A few days after these events, an examination of my uncle’s affairs was made, and it was discovered that his estate was insolvent. Every dollar of my own property was gone, and I was now a beggar! These facts were told me by Raymond; they did not, however, immediately make a deep impression upon me; but I soon learned what it is to be without parents, without money, and without a home.
Who planted the Oaks?
The truth that no animal is created but for some wise purpose, is beautifully illustrated in the case of the squirrel. It is a singular, but well authenticated circumstance, that most of those oaks that we call spontaneous, are planted by this little animal, in which way he has performed the most essential service to mankind, and particularly to the inhabitants of Great Britain. It is related in some English work, that a gentleman walking out one day in the woods belonging to the Duke of Beaufort, his attention was attracted by a squirrel, which was on the ground at no great distance from him. He stopped to observe his motions: in a few moments, the squirrel darted to the top of a tree, beneath which he had been sitting.
In an instant, he was down again with an acorn in his mouth, and after digging a small hole, he stooped down and deposited the acorn; then covering it, he darted up the tree again. In a moment he was down with another, which he buried in the same manner. This he continued to do, as long as his observer thought proper to watch him. This industry of the little animal is directed to the purpose of securing him against want in winter; and it is probable that his memory is not sufficiently retentive to enable him to remember the spot in which he had deposited every acorn. He, no doubt, loses a few every year; these few spring up, and are destined to supply the place of the parent tree. Thus is Britain, in some measure, indebted to the industry and bad memory of a squirrel for her pride, her glory, and her very existence.
A Bull.—A son of Erin once commenced the translation of Cæsar’s Commentaries thus: “All Gaul is quartered into three halves!”
The Voyages, Travels, and Experiences of Thomas Trotter.
CHAPTER XXI.
Holy week at Rome.—A Roman tavern.—Strange crowds at St. Peter’s.—Description of the church.—The Pope.—The Coliseum.—A fox among the ruins.—The Vatican—its splendor and immense extent.— General description of the city.—Cheapness of living.—Oddities of the tradesmen.—The malaria.—Climate and salubrity of Rome.
This was Holy Week, the season of the most pompous and showy display of religious ceremonies and festivities at Rome: on which account the city was full of strangers. People flock to Rome to see these sights, far and near. English travellers and Roman country people crowded the streets. All the hotels appeared full to overflowing, and I thought myself lucky to find at last a snug little tavern on the banks of the Tiber, with the sign of the Albergo del Orso, or the “Bear’s Hotel.” This was a very good name, for it was not much better than a bear’s den. The entry was a stable; and the kitchen stood where there should have been a parlor. I had no choice; so, depositing my trunk in this same den of the bears till better quarters could be found, I set off for a ramble through the city.