The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 20, No. 569, October 6, 1832

Various

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction / Volume 20, No. 569, October 6, 1832

LISBON

LISBON.

Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, was called by the ancients Ulyssippo, and the foundation is fabulously ascribed to Ulysses. The situation is grand, on the north bank of the river Tagus, in lat. 38° 42-1/3′ N., lon. 9° 8-1/3′ W. The harbour, or rather road, of Lisbon, is one of the finest in the world; and the quays are at once convenient and beautiful. On entering the river, and passing the forts of St. Julian and of Bugio, situated respectively at the extremities of the northern and southern shores, we obtain a view of Lisbon crowning the hills on the north bank, about three leagues distant above the mouth of the Tagus. The quintas or villas scattered over the country, between the villages, become more numerous the further we advance; till, at length, on approaching Belem, an uninterrupted chain of edifices is seen extending along the margin of the noble river, to the remotest part of the ancient capital, being a distance of full six miles. Opposite Belem Castle, and on the southern shore of the Tagus, is the small fort of Torre Velha. These two forts, situated at the narrowest part of the river, guard the approach to the capital by sea; and all vessels arriving at its port have their papers examined at Belem Castle. The salutes of ships of war are, in like manner, answered by its guns. Proceeding onward, we pass the Convent of St. Geronymo, a splendid pile of Moorish architecture, "the picturesque appearance of the scene being heightened by groups of boats peculiar in their construction to the Tagus." From Belem we trace a range of buildings, connecting it with Alcantara and Buenos Ayres, and finally with the ancient city of Lisbon. Alcantara is situated at the mouth of a narrow valley opening upon the Tagus. Upon the brow of the hill, on the eastern side, is another of the royal residences, called the palace of Necessiades; and, stretching across the valley, about a mile above this point, is the far-famed aqueduct, which conveys the chief supply of water to the capital. The new and populous quarter of Buenos Ayres (so called from its being considered the healthiest situation around the capital,) covers the steep hills situated in the angle formed by the Alcantara valley and the Tagus. Miss Baillie, in her amusing Letters, describes Buenos Ayres as "a suburb of Lisbon, standing upon higher ground than the city itself, and a favourite resort of the English, being generally considered as a cooler and more cleanly (or rather a less filthy) situation than the latter." The splendid river scenery from Belem to Lisbon, the luxuriant prospect from the adjoining heights; the city itself, with its domes, and towers, and gorgeous buildings—all this proud assemblage of nature and art—remind us that

It is a goodly sight to seeWhat Heaven hath done for this delicious land!What fruits of fragrance blush on ev'ry tree!What goodly prospects o'er the hill expand;But man would mar them with an impious hand.BYRON.

The Engraving represents one of the most comprehensive views of the city, obtained from an eminence crowned by the chapel of Nossa Senhora da Monte. It has been copied from one of Colonel Batty's faithful Views,1 and its details cannot better be explained than in the words of the clever artist:

"From this elevation, the spectator, on turning to the south, has before him the principal part of the busy capital. The Castle Hill, crowned by a variety of buildings, and encircled by the old walls of its Moorish fortifications, stands conspicuously on the left. Its northern slope is planted with olive-trees, which add to its picturesque appearance, and afford an agreeable relief to the eye in this widely extended scene of a dense and populous city. On the right hand is another range of heights, less elevated than the Castle Hill, but covered with buildings, amidst which churches, convents, and hospitals, form prominent objects. The valley, in the centre of the view, appears from this point to be choked up with an almost impenetrable labyrinth of houses. This is, however, now the most regular portion of the capital. Having been that part which suffered most severely from the great earthquake of 1755, it has since been rebuilt upon a uniform plan, with its streets intersecting each other at right angles. In this quarter also are the two principal pracas, or squares, in the city. The largest of these is the Praca do Commercio, opening to the south upon the broad expanse of the Tagus. Here formerly stood the royal palace, which was almost instantaneously destroyed by the same memorable earthquake. The centre of this square is ornamented by an equestrian statue of King Joseph I. The other square is situated a little more to the north, about the centre of the valley. It is called the Rocio, and was formerly styled the Square of the Inquisition, from that tribunal having held its sittings in a large building at its northern extremity. The Castle Hill conceals from our view a portion of the ancient city, which, it is remarkable, escaped with comparatively trifling damage from the earthquake, though immediately contiguous to the part just described, which, in a few moments, was rendered a complete mass of ruins, burying thousands of the wretched inhabitants. Beyond the Tagus, the heights of Almada are seen bounding the view, and extending westward towards the sea."

MRS. HEMANS

(To the Editor.)

In No. 550, of The Mirror, in some account of Mrs. Hemans, by The Author of a Tradesman's Lays, it is erroneously stated that Mrs. Hemans is a native of Denbighshire. She was born in Liverpool, and was the daughter of Mr. George Brown, of the firm of Messrs. George and Henry Brown, extensive merchants in the Irish trade. Mr. Brown removed with his family, from Liverpool, to near Abergele, North Wales, where he resided some years. He married a Miss Wagner, daughter of Paul Wagner, Esq., a German, and a respectable merchant in Liverpool. Mrs. Hemans's early poems were published by subscription in 1808; they were beautifully printed in quarto, at the press of the late Mr. John McCreery,2 who long resided in Liverpool. Mrs. Hemans, after her marriage, lived near St. Asaph, with her mother and brother, Sir Henry Brown; after which she took up her residence at the village of Wavertree, three miles from Liverpool.

Liverpool.

A CONSTANT READER.

SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION

(To the Editor.)

The remarks of your Correspondent, A. Booth, in No. 567, of The Mirror, with respect to what is generally called "Spontaneous Combustion," are very just. My present object is to show that the term "spontaneous" as applied to the subject in question, is incorrect. Mons. Pierre Aimee Laire, in an "Essay on Human Combustion from the abuse of Spirituous Liquors," states that it is the breath of the individuals coming in contact with some flame, and being thus communicated inwardly, that is the cause of the combustion, and therefore it cannot be spontaneous; and he cites several instances of persons addicted to spirituous liquors being thus burnt. Moreover, it is stated that an anatomical lecturer, at Pisa, in the year 1597, happening to hold a lighted candle near a subject he was dissecting, on a sudden set fire to the vapours that came out of the stomach he had just opened. In the same year, as Dr. Ruisch, then anatomical professor at Pisa, was dissecting a woman, and a student holding a candle to give him light, he no sooner opened the stomach than there issued a yellow, greenish flame. Also at Lyons, in dissecting a woman, the stomach was no sooner opened than a considerable flame burst out and filled the room. This has been accounted for by experiments made by Dr. Vulpari, anatomical professor at Bologna. He affirms that any one may see, issuing from the stomach of an animal, a matter that burns like spirits of wine, if the upper and lower orifices are bound fast with a strong thread, and the stomach being thus tied, be cut above and under the ligature, and afterwards pressed with both hands, so as to make all that it contains pass on one side, and to produce a swelling on that part which contains the incision, which must be held with the left hand, to prevent the inflammable air escaping. This hand being removed, and a candle applied about an inch from the stomach, a blueish flame will issue, which will last nearly a minute. The circumstances of the case of Grace Pitt, to which your Correspondent refers, perfectly coincide with the foregoing remarks. She was accustomed for several years to go down stairs after she was undressed, to smoke a pipe. Her daughter, who slept with her, did not miss her till the morning, when on going down stairs, she found her mother's body extended over the hearth, and appearing like a block of wood burning with a glowing fire, without flame. She was, no doubt, in the act of lighting her pipe, either at the fire or candle, and the breath issuing from her mouth during respiration, being impregnated with the spirits she had lately drunk, caught fire, and communicated with the animal substance, also impregnated with spirit, and thus the body was destroyed. Indeed, in nearly all the cases of this nature reported, the bodies have been found on the hearth, or the persons have been left with a candle near them. The combustion of the human body in these cases is generally entirely inward, and it is very seldom that any of the contiguous articles are destroyed. In the instance mentioned above, a child's clothes on one side of the woman, and a paper screen were untouched, and the deal floor on which she lay was not even discoloured.

The most remarkable instance of this nature on record, is that of the Countess Cornelia Bandi; she was in the sixty-second year of her age, and on the day before well as usual. After she was in bed she conversed with her maid for two or three hours, and then fell asleep. The servant on going into her chamber in the morning, saw her lady's two feet distant from the bed, a heap of ashes, and two legs with the stockings on. Between the latter was part of the head, but the brains, half the skull, and the chin, were burnt to ashes, which, when taken up in the hand, left a greasy and offensive moisture. The bed received no damage, and the clothes were elevated on one side, as by a person rising from beneath them. She appears to have been burnt standing, from the skull being found between her legs; the back was damaged more than the front of the head, partly because of the hair, and partly because in the face there were several openings, out of which the flames are likely to have issued. In this account it is not stated either that she was of intemperate habits, or that a candle was left in the room with her; but the latter is very likely, she being advanced in years; and it may be conjectured, that in rising from her bed, she caught fire.

One Borelli observes, that such accidents often happen to great drinkers of wine and brandy, and that it would be of much more frequent occurrence, were it not for the natural moisture of the body. Notwithstanding this, your readers must not think that I am opposed to the "cheerful draught:" I would say,

"Let each indulge his genius, each be glad,Jocund and free, and swell the feast with mirth.The sprightly bowl go cheerfully round.Let none be grave, nor too severely wise;Losses and disappointments, cares and poverty,The rich man's insolence, and great man's scorn,In wine be all forgotten."—ROWE.

St. Pancras.

W.A.R.

RETROSPECTIVE GLEANINGS

EARLY PARLIAMENTS

When the Saxon government was first established in England, there was no distinction of freehold and copyhold; the latter, according to Blackstone, was a possession acquired by a vassal subsequent to the Norman feudal system. Copyholders being thus considered as slaves, were, notwithstanding their possessions, deemed unworthy of the franchise; and from this refinement, on the arbitrary principles of the Normans, every copyholder was deprived of a vote, unless he could claim it by some other tenure.

The term borough originally meant a company consisting of ten families, which were bound together as each other's pledge. Afterwards boroughs came to signify a town, having a wall, or some sort of enclosure round; and all places that, in old times, had the name of boroughs, it is said, were fortified or fenced in some shape or other.

In the time of the West Saxons, a parliament was holden by King Ina, by these words: "I, Ina, King of the West Saxons, have caused all my fatherhood, aldermen, and wisest commons, with the goodly men of my kingdom, to consult of weighty matters."

William the Conqueror, in the fourth year of his reign, called a parliament, which consisted of twelve representatives for each county, and the cities and boroughs were wholly omitted. After the battle of Lewes, in which Henry III. was defeated by the barons, they called a parliament, and made the king sign an order to summon four knights to represent each county, and four for the cities of London, York, and Lincoln. These representatives were chosen by universal suffrage of the householders, and although the king regained his authority by the subsequent defeat of the barons, two members for each county continued to be elected in the same manner till the 8th of Henry VI. In the parliament held in the 49th of Henry III., he sent writs to the nobles and to the sheriffs of several counties, to return two knights for each county, two citizens for each city, and two burgesses for each borough.

It was contrary to an ancient rule of the constitution, that any person should be allowed to vote at elections who did not reside in the place or county where the election was made; that rule says, that "ineddem comitata commercentes et residentes" only shall vote; and this was confirmed by an act of parliament, (1 Henry V. c. i.) but recently repealed.

In 1429, an important change was made as to the qualifications of the voters for knights of the shires. The voters were obliged to prove themselves worth 40s. per annum. Before this time, every freeholder might vote, and the vast concourse of electors brought on riots and murders. Seventy pounds would, in modern days, be barely an equivalent for our ancestors' 40s. The freeholders were, at the same time, directed to choose two of the fittest and most discreet knights resident in their county; or, if none could be found, notable esquires, gentlemen by birth, and qualified to be made knights; but no yeoman or persons of inferior rank.

W.G.C.

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS

MARVELLOUS CURE OF THE TOOTHACH

(From a Correspondent.)

A friend, who has recently returned from India, relates that he received a perfect cure for the toothach, in a very remarkable way. He had occasion to land on the Isle of Bourbon, at the time of his being afflicted with a tormenting toothach; and a handkerchief being tied about his head, his appearance excited the curiosity of the natives, who approached him, and inquired, by signs and gestures, the nature of his complaint. Having been satisfied on this point, they made him understand that they could cure him, if he would consent to their method; which he did with great willingness, as he was maddened with pain, and eager to make any experiment to gain relief. They first kindled a fire on the ground with a few dry sticks, and then directed their patient to hold the fore finger of his right hand to the tooth that was affected, while they articulated a sort of jargon among themselves. When they had finished, and the sticks were all burnt, they told him to withdraw his hand, and the pain would cease. He did so, when his joy and astonishment exceeded all bounds to find that the pain had actually left him!

This story may appear somewhat strange, yet I have no reason to doubt the veracity of my friend, who supposes that the artful natives burned some kind of herb in order to impregnate the air with its qualities, which being admitted into the cavity of the tooth, effectually removed the pain. He says he has never experienced a return of the complaint since.

G.W.N.

JOURNAL OF A SHERIFF OF LONDON

(Concluded from page 198.)

"Wednesday, Oct. 29th. This being our grand feast day, my Lord Mayor, Humphry Parsons, Esq., sent his summons to attend at Guildhall, by ten o'clock, and that he would set out from thence, to Westminster, precisely at eleven, in order to be back to our entertainment more early. What added magnificence to this day's Shew was, that his lordship's coach was drawn by six horses, adorned with grand harnesses, ribbons, &c., a sight never before seen on this occasion.—The Lord Chancellor and some of the Judges dined with us; the whole entertainment was happily conducted with great order and decency, and the company was broken up by about one o'clock in the morning.

"Wednesday, Nov. 5th. This being the commemoration of the Gunpowder Plot, we, the sheriff's, attended my Lord Mayor from Guildhall to St. Paul's: and as his lordship's coach was, on this occasion, drawn as before by six horses, which he intended to do on every public occasion, it caused a more than ordinary concourse of people in the streets."

On Sunday, the 11th of January, Mr. Hoare, in his scarlet gown, with the Lord Mayor, and several of the aldermen, received the holy communion, in St. Lawrence's church, in pursuance of the statutes, to qualify themselves to act as magistrates; and on the following day, being Plough Monday, he attended the Lord Mayor at Guildhall, "to receive the several presentments of the respective wardmote inquests of each ward,—and at the same time to swear in all new constables for the ensuing year." On Wednesday, the 14th the quarter sessions commenced, "when it is usual for the several common councilmen to take the oaths of allegiance;" which was done accordingly.

"Friday, February 20th. Waited on my Lord Mayor to Bow church, in my scarlet, to hear a sermon upon the propagation of the gospel in foreign parts; to which the Archbishop of Canterbury also came in his state coach, and with grand solemnity, attended by seven or eight bishops, and great numbers of gentlemen of that society."

The Lord Mayor (Humphry Parsons) died on the evening of March the 21st, 1741; on the 23rd, Daniel Lambert, Esq. was elected to succeed him, and the same evening he was presented to the Lord Chancellor, and approved of in the usual manner.

"Wednesday, March 15th. This day the new Lord Mayor went in grand state and procession by land to the Tower-gate, on Tower-hill, to be there presented to and sworn in before the Constable of the Tower, according to the charter and ancient custom and usage when a Lord Mayor happened, as in this case, to be chosen out of term time; and, consequently, cannot be presented to the Barons of the Exchequer sitting at Westminster. Just at the entrance of the Tower-gate, a large booth was built up, with seats and benches at the upper end, in the middle of which the right honourable Lord Cornwallis, Constable of the Tower, was seated, attended by the officers and servants belonging to him; to whom the Lord Mayor was conducted and presented, and sworn in the same manner as before the Barons of the Exchequer."

On the 28th of March, being Easter Eve, the sheriff's attended the Lord Mayor "through the streets, to collect charity for the prisoners in the city prisons, according to annual custom;" and on the Monday following, they accompanied his lordship, in procession, with the rest of the court of aldermen to St. Bride's church to hear the 'Spital

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1

Published by Messrs. Moon, Boys and Graves Booksellers, Pall Mall.

2

Mr. McCreery left Liverpool to reside in London, he died a short time since of cholera, at Paris.