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THE EXAMINER. 139-----
for example, a lady of noble birth, who marries a man not of that caste, at
once loses all title and distinction, and becomes simple Madam Schmidt or
Madam Schneider; but in England, where foreign nobility is not legally
recognized, a Captain Smith or a Rev. Mr. Tomlinson, who has married
a countess or baroness abroad, announces his wife by the title she had lost
in her own country! Englishwomen of late years have been frequently
guilty of (and almost as frequently punished for) a worse practice, to
gratify the passion for title—I mean sinfully giving away of their
pretty faces and handsome fortunes in marriage, in order to become
marchesas, comtesses, &c. An old Irish gentleman, in allusion to this
anti-national propensity, assured me, with tears in his eyes, that he had
witnessed twenty-six instances of it, and that the united fortunes of the
brides (£10,000 being the minimum in any case) might be computed at
half a million sterling—all lost to the country and gone or going for the
most part to the gaming table, old debts, and opera dancers. S.
-----
NOTABILIA.-----
The Duke of Wellington's Last Fall.—The Duke of Wellington
has a great talent for falling. We question whether any man, more
accustomed to riding than John Gilpin, has had so many equestrian reverses.
On Saturday, the 19th, the newspapers announced his Grace's last tumble.
The Duke varies these casualties; sometimes he falls, and sometimes the
horse comes down under him, which last mishap occurs surprisingly often
to a person who rides good horses, and implies marvelous lack of skill.
Burning in Surrey.—A short time since, a barn upon the farm in the
occupation of Mr. Maynard, at Reigate, was totally destroyed by fire. Mr.
Maynard filled some parochial office, and had been applied to by a pauper
for money on the evening of the conflagration. This had been refused;
and in little more than an hour afterwards the barn was discovered to be in
flames, which consumed the building, as well as the stock of grain which it
contained. The latter only was insured. The pauper was taken up and
examined, but no proof was obtained that he had bee the destroyer of the
property. If, as there is every reason to believe, the mischief was
produced designedly from a feeling of disappointment, it affords a most striking
example of the operation of the blind spirit of vengeance by which the
ignorant peasantry have of late been guided. The property destroyed
does not belong to the farmer, who, as it is supposed, was the individual
marked out to be the sufferer, but to Dr. Fellowes, who will thus be
subjected to an outlay of several hundred pounds for the rebuilding of the
barn.—[The highly respectable Country Paper from which we have copied
this account proceeds in a strain of praise of Dr. Fellowes, which gives the
finishing stroke to the vexatious circumstance it recounts. The destruction
of the property is a trifle compared to the annoyance of the incense
that has smoked upon the occasion of it. To one of the character of the
party concerned, the burning of the barn was hardly felt to be a misfortune
till the paragraphing of his virtues followed upon it.]
Suspension of Animal Life while Organic Life remains.—
In the second of his present course of lectures on physiology, given at the
London University, Dr. Southwood Smith, after having explained the
interesting distinction between animal and organic life, observed that
animal life may be wholly suspended, or may absolutely die, while the
organic life may continue to exist in almost unimpaired vigour. Apoplexy,
said he, may suddenly reduce to the most driveling fatuity the most
exalted intellect, and render powerless muscles of the most gigantic strength.
And catalepsy, that extraordinary disease, in which the senses are
abolished, the intellectual faculties suspended, the power of voluntary
motion destroyed, while the body remains immoveably fixed in whatever
attitude it may happen to be at the moment of attack, illustrates in a still
more striking manner the utter abolition of animal life while the heart
beats, and the blood circulated, and the respiration goes on, and secretion,
and excretion, and the entire circle of the organic functions continue with their
usual regularity, though not, indeed, with their usual vigour. My patient, says
Dr. Jebb, in giving an account of a young lady who was the subject of this
singular disorder, was seized with an attack just as I was announced. At
that moment she was employed in netting: she was in the act of passing
the needle through the mesh: in that position she became immoveably rigid,
exhibiting, in a very pleasing form, a figure of death-like sleep, beyond the
power of art to imitate, or the imigination to conceive. The paleness of her colour,
and her breathing, which at a distance was scarcely perceptible, operated in
rendering the similitude to marble more exact and striking. The position
of her fingers, hands, and arms, was altered with difficulty, but preserved
every form of flexure they acquired; nor were the muscles of the neck
exempted from this law, her head maintaining every situation in which the
hand could place it, as firmly as her limbs. In this case, all the senses
were locked in a death-like sleep, and the patient was as insensible as she
was motionless. But sometimes the abolition of the animal life is only partial,
sensibility being destroyed while contractility remains, in the power of motion
being lost while sensation is unaffected. An example of this kind is on
record in which a female lay in complete possession of her intellectual
faculties, but deprived of the power of moving a muscle of the body. She
was in the distressing condition of finding herself given up by her attendants
as dead: she was laid out; her toes were bound together; her chin
was tied up' she heard the arrangements for her funeral discussed—
and yet she was unable to make the slightest sign that she was still in the
possession of sense, feeling, and life.
Tithes.—The Rev. Mr. Beresford has instituted twenty-four actions,
in the Court of Exchequer, against the parishioners of At. Andrew's,
Holborn, from whom he claims tithe on inhabited houses. The parishioners, at
a meeting, resolved to persist in defending the actions.—Moral Reformer.
Turkish Musical Gusto.—A modern traveler informs us, that the
band of an English Ambassador at Constantinople once performed a
concert for the entertainment of the Sultan and his Court. At the conclusion
it was asked which of the pieces he preferred? He replied, the first, which
was accordingly recommenced, but stopped as not being the right one.
Others were tried with as little success, until at length the band, almost
in despair of discovering the favourite air, began tuning their instruments,
when his Highness instantly exclaimed, "Inshallah, Heaven be praised,
that is it!" The Turkish Prince may be excused, when it is known that
at the commemoration of Handel, in 1784, Dr. Burney thought the mere
tuning of that host of instruments more gratifying than the ordinary
performances to which he had been accustomed.—Harmonicon for Feb. 1.
Protection against Marsh Effluvia and Gaseous Poisons.—
However medical men may differ in opinion as to the origin and nature of
malaria, all agree that it always travels in combination with moisture.
This opinion has lately been confirmed by Professor Chapman, of the
United States, in his valuable Practical Treatise on Epidemics; and our
countryman, Dr. Ferguson, asserts, that, however distinct the poison and
the vapour may be, they are always found in company. Wherever vapour
is most copiously produced, miasmata are generated. Vapour, it seems,
does not dilute the poison: for when it is most abundant, as in the morning
and evening, in the form of dew and fog, malaria is most active. They
---page break---
are both dissipated by solar heat; and both are wafted by the winds,
absorbed by water, and rendered inert by frost. Malaria is known to be
intercepted by groves and walls, the moisture in the air being condensed.
From these facts it occurred to Dr. Robert Cannon Bond, that wire-
gauze, similar to that of which Sir Humphrey Davy's safety-lamp is
constructed, or that of which window-blinds are now made in this country,
placed at the windows at night, may, by condensing the moisture, prevent
or neutralize the source of many epidemic diseases, as intermittent,
remittent, typhus, and yellow fevers, if not plague. It is established in
meteorology, that vapour is most rapidly and copiously condensed on
substances which are good conductors—more abundantly on glass, metals,
cloth, and the surface of the earth. Dr. Bond is of the opinion that windows
of fine gauze-wire, by having at all times a free circulation of air, may be
very beneficially adopted in hospitals and crowded rooms for the sick, and
for gaols and manufactories, and afford a safeguard from epidemic
diseases. To keep the rooms of the sick well ventilated, and at the same
time exclude dampness, without exposing them to a current of air, is
unquestionably a great desideratum. Even persons in health, during
hot and sultry nights, are much incommoded by the necessity of keeping
the windows shut. It may be also very conveniently applied to stage
coaches travelling at night, particularly in marshy countries. To give
additional security, the sash may be so constructed as to consist of a
double sheet of wire-gauze, about half an inch apart, or made in such
a manner as to admit of being removed during the daytime. These
suggestions merit the attention of physicians and surgeons of hospitals,
workhouses, &c., &c., particularly when an epidemic malady prevails.—
Dr. Reese's Gazette of Medicine.
Plunderage of the Chancery Suitors.—Mr. Jeremy Bentham is
the son of an eminent legal practitioner, whose most fond expectation was
that his son would follow in his footsteps in the paths where he had acquired
a fortune. The intellectual powers early manifested by the young philosopher
were such as to promise the most signal success, had not his superior
morality rovolted at the means, and made him renounce the profession, and its
honors and emoluments. In his indications respecting Lord Eldon (a complete
exposure of the fee-gathering and corruption now so virtuously attacked
by Lord Brougham), Mr. Bentham thus adverts to the circumstance of his
rejection of the profession:—"By the command of a father, I entered into
the profession; and, in the year 1772, or thereabouts, was called to the
bar. Not long after, having drawn a bill in equity, I had to defend it
against exceptions before a Master in Chancery. 'We shall have to
attend on such a day,' said the solicitor to me, (naming a day a week or
more distant) 'warrants for our attendance will be taken out for two
intervening days, but it is not customary to attend before the third.'
What I learnt afterward was—that though no attendance more than one
was ever bestowed, three were on every occasion regularly charged for;
for each of the two falsely-pretended attendances, the client being, by the
solicitor, charged with a fee for himself, as also with a fee of 6s. 8d. paid
by him to the Master; the consequence was—that for every actual
attendance, the Master, instead of 6s. 8d., received 1l.: and that, even if
inclined, no solicitor durst omit taking out the three warrants instead of one,
for fear of the not-to-be-hazarded displeasure of that subordinate judge
and his superiors. True it is, the solicitor is not under any obligation
thus to charge his client for work not done. He is, however, sure of
indemnity in doing so: it is accordingly done of course. Thus exquisitely
cemented is the union of sinister interests. So far as regards attendances
of the functionaries here mentioned, thus is the expense tripled: so, for
the sake of profit on the expense, the delay likewise. And I have been
assured by professional men now in practice, that on no occasion, for no
purpose, is any Master's attendance ever obtained without taking out three
warrants at the least. These things, and others of the same complexion,
in such immense abundance, determined me to quit the profession: and
as soon as I could obtain my father's permission I did so: I found it more
to my taste to endeavor, as I have been doing ever since, to put an end
to them, than to profit by them."
Court Ceremony.—(From a Correspondent of the Examiner.)—One
should have expected, from the profession and character of the present
Sovereign, that some at least of the more absurd court ceremonies would
by this time have been discountenanced by him; but it seems that they are
still in constant practice. We are informed that, even at Brighton, when
his Majesty has company, on every occasion of his rising from his seat,
each person rises also; and as the King is, like most sailors, rather restless,
the up-and-down exhibition is at times not a little ludicrous. His Majesty,
we are also told, generally takes a nap in his chair after dinner. His page,
who brings him in a cup of coffee, at a stated time, after this meal,
frequently finds his royal master asleep; and such is the etiquette, that if the
illustrious dozer prolongs his nap for an hour even, the page must stand
before him with the coffee! Upon these courtly absurdities, an eminent
French writer has commented with much force: "This kind of ceremony
(he observes) is for the most part no better than a set form of vanity; but
yet, through littleness of soul and the depravation of mind and manners so
very general among men, it has usurped such a power, that a great many
people are possessed with an opinion that wisdom consists in a nice
observance of it. Under this notion, they tamely come to the yoke and list
themselves its most willing slaves, insomuch that their health and
convenience shall suffer and be lost, business be disappointed, liberty be sold
or given up, conscience violated, God and religion be neglected, rather
than they will suffer themselves to offend against one of the least and nicest
punctilios. This is manifestly the case with formal courtiers and others:
this mint, and annise, and cummin, are punctually paid, when the weightier
matters of the land are past over, and the idol CEREMONY set up in the
place, to the infinite prejuduce of downright honesty and sincere friendship."
People talk of the necessity of maintaining the respect due to
authority; but to be really respected, authority must first show that it
merits respect. Pomp, and extravagance, and idle ceremony, will not
produce it. Cincinnatus and Cato, Jefferson and Washington, without any of
these superficial helps, were, we suspect, quite as respectable, and as much
respected, as George the Fourth, or William the Third. The age for
courtly ceremony, both in France and England, has happily passed away;
and that monarch who first sets an example of common-sense in this respect
will win the general applause.
Marriage on Conditions.—I am to eat and sleep whenever I please,
without any questions being asked. No private orders are to be given to
the barber or tailor about the decorations of my person. I am not to be
forced to sit up and receive male or female visitors; neither the superintendance
of the kettle nor teacups is to be considered a part of my duty.
I am not to be obliged to deliver my opinion on patterns for caps or petticoats
for any lady. I am not to go out to tea or supper, unless I choose.
I am not to be ordered on any duties of danger: such as escorting young
ladies home in a windy, or old ladies in a frosty, night. I am to have
liberty of conscience; and to attend church as often as I think proper.
And, lastly, when I am tired of home, I may return to India alone.—N.B.
Should any doubt hereafter arise about the meaning of any of these clauses,
my interpretation is to be received as infallible; and should I explain the
same article different ways at different times, I am not to give a reason
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the examiner / sunday, february 27, 1831 / no. 1204 |
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