HARPER'S
NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.
VOLUME V.
JUNE TO NOVEMBER, 1852.
NEW YORK:
HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,
329 & 331 PEARL STREET,
FRANKLIN SQUARE.
MDCCCLII.
ADVERTISEMENT.
Harper's New Monthly Magazine closes its Fifth Semi-annual Volume with a circulation of more than One Hundred Thousand copies. The Publishers have spared neither labor nor expense to render it the most attractive Magazine of General Literature ever offered to the public; and they confidently present this Volume as evidence that their efforts to add to the value and interest of the work have kept pace with the increase of its circulation.
Special arrangements have been made, and will continue to be made, to render the next Volume still more worthy of public favor than its predecessor has been. The abundant facilities at the command of the Publishers insure an unlimited field for the choice and selection of material, while the ample space within the pages of the Magazine enables the Editors to present matter suited to every variety of taste and mood of the reading community. The Pictorial Illustrations will maintain the attractive and varied character by which they have been heretofore distinguished, while their number will be still farther increased.
In the general conduct and scope of the Magazine no change is contemplated. Each Number will contain as hitherto:
First.—Original Articles by popular American authors, illustrated, whenever the subject demands, by wood-cuts executed in the best style of the art.
Second.—Selections from the current literature of the day, whether in the form of articles from foreign periodicals or extracts from new books of special interest. This department will include such serial tales by the leading authors of the time, as may be deemed of peculiar interest; but these will not be suffered to interfere with a due degree of variety in the contents of the Magazine.
Third.—A Monthly Record, presenting an impartial condensed and classified history of the current events of the times.
Fourth.—An Editor's Table, devoted to the careful and elaborate discussion of the higher questions of principles and ethics.
Fifth.—An Editor's Easy Chair and Drawer, containing literary and general gossip, the chat of town and country, anecdotes and reminiscences, wit and humor, sentiment and pathos, and whatever, in general, belongs to an agreeable and entertaining miscellany.
Sixth.—Critical Notices of all the leading books of the day. These will present a fair and candid estimate of the character and value of the works continually brought before the public.
Seventh.—Literary Intelligence, concerning books, authors, art, and whatever is of special interest to cultivated readers.
Eighth.—Pictorial Comicalities, in which wit and humor will be addressed to the eye; and affectations, follies, and vice, chastised and corrected. The most scrupulous care will be exercised that in this department humor shall not pass into vulgarity, or satire degenerate into abuse.
Ninth.—The Fashions appropriate for the season, with notices of whatever novelties in material or design may make their appearance.
The Publishers here renew the expression of their thanks to the Press and the Public in general, for the favor which has been accorded to the New Monthly Magazine, and solicit such continuance of that favor as the merits of the successive Numbers may deserve.
[CONTENTS OF VOLUME V.]
| All Baggage at the Risk of the Owner | 334 |
| A Duel in 1830 | 399 |
| A Dull Town | 179 |
| Animal Mechanics | 524 |
| A Possible Event | 786 |
| A Primitive People | [111] |
| Armory at Springfield. By Jacob Abbott. | 145 |
| Auld Robin Gray—a Ballad | [1] |
| A Terribly Strange Bed | 202 |
| Bleak House. By Charles Dickens. | [7], 229, 358, 505, 638, 791 |
| British Museum and Zoological Gardens By Fredrika Bremer | 201 |
| Celebrated French Clockmaker | [86] |
| Church of the Cup of Cold Water | [34] |
Comicalities, Original and Selected.
Smoking at a Railway Station, [141]. The Childish Teetotal Movement; Deference to the Sex, [142]. Illustration of Humbug; Rules for Health; Finance for Young Ladies, 281. Maine-Law Petitioners, 282. Anti-Maine-Law Petitioners, 283. Matrimony Made Easy, 284. Favorite Investments; An Agreeable Partner, 285. Delicacy; The Dog-Days; The American Crusaders; Poetical Cookery-Book, 286. Mr. Bull's Ideas on the Musquito Question; Starvation for the Delicate, 427. Young New York Hard-up; A Victim of the Tender Passion, 428. A Striking Expression; Scene in a Fashionable Ladies' Groggery, 429. Rather a Bad Look-out; The Attentive Husband in August, 430. A Great Nuisance, 569. Tea-Room before Tea, 570. Tea-Room after Tea, 571. A Midsummer Night's Dream; Blow like sweet Roses, 572. New Illustrations to Shakspeare, 573. A Superfluous Question; Children must be paid for, 574. New Illustrations to Byron, 717. The Dog and his Enemies; Scenes from a Dog's Life in Dog-Days, 718. Some Punkins; Advice to the Poor Gratis, 861. A Natural Consequence; Proper Prudence, 862.
| Courage of a Man of Principle | 765 |
| Curiosity in Natural History | [113] |
| Dark Chapter from the Diary of a Law Clerk | 688 |
| Daughter of the Bardi | [112] |
| Down in a Silver Mine | 772 |
| Drops of Water | [75] |
| Drooping Buds. By Charles Dickens | [66] |
Editor's Drawer.
Legal Examinations; Anecdotes of Beau Brummell, [131]. The Disgusted Wife to her Husband; The extempore Hair-cutter, [132]. Sonnet on a Youth who died of eating Fruit-pie; Mussulman Scruples; Letter from Algeria, [133]. Steam in Palestine; The Puzzled Chinaman; Hints on Popping the Question, [134]. A new Family of Plants; Lamartine as Conservative; As Traveler; An Irish Joke; Doubling prohibited, [135]. An original Crest; Mr. Caw; The Scotch Blacksmith, [136]. Bustles in Africa; Skeleton for Poets; Wives in China; A Persian Fable; Gents and Gentlemen; The Ugly Man, 271. The Queen's Dog; "Unused as I am to Public Speaking;" The Sold Troop-Horse; Philosophical Explanation; Differences in Childhood, 272. Execution of Montrose; Rothschild; Hot Soup at Railway Stations, 273. A "Sonnick," by Thackeray; What is Pleasure? Working Clothes; Legal Maxims; The Mazurka; Miss Trephina and Miss Trephosa; Spanish Self-Glorification; The Two Hogarths; Dionysius the Tyrant; The Pope in a Dilemma; Anecdotes of Horne Tooke; Orthography of English Names; E Pluribus Unum; The Statue of Pasquin, 274. A Matter-of-Fact Man, 416. Gambling, a new Species of it; Country Quietude; Mons. le General Court de Boston, 417. A Needle-Eye for a Camel to go through; A Levy; Squaring the Account; For Bachelors; Old Proverbs excepted to, 418. Model Presentation Verses; Modern Dictionary; Governor Chittenden and the Thief; The Puzzled Publican; How do you like the Doctor? 419. How to prevent Riches from flying; Anecdote of Louis Philippe; Tongues vs. Tongs; Spilling Water in the Street, 420. An Epigram; Sydney Smith's Son; Hint to Shoppers, Borrowing Books; Head and Bonnets; Allen, Internal and External Costumer; Hair changing Color; An Epitaph, 421. About that "Tea-Room" and the Amateur Alderman, 557. A bad Head better than none; Patent Hen Persuader; Difference between a Bull and a Bully; How to grow Rich; Taking things Coolly, a Triad of Instances; Beautiful Superstition; The Ruling Passion, 558. Humanity of Nelson; An accurate Receipt; Firing Dutch Cheeses; Getting slewed; An unwelcome Shower-Bath; Nautical Technicalities, 559. A Gem from Lydgate; Examination in Anatomy; Becoming "Dark;" Betting to Win; An inordinate Petition, 560. Try Again; Newport Notions; Putting one's Foot in; A Story of a Hog; Catachresis, 561. The Poetry of Ballooning; A Maniac's Voyage to the Moon, 706. About Umbrellas; "Sucker" Office-seeker; Remedy for a Broken Leg, 707. How to double your Wealth; The Biter bit—a Tale of the Mustard-pot; The Lord and the Lackey; A Squint at a Crooked Leg; The Miseries of Pic-nicking, 708. A Frenchman's Experience in Ladies' Schools; Carlyle on Stars; Twisting; A Belle, 709. Lays of the Cavaliers; Pursuit of Knowledge under Difficulties; Partition of Turkey; A Second-hand President; The Lazy Man; Odd Names, 710. Prevention better than Cure; The Lady and the Doctor; Inscription; Epitaph; Gipsies; Hogg, 711. An Artist's Gratitude; Pilgrimage to the Tomb of Juliet at Verona, 712. A Lover's Letter; What's the Matter; A Professor posed; Doctoring; Thanksgiving, 848. How to be Happy; the Sheriff and the Peddler; Thoughts by a Tailor, 849. About Matrimony; Negro Banking; Being Busted; Coughing Concert, 850. Mr. Benton; A Poser; Voyage of Life; Gulliver; Johnson and Smith on the Scotch, 851. A great Pity; First Glimpse in the Glass; Desirable Ignorance; Witchcraft; A Simile, 852. Anecdote of Whitfield; Hotel Scenes; Hint to the Married; Grace before Meat; For Bachelors, 853. Doubly Mistaken; a Steamboat Race, 854.
Editor's Easy Chair.
Still more about the Weather; Spring Floods, [126]. Rapid Changes; Niagara in Winter; Spring again; New Park; Kossuth; Jenny Lind Goldschmidt, [127]. Summer Traveling; Western Scenery; Autograph Lottery, and Dumas's Sequel, [128]. An Old Gentleman's Letter—The Bride of Landeck, [129], 269, 414, 554, 702, 844. A July Chair, 265. Parks; Imaginary Rambles; A Duo and a Triad of Verses; Leafy June; The Washington Monument Intermittent Fever; Political Conventions; Ole Bull, 266. The Maine Law at Watering Places; Home-made Wines; Pleasuring to the Rocky Mountains; New Lake in Minnesota; Summer Contentments, 267. Authors becoming Millionaires; Dying for Love, 268. Provincials in Paris, 411. Americans Abroad; The Grand Tour in Six Weeks; M. de Broglie's Description of Washington, 412. A little Mule will grow; The Town at Midsummer, 413. Fruits and Flowers; Poor Generals; Alboni, with a Hint to Musical Critics; Monkeys at the Opera House, 414. The Tender Passion in French Courts of Justice, 552. Summer at Saratoga; Saratoga out of Season, and a Glance at the Good Time coming, 553. Back to Town, 842. The Opera and Concerts; Alboni, Sontag, and Paul Jullien; The new Hotels, and what will come of them, 843. Relief for Broadway; Our World's Fair; Our own Political Position; Letter from the Editor, 844.
Editor's Table.
On Education, [123]. A Nation's Birthday, 262. Moral Influences of the Theatre, 406. The Ideal of the Statesman, 548. The Sabbath, 699. Morality of Steamboat Accidents, 836.
| Edward Drysdale | [77] |
| Exaggeration | 780 |
| Fashions for June | 145 |
| Fashions for July | 287 |
| Fashions for August | 431 |
| Fashions for September | 575 |
| Fashions for October | 719 |
| Fashions for November | 863 |
| Fragments from a Young Wife's Diary | 627 |
| Franconia Mountains. By Wm. Macleod | [4] |
| From Gold to Gray | [115] |
| Gambler's End | 770 |
| Garden of Flowers | 781 |
| Gossip about Great Men | 667 |
| Habits of Distinguished Authors | 174 |
| Henry Clay—Personal Anecdotes, etc. | 393 |
| Hunting Adventures in Le Morvan | 466 |
| Infidel Rebuked | 464 |
| Insect Wings | 470 |
| John Randolph of Roanoke | 531 |
| Last of the Fairies | 810 |
| Leaf from a Traveler's Note-Book. By Maunsel B. Field | 329 |
| Life and Death of Paganini | 659 |
| Life in Paris | 748 |
| Life of Blake, the Great Admiral | 197 |
Literary Notices.
ORIGINAL NOTICES.
Life and Correspondence of Niebuhr; Weber's Romance of Natural History; Ivar, or, the Skjuts-Boy; Queechy; The Daltons; Brace's Hungary in 1851; James's Pequinillo; English Synonyms, [137]. Sargent's Standard Speaker; Spring's Glory of Christ; Anthon's Manual of Grecian Antiquities; Works of President Olin; Mountford's Thorpe; Life of Burns; Fancies of a Whimsical Man; Alice Carey's Lyra; McMullen's Hand-Book of Wines, [138]. Stuart's Naval Dry Docks; Hervey's Principles of Courtesy; Harrison's Laws of the Latin Language; Fasquelle's New French Method; The Two Families; Owen's Greek Reader; Lamartine's Restoration, 277. Clifton; Fourth Volume of Cosmos; Dollars and Cents; Trench's Study of Words; Life and Correspondence of Jeffrey, 278. Clarke's Eleven Weeks in Europe; Waverley Novels, 279. Curtis's Lotus-Eating; Strong's Harmony of the Gospels; Fox and Hoyt's Quadrennial Register; Abbott's Mother at Home; Waverley Novels; Herbert's Knights of England, France, and Scotland, 422. Marco Paul's Voyages and Travels; Woodbury's Shorter German Course; Todd's Summer Gleanings; Hildreth's United States; Halleck's Poems; Elliott's Mysteries, 423. Life of Dr. Chalmers, 4th vol., 564. Meyer's Universum; Niebuhr's Lectures on Ancient History; Atlantic and Transatlantic; Sketches Afloat and Ashore; Butler's Analogy; The Napoleon Dynasty, 565. Waverley Novels; Shaw's Outlines of English Literature, with a Sketch of American Literature; Personal Adventures of "Our Own Correspondent" in Italy; St. Helena and the Cape of Good Hope; Haydock's Catholic Family Bible; The New Rhetorical Reader, 566. Parisian Sights and French Principles; The Discarded Daughter; The Mormons, or Latter-Day Saints; Tusculan Questions, Anthon's edition; Sargent's Life of Henry Clay, 713. Stray Meditations; Anna Hammer; Mrs. Judson's Olio of Domestic Verses; Life and Works of Burns, Vol. IV.; The Master Builder; Bartlett's Natural Philosophy; Upjohn's Rural Architecture; The Dodd Family Abroad; The Old Engagement; Single Blessedness; Lydia, A Woman's Book; De Bow's Industrial Resources of the Southern and Western States, 714. Goodrich's Select British Eloquence; Buckingham's Personal Memoirs, 856. Guizot's Corneille and his Times; Chasles's Anglo-American Literature; Philosophers and Actresses; Hawthorne's Life of Pierce; Tuckerman's Sicily; Champlin's and Kuehner's Greek Grammars; James's Life of Vicissitudes; Mrs. Hale's New Book of Cookery, 857. Docharty's Algebra; Oehlschlaeger's German Dictionary; The School for Fathers; March's Webster and his Contemporaries; New Editions of Dickens; Morse's Geography; Anthon's Cornelius Nepos, 858.
FOREIGN NOTICES AND INTELLIGENCE.
Life of Kirby; Longman's Announcements; Life of Lord Langdale; Wellington's Executor; Memoir of Dr. Pye Smith; Mary Howitt's New Juvenile Magazine; Niebuhr's Lectures; Oersted's Soul of Nature; Forthcoming Works by Tennyson, Thackeray, and Author of the Bachelor of Albany, [139]. Ronge; Resignation of Professor Wilson; Demand for old Books in America; Criticisms on the Howadji; Leigh Hunt's Illness; Lady Morgan on a Monument to Moore; Emerson in French; Forgeries of Talleyrand's Letters, [140]. Caudle Lectures; Anthon's Anabasis; Ik. Marvel; Resignation of Prof. Wilson; Candidates for his Chair, 279. Milton's Agreement for Paradise Lost; Cassagnac's [OE]uvres Litteraires; Fleury's Portraits Politiques et Révolutionnaires; Grimm's German Dictionary; MS. of Rempen; Leipzig Easter Catalogue, 280. Church Historians of England; Macdougall's Papers; Sermons by the Author of Alton Locke; Translation of Plato's Republic; Life of Moir; Life of Chalmers; Monument to Mackintosh; Literary Fund Anniversary; Notice of Sterling, 424. Queechy; The English Press on Curtis's Books; Authorship of the "Imitation of Christ," 425. The Germans on Margaret Fuller; Wagner's Scientific Expedition to America; Amulet of Byron; Prof. Lichtenstein; Medal to Swedenborg; Swedish Books; St. Hilaire's Resignation; St. Beauve's Causeries du Lundi; Dramatic Literature in France, 426. Signor Volpe's Lectures on the Italian Poets; Miss Lothrop's Dollars and Cents; Proposed Foreign Members of the Council of the Royal Society; Jared Sparks and Lord Mahon. Prof. Grimm on the English Language, 566. James Russell Lowell and American Literature; Lamartine's Constituent Assembly; Works by the Countess D'Orsay and Marquis de Foudres, 567. New Literary Society in France; New Editions of Buffon and Cuvier, Thiers's New Works; New Italian Books; Printing in England, Germany, and France; Oehlenschlager's and Temminck's Successors; Browning and Hawthorne in Germany; German Juvenile Literature; Edinburgh Review on Niebuhr's Life and Letters, 568. Literary Pensions, 714. Cyclopæedia Biographica; Stiles's Austria; Webster's Dictionary, Guizot's Republic in England, Relic of Burns; Translation of Gorgey's Memoirs, Chalmers's Correspondence; Macaulay's new Volume Gervinus's South American Republics: Lamartine's Sixth Volume of the Restoration; Resigning French Professors; European Litterateurs, 715. Saint Theresa's Works; George Sand; Buffon; New Edition of Luther's Works; German Publications, 716. Retrospective Review; Webster's Dictionary; Coleridge's Dramatic Works; Sonnet by Hartley Coleridge; Julian Fane; Lord Mahon and Mr. Sparks, 860. Professor Ferrier; Lang's New South Wales; Deacon's Annette; Merle D'Aubigne's new Volume; Statues to St. Pierre and Delavigne; New Members of the British Association, 860.
OBITUARIES.
John Young; B. B. Edwards; Solomon Van Rensselaer; James A. Meriwether; Bishop Heading, [118]. Dr. Pfaff, 280. Henry Clay, 402. M. Burnouf, 568. Marshal Excelmans, 698. Tony Johannot; Count D'Orsay; Gen. Gourgeaud; Dr. Wulfsberg, 716. Bishop Chase; Vanderlyn the Painter; Dr. McGuire, 835. The Duke of Wellington, 836. Herbert Mayo; Dr. Macgillivray; Napoleon Landais; M. Dize; Dr. Stieffel; Pompeo Litta, 860.
| Little French Beggars | 537 |
| Little Wood Gatherers | 529 |
| Memoirs of the Holy Land. By Jacob Abbott | 289, 433, 577, 721 |
| Memory and its Caprices | 634 |
| Midnight Mass in the Reign of Terror | 340 |
| Miser's Life and Death | 222 |
| Monsters of Faith | 657 |
Monthly Record of Current Events.
UNITED STATES.
Congressional Caucuses, [116]. Congressional Doings: Miscellaneous, [116], 255, 403, 543, 692; Intervention, [116]; Collins Steamers, [116], 255, 543; Resolutions on the Compromise, [117]; Japanese Expedition, [117]; Free Land Bill, 255; Debate on the Fisheries, 544, 692; New Postage Law, 692; Isthmus of Tehuantepec, 694; Adjournment, 692. Adjournment of New York Legislature, [117]. Whig Convention in Virginia, [117]. Election in Connecticut, [117]. Election in Rhode Island, [117]. Mr. Webster on the Compromise, [117]. Gen. Scott nominated by Whigs in N. Y. Legislature, [118]. Whigs in North Carolina, [118]. Floods at the West, [118]. Steamboat Disasters, [118]. Letter from Mr. Clay respecting Kossuth, [118]. Kossuth, [118], 257, 403. California: Miscellaneous, [119], 257, 403, 546, 695; Governor's Message respecting Chinese, 257; Chinamen, 403; Affray in Court, 545. Correspondence with Hulsemann, 255. Democratic Convention at Baltimore, and Nomination of Pierce and King, 256. Mr. Webster in Boston, 256, 544. New York Canal Law pronounced unconstitutional, 256. State Convention in South Carolina, 256. Maine Law in Massachusetts, 257. Anniversary Week, 257. Presbyterian General Assemblies, 256. Arrival of Meagher, 257. Whig Convention at Baltimore, and Nomination of Scott and Graham, 402. Agricultural Convention, 403. Art-Union a Lottery, 403. Arrival of Alboni, 403. Indian and Mexican Disturbances in Texas, 403. New Mexico, 404. Utah, 404, 545. Oregon, 696. Mr. Webster on the Fishery Question, 543. Lundy Lane Celebration, 544. Native American Nominations, 544. Case of Messrs. Stephens, Toombs, and others, 544. Case of Thomas Kaine, 544. Destruction of Life on board the Steamer Henry Clay, 544. Guano Question, 693. New Constitution for Louisiana, 695. Loss of Life on board the Steamer Atlantic, 695; and on board the Reindeer, 645. Free Democratic Convention at Pittsburgh, and Nomination of Hale and Julian, 695. Agricultural Convention of Southern States, 695. Floods in the Northwest, 696. Nominations in New York, 833. Liberty Party Nominations, 833. Webster Meeting in Boston, 833. Nominations in Massachusetts, 833. Mr. Hale's Acceptance, 833. Women's Rights Convention, 833. Elections in Vermont and Maine, 833. Southern Rights Nominations, 833. Odd Fellow's Meeting, 833. General Scott, at the West, 833. Dinner to Mr. Baring, 834. Mr. Graham's Letter, 834. Mr. Benton on the Tehuantepec Question, 834. Consul Rice, 834. Minister to England, 834. Anti-Rent Outrage, 834. The India-Rubber Case, 834. Billy Bowlegs, 835. Concerts, 835. Episcopal Bishop of New York, 835. Methodist Book Concern, 835. The Fisheries, 835. Canadian Intelligence, 835.
SOUTHERN AMERICA.
Mexico: Miscellaneous, [120], 257, 404, 545, 697, 836. Rejection of the Tehuantepec Treaty, [120], 257. Remonstrances of European Powers, [120]. Laws respecting Foreigners, [120]. Difficulties at Acapulco, [120], 404, 545. President's Address, 404. Tehuantepec Question, 836.—South America: Affairs in Buenos Ayres, 257, 405, 696, 836. Executions in Chili, 257, 405. Yellow Fever in Brazil, 257, 836. Expedition of Flores, 258, 696, 836. Message of the President of Ecuador, 258. New Ministry in Peru, 546. Argentine Republic, 696, 836. Affairs in Brazil, 696. Military Preparations in Peru, 836.—Cuba: New Conspiracies, 696. Hostile Proceedings, 836.—South Seas: Miscellaneous, 119, 257. American Products free of Duty, [119]. Eruption of Mauna Loa, [119]. Revolt in Society Islands, 257, 546. Capture of American Vessel at the Galapagos, 546.
GREAT BRITAIN.
Miscellaneous, [120], 260, 405. Undecided Course of the Ministers, [120]. Protection, [120]. Loss of the Birkenhead, [120]. The Crystal Palace, [120], 260, 697. Rumors of Sir John Franklin's Vessels, [121]. Gold in Australia, [121]. Meeting of Parliament, 258. Parliamentary Proceedings: Debate on India, 258; on Duties on Paper and Advertisements, 258; on the Militia Bill, 258, 405, 546; on Disfranchisement, 258; Tenant Right Bill, 259; Case of Mr. Murray, 259; The Chancellor's Budget, 259; Proposed Criminal Convention with France, 405; English Missionaries in Austria, 546; Chancery Reform, 546; Debate on Course of Ministry, 546; Prorogation, and Queen's Speech, 546. Royal Academy Dinner, 259. Dispute among Booksellers, 259. Starvation of Missionaries in Patagonia, 260. Petition for Pardon of Irish Exiles, 260. Mr. Disraeli and Lord Derby on Protection, 405. Lord John Russell to his Constituents, 405. Case of Mr. Mather, 405. Irish Exhibition, 406. Proclamation against Catholic Ceremonies, 406. Elections for New Parliament, 547, 697. Royal Agricultural Society Dinner, 547. Riot at Stockport, 547. Emigration to Australia, 547, 697. Mazzini, 547. The Fishery Question, 697. Kossuth in England, 697. The Fisheries in the Colonies, 835. Canadian Politics, 836. Death of the Duke of Wellington, with a Sketch of his Life, 837. Report of the Society for the Advancement of Knowledge, 837. The Guano Question, 838.
FRANCE.
Meeting of the Legislative Bodies, and President's Speech, [121]. The Budget, [121]. Taking the Oaths, [121]. Organization of the National Guard, [122]. Reconstitution of the University, [122]. Orleans Estates, [122], 261, 548. The Swiss Refugee Question, [122]. The May Fêtes, 260. Charge by General Changarnier against the President, 260. Counter-charges against Changarnier by M. Cassagnac, 260. Refusal of Lamoriciere and Arago to take the Oaths, 261. Letter from the Count de Chambord, 261. Views of the Three Powers on the Empire, 261, 406, 698. Sale of Marshal Soult's Pictures, 262. Difficulties of the Press, 406. Message of the President, 547. Discussion on the Budget, 547. Executions, 548. Opening of the Strasbourg Railway, 697. Change in the Ministry, 697. Odilon Barrot abandons Public Life, 697. Recall of Exiles, 697. Indifference at Elections, 697. Fête of Napoleon's Birthday, 698. Anniversary of the Capture of the Bastille, 838. Petitions for the Establishment of the Empire, 838. President's Speech at Lyons, 838. French Press on the Duke of Wellington, 838.
SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL EUROPE.
Austria: Death of Schwarzenberg, and Formation of New Ministry, [122]. Batthyani's Estates, [122]. New Restraints on the Press, 406. Return of the Emperor from Hungary, 698. Deficit in the Revenue, 698. The Crown of St. Stephen, 838.—Prussia: Famine in Silesia, [122]. Debate on abolishing the Constitution, 262. Settlement of the Danish Succession, 262. The Zollverein, 838. The Cholera, 838.—Netherlands: Railroad Amalgamation, 698. Speech of King of Holland, 837.—Affairs in Switzerland, 698.—Spain: Dismissal of Concha, 122. Postal Convention with Austria, 838—Italy: Abolition of the Constitution in Tuscany 262. Arrests in Venice and Mantua, 698. Funeral of Mazzini's Mother, 698. Restrictions on Petitions in Piedmont, 698. Closing of Protestant School in Naples, 698. Envoy from England, 838. Conspiracy, 838. Eruption of Etna, 838.—Greece: Case of Dr. King, 122, 698, 838.—Turkey: Reinstatement of Reshid Pacha, 122. Settlement of the Egyptian Question, 262, 838. New Discoveries in Nineveh, 698.
| My Brother Tom | 526 |
| My Little French Friend | 227 |
| My Novel; or Varieties in English Life. By Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, | [36], 179, 377, 494, 669, 813 |
| Napoleon Bonaparte. By J. S. C. Abbott, | [11], 162, 304, 609 |
| Notes from the Barbary States | 451 |
| Number Nineteen in our Street | 663 |
| Ocean Life. By J. S. C. Abbott | [61] |
| Ostriches—How they are Hunted | 177 |
| Palaces of France. By J. S. C. Abbott, | 304, 596, 739 |
| Panther Hunt | 481 |
| Personal Habits and Appearance of Robespierre | 345 |
| Philosophy of Laughter | 253 |
| Posthumous Portrait | 775 |
| Prison Scene in the Reign of Terror | [82] |
| Record of a Madness not Insanity | 212 |
| Reminiscence of a Bow-street Officer | 483 |
| Results of an Accident.—The Gum Secret | 225 |
| Satisfaction of a Gentleman | 783 |
| Short Chapter on Rats | 686 |
| Soldier's First Battle | 632 |
| Stories about Beasts and Birds | 219 |
| Swept away by an Avalanche | 788 |
| Tale of Mid Air | 218 |
| The Ant or Emmet | 540 |
| The Counter-Stroke | 248 |
| The Ghost Raiser | [106] |
| The Incendiary | 352 |
| The Last Revel | [69] |
| The Little Gray Gossip | 185 |
| The Mourner and the Comforter | 187 |
| The Salamander | 763 |
| The Three Sisters | 473 |
| The Two Sisters | 347 |
| Three Visitors of Saint Pierre | [108] |
| Too Exclusive Attention to Business | 504 |
| Ventriloquism | 351 |
| What the Sunbeam Does | 210 |
| Who Murdered Downie | 625 |
[LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.]
| PAGE | ||
| 1. | Auld Robin Gray.—The Courtship | [1] |
| 2. | Death of Auld Robin Gray | [3] |
| 3. | Franconia Notch | [4] |
| 4. | Profile Mountain | [5] |
| 5. | The Old Man of the Mountain | [6] |
| 6. | Eagle Cliff | [7] |
| 7. | Eastern Front of Profile Mountain | [8] |
| 8. | The Basin | [9] |
| 9. | The Flume | [10] |
| 10. | View on the Pemigewasset | [11] |
| 11. | Map of Marengo | [13] |
| 12. | Drawing a Gun over Great St. Bernard | [15] |
| 13. | Napoleon Ascending the Alps | [17] |
| 14. | Passing the Fort of Bard | [18] |
| 15. | Napoleon planning a Campaign | [24] |
| 16. | Map of Hohenlinden | [26] |
| 17. | Death at Hohenlinden | [27] |
| 18. | The Infernal Machine | [29] |
| 19. | Starting of an Ocean Steamer | [61] |
| 20. | The Visit at the Brickmaker's | [93] |
| 21. | In Re Guppy:—Extraordinary Proceedings | [101] |
| 22. | Smoking at a Railway Station | [141] |
| 23. | The Childish Teetotal Movement | [142] |
| 24. | Deference to the Sex | [142] |
| 25. | Costumes for June | [143] |
| 26. | Full Dress for Evening | [144] |
| 27. | Caps | [144] |
| 28. | The Armory at Springfield | 145 |
| 29. | The Middle Water Shops | 147 |
| 30. | The Welding Room | 148 |
| 31. | Straightening the Barrels | 150 |
| 32. | Grinding the Barrels | 155 |
| 33. | Exterior of the Proving House | 154 |
| 31. | Interior of the Proving House | 155 |
| 35. | Testing the Bayonets | 155 |
| 36. | The Blacksmith's Shop | 156 |
| 37. | Assembling the Musket | 158 |
| 38. | The New Arsenal | 159 |
| 39. | Quarters of the Commanding Officer | 160 |
| 40. | Mr. Guppy's Desolation | 243 |
| 41. | The Family Portraits at Mr. Badger's | 246 |
| 42. | Illustration of Humbug | 281 |
| 43. | Maine-Law Petitioners | 282 |
| 44. | Anti-Maine-Law Petitioners | 283 |
| 45. | Articles on Hand at Matrimonial Office | 284 |
| 46. | Favorite Investments | 285 |
| 47. | An Agreeable Partner | 285 |
| 48. | Delicacy | 286 |
| 49. | The Dog-Days | 286 |
| 50. | Costumes for July | 287 |
| 51. | Bonnet | 288 |
| 52. | Carriage Costume | 288 |
| 53. | Cap | 288 |
| 54. | Sleeve | 288 |
| 55. | View of Mount Carmel | 289 |
| 56. | Map of Mount Carmel | 289 |
| 57. | Map of Mount Carmel and Bay of Acre | 291 |
| 58. | Defense of Acre | 292 |
| 59. | Horseman of Acre | 293 |
| 60. | The Ascent of the Mountain | 295 |
| 61. | The Discovery of Glass | 296 |
| 62. | Elijah and the Gardener | 297 |
| 63. | The Hermits of Mount Carmel | 300 |
| 64. | The Elijah of the Basilians | 301 |
| 65. | The Authorized Elijah | 302 |
| 66. | The Serpent | 302 |
| 67. | The Panther | 303 |
| 68. | Napoleon's Reception at the Tuileries | 310 |
| 69. | Malmaison | 311 |
| 70. | Election for Consul for Life | 312 |
| 71. | Napoleon and the British Embassador | 314 |
| 72. | Review at Lyons | 317 |
| 73. | Sea Combat | 318 |
| 74. | The Louvre | 321 |
| 75. | Inner Court of the Louvre | 322 |
| 76. | The Tuileries | 325 |
| 77. | Grand Avenue of the Tuileries | 327 |
| 78. | The Dancing Room | 362 |
| 79. | Consecrated Ground | 376 |
| 80. | Mr. Bull's Ideas on the Musquito Question | 427 |
| 81. | Young New York Hard Up | 428 |
| 82. | A Victim of the Tender Passion | 428 |
| 83. | A Striking Expression | 429 |
| 84. | Scene in a Fashionable Ladies' Groggery | 429 |
| 85. | Rather a bad Look-out | 430 |
| 86. | The Attentive Husband in August | 430 |
| 87. | Costumes for August | 431 |
| 88. | Bonnet of Taffeta and Blond | 432 |
| 89. | Bonnet of Tulle and Taffeta | 432 |
| 90. | Bonnet of Tulle, Blond, and Taffeta | 432 |
| 91. | Source of the Jordan | 433 |
| 92. | Map of the Jordan | 434 |
| 93. | The Grapes of Eshcol | 436 |
| 94. | The Return of the Spies | 437 |
| 95. | The Crossing of Jordan | 438 |
| 96. | En Rogel | 440 |
| 97. | The Well | 440 |
| 98. | The Landing at Haifa | 443 |
| 99. | The Caravan | 444 |
| 100. | The Cascades | 446 |
| 101. | The Encampment | 447 |
| 102. | The Bowl | 450 |
| 103. | Portrait of the Bey of Tunis | 451 |
| 104. | Moorish Costumes | 454 |
| 105. | Military Costume at Tunis | 454 |
| 106. | The Bazaar | 456 |
| 107. | Barber's Shop | 458 |
| 108. | Moorish School | 459 |
| 109. | The Bastinado | 462 |
| 110. | Japanese Portraits | 489 |
| 111. | Caddy's Flowers | 510 |
| 112. | The Little Church in the Park | 515 |
| 113. | A Great Nuisance | 569 |
| 114. | Tea Room—Before Tea | 570 |
| 115. | Tea Room—After Tea | 571 |
| 116. | A Midsummer Night's Dream | 572 |
| 117. | Blow like sweet Roses | 572 |
| 118. | All Places yield to him | 573 |
| 119. | Speak to him, Ladies | 573 |
| 120. | A Superfluous Question | 574 |
| 121. | Costumes for September | 575 |
| 122. | Walking Dress | 576 |
| 123. | Home Costume | 576 |
| 124. | Departure of Lot from Sodom | 579 |
| 125. | The Plain | 580 |
| 126. | The Valley of Arabah | 581 |
| 127. | Map of the Dead Sea | 582 |
| 128. | Caves of Engedi | 583 |
| 129. | The Descent | 584 |
| 130. | The Cavern of Usdum | 586 |
| 131. | The Ford | 588 |
| 132. | Turahbeh | 591 |
| 133. | The Leveling Party | 594 |
| 134. | Death of Costigan | 595 |
| 135. | Plan of Versailles | 597 |
| 136. | Louis XIV | 598 |
| 137. | Old Chateau of Versailles | 599 |
| 138. | Court Entrance at Versailles | 600 |
| 139. | Death of Louis XIV | 601 |
| 140. | Louis XIV. hunting | 603 |
| 141. | Madame Maintenon | 604 |
| 142. | Cascades of Versailles | 606 |
| 143. | Fountain of Fame | 607 |
| 144. | Fountain of the Star | 609 |
| 145. | Fountain of the Pyramid | 608 |
| 146. | Parterre of Versailles | 608 |
| 147. | The Grand Trianon | 609 |
| 148. | Scene in the Louvre | 610 |
| 149. | Arrest of Cadoudal | 612 |
| 150. | Arrest of the Duke D'Enghien | 614 |
| 151. | Napoleon's Hut at Boulogne | 616 |
| 152. | Execution of the Duke D'Enghien | 618 |
| 153. | Madame Polignac interceding for her Husband | 620 |
| 154. | Mr. Guppy's Entertainment | 640 |
| 155. | The Smallweed Family | 645 |
| 156. | Throne of the Mighty | 717 |
| 157. | But in thy Lineaments I trace | 717 |
| 158. | The Dog and his Enemies | 718 |
| 159. | Four Scenes in a Dog's Life | 718 |
| 160. | Costumes for October | 719 |
| 161. | Girl's Toilet | 720 |
| 162. | Cap | 720 |
| 163. | The Cedars of Lebanon | 721 |
| 164. | Evergreens in the Forest | 724 |
| 165. | Evergreens in the Field | 724 |
| 166. | The Workmen in the Mountains | 725 |
| 167. | The Caravans | 725 |
| 168. | Map of Sources of Jordan | 726 |
| 169. | The Two Strangers | 727 |
| 170. | The Abduction of the Idols | 728 |
| 171. | The Terebinth at Banias | 730 |
| 172. | The Ruins | 732 |
| 173. | Hasbeiyah | 732 |
| 174. | Commerce of the Druses | 733 |
| 175. | Fakardin a Fugitive | 734 |
| 176. | The Presents | 735 |
| 177. | Ruins of Baalbec | 736 |
| 178. | Preparations for a Journey | 737 |
| 179. | Visiting the Cedars | 738 |
| 180. | Palace of St. Germain | 749 |
| 181. | Convent of St. Jacques | 740 |
| 182. | St. Germain from the Terrace | 741 |
| 183. | Interior of St. Denis | 741 |
| 184. | Christening of the Dauphin | 742 |
| 185. | Church of St. Denis | 743 |
| 186. | Palace of St. Cloud | 744 |
| 187. | Palace of Fontainebleau | 745 |
| 188. | Court-Yard of Fontainebleau | 746 |
| 189. | Paris from Nôtre Dame | 749 |
| 190. | Shopping in Paris | 750 |
| 191. | Marriage by the Magistrate | 750 |
| 192. | Marriage by the Priest | 751 |
| 193. | Through the Rain | 752 |
| 194. | Business before Pleasure | 752 |
| 195. | The Bow Audacious | 754 |
| 196. | Bows, Natural and Stiff | 754 |
| 197. | Bows, Proud and Sad | 754 |
| 198. | Bows, Gallant, and not Uncommon | 754 |
| 199. | Bows, Unquiet and Miserable | 754 |
| 200. | Bows, Good-Natured and Insulting | 755 |
| 201. | Bows, Benevolent and Cold | 755 |
| 202. | Bows, Humiliating and Humble | 755 |
| 203. | Church of the Madeleine | 756 |
| 204. | On the Boulevards | 757 |
| 205. | Cafés on the Boulevards | 757 |
| 206. | Maison du Grand Balcon | 758 |
| 207. | Boulevard Montmartre | 758 |
| 208. | Boulevard du Temple | 758 |
| 209. | Hebrew Quarter | 759 |
| 210. | The Column of July | 759 |
| 211. | The Quay of the Louvre | 761 |
| 212. | Floating Wash-Houses | 761 |
| 213. | Aristocratic Bathing-House | 761 |
| 214. | Baths for Four Sous | 761 |
| 215. | A Comfortable Bath | 762 |
| 216. | Swimming School | 762 |
| 217. | Hair-dressing and Corn-cutting | 763 |
| 218. | Bathing Costume For Ladies | 763 |
| 219. | In the Bath | 763 |
| 220. | Ready for the Bath | 763 |
| 221. | A Model of Parental Deportment | 795 |
| 222. | Improving a Tough Subject | 807 |
| 223. | Some Punkins | 861 |
| 224. | Advice to the Poor Gratis | 861 |
| 225. | A Natural Consequence | 862 |
| 226. | Proper Prudence | 862 |
| 227. | Costume for November (Equestrian) | 863 |
| 228. | Walking Toilet | 864 |
| 229. | Cap | 864 |
HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.
No. XXV.—JUNE, 1852.—Vol. V.
AULD ROBIN GRAY
[AULD ROBIN GRAY.]
When the sheep are in the fauld, when the cows come hame,
When a' the weary warld to quiet rest are gane;
The woes of my heart fa' in showers frae my ee,
Unken'd by my gudeman, who soundly sleeps by me.
Young Jamie loo'd me weel, and sought me for his bride;
But saving ae crown piece, he'd naething else beside,
To make the crown a pound, my Jamie gaed to sea;
And the crown and the pound, O they were baith for me!
Before he had been gane a twelvemonth and a day,
My father brak his arm, our cow was stown away;
My mother she fell sick—my Jamie was at sea—
And Auld Robin Gray, oh! he came a-courting me.
My father cou'dna work—my mother cou'dna spin;
I toil'd day and night, but their bread I cou'dna win;
Auld Rob maintain'd them baith, and, wi' tears in his ee,
Said, "Jenny, oh! for their sakes, will you marry me?"
My heart it said na, and I looked for Jamie back;
But hard blew the winds, and his ship was a wrack:
His ship it was a wrack! Why didna Jamie dee?
Or, wherefore am I spar'd to cry out, Woe is me!
My father argued sair—my mother didna speak,
But she look'd in my face till my heart was like to break;
They gied him my hand, but my heart was in the sea;
And so Auld Robin Gray, he was gudeman to me.
I hadna been his wife, a week but only four,
When mournfu' as I sat on the stane at my door,
I saw my Jamie's ghaist—I cou'dna think it he,
Till he said, "I'm come hame, my love, to marry thee!"
O sair, sair did we greet, and mickle say of a';
Ae kiss we took, nae mair—I bad him gang awa.
I wish that I were dead, but I'm no like to dee;
For O, I am but young to cry out, Woe is me!
I gang like a ghaist, and I carena much to spin,
I darena think o' Jamie, for that wad be a sin.
But I will do my best a gude wife aye to be,
For Auld Robin Gray, oh! he is sae kind to me,
THE CONTINUATION.
The wintry days grew lang, my tears they were a' spent;
May be it was despair I fancied was content.
They said my cheek was wan; I cou'dna look to see—
For, oh! the wee bit glass, my Jamie gaed it me.
My father he was sad, my mother dull and wae;
But that which griev'd me maist, it was Auld Robin Gray;
Though ne'er a word he said, his cheek said mair than a',
It wasted like a brae o'er which the torrents fa'.
He gaed into his bed—nae physic wad he take;
And oft he moan'd and said, "It's better for her sake."
At length he look'd upon me, and call'd me his "ain dear,"
And beckon'd round the neighbors, as if his hour drew near.
"I've wrong'd her sair," he said, "but ken't the truth o'er late;
It's grief for that alone that hastens now my date;
But a' is for the best, since death will shortly free
A young and faithful heart that was ill matched wi' me.
"I loo'd, and sought to win her for mony a lang day;
I had her parents' favor, but still she said me nay;
I knew na Jamie's luve; and oh! it's sair to tell—
To force her to be mine, I steal'd her cow mysel!
"O what cared I for Crummie! I thought of naught but thee,
I thought it was the cow stood 'twixt my luve and me.
While she maintain'd ye a' was you not heard to say,
That you would never marry wi' Auld Robin Gray?
"But sickness in the house, and hunger at the door,
My bairn gied me her hand, although her heart was sore.
I saw her heart was sore—why did I take her hand?
That was a sinfu' deed! to blast a bonnie land.
"It was na very lang ere a' did come to light;
For Jamie he came back, and Jenny's cheek grew white.
My spouse's cheek grew white, but true she was to me;
Jenny! I saw it a'—and oh, I'm glad to dee!
"Is Jamie come?" he said, and Jamie by us stood—
"Ye loo each other weel—oh, let me do some good!
I gie you a', young man—my houses, cattle, kine,
And the dear wife hersel, that ne'er should hae been mine."
We kiss'd his clay-cold hands—a smile came o'er his face;
"He's pardon'd," Jamie said, "before the throne o' grace.
Oh, Jenny! see that smile—forgi'en I'm sure is he,
Wha could withstand temptation when hoping to win thee?"
The days at first were dowie; but what was sad and sair,
While tears were in my ee, I kent mysel nae mair;
For, oh! my heart was light as ony bird that flew,
And, wae as a' thing was, it had a kindly hue.
But sweeter shines the sun than e'er he shone before,
For now I'm Jamie's wife, and what need I say more?
We hae a wee bit bairn—the auld folks by the fire—
And Jamie, oh! he loo's me up to my heart's desire.
[THE SUMMER TOURIST.—SCENERY OF THE FRANCONIA MOUNTAINS, N.H.]
BY WILLIAM M'LEOD.
The approach of summer will turn the thoughts and steps of thousands toward those sections of our wide country whose picturesque beauty makes them ample amends for comparative sterility of soil and poverty of population. New Hampshire, with due allowance for the exaggerations of patriotism, may well be styled the Switzerland of America; and, although they are inferior in magnificent sublimity to the regal Alps, few tourists through the Northern States would leave the White Mountains unvisited.
Though it forms part of this great chain, the inhabitants of the Franconia range, jealously claim for their hills a separate name, character, and interest, having no connection with the more eminent firm of Washington, Adams, and Co. Like the latter, the Franconians boast a chief to their clan—Mount Lafayette, a "Notch," and other important features of a distinct and complete establishment, which combine to make it no mean rival to the great Patriot Group. We propose, with pen and pencil, to make a brief excursion through these picturesque localities.
These remarkable scenes are chiefly comprised within the extraordinary defile, or "notch," formed by the Franconia Mountains for a distance of five miles. The northern and southern approaches to this singular pass, have their peculiar advantages. Coming from the south, the tourist, from a very great distance, sees the outlines of its grander features rising far above the beautiful valley he follows; but, perhaps, this long and constantly visible approach, interesting as it is, begets a familiarity that weakens the impression of their sublimity when he finally confronts their more palpable magnificence. Not so with the approach from the north, where the views being more abrupt, shifting, and at times wholly concealed, their effect is the more startling upon the traveler, brought suddenly before them. Thus, in approaching the Franconia Notch from Bethlehem, we shall find the slow ascent of the dull steep hill eastward of that village, to be an excellent preparative for the superb prospect that bursts upon our vision, on reaching its top. Across the Franconia Valley lying beneath us, we see the lofty summits, forming the "Notch," "swell from the vale," and receding in peaks of picturesque irregularity—
"like giants stand
To sentinel enchanted land!"
There is no general view in the White Mountains equal to this distant prospect of the Franconia Notch, in respect to picturesque majesty of outline and massive breadth. Descending into the valley, our road suddenly turns eastward, and as we begin the opposite slow ascent to the Notch, the view before us assumes a finely-grouped concentrated character—losing that diffuseness so destructive of picturesqueness and point in the American landscape generally. This scene is attempted in the accompanying sketch, showing Mount Lafayette filling the centre of the view, the irregular peaks of the Notch on the right, while below, the eye is cheered with the snug farm-house by the road-side, and other rural accessories charmingly arranged for the artist's purpose.
FRANCONIA NOTCH.
Keeping the grander points of this fine prospect before us as we continue our ascent, every step reveals more distinctly the volcano-like crest and seamed bosom of Lafayette, than which not Washington himself, though five hundred feet taller, presents a form of more august character. Lafayette is not only distinguished over his fellows by his height, but also by the rocky bareness of his peaked summit, that descends with converging rows of ravines and hemlock-topped cliffs into an immense verdant basin presented toward us. In fine weather, the dry rocks of these ravines shine like bars of silver, and after heavy rains they glisten with the torrents disappearing into the vast shadowy basin below.
No tourist that has made this ascent to the Notch during the dog-days, can forget the grateful change of the hot, treeless road, for the shady coolness of the wooded avenue he enters at the top, and through whose green twilight his now recruited steeds drag him merrily for two miles to the Lafayette House at the entrance of the Notch. Just before reaching the hotel, we see through the fine birchen groves, skirting our avenue, Echo Lake, a small sheet of water of great depth and transparency, the mountainous sides of which clothed with an unbroken forest of dreary hemlock, deprive it of all beauty of setting, or of interest aside from its marvelously distinct echoes.
The Franconia Notch hardly deserves more than the name of a pass—even for its narrowest point near the Lafayette House, where it is about a quarter of a mile in width. It has no such jaws—projecting tusks, and other palpable signs of violent disrupture, as make the expressive title of "Notch" so fitly applied to its great rival in the White Mountains. Still its features are distinctive, and grandly unique, and though not so sublimely rugged as those of its rival, they are infinitely more picturesque, and this peculiar difference of character extends to all the scenery lying within the two rival regions. But the wonder and pride of the Franconia Notch is the "Old Man" of the Profile Mountain, that forms its western wall, and which, ascending on the north side with a gradual wooded slope, to a height of two thousand feet, abruptly terminates in a perpendicular rocky precipice, five hundred feet high, which in a bare "granite front" extends along the eastern face of the mountain for two miles. An exquisite sheet of water, in size and purity similar to Echo Lake, lies between the mountain and our road, from which through a clearing, we have an admirable view of the mountain, rising wave-like from its lake—its rich rolling groves, overtopped by a pinnacle of rock, like the comb of a breaking billow, and in the fantastic outlines of that granite crest, juts out as perfect an outline of an old man's head, as human hand itself could execute!
PROFILE MOUNTAIN.
Every tourist through the White Mountains knows the propensity of the natives to increase the interest of their region, by pointing out all sorts of fancied zoological likenesses in their rocks and mountains—so that before he sees the "Old Man," he will be apt to rank him, in advance, with the facial pretensions he has already seen. But, no! this time the artist has made a hit, and the likeness is admirable. There is nothing vague, imperfect, or disproportioned about him. You are not forced to imagine a brow to the nose, or go in search of a chin to support the mouth. They are all there!—a bent, heavy brow, not stern, but earnest—a straight, sharp nose—lips thin and with the very weakness of extreme senility in their pinched-up lines—and a chin, long and massive, thrown forward with a certain air of obstinacy, that completes the character of the likeness!
The mass of rock forming this extraordinary profile is said to be eighty feet in height; is fifteen hundred feet above the lake, and about half a mile from a spectator in the road—from which point it appears to be at the top of the mountain though it is really five hundred feet below the summit. The "Old Man" does not change his countenance under the closest scrutiny of the spy-glass, constantly leveled at him by the starers "beneath his notice." Under such inspection the likeness loses none of its human character, though the cheeks of the veteran appear woefully cut-up and scarred. But it seems rude to peer thus impertinently into the wrinkles and "crow's-feet" of his grim visage that has faced, perhaps, centuries of sun and tempest. Nor is it advisable to take your first look at him when the sun lights up the chasms of his granite cheek, and the cavernous mystery of his bent brow. Go to him when in the solemn light of evening the mountain heaves up from the darkening lake its vast wave of luxuriant foliage—sit on one of those rocks by the road-side, and look, if you can, without awe, at the Granite Face hung against the luminous sky—human in its lineaments—supernatural in size and position—weird-like in its shadowy mystery, but its sharp outline wearing an expression of mortal sadness that gives it the most fascinating interest! If this singular profile has existed long enough, it must have been an object of veneration to the aborigines. Mr. Oakes, in his White Mountain Scenery, says it was first publicly made known to the whites only as far back as forty years ago. It is curious to observe the odd changes of the profile, as we advance or recede along the road. Now it resembles an old woman—now it flattens like a negro's face, and now its nose presents an "eagle-beak," like the Duke of Wellington's! A peculiar feature of beauty in the Profile Mountain is the rare luxuriance of its forest of birch and beech, with an occasional hemlock rising spire-like from its groves. The "Old Man" has a remarkable echo, with which (after a becoming deliberate pause) he will retort every appeal, grave, quizzical, and sentimental that may be shouted up to him by the gay idlers on the lake side.
THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN.
On the opposite side of the Notch, and immediately overhanging the hotel, a tremendous cliff is separated from the crest of the mountain by a huge chasm, and with its numerous jagged and splintered rocks, seems every moment about to topple down. This is the famous Eagle Cliff—so called from a pair of eagles having made their habitation a few seasons since on its topmost crag; and a prouder eyry for that majestic bird can not be imagined. It is this noble cliff, with its adjacent craggy peaks, that furnishes that picturesque irregularity of outline we have already described as peculiar to the Franconia Notch, and which is visible for such a great distance to the traveler coming either from the north or south. The latter approach, however, furnishes the finest view of Eagle Cliff. When within a mile of it, its stupendous crags fill up the centre of the view above the road before us, and the luxuriant birches on either side form a graceful framework, whose light airy boughs contrast finely with the massive riven cliff they inclose. In the evening, when the sun's rays are withdrawn from the valley below, and the rosy light falls alone on its rocky crags, vividly relieved by the broad shadows of its chasm, Eagle Cliff forms indeed a worthy pendant to the "Old Man" over the way. The accompanying sketch is taken from this point in the road, to the left of which is seen a portion of the exquisite lake "sweetly slumbering" between these magnificent mountains.
But the glories of the Notch are not fully seen, unless the tourist visit it when that unrivaled colorist, Jack Frost, has lavished upon its foliage the hues of his gorgeous pallet—their tempered brilliancy glowing through the voluptuous haze of autumn! What a singular contrast the opposite sides of the Notch then present! Eagle Cliff allows no motley-dressed dandies to vegetate upon his stern crags—exclusively a mass of granite and sombre evergreens; and the hemlock-covered eastern wall into which he extends, has its funereal vestments only here and there slashed with stripes of bright yellow birches that mark the mountain torrents and land-slides. But Frost, the artist, has a fairer field for his brush on the opposite side, where the rich rolling groves of the Profile Mountain present a bravely variegated mantle descending from the very neck of the "Old Man," who, with grim visage, unmoved by so rare "a coat of many colors," seems as indisposed as ever to bend down that obstinate chin and take a look at himself and his finery in the lake lying like a mirror at his feet! And even after the glory of the leaf has passed, it is well worth a trip to see these peaks in their cloudy costume, when the wind howls through the defile with a force shaking the hemlock "moored in the rifted rock," but not silencing the muffled roar of the unseen mountain torrents. Nor as one of the attractions of a late season must be omitted the chance of seeing Lafayette peering with whitened head over his clansmen's shoulders, while perhaps the defile reposes in groves of bright and brilliant foliage. But in spite of splendid foliage, and fresh, bracing weather, but few tourists visit the Franconia Notch when in its heightened glory. The artist, the wood-cutter, and the partridge have it chiefly to themselves, and so "mine host" of the Lafayette House shuts up his best rooms, brings from one lake his oars, from the other his swivel, and that other echo-waking instrument—the long tin horn, now "hangs silent on the wall," until the hot weather of next summer brings the crowds of travelers who know not when to travel. This scant attendance of tourists during the finest season of the year may be attributed to a false impression that because this Notch is confessedly one of the coldest spots in America in winter, it must be disagreeably cold during the early autumn. This is a mistake; the weather there being quite as mild till the close of October as it is in the open lower country.
EAGLE CLIFF.
Proceeding southwardly through the Notch, we find its precipitous walls gradually recede and break up into gently-sloping summits, which, at the distance of five miles, terminate the defile, and debouch into a wide valley, whose great descent proves the great elevation of the defile we are now threading. For two miles we keep in view the Profile Mountain, whose eastern front resembles the Hudson River Palisades on a gigantic scale. Nothing can be more imposing than the front it presents—half of it a sheer precipice of bare granite, seamed, ribbed, and riven in every fantastic shape, resting on a sloping mass of broken rock, amid which flourish sturdy rows of evergreens, in spite of the showers of granite from the crumbling crags above—and which foretell the destruction that will inevitably overtake the lineaments of the "Old Man" long before "mighty oceans cease to roar." The annexed sketch will convey some idea of this stupendous front of the Profile Mountain, and also of the best general view of the Notch. which last, unfortunately, does not from any point present its features in sufficient concentration to do justice to their magnitude in detail.
We are now separated from the Profile Mountain by the Pemigewasset—a beautiful brook flowing from the lake at the feet of the "Old Man," whose tripping Indian name, though of unknown meaning, in sound, well describes its course of cascades, with which it follows us through the whole length of the defile—now dancing along our path, and now plunging again into the "listening woods," where it "singeth a quiet tune." Four miles from the Notch, it suddenly rushes out to the very edge of our road, and after foaming over several rocky ledges, collects its torn waters, and in a solid jet piercing a narrow fissure of granite, flings itself over into a deep pool, whose extraordinary shape and structure have constituted it the most charming curiosity of these mountains, under the name of The Basin. This singular pool is about twenty feet wide, and is inclosed in a circular basin of granite, one half of which rising to a height of fifteen feet, projects over the imprisoned waters. Undoubtedly the way in which the solid jet of the cascade strikes the side of the basin, giving a strong whirling motion to the pool, has gradually excavated the rock in its present regular, mason-like shape. Graceful birches bend over and embower this exquisite pool, that never fails to elicit bursts of delight from visitors first gazing upon its transparent water of the most brilliant emerald, shading off into an intense blue-black, where the cascade strikes its surface. Its greatest depth is about fifteen feet ordinarily, but nearly all the bed of the pool is distinctly visible through its indescribable emerald purity, although its surface is constantly agitated with tiny wavelets. Nature never fashioned such a darling nook as this exquisite Basin, in which Diana might have bathed, and issued purer from its transparent tide! The water escapes from the pool by another narrow fissure in the lower part of its granite rim, a projecting mass of which is said, by the ingenious Mr. Oakes, to resemble the half-immersed "leg of some Hydropathic Titan!" There are not wanting those who carry the fancied resemblance still further. At present the delicate beauty and graceful contour of the Basin are impaired and obscured somewhat by a clumsy foot-bridge flung across its curved margin, which, it is to be hoped, the next freshet will sweep away; and in anticipation of such wished-for fate to the unsightly and unnecessary structure, it is omitted in the annexed sketch.
EASTERN FRONT OF PROFILE MOUNTAIN.
A mile below the Basin, and five miles from the Notch, we come to the termination of the defile of the Franconia Mountains. At this point the Flume House, kept by Mr. Taft, offers the most admirable accommodations to those who wish to linger in this noble region. From the hotel the tourist can enjoy a magnificent review of the majestic summits he has just passed—the Profile Mountain filling the left of the view with one broad rounded mass, while the right is broken up with a series of pointed peaks, whereof Mount Lafayette and Eagle Cliff are duly prominent. This view of the Notch often assumes strange characteristics. Frequently in stormy weather, when the clouds elsewhere are, flying swiftly, "like cars for gods to travel by," the masses of vapor caught in the "Notch" seem too entangled to escape—nay, seem to lose their very motion between those peaks, while their brethren overhead are scudding past. And often, when the Notch is completely enshrouded in motionless cloudy gloom, we may see the landscape and the heavens north and south of the Notch, reposing in cloudless calm—the "bridal of the earth and sky!" By stepping to the south piazza of Mr. Taft's hotel, the tourist meets a prospect wholly unlike the stern grandeur he has left. He looks down upon the valley into which the defile debouches, and sees its gently sloping hills and glimmering meadows receding in airy perspective, and melting in a strip of tenderest azure at a distance of forty miles. The effect of this beautiful vista upon eyes long fatigued with frowning crags and shadowy ravines is inexpressibly cheering.
THE BASIN.
Within easy distance of the Flume House we find the three remaining curiosities of the Franconia Mountains. These are the Pool, the Cascade, and the Flume. The first of these is formed by another and heavier cascade on the Pemigewasset, and is but an enlarged idea of the Basin, with considerable grandeur, but with none of the fantastic picturesque loveliness of the latter. The Pool is very wonderful, but it does not win our affection as does the Basin, whose exquisite beauties sink with peculiar interest into the traveler's heart that will, long after his return to the grave duties of town, be haunted with the music of its cascade, be illumined with the emerald flash of its crystal waters, and be linked with the memory of the pleasant chance-acquaintances made within the influence of its bewitching loveliness. Will those whose eyes have been gladdened by this choice work of nature, deem our eulogy aught but well-merited enthusiasm?
Crossing the Pemigewasset, and following up one of its little mountain tributaries, we come to the foot of a steep slope some two hundred feet in height, the smooth granite face of which has been washed bare to a width of forty feet by the violent freshets of spring. At ordinary times, merely a thin rivulet slides noiselessly over the slope, here and there leaving little pools whirling round in the shallow basins scooped out of the smooth granite. This is the Cascade—only deserving the name when a freshet occurs, and then its heavy volume of water is said to be fearfully sublime, bringing down ice and gigantic trees which, catching in the margin of the smooth bed, are often flung up on end by the force of the current, and momentarily standing erect, then plunge headlong and broken down the terrible declivity. When the stream is low nothing can be gentler than this singular granite slope, fringed with trees. Those ascending to the Flume, will be glad to rest awhile on a rustic bench near the top of the slope, and refresh themselves with a draught from the cool stream sliding noiselessly past.
Above the Cascade, the stream is almost hidden among vast rocks and fallen trees of a ravine, becoming deeper, larger, and damper with every step. Crossing and recrossing its numerous little waterfalls by means of rustic bridges, decayed logs, and rocks dripping and hung with the richest moss, we suddenly emerge from the dense wood, and stand in front of a stupendous narrow ravine which, from its fancied resemblance to the flume of a mill, has acquired its well-known name.
The Flume is about two hundred yards in extent, its greatest height is sixty or seventy feet, and has a general width of about twenty feet. Its smooth sides have been excavated with the most singular evenness, and its bed is littered up with rocky rubbish, over which brawls the mountain brook that leaps into sight at the further end of this remarkable corridor. At that end we find the most wonderful feature of the Flume, for there it suddenly contracts to a width of not more than ten feet, and in its jaws holds suspended over the cascade a huge rock twelve feet in height, and which, being undoubtedly a boulder, has rolled from above into the chasm, and there been held by its slight excess of breadth—not more than two inches at the utmost.
THE FLUME.
There being neither trees, nor shrubs, nor herbage of any sort, save the luxuriant mosses nourished by the eternal moisture, to break the long vista of the Flume, it presents a very novel appearance to the visitor issuing from the dense wood below, and catching a sudden and complete view of its steep, dripping walls, and rocky bed, terminating with the suspended boulder and the Cascade flashing underneath; while the tall hemlocks above the cliffs, shut out all save a small patch of blue sky. Ordinarily the stream is very low, and visitors can not only pick their way over rocks and logs to the foot of the Cascade, but can clamber over the granite ledges and pass under the suspended boulder that looks as if at any moment it might slip through upon them. This feat of passing under the rock is always a very damp one, though during the season, troops of damsels may be seen bravely accomplishing it, scornful of the rock above and the wet below—and doing it too without the confident freedom of the Bloomer dress! As the Flume is little penetrated by the sun's rays, the eternal moisture of its depths makes it advisable for those disposed to linger in them, to take abundant extra clothing; fur during the warmest summer-day, when an artist issues from its damp walls after a long siege of its curiosities with canvas and colors, he looks as if he were rehearsing the favorite circus-feat of throwing off multitudinous jackets and vests! By following up the ravine beyond the suspended rock, the visitor can ascend the cliffs overhanging the Flume; and if he or she have nerve enough, a large hemlock fallen across the chasm affords spacious footing whence a fine bird's-eye view of the ravine may be enjoyed. In winter and in spring the Flume is said to present a scene of fearful interest—now bearded with icicles, and anon, from melting snows, filled with a torrent of ice and fallen timber crashing in thunder through its jaws, to be launched more freely over the broad slope of the Cascade below. Until very recently this extraordinary ravine was wholly unknown, and it is to be regretted that we have no authentic chronicle of the gradual cutting of the Flume by the action of its stream; and also when and by what changes the suspended boulder has been caught in its present singular position.
VIEW ON THE PEMIGEWASSET.
We can not recross the Pemigewasset, on our return from the last great lion of the Franconia Mountains, without another notice of that exquisite mountain-stream. Though from its being so over-fished, it now holds out few inducements to enthusiasts in trouting, yet the prospect of having even "a glorious nibble," should tempt the angler to explore its beauties—its picturesque cascades, and deep, slumbrous pools above and below the bridge leading to the Flume. The accompanying sketch shows one of these numerous fairy nooks, overlooked by Mount Liberty—the fine peak directly opposite the Flume House.
This sketch of the attractions of the great Franconia Notch must not be closed without mention of the view from Mount Lafayette, considered by many far more interesting than that from Mount Washington; for, though less extensive than the latter, it embraces a far more picturesque and beautiful region lying distinctly under the eye. Hitherto this noble panorama has not been generally enjoyed, owing to the difficulty of its only mode of ascent—on foot. The coming season, however, will supply tourists with two bridle-roads, from the Lafayette House and the Flume House, at both of which well-kept hotels, every convenience in the way of horses and vehicles can always be had for the purpose of visiting the various curiosities scattered along this romantic defile. Throughout the five miles of the Franconia pass, there is not, excepting these two hotels at either end, a single human dwelling. The growing season is too short here to allow any thing to be raised on the patches of easy soil dotting the defile, that would, therefore, present, were it not for the public houses and the passing stage-coaches loaded with tourists, a scene of primeval nature and solitude. Would that its stupendous scenery were linked with mighty incident, and that its rare loveliness were clothed with the sacred vestment of traditionary lore! But alas! its magnificent grandeur and picturesque beauty, so fitted to figure in Indian romance or the settler's legend is sadly deficient in the hallowing charm of historic or poetic association!
[NAPOLEON BONAPARTE.][1]
BY JOHN S. C. ABBOTT.