Part 3
The following enactment has a most barbarous character about it, not unmixed with something extremely ludicrous as to the idea of the legislature trying to prevent women from talking: “Whereas many babbling women slander and scandalize their neighbours, for which their poor husbands are often involved in chargeable and vexatious suits, and cast in great damages:--Be it therefore enacted, that in actions of slander, occasioned by the wife, after judgment passed for the damages, the woman shall be punished by ducking; and if the slander be so enormous as to be adjudged at greater damages than 500 pounds of tobacco, then the woman to suffer a ducking for each 500 pounds of tobacco adjudged against the husband, if he refuse to pay the tobacco.”
This old statute book of Virginia is full of enactments such as we have quoted; some exceedingly mischievous, and others very ludicrous. It would, however, be unfair to say that there are not also some good regulations in it. Were a history of our own or any other country to be written, founded on the legislative enactments and illustrated, whenever it was possible, by individual cases on record, we should then begin to have some idea of what history is. Instead of the splendours or the follies of a few who occupy the attention of the historian, we should be able to form a more complete picture of the condition of the whole community, and a more exact estimate of the progress which has been made in social knowledge.
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THE LOSS OF THE ROYAL GEORGE.
On the 29th of August, 1782, it was found necessary that the Royal George, a line-of-battle ship of 108 guns, which had lately arrived at Spithead from a cruise, should, previously to her going again to sea, undergo the operation which seamen technically call a _Parliament heel_. In such cases the ship is inclined in a certain degree on one side, while the defects below the watermark on the other side are examined and repaired. This mode of proceeding is, we believe, at the present day, very commonly adopted where the defects to be repaired are not extensive, or where (as was the case with the Royal George) it is desirable to avoid the delay of going into dock. The operation is usually performed in still weather and smooth water, and is attended with so little difficulty and danger, that the officers and crew usually remain on board, and neither the guns nor stores are removed.
The business was commenced on the Royal George early in the morning, a gang of men from the Portsmouth Dock-yard coming on board to assist the ship’s carpenters. It is said that, finding it necessary to strip off more of the sheathing than had been intended, the men in their eagerness to reach the defect in the ship’s bottom, were induced to _heel_ her too much, when a sudden squall of wind threw her wholly on her side; and the gun-ports being open, and the cannon rolling over to the depressed side, the ship was unable to right herself, instantaneously filled with water, and went to the bottom.
The fatal accident happened about ten o’clock in the morning; Admiral Kempenfeldt was writing in his cabin, and the greater part of the people were between decks. The ship, as is usually the case upon coming into port, was crowded with people from the shore, particularly women, of whom it is supposed there were not less than three hundred on board. Amongst the sufferers were many of the wives and children of the petty officers and seamen, who, knowing the ship was shortly to sail on a distant and perilous service, eagerly embraced the opportunity of visiting their husbands and fathers.
The Admiral, with many brave officers and most of those who were between decks, perished; the greater number of the guard, and those who happened to be on the upper deck, were saved by the boats of the fleet. About seventy others were likewise saved. The exact number of persons on board at the time could not be ascertained; but it was calculated that from 800 to 1000 were lost. Captain Waghorne, whose gallantry in the North Sea battle, under Admiral Parker, had procured him the command of this ship, was saved, though he was severely bruised and battered; but his son, a lieutenant in the Royal George, perished. Such was the force of the whirlpool, occasioned by the sudden plunge of so vast a body in the water, that a victualler which lay alongside the Royal George was swamped; and several small craft, at a considerable distance, were in imminent danger.
Admiral Kempenfeldt, who was nearly 70 years of age, was peculiarly and universally lamented. In point of general science and judgment, he was one of the first naval officers of his time; and, particularly in the art of manœuvring a fleet, he was considered by the commanders of that day as unrivalled. His excellent qualities, as a man, are said to have equalled his professional merits.
This melancholy occurrence has been recorded by the poet, Cowper, in the following beautiful lines:--
Toll for the brave! The brave, that are no more! All sunk beneath the wave, Fast by their native shore.
Eight hundred of the brave, Whose courage well was tried, Had made the vessel heel, And laid her on her side.
A land-breeze shook the shrouds, And she was overset; Down went the Royal George, With all her crew complete.
Toll for the brave! Brave Kempenfeldt is gone; His last sea-fight is fought; His work of glory done.
It was not in the battle; No tempest gave the shock; She sprang no fatal leak; She ran upon no rock.
His sword was in its sheath; His fingers held the pen, When Kempenfeldt went down, With twice four hundred men.
Weigh the vessel up, Once dreaded by our foes! And mingle with our cup The tear that England owes.
Her timbers yet are sound, And she may float again, Full charg’d with England’s thunder, And plough the distant main.
But Kempenfeldt is gone, His victories are o’er; And he, and his eight hundred, Shall plough the wave no more.
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_Strange Mode of curing a vicious Horse._--I have seen vicious horses in Egypt cured of the habit of biting, by presenting to them, while in the act of doing so, a leg of mutton just taken from the fire: the pain which a horse feels in biting through the hot meat, causes it, after a few lessons, to abandon the vicious habit.--_Burckhardt._
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The Bedouins never allow a horse, at the moment of his birth, to fall upon the ground; they receive it in their arms, and so cherish it for several hours, occupied in washing and stretching its tender limbs, and caressing it as they would a baby. After this they place it on the ground, and watch its feeble steps with particular attention, prognosticating from that time the excellences or defects of their future companion.--_Burckhardt._
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_Tremendous Earthquakes._--Earthquakes have caused many melancholy changes in Calabria; and every thing bears testimony to the cruel ravages occasioned by that of 1783. This frightful catastrophe, which has altered the aspect of these countries in an inconceivable manner, was preceded by the most appalling indications. Close, compact, and immoveable mists seemed to hang heavily over the earth: in some places the atmosphere appeared red hot, so that people expected it would every moment burst out into flames: the water of the rivers assumed an ashy and turbid colour, while a suffocating stench of sulphur diffused itself around. The violent shocks which were repeated at several intervals from the 5th of February to the 28th of May, destroyed the greater part of the buildings of Calabria Ultra. The number of inhabitants who were crushed under the ruins of their houses, or who perished on the strands of Scylla, was estimated at about 50,000. Rivers arrested in their course by the fall of mountains, became so many infected lakes, corrupting the air in all directions. Houses, trees, and large fields were hurried down together to the bottom of the deep glens without being separated by the shock: in short, all the extraordinary calamities and changes which can be effected by earthquakes were beheld at this deplorable period, under the various forms which characterize them.--_Calabria, during a Military Residence._
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_Age of Sheep_.--The age of a sheep may be known by examining the front teeth. They are eight in number, and appear during the first year, all of a small size. In the second year, the two middle ones fall out, and their place is supplied by two new teeth, which are easily distinguished by being of a larger size. In the third year two other small teeth, one from each side, drop out and are replaced by two large ones; so that there are now four large teeth in the middle, and two pointed ones on each side. In the fourth year the large teeth are six in number, and only two small ones remain, one at each end of the range. In the fifth year the remaining small teeth are lost, and the whole front teeth are large. In the sixth year the whole begin to be worn, and in the seventh, sometimes sooner, some fall out or are broken.
⁂ From ‘the Mountain Shepherd’s Manual,’ a useful little tract on the nature, diseases, and management of sheep, being No. 24 of the ‘Farmer’s Series,’ published under the Superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.
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_Anecdote of the late Honourable Henry Cavendish._-- One Sunday evening he was standing at Sir Joseph Banks’s, in a crowded room, conversing with Mr. Hatchett, when Dr. Ingenhousz, who had a good deal of pomposity of manner, came up with an Austrian gentleman in his hand, and introduced him formally to Mr. Cavendish. He mentioned the titles and qualifications of his friend at great length, and said that he had been peculiarly anxious to be introduced to a philosopher so profound and so universally known and celebrated as Mr. Cavendish. As soon as Dr. Ingenhousz had finished, the Austrian gentleman began, and assured Mr. Cavendish, that his principal reason for coming to London was to see and converse with one of the greatest ornaments of the age, and one of the most illustrious philosophers that ever existed. To all these high-flown speeches Mr. Cavendish answered not a word; but stood with his eyes cast down, quite abashed and confounded. At last, seeing an opening in the crowd, he darted through it, with all the speed he was master of; nor did he stop till he reached his carriage, which drove him directly home.
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Transcriber’s Notes
This file uses _underscores_ to indicate italic text. New original cover art included with this eBook is granted to the public domain. Itemized changes from the original text:
• p. 124: Added period after abbreviation “lbs.” in phrase “weighed, upon an average, about 700 lbs., yielding about 400 lbs. of meat.” • p. 125: Added period after phrase “Doubtless the most beautiful part of his body is the head.” • p. 126: Supplied missing letters in word “style” in phrase “in a natural and popular style.” • p. 126: Added period after phrase “the highest of the living artists of England.” • p. 128: Removed closing double quotation mark after phrase “under the various forms which characterize them.”