The penny magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, issue 24 by Charles Knight

Section 1 of the Penny Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, Issue 24. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Read by E. Sharp. The Penny Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, Issue 24, by Charles Knight. Constantinople. This magnificent city, which, one from the degenerate Greeks of the lower empire, has been for four centuries the capital of the Turkish Empire, is situated in 41 degrees 1 minute 27 seconds north latitude, and in 26 degrees 35 minutes of east longitude. The ground it occupies is marked out by nature as the site of a great city, a gently declining Signing promontory secured by narrow seas at the east of Europe. ...stretches out to meet the continent of Asia, from which its extreme point is separated by so narrow a strait that in a quarter of an hour a boat can row from one continent to the other. This strait or channel, which is called the Bosphorus, running about 15 miles from the Black Sea, between the beautiful shores of Europe and Asia, looks like a stately river until it sweeps by the angle of Constantinople and enters the Sea of Marmora. But just before it is lost in that sea, it makes a deep elbow to the right, floating between the triangle of Constantinople proper and its suburbs of Galata and Pera, and forming the port which is called the Golden Horn. This is the most convenient, as well as the most beautiful, harbor in the world. A city was built here by a colony of Lacedaemonians as early as the year 660 before Christ, or about a century after the foundation But this city only occupied the apex of the triangle, or precisely that space now within the enclosures of the seraglio. It was called Byzantium. The present immense city, called Constantinopolis or the City of Constantine after its founder, was built about the year 330 of our era by the Roman Emperor Constantine, who thought it the best place for the capital of the world. The triangle which the city now entirely occupies is thus washed on one of its sides, the northern, by the deep waters of the port, and on the other, the southeastern, by the sea of Marmora. The base of the triangle, or the ground immediately beyond the walls which attaches it to the European continent, is an open elevated flat, with some trifling inequalities of surface. the area of the triangle is occupied by gentle hills which are highest towards the land side and gradually decline to the seraglio point shelving off on either side to the sea of marmora and the port As Rome was built on seven hills, so the Roman founders of Constantinople called these the seven hills. Though, in fact, if the principal chain only were counted, there would be less, and if the minor hills or spurs were taken into the account, there would be more than seven. On these hills the city stands, presenting on each of the three sides of the triangle the aspect of a stately amphitheater. The ridge of the first hill, departing from the acute point of the triangle, is occupied by the seraglio, or vast palace of the sultan, behind which, a little on the reverse of the hill, the dome of Santa Sofia shows herself. The second hill is crowned by the mosque of the Osmaniye, whose dome is strikingly bold and lofty. The still grander mosque of Suleiman the Magnificent towers on the third hill. Whilst an ancient aqueduct, whose bold arches have the happiest effect, unites the summits of the third and fourth hills. On the very highest point of the chain there is a lofty tower, built within these few years by the present sultan, in which a guard is constantly placed to watch the breaking out of fires, which are very frequent and destructive in a city where all the private habitations are built chiefly of wood. few things are more calculated to make an impression on the mind of the stranger than when an accident of this sort occurs at the dead of night and the immense drum is beaten at the top of the tower and the voice of the guard is heard shouting vanguard fire Though there is one principal street, which, with but a few interruptions, traverses the city from the seraglio to the inland walls, the houses of Constantinople are not generally massed together, but interspersed with open spaces, gardens, trees, ancient ruins, and isolated mosques, the tall, slim, arrowy minarets or towers of which, all kept purely white and tipped with a gilded crescent, contribute greatly to the beauty of the views. The situation of Constantinople upon hills is not only the cause of its beauty, but of its salubrity and comparative cleanliness. It catches all the pleasant breezes from the Bosphorus, the Marmara, and the adjoining plains of Thrace, and the dirt that might accumulate naturally descends the hill's sides to the port or the open sea, in both of which it is carried off by a strong current. To this advantage must be added the immense number of fountains, and the quantity of flowing water, which is always carrying off parts of the dirt, and the heavy rains, which, when they fall, so wash the sides of the hills, that nothing can well be cleaner than the greater part of Constantinople at those seasons. Indeed, at any time, the lower edge of the city that touches the port and the opposite suburb of Galata, the Wapping of the Turkish capital, may be called filthy places, but the term cannot be correctly applied to Constantinople as a whole. Some ill-natured travelers have said that the only scavengers here are the unowned dogs which roam about in countless thousands, but we believe in all times there were a set of Turks employed to clean the streets, and the present Sultan has certainly a regularly organized corps for that service. Allowing for the empty spaces, which collectively would form a portion by no means inconsiderable, Constantinople occupies the whole of the natural triangle, whose outline is fringed by old walls flanked by towers. These walls and towers on the side of the Sea of Marmara and the port, where in old times they were not required to be so strong, are now in a very ruinous state and, in some parts, on the Golden Horn, have entirely disappeared. But on the land side, where the defenses of art were more called for, Constantinople presents a treble line of most formidable ancient walls which might easily be repaired, and which, in their more dilapidated parts, offer such magnificent and picturesque specimens of mural ruins as no other city can boast of. The length of this latter line of wall, from the head of the port to the seven towers on the Sea of Marmara, is above four English miles. The form of the triangle, as may be seen by our little plan, is somewhat irregular, having the side from the Seven Towers to the Seraglio considerably the longest. According to the best calculations, the population contained within these walls is about 500,000. If we add to this number, as is usually done, the population of the suburbs of Pera and Galata, of Skutari, which, though in Asia, is so near as to be considered a suburb, and of the numerous villages which closely succeed each other on both sides of the channel of the Bosporus for several miles, we may arrive perhaps at the number of from 700,000 to 800,000 souls, comprising Turks, Greeks, Armenians, Jews, and Franks. On whichever side you approach Constantinople, whether ascending by the Dardanelles and the Sea of Marmara, or descending from the Black Sea by the Bosphorus, whether you arrive by crossing the plains of Thrace or come in sight from the opposite hills of Asia, she presents herself indeed like the Queen of Cities. The effect of the first view is almost magical. The preceding sketch will give some idea of the beautiful outline of part of Constantinople. it is taken from the hillside above galata near this point was an old genoese tower burned down within these three years from which the view of the city was of surpassing beauty the section two of the penny magazine of the society for the diffusion of useful knowledge issue twenty four this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer, please visit librivox.org. The Penny Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, Issue 24, by Charles Knight. Meanings of Words Number 4. Nouns in Ing. German, Ung. Building, drawing, walking, seeing. These nouns are formed from verbs and generally by the simple addition of the syllable Ing. They denote the general act of doing something and often retain the same place in the sentence with respect to the word following them that the verb itself does. Thus, when we say the building of a house, we express in a slightly modified manner the idea of to build a house. Some nouns in ing express a collection of things as clothing, stabling, firing, fuel. Nouns in shun. Calculate, calculation, educate, education, nation, station, oration. This termination has been introduced into our language from the Latin and in some instances differs in meaning very little or not at all from that in English. Thus we could say calculating, educating, as well as calculation, education. Words like nation, station, etc. are pure Latin words differing from the nominative case of those in the language from which they are derived, only in having an N at the end of the word. Nouns in hood, German, height, manhood, priesthood, hardihood, boyhood. These words express the abstract notion, as it is called, of the word from which they are formed. That is, they express in the most general way possible the state or condition of being a man, a priest, etc. They are not very numerous, nor indeed are they much used, though they are well adapted to convey that general notion which we have assigned to them. All languages contain certain classes of nouns which are called diminutives, from their being used to express things of a less kind or degree. Nouns in Ling. In all these examples, the notion of some smallness in the object mentioned is clearly recognized by common usage. A duckling is a little duck, and a witling is a man of little wit. it may be here necessary to make a remark in order to caution those who are new at this kind of classification from putting words in the same class merely because they happen to terminate with certain letters that are the same thus it would be absurd to class under the head of diminutives such words as doubling tippling troubling merely because they appear to terminate in They clearly belong to the words in ing and are formed from the words double, triple, trouble. Nouns in -kin, German, chen, mannequin, a little man or dwarf, wilkin, little Will or William, lambkin, peterkin, little Peter. Nouns in -th, strong, strength, wide, width, warm, warmth, long, length, deep, depth, Moon, month, true, truth. This is a tolerably large class of words which may be considered as formed from adjectives by the addition of -th, and in some cases by also changing the sound of the vowel as strong, strength, deep, depth. The meaning of these nouns requires no explanation, but though they belong to the old and genuine forms of our language, we cannot say much in their favor as far as the ear is concerned. Foreigners occasionally, as well as some of our own countrymen, find a difficulty in pronouncing strength, a word containing eight letters, with only one vowel to keep the consonants from quarreling. It is sometimes incorrectly pronounced, strength. These words in -th may be formed from verbs also, as birth from the verb to bear, but some as worth have no corresponding word in our own language from which they may be derived. Though in the case of this word, worth, there is in it the Latin language a word, ver, and in the Anglo-Saxon a word, were, which are parents of our word worth. From the word ear to plow, we have the word earth signifying plowed land and still correctly pronounced in many parts of England as a word of two syllables, ear. It is written e-r. In the Anglo-Saxon books, which is exactly the pronunciation that the word still has in some parts of Lancashire, words in G-H-T, German, C-H-T, flight, might, night, sight, tight, right, these words are not easy to explain without entering into considerations foreign to the kind of inquiry that we have thought proper to adopt. nor is it quite certain that all the words we have given strictly belong to the same class though they happen to terminate with the same letters we may however observe that there is the same relationship between fly or flee and flight that there is between sea and sight tie and tithe the reason why these and other similar words contain a g is because the words from which they are formed originally contained a g or at least some letter akin to g. Thus, in German, there is the word flug, meaning flight, from which is formed another word, flock, which is nearer in form to our own word, flight. End of section 2, read by Bryce Kreis, Ohio. Section 3 of the Penny Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, issue 24. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Read by Larry Wilson. The Penny Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. Issue 24 by Charles Knight. Song. Sweet day. So cool. So calm. So bright. The bridal of the earth and sky. Sweet dews shall weep thy fall tonight. For thou must die, sweet rose, whose hue, angry and brave, Bids the rash gazer wipe his eye. Thy root is ever in its grave, And thou must die. Sweet spring, full of sweet days and roses, A box where sweets compacted lie, My music shows you have your closes, And all must die. Only a sweet and virtuous soul, Like seasoned timber, never gives. But when the whole world turns to coal, then chiefly lives Herbert Fear. Charles Gustavus, the successor of Christina of Sweden, was besieging Prague when a boor of most extraordinary visage desired admittance to his tent, and being allowed entrance, offered by way of amusing the king to devour a whole hog weighing two hundred weight in his presence. the old general Konigsmark who stood by the king's side and who soldier as he was and had not got rid of prejudices of his childhood hinted to his royal master that the peasant ought to be burnt as a sorcerer Sir, said the fellow irritated at the remark, if your majesty will but make that old gentleman take off his sword and his spurs I will eat him before your face before I begin the pig General Koningsmark, who at the head of the body of Swedes had performed wonders against the Austrians, and who was looked upon as one of the bravest men of the age, could not stand this proposal, especially as it was accompanied by a most hideous and preternatural expansion of the frightful peasant's jaws. Without uttering a word, the veteran suddenly turned round, ran out of the court, and thought not himself safe until he had arrived at his quarters. End of section 3 Section 4 of the Penny Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, Issue 24. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. The Penny Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, Issue 24, by Charles Knight. The Laborers of Europe, Number 2. That part of Italy which borders the Mediterranean, from the mountains of Genoa to the extremity of Calabria, a length of about 700 miles, consists, except in a few places such as Naples where hills intervene, of a broad stripe of flat country extending from the seashore to the lower edges of the Apennine Mountains. This region is called the Maremma. It is particularly unhealthy during the summer months from June to October when all the inhabitants who are able remove to the hills and the few who are obliged to remain are exposed to the malaria fever and intermittent ague, which emaciates the body, exhausts the vital strength, and if not checked in time, proves fatal to the patient. the farms in the greater part of this immense tract and more particularly in the Roman and Tuscan divisions of it are very large often extending to several thousand acres they are held by wealthy tenants who live in the towns and keep agents and domestics who reside on the spot at least till harvest time by far the greater part of the land although arable is left for pasture about one-fourth or one-sixth being brought into cultivation by annual rotation no villages or cottages are to be seen but here and there at long intervals a dingy dismal-looking casale or farmhouse a speck in the midst of the desert as there is no fixed population in these plains laborers are engaged from the interior and chiefly from the highlands of the Apennines where a scanty soil though under a healthy climate does not furnish sufficient occupation for the native peasantry they generally come down from the mountains in October in bands of about one hundred each under the guidance of a leader a sort of jobber who stipulates for their services and pay with the agent of the farm it is calculated that about twenty thousand come down in this manner every year in the Campagna or plains of Rome alone many of them remain till May employed in the different works of the farm they are engaged mostly by the season and receive at the rate of from ten to fifteen pence a day their chief nourishment consists of a polenta or Indian corn flour boiled with water and salt into a sort of pudding with the occasional addition of skimmed milk or grated cheese they sleep on the bare ground either in the casale or under shelter of temporary huts made with canes Arundo donax which grow luxuriantly in these regions at harvest time about the latter end of June a new reinforcement of laborers from the mountains is required This is the most critical period of the year for the poor men who come by thousands from the pure and wholesome atmosphere of their native districts to inhale the pestilential air of the lowlands, working by day under burning sun and sleeping at night in the open air, exposed to the heavy dews and to the bite of gnats and other insects. The harvest men are engaged for 11 or 12 days, sometimes a fortnight, And they are paid at the rate of about two francs, or one shilling, ten denaro, a day. They're also better fed at this time, and have a plentiful allowance of wine and water. The corn must be cut, threshed, winnowed, and carried into the granary by the middle of July, after which no one dares to remain in the fields. Mr. Chateveau, who visited one of these immense farms during the harvest season, gives the following description of the scene. the fattore or steward ordered horses for us to visit the farm and while they were getting ready i examined the casale or farmhouse a noble but gloomy structure it consisted of a spacious kitchen and two large apartments adjoining at the end of which were three other rooms of similar dimensions all totally destitute of furniture not even having windows these formed the ground floor of the centre building Above them were six other rooms of the same size used as granaries, one only being furnished for the use of the superintendents. The wings were formed by capacious arched stables, at once airy and cool, and above them were lofts for hay. This part of the establishment is almost superfluous, being merely used to put up the cattle employed in the work of the farms during their resting time in the middle of the day. at all others they are turned out to graze in the open air there is not the least appearance of care or neatness about the whole farm neither trees gardens nor vegetables were to be seen to my observations about this negligence the people replied that the cattle would trample down and destroy whatever might be planted or sown and that it was therefore more convenient to purchase their vegetables in the neighboring towns which are surrounded with vineyards orchards and gardens the expense of carriage is nothing in these large grazing farms where there are always cattle in abundance they put a loaf and a bundle of hay into the cart and thus equipped will perform a journey of sixty miles without any expense This abundance of animals constitutes the only luxury of these farms. Neither stewards, superintendents, nor even the herdsmen ever think of going on foot. They're always on horseback, galloping at full speed over the plains with a gun or pungolo or spear in their hands. And horses are always kept ready, saddled in the stables, each person employed on the farm having two assigned for his use. as soon as we were mounted the steward conducted us to the part of the farm where the harvest had commenced broad stripes of a golden yellow extended at a distance over the undulated surface of the soil towards the sea and we at length came in sight of a sort of army in battle array with their commanders on horseback having lances in their hands fixed to their stations we passed several carts drawn by oxen which were loaded with bread intended for the consumption of the men we beheld before us a long line of a thousand reapers round a vast tract of corn which was silently falling under their sickles while twelve superintendents on horseback surveyed and animated them from behind they raised a loud shout at our approach which resounded through the solitude and was intended as a salute to the master of the farm soon after the carts which we had passed drew up under the shade of some oaks which were providentially still remaining in the middle of the plain at a signal given the reapers quitted their work and the whole troop defiled before us there were about as many men as women all natives of the Abruzzi the former were good figures but the women were frightful they were bathed in sweat for the heat was terrible though it was only a few days since they left the mountains the malaria was beginning to affect them two only had yet to be stricken by the fever but i was told that the number would increase daily and that by the end of the harvest scarce half of the troop would be left what becomes of these poor wretches inquired i we give them a piece of bread and send them away but where do they go They return towards the mountains, some of them die in the road, and the others reach home exhausted with illness and fatigue to recommence the same attempt next year. The repast of this day was a festival, for the master, in order to make his visit the more welcome, had purchased at Genzano two cartloads of watermelons, which were distributed to the reapers with the bread, which in general forms their only food. the eyes of the poor people were eagerly fixed on these fine fruits and i cannot describe the joy which appeared in their countenances when the large knives displayed the red pulp and refreshing juice of the melons and spread around a delicious perfume they make three meals a day which divides their labours into two periods and they are allowed two hours sleep in the middle of the day their slumbers at that time are unattended with danger But the earth still serves as their bed after the cold dews of the evening haze descended upon it, and they pass the night on the moist turf in the midst of so furious exhalations. Their employers say that they would lose too much time were they to return every evening to sleep in the casale, which in these extensive farms is often at a great distance. Thus for about one pound sterling, to which the wages of a reaper during the harvest fortnight amount, thousands of these poor men walk fifty or sixty miles and back again to work in the pestilential flats of the Maremma with the prospect of catching the fever and either dying away from home or returning sickly and debilitated for the rest of the year such is and has been for ages past the condition of labourers in some of the most celebrated regions of Italy in the time of the ancient Romans the country was cultivated chiefly by slaves who were considered no better than cattle and over whose persons the owners had unlimited power beating them mutilating them or putting them to death at their will Christianity effected a great change the slaves became first of all serfs attached to the soil and bound to perform a certain measure of work for their masters but their persons were placed under the protection of the laws by degrees the serfs became emancipated over the greater part of Europe and although most of them continued poor they were enabled to dispose of their own labor and carry it to the best market this is as much as human justice and benevolence have been able to effect as yet for the laborers of Europe in the course of eighteen centuries any further improvements in their condition must be the result of a slow progress in the general condition of society to be accelerated by the diffusion of sound knowledge the only stationary population in the Maremma consists of the cow and buffalo keepers and forest rangers the former are always mounted and armed with a lance with which they keep in respect the wild cows and fierce bulls which are let to roam about these solitudes These keepers lead a life of freedom and independence, like that of the Arabs in the desert. They are paid by yearly wages, besides which they generally rear up cattle of their own, which are allowed to feed with the rest. They retire in the summer months to the shady forests which line the seashore, and where the air is not so unwholesome as in the open plains. There, also, criminals escape from the pursuits of justice, take shelter, and are sometimes employed as wood rangers or buffalo drivers by the people of the neighboring farms the following cut as well as added at the head of this article represent the mode of driving cattle to the towns End of section four Read by Bryce Kreys Ohio Section 5 of the Penny Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, Issue 24. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Read by Betty B. The Penny Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, Issue 24, by Charles Knight. The National Gallery, Number 3. Among the restorers of art in the 15th century, perhaps the greatest name, whether in regard to the extent of the versatility of his powers, is that of Leonardo da Vinci. other artists his contemporaries or immediate predecessors had done much towards the resuscitation or rather the introduction of a just taste each according to the particular bent of his genius but Leonardo with an intuitive comprehension seems to have seized on every principle of excellence And although those principles were carried by his successors, at least by Monsieur Angelo, Raphael, and Titian, to higher degrees of perfection, yet it is not too much to assert that in his works we discover, not the germs merely, but invisible development, the severe dignity of the Florentine, the dramatic pathos of the Roman, and the captivating splendor of the Venetian schools. The works of Leonardo are scarce. The celebrated picture of the Last Supper at Milan has crumbled from the walls. It is well known, however, by engravings. The picture of Christ disputing with the doctors in the National Gallery is in all that relates to internal evidence of unquestionable originality. Although from the difficulty of having the history of so early a picture, doubts of its genuineness have been sometimes expressed. Of its value as a great work of art, there can be no doubt. It is evident that in this brilliant and elaborate performance, Leonardo has tasked his powers to the utmost. From the depth of color and chiaroscuro, the figures stand out in the boldest relief. But in order to concentrate the interest on the person of the Savior, the subordinate figures are kept somewhat smaller than the laws of perspective allow. An artifice not perfectly justifiable, but, in this instance, fully effective. The person of Christ is considerably older than is consonant with scriptural authority, and the countenance has an air of almost feminine mildness and amiability. Indeed, it is evident that the radical lines of the physiognomy were constructed on that abstract idea of beauty which the artist had established in his own mind. Hence it is that this head of the Savior is, perhaps, somewhat deficient in masculine energy. The expression, however, is beautiful and characteristic and announces a being who, conscious of uttering inspired truths, encounters the authority of human wisdom without fear and triumphs without arrogance. The noble and sedate character of this picture is nowhere disturbed by strong contrasts or violent expression. The astonishment which the doctors may be supposed to have evinced has subsided, and with the exception of the eager and determined theologian on the right, they appear to listen with absorbed and deferential attention to the arguments and eloquence of their divine antagonist. The drapery of the Savior is disposed with great grace and dignity, and the hands are painted with peculiar beauty. There are four pictures by Correggio in the National Gallery, and although neither of them can be said to exhibit the excellence of that great master in its fullest extent, they are yet fine and beautiful specimens of his various and extraordinary powers. The two groups of children's heads which hang on the staircase are painted precisely on the same principle with the groups of angels in in the cupola at Parma. A style which in breadth and grandeur has never been equalled, except by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel. The two small pictures exhibit the extremes of Correggio's style, that of Christ praying in the garden, leaning to the last degree of depth and concentration, the other, that of the Holy Family, being made up of semi-tones and scarcely exceeding, either in its lights or shadows, the medium of half-tint. The coloring too is negative, never approaching to a primitive hue, but the execution is exquisitely pure and delicate. If in this work Correggio is at all inferior to himself in his usual power of expression, the deficiency is amply compensated in the picture of Christ praying in the garden, which may be cited as one among the few works of art in which every part of the picture is made a vehicle of the presiding sentiment. The whole scene is enveloped in gloom and solemnity. No genial hues enliven the coloring, a part even of the principal light formed by the mantle of Christ being composed of pale blue, an arrangement rarely admitted by Correggio or any other great colorist. The only tint approaching to warmth is that of the drapery of the angel, a subdued red, which for the purpose of harmony is faintly repeated on the groups in the middle distance. The first pale gray of dawn appears breaking over the horizon, but the general effect of the picture is that of intense gloom, in the midst of which we discern the sleeping disciples and farther off the Jews approaching to seize on Christ. The figure of the Redeemer himself, isolated amidst darkness and danger while his friends slumber and his enemies pursue him, is a sublime and touching impersonation of suffering, virtue appealing to God from human persecution, but bowing with implicit resignation to the Almighty Will. In this picture, Correggio exhibits what we so often wish for in Rembrandt, principles worthy of the beautiful accessories by which they are surrounded. End of Section 5. Section 6 of the Penny Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. Issue 24. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Read by Betty B. The Penny Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. Issue 24 by Charles Knight. Art of Writing. Mr. Mariner, in his account of the Tonga Islands, has given us a most curious and interesting description of the surprise and perplexity with which the powers of this invention were contemplated. For the first time, by some of the natives of the Tonga Islands, Mr. Mariner, shortly after the commencement of his captivity amongst these savages, had, in the hope of thereby obtaining his liberty, written a letter, with a solution of gunpowder, on a piece of paper, which he obtained from one of the natives, and he confided it to the care of a chief, with directions that it should be given to the captain of any ship which might appear on the coast. Finau, the king, however, having heard of this transaction, his suspicions were excited, and he immediately sent to the chief for the letter, and obtained it. When it was put into his hands, the narrative proceeds, he looked at it on all sides, but not being able to make anything of it, he gave it to Jeremiah Higgins, who was at hand, and ordered him to say what it meant. Mr. Mariner was not present. Higgins took the letter, and translating part of it into the Tonga language, judiciously represented it to be merely a request to any English captain that might arrive to interfere with Finau for the liberty of Mr. Mariner and his countrymen, stating that he had been kindly treated by the natives, but nevertheless wished to return, if possible, to their native country. This mode of communicating sentiments was an inexplicable puzzle to Finau. He took the letter again and examined it, but it afforded him no information. He considered the matter a little within himself, but his thoughts reflected no light upon the subject. At length he sent for Mr. Mariner and desired him to write down something the latter asked what he would choose to have written. He replied, Put down me. He accordingly wrote, Finau, spelling it according to the strict English orthography. The chief then sent for another Englishman, who had not been present, and commanding Mr. Mariner to turn his back and look another way. He gave the man the paper, and desired him to read what that was. he accordingly pronounced aloud the name of the king upon which Finau snatched the paper from his hand and with astonishment looked at it turned it around and examined it in all directions at length he exclaimed this is neither like myself nor anybody else where are my legs how do you know it to be i And then, without stopping for any attempt at explanation, he impatiently ordered Mr. Mariner to write something else, and thus employed him for three or four hours in putting down the names of different persons, places, and things, and making the other man read them. This afforded extraordinary diversion to Finau and to all the men and women present, particularly as he now and then whispered a little love anecdote, which was strictly written down and audibly read by the other. not a little to the confusion of one or other of the ladies present, but it was all taken in good humor, for curiosity and astonishment were the prevailing passions. How their names and circumstances could be communicated through so mysterious a channel was altogether past their comprehension. Finau at length thought he had got a notion of it, and explained to those about him it was very possible to put down a mark or sign of something that had been seen both by the writer and reader and which should be mutually understood by them. But Mr. Mariner immediately informed him that he could write down anything that he had never seen. The king directly whispered to him to put Tupu Ahu, the king of Tonga, whom he and Tupu knew half. had assassinated many years before, Mr. Mariner's arrival. This was accordingly done, and the other read it, when Finau was yet more astonished, and declared it to be the most wonderful thing he had ever heard of. He then desired him to write, Tarky, the chief of the garrison of Bia, whom Mr. Mariner and his companions had not yet seen. This chief was blind in one eye. When Tarky was read, Finau inquired whether he was blind or not. This was putting writing to an unfair test, and Mr. Mariner told him that he had only written down the sign standing for the sound of his name, and not for the description of his person. He was then ordered in a whisper to write, Tarky, blind in his left eye, which was done and read by the other man, to the increased astonishment of everybody. Mr. Mariner then told him that in several parts of the world, messages were sent to great distances, through the same medium, and being folded up and fastened up, the bearer could know nothing of the contents, and that the histories of whole nations were thus handed down to posterity, without spoiling by being kept, as he chose to express himself. Finau acknowledged this to be a most noble invention, but added that it would not do at all for the Tonga Islands, that there would be nothing but disturbances and conspiracies, and he should not be sure of his life perhaps another month. End of section six. Section 7 of the Penny Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, Issue 24. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Read by Larry Wilson. The Penny Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, Issue 24, by Charles Knight. Large-Headed Quadrupeds The great teeth of such quadrupeds as the hippopotamus require proportionate jaws, and consequently the bones of the head are of great strength and weight. Thence arises a necessity for the head being supported by a particular ligamentous apparatus, which in the bull is vulgarly called the pax wax, the ligamentum nuchae. This ligament extends from the prominent spines of the vertebrae, betwixt the shoulders, to the occiput or back of the head, so as to suspend the head, and of course without muscular exertion or waste of vital energy. This ligament, however, differs from the common ligaments which knit the bones together in being elastic, without which property it would check the motions of the head. On this subject of the wonderful provisions evinced in the bones of the head and neck of the larger animals, we were much interested in what was lately delivered by Sir C. Bell, the anatomical professor in the Royal College of Surgeons. On exhibiting the skull of the elephant, and leading his audience to remark the weight of the grinding teeth, the length of the tusks, and the size and strength of the jaws, he observed it was impossible that such an enormous engine of mastication could be suspended at the end of a long neck. Jockeys, he said, attended very particularly to a light head and a short neck in a horse. A heavy head and a long neck brought too great a weight to bear upon the forefeet. If such slight differences in the shape were observed to produce defects in the horse, the consequent imperfection would be incalculably greater in the elephant. But in this animal, nature, instead of projecting the head on such a neck as would enable the mouth to reach the ground, diminishes the depth of the vertebrae of the neck in a very remarkable manner, so as, in fact, to fix the head to the body without the intervention of a neck. But how was the animal to feed? Since the want of a neck and the projection of the tusks made grazing in the usual way impossible. This implied the necessity of a trunk, which is equivalent to a hand, and enables the animal to feed itself without projecting the head to the ground. By these and similar illustrations, the professor proved design in the structure of the skeleton, and contrasted the heads of the horse, the elephant, and the giraffe. Section 8 of The Penny Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge Issue 24 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. The Penny Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge Issue 24 by Charles Knight Witchcraft The reigns of Philip and Mary and James I were not sufficiently removed from the darkness of the Middle Ages to render enactments like the following ridiculous, even in the mouths of the legislature. All persons, who shall practice invocation or conjuration of wicked spirits, any witchcraft, enchantment, charm, or sorcery, whereby any person shall happen to be killed, or destroyed, shall, with their aiders and abettors, be accounted, felons, without benefit of clergy, and all persons practicing any witchcraft, etc. "...whereby any person shall happen to be wasted, consumed, or lamed in his or her body or members, or whereby any goods or chattels shall be destroyed, wasted or impaired, shall, with their counselors and aiders, suffer for the first offense one year's imprisonment and the pillory, and for the second the punishment of felony without clergy." The like penalties are annexed to declaring by sorcery where any hidden or stolen treasure or goods may be found. Again, if any person shall consult, covenant with, entertain, employ, feed, or reward any evil or wicked spirit, or take up any dead man, woman or child, out of his, her, or their grave, or the skin, bone, or any other part of any dead person to be employed in any manner of witchcraft, sorcery, charm, or enchantment, etc. He shall suffer death as a felon without benefit of clergy. Let us thank God, who has put the means of civilization in our way, that, in the words of Sir Walter Scott, the grosser faults of our ancestors are now out of date, and that whatever follies the present race may be guilty of, the sense of humanity is too universally spread to permit them to think of tormenting wretches till they confess what is impossible. And then burning them for their pains. End of Section 8. Section 9. The Penny Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. Issue 24. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. The Penny Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. Issue 24 by Charles Knight. A sanguine Frenchman had so high an opinion of the pleasures to be enjoyed in the study of heraldry that he used to lament, as we were informed by Ménage, the hard case of our forefather Adam, who could not possibly amuse himself by investigating that science, nor that genealogy. A threat explained. Your unchristian virulence against me, said a Huguenot who had been persecuted for preaching, shall cost hundreds of people their lives. This menace brought the author into trouble. He was cited to a court of justice and was charged with harboring the most bloody designs against his fellow subjects. I am innocent, said he. Of all you lay to my account, my only meaning was that I intended, since I could not act as a minister, to practice as a physician. If the Huguenot had practiced without the requisite knowledge, he would have kept his promise. Pride. A Spaniard, rising from a fall whereby his nose had suffered considerably, exclaimed, Voto a tal, esto es caminar por la tierra. This comes of walking upon earth. Advertisements. We are sometimes astonished at the impudent assertions of quacks in their public announcements of the present day. Their predecessors, however, went somewhat further, as the two following advertisements, taken from the original edition of the Spectator, will show. An admirable confect which assuredly cures stuttering and stammering in children or grown persons, though never so bad, causing them to speak distinct and free without any trouble or difficulty. It remedies all manner of impediments in the speech or disorders of the voice of any kind, proceeding from what cause soever, rendering those persons capable of speaking easily and free and with a clear voice, who before were not able to utter a sentence without hesitation. Its stupendous effects, in so quickly and infallibly curing stuttering and stammering, and all disorders of the voice, and difficulty in delivery of the speech, are really wonderful. Priced two shillings six pence a pot, with directions, sold only at Mr. Osborne's Toy Shop, at the Rose and Crown, under St. Dunstan's Church, Fleet Street. Loss of memory or forgetfulness certainly cured by a grateful electuary peculiarly adapted for that end. It strikes at the primary source, which few apprehend, of forgetfulness, makes the head clear and easy, the spirits free, active and undisturbed, corroborates and revives all the noble faculties of the soul, such as thought, judgment, apprehension, reason and memory, the last in particular. It so strengthens and renders that faculty exceedingly quick and good beyond imagination. Thereby enabling those whose memory was before almost totally lost to remember the minutest circumstance of their affairs, etc. to a wonder. Two shillings six pence a pot. Sold only at Mr. Payne's at the Angel and Crown in St. Paul's Churchyard with directions. Doubtful improvement. A set of parish officers applied to Schnetzler, a celebrated organ builder, to examine their organ and to make improvements on it. Gentlemen, said the honest Swiss, Your organ bevert! One hundred pound, just now with. I will spend one hundred pound upon it, and it shall then be worth fifty. End of section nine. End of the Penny Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. Issue 24 by Charles Knight.