ballad, 275

School Building in the High Alps, 171

Schoolmaster's experience in Newgate, 333

Schools before the Reformation, 75

Sciences, progress of, 266

Scipio, continence of, 258

Scotch "Bluid," anecdote of, 123

Scott, Sir Walter, Memoir of:

Abbotsford, 241—247—248—250

Sonnet, by Wordsworth, 420

anecdotes of, 435

baronetcy, 250

birth of, 241

Scott, Sir Walter, character of, 255—256

childhood, 242

clerk of Sessions, 247

death, 208—253—

—on the, by the Author of Eugene Aram, 219

Dryburgh Abbey, 256—436

education, 242

embarrassments of, 251—256

and the Ettrick Shepherd, 335

family, 253

fatal illness, 252

funeral of, 253

by an eye-witness, 345

Life of Napoleon, 251

love of reading, 243

law studies, 244

literary attempts, 244

marriage, 246

medal of, 255

memory, 245

Melrose Abbey, 436

parentage, 242

portraits of, 254

school days, 243

Selkirk, 437

sheriffdom, 246

telling a story, 243

Works of:

Dryden and Swift, edition of, 247

Eve of St. John, 245

Glenfinlas, 245

Goetz of Berlinchingen translated, 245

Lady of the Lake, 247

Lay of the Last Minstrel, 246

Leonora, &c., translations of, 245

Marmion, 247

Miscellaneous Works, 250

Novels, List of, 250

Rokeby and Minor Poems, 249

unpublished works, 255

Waverley, 249

Novels, 252

Sea, depth of the, 427

Sea-shore, changes on, 78

Seal, a blind one, 298

Seaman, knowing, 432

Secret Lover, the, from the Persian, 204

Servants affected by fashionable manners and customs, 331—348

Servants in India, 105

Servant, monument to a faithful one, 288

Servants, Vails to, 318

Shark, adventure with, 381

Shaving or throat-cutting, 272

Shelly, the poet, anecdote of, 407

Sheridan's Funeral, 448

Sheriff of London, Journal of, 196—212

Shrewsbury, Anna Maria, Countess of, 112

Silk Manufacture, outline of, 446

Skeleton Dance, from Goethe, 420

Slave Trade in England, 319

Smoking forbidden in Parliament, 336

Snake, anecdote of a tame one, 327

Snuff-boxes, Laurencekirk, 151

[pg 455]

Snuffers, antique, 337

Soldier, annual cost of, 176

dress of, 448

Solecisms in Language, 350

Somersetshire, land-custom in, 112

Song from the Album of a Poet, 98

Songs, by Barry Cornwall, 46

Song, Scottish, 317

Song-writing, spirit of, 11

Sounds during the night, 107

Spain, stupendous bridge in, 24

Spaniards and Portuguese, 69

Spencer's account of the Irish Mantle, 415

Spinning-wheel Song, 391

Spirit of Despotism, by Dr. Knox, 106

Spirit-drinking, evils of, 307

in 1736, 133

Spontaneous combustion, 162—211

Spring, harbingers of, 174

St. Cross, Church and Hospital of, 217—228

St. Dunstan's in the West, new church of, 34

St. Goar on the Rhine, legend of, 386

St. Hellen's Well, Staffordshire, 228

St. James's Park, improvement of, 418

St. Paul's Cathedral, monuments in, 96

Stael, Madame de, 86

Stages, Islington, olden, 335

Stanzas for Music, 52

Stationers' Company, origin of, 286

Statue of Mr. Canning, 25

of Mr. Pitt, 40

Steam Carriages on common roads, 183—198

Coaches and Power, 128

Engine simplified, 315

Navigation, 48

Packets, value of, 272

Stirling, panorama of, 410

Stork, the, 216

Story, extraordinary one, 292

Strand, the original, 207

Stranger, a song, 46

Streets, narrow, of Cairo, 80

Success in Life, grand secret of, 85

Suffolk-street Gallery, exhibition at, 330—362

Sugar, improved raw, 148

Sugar-refining, history of, 149

Sumptuary Laws, intention of, 439

Swampy Kingdom, 207

Tanfield Arch described, 353

Tea-makers, hint to, 176

Tears, the, an apologue, 403

Teeth of Crocodiles, 96

Tempe, Pic Nic at, 15

Temper, equanimity of, 99

Tenterden Steeple and Goodwin Sands, 38

Thebes, description of, 141

Thou wert the Rainbow of my Dreams, 290

Thurlow, the great Lord, 259

Tiger, sight of, 100

Titian, grave of, 216

Titles, origin of, 287

Toad-fish, economy of, 135

Tom Cringle's Log, 381—425

Tombs, celebrated Roman, 231

Tomb of Caius Cestius, 233

Tomb of Cæcilia Metella, 232

Horatii and Curatii, 233

Juliet, 265

Tongue of Man, 96

Toothache, cure for, 212

Torchlight custom, 260

Tornado, by T. Pringle, Esq., 400

Tory, origin of, 144

Towers of Tarifa, the, 186

Trade, anti-free, 304

Tradesmen affected by fashion, 332—349

Tradesmen, ancient, 261

Tragedy and Comedy, essay on, 82

Traveller's Diary, scraps from, 219—364

Trials of Grace Huntley, a tale, 395

Truth, the plain, 207

Tulip, Fanny Kemble, 272

Tulip Tree, 38

Tunnel, natural, in Virginia, 433

Turkish Baths, 74

Turncoat, 336

Turtle Mayor, 336

Twins, monument of, 240

Umbrellas, invention of, 269

Uneducated, who are? 95

Usury in the Middle Ages, 320

Van Dieman's Land, civilization in, 5

Velocity, increased and diminished, 55

Venice, by T. Moore, 219

Vestry Dinner in Persia, 75

Victims of Susceptibility, 154

Vine, the, an apologue, 403

Viper, horned, poison of, 354

Virginia, natural tunnel in, 433

Voice of Humanity, the, 201

Volcanoes on the Globe, 448

Voltaire, anecdote of, 293

Voyage of Manufacture, 54

Vulture, 80

Wakefield, chapel on the bridge at, 401

Walcot, Dr., and Shield, 448

Walking Gallows, 52

Walnut Water, properties of, 176

Watching for the Soul, 368

Waterloo, battle of, 235

child, 128

day after the battle, 166

the year of, 165

Wearied Soldier, the, 195

Weather, journals of, 111

Were and Werelade, 71

Whale, gigantic, account of, 341

What's in a name? 391

Wheston, cross at, 113

When wilt thou return? 290

Wieland, on the Druids, 20

Wight, isle of, town in, 225

Wilks's Cottage, 225

Wilkes's Luckiest Number, 143

William the Conqueror, funeral of, 13

Winchelsea, antiquity of, 295

Windermere, scene on, 308

Wines, German, 281

Wingfield Manor House, described, 321

Wit, ready, 304

[pg 456]

Witchcraft in 1618, 130

Witchcraft and Spontaneous Combustion, 162

Wolves of North America, 340

Women alias Angels, 32

characteristics of, 117

heroic, 16

Wonders of the Lane, 413

Wordsworth, sonnet by, 420

Worm, lines on, 201

Worsted, origin of, 320

Wrestling custom at Hornchurch, 319

Writing in France, 120

York Column and St. James's Park, 418

Zoffany, his gratitude, 368

Zoological Garden, natural, 101

Zoological Gardens, Regent's Park, 66—199—281

Armadillo House at, 200

Aviary, 281

Deer at, 200

Elephants at, 200

Fountain, 281

Llama House, 200

Maccaws, 281

Ostriches, 281

Repository, 200

Zoological Gardens, Surrey, 1—303

THE

MIRROR

OF

LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT,

AND

INSTRUCTION:

CONTAINING

ORIGINAL ESSAYS;

HISTORICAL NARRATIVES; BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS; SKETCHES OF SOCIETY; TOPOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTIONS; NOVELS AND TALES; ANECDOTES;

SELECT EXTRACTS

FROM

NEW AND EXPENSIVE WORKS;

POETRY, ORIGINAL AND SELECTED;

The Spirit of the Public Journals;

DISCOVERIES IN THE ARTS AND SCIENCES;

USEFUL DOMESTIC HINTS;

&c. &c. &c.

VOL. XX.

London:

1832

PREFACE.

NOTICES

OF

WASHINGTON IRVING, ESQ.

AND HIS WORKS.

ALPHABETICAL INDEX.

INDEX TO THE EIGHTY-EIGHT ENGRAVINGS.

END OF VOL. XX.