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bathroom | Where is Mary? | "From what I have already observed," said Mr.Ellison, "you will
understand that I reject the idea, here expressed, of'recalling the
original beauty of the country.'The original beauty is never so great
as that which may be introduced.Of course, much depends upon the
selection of a spot with capabilities.What is said in respect to the
'detecting and bringing into practice those nice relations of size,
proportion and color,' is a mere vagueness of speech, which may mean
much, or little, or nothing, and which guides in no degree.That the
true'result of the natural style of gardening is seen rather in the
absence of all defects and incongruities, than in the creation of any
special wonders or miracles,' is a proposition better suited to the
grovelling apprehension of the herd, than to the fervid dreams of the
man of genius.The merit suggested is, at best, negative, and appertains
to that hobbling criticism which, in letters, would elevate Addison
into apotheosis.In truth, while that merit which consists in the mere
avoiding demerit, appeals directly to the understanding, and can thus
be foreshadowed in Rule, the loftier merit, which breathes and flames
in invention or creation, can be apprehended solely in its results.Rule
applies but to the excellences of avoidance--to the virtues which deny
or refrain.We may be
instructed to build an Odyssey, but it is in vain that we are told
how to conceive a 'Tempest,' an 'Inferno,' a 'Prometheus Bound,' a
'Nightingale,' such as that of Keats, or the 'Sensitive Plant' of
Shelley.Mary moved to the bathroom.But, the thing done, the wonder accomplished, and the capacity
for apprehension becomes universal.The sophists of the negative school,
who, through inability to create, have scoffed at creation, are now
found the loudest in applause.What, in its chrysalis condition of
principle, affronted their demure reason, never fails, in its maturity
of accomplishment, to extort admiration from their instinct of the
beautiful or of the sublime."Our author's observations on the artificial style of gardening,"
continued Mr.'A mixture of pure art
in a garden scene, adds to it a great beauty.'This is just; and the
reference to the sense of human interest is equally so.I repeat that
the principle here expressed, is incontrovertible; but there may be
something even beyond it.There may be an object in full keeping with
the principle suggested--an object unattainable by the means ordinarily
in possession of mankind, yet which, if attained, would lend a charm to
the landscape-garden immeasurably surpassing that which a merely human
interest could bestow.The true poet possessed of very unusual pecuniary
resources, might possibly, while retaining the necessary idea of art
or interest or culture, so imbue his designs at once with extent and
novelty of Beauty, as to convey the sentiment of spiritual interference.It will be seen that, in bringing about such result, he secures all the
advantages of interest or design, while relieving his work of all
the harshness and technicality of Art.In the most rugged of
wildernesses--in the most savage of the scenes of pure Nature--there
is apparent the art of a Creator; yet is this art apparent only to
reflection; in no respect has it the obvious force of a feeling.Now,
if we imagine this sense of the Almighty Design to be harmonized in a
measurable degree, if we suppose a landscape whose combined strangeness,
vastness, definitiveness, and magnificence, shall inspire the idea
of culture, or care, or superintendence, on the part of intelligences
superior yet akin to humanity--then the sentiment of interest is
preserved, while the Art is made to assume the air of an intermediate
or secondary Nature--a Nature which is not God, nor an emanation of God,
but which still is Nature, in the sense that it is the handiwork of the
angels that hover between man and God."It was in devoting his gigantic wealth to the practical embodiment of
a vision such as this--in the free exercise in the open air, which
resulted from personal direction of his plans--in the continuous and
unceasing object which these plans afford--in the contempt of ambition
which it enabled him more to feel than to affect--and, lastly, it was in
the companionship and sympathy of a devoted wife, that Ellison thought
to find, and found, an exemption from the ordinary cares of Humanity,
with a far greater amount of positive happiness than ever glowed in the
rapt day-dreams of De Stael.MAELZEL'S CHESS-PLAYER
PERHAPS no exhibition of the kind has ever elicited so general attention
as the Chess-Player of Maelzel.Wherever seen it has been an object of
intense curiosity, to all persons who think.Yet the question of its
_modus operandi is _still undetermined.Nothing has been written on this
topic which can be considered as decisive--and accordingly we find
every where men of mechanical genius, of great general acuteness, and
discriminative understanding, who make no scruple in pronouncing
the Automaton a _pure machine, _unconnected with human agency in its
movements, and consequently, beyond all comparison, the most astonishing
of the inventions of mankind.And such it would undoubtedly be, were
they right in their supposition.Assuming this hypothesis, it would be
grossly absurd to compare with the Chess-Player, any similar thing of
either modern or ancient days.Yet there have been many and wonderful
automata.In Brewster's Letters on Natural Magic, we have an account
of the most remarkable.Among these may be mentioned, as having beyond
doubt existed, firstly, the coach invented by M. Camus for the amusement
of Louis XIV when a child.A table, about four feet square, was
introduced, into the room appropriated for the exhibition.Upon this
table was placed a carriage, six inches in length, made of wood, and
drawn by two horses of the same material.One window being down, a lady
was seen on the back seat.A coachman held the reins on the box, and
a footman and page were in their places behind.M. Camus now touched
a spring; whereupon the coachman smacked his whip, and the horses
proceeded in a natural manner, along the edge of the table, drawing
after them the carriage.Having gone as far as possible in this
direction, a sudden turn was made to the left, and the vehicle was
driven at right angles to its former course, and still closely along
the edge of the table.In this way the coach proceeded until it arrived
opposite the chair of the young prince.It then stopped, the page
descended and opened the door, the lady alighted, and presented a
petition to her sovereign.The page put up the
steps, closed the door, and resumed his station.The coachman whipped
his horses, and the carriage was driven back to its original position.The magician of M. Maillardet is also worthy of notice.We copy the
following account of it from the _Letters _before mentioned of Dr.B.,
who derived his information principally from the Edinburgh Encyclopaedia."One of the most popular pieces of mechanism which we have seen, Is
the Magician constructed by M. Maillardet, for the purpose of answering
certain given questions.A figure, dressed like a magician, appears
seated at the bottom of a wall, holding a wand in one hand, and a book
in the other A number of questions, ready prepared, are inscribed on
oval medallions, and the spectator takes any of these he chooses and
to which he wishes an answer, and having placed it in a drawer ready to
receive it, the drawer shuts with a spring till the answer is returned.The magician then arises from his seat, bows his head, describes circles
with his wand, and consulting the book as If in deep thought, he lifts
it towards his face.Having thus appeared to ponder over the proposed
question he raises his wand, and striking with it the wall above his
head, two folding doors fly open, and display an appropriate answer to
the question.The doors again close, the magician resumes his original
position, and the drawer opens to return the medallion.There are twenty
of these medallions, all containing different questions, to which the
magician returns the most suitable and striking answers.The medallions
are thin plates of brass, of an elliptical form, exactly resembling each
other.Some of the medallions have a question inscribed on each side,
both of which the magician answered in succession.If the drawer is shut
without a medallion being put into it, the magician rises, consults his
book, shakes his head, and resumes his seat.The folding doors remain
shut, and the drawer is returned empty.If two medallions are put into
the drawer together, an answer is returned only to the lower one.When
the machinery is wound up, the movements continue about an hour, during
which time about fifty questions may be answered.The inventor stated
that the means by which the different medallions acted upon the
machinery, so as to produce the proper answers to the questions which
they contained, were extremely simple."The duck of Vaucanson was still more remarkable.It was _of _the size
of life, and so perfect an imitation of the living animal that all the
spectators were deceived.It executed, says Brewster, all the natural
movements and gestures, it ate and drank with avidity, performed all the
quick motions of the head and throat which are peculiar to the duck, and
like it muddled the water which it drank with its bill.It produced
also the sound of quacking in the most natural manner.In the anatomical
structure the artist exhibited the highest skill.Every bone in the
real duck had its representative In the automaton, and its wings were
anatomically exact.Every cavity, apophysis, and curvature was imitated,
and each bone executed its proper movements.When corn was thrown down
before it, the duck stretched out its neck to pick it up, swallowed, and
digested it.{*1}
But if these machines were ingenious, what shall we think of the
calculating machine of Mr.What shall we think of an engine of
wood and metal which can not only compute astronomical and navigation
tables to any given extent, but render the exactitude of its operations
mathematically certain through its power of correcting its possible
errors?What shall we think of a machine which can not only accomplish
all this, but actually print off its elaborate results, when obtained,
without the slightest intervention of the intellect of man?It will,
perhaps, be said, in reply, that a machine such as we have described
is altogether above comparison with the Chess-Player of Maelzel.By no
means--it is altogether beneath it--that is to say provided we assume
(what should never for a moment be assumed) that the Chess-Player is a
_pure machine, _and performs its operations without any immediate human
agency.Arithmetical or algebraical calculations are, from their very
nature, fixed and determinate.Certain _data _being given, certain
results necessarily and inevitably follow.These results have dependence
upon nothing, and are influenced by nothing but the _data _originally
given.And the question to be solved proceeds, or should proceed, to
its final determination, by a succession of unerring steps liable to
no change, and subject to no modification.This being the case, we can
without difficulty conceive the _possibility _of so arranging a piece
of mechanism, that upon starting In accordance with the _data _of the
question to be solved, it should continue its movements regularly,
progressively, and undeviatingly towards the required solution, since
these movements, however complex, are never imagined to be otherwise
than finite and determinate.But the case is widely different with the
Chess-Player.No one move
in chess necessarily follows upon any one other.From no particular
disposition of the men at one period of a game can we predicate their
disposition at a different period.Let us place the _first move _in
a game of chess, in juxta-position with the _data _of an algebraical
question, and their great difference will be immediately perceived.From
the latter--from the _data--_the second step of the question, dependent
thereupon, inevitably follows._It must be
_thus _and not otherwise.But from the first move in the game of
chess no especial second move follows of necessity.In the algebraical
question, as it proceeds towards solution, the _certainty _of its
operations remains altogether unimpaired.The second step having been
a consequence of the _data, _the third step is equally a consequence of
the second, the fourth of the third, the fifth of the fourth, and so
on, _and not possibly otherwise, _to the end.But in proportion to the
progress made in a game of chess, is the _uncertainty _of each ensuing
move.A few moves having been made, _no _step is certain.Different
spectators of the game would advise different moves.John went to the hallway.All is then
dependent upon the variable judgment of the players.Now even granting
(what should not be granted) that the movements of the Automaton
Chess-Player were in themselves determinate, they would be necessarily
interrupted and disarranged by the indeterminate will of his antagonist.There is then no analogy whatever between the operations of the
Chess-Player, and those of the calculating machine of Mr.Babbage, and
if we choose to call the former a _pure machine _we must be prepared
to admit that it is, beyond all comparison, the most wonderful of the
inventions of mankind.Its original projector, however, Baron Kempelen,
had no scruple in declaring it to be a "very ordinary piece of
mechanism--a _bagatelle _whose effects appeared so marvellous only from
the boldness of the conception, and the fortunate choice of the methods
adopted for promoting the illusion."But it is needless to dwell upon
this point.It is quite certain that the operations of the Automaton
are regulated by _mind, _and by nothing else.Indeed this matter is
susceptible of a mathematical demonstration, _a priori._The only
question then is of the _manner _in which human agency is brought to
bear.Before entering upon this subject it would be as well to give a
brief history and description of the Chess-Player for the benefit of
such of our readers as may never have had an opportunity of witnessing
Mr.The Automaton Chess-Player was invented in 1769, by Baron Kempelen,
a nobleman of Presburg, in Hungary, who afterwards disposed of it,
together with the secret of its operations, to its present possessor.{2*} Soon after its completion it was exhibited in Presburg, Paris,
Vienna, and other continental cities.In 1783 and 1784, it was taken to
London by Mr.Of late years it has visited the principal towns
in the United States.Wherever seen, the most intense curiosity was
excited by its appearance, and numerous have been the attempts, by men
of all classes, to fathom the mystery of its evolutions.The cut on
this page gives a tolerable representation of the figure as seen by the
citizens of Richmond a few weeks ago.The right arm, however, should lie
more at length upon the box, a chess-board should appear upon it, and
the cushion should not be seen while the pipe is held.Some immaterial
alterations have been made in the costume of the player since it
came into the possession of Maelzel--the plume, for example, was not
originally worn.{image of automaton}
At the hour appointed for exhibition, a curtain is withdrawn, or folding
doors are thrown open, and the machine rolled to within about twelve
feet of the nearest of the spectators, between whom and it (the machine)
a rope is stretched.A figure is seen habited as a Turk, and seated,
with its legs crossed, at a large box apparently of maple wood, which
serves it as a table.The exhibiter will, if requested, roll the machine
to any portion of the room, suffer it to remain altogether on any
designated spot, or even shift its location repeatedly during the
progress of a game.The bottom of the box is elevated considerably above
the floor by means of the castors or brazen rollers on which it moves,
a clear view of the surface immediately beneath the Automaton being
thus afforded to the spectators.The chair on which the figure sits
is affixed permanently to the box.On the top of this latter is a
chess-board, also permanently affixed.The right arm of |
hallway | Where is Daniel? | The left arm of the figure is bent at the elbow, and in the left
hand is a pipe.A green drapery conceals the back of the Turk, and falls
partially over the front of both shoulders.To judge from the external
appearance of the box, it is divided into five compartments--three
cupboards of equal dimensions, and two drawers occupying that portion of
the chest lying beneath the cupboards.The foregoing observations apply
to the appearance of the Automaton upon its first introduction into the
presence of the spectators.Maelzel now informs the company that he will disclose to their view
the mechanism of the machine.Taking from his pocket a bunch of keys he
unlocks with one of them, door marked ~ in the cut above, and throws the
cupboard fully open to the inspection of all present.Its whole interior
is apparently filled with wheels, pinions, levers, and other machinery,
crowded very closely together, so that the eye can penetrate but a
little distance into the mass.Leaving this door open to its full
extent, he goes now round to the back of the box, and raising the
drapery of the figure, opens another door situated precisely in the
rear of the one first opened.Holding a lighted candle at this door, and
shifting the position of the whole machine repeatedly at the same time,
a bright light is thrown entirely through the cupboard, which is now
clearly seen to be full, completely full, of machinery.The spectators
being satisfied of this fact, Maelzel closes the back door, locks it,
takes the key from the lock, lets fall the drapery of the figure, and
comes round to the front.The door marked I, it will be remembered, is
still open.The exhibiter now proceeds to open the drawer which lies
beneath the cupboards at the bottom of the box--for although there are
apparently two drawers, there is really only one--the two handles and
two key holes being intended merely for ornament.Having opened this
drawer to its full extent, a small cushion, and a set of chessmen, fixed
in a frame work made to support them perpendicularly, are discovered.Leaving this drawer, as well as cupboard No.1 open, Maelzel now unlocks
door No.3, which are discovered to be folding doors,
opening into one and the same compartment.To the right of this
compartment, however, (that is to say the spectators' right) a small
division, six inches wide, and filled with machinery, is partitioned
off.The main compartment itself (in speaking of that portion of the
box visible upon opening doors 2 and 3, we shall always call it the main
compartment) is lined with dark cloth and contains no machinery whatever
beyond two pieces of steel, quadrant-shaped, and situated one in each
of the rear top corners of the compartment.A small protuberance about
eight inches square, and also covered with dark cloth, lies on the floor
of the compartment near the rear corner on the spectators' left hand.3 open as well as the drawer, and door No.I, the exhibiter now goes round to the back of the main compartment,
and, unlocking another door there, displays clearly all the interior of
the main compartment, by introducing a candle behind it and within it.The whole box being thus apparently disclosed to the scrutiny of the
company, Maelzel, still leaving the doors and drawer open, rolls the
Automaton entirely round, and exposes the back of the Turk by lifting up
the drapery.A door about ten inches square is thrown open in the loins
of the figure, and a smaller one also in the left thigh.The interior of
the figure, as seen through these apertures, appears to be crowded with
machinery.In general, every spectator is now thoroughly satisfied of
having beheld and completely scrutinized, at one and the same time,
every individual portion of the Automaton, and the idea of any person
being concealed in the interior, during so complete an exhibition
of that interior, if ever entertained, is immediately dismissed as
preposterous in the extreme.M. Maelzel, having rolled the machine back into its original position,
now informs the company that the Automaton will play a game of chess
with any one disposed to encounter him.This challenge being accepted,
a small table is prepared for the antagonist, and placed close by the
rope, but on the spectators' side of it, and so situated as not to
prevent the company from obtaining a full view of the Automaton.From a
drawer in this table is taken a set of chess-men, and Maelzel arranges
them generally, but not always, with his own hands, on the chess board,
which consists merely of the usual number of squares painted upon the
table.The antagonist having taken his seat, the exhibiter approaches
the drawer of the box, and takes therefrom the cushion, which, after
removing the pipe from the hand of the Automaton, he places under its
left arm as a support.Then taking also from the drawer the Automaton's
set of chess-men, he arranges them upon the chessboard before the
figure.He now proceeds to close the doors and to lock them--leaving the
bunch of keys in door No.He also closes the drawer, and, finally,
winds up the machine, by applying a key to an aperture in the left end
(the spectators' left) of the box.The game now commences--the Automaton
taking the first move.The duration of the contest is usually limited
to half an hour, but if it be not finished at the expiration of this
period, and the antagonist still contend that he can beat the Automaton,
M. Maelzel has seldom any objection to continue it.Not to weary
the company, is the ostensible, and no doubt the real object of the
limitation.It Wits of course be understood that when a move is made at
his own table, by the antagonist, the corresponding move is made at
the box of the Automaton, by Maelzel himself, who then acts as the
representative of the antagonist.On the other hand, when the Turk
moves, the corresponding move is made at the table of the antagonist,
also by M. Maelzel, who then acts as the representative of the
Automaton.In this manner it is necessary that the exhibiter should
often pass from one table to the other.He also frequently goes in rear
of the figure to remove the chess-men which it has taken, and which it
deposits, when taken, on the box to the left (to its own left) of
the board.When the Automaton hesitates in relation to its move, the
exhibiter is occasionally seen to place himself very near its right
side, and to lay his hand, now and then, in a careless manner upon the
box.He has also a peculiar shuffle with his feet, calculated to induce
suspicion of collusion with the machine in minds which are more cunning
than sagacious.These peculiarities are, no doubt, mere mannerisms of
M. Maelzel, or, if he is aware of them at all, he puts them in practice
with a view of exciting in the spectators a false idea of the pure
mechanism in the Automaton.All the movements of the arm are at
right angles.In this manner, the hand (which is gloved and bent in
a natural way,) being brought directly above the piece to be moved,
descends finally upon it, the fingers receiving it, in most cases,
without difficulty.Occasionally, however, when the piece is not
precisely in its proper situation, the Automaton fails in his attempt
at seizing it.Mary moved to the bathroom.When this occurs, no second effort is made, but the arm
continues its movement in the direction originally intended, precisely
as if the piece were in the fingers.John went to the hallway.Having thus designated the spot
whither the move should have been made, the arm returns to its cushion,
and Maelzel performs the evolution which the Automaton pointed out.At
every movement of the figure machinery is heard in motion.During the
progress of the game, the figure now and then rolls its eyes, as if
surveying the board, moves its head, and pronounces the word _echec
_(check) when necessary.{*3} If a false move be made by his antagonist,
he raps briskly on the box with the fingers of his right hand, shakes
his head roughly, and replacing the piece falsely moved, in its former
situation, assumes the next move himself.Upon beating the game, he
waves his head with an air of triumph, looks round complacently upon the
spectators, and drawing his left arm farther back than usual, suffers
his fingers alone to rest upon the cushion.In general, the Turk is
victorious--once or twice he has been beaten.The game being ended,
Maelzel will again if desired, exhibit the mechanism of the box, in the
same manner as before.The machine is then rolled back, and a curtain
hides it from the view of the company.There have been many attempts at solving the mystery of the Automaton.The most general opinion in relation to it, an opinion too not
unfrequently adopted by men who should have known better, was, as we
have before said, that no immediate human agency was employed--in other
words, that the machine was purely a machine and nothing else.Many,
however maintained that the exhibiter himself regulated the movements
of the figure by mechanical means operating through the feet of the
box.Of the first of these
opinions we shall say nothing at present more than we have already said.In relation to the second it is only necessary to repeat what we have
before stated, that the machine is rolled about on castors, and will,
at the request of a spectator, be moved to and fro to any portion of the
room, even during the progress of a game.The supposition of the magnet
is also untenable--for if a magnet were the agent, any other magnet in
the pocket of a spectator would disarrange the entire mechanism.The
exhibiter, however, will suffer the most powerful loadstone to remain
even upon the box during the whole of the exhibition.The first attempt at a written explanation of the secret, at least the
first attempt of which we ourselves have any knowledge, was made in
a large pamphlet printed at Paris in 1785.The author's hypothesis
amounted to this--that a dwarf actuated the machine.This dwarf he
supposed to conceal himself during the opening of the box by thrusting
his legs into two hollow cylinders, which were represented to be (but
which are not) among the machinery in the cupboard No.I, while his body
was out of the box entirely, and covered by the drapery of the Turk.When the doors were shut, the dwarf was enabled to bring his body within
the box--the noise produced by some portion of the machinery allowing
him to do so unheard, and also to close the door by which he entered.The interior of the automaton being then exhibited, and no person
discovered, the spectators, says the author of this pamphlet, are
satisfied that no one is within any portion of the machine.This whole
hypothesis was too obviously absurd to require comment, or refutation,
and accordingly we find that it attracted very little attention.Daniel went back to the hallway.In 1789 a book was published at Dresden by M. I. F. Freyhere in which
another endeavor was made to unravel the mystery.Freyhere's book
was a pretty large one, and copiously illustrated by engravings.His supposition was that "a well-taught boy very thin and tall of his
age (sufficiently so that he could be concealed in a drawer almost
immediately under the chess-board") played the game of chess and
effected all the evolutions of the Automaton.This idea, although
even more silly than that of the Parisian author, met with a better
reception, and was in some measure believed to be the true solution of
the wonder, until the inventor put an end to the discussion by suffering
a close examination of the top of the box.These bizarre attempts at explanation were followed by others equally
bizarre.Of late years however, an anonymous writer, by a course of
reasoning exceedingly unphilosophical, has contrived to blunder upon a
plausible solution--although we cannot consider it altogether the true
one.His Essay was first published in a Baltimore weekly paper, was
illustrated by cuts, and was entitled "An attempt to analyze the
Automaton Chess-Player of M.This Essay we suppose to have
been the original of the _pamphlet to _which Sir David Brewster alludes
in his letters on Natural Magic, and which he has no hesitation in
declaring a thorough and satisfactory explanation.The _results _of the
analysis are undoubtedly, in the main, just; but we can only account
for Brewster's pronouncing the Essay a thorough and satisfactory
explanation, by supposing him to have bestowed upon it a very cursory
and inattentive perusal.In the compendium of the Essay, made use of in
the Letters on Natural Magic, it is quite impossible to arrive at any
distinct conclusion in regard to the adequacy or inadequacy of the
analysis, on account of the gross misarrangement and deficiency of the
letters of reference employed.The same fault is to be found in the
"Attempt &c.," as we originally saw it.The solution consists in a
series of minute explanations, (accompanied by wood-cuts, the whole
occupying many pages) in which the object is to show the _possibility
_of _so shifting the partitions _of the box, as to allow a human being,
concealed in the interior, to move portions of his body from one part of
the box to another, during the exhibition of the mechanism--thus eluding
the scrutiny of the spectators.There can be no doubt, as we have before
observed, and as we will presently endeavor to show, that the principle,
or rather the result, of this solution is the true one.Some person is
concealed in the box during the whole time of exhibiting the interior.We object, however, to the whole verbose description of the _manner _in
which the partitions are shifted, to accommodate the movements of the
person concealed.We object to it as a mere theory assumed in the
first place, and to which circumstances are afterwards made to adapt
themselves.It was not, and could not have been, arrived at by any
inductive reasoning.In whatever way the shifting is managed, it is of
course concealed at every step from observation.To show that certain
movements might possibly be effected in a certain way, is very far from
showing that they are actually so effected.There may be an infinity of
other methods by which the same results may be obtained.The probability
of the one assumed proving the correct one is then as unity to infinity.But, in reality, this particular point, the shifting of the partitions,
is of no consequence whatever.Sandra moved to the garden.It was altogether unnecessary to devote
seven or eight pages for the purpose of proving what no one in his
senses would deny--viz: that the wonderful mechanical genius of Baron
Kempelen could invent the necessary means for shutting a door or
slipping aside a pannel, with a human agent too at his service in actual
contact with the pannel or the door, and the whole operations carried
on, as the author of the Essay himself shows, and as we shall attempt to
show more fully hereafter, entirely out of reach of the observation of
the spectators.In attempting ourselves an explanation of the Automaton, we will, in
the first place, endeavor to show how its operations are effected,
and afterwards describe, as briefly as possible, the nature of the
_observations _from which we have deduced our result.It will be necessary for a proper understanding of the subject, that
we repeat here in a few words, the routine adopted by the exhibiter
in disclosing the interior of the box--a routine from which he _never
_deviates in any material particular.In the first place he opens the
door No.I. Leaving this open, he goes round to the rear of the box, and
opens a door precisely at the back of door No.I. To this back door he
holds a lighted candle.He then _closes the back door, _locks it, and,
coming round to the front, opens the drawer to its full extent.This
done, he opens the doors No.3, (the folding doors) and
displays the interior of the main compartment.Leaving open the main
compartment, the drawer, and the front door of cupboard No.I, he
now goes to the rear again, and throws open the back door of the main
compartment.In shutting up the box no particular order is observed,
except that the folding doors are always closed before the drawer.Now, let us suppose that when the machine is first rolled into the
presence of the spectators, a man is already within it.His body is |
hallway | Where is Daniel? | (the rear portion
of which machinery is so contrived as to slip _en masse, _from the main
compartment to the cupboard No.I, as occasion may require,) and his
legs lie at full length in the main compartment.When Maelzel opens the
door No.I, the man within is not in any danger of discovery, for
the keenest eye cannot penetrate more than about two inches into the
darkness within.But the case is otherwise when the back door of the
cupboard No.A bright light then pervades the cupboard,
and the body of the man would be discovered if it were there.The putting the key in the lock of the back door was a signal on
hearing which the person concealed brought his body forward to an angle
as acute as possible--throwing it altogether, or nearly so, into the
main compartment.This, however, is a painful position, and cannot be
long maintained.Accordingly we find that Maelzel _closes the back door._This being done, there is no reason why the body of the man may not
resume its former situation--for the cupboard is again so dark as to
defy scrutiny.Mary moved to the bathroom.The drawer is now opened, and the legs of the person
within drop down behind it in the space it formerly occupied.John went to the hallway.{*4}
There is, consequently, now no longer any part of the man in the main
compartment--his body being behind the machinery in cupboard No.1, and
his legs in the space occupied by the drawer.The exhibiter, therefore,
finds himself at liberty to display the main compartment.This
he does--opening both its back and front doors--and no person Is
discovered.The spectators are now satisfied that the whole of the box
is exposed to view--and exposed too, all portions of it at one and the
same time.They neither see the
space behind the drawer, nor the interior of cupboard No.1--the front
door of which latter the exhibiter virtually shuts in shutting its
back door.Maelzel, having now rolled the machine around, lifted up the
drapery of the Turk, opened the doors in his back and thigh, and shown
his trunk to be full of machinery, brings the whole back into its
original position, and closes the doors.The man within is now at
liberty to move about.He gets up into the body of the Turk just so
high as to bring his eyes above the level of the chess-board.It is
very probable that he seats himself upon the little square block or
protuberance which is seen in a corner of the main compartment when the
doors are open.In this position he sees the chess-board through the
bosom of the Turk which is of gauze.Daniel went back to the hallway.Bringing his right arm across his
breast he actuates the little machinery necessary to guide the left arm
and the fingers of the figure.This machinery is situated just beneath
the left shoulder of the Turk, and is consequently easily reached by
the right hand of the man concealed, if we suppose his right arm brought
across the breast.The motions of the head and eyes, and of the right
arm of the figure, as well as the sound _echec _are produced by other
mechanism in the interior, and actuated at will by the man within.The
whole of this mechanism--that is to say all the mechanism essential to
the machine--is most probably contained within the little cupboard
(of about six inches in breadth) partitioned off at the right (the
spectators' right) of the main compartment.In this analysis of the operations of the Automaton, we have purposely
avoided any allusion to the manner in which the partitions are shifted,
and it will now be readily comprehended that this point is a matter
of no importance, since, by mechanism within the ability of any common
carpenter, it might be effected in an infinity of different ways, and
since we have shown that, however performed, it is performed out of
the view of the spectators.Our result is founded upon the following
_observations _taken during frequent visits to the exhibition of
Maelzel.{*5}
I. The moves of the Turk are not made at regular intervals of time, but
accommodate themselves to the moves of the antagonist--although
this point (of regularity) so important in all kinds of mechanical
contrivance, might have been readily brought about by limiting the time
allowed for the moves of the antagonist.For example, if this limit were
three minutes, the moves of the Automaton might be made at any given
intervals longer than three minutes.The fact then of irregularity,
when regularity might have been so easily attained, goes to prove that
regularity is unimportant to the action of the Automaton--in other
words, that the Automaton is not a _pure machine._
2.Now this loss of the sense of proportion in human affairs, Sir, is a
very bad sign, and a well-nigh infallible indicator of nerve-strain and
general overpressure.But I find a yet more unmistakable evidence in support of my contention
in the extraordinary emotional sensibility revealed by these headlines
whenever some unfortunate person has been sentenced to death for
the most commonplace murder.There is clearly a profound conviction
that the jury who heard the evidence, the judge who pronounced their
verdict of guilty, the only possible conclusion they could reasonable
come to, and the HOME SECRETARY who found himself unable to recommend
a reprieve, were, one and all, engaged in a cold-blooded conspiracy
against a perfectly innocent man.The convict has said to himself, and
that seems to be considered sufficient.And so, night after night, the
authors of these headlines harrow themselves by announcing such items
as "Blank protests his innocence to his Solicitor.""Distressing Scene on the Scaffold."Consider the strain of all these alterations of hope and despair,
repeated time after time, and almost invariably without even the
consolation of deferring the fate of their _protege_ by a single hour!Is it not too much for the strongest constitution to endure?a service
which the society has no right to demand from any of its members?Yes, Sir, whether these devoted servants of the public know it or not,
they are running a most frightful risk; the word which hangs above
their heads may fall at any moment.Suppose, for example--and it is surely not wholly an imaginary danger
I foresee--suppose that some day some event should happen somewhere
of real and serious importance.Have they left themselves any epithet
in reserve capable of expressing their sensations at all adequately?They have not; they have squandered participles and adjectives in such
reckless profusion that they will discover they are reduced to the
condition of inarticulate bankrupts; and, speaking as a medical man,
acute cerebral congestion would be the very least result that I should
anticipate.Or the determining shock might come from more trivial causes.For
instance, we might lose a distinguished statesman, or an ironclad,
at the very moment when a football match was decided, or when the
professional tipster attached to their particular journal published his
"finals."Think of the mental conflict before determining the relative
importance of these events, and awarding one or the other its proper
prominence on the posters; and then ask yourself, Sir, whether it is an
ordeal that any human being of an impressionable, excitable temperament
should be required to undergo.What precise remedy should be adopted I do not profess to point out.Perhaps some one of the numerous leagues established to protect adult
citizens against themselves might take the matter up, and insist upon
these contents-bills being set up for the future in smaller type and
with epithets of a more temperate order.Perhaps Parliament or the
London County Council might be asked to interfere.All that is not
within my province, Sir, but this I do say: unless some measures are
taken _soon_, the heavy responsibility will be upon us of having
permitted a small but deserving class of our fellow-creatures to
hurry themselves into premature mental decay by the pernicious and
unwholesome nature of their employment.I am, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
HIPPOCRATES HELLEBORE, M.D., F.R.C.P.* * * * *
[Illustration: VERY HARD LINES._Young Farmer_ (_pulling up at urgent appeal of Pedestrian_).WHY, I THOUGHT YOU WERE LIVING
WITH CAPTAIN ADDLEPATE AS COACHMAN?"_Tim._ "SO I WAS, SOR; BUT 'TWASN'T A FAIR BARGIN.SHURE WE WAS NEVER
TO GET THRUNK BOTH AT WANCE, SOR!""WELL, THAT SEEMS FAIR ENOUGH, ANYWAY."_Tim._ "BUT, BEGORRA, SOR, THE CAPTIN WAS THRUNK THE WHOLE BLISSID
TOIME!"]* * * * *
The Rev.Sandra moved to the garden.GEE, Vicar of Windsor, is now installed Canon of St._Prosit!_ Our best wish for him is that, when he is
going to give an exceedingly good sermon, may this particular Gee not
discover that he is a little hoarse.* * * * *
[Illustration: MIGHT HAVE BEEN SAID OTHERWISE!_He_ (_to elderly Young Lady, after a long Waltz_)."YOU MUST HAVE BEEN
A SPLENDID DANCER!"]* * * * *
"OH, THE MISTLETOE BOUGH!"(_A New Seasonable Song to an old Seasonable Tune._)
The mistletoe hung on the brave old oak,
The sickle went clinketing stroke upon stroke;
The lads and the lasses were blithe and gay,
And gambolled in Old Father Christmas's way.Old Christmas held high with a joyous pride
The berried branch dear unto damsel and bride;
For its silvery berries they seemed to be
The stars of that goodly companie."Let her be a New Woman, but never a bride!The old custom's approval I trace
In red lip and blue eye upon every face.'Tis the way of the maid, 'tis the way of the man.'Tis also 'the way of a man with a maid,'
For Cupid's barter's the oldest trade.""They are seeking to-day every new fangled way;
Some tell us that wooing has had its day.In the highest, the lowest, the loneliest lot,
The gleam of Love's berry makes one bright spot.And years may fly, as they will fly, fast,
But one good old custom at least shall last;
And when Christmas appears still the maids will cry:--
'See!the Old Man bears the Love-berry on high!'"he cried, and he waved his sickle.fortune changes, and fashion's fickle;
And youth grows mannish, and manhood old,
And red lips wither, warm hearts grow cold:
But whenever I come, midst the Yuletide snows,
'Tis not Spring's lily, or Summer's rose
Young men and maidens demand, I trow.But old Winter's white-berried Kissing-bough.""For lilies wither, and roses pale,
But the Kissing-bough keeps up the old, old tale.John moved to the office.And dull were the world should the old tale cease!Be it kiss of passion, or kiss of peace,
The meaning when lip unto lip is laid
Is goodwill on earth to man, and maid.That's Yule's best lesson, good friends I vow,
So reck ye the rede of the Mistletoe Bough!"So they gather around him with laugh and joke,
'Neath the spreading boughs of that brave old oak,
Which hath shelter for all, from the English rose
To the whitest snow-bell from Canada's snows,
Or hot India's lotus-bud dainty and sweet.But the cry of them all, as in mirth they meet
Old Father Christmas, as ever, so now,
Is "Hands all round 'neath the Mistletoe Bough!"Our brave, bonny Mistletoe Bough!!!* * * * *
[Illustration: "OH, THE MISTLETOE BOUGH!"WITH ALL THEIR NEW-FANGLED NOTIONS, HERE'S
ONE OLD CUSTOM ALL AGREE IN KEEPING UP!"]* * * * *
CURIOUS ACCIDENT TO MRS.Strolling through Pimlico the other day Mrs.R. was attracted by
evidence of a sale by auction going forward in one of the residences in
that desirable quarter.Having half an hour to spare she thought she
would look in."I was quite surprised," she writes to her son, "when I
entered the room to see a gentleman standing in a pulpit which I knew
was Mr.PIPCHOSE, leastway, his whiskers were not so mutton-choppy;
but I could not mistake him, though meeting him only once at tea at
Mrs.BROWN'S where he was very pressing with the muffins.He looked
at me in just the same meaning way as when he said, 'Mrs.won't
you take another piece of sugar, though as I know it's carrying coals
to Newcastle?'I'm not above recognising my friends, wherever I meet
them, and gave him a friendly nod, and before I knew where I was, I
found I had bought for L3 9_s._ 6_d._ a wool mattress; a pair of tongs
(rather bent); a barometer (with the quicksilver missing); a small iron
bedstead; a set of tea-things (mostly cracked); an armchair, and a sofa
warranted hair-stuffed, but certainly having only three legs.PIPCHOSE at all, as I might have known if I had taken another look
at his whiskers, but only a forward auctioneer."* * * * *
"The Chinese Government," observed the _City Times_ last week, "is
seeking new channels for money."Decidedly China is in straits, and
will soon be apparently quite at sea.* * * * *
TO MELENDA.(_A Repentance in Triolets._)
I swore to you, dear, there was mistletoe there,
Though I knew all the time there was none.As I stole a sweet kiss from you out on the stair
I swore to you, dear, there was mistletoe there.I have plenty of sins on my soul, dear, to bear,
But at least I've confessed now to one.I swore to you, dear, there was mistletoe there
Though I knew all the time there was none.I never will do it again,
And please am I fully forgiven?In the future from falsehood I mean to refrain.I never will do it again,
But look at yourself in your glass to explain
Why to mistletoe tale I was driven.I never will do it again,
And please am I fully forgiven?There's an answer you'll send if you're thoroughly kind,
That will make me feel free from all blame.I hope you'll be glad, dear MELENDA, to find
There's an answer you'll send if you're thoroughly kind.It's this, "Though the mistletoe was but a blind,
Still with none I'd have done just the same."Sandra journeyed to the bathroom._There_'s the answer you'll send if you're thoroughly kind
That will make me feel free from all blame.[Illustration]
* * * |
office | Where is Daniel? | No better collection of books as a
Christmas present for anyone with a regard to a future of literary
enjoyment.Nos omnesne laudamus Nimmo?Et respondit Echo: "Immo."I don't go to a Westminster Play for nothing quoth the Baron;"
though he added _sotto voce_, "Yes I do though, as I'm a guest."* * * * *
FIRST IMPRESSIONS.[Illustration]
Genoa in November.Put on thin suit, drink my _cafe
au lait_ by open window, and stroll out into beautiful Genoa, basking
in the sunshine._Dejeuner_ in the garden of a restaurant, among the
old palaces.Think of all the poor
people in London.Wonder if anyone is having a frugal lunch at the
funny little open-air restaurant in Hyde Park.Mary moved to the bathroom.Lemonade and a bath bun
in a fog.In Venice there are so many Germans that one might as
well be in Germany.Sitting out on the Piazza, one hears incessantly
their monotonous, guttural chatter, always in the same tone of voice,
without inflections, without emotion, and, worst of all, without end.Watched at the hotel _table d'hote_ a German lady sitting between two
German gentlemen.One man talked loudly without ceasing, mouth full
or mouth empty, from soup to dessert.The other man, rather older
and feebler, also talked without ceasing, but he could not equal the
other's noise; he only added to it.As for the lady, her lips moved all
the time; one could imagine the _ja wohl_, the _ach, so?_ the _ja, ja,
ja_, but one could not hear a word.At Florence, at Milan, on the Lakes
it is the same.If by chance one hears a Frenchman speak, his charming
language sounds more vivacious and melodious than ever before.So it
is good to be in Genoa, where even the best hotel is kept by Italians.Apparently every other good hotel in Italy is kept by HERR SCHMIDT,
or HERR WEBER, or HERR SOMETHINGOROTHER, and all the servants are
German also.There is one hotel in Genoa kept by a German.All night long there are whistles, screams, bangs, rumblings,
bumps, roars, and other sounds from trains, ships, and tramways.All
day long there is the same noise, only more of it.But the Germans
do not mind; they talk just the same, and they make each other hear
through it all.Charming place, Genoa, with a town hall that is the gayest imaginable.Marble staircases, vestibules adorned with palms, beautiful little
gardens, at all sorts of levels, outside the windows of the various
offices.If the town rates in Genoa are paid at
the Town Hall, the paying of them must be almost pleasant.One would
go with that horrible demand note, if that is used also in Italy, and
fancy that one was arriving at a ball.The palm-decorated entrance
looks just like it.It only needs a lady rate collector, such as one
hears of in England, and one surely, in whatever manner the Italians
may say it, would beg the charming signora to give one the honour and
pleasure of a dance, and scribble her name on the programme--I mean the
demand note.And no doubt, the Italian officials being leisurely and
the space being ample, one could find time for a waltz in the intervals
of rate paying, or at least sit it out in one of the delightful little
gardens of this ideal Palazzo Municipale.And so farewell to sunny Genoa, and off to Turin.German hotel again,
German proprietor, German servants.Solitary German visitor drinking
his morning coffee.The hotels of Turin are not crowded; he and I are
alone.John went to the hallway.He must talk his awful language
to someone.He shan't talk it to me, for I will pretend I do not
understand even one word.The
considerate proprietor, thoughtful of his countryman's needs, enters;
he stands by the visitor's table, and the talk begins.When it ends I
cannot say, for I leave them, well started and in good voice, and hear,
as I think, their sweetly melodious phrases for the last time in Italy.There is not much more of Italy now, for
here is the Mont Cenis tunnel.Daniel went back to the hallway.Farewell, beautiful country, beautiful
pictures, beautiful language!There is someone leaning out of the next
carriage window.No doubt he is also saddened; he is speaking to others
inside, his voice is cheerful, he is evidently trying not to give way
to despair.Now I hear what he says, "_Da werde ich ein Glas Bier
trinken, ja, ja, ja!_"
A FIRST IMPRESSIONIST.* * * * *
WANTED!a Perfect Cure for the incompatibility of Judges' sentences.* * * * *
[Illustration: PREHISTORIC PEEPS.DURING A CONSIDERABLE PORTION OF THE YEAR THE SKATING WAS EXCELLENT,
AND WAS MUCH ENJOYED BY ALL CLASSES.]* * * * *
[Illustration: INDEX]
Ad Jovem Pluvium, 263
Afterpart a la L. C. C.(An), 302
"After the Health Congress is over," 71
Airs Resumptive, 45, 66, 83, 165, 205
All my Eye!258
"All up with the Empire," 183
Alpine Railway (An), 95
Amare, O!263
Anglo-Russian Echo (An), 95
Another Man's Ears, 165
Apple of Discord (The), 39
Art of Naval Platitude (The), 216
As we like it, 25
At Last!18
At the Westminster Play, 303
"Automatic" Conscience (The), 147
"Auxiliary Assistance" in the Provinces, 105
Awful Outlook (An), 177
"Awkward Customer" (An), 210
Ballade of Imitations, 11
Ballade of Three Volumes (A), 39
Ballade to Order, 298
"B. and S."at the Savoy (A), 292
Bank Holiday Dream-Book (The), 57
Battle of the Budget (The), 3
Bayard and Bobby, 201
Beauties of Bologna, 215
Betting Man on Cricket (A), 65
Blue Gardenia (The), 185
Bowl me no more!155
British Lions, 185
Broken China, 192
Bygones, 85
Cabby's Answers, 5
Cant _v._ Cant, 207
Certain Cure (A), 145
"Challenge" (The), 219
Chief Mourner (The), 222
Chronicles of a Rural Parish (The), 217, 237, 250, 263, 265, 288, 299
Clerical Question for Exeter (A), 183
Clio at Salcombe, 215
"Clubs!77
Coincidence's Long Arm, 167
Complaint of the Modern Lover, 167
Compliments of the Season, 301
Copperation at Winser (The), 46
"Copy," 297
Corean Cock-fight (The), 54
Counting Noses, 257
Counting the Catch, 90
Crossed!Sandra moved to the garden.251
Cryptogrammatist Wanted, 72
Curios for the Cricketing Exhibition, 298
Curious Accident to Mrs.John moved to the office.R., 336
Curse (The), 118
Dangerous Doctrine, 120
Day of Small Things (The), 213, 255
Day's Ride, a Law's Romance (A), 155
Decadent Guys (The), 225
Demi-French Octave (A), 47
Diary of a Duck, 274
Dilemma of the Headless Spectre, 213
Ditto to Mr.Courtney, 83
Diurnal Feminine (The), 13
Dog on his Day (A), 302
Dog's Meet, 118
Don't "Come unto these Yellow Sands"!Sandra journeyed to the bathroom.114
Doom of the Minor Poets (The), 251
Eastward Ho!63
Ejaculations, 141
Embarras de Richesses, 87
End of the Opera Season (The), 57
Engagement (An), 264
English as she is Crammed, 292
Essence of Parliament, 11, 23, 35, 48, 59, 71, 84, 95, 108
"Evicted Tenants," 42
Extract (An), 281
Fancy Portrait, 15
Farewell to McGladstone, 46
Fashion and Felony, 232
Femina Dux Facti, 221
"Finest English," 113
Finishing Touches, 221
First Impressions, 192, 204, 238, 252, 264, 273, 287, 289, 309
Fizz and Fuss, 298
Fly Route to Castles in the Air, 83
Following Footsteps, 125
Fool's Vade Mecum (The), 273
For Arms or Alms?Mary moved to the hallway.162
"Fourth R" (The), 243
Fragment of a Police "Report d'Arthur," 177
Friend in Need (A), 30
From the Birmingham Festival, 186
Future Fame, 203
Gaiety "Sans-Gene," 9
Gay Widow Courted (A), 221
General Literary Review Company (Limited), 168
Generosity under Difficulties, 291
Gilbert and Carr-icature, 240
Gismonda, 233
Good News, 121
"Good Time coming" (A), 27
Good Wishes, 36
Gossip without Words, 189
"Grand National" Trust (The), 47
Guesses at Goodwood, 37
Hanwellia's Answer, 179
Hardy Annual at Henley, 15
Hawarden Pastoral (A), 96
Haymarket Heroine (The), 241
Helmholtz, 141
Henley Notes, 22
Herrick on Rational Dress, 147
Hint for the Alpine Season, 74
Hopeless Case (A), 135
Hopeless Quest (A), 206
House-Agent's Dream (The), 270
How it will be done hereafter, 89
Ichabod, 253
If not, why not?169
"I'm getting a Big Girl now!"171
Improved and Improving Dialogues, 269
Inconvenienced Traveller's Phrase-Book, 82, 125
Infant Phenomenon (The), 291
In Memoriam, 102; Comte de Paris, 126
In Nuce, 159
In Paris out of the Season, 133
In Praise of Boys, 107
Ins and Outs, 213
Inter-University Football, 285
In the Museum, 141
In Three Volumes, 101
Invasion of Woman (The), 145
Is the Bar a Profitable Profession?109
<DW61> the Giant-Killer, 150
John Bull a la Russe, 264
John Walter, 232
"Judgment of 'Parish'" (The), 267
"Justice as she is Spoken in France," 75
Ladas!141
La Femme de Claude, 42
Latest Great Yacht-Race, 29
Latest Parliamentary Betting, 25
Latest War Intelligence, 276
Law of the (Social) Jungle (The), 111
Lay of the Explorer (The), 33
Lay of the Vigilant (The), 204
Lessons in Laughter, 174
Letters from a Debutante, 168, 180, 183
Letters to a Debutante, 229
Lex Talionis, 141
Light in Darkness, 162
Lines by a Lazy Body, 120
Lines in Pleasant Places, 21, 49, 74, 131, 153
Lines to a Lady, 253
Links (The), 213
Literary Intelligence, 121
Little Ah Sid, 183
Little Flirtation (A), 147
Little Holiday (A), 69
"Little too Previous!"Daniel travelled to the office.(A), 102
"Living Pictures," 197
Local Colour, 210
London Bicyclists, 49
Lord Ormont's Mate and Matey's Aminta, 37, 57, 61
Lord Rosebery in the North, 159
Lost in London, 285
"Lost Rings," 149
Love's Labour Not Lost, 279
Lowered!71
Lower Education of Women (The), 11
Lunnon Twang (The), 159
"Lying Low," 294
Lyre and Lancet, 4, 16, 28, 40, 52, 64, 76, 88, 100, 112, 124, 136,
148, 160, 172, 184, 196, 208, 220, 239, 244, 256, 268, 280
Making of a Man (The), 293
Making the Running with the Derby Winner, 169
"Man in Armour" to the Multitude, 228
March of Civilisation (The), 61
Mary Jones, 285
"Matrimonial Obedience," 179
Matron's Hiss (The), 178
Mayen-aisy-now!233
Mayennaise _v._ Mayonnaise, 203, 209
Message from Mars (The), 81
Midsummer Day-Dream (A), 30
Minx (The), 33
Moan from Mitcham (A), 135
Mobilised Mandarin (The), 141
Modern Madame (A), 27
Modern Mangers, 183
Modern Society Play (The), 285
Modern Tragedy (A), 93
Morbidezza, 204
More Ornamental than Useful, 73
More She-Notes, 249, 276
Morgenlied, 145
"Moving about in Worlds not realised," 192
"Mowing them Down!"Punch on Billiards, 238
Mr.Punch on Peeler Piper, 135
Mr.Punch to Two Noble Sportsmen, 22
Mrs.Prowlina Pry, 195
Much Ado about Nothing, 279
Muddy Milan, 171
Music with a Future (The), 251
"Mutes and Liquids," 121
New Air (The), 87
New and Old, 241
New Candidate (The), 209
New Departure (A), 216
New Fashion (The), 167
New Heroine (The), 293
New Honours, 276
New Lamps for Old, 137
New Man (The), 167
New Nectar (The), 286
New Newness (The), 84
New Party (The), 18
News from Norwich, 131
Next War (The), 94
Noble Half-Hundred!94
Noblesse Oblige, 1, 75
"Nobody Looking!"246
Nomine Tantum, 21
Nominis Umbra, 253
Notices to Correspondents, 286
Not Master of himself though China fall, 74
Novelist's Vade Mecum (The), 261
Novelties in Gastronomy, 251
O. B. C.(Limited) (The), 177
Ode for the Marriage Season, 131, 142
Ode on a Distant Partridge, 138
Ode on Sacrifice, 49
Ode to Ixion, 82
Of Vain Colours, 288
"Oh, the Mistletoe Bough!"306
"Oh, you Wicked Story!"99
"Old Offender" (An), 282
Old Three-Vol., 63
Oliver Wendell Holmes, 191
Ollendorfian, 258
On a Clumsy Cricketer, 106
One Man One Job, 297
On the War in the East, 133
Operatic Notes, 17
Origin of the Blush-Rose, 206
Our |
bathroom | Where is Sandra? | 119
Oxford and Yale, 48
Oyster and the Sparrow (The), 93
Page from "Rosebery's History of the Commonwealth," 106
Partially Unreported Dialogue, 11
Pat the Patriot, 215
Perils of a Jesting Premier (The), 298
"Personally Conducted," 51
Phalse Note on George the Fourth, 204
Phosphorescence in Art, 24
Pier of the Empire (A), 189
Pious Lyncher's Creed (The), 120
Plague of Poets (The), 121
Plaint of the Unwilling Peer (The), 82
Polite Guide to the Civil Service (The), 207, 227, 234
Political Conference, 231
Polychrome English, 193
Possible Developments, 203
Princely Offer (A), 144
Professor of the Period (The), 153
Puff and a Blow (A), 21
Pullman Car (The), 107
Punch to the New Attorney-General, 205
"Putting his Foot in it," 78
Queer Queries, 83, 101, 107, 117, 246, 297
Question and Answer, 135
Ranelagh in Rain, 47
Rational Dress, 101
Reading between the Lines, 305
Reflections, 167
Remnants, 63
"Rhymes," 109
Rhyme to Rosebery, 96
Rider's Vade Mecum (The), 51
Riverside Lament (A), 25
Robert and Grinnidge, 94
Robert and Unifikashun, 281
Robert Louis Stevenson, 303
Robert on Amerrycans, 120
Robert on the Wonderful Bridge again, 9
Robert's Picter, 145
Robert's Sollem Adwise, 217
"Room for a Big One!"99
Royal Welsh Bard (The), 86
Rubenstein, 255
Rule, "Britannia," 33
Runner Nuisance (The), 125
Sapphics on Traffic, 117
Saturday Pops, 71
School-Board Apple-Pie (The), 219
Scott on the New Woman, 73
Sea-Fairies (The), 122
Sea-quence of Sonnets (A), 153
Seasons (The), 274
Sitting on Our Senate, 106
Sequel to the Story of Ung (A), 300
Seven Ages of Rosebery (The), 165
"Shaky!"270
Silly Seasoning, 110
Slight Adaptation (A), 228
Slow and not quite Sure, 165
Snubbed Professional's Vade Mecum, 289
Society for the Advancement of Literature, 89
Soft Answer (A), 11
Song for the Slogger (A), 117
Song of the Impecunious Bard, 131
Song of the Leaders (The), 201
Song of the Twentieth Century (A), 22
Songs of the Streets, 5, 16
Sounding the Antitoxin, 274
Sport for Ratepayers, 49
State Aid for Matrimony, 13
St.Leger Coincidence (A), 135
Suggested Addendum (A), 126
Sunday Lecture Case (The), 285
Tale of a Vote (The), 201
Tale of Two Telegrams (The), 97
Talk a la Mode de Londres, 261
Talk in Court, 22
Teddie the Tiler, 192
Tempora Mutantur, 131
"Terrible in his Anger!"159
Terrible Transformation (A), 145
Thanks to the "Bystander," 133
That Advanced Woman!142
Those Lancers, 303
"Three Cheers for the Emperor," 297
Three Christmas Greetings, 301
Tips, 144
To a Lady, 294
To Althea in Church, 145
To Althea in the Stalls, 33
To Amanda, 180
To a Philanthropist, 105
To a Pretty Unknown, 192
To a Scorcher, 142
To a Surrey Hostess, 85
To a Would-be Authoress, 93
To a Would-be Despot, 215
To a Venetian Policeman, 195
To a Veteran Champion, 83
"To be taken as read," 77
To Dorothy, 108
To Hanwellia from Earlswood, 137
To her Mother, 120
To Lettina, 209
To Melenda, 309
To Molly, 229
To my Beef Tea, 77
To Philadelphia, 302
To Sentiment, 144
To the Oxford Cricket Captain, 17
Touching Appeal (A), 234
Tree with Variegated Leaves, 277
"Tripping Merrily," 143
Triumph of the School Board (A), 265
True Glory, 276
Truisms of Life (The), 287, 293
Trust to be Trusted (A), 149
Two "General" Favourites, 203
Two Ways of Auditing, 206
Unrest!Mary moved to the bathroom.174
Vacuous Time (The), 119
Vade Mecum for the Naval Manoevres, 37
Vagabond Verses, 219
Venetian Flower-Sellers, 191
Verse and Choral Summing-up, 203
Verses to the Weather Maiden, 93
"Vested Interests," 186
Village Blacksmith (The), 282
"Vive la Republique!"6
Voice from "the Upper Suckles" (A), 85
Volunteer's Vade Mecum (The), 25
Vote of Thanks (A), 65
Voyage of Alfred (The), 113
Waiting their Turn, 18
War Cry (The), 54
Wet-Willow, 107
What's in a Name, indeed?47
What we may expect soon, 27
Wheel and Whoa!137
Where are you going, revolting Maid?198
Where to go, 82
Whims of Amphitryon (The), 245
Whither Away?9
"Wigs on the Green!"John went to the hallway.126
"Winding'em up," 198
With Kind Regards, 277
Words to the Wise Women, 275
Ye Gentlemen of Holland, 78
Yellow Age (The), 66
Yellow Riding-Habit (The), 94
Yet another Memoir of Napoleon, 13
Young Pretender (The), 138
Yule Gretynge (A), 300
LARGE ENGRAVINGS.Daniel went back to the hallway.259
"Awkward Customer" (An), 211
Chief Mourner (The), 223
Corean Cockfight (The), 55
Counting the Catch, 91
Don't "Come unto these Yellow Sands"!115
"Evicted Tenants," 43
"For Example!"Sandra moved to the garden.163
"Friend in Need----" (A), 31
<DW61> the Giant-killer, 151
"Little too Previous!"(A), 103
"Lying Low," 295
"Mowing them Down!"John moved to the office.247
"Oh, the Mistletoe Bough!"Sandra journeyed to the bathroom.67
"Old Offender" (An), 283
"Putting his Foot in it," 79
"Shaky!"271
Touching Appeal (A), 235
Unrest!175
"Vested Interests," 187
"Vive la Republique!"Mary moved to the hallway.7
Waiting their Turn, 19
"Wigs on the Green," 127
"Winding'em up!"199
Young Pretender (The), 139
SMALL ENGRAVINGS.Admiral and his Beard, 275
Ambiguous Invitation to the Major, 251
Andrew dividing the Orange, 49
Animals' Stroll in the Zoo, 81
'Arry and Grass Seeds at Bisley, 29
'Arry and Li Hung Chang's Feather, 180
'Arry and the "Brighton A's," 231
'Arry introducing 'Arriet to Bill, 193
'Arry on the Lords and the Ladies, 261
'Arry photographed on Horseback, 75
Art Critic and Child's Sketch, 6
Baby and Grandpapa's Microscope, 234
Bad Dancer's Opinion of Girls, 22
Bishop and Boating Clergyman, 215
Boy's Mamma who Snores, 126
Boy who Lost all his Buttons, 286
British Farmer and Ceres, 134
British Farmer's Luck turning, 26
Broken Venus of Milo, 11
Brown's "pretty Flat," 232
Bullet-proof Coat for Pet Dog, 41
Caddie's Idea of Excitement (A), 59
Change of Name at Marriage, 167
Chick-a-leary Cochin, 201
Child Patient and Hospital Nurse, 102
Civilisation and War in the East, 62
Climbing the Araucaria, 303
Clubber's Club, 157
Coachman well known at West End, 42
Colonel's Nephew's Man-Servant, 155
"Constant Reader" writing to Papers, 209
Contrasted Couples at Sea-side, 114
Country Lady and Major Visitor, 198
Cow Stamp on the Butter, 74
Cromwell and the Statues, 98
Curate at an Otter-hunt, 39
Curate sings "The Brigand's Revenge," 283
Cyclist startling Fox-hunter, 304
Dancing Ostrich (The), 165
Discussing a Beastly Book, 227
Engagement Ring weights the Boat, 53
Epicure to his Love (An), 181
Eton Boy and the Floods, 253
Fat Diner's Hungry Acquaintance, 297
Fisherman's Empty Flask, 73
Fond Wife and the Stupid Paper, 82
Forgetting whom he took into Dinner, 210
French Lady and our Artist's Wife, 30
German Emperor's Song (The), 178
Giving Hunting Mare her Head, 267
Gladstone and the Microscope, 254
Gladstone and the "Twelfth," 61
Gladstonius sings to Roseberius, 230
Golfers playing Spillikins, 27
Grandma's Friend of Forty Years ago, 150
Gutter Children and Cheap Gloves, 121
Hair-dressing Room in the Commons, 202
Harcourt as "Old Kaspar," 2
Harcourt's Bills personally conducted, 50
Hippopotamus Policeman, 141
Hodge and the Apple of Power, 266
Housewife and Lazy Tramp, 15
Hunter's Seedy Tale (A), 171
Hunting Party at a Deep Brook, 279
Infant's Contempt of Court, 13
Invalid and her Lady Visitor, 57
Invalided Weather-Girl, 107
Irish Chamber of Horrors, 166
Irish Jarvey and the Scenery, 24
<DW61> Lectures on the Art of War, 290
Johnny and Pills in a Pear, 65
Jones not Dining anywhere, 36
Jones's Handsome Umbrella, 87
Justin McCarthy's Anger, 158
Juveniles discussing Hats in Church, 138
Keeper's Dog's Force of Habit, 301
Keeper's Remark on Strong Birds, 147
Kitchen Improvements in the House, 214
Ladies "at Home" to Visitors, 246
Lady Vocalist's Small Chest (A), 277
Laureateship Apple of Discord (The), 38
Little Ah Sid and the Butterfly Bee, 182
Little Boy and "'Maginations," 207
Little Girls and Fairy Tale, 5
Little Girl and Five-days' Foal, 69
Little Girl and German Doctor, 191
Little Girl's Matrimonial "Hint," 107
Little Girl's Message to Shoemaker, 144
London Boy and J.'s Knickerbockers, 71
London Passenger and Paris Porters, 119
London Schoolgirl and little Friend, 273
Major's Cheap Burgundy, 94
Mamma and Missie's Age, 78
Master discharging his Coachman, 142
Maud's Country Cousin on Horseback, 21
Miss Golightly and her Partner, 153
Miss Grace at a Golf Match, 159
Miss Roland's Two Hansoms, 258
Miss Unified London's Toys, 170
Mr.'s Flirtation with Miss C., 146
Mr.Daniel travelled to the office.Punch at White Lodge, 1
Mr.John went back to the garden.Simpkin's Misquotation at Dinner, 54
Mrs.Jinks on the effect of Liqueurs, 263
Mrs.Pry entering the Empire, 194
Mrs.Weaver and the New Chimes, 238
Music blending with Conversation, 18
Nervous Amateur and Stage Fright, 118
Nervous Youth and a Clever Beauty, 174
New Lord Chief Justice and Punch, 14
Newly-Upholstered Room (A), 186
"New Woman" Rabbit-Shooter, 111
Norfolk Bathers' Scotch Friend, 156
Nothing stops a Hard-mouthed Grey, 51
Old Crossing-Sweeper's Obstinacy, 83
Old Lady of Threadneedle Street's Gold, 86
Orlando and Rosalind Cycling, 25
Ostentatiously Good Fences, 219
Parliamentary Flying Machine, 217
Parliamentary Swimming-Bath, 58
Pat and the Kicking Horse, 255
"Perambulators not admitted," 131
Police making way for Perambulator, 45
Postman and Nursery-Maids, 63
Prehistoric Cricket-Match (A), 34
Prehistoric Dragon-shooting, 262
Prehistoric Football Match (A), 190
Prehistoric Henley Regatta, 10
Prehistoric Highland Stalking, 154
Prehistoric Lord Mayor's Show, 226
Prehistoric Naval Manoeuvres, 70
Prehistoric Seaside Resort, 130
Prehistoric Skating, 310
Professor and Atlas Omnibuses, 287
Punch and the Prince on Muscovy, 278
Punch and the Sirens, 122
Pupil Farmer thrown on his Head, 243
Putting O'Flaherty into a Novel, 298
Rat-tailed Hunter in the Rain, 195
Reduced Noblemen in Disguise, 110
Result of Sal's Re-marrying, 105
Rosebery as Bob Acres, 218
Row at the Schoolboard (The), 242
Rugby Footballer at a Dance, 270
Schoolboy and Tragedian, 123
Scotch Landlady on Salmon-poaching, 299
Scotchman threatens to go to Law, 265
Scotch Parishioner and Whisky, 250
Scotch Tourists in Search of Dinner, 183
Shopping, not Buying, 245
Short 'Arry and Long Alf, 149
"Shot Over" Pony (A), 237
Sea-Lion Ashore (The), 177
Seven Miles from Peebles, 95
Snapdragon Galop (The), 302
Society Crush at Hyde Park Corner, 3
Stork as he might have been (The), 213
Stout Citizen and Irish Beggar, 229
Swell compliments Splendid Dancer, 306
Swells discussing Behaviour, 185
Swell's Opinion about Stout Ladies, 162
Swell suffering from Insomnia, 203
Taking Lady's Skirt for 'Bus Apron, 291
Temperance Enthusiast and Boatman, 274
Three Lovers, 90
Tommy and his Aunt's Age, 179
Two or Three Nice Americans, 66
Two Sons passing Examinations, 289
Vicar's Daughter on Snoring, 294
Volunteer Sentry and Rustic, 249
Vulgar Boy and little Dog's Tail, 285
Yokel's Impression of London, 106
Washing St.John moved to the bedroom.Paul's suggested, 206
Winning Jockey and Irish Stable-boy, 99
Young Couple residing in Hill Street, 222
Young Farmer and Groom, 305
Young Lady's Ball Presents, 97
* * * * *
[Illustration: FINIS]
* * * * *
LONDON: BRADBURY, AGNEW, & CO., LIMITED.PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS
|
bathroom | Where is Sandra? | 1 29.908 S.E.3.5
2 .912 S.E.3.5
3 .915 S.E.3.5
4 .917 S.E.2.5
5 .914 S.E.2.5
6 .913 E.S.E.2.5
7 .909 S.E.2.5
8 .899 E.S.E.9 .886 S.E.10 .878 E. by S.11 .869 E..860 E.1 .852 E.3.5
2 .853 E.3.5
3 .848 E.3.2
4 .834 E.5 .817 E.N.E.6 29.808 E.N.E.7 .810 N.E.8 .812 N.E.3.5
9 .812 N.E.3.5
10 .806 N.E.3.5
11 .795 E.N.E.3.5
12 .784 E.N.E.Sandra travelled to the office.3.5
18th August.1 29.779 E. by N.3.5
2 .771 E. by N.3.2
3 .762 E. by N.3.2
4 .758 E. by N.3.2
5 .751 E. by N.3.5
6 .740 N.E.3.5
7 .721 N.E.8 .696 N.E.4.5
9 29.666 N.E.10 .640 N.E.5.2
11 .612 N.E..581 N.E.6.5
1 .548 N.E.2 .526 N.E.6.5
3 .50 N.7.5
4 .482 N. by E.5 .459 N.E.7.5
6 .435 N.E.7 .421 N.E.8 .411 N.E.9 .408 N.E.10 .405 N.E.8.5
11 .401 N.E.Sandra went to the bathroom.8.7
12 .375 N.E.8.7
19th August.1 29.306 N.E.5.7
2 .319 N. by E.3 .335 N. by E.4 .351 N.7.5
5 .364 N.7.2
6 .376 N.7.2
7 .383 N. by W.6.5
8 .376 N. by W.7.2
9 .361 N.N.W.7.7
10 .347 N.N.W.11 29.324 N.W..295 N.W.1 .268 N.W.7.7
2 .252 N.W.7.5
3 .238 N.W.7.7
4 .223 N.W.7.7
5 .220 W. by N.6 .221 W. by N.7 .225 W. by N.8 .229 W. by N.8.5
9 .233 W.8.5
10 .243 W.8.5
11 .256 W.8.5
12 .282 W. by S.1 29.351 W. by S.2 .363 W. by S.3 .375 W. by S.4 .413 W. by S.5 .437 W.S.W.7.5
6 .457 S.W.7 .457 S.W.8 .471 S.W.9 .489 S.W.6.5
10 .505 S.W.6.5
11 .512 S.W..515 S.W.6.5
The barometric readings are corrected to the freezing-point density of the
atmosphere, as also to the level of the ocean, and are further reduced by
comparison with the Standard Barometer at the New Observatory.They are
also relieved of a source of error arising from the regular decline for
each day of the barometer, as evidenced by the observations made during
June and July, 1858, in mean latitude 23 deg.52' N., mean longitude 119 deg.12'
E. This downward tendency will be apparent from the following readings for
each hour:--for 1h.- 0.018, noon - 0.015, 1h.These
quantities are to be read as implying that when added to or deducted from
those supplied by actual observations, they result in the quantities
already assigned as the corrected averages for the day.The direction as
well as strength of the wind are copied from the averages as calculated by
the Commodore from the ship's log, the meteorological journals and the
daily postings made by the Commodore himself.* * * * *
According to the delineation of the path of the cyclone, as prepared from
the observations recorded, the following table, already referred to, gives
the approximative distance of the ship at stated points from such central
path, as compared with that deduced from barometrical observations,
allowing for the differences already mentioned.In the case of the
wind-pressure, the average is deduced from the mean of successive
observations taken every hour, and for the most part divided into
intervals of three hours each.Distance
pressure.according
to curve.1 17th August 4 A.M.336 29.915 in.336
2 " " noon.297 .860 0.055 300
3 18th " midnight.265 .783 .132 257
4 " " 6 A.M.230 .736 .178 233
5 " " 9 A.M.205 .667 .248 205
6 " " 6 P.M.153 .438 .477 153
7 19th " 3 A.M.140 .335 .580 138
8 " " 5 A.M.148 .364 .551 142
9 " " |
bathroom | Where is Sandra? | 146 .373 .542 143
10 " " noon.125 .296 .619 130
11 " " 3 P.M.123 .238 .677 122
12 " " 6 P.M.134 .222 .693 138
13 " " 9 P.M.148 .235 .680 144
14 20th " midnight.183 .296 .619 183
15 " " 6 A.M.Sandra travelled to the office.313 .450 .465 313
The minimum pressure according to the curve would be 28.975, but must
actually have been less.According to the strict reading it would result
that all radii before reaching the point where nearest the central path,
as also all those in the same half-circle after such central line has been
crossed, should have the same value, whatever the direction, which if
rigidly asserted cannot be correct, since the motion of a cyclone is truly
circular only in the immediate vicinity of its central point.As that
point is receded from, the motion becomes more or less elliptical, as is
attested by the barometric differences, which had the cyclone been a true
circle in all its parts ought to be similar for similar distances.Sandra went to the bathroom.This it
is admitted is not the case, as the barometric pressure shows a marked
decline in the earlier part of a cyclone the more rapidly the central line
is approached, just as it rises again once that line has been passed.For this reason the distances as assigned upon a line of curves deduced
from the foregoing observations must be too great, especially those which
are calculated at right angles to the path of the typhoon, because
perpendiculars drawn at right angles to the varying directions of the wind
must intersect each other at points more distant than the actual central
point of the cyclone itself.* * * * *
To the foregoing may be appended a few extracts recounting the damage done
by the great typhoon of 27th July, 1862, from which some idea may be
formed of the tremendous violence and destructive effects of this
description of atmospheric agency._From London and China Telegraph, 29th Sept., 1862._
"A dreadful typhoon occurred at Canton on 27th July, 1862.The destruction
of life and property is immense, the loss of life in the city and
neighbourhood being estimated at about forty thousand.In the telegram
which was received a few days ago announcing this event, a query was
placed, and very reasonably, after the number stated; but the press state
that as far as inquiries have been made at present it is probably correct.The loss of life has chiefly occurred amongst the junk population, and the
fine new fleet of forty Imperial junks, intended for the Yang-tse-kiang,
has been destroyed.The water rose till the streets of Honam had three
feet in them, but the buildings suffered less than might have been
expected; some two or three hundred feet of the granite wall at Shameen
was washed away, and blocks of stone were driven about as if they had been
billets of wood; houses in the city had also been blown down, and trees
rooted up; the rice crops have suffered severely; and the total damage may
be estimated in millions of dollars.Gaillard, an American Missionary,
was killed by the falling in of his house; and the residences of the Rev.Bonney and Piercey were thrown down, a large junk having been
driven up against them.At Whampoa the docks were all flooded, while the
workshops attached were unroofed and otherwise injured.From the _China
Mail_, which gives a long and graphic description of this disastrous
visitation, we extract the following:--'The British brig _Mexicana_
capsized in Hall and Co.'s dock, and lies on her beam-ends; the British
ship _Dewa Gungadhur_ is lying on her side in Gow and Co.'s dock; the
British steamer _Antelope_, in the Chinese dock at the corner of Junk
River, has her bow run up over the head of the dock, and her stern at an
angle of thirty degrees into it; the British steamer _Bombay Castle_ was
washed off the blocks in Couper's wooden dock, and was scuttled by her
captain to save her from being floated out of the dock; the American ship
_Washington_ is aground, blocking up the entrance to the Chinese dock in
Junk River; the American ship _Jacob Bell_ and British barque _Cannata_
are high on a mud flat, dry at low water--the latter making water, and
discharging her cargo; the new British steamer _Whampoa_ broke from her
moorings and went ashore, but has since been got off without injury.Several chops sunk, and five of the foreign Customs' inspectors were
drowned.Bamboo-town is entirely
destroyed, the water having flooded it to the depth of six feet, and swept
off a great number of its inhabitants.It is greatly to be feared that the
disasters among the shipping outside will prove something frightful, and
that many vessels now anxiously expected have either been driven on the
rocks and gone to pieces or have foundered at sea.Already, it will have
been observed, one dismasted vessel, the Danish brig _Hercules_, has come
in; and more may be looked for in the course of the next fortnight.The
_Iskandershah_ is on shore in the river, close to Tiger Island, a little
above the Bogue.'One writer says the city looks just as it did after the
bombardment by Admiral Seymour, and that there has not been such a typhoon
since 1832."The typhoon which visited Canton so severely also committed great ravages
at the port of Macao.Many junks were
sunk or driven ashore, and their crews drowned.The _Chilo_, a British
ship engaged in the rice trade, went ashore, and is a total wreck; and
another vessel was also reported lost.The wharves have suffered severely,
and houses were blown down.A letter, dated 28th July, says:--'Yesterday
morning a very strong typhoon did a great deal of damage here.The new sea
wall on the Praia Grande stood it well, except in one place; but the old
one, which has stood so many typhoons before, is now nearly entirely
broken down; also Messrs.Some houses have come
down, and trees on the Praia and other places have lost nearly all their
branches.The British barque _Chilo_ got ashore outside, and has parted
amidships; about 100 piculs copper cash have been saved from her cargo.The steamer _Syce_ is ashore in the inner harbour, but without damage.A
good many junks and boats have capsized or been dismasted, and a great
many lives lost.The appearance of the Praia Grande after the typhoon was
really astonishing.We had a very short notice or indication of a typhoon.On Saturday night the wind commenced to blow from N.E., but not before
Sunday morning, about a quarter past four, did the barometer go down, and
it stood at 8 A.M.it was
blowing hardest from S.W., and caused the greatest damage.'"_The following reprint (by permission) from the columns of the
"Spectator" of 11th Oct.and 25th Oct., 1862, conveys so
accurate an idea of the achievements of the gallant and lamented
Burke and Wills, and of the mismanagement that led to their
disastrous fate, that no apology is needed for inserting it
here._
THE AUSTRALIAN EXPLORING EXPEDITION OF 1860.[159]
(_Spectator, 11th and 25th Oct., 1862._)
"Those who are interested--and who is not?--in the history of the latest
and most successful of Australian exploring expeditions will find the
principal materials requisite for the satisfaction of their curiosity in
the small volume now before us.The special interest attaching to this
particular expedition lies in the striking contrast which it presents
between the perfect success of its leaders and their melancholy end.Having accomplished their arduous task of traversing the Australian
continent from south to north, Messrs.Burke and Wills returned to their
starting-point, only to find that the depot which they had established
there had been abandoned by their companions less than twelve hours before
their arrival.Utterly broken down by privation and fatigue, and
disappointed of the succour on which they had confidently relied, they
were unable to traverse the comparatively trifling distance which
separated them from the settled districts, and, after some weeks of
hopeless wandering, they were literally starved to death when almost
within sight of aid.The story of these few weeks, as contained in the
scanty records left by Messrs.Burke and Wills, and in the statement made
by their sole surviving companion, is one of the most touching narratives
of human fortitude that we have ever met with.The feeling of sympathy,
almost painful in its intensity, which it necessarily excites, is
immediately followed by a desire to ascertain the precise quarter in
which the gross neglect which alone could have rendered such a
catastrophe possible can justly be charged.It is to this point that we
propose mainly to direct the remarks which we have to make on Mr.Mary went to the bedroom.Jackson's volume; and we shall recapitulate the history of the expedition
only so far as is absolutely necessary to render our observations
generally intelligible."The exploring party left Melbourne on August 20, 1860.It was accompanied
by a number of camels, which had been imported for the purpose, on the
supposition that these animals would be peculiarly fitted to bear the
privations incidental to such a journey.Landells, who had charge of the camels, was
second in command; and the third officer was Mr.William John Wills, who
also acted as astronomical and meteorological observer to the expedition.On September 23 they reached Menindie, on the Darling river, about 400
miles from Melbourne.Landells, in consequence of some
disagreement with Mr.Burke, resigned his post; and Dr.Beckler, the
medical officer to the expedition, declined to go any further.Hereupon
Burke appointed Wills in Landells' place, and divided his party, leaving
one section at Menindie, in charge of Beckler, while he, with Wills and
six others, pushed on, on October 19, for Cooper's Creek, about 400 miles
further north, under the guidance of one Wright, a man acquainted with the
country, whom he met with on the spot.On October 31, when about half-way
between Menindie and Cooper's Creek, Burke appointed Wright third officer,
and sent him back to the Darling, with instructions to bring up the
remainder of the party and stores to Cooper's Creek without delay.He then
pushed on, and reached the Creek on November 11.He remained here about a
month, and then again divided his party.Three men, six camels, and twelve
horses were left at the depot on the Creek, under the command of Mr.Brahe, whose instructions were to remain till Burke's return, or until he
was forced to retreat by want of provisions.Burke started on December 16,
taking with him Wills, King, and Gray, six camels, one horse, and
provisions for three months, which was the time he expected to be absent;
but he told Brahe that he might be away four months, or even more.On
February 11, 1861, he reached a point only a few miles from the shore of
the Gulf of Carpentaria, and thus accomplished his mission of entirely
crossing the Australian Continent from south to north.He at once retraced
his steps, and arrived at the depot in Cooper's Creek on April 21,
accompanied by Wills and King, Gray having died a few days before.They
found that Brahe had quitted his post that very morning, and started for
the Darling, leaving some provisions buried at the foot of a tree, on
which he had cut an inscription indicating the fact.The exhausted
explorers debated what they had best do.Wills and King wished to make for
Menindie; but Burke, thinking that, weak as they were, it was hopeless to
try to overtake Brahe, decided to push for the nearest settled districts
of South Australia, distant about 150 miles.This they did on April 23,
having left a note in Brahe's _cache_, but without adding anything to his
inscription on the tree, or leaving any distinct intimation that they had
ever been there.They were
so weak that they could not advance more than five or six miles a day;
their camels knocked up, their provisions ran short; and, finally, Burke
died on July 1st, Wills having succumbed a day or two earlier.King, the
sole survivor, fell in with the natives, who treated him kindly; and he
was rescued on September 15th by a party sent from Melbourne in search of
him, under the guidance of Mr.Wright, and see how he carried out the
instructions given him by his chief.Burke, as we have already said,
sent him back to Menindie on October 31, 1860; and he reached that place
on November 5.Here, in the teeth of Burke's orders to bring the rest of
the party on to Cooper's Creek _without delay_, he remained inactive until
January 26, 1861, when he appears to have moved northward.He never,
however, got further than Bullo, a place about sixty miles south of
Cooper's Creek, where Mr.Brahe fell in with him on April 29, and at once
placed himself under his orders.Two days later Wright left Bullo, and
moved a few miles further south, "not seeing the utility of pushing on the
depot to Cooper's Creek for the purpose of remaining there the few weeks
their stores would last."On May 3, at Brahe's suggestion, Wright and he
returned to the depot on Cooper's Creek, taking no stores with them.They
remained there a quarter of an hour, did not examine the _cache_, and
then, seeing no signs of Burke having been there, rejoined the rest of
their party, and made their way back to the Darling, whence Brahe at once
proceeded to Melbourne.On hearing his report, the Exploration Committee
lost no time in despatching the relief party, under Mr.Daniel moved to the hallway.Howitt, which, as
we have already said, discovered King in the following September."After the foregoing brief summary of the facts of the case, the reader
will probably have but little difficulty in coming to the conclusion that
the death of Messrs.Burke and Wills was, in great measure, owing to Mr.Wright's having so unaccountably neglected to obey the distinct
instructions of his chief.Jackson, indeed, holds that no one but
Wright was at all to blame in the matter.Nay, he even goes so far as to
accuse Wright of having wilfully and deliberately left the leaders of the
expedition to a fate which he must have known would be the natural result
of his inaction.'Can any reasonable person,' he asks, 'doubt that Wright
knew perfectly well the exact nature of his instructions, and foresaw the
disastrous consequences almost certain to ensue should they be
disregarded.'This very serious charge is based upon a passage in a
despatch from Mr.Wright to the Exploration Committee at Melbourne, dated
Dec.19th, in which he says:--'As I have every reason to believe that Mr.Burke has pushed on from Cooper's Creek, relying upon finding the depot
stores at that water-course upon his return, there is room for the most
serious apprehensions as to the safety of himself and party, should he
find that he has miscalculated.' |
bathroom | Where is Sandra? | This passage seems at least to prove that
Wright had fully comprehended both the meaning and the object of the
instructions he had received, _to return to Menindie, and bring up the
stores as rapidly as possible to Cooper's Creek_.In the teeth of these
positive orders he remained at Menindie no less than eighty-two days, from
Nov.26th, 1861, doing literally nothing at all.There
was, as far as we can see, nothing to prevent him from reaching Cooper's
Creek with a portion of the stores before the end of 1860.The distance
from Menindie to the Creek is about 400 miles, and Mr.Burke had traversed
it without difficulty in twenty-three days.When Burke left Cooper's Creek
on December 16th, he was in daily expectation of Wright's arrival.Had
this reasonable expectation been fulfilled, there would then have been no
reason why Brahe should not have remained at the depot for six months, or
even a longer time.Wright appears to have spent a considerable portion of
the time which he wasted at Menindie in making trips to see his wife and
family, who were at a station about twenty-one miles off, being troubled
with fears that they would not get safely and comfortably to Adelaide,
whither he wished to send them.The explanation by which he subsequently
endeavoured to account for his delay was anything but satisfactory.In the
despatch already referred to, dated Dec.29th, he alleged that he 'delayed
starting merely because the camels left behind by Mr.Brahe were too few
in number, and too inferior in carrying powers, to carry out a really
serviceable quantity of provisions.'When, however, he was examined by the
Commissioners appointed to inquire into the affair, he stated that he
remained at Menindie because he was waiting for the confirmation of his
appointment as third officer.When pressed to reconcile these two
statements, and reminded that, unless he could do so satisfactorily, he
'stood in an awkward position before the Commission,' he made no reply.When at last he did set out from Menindie, we have seen that he advanced
no further than Bullo, where he was joined by Brahe on April 29th.In
explanation of this circumstance, he urges that Burke had left Menindie at
a favourable season, when water was abundant; while when he started the
advance of summer had dried up all the water-courses, and the ravages of
scurvy had reduced the effective strength of his party to an alarming
extent.Sandra travelled to the office.This statement is, no doubt, substantially true; but we need
hardly observe that it rather aggravates than extenuates his offence.Since he was well acquainted with the country, and knew that the advance
of summer would immensely increase the difficulty of traversing it, he is
all the more inexcusable for not having attempted the journey before the
hot weather set in.When, after having been joined by Brahe, he paid a
final visit to Cooper's Creek, the careless manner in which he conducted
the search almost drives us to the conclusion that he was completely
indifferent to its result.It was at Brahe's suggestion that he went back
at all.Then though both he and Brahe were mounted, and were accompanied
by a spare pack-horse, he did not, although the contingency of finding
Burke's party was the sole object of his journey, attempt to provide for
it by taking with him any stores of any kind.On reaching the depot, he
stayed there only a quarter of an hour, and then, having failed in that
time to discover any trace of Burke's party, at once turned his back on
the Creek.It is scarcely possible to imagine how, under such
circumstances, he could have omitted to examine the _cache_ made by Brahe
a few days before, in which case he would have discovered that Burke's
party had returned to the Creek, and would have learnt the direction in
which they had gone.When questioned on this point by the Commissioners,
he replied that he had noticed traces of natives about the place, and
feared that if he disturbed the ground where the stores were hid they
would see that something was buried there, and would plunder the _cache_.He 'had not the presence of mind,' he went on, to add any mark of his own
to the inscription which Brahe had cut upon the tree.He seems, in fact,
to have been thoroughly sick of the whole business, and to have thought of
nothing but getting back to the settled districts with all possible speed."We must now inquire what amount of blame can be fairly attached to Mr.Brahe, whose departure from Cooper's Creek was the immediate cause of the
melancholy end of Messrs.Sandra went to the bathroom.He appears to have received
instructions to remain at the Creek until the return of Burke's party, or,
at any rate, until the failure of his provisions obliged him to retreat.Burke fixed three months as the probable duration of his absence; but
Wills seems to have impressed upon Brahe that it was quite possible they
might have been away for at least four months.Brahe did actually remain
there more than four months--from December 16th to April 21st;--but he
left before he was absolutely compelled to do so.Even supposing him not
to have overrated the supply of provisions necessary to carry his party
back to the Darling, he could clearly have remained until he had consumed
the stores which he left behind him at the Creek.But we must not forget
that he was placed in a very difficult position.One of his companions was
dangerously ill, and had for some time beset him with entreaties to return
to Menindie; and all his party seem to have thought it very doubtful
whether Burke would return that way at all.In Brahe's diary, on April
18th, we find the entry, 'There is no probability of Mr.Here the observation suggests itself that, had this been his
real conviction, there was no occasion for him to deprive himself of the
stores which he left behind him.Jackson points out that the letter
left by Brahe in the _cache_ at the Creek did not give a true account of
the condition of his party.In it Brahe said that they were all quite
well except one, and that the camels and horses were in good working
condition.It was this intelligence which induced Burke to decide to make
a push for South Australia.Had he known that Brahe's party, both men and
beasts, were really in a weak and exhausted state, as the slowness of
their rate of progression appears to prove, he would probably have decided
to follow in their track.Since Brahe was under Wright's command at the
time of their final return to Cooper's Creek, the lamentable carelessness
which, as we have already said, was displayed on that occasion, cannot
fairly be laid to his charge.It is almost impossible for us, with the
full knowledge of all the circumstances which we now possess, not to allow
our judgment to be influenced by the fact that, if Brahe had postponed his
departure for a few hours only, the melancholy catastrophe would not have
occurred.If, however, we wish to judge him fairly, we must not forget
that this is a fact of which, at the time of his departure, he was
necessarily ignorant.On the whole, we are inclined to agree with the
verdict pronounced in his case by the Commissioners who were appointed to
inquire into the affair.'His decision,' they say, 'was most unfortunate;
but we believe he acted from a conscientious desire to discharge his duty,
and we are confident that the painful reflection that twenty-four hours'
further perseverance would have made him the rescuer of the explorers, and
gained for himself the praise and approbation of all, must be of itself an
agonizing thought, without the addition of censure he might feel himself
undeserving of.'"We have now to inquire into the manner in which Mr.Burke discharged his
duties as leader of the expedition, with a view of ascertaining whether
its melancholy termination can, in any degree, be traced to any fault,
whether of omission or of commission, on his part.If we are willing to
submit ourselves absolutely to Mr.Jackson's guidance, we may, indeed,
spare ourselves this trouble; for he asserts most distinctly that Mr.Burke invariably did what was best under existing circumstances, and that
he never neglected any precaution which could tend in any way to bring his
undertaking to a successful issue.Jackson
comes forward as the avowed advocate of Mr.Burke; and, while we are not
one whit behind him in enthusiastic admiration for the energy and
self-devotion displayed by his hero, we must not allow our respect for
these qualities to blind us to any defects which we think we can detect in
the conduct of the expedition.The report of the Commission, appointed by
the Victorian Government to inquire into the circumstances connected with
the death of Burke and Wills, finds fault with Burke on several points,
which we will proceed to consider in detail.In the first place, it
pronounces that Burke acted'most injudiciously' in dividing his party at
Menindie.We are not sure that we can entirely concur in this verdict.We
do not see any evidence that Burke intended the depot at Menindie to be a
permanent one.On the contrary, it seems clear that he intended it to have
been transferred bodily to Cooper's Creek.On his arrival at Menindie, Dr.Beckler's refusal to proceed further placed him in an awkward position.As
Beckler had no objection to remain at Menindie, Burke resolved to make his
services available as far as possible, and left him there with a section
of the party in charge of the heavier stores, while he himself pushed on
towards Cooper's Creek under the guidance of Mr.The division of
the party did not in any way <DW44> or imperil Burke's arrival at Cooper's
Creek; and he seems to have looked forward to the union of all his forces
at that place before he proceeded further.As soon as he was convinced
that Wright was worthy of confidence, he appointed him third officer of
the expedition, and sent him back to bring the remainder of the party to
Cooper's Creek without delay, at the same time accepting Beckler's
resignation, and relieving him from any further charge.We cannot
therefore see that the division of the party at Menindie was directly
productive of any evil consequences, nor would any harm have resulted from
it, but for Wright's flagrant neglect of the instructions of his chief.In
the next place, the report pronounces that 'it was an error of judgment on
the part of Mr.Wright to an important command in the
expedition, without a previous personal knowledge of him.'Mary went to the bedroom.On this point
we think there is good ground for the censure of the Commission.That
Burke was, as it were, driven into a corner by the resignation of Landells
and Beckler is quite true; but it is difficult to imagine that he should
not have been able (supposing him to possess any insight into character at
all) to detect, during the time that he and Wright were together, some
indication of the gross incompetence which the latter subsequently
displayed.Jackson endeavours to shift the blame from Mr.Burke's
shoulders to those of the Exploration Committee, by observing that the
Committee knew of Wright's appointment by Dec.3, and so had plenty of
time, if they had had any objection to him, to replace him by some one
else.What objection could the Committee possibly have to a man whose name
they had never heard before that moment?Clearly they are not to blame for
relying upon the judgment of the leader whom they had selected, and
confirming his appointment of a man who he assured them 'was well
qualified for the post, and bore the very highest character.'Whatever
blame may attach to the selection of Mr.Wright for a post of trust must
rest entirely upon Mr.Burke for finally departing from Cooper's Creek before the arrival of the
depot party from Menindie, and for undertaking so extended a journey with
an insufficient supply of provisions.On both these points there is
something to be said in Mr.As regards the first, his
conduct was the natural result of his misplaced confidence in Wright,
combined with the consideration that the success of his journey depended
in great measure upon the rapidity with which it was prosecuted.With
respect to the second, we must remember that on an expedition of this
kind, when the carrying power is limited, and every ounce of weight has to
be considered, it is almost as important to exclude everything that is
superfluous as it is to leave behind nothing that is strictly necessary.Burke was guilty of an error in
judgment, in underrating the time which the journey from Cooper's Creek to
Carpentaria was likely to require.Daniel moved to the hallway.Finally, the Commissioners draw
attention to the fact that it does not appear that Burke kept any regular
journal, or that he gave written instructions to his officers.'Had he,'
they observe on this point--and we fully concur in their
remark--'performed these essential portions of the duties of a leader,
many of the calamities of the expedition might have been averted, and
little or no room would have been left for doubt in judging of the conduct
of those subordinates, who pleaded unsatisfactory and contradictory verbal
orders and statements.'"We are unable, the reader will perceive, to concur in Mr.Jackson's
repeatedly expressed opinion, that there are no grounds whatever for any
of the censures which the Commissioners found it their duty to pronounce
on some points connected with Mr.The fact is, that after a careful consideration of all the circumstances
of the case, we incline to the conclusion that Mr.Burke did not possess
the qualifications necessary for the successful leadership of such an
enterprise; and that, consequently, some blame must rest with the
Exploration Committee, who selected a comparatively unfit person for a
position of such responsibility and importance.We appreciate and admire,
as enthusiastically as Mr.John went to the garden.Jackson himself can possibly do, the courage
and self-devotion displayed by Mr.Burke; but we cannot forget that
gallantry and daring are not the only qualities required in the leader of
an exploring expedition through an unknown and difficult country.The
choice of the Committee was, we believe, mainly dictated by the
consideration that Mr.John travelled to the office.Burke had, while employed in the police-force of
the colony, shown himself to be possessed of a considerable talent for
organization, and of no little aptitude for command.Gustavus and the Winter-King were
his Brothers-in-law; Gustavus wedded to his Sister, he to Winter-King's.His relations to Poland, feudal superior of Preussen, were delicate; and
Gustavus was in deadly quarrel with Poland.And then Gustavus's sudden
laying-hold of Pommern, which had just escaped from Wallenstein and
the Kaiser?It must be granted, poor George Wilhelm's case demanded
circumspectness.One can forgive him for declining the Bohemian-King speculation, though
his Uncle of Jagerndorf and his Cousins of Liegnitz were so hearty
and forward in it.Pardonable in him to decline the Bohemian
speculation;--though surely it is very sad that he found himself so
short of "butter and firewood" when the poor Ex-King, and his young
Wife, then in a specially interesting state, came to take shelter with
him![Solltl _(Geschichte des Dreissigjahrigen Krieges,_--a trivial
modern Book) gives a notable memorial from the Brandenburg RATHS,
concerning these their difficulties of housekeeping.Their real object,
we perceive, was to get rid of a Guest so dangerous as the Ex-King,
under Ban of the Empire, had now become.]But when Gustavus landed, and
flung out upon the winds such a banner as that of his,--truly it was
required of a Protestant Governor of men to be able to read said
banner in a certain degree.A Governor, not too IMperfect, would have
recognized this Gustavus, what his purposes and likelihoods were; the
feeling would have been, checked by due circumspectness: "Up, my men,
let us follow this man; let us live and die in the Cause this man goes
for!Live otherwise with honor, or die otherwise with honor, we
cannot, in the pass things have come to!"--And thus, at the very worst,
Brandenburg would have had only one class of enemies to ravage it; and
might have escaped with, arithmetically speaking, HALF the harrying it
got in that long Business.But Protestant Germany--sad shame to it, which proved lasting sorrow
as well--was all alike torpid; Brandenburg not an exceptional case.No Prince stood up as beseemed: or only one, and he not a great one;
Landg |
office | Where is John? | Wilhelm of Hessen all along;--and a few
wild hands, Christian of Brunswick, Christian of Anhalt, Johann George
of Jagerndorf, who stormed out tumultuously at first, but were
soon blown away by the Tilly-Wallenstein TRADE-WINDS and regulated
armaments:--the rest sat still, and tried all they could to keep out of
harm's way.The "Evangelical Union" did a great deal of manifestoing,
pathetic, indignant and other; held solemn Meetings at Heilbronn, old
Sir Henry Wotton going as Ambassador to them; but never got any redress.Had the Evangelical Union shut up its inkhorns sooner; girt on its
fighting-tools when the time came, and done some little execution with
them then, instead of none at all,--we may fancy the Evangelical Union
would have better discharged its function.It might have saved immense
wretchedness to Germany.In fact, had there been no better Protestantism than that of Germany,
all was over with Protestantism; and Max of Bavaria, with fanatical
Ferdinand II.Sandra travelled to the office.as Kaiser over him, and Father Lammerlein at his right
hand and Father Hyacinth at his left, had got their own sweet way in
this world.But Protestant Germany was not Protestant Europe, after
all.Over seas there dwelt and reigned a certain King in Sweden; there
farmed, and walked musing by the shores of the Ouse in Huntingdonshire,
a certain man;--there was a Gustav Adolf over seas, an Oliver Cromwell
over seas; and "a company of poor men" were found capable of taking
Lucifer by the beard,--who accordingly, with his Lammerleins, Hyacinths,
Habernfeldts and others, was forced to withdraw, after a tough
struggle!--
Chapter XVI.-- THIRTY-YEARS WAR.The enormous Thirty-Years War, most intricate of modern Occurrences in
the domain of Dryasdust, divides itself, after some unravelling, into
Three principal Acts or Epochs; in all of which, one after the other,
our Kurfurst had an interest mounting progressively, but continuing to
be a passive interest.Act FIRST goes from 1620 to 1624; and might be entitled "The Bohemian
King Made and Demolished."Personally the Bohemian King was soon
demolished.His Kingship may be said to have gone off by explosion;
by one Fight, namely, done on the Weissenberg near Prag (Sunday, 8th
November, 1620), while he sat at dinner in the City, the boom of the
cannon coming in with interest upon his high guests and him.He had
to run, in hot haste, that night, leaving many of his important
papers,--and becomes a Winter-King.Winter-King's account was soon
settled.But the extirpating of his Adherents, and capturing of his
Hereditary Lands, Palatinate and Upper-Palatinate, took three years
more.Hard fighting for the Palatinate; Tilly and Company against the
"Evangelical-Union Troops, and the English under Sir Horace Vere."Evangelical-Union Troops, though marching about there, under an Uncle of
our Kurfurst (Margraf Joachim Ernst, that lucky Anspach Uncle, founder
of "the Line"), who professed some skill in soldiering, were a mere
Picture of an Army; would only "observe," and would not fight at all.So that the whole fighting fell to Sir Horace and his poor handful of
English; of whose grim posture "in Frankendale" [Frankenthal, a little
Town in the Palatinate, N.W.and other
Strongholds, for months long, there is talk enough in the old English
History-Books.Then there were certain stern War-Captains, who rallied from the
Weissenberg Defeat:--Christian of Brunswick, the chief of them, titular
Bishop of Halberstadt, a high-flown, fiery young fellow, of terrible
fighting gifts; he flamed up considerably, with "the Queen of Bohemia's
glove stuck in his Hat:" "Bright Lady, it shall stick there, till I get
you your own again, or die!"[1621-1623, age not yet twenty-five; died
(by poison), 1626, having again become supremely important just then._"Gottes Freund, der Pfaffen Feind_ (God's Friend, Priests' Foe);"
_"Alles fur Ruhm und Ihr (All for Glory and Her,"_--the bright Elizabeth,
become Ex-Queen), were mottoes of his.--Buddaus IN VOCE (i.Christian of Brunswick, George of Jagerndorf (our
Kurfurst's Uncle), Count Mansfeldt and others, made stormy fight once
and again, hanging upon this central "Frankendale" Business, till they
and it became hopeless.For the Kaiser and his Jesuits were not in
doubt; a Kaiser very proud, unscrupulous; now clearly superior in
force,--and all along of great superiority in fraud.Christian of Brunswick, Johann George and Mansfeldt were got rid
of: Christian by poison; Johann George and Mansfeldt by other
methods,--chiefly by playing upon poor King James of England, and
leading him by the long nose he was found to have.The Palatinate became
the Kaiser's for the time being; Upper Palatinate (OBER-PFALZ) Duke Max
of Bavaria, lying contiguous to it, had easily taken."Incorporate
the Ober-Pfalz with your Bavaria," said the Kaiser, "you, illustrious,
thrice-serviceable Max!And let Lammerlein and Hyacinth, with their
Gospel of Ignatius, loose upon it.Nay, as a still richer reward,
be yours the forfeited KUR (Electorship) of this mad Kur-Pfalz,
or Winter-King.Sandra went to the bathroom.I will hold his Rhine-Lands, his UNTER-PFALZ: his
Electorship and OBER-PFALZ, I say, are yours, Duke, henceforth KURFURST
Maximilian!"[Kohler, _Reichs-Historie,_ p.Which was a hard
saying in the ears of Brandenburg, Saxony and the other Five, and of
the Reich in general; but they had all to comply, after wincing.For the
Kaiser proceeded with a high hand.He had put the Ex-King under Ban of
the Empire (never asking "the Empire" about it); put his Three principal
Adherents, Johann George of Jagerndorf one of them, Prince Christian of
Anhalt (once captain at the Siege of Juliers) another, likewise under
Ban of the Empire; [22d Jan.and in short had
flung about, and was flinging, his thunder-bolts in a very Olympian
manner.Under all which, what could Brandenburg and the others do; but
whimper some trembling protest, "Clear against Law!"The Evangelical Union did not now any more than formerly draw out its
fighting-tools.Mary went to the bedroom.In fact, the Evangelical Union now fairly dissolved
itself; melted into a deliquium of terror under these thunder-bolts that
were flying, and was no more heard of in the world.--
SECOND ACT, OR EPOCH, 1624-1629.A SECOND UNCLE PUT TO THE BAN, AND
POMMERN SNATCHED AWAY.Except in the "NETHER-SAXON CIRCLE" (distant Northwest region, with its
Hanover, Mecklenburg, with its rich Hamburgs, Lubecks, Magdeburgs, all
Protestant, and abutting on the Protestant North), trembling Germany lay
ridden over as the Kaiser willed.Foreign League got up by France, King
James, Christian IV.of Denmark (James's Brother-in-law, with whom he
had such "drinking" in Somerset House, long ago, on Christian's visit
hither [Old Histories of James I.)]), went to water, or
worse.Only the "Nether-Saxon Circle" showed some life; was levying an
army; and had appointed Christian of Brunswick its Captain, till he was
got poisoned;--upon which the drinking King of Denmark took the command.Act SECOND goes from 1624 to 1627 or even 1629; and contains drunken
Christian's Exploits.Which were unfortunate, almost to the ruin of
Denmark itself, as well as of the Nether-Saxon Circle;--till in the
latter of these years he slightly rallied, and got a supportable
Peace granted him (Peace of Lubeck, 1629); after which he sits quiet,
contemplative, with an evil eye upon Sweden now and then.The beatings
he got, in quite regular succession, from Tilly and Consorts, are
not worth mentioning: the only thing one now remembers of him is his
alarming accident on the ramparts of Hameln, just at the opening of
these Campaigns.At Hameln, which was to be a strong post, drunken
Christian rode out once, on a summer afternoon (1624), to see that the
ramparts were all right, or getting all right;--and tumbled, horse and
self (self in liquor, it is thought), in an ominous alarming manner.Taken up for dead;--nay some of the vague Histories seem to think he was
really dead:--but he lived to be often beaten after that, and had many
moist years more.Our Kurfurst had another Uncle put to the Ban in this Second
Act,--Christian Wilhelm Archbishop of Magdeburg, "for assisting
the Danish King;" nor was Ban all the ruin that fell on this poor
Archbishop.What could an unfortunate Kurfurst do, but tremble and
obey?There was still a worse smart got by our poor Kurfurst out of Act
Second; the glaring injustice done him in Pommern.Does the reader remember that scene in the High Church of Stettin a
hundred and fifty years ago?How the Burgermeister threw sword and
helmet into the grave of the last Duke of Pommern-Stettin there; and a
forward Citizen picked them out again in favor of a Collateral Branch?Never since, any more than then, could Brandenburg get Pommern according
to claim.Collateral Branch, in spite of Friedrich Ironteeth, in spite
even of Albert Achilles and some fighting of his; contrived, by pleading
at the Diets and stirring up noise, to maintain its pretensions: and
Treaties without end ensued, as usual; Treaties refreshed and new-signed
by every Successor of Albert, to a wearisome degree.The sum of which
always was: "Pommern does actual homage to Brandenburg; vassal of
Brandenburg;--and falls home to it, if the now Extant Line go extinct."Daniel moved to the hallway.Nay there is an ERBVERBRUDERUNG (Heritage-Fraternity) over and above,
established this long time, and wearisomely renewed at every new
Accession.Hundreds of Treaties, oppressive to think of:--and now the
last Duke, old Bogislaus, is here, without hope of children; and the
fruit of all that haggling, actual Pommern to wit, will at last fall
home?John went to the garden.For the Kaiser having so triumphantly swept off the Winter-King, and
Christian IV.in the rear of him, and got Germany ready for converting
to Orthodoxy,--wished now to have some hold of the Seaboard, thereby
to punish Denmark; nay thereby, as is hoped, to extend the blessings of
Orthodoxy into England, Sweden, Holland, and the other Heretic States,
in due time.This is the Kaiser's fixed wish,
rising to the rank of hope now and then: all Europe shall become <DW7>
again by the help of God and the Devil.So the Kaiser, on hardly any
pretext, seized Mecklenburg from the Proprietors,--"Traitors, how durst
you join Danish Christian?"Duke of
Mecklenburg, "Admiral of the EAST SEA (Baltic);" and set to
"building ships of war in Rostock,"--his plans going far.[Kohler,
_Reichs-Historie,_ pp, 524, 525.]John travelled to the office.This done, he seized Pommern, which
also is a fine Sea-country,--stirring up Max of Bavaria to make
some idle pretence to Pommern, that so the Kaiser might seize it "in
sequestration till decided on."Under which hard treatment, George
Wilhelm had to sit sad and silent,--though the Stralsunders would not.Hence the world-famous Siege of Stralsund (1628); fierce Wallenstein
declaring, "I will have the Town, if it hung by a chain from Heaven;"
but finding he could not get it; owing to the Swedish succor, to the
stubborn temper prevalent among the Townsfolk, and also greatly to the
rains and peat-bogs.A second Uncle of George Wilhelm's, that unlucky Archbishop of Magdeburg
above mentioned, the Kaiser, once more by his own arbitrary will, put
under Ban of the Empire, in this Second Act: "Traitor, how durst you
join with the Danes?"The result of which was Tilly's Sack of Magdeburg
(10-12th May, 1631), a transaction never forgettable by mankind.--As
for Pommern, Gustav Adolf, on his intervening in these matters, landed
there: Pommern was now seized by Gustav Adolf, as a landing-place and
place-of-arms, indispensable for Sweden in the present emergency; and
was so held thenceforth.Pommern will not fall to George Wilhelm at this
time.THIRD ACT, AND WHAT THE KURFURST SUFFERED IN IT.And now we are at Act THIRD:--Landing of Gustav Adolf "in the Isle of
Usedom, 24th June, 1630," and onward for Eighteen Years till the Peace
of Westphalia, in 1648;--on which, as probably better known to the
reader, we will not here go into details.In this Third Act too, George
Wilhelm followed his old scheme, peace at any price;--as shy of Gustav
as he had been of other Champions of the Cause; and except complaining,
petitioning and manifestoing, studiously did nothing.Poor man, it was his fate to stand in the range of these huge
collisions,--Bridge of Dessau, Siege of Stralsund, Sack of Magdeburg,
Battle of Leipzig,--where the Titans were bowling rocks at one another;
and he hoped, by dexterous skipping, to escape share of the game.Daniel journeyed to the bedroom.To keep well with his Kaiser,--and such a Kaiser to Germany and to
him,--this, for George Wilhelm, was always the first commandment.If the
Kaiser confiscate your Uncles, against law; seize your Pommern; rob you
on the public highways,--George Wilhelm, even in such case, is full of
dubitations.Nay his Prime-Minister, one Schwartzenberg, a Catholic,
an Austrian Official at one time,--Progenitor of the Austrian
Schwartzenbergs that now are,--was secretly in the Kaiser's interest,
and is even thought to have been in the Kaiser's pay, all along.Gustav, at his first landing, had seized Pommern, and swept it clear
of Austrians, for himself and for his own wants; not too regardful of
George Wilhelm's claims on it.He cleared out Frankfurt-on-Oder, Custrin
and other Brandenburg Towns, in a similar manner,--by cannon and
storm, when needful;--drove the Imperialists and Tilly forth of these
countries.Advancing, next year, to save Magdeburg, now shrieking under
Tilly's bombardment, Gustav insisted on having, if not some bond of
union from his Brother-in-law of Brandenburg, at least the temporary
cession of two Places of War for himself, Spandau and Custrin,
indispensable in any farther operation.Which cession Kurfurst George
Wilhelm, though giving all his prayers to the Good Cause, could by
no means grant.Daniel travelled to the hallway.Gustav had to insist, with more and more emphasis;
advancing at last, with military menace, upon Berlin itself.He was met
by George Wilhelm and his Council, "in the woods of Copenick," short way
to the |
hallway | Where is Daniel? | [_OEvres de Frederic le Grand_ (Berlin, 1846-1856 et seqq.:
_Memoires de Brandebourg_), i.For the rest, Friedrich's Account of
the Transaction is very loose and scanty: see Pauli (iv.For many hours so; round the inflexible Gustav,--who
was there like a fixed milestone, and to all questions and comers had
only one answer!--_"Que faire; ils ont des canons?Sandra travelled to the office."_ This was the
3d May, 1631.This probably is about the nadir-point of the
Brandenburg-Hohenzollern History.The little Friedrich, who became
Frederick the Great, in writing of it, has a certain grim banter in
his tone; and looks rather with mockery on the perplexities of his poor
Ancestor, so fatally ignorant of the time of day it had now become.On the whole, George Wilhelm did what is to be called nothing, in the
Thirty-Years War; his function was only that of suffering.He followed
always the bad lead of Johann George, Elector of Saxony; a man of no
strength, devoutness or adequate human worth; who proved, on these
negative grounds, and without flagrancy of positive badness, an
unspeakable curse to Germany.Not till the Kaiser fulminated forth his
Restitution-Edict, and showed he was in earnest about it (1629-1631),
"Restore to our Holy Church what you have taken from her since the
Peace of Passau!"--could this Johann George prevail upon himself to join
Sweden, or even to do other than hate it for reasons he saw.Seized by
the throat in this manner, and ordered to DELIVER, Kur-Sachsen did, and
Brandenburg along with him, make Treaty with the Swede.[8th February,
1631 (Kohler, _Reichs-Historie,_ pp.in consequence of which
they two, some months after, by way of co-operating with Gustav on
his great march Vienna-ward, sent an invading force into Bohemia,
Brandenburg contributing some poor 3,000 to it; who took Prag, and some
other open Towns; but "did almost nothing there," say the Histories,
"except dine and drink."It is clear enough they were instantly
scattered home [October, 1633 (Stenzel, i.Sandra went to the bathroom.at the first glimpse
of Wallenstein dawning on the horizon again in those parts.Gustav having vanished (Field of Lutzen, 6th November, 1632 [Pauli,
iv.]), Oxenstiern, with his high attitude, and "Presidency" of the
"Union of Heilbronn," was rather an offence to Kur-Sachsen, who used to
be foremost man on such occasions.Kur-Sachsen broke away again; made
his Peace of Prag, [1635, 20th May (Stenzel, i.Mary went to the bedroom.whom Brandenburg
again followed; Brandenburg and gradually all the others, except the
noble Wilhelm of Hessen-Cassel alone.Miserable Peace; bit of Chaos
clouted up, and done over with Official varnish;--which proved to be the
signal for continuing the War beyond visible limits, and rendering peace
impossible.After this, George Wilhelm retires from the scene; lives in Custrin
mainly; mere miserable days, which shall be invisible to us.He died in
1640; and, except producing an active brave Son very unlike himself, did
nothing considerable in the world._"Que faire; ils ont des canons!"_
Among the innumerable sanguinary tusslings of this War are counted Three
great Battles, Leipzig, Lutzen, Nordlingen.Under one great Captain,
Swedish Gustav, and the two or three other considerable Captains, who
appeared in it, high passages of furious valor, of fine strategy and
tactic, are on record.But on the whole, the grand weapon in it, and
towards the latter times the exclusive one, was Hunger.The opposing
Armies tried to starve one another; at lowest, tried each not to starve.Each trying to eat the country, or at any rate to leave nothing eatable
in it: what that will mean for the country, we may consider.As the
Armies too frequently, and the Kaiser's Armies habitually, lived without
commissariat, often enough without pay, all horrors of war and of being
a seat of war, that have been since heard of, are poor to those then
practised.The detail of which is still horrible to read.Germany, in
all eatable quarters of it, had to undergo the process;--tortured, torn
to pieces, wrecked, and brayed as in a mortar under the iron mace of
war.[Curious incidental details of the state it was reduced to, in the
Rhine and Danube Countries, turn up in the Earl of Arundel and Surrey's
TRAVELS ("Arundel of the Marbles") as _Ambassador Extraordinary to the
Emperor Ferdinando II.in 1636_ (a small Volume, or Pamphlet, London,
1637).]Brandenburg saw its towns sieged and sacked, its country
populations driven to despair, by the one party and the other.Three
times,--first in the Wallenstein Mecklenburg period, while fire and
sword were the weapons, and again, twice over, in the ultimate stages of
the struggle, when starvation had become the method--Brandenburg fell to
be the principal theatre of conflict, where all forms of the dismal
were at their height.In 1638, three years after that precious "Peace of
Prag," the Swedes (Banier VERSUS Gallas) starving out the Imperialists
in those Northwestern parts, the ravages of the starving Gallas and his
Imperialists excelled all precedent; and the "famine about Tangermunde
had risen so high that men ate human flesh, nay human creatures ate
their own children."Daniel moved to the hallway._"Que faire; ils ont des
canons!_"
Chapter XVII.-- DUCHY OF JAGERNDORF.This unfortunate George Wilhelm failed in getting Pommern when due;
Pommern, firmly held by the Swedes, was far from him.But that was not
the only loss of territory he had.Jagerndorf,--we have heard of Johann
George of Jagerndorf, Uncle of this George Wilhelm, how old Joachim
Friedrich put him into Jagerndorf, long since, when it fell home to
the Electoral House.Jagerndorf is now lost; Johann George is under
REICHS-ACHT (Ban of Empire), ever since the Winter-King's explosion, and
the thunder-bolts that followed; and wanders landless;--nay he is long
since dead, and has six feet of earth for a territory, far away in
Transylvania, or the RIESEN-GEBIRGE (Giant Mountains) somewhere.DUKE OF JAGERNDORF, ELECTOR'S UNCLE, IS PUT UNDER BAN.Johann George, a frank-hearted valiant man, concerning whom only good
actions, and no bad one, are on record, had notable troubles in the
world; bad troubles to begin with, and worse to end in.He was second
Son of Kurfurst Joachim Friedrich, who had meant him for the Church.[1577-1624: Rentsch, p.John went to the garden.The young fellow was Coadjutor of
Strasburg, almost from the time of getting into short-clothes.He
was then, still very young, elected Bishop there (1592); Bishop of
Strasburg,--but only by the Protestant part of the Canons; the Catholic
part, unable to submit longer, and thinking it a good time for revolt
against a Protestant population and obstinately heterodox majority,
elected another Bishop,--one "Karl of the House of Lorraine;" and there
came to be dispute, and came even to be fighting needed.Fighting;
which prudent Papa would not enter into, except faintly at second-hand,
through the Anspach Cousins, or others that were in the humor.John travelled to the office.Troublesome times for the young man; which lasted a dozen years or
more.At last a Bargain was made (1604); Protestant and Catholic Canons
splitting the difference in some way; and the House of Lorraine
paying Johann George a great deal of money to go home again.[_OEuvres completes de Voltaire,_ 97 vols.(Paris, 1825-1832),
xxxiii.284.--Kohler (_Reichs-Historie,_ p.Daniel journeyed to the bedroom.487) gives the authentic
particulars.]Poor Johann George came out of it in that way; not
second-best, think several.He was then (1606) put into Jagerndorf, which had just fallen vacant;
our excellent fat friend, George Friedrich of Anspach, Administrator
of Preussen, having lately died, and left it vacant, as we saw.George
Friedrich's death yielded fine apanages, three of them in all: FIRST
Anspach, SECOND, Baireuth, and this THIRD of Jagerndorf for a still
younger Brother.There was still a fourth younger Brother, Uncle of
George Wilhelm; Archbishop of Magdeburg this one; who also, as we have
seen, got into REICHS-ACHT, into deep trouble in the Thirty-Years War.He was in Tilly's thrice-murderous Storm of Magdeburg (10th May, 1631);
was captured, tumbled about by the wild soldiery, and nearly killed
there.Poor man, with his mitre and rochets left in such a state!In
the end he even became CATHOLIC,--from conviction, as was evident, and
bewilderment of mind;--and lived in Austria on a pension; occasionally
publishing polemical pamphlets.[1587; 1628; 1665 (Rentsch, pp.--
As to Johann George, he much repaired and beautified the Castle of
Jagerndorf, says Rentsch: but he unfortunately went ahead into the
Winter-King's adventure; which, in that sad battle of the Weissenberg,
made total shipwreck of itself, drawing Johann George and much else
along with it.Johann George was straightway tyrannously put to the
Ban, forfeited of life and lands: [22d January, 1621 (Kohler,
_Reichs-Historie,_ p.518: and rectify Hubner, t.Johann George
disowned the said Ban; stood out fiercely for self and Winter-King; and
did good fighting in the Silesian strongholds and mountain-passes: but
was forced to seek temporary shelter in SIEBENBURGEN (Transylvania); and
died far away, in a year or two (1624), while returning to try it
again.Sleeps, I think, in the "Jablunka Pass;" the dumb Giant-Mountains
(RIESEN-GEBIRGE) shrouding up his sad shipwreck and him.Daniel travelled to the hallway.Jagerndorf was thus seized by Ferdinand II.of the House of Hapsburg;
and though it was contrary to all law that the Kaiser should keep
it,--poor Johann George having left Sons very innocent of treason, and
Brothers, and an Electoral.Nephew, very innocent,--to whom, by old
compacts and new, the Heritage in defect of him was to fall,--neither
Kaiser Ferdinand II.nor any Kaiser would let
go the hold; but kept Jagerndorf fast clenched, deaf to all pleadings,
and monitions of gods or men.Till at length, in the fourth generation
afterwards, one "Friedrich the Second," not unknown to us,--a sharp
little man, little in stature, but large in faculty and renown, who is
now called "Frederick the Great,"--clutched hold of the Imperial fist
(so to speak), seizing his opportunity in 1740; and so wrenched and
twisted said close fist, that not only Jagerndorf dropped out of it,
but the whole of Silesia along with Jagerndorf, there being other claims
withal.And the account was at last settled, with compound interest,--as
in fact such accounts are sure to be, one way or other.John went to the bedroom.And so we leave
Johann George among the dumb Giant-Mountains again.-- FRIEDRICH WILHELM, THE GREAT KURFURST, ELEVENTH OF THE
SERIES.John travelled to the office.Brandenburg had again sunk very low under the Tenth Elector, in the
unutterable troubles of the times.But it was gloriously raised up again
by his Son Friedrich Wilhelm, who succeeded in 1640.This is he whom
they call the "Great Elector (GROSSE KURFURST);" of whom there is much
writing and celebrating in Prussian Books.As for the epithet, it is not
uncommon among petty German populations, and many times does not mean
too much: thus Max of Bavaria, with his Jesuit Lambkins and Hyacinths,
is, by Bavarians, called "Maximilian the Great."Friedrich Wilhelm,
both by his intrinsic qualities and the success he met with, deserves it
better than most.His success, if we look where he started and where he
ended, was beyond that of any other man in his day.He found Brandenburg
annihilated, and he left Brandenburg sound and flourishing; a great
country, or already on the way towards greatness.Undoubtedly a most
rapid, clear-eyed, active man.There was a stroke in him swift as
lightning, well-aimed mostly, and of a respectable weight, withal; which
shattered asunder a whole world of impediments for him, by assiduous
repetition of it for fifty years.[1620; 1640; 1688.]There hardly ever came to sovereign power a young man of twenty under
more distressing, hopeless-looking circumstances.Political significance
Brandenburg had none; a mere Protestant appendage dragged about by a
<DW7> Kaiser.His Father's Prime-Minister, as we have seen, was in the
interest of his enemies; not Brandenburg's servant, but Austria's.The very Commandants of his Fortresses, Commandant of Spandau more
especially, refused to obey Friedrich Wilhelm, on his accession; "were
bound to obey the Kaiser in the first place."He had to proceed softly
as well as swiftly; with the most delicate hand to get him of Spandau by
the collar, and put him under lock-and-key, him as a warning to others.For twenty years past, Brandenburg had been scoured by hostile armies,
which, especially the Kaiser's part of which, committed outrages new
in human history.In a year or two hence, Brandenburg became again the
theatre of business; Austrian Gallas advancing thither again (1644),
with intent "to shut up Torstenson and his Swedes in Jutland," where
they had been chastising old Christian IV., now meddlesome again, for
the last time, and never a good neighbor to Sweden.Gallas could by
no means do what he intended: on the contrary, he had to run from
Torstenson, what feet could do; was hunted, he and his MERODE-BRUDER
(beautiful inventors of the "Marauding" Art), "till they pretty much all
died (CREPERTIN)," says Kohler.[_Reichs-Historie,_ p.No great loss to society, the death of these Artists: but we can
fancy what their life, and especially what the process of their dying,
may have cost poor Brandenburg again!--
Friedrich Wilhelm's aim, in this as in other emergencies, was sun-clear
to himself, but for most part dim to everybody else.He had to walk very
warily, Sweden on one hand of him, suspicious Kaiser on the other; he
had to wear semblances, to be ready with evasive words; and advance
noiselessly by many circuits.More delicate operation could not be
imagined.With extraordinary
talent, diligence and felicity the young man wound himself out of
this first fatal position: got those foreign Armies pushed out of his
Country, and kept them out.His first concern had been to find some
vestige of revenue, to put that upon a clear footing; and by loans or
otherwise to scrape a little ready money together. |
bathroom | Where is John? | On the strength of
which a small body of soldiers could be collected about him, and drilled
into real ability to fight and obey.This as a basis: on this followed
all manner of things: freedom from Swedish-Austrian invasions, as the
first thing.He was himself, as appeared by and by, a fighter of the first quality,
when it came to that: but never was willing to fight if he could help
it.Preferred rather to shift, manoeuvre and negotiate; which he did in
a most vigilant, adroit and masterly manner.But by degrees he had grown
to have, and could maintain it, an Army of 24,000 men: among the best
troops then in being.With or without his will, he was in all the great
Wars of his time,--the time of Louis XIV., who kindled Europe four times
over, thrice in our Kurfurst's day.The Kurfurst's Dominions, a long
straggling country, reaching from Memel to Wesel, could hardly keep out
of the way of any war that might rise.He made himself available, never
against the good cause of Protestantism and German Freedom, yet always
in the place and way where his own best advantage was to be had.had often much need of him: still oftener, and more pressingly, had
Kaiser Leopold, the little Gentleman "in scarlet stockings, with a red
feather in his hat," whom Mr.Savage used to see majestically walking
about, with Austrian lip that said nothing at all.[_A Compleat History
of Germany,_ by Mr.Savage (8vo, London, 1702), p.Prefixed to the volume is the Portrait
of a solid Gentleman of forty: gloomily polite, with ample wig and
cravat,--in all likelihood some studious subaltern Diplomatist in the
Succession War.His little Book is very lean and barren: but faithfully
compiled,--and might have some illumination in it, where utter darkness
is so prevalent.Most likely, Addison picked his story of the _Siege of
Weinsberg_ ("Women carrying out their Husbands on their back,"--one
of his best SPECTATORS) out of this poor Book.]His 24,000 excellent
fighting-men, thrown in at the right time, were often a thing that could
turn the balance in great questions.They required to be allowed for at
a high rate,--which he well knew how to adjust himself for exacting and
securing always.WHAT BECAME OF POMMERN AT THE PEACE; FINAL GLANCE INTO CLEVE-JULICH.When the Peace of Westphalia (1648) concluded that Thirty-Years
Conflagration, and swept the ashes of it into order again, Friedrich
Wilhelm's right to Pommern was admitted by everybody: and well insisted
on by himself: but right had to yield to reason of state, and he could
not get it.The Swedes insisted on their expenses: the Swedes held
Pommern, had all along held it,--in pawn, they said, for their expenses.Nothing for it but to give the Swedes the better half of Pommern.FORE-Pommern (so they call it, "Swedish Pomerania" thenceforth), which
lies next the Sea: this, with some Towns and cuttings over and above,
was Sweden's share: Friedrich Wilhelm had to put up with HINDER-Pommern,
docked furthermore of the Town of Stettin, and of other valuable
cuttings, in favor of Sweden.Much to Friedrich Wilhelm's grief and just
anger, could he have helped it.They gave him Three secularized Bishoprics, Magdeburg, Halberstadt,
Minden, with other small remnants, for compensation; and he had to be
content with these for the present.But he never gave up the idea
of Pommern: much of the effort of his life was spent upon recovering
Fore-Pommern: thrice-eager upon that, whenever lawful opportunity
offered.To no purpose then: he never could recover Swedish Pommern;
only his late descendants, and that by slowish degrees, could recover it
all.Readers remember that Burgermeister of Stettin, with the helmet and
sword flung into the grave and picked out again:--and can judge whether
Brandenburg got its good luck quite by lying in bed!--
Once, and once only, he had a voluntary purpose towards War, and
it remained a purpose only.Soon after the Peace of Westphalia,
old Pfalz-Neuburg, the same who got the slap on the face, went into
tyrannous proceedings against the Protestant part of his subjects
in Julich-Cleve: who called to Friedrich Wilhelm for help.Friedrich
Wilhelm, a zealous Protestant, made remonstrances, retaliations: ere
long the thought struck him, "Suppose, backed by the Dutch, we threw out
this fantastic old gentleman, his Papistries, and pretended claims and
self, clear out of it?"This was Friedrich Wilhelm's thought; and he
suddenly marched troops into the Territory, with that view.But Europe
was in alarm, the Dutch grew faint: Friedrich Wilhelm saw it would not
do.He had a conference with old Pfalz-Neuburg: "Young gentleman,
we remember how your Grandfather made free with us and our august
countenance!Nevertheless we--" In fine, the "statistic of Treaties" was
increased by One: and there the matter rested till calmer times.In 1666, as already said, an effective Partition of these litigated
Territories was accomplished: Prussia to have the Duchy of Cleve-Proper,
the Counties of Mark and Ravensburg, with other Patches and Pertinents:
Neuburg, what was the better share, to have Julich Duchy and Berg Duchy.Furthermore, if either of the Lines failed, in no sort was a collateral
to be admitted: but Brandenburg was to inherit Neuburg, or Neuburg
Brandenburg, as the case might be.A clear Bargain
this at last: and in the times that had come, it proved executable so
far.But if the reader fancies the Lawsuit was at last out in this way,
he will be a simple reader!In the days of our little Fritz, the Line
of Pfalz-Neuburg was evidently ending: but that Brandenburg and not a
collateral should succeed it, there lay the quarrel,--open still, as if
it had never been shut: and we shall hear enough about it!--
THE GREAT KURFURST'S WARS: WHAT HE ACHIEVED IN WAR AND PEACE.Friedrich Wilhelm's first actual appearance in War, Polish-Swedish War
(1655-1660), was involuntary in the highest degree: forced upon him for
the sake of his Preussen, which bade fair to be lost or ruined, without
blame of his or its.Nevertheless, here too he made his benefit of
the affair.The big King of Sweden had a standing quarrel with his big
Cousin of Poland, which broke out into hot War; little Preussen lay
between them, and was like to be crushed in the collision.Swedish King
was Karl Gustav, Christina's Cousin, Charles Twelfth's Grandfather; a
great and mighty man, lion of the North in his time: Polish King was
one John Casimir; chivalrous enough, and with clouds of forward Polish
chivalry about him, glittering with barbaric gold.Ralph wanted
to keep a clear slate, and here was a bad break, right at the
threshold of his new railroad career.All he thought of, however, were the delays, all he cared for at this
particular moment was to get back to the main tracks on his way for
Bridgeport, with a chance to make up lost time.A sudden vague
suspicion flashing through his mind added to his mental disquietude:
was there a plot to purposely <DW36> or delay his train, so that he
would be defeated in his efforts to make a record run?"What's this tangle, Fairbanks?"shouted out the conductor sharply, as
he arrived breathless and excited at the side of the cab.His name was Danforth, and he was a model employee of long experience,
always very neat and dressy in appearance and exact and systematic in
his work.Any break in routine nettled him, and he spoke quite
censuringly to the young engineer, whom, however, he liked greatly."Any damage?--I see," muttered the conductor, going forward a few
steps and surveying the scratched, bruised face of the locomotive."There's a gondola derailed and a derrick smashed where we struck,"
reported Ralph."I acted on my duplicate orders, Mr.Danforth," he
added earnestly, "and had the clear signal almost until I passed it
and shot the siding.""I don't understand it at all," remarked the conductor in a troubled
and irritated way."You had the clear signal, you say?""Back slowly, we'll see the station man about this."The conductor mounted to the cab step, and No.As
they neared the end of the siding the train was again halted.All down
its length heads were thrust from coach windows.There was some
excitement and alarm, but the discipline of the train hands and the
young engineer's provision had prevented any semblance of panic.The conductor, lantern in hand, ran across the tracks to the station.Ralph saw him engaged in vigorous conversation with the man on duty
there.The conductor had taken out a memorandum book and was jotting
down something.The station man with excited gestures ran inside the
depot, and the signal turned to clear tracks."I should think the conductor
would give us an inkling of how all this came about.""Oh, we'll learn soon enough," said Ralph."There will have to be an
official report on this."Guess I'll go back and worm out an explanation," spoke
Clark.As Clark left the cab on one side Fogg came up on the other.He had
been looking over the front of the locomotive.Ralph noticed that he
did not seem to have suffered any damage from his wild jump beyond a
slight shaking up.He was wet and spattered to the waist, however, and
had lost his cap.Lemuel Fogg's eyes wore a frightened, shifty expression as he stepped
to the tender.His face was wretchedly pale, his hands trembled as he
proceeded to pile in the coal.Every vestige of unsteadiness and
maudlin bravado was gone.He resembled a man who had gazed upon some
unexpected danger, and there was a half guiltiness in his manner as if
he was responsible for the impending mishap.The fireman did not speak a word, and Ralph considered that it was no
time for discussion or explanations.The injury to the locomotive was
comparatively slight, and with a somewhat worried glance at the clock
and schedule card the young railroader focussed all his ability and
attention upon making up for lost time.Soon Ralph was so engrossed in his work that he forgot the fireman,
young Clark, the accident, everything except that he was driving a
mighty steel steed in a race against time, with either the winning
post or defeat in view.There was a rare pride in the thought that
upon him depended a new railway record.There was a fascinating
exhilaration in observing the new king of the road gain steadily half
a mile, one mile, two miles, overlapping lost time.A smile of joy crossed the face of the young engineer, a great
aspiration of relief and triumph escaped his lips as No.They were twenty-one minutes ahead of
time.Fogg," shouted Ralph across to the fireman's seat, "you're a
brick!"It was the first word that had passed between them since the mishap at
the siding, but many a grateful glance had the young engineer cast at
his helper.It seemed as if the shake-up at Plympton had shaken all
the nonsense out of Lemuel Fogg.Before that it had been evident to
Ralph that the fireman was doing all he could to queer the run.He
had been slow in firing and then had choked the furnace.His movements
had been suspicious and then alarming to Ralph, but since leaving
Plympton he had acted like a different person.Ralph knew from
practical experience what good firing was, and he had to admit that
Fogg had outdone himself in the splendid run of the last one hundred
miles.He was therefore fully in earnest when he enthusiastically
designated his erratic helper as a "brick."It was hard for Fogg to come out from his grumpiness and cross-grained
malice quickly.Half resentful, half shamed, he cast a furtive, sullen
look at Ralph.he muttered, "it isn't any brick that did it--it was the
briquettes.""Them," and with contemptuous indifference Fogg pointed to a coarse
sack lying among the coal."Why, yes, I heard about that," said Ralph quickly.Full of pitch, oil and sulphur, I understand.They say they
urge up the fire."They are great steam makers, and no
question," observed Fogg."Won't do for a regular thing, though."insinuated Ralph attentively, glad to rouse his grouchy helper
from his morose mood."Used right along, they'd burn out any crown sheet.Mary went to the bedroom.What's more, wait
till you come to clean up--the whole furnace will be choked with
cinders.""I see," nodded Ralph, and just then they rounded near Macon for a
fifteen minutes wait.As Fogg went outside with oil can and waste roll, Mervin Clark came
into the cab."Glad to get back where it's home like," he sang out in his chirp,
brisk way."Say, Engineer Fairbanks, that monument of brass buttons
and gold cap braid is the limit.why, he works on springs
and you have to touch a button to make him act.I had to chum with the
brakeman to find out what's up."inquired Ralph a trifle uneasily.The conductor has been writing a ten-page report on the
collision.It's funny, but the station man at Plympton----"
"New man, isn't he?""Just transferred to Plympton yesterday mornin'," explained Clark."Well, he swears that your front signals were special at the curves
and flashed green just as you neared the semaphore.""That's what the conductor says, too," said Clark.he told the
station agent and challenged him to find green lights on No.He says he
knew a special was on the list, but being new to this part of the road
he acted on Rule 23 when he saw the green lights.He sticks to that,
says that he will positively swear to it.He says he knows some one
will be slated, but it won't be him.""He says Rule 23 doesn't apply, as the white lights prove.If there
was any trickery or any mistake, then it's up to the fireman, not to
the engineer."At that moment, happening to glance past Clark, the young engineer
caught sight of Lemuel Fogg.The latter, half crouching near a drive
wheel, was listening intently.The torch he carried illuminated a
pale, twitching face.His eyes were filled with a craven fear, and
Ralph tried to imagine what was passing through his mind.There was something mysterious about Fogg's actions, yet Ralph
accepted the theory of the conductor that the station man had made a
careless blunder or was color blind."You see, it isn't that the smash up amounts to much," explained
Clark, "but it might have, see?"John journeyed to the bathroom."Yes, I see," replied Ralph thoughtfully."Then again," continued Clark, "the conductor says that it delayed a
test run, and there's a scratched locomotive and a busted construction
car.""I'm thankful that no one was hurt," said Ralph earnestly.When the next start was made, Fogg was taciturn and gloomy-looking,
but attended strictly to his duty.Ralph voted him to be a capital
fireman when he wanted to be.As an hour after midnight they spurted
past Hopeville forty minutes to the good, he could not help shouting
over a delighted word of commendation to Fogg."I said you were a brick, Mr."You're more than
that--you're a wonder."It looked as if he was half minded
to come out of his shell and give some gracious response, but
instantly the old sullenness settled down over his face, accompanied
by a gloomy manner that Ralph could not analyze.He half believed,
however, that Fogg |
bedroom | Where is Mary? | "Maybe he is genuinely sorry for his tantrums," reflected Ralph, "and
maybe our narrow escape at the siding has sobered him into common
sense."What the glum and gruff fireman lacked of comradeship, the young
passenger made up in jolly good cheer.He found opportunity to tell Ralph several rattling good
stories, full of incident and humor, of his amateur railroad
experiences, and the time was whiled away pleasantly for these two
acquaintances.Ralph could not repress a grand, satisfied expression of exultation as
No.999 glided gracefully into the depot at Bridgeport, over
forty-seven minutes ahead of time.The station master and the assistant superintendent of the division
came up to the cab instantly, the latter with his watch in his hand."Worth waiting for, this, Fairbanks," he called out cheerily--he was
well acquainted with the young railroader, for Ralph had fired
freights to this point over the Great Northern once regularly for
several weeks."I'll send in a bouncing good report with lots of
pleasure.""You have, Fairbanks," returned the official commendingly."Only, don't lay any stress on my part of it," said Ralph."Any
engineer could run such a superb monarch of the rail as No.If
you don't tell them how much the experiment depended on our good
friend, Fogg, here, I will have to, that's all."His eyes had a momentary pleased expression, and
he glanced at Ralph, really grateful.He almost made a move as if to
heartily shake the hand of his unselfish champion."You're too modest, Fairbanks," laughed the assistant superintendent,
"but we'll boost Fogg, just as he deserves.It's been a hard, anxious
run, I'll warrant.We've got a relief crew coming, so you can get to
bed just as soon as you like."The passenger coaches were soon emptied of the through passengers.A
local engineer, fireman and brakeman took charge of the train to
switch the China & Japan Mail car over to another track, ready to
hitch on to the Overland express, soon to arrive, sidetrack the other
coaches, and take No.CHAPTER IV
A WARNING
Ralph doffed his working clothes, washed up at the tender spigot, and
joined Clark, who stood waiting for him on the platform.Fogg, without
tidying up, in a sort of tired, indifferent way was already some
distance down the platform."Six-fifteen to-night, Mr.spoke Ralph, more to say
something than anything else."That's right," returned Fogg curtly."Griscom directed me to a neat, quiet lodging house," added Ralph."Can't--got some friends waiting for me," responded the fireman.Ralph followed him seriously and sadly with his eyes.Fogg was making
for Railroad Row, with its red saloon signs, and Ralph felt sorry for
him."See here," spoke Clark, as they walked along together, "headed for a
bunk, I suppose?""John Griscom, that's our veteran engineer,
and a rare good friend of mine, told me about a cheap, comfortable
lodging house to put up at.It's some distance from the depot, but I
believe I shall go there.""I've been in some of those railroad
men's hotels yonder, and they're not very high toned--nor clean.""Got to sleep, I suppose, so, if I'm not too much of a bore and it's
pleasing to you, I'll try the place your friend recommends."Within half-an-hour both tired lads tumbled into their beds in rooms
adjoining in a private house about half a mile from the depot.Ralph
stretched himself luxuriously, as he rested after the turmoil and
labor of what he considered the most arduous day in his railroad
career.The young engineer awoke with the bright sun shining in his face and
was out of bed in a jiffy.These lay-over days had always been prized
by the young railroader, and he planned to put the present one to good
use.He went to the closed door communicating with the next room and
tapped on it.he hailed briskly, "time to get up," then, no response
coming, he opened the door to find the apartment deserted."An early bird, it seems," observed Ralph.John Griscom had told Ralph all about the house he was in, and the
young engineer soon located the bathroom and took a vigorous cold
plunge that made him feel equal to the task of running a double-header
special.Ralph had just dressed when Marvin Clark came bustling into
the room."You didn't take a two hundred mile run, or you wouldn't be up for
four," challenged Ralph."Guess that's so," admitted Clark."A dandy--wheat cakes with honey, prime country sausages and Mocha,
all for twenty cents.""We'll take air line for that right away."Clark chattered like a magpie as they proceeded to the street.It was
evident that he had taken a great fancy to Ralph.For the son of a wealthy railroad magnate, Clark was
decidedly democratic.The one subject he seemed glad to avoid was any
reference to his direct family and friends.He was full of life, and Ralph found him very entertaining.Some bad
breaks in grammar showed, indeed, that he had not amounted to much at
school.Some of his adventures also suggested that the presence and
power of money had not always been at his command.Ralph noticed some
inconsistencies in his stories here and there, but Clark rattled on so
fast and jumped so briskly from one subject to another, that it was
hard work to check him up.As they reached the porch of the house Clark gave Ralph a deterring
touch with his hand."I want to find out something before we go out into the street," and
the speaker glided down the walk to the gate, peered down the street,
and then beckoned to his companion."They're still there, though," he added, his
tones quite impressive.Mary went to the bedroom."Just dally at the gate here and take a look past the next street
corner--near where there's an alley, see?"questioned Ralph, following his companion's
direction."Yes, that gang of hoodlums," responded Clark bluntly, "for that is
what they are.""We're not, but they may become interested in us.""Mightily, if I don't mistake my cue," asserted Clark."You are pretty mysterious," hinted Ralph, half-smiling.They don't know me, and I don't know them."John journeyed to the bathroom."Not much acquainted at Bridgeport, eh?"I've laid over here several times when I was firing on
the fast freight.I know a few railroad men, that's all.""Then I'm the first one to enlighten you.When I went out to find a
restaurant I passed that crowd you see.I noticed that they drew
together and scanned me pretty closely.Then I heard one of them say,
'That's not Fairbanks.'Sandra journeyed to the hallway.'Yes, it is, didn't he come out of the place
we're watching?''Aw, let up,' spoke a third voice.'Billy Bouncer will know, and we don't want to spoil his game."That's strange," said Ralph musingly."What are you going to do about it?""Oh, I'm not at all alarmed," replied Ralph, "barely interested,
that's all.We'll walk by the crowd and see if they won't throw some
further light on the subject.""Tell you, Fairbanks," said Clark quite seriously, "I'm putting two
and two together.""Well," laughed Ralph, "that makes four--go ahead."That crowd, as I said, for some reason
is laying for you.They have been put up to it by
some one.You know, you told me incidentally that you had some enemies
on account of the big boost you've got in the service.You said, too,
that your friend, Engineer Griscom, warned you on just that point.I
haven't said much so far, but the actions of that grouch fireman of
yours, Fogg, looked decidedly queer and suspicious to me."He had his own ideas on the subject,
but did not feel warranted in fully expressing them."I believe that Fogg started out on your run yesterday to queer it.Why he changed tactics later, I can't tell.Maybe he was scared by the
smash-up on the siding.Anyhow, I never saw such mortal malice in the
face of any man as that I saw in his when I came aboard No.This
crowd down the street is evidently after you.Some one has put them up
to it.""Oh, you can't mean Fogg!""I can't believe that he would plot against me that far," declared
Ralph."A malicious enemy will do anything to reach his ends," said Clark."Doesn't he want you knocked out?What
would suit his plans better than to have you so mauled and battered,
that you couldn't show up for the return trip to Stanley Junction this
afternoon?"I certainly shall not show the white feather by going out of my way,"
replied Ralph."Well, if that's your disposition, I'm at your call if they tackle
us," announced Clark.They proceeded down the street, and Ralph as they advanced had a good
view of the crowd, which, according to the views of his companion,
was laying in wait for him.There were about fifteen of them, ranging
from selfish-faced lads of ten or so up to big, hulking fellows of
twenty.They represented the average city gang of idlers and hoodlums.They were hanging around the entrance to the alley as if waiting for
some mischief to turn up.Ralph noticed a rustling among them as he
was observed.He fancied one or two of them
pointed at him, but there was no further indication of belligerent
attention as he and Clark approached nearer to the crowd."I fancy Billy Bouncer, whoever he is, hasn't arrived yet," observed
Clark.Just then one of the mob set up a shout.he hailed, and some additional jeers went up from
his fellows.Their attention seemed directed across the street, and
Ralph and Clark glanced thither.CHAPTER V
AT BAY
A queer-looking boy about eighteen years of age was proceeding slowly
down the pavement.He was stockily built, and had an unusually massive
head and great broad shoulders.He was a boy who would be remarked
about almost anywhere.His hair was long, and this gave him a somewhat
leonine aspect.The hat of this boy was pushed far back on his head, and his eyes were
fixed and his attention apparently deeply absorbed upon an object he
held in his hand.This was a thin wooden rod with two cardboard wheels
attached to it.These he would blow, causing them to revolve rapidly.Then he would study their gyrations critically, wait till they had run
down, and then repeat the maneuver.His side coat pockets were bulging, one with a lot of papers.From the
other protruded what seemed to be a part of a toy, or some real
mechanical device having also wheels in its construction."Well, there's a queer make-up!""He is certainly eccentric in his appearance," said Ralph."No, what he can be," corrected Clark, "for he's an odd genius of some
kind, I'll wager."The object of their interest and curiosity had heard the derisive hail
from across the street.He halted dead short, stared around him like a
person abruptly aroused from a dream, traced the call to its source,
thrust the device with which he had been experimenting into his
pocket, and fixing his eyes on his mockers, started across the street.The hoodlum crowd nudged one another, blinked, winked, and looked as
if expecting developments of some fun.The object of their derision
looked them over in a calculating fashion."No, Wheels--it was the birdies calling you!""You sort of suggest something, somehow," drawled the lad in an
abstracted, groping way.Ah,
perhaps I've made a memorandum of it."Finally he unearthed a card
which seemed to be all written over, and he ran his eye down this.The
crowd chuckled at the profound solemnity of his manner."H'm," observed the boy designated as "Wheels."No, that's for an uptown call.'Buy Drummond on
Superheated Steam.'you young villain, I remember
you well enough now," and with an activity which could scarcely be
anticipated from so easy-going an individual, Wheels made a dive for a
big hulking fellow on the edge of the crowd.He chased him a few feet,
and planted a kick that lifted the yelling hoodlum a foot from the
ground.Then, calmly taking out a pencil, he crossed off the
memorandum--"Kick Jim Scroggins"--gave the crowd a warning glance, and
proceeded coolly down the sidewalk, resuming his occupation with the
contrivance he had placed in his pocket.A sight of the massive arms and
sledge hammer fists of the young giant they had derided, and his
prompt measures with one of their cronies, dissuaded them from any
warlike move.commented Clark in an exultant undertone, and he fairly
leaned against his companion in a paroxysm of uncontrollable laughter.Say Engineer Fairbanks, I don't
know who that fellow Wheels is, but I'd be interested and proud to
make his acquaintance.Now steam up and air brake ready, while we pass
the crossing!""Passing the crossing," as Clark designated it, proved, however, to be
no difficult proceeding.The crowd of hoodlums had got a set-back from
the boy with the piston-rod arm, it seemed.They scanned Ralph and
Clark keenly as they passed by, but made no attempt to either hail or
halt them."We've run the gauntlet this time," remarked Clark.The vigilant companion of the young engineer was glancing over his
shoulder as he made this sudden and forcible remark."Say," replied Clark, edging close to Ralph, "just take a careless
backward look, will you?About half the square down on the opposite
side of the street you'll see Fogg."inquired Clark, as Ralph followed out
the suggestion he had made.He had made out Fogg as Clark had described.The fireman was walking along in the direction they were proceeding.There was something stealthy and sinister in the way in which he kept
close to the buildings lining the sidewalk."That's four times I've noticed Fogg in this vicinity this morning,"
reported Clark."I discovered him opposite the lodging house when I
first came out this morning.When I came back he was skulking in an
open entry, next door.When we left the house together I saw him a
block away, standing behind a tree."I can't understand his motive," said Ralph thoughtfully."It's no theory at all, it's a dead certainty," insisted Clark."Your
fireman and that gang of hoodlums hitch together in some way, you mark
my words.I'm hungry as a bear, and
here's the restaurant."It was a neat and inviting place, and with appetizing zeal the two
boys entered and seated themselves at a table and gave their order for
wheat cakes with honey and prime country sausages.Just as the waiter
brought in the steaming meal, Clark, whose face was toward the street,
said:
"Fogg just passed by, and there goes the crowd of boys.I'm thinking
they'll give us a chance to settle our meal, Engineer Fairbanks!""All right," responded Ralph quietly, "if that's the first task of the
day, we'll be in trim to tackle it with this fine meal as a
foundation."Their youthful, healthy appetites made a feast of the repast.Clark
doubled his order, and Ralph did full credit to all the things set
before him."I was thinking," he remarked, as they paid their checks at the
cashier's counter, "that we might put in the day looking around the
town.""Why, yes," assented his companion approvingly, "that is, if you're
going to let me keep with you.""You seem to think I may need a guardian."John journeyed to the garden."I've got nothing to do but put in the time, and get a signed voucher
from you that I did so in actual railroad service and in good
company," explained Clark."I think I will go back to Stanley Junction
on your return run, if it can be arranged.""It is arranged already, if you say so," said Ralph."We seem to get
on together pretty well, and I'm glad to have you with me."" |
bathroom | Where is John? | "There's
some moving picture shows in town here, open after ten o'clock, and
there's a mechanics' library with quite a museum of railroad
contrivances.We've got time to take it all in.Unless that
crowd stops us, we'll start the merry program rolling.No one in
sight," the youth continued, as they stepped into the street and he
glanced its length in both directions."Have the enemy deserted the
field, or are they lying in ambush for us?"They linked arms and sauntered down the pavement.They had proceeded
nearly two squares, when, passing an alley, both halted summarily.here's business, I guess," said Clark, and he and Ralph
scanned closely the group they had passed just before the breakfast
meal.The hoodlum gang had suddenly appeared from the alleyway, and forming
a circle, surrounded them.He was a rowdy-looking chunk of a fellow, and
the swing of his body, the look on his face and the expression in his
eyes showed that he delighted in thinking himself a "tough customer."Backed by his comrades, who looked vicious and expectant, he marched
straight up to Ralph, who did not flinch a particle.Mary went to the bedroom."You look like Fairbanks to me--Fairbanks, the engineer," he observed,
fixing a glance upon Ralph meant to dismay."Yes, that is my name," said Ralph quietly."Well," asserted the big fellow, "I've been looking for you, and I'm
going to whip the life out of you."CHAPTER VI
FOUR MEDALS
Marvin Clark stepped promptly forward at the announcement of the
overgrown lout, who had signified his intention of whipping the young
engineer of No.Clark had told Ralph that athletics was his
strong forte.He looked it as he squared firmly before the bully."Going to wallop somebody, are you?""Watch the
system-cylinder"--and the speaker gave to his arms a rotary motion so
rapid that it was fairly dizzying, "or piston rods," and one fist met
the bulging breast of the fellow with a force that sent him reeling
backwards several feet.you keep out of this, if you don't want to be
massacreed!"spoke a voice at Clark's elbow, and he was seized by
several of the rowdy crowd and forced back from the side of Ralph.shouted Clark, and he cleared a circle about him with a
vigorous sweep of his arms."Don't you mix in a fair fight, then," warned a big fellow in the
crowd, threateningly."Ah, it's going to be a fair fight, is it?""I'll see to it that it is," remarked Clark briefly.The fellow he had dazed with his rapid-fire display of muscle had
regained his poise, and was now again facing the young engineer.he demanded, hunching up his shoulders and staring
viciously at Ralph."I am, and don't you forget it.John journeyed to the bathroom.I happen to have got a tip from my
uncle, John Evans, of Stanley Junction."I do," announced Ralph bluntly, "and if you are as mean a specimen of
a boy as he is of a man, I'm sorry for you."roared the young ruffian, raising his fists."I do, and it's mighty dirty, I can tell you."I guess you don't know who I am.Champion,
see?--light-weight champion of this burg, and I wear four medals, and
here they are," and Bouncer threw back his coat and vauntingly
displayed four gleaming silver discs pinned to his vest."If you had four more, big as cartwheels, I don't see how I would be
interested," observed Ralph.yelled Bouncer, hopping mad at failing to dazzle this new
opponent with an acquisition that had awed his juvenile cohorts and
admirers."Why, I'll grind you to powder!With this Bouncer threw off his coat, and there was a scuffle among
his minions to secure the honor of holding it."I don't intend to strip," remarked Ralph, "and I don't want to strike
you, but you've got to open a way for myself and my friend to go about
our business, or I'll knock you down.""You'll----Fellows, hear him!"shrieked Bouncer, dancing from foot to
foot.The young engineer saw that it was impossible to evade a fight.The
allusion of Bouncer to Jim Evans was enlightening.It explained the
animus of the present attack.If Lemuel Fogg had been bent on queering the special record run to
Bridgeport out of jealousy, Evans, a former boon companion of the
fireman, had it in for Ralph on a more malicious basis.The young
railroader knew that Evans was capable of any meanness or cruelty to
pay him back for causing his arrest as an incendiary during the recent
railroad strike on the Great Northern.There was no doubt but what Evans had advised his graceless nephew of
the intended visit of Ralph to Bridgeport.During the strike Evans had
maimed railroad men and had been guilty of many other cruel acts of
vandalism.Ralph doubted not that the plan was to have his precious
nephew "do" him in a way that he would not be able to make the return
trip with No.The young engineer was no pugilist, but he knew how to defend himself,
and he very quickly estimated the real fighting caliber of his
antagonist.He saw at a glance that Billy Bouncer was made up of bluff
and bluster and show.The hoodlum made a great ado of posing and
exercising his fists in a scientific way.He was so stuck up over some
medal awards at amateur boxing shows, that he was wasting time in
displaying his "style."demanded Bouncer, doing a quickstep and making a
picturesque feint at his opponent."Wow, when I've eaten you up, maybe!""Since you will have it, then," observed Ralph quietly, "take that for
a starter."Sandra journeyed to the hallway.The young engineer struck out once--only once, but he had calculated
the delivery and effect of the blow to a nicety.There was a thud as
his fist landed under the jaw of the bully, so quickly and so
unexpectedly that the latter did not have time to put up so much as a
pretense of a protection.Back went Billy Bouncer, his teeth rattling, and down went Billy
Bouncer on a backward slide.He snatched the arm of his new acquaintance and tried to force his way
to the alley opening.Thus they proceeded a few feet, but only a few.A hush had fallen over Bouncer's friends, at the amazing sight of
their redoubtable champion gone down in inglorious defeat, but only
for a moment.One of the largest boys in the group rallied the
disorganized mob.Ralph pulled, or rather forced his companion back against two steps
with an iron railing, leading to the little platform of the alley
door of a building fronting on the street."No show making a break," he continued in rapid tones.At the call of their new leader, the crowd to its last member whipped
out their weapons.They were made of some hard substance like lead,
and incased in leather.They were attached to the wrist by a long
loop, which enabled their possessors to strike a person at long range,
the object of the attack having no chance to resist or defend
himself."Grab the railing," ordered Clark, whom Ralph was beginning to
recognize as a quick-witted fellow in an emergency."Now then, keep
side by side--any tactics to hold them at bay or drive them off."The two friends had secured quite a tactical position, and they
proceeded to make the most of it.John journeyed to the garden.The mob with angry yells made for
them direct.They jostled one another in their eager malice to strike
a blow.They crowded close to the steps, and their ugly weapons shot
out from all directions.One of the weapons landed on Ralph's hand grasping the iron railing,
and quite numbed and almost crippled it.A fellow used his weapon as a
missile, on purpose or by mistake.At all events, it whirled from his
hand through the air, and striking Clark's cheek, laid it open with
quite a ghastly wound.Clark reached over and snatched a slungshot
from the grasp of another of the assaulting party.He handed it
quickly to his companion."Use it for all it's worth," he suggested rapidly."Don't let them
down us, or we're goners."As he spoke, Clark, nettled with pain, balanced himself on the railing
and sent both feet flying into the faces of the onpressing mob.These
tactics were wholly unexpected by the enemy.One of their number went
reeling back, his nose nearly flattened to his face.Half-a-dozen of his cohorts sprang up the steps.They managed to grab
Ralph's feet.Ralph realized that if
he ever got down into the midst of that surging mob, or under their
feet, it would be all over with him.gasped Clark with a startled stare down the
alley.The heart of the young engineer sank somewhat as he followed the
direction of his companion's glance.Sure enough, the fireman of
No.999 had put in an appearance on the scene.He was bareheaded, and he
looked wild and uncanny.Somewhere he had picked up a long round
clothes pole or the handle to some street worker's outfit.With this
he was making direct for the crowd surrounding Ralph and Clark.Just
then a slungshot blow drove the latter to his knees.Two of the crowd
tried to kick at his face.Ralph was nerved up to desperate action
now.He caught the uplifted foot of one of the vandals and sent him
toppling.The other he knocked flat with his fist, but overpowering
numbers massed for a headlong rush on the beleaguered refugees.Half blinded by a blow dealt between the eyes by
a hurling slungshot, the young engineer could discern a break in the
program, the appearance of a new element that startled and astonished
him.He had expected to see the furious Fogg join the mob and aid them
in finishing up their dastardly work.Instead, like some madman, Fogg
had waded into the ranks of the group, swinging his formidable weapon
like a flail.It rose, it fell, it swayed from side to side, and its
execution was terrific.The fireman mowed down the amazed and scattering forces of Billy
Bouncer as if they were rows of tenpins.He knocked them flat, and
then he kicked them.And, in many ways that will
suggest themselves to the reader who has mastered the contents of the
earlier chapters of this book, the phenomena of Dynamic Thought in the
case of the Atoms, and Particles, may be, and are duplicated in the case
of Individual Minds of Men.The reader will see, readily, that this theory of Dynamic Thought, and
the facts noted in the consideration thereof, give an intelligent
explanation for the respective phenomena of Hypnotism, Mesmerism,
Suggestion, Thought-transference, Telepathy, etc., as well as of Mental
Healing, Magnetic Healing, etc., all of which are manifestations of
"Dynamic Thought."Not only do we see, as Prentice Mulford said, that
"Thoughts are Things," but we may see "_just why_" they are Things.And
we may see and understand the laws of their production and operation.This theory of Dynamic Thought will throw light into many dark corners,
and make plain many "hard sayings" that have perplexed you in the past.The writer believes that it gives us the key to many of the great
Riddles of Life.It is no ephemeral thing, doomed to "die
a-borning."It will be taken up by others and polished, and added to,
and shaped, and "decorated"--but the fundamental principles will stand
the stress of Time and Men.It may be
laughed at at first, not only by the "man on the street," but also by
the scientists.But it will outlive this, and in time will come to its
own--perhaps long after the writer and the book have been forgotten.This must be so--for the idea of "Dynamic Thought" underlies the entire
Universe, and is the cause of all phenomena.Not only is all that we see
as Life and Mind, and Substance illustrations of the Law, but even that
which lies back of these things must evidence the same Law.Is it too
daring a conception to hazard the thought that perhaps the Universe
itself is _the result of the Dynamic Thought of The Infinite_?Oh, Dynamic Thought, we see in thee the instrument by which all Form and
Shape are created, changed and destroyed--we see in thee the source of
all Energy, Force and Motion--we see thee Always--present and
Everywhere--present, and always in Action.Verily, thou art Life in
Action.Thou art the embodiment of Action and Motion, of which Zittel
hath said: "Wherever our eyes dwell on the Universe; whithersoever we
are carried in the flight of thought, everywhere we find Motion."John journeyed to the bathroom.Suns,
planets, worlds, bodies, atoms, and particles, move, and act at thy
bidding.Amidst all the change of Substance--among the play of
Forces--and among and amidst all that results therefrom--there art thou,
unchanged, and constant.As though fresh from the hand of The Infinite,
thou hast maintained thy vigor and strength, and power, throughout the
aeons of Time.And, likewise, Space has no terrors for thee, for thou
hath mastered it.Thou art a symbol of the Power of The Infinite--thou
art Its message to doubting Man!Let us close this book with the thought of the Greatness of this Thing
that we call Dynamic Thought--which, great as it is, is but as the
shadow of the Absolute Power of The Infinite One, which is the Causeless
Cause, and the Causer of Causes.And in thus parting company, reader,
let us murmur the words of the German poet, who has sung:
"Dost thou ask for rest?See then how foolish is thy desire; the stern
yoke of motion holds in harness the whole Universe."Nowhere in this age canst thou ever find rest, and no power can
deliver thee from the doom of Activity."Rest is not to be found either in heaven or on earth, and from death
and dying break forth new growth,--new birth."All the life of Nature is an ocean of Activity; following on her
footsteps, without ceasing, thou must march forward with the whole."Even the dark portal of death gives thee no rest, and out of thy
coffin will spring blossoms of a new life."SUCCESS-THOUGHT
The desire of every reader is to get, hot from his pen, all that a
progressive writer has to say.Readers of this book will be interested
in knowing that Mr.William Walker Atkinson is on the regular editorial
staff of THE SEGNOGRAM, and that the choicest of his "I Can and I Will"
preachments are appearing in each issue of that magazine.THE SEGNOGRAM is a monthly magazine for Success-Thought Thinkers and
Readers.It has one mission to fill--the upbuilding--the betterment of
man.Sandra journeyed to the garden.It has no time to quarrel with any creed, sect, doctrine or belief.The Law of Love is its controlling influence--it has none other.To read
it is to be imbued with its high teachings.It is a Success Magazine
that teaches how to win Success without preaching about it.It believes
in doing things, because in doing things we win Success.Do you want to join our circle of
thousands of Success readers?Do you want to get the cream of
Success--thought?Keep to the front by
keeping in touch with Mr.A. Victor
Segno and H.M.The price of the magazine is 50 cents a year, five cents the copy.Write
for sample copy if you never have seen it.ADDRESS
The Segnogram Publishing Co.TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE:
Obvious typos and printer errors have been corrected without comment.In
addition to obvious errors, the following changes have been made:
Page 17: Missing word "are" was added to the phrase, "And he believes
that there are Beings in existence...."
Page 86: Missing word "the" was added to the phrase, "... one of the
Atoms of our molecule...."
Page 100: Missing |
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