The siege began about the 2nd of June, and the view exhibits his head-quarters from that time till the reduction of the place. His main camp was established round the beacon, about a mile from the town, and his officers were placed in the adjoining villages, from whence a detachment marched every day, being relieved every twenty-four hours, to open trenches and erect batteries. From these advances Prince Rupert frequently attacked the besieged and their works in the way of storm, but was constantly repulsed with great slaughter of his men. At length, Colonel More, finding the town must of necessity surrender, and desirous of ingratiating himself with the Prince, for the preservation of his house and effects at Bank Hall, gave such orders for his soldiers to retire, that the works on the enemy's side were abandoned, and the royalists entered the town at three o'clock in the morning of June 26, putting to the sword all they met with, till they arrived at the High Cross, which then stood on the site where the Exchange now stands. Here the soldiers of the Castle, drawn up in line, beat a parley, and demanded quarter, which, on their submitting as prisoners of war, and surrendering the Castle to the Prince, was granted. The soldiers were then sent to the tower, St. Nicholas's Church, and other places of security; but the Parliament-army, soon after the siege, repossessed themselves of the Castle, and appointed Col. Birch, as governor.
FIRE AT BURWELL, CAMBRIDGESHIRE. 1727.
Some strollers brought down a puppet-show, which was exhibited in a large thatched barn. Just as the show was about to begin, an idle fellow attempted to thrust himself in without paying, which the people of the show preventing, a quarrel ensued. After some altercation, the fellow went away, and the door being made fast, all was quiet; but the same man, to gain admittance privately, got over a heap of hay and straw, which stood near to the barn, and accidentally set it on fire. The spectators of the show, alarmed by the flames, which had communicated to the barn, rushed to the door; but it happened unfortunately that it opened inwards, and the crowd pressing violently against the door, there could be no escape. Thus the whole company, consisting of more than 160 persons, were kept confined till the roof fell in, and covered them with fire and smoke: six only escaped with life; the rest, among whom were several young ladies of fortune, were reduced to one undistinguishable heap of mangled bodies, totally disfigured. The friends of the dead, not knowing which were the remains they sought, caused a large hole to be dug in the churchyard, and all the bodies were promiscuously interred together, and a tablet erected in the church to perpetuate this most melancholy event.
AN APPARENT SINGULARITY ACCOUNTED FOR.
It is generally well known that birds are very active agents in the extension of vegetation, and that fruit and flowers are, to a great extent, rendered prolific by the insects which visit their blossoms; but few people are aware of the means through which fish are formed in lakes and ponds, which are not connected with other waters. Here, also, an insect is the principal agent. The large water-beetle, which is in the habit of feeding upon the spawn of fish, occasionally in the evening climbs up the stems of rushes, &c. out of the water, sufficiently high to enable it to take wing; in these circumstances it has been caught, and, putting it into water, has been found to give out the spawn with which it had gorged itself previous to taking flight, both in a digested and undigested state; so that, on trial, it has been found that it produced fish of various kinds.
EUROPEAN BALANCING EQUAL TO THE INDIAN JUGGLERS.
The astonishing dexterity of the Indian jugglers is known to all, but many years ago a Spaniard named Cadenas made himself equal, if not superior to them. He may be truly said to be superior to them, inasmuch as several of his feats have never been attempted by them. Don Cadenas extended himself flat on his back on a large table. He then elevated his legs until they were at right angles with his body; he was assisted in keeping this position by a sort of pyramidal cushion, which was placed under him, a little below the lower end of his back. His feet and ankles were covered with boots, on which were many small castanets and little bells. The tranca, which is a round piece of wood, about 8 feet long and five inches in diameter, handsomely painted, was then laid horizontally on the soles of his feet, his legs being perpendicular. Having exactly balanced the tranca, he alternately struck his feet against it, the castanets, &c., keeping time with the music. In proportion to the strength with which he struck the tranca, with one foot or both feet, was the height to which he elevated it, always catching it, in its descent, with great accuracy, on the soles of his feet. Sometimes by bending his knees and then striking out with his limbs, he threw the tranca several feet into the air, catching it, in its descent, on his feet, with as much neatness and more certainty than the Indian jugglers used to catch the brass balls in their hands. He concluded the performance with the tranca, by exactly balancing it on the sole of his left foot, and then by repeated strokes of his right foot set it rapidly in motion like a horizontal fly-wheel.
MOB-WISDOM.
A singular instance of a mob cheating themselves by their own headlong impetuosity, is to be found in the life of Woodward, the comedian. On one occasion, when he was in Dublin, and lodged opposite the Parliament House, a mob who were making the members swear to oppose an unpopular bill, called out to his family to throw them a Bible out of the window. Mr. W. was frightened, for they had no such book in the house, but he threw out a volume of Shakespere, telling the mob they were welcome to it. They gave him three cheers, swore the members upon this book, and afterwards returned it without discovering its contents.
COMMUNICATION BETWEEN ANIMALS.