Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB
[blocks in formation]

DIED, lately, Thomas Steadman Whitwell, Esq., Civil Engineer, and a man of extensive attainments in various branches of science. Mr. Whitwell will be remembered as the architect of the ill-fated Brunswick Theatre, which was erected under his superintendence in 1827-8, within seven months; a rapidity of construction almost inconsistent with security. The design was distinguished by its novelty, propriety, and simplicity, and was highly creditable to the taste and talent of the architect. The roof was of cast-iron, and of a novel and beautiful construction; but the hanging to it of improper weights caused the fall of the whole building on February 28, three days after its opening for performances, by which catastrophe several persons were killed. The investigation of the cause of this accident excited great interest among scientific men, and much practical information was elicited during its progress. The inquiry commenced on March 5, and was protracted till April 10. Messrs. Nash and Smirke were of opinion that the principle upon which the roof was constructed was injudicious, unsafe, and improper for a theatre, that the walls were insufficient to support the weight of the roof, and that the flooring supports were weak. The above architects, also, maintained that the principles of the roof being all parallel, if one of them gave way, the whole would fall like a pack of cards; Mr. Nash considered that if no other cause had existed, the weights improperly appended to the roof would have accounted for the accident; and in the verdict of the jury, these weights are stated to have been so placed by order of the proprietors of the theatre, and in spite of many warnings; thus absolving the architect! of the chief onus of the accident. The interior of the theatre is allowed to have been a triumph of ingenuity: all the stairs, staircases, passages, and vestibules, between every part of the spectatory, and connecting it with the street, were fire-proof, and it presented some novel applications of the principles of acoustics to the wants of an

audience; in short, the whole of the internal arrangements were upon a scale of unprecedented simplicity and convenience, whilst the exterior boasted of the most characteristic theatrical façade in the metropolis, resembling more than one of the minor Parisian theatres, and the front of San Carlos, at Naples. Throughout the above examination, Mr. Whitwell maintained the cause of the accident to be " an

improper suspension of machinery and other heavy weights upon the tie-beams." Mr. Whitwell was the author of A Treatise on the Warming and Ventilating of Buildings. He was likewise the editor of The Magazine of Popular Science, 4 vols. 1836 and 1837; a work which succeeded beyond any contemporary journal, in furnishing the general reader with popular and connected views of the actual progress and condition of the physical sciences both at home and abroad. It abounded in the freshest facts, the most recent discoveries, and the latest intelligence, which an inde

fatigable examination of the products of

scientific research was able to furnish; notwithstanding which first-class merits, the above journal extended only through two years a success by no means complimentary to the vaunted scientific spirit

of the age.

On July 30, in the fifty-fourth year of his age, William Venables, Esq., Alderman of the Ward of Queenhithe, London. Mr. Venables was, for many years, an active member of the Corporation : he was elected alderman in the year 1821, and Lord Mayor in 1826; and was returned to "the Reform Parliament" for the city of London. He was chairman of the City Watch and Ward and Police Committees, and was indefatigable in this and other branches of civic administration, as well as in its charities. His mayoralty is commemorated in an account of a civic excursion to Oxford, written con amore by his chaplain, and filling an octavo volume, now become scarce and dear.

Varieties.

Domestic Character. HER Sweet humour

was as easy as a calm, and peaceful; All her affections, like the dews on roses, Fair as the flowers themselves, as sweet and gentle. Beaumont and Fletcher.

Grief for the Dead.-Immoderate grief, if it does not exhaust itself by indulgence, easily assumes the character of superstition or weakness, or takes a type of insanity.

British Museum.-Mr. Hallam, in his Constitutional History, observes: "Nothing is more unEnglish than the innovation, of long standing, of placing sentinels at the door of the British Museum. It proceeded from vanity; but it were to be wished that vanity had chosen some mode of exhibition

less unbecoming." Now, Mr. Hallam is a trustee of the Museum, and it is to be hoped will endeavour to remove the absurdity he complains of. The Museum grant from Parliament, for the ensuing year, is £29,953.

Court Painter.-M. E. Heinrich, the Hanoverian court painter, died lately at Paris, at the age of nearly eighty years. He was once deservedly celebrated as a caricaturist and humourist. The editor of a Hamburgh paper complains that Heinrich "lived too long, and worked too long and too much, to retain his reputation to the end of his days." Poor fellow! he should have retired ere tittering youth had pushed him from the stage: but we suspect that most caricaturists live too long!

As a newly-married couple from down east were one night lying in bed, talking over "matters and The loud things," a heavy thunder-storm arose. peals of thunder and vivid flashes of lightning filled them with terror and fearful apprehensions. Suddenly a tremendous crash caused the loving couple to start as though they had received an electric shock. Jonathan, throwing his arms around his dear, exclaimed-"Hug up to me, 'Liz, let's die like men!"

Why is a lady's hair like the latest news? Because, in the morning, we always find it in the papers.

A chemist in Albany, a few days ago, expatiating on the late discoveries in chemical science, observed that snow had been found to possess a considerable degree of heat. An Irishman present, at this remark, observed, "that truly chemistry was a valuable science," and (anxious that the discovery might be made profitable) inquired of the orator what number of snow-balls would be sufficient to boil a tea-kettle. "I won't take a stump," as the girl said when she was asked to marry a short man.

Family Physician.-In Burmah, when a young woman is taken very ill, her parents agree with the physician, that if he cures the patient, he may have her for his trouble; but if she dies under his medicines, he is to pay them her value. It is stated that successful physicians have very large families of females, who have become their property in this

manner.

Munchausen.-They write from Tiflis, in Georgia, on the 15th of January: "A Cossack of the line, named Slavouski," says a letter in the Constitutionnel, "was riding, early in January, from Schirmille to Linkoram, when a tiger sprung from the ground upon the back of his horse. With the most cool resolution, the brave soldier made a well-directed back stroke with his sword, and clove the head of the beast in twain. He then alighted, and, having extinguished all remaining life in the animal, by firing both his pistols close to its body, flayed off the skin, and carried it in triumph to Linkoram. It measured five yards from the muzzle to the tip of the tail! The bold fellow received a reward of five hundred rubles."

Oriental Proverb.-A beautiful Oriental proverb runs thus: "With time and patience the mulberry leaf becomes satin."

Two sorts of Blessings." It is a great blessing to possess what one wishes," said some one to an ancient philosopher; who replied, "It is a greater blessing still, not to desire what one does not possess !"

Shakspeare's Cymbeline.-Walpole terms this play "absurd and tiresome," observing that it appeared to him as long as if everybody in it really went to Italy, in every act, and came back again.

An Old Slave.-Died, in Friedland, at the residence of Lieut. George M. Tooe, U. S. N. in King George county, Va., lately, the faithful slave Bacchus, aged 110 years. The deceased had been in the family of his late owner more than forty years. He was employed as a teamster during the war of the Revolution, and was in attendance with his

team at the glorious and final siege of Yorktown. He saw General Braddock as he passed on to his defeat, and could give a succinct account of that sanguinary action. The evening previous to his death, he was walking about the farm, in the full possession of all his faculties of mind and body.

The late Mr. Drummond.-Subscriptions to the amount of £1,666 have been received for the erection of a monument to the memory of the lamented Mr. Drummond.

Mrs. Siddons.-Sir F. Chantrey is engaged upon a marble statue of Mrs. Siddons, to be placed in Westminster Abbey.

Revenues of the Crown.-In the beginning of Elizabeth's reign, her Customs rented for £20,000 per annum; her lands at Penton Ville, and in the other vicinities of her capital, rented for one shilling per acre; the greatest estates in the kingdom did not exceed £2,000 per annum; and the city of London did not contain one brick house. The pacific reign of James I. enabled his subjects to establish several manufactures; and the greatest designs were executed in the infancy of, or previous to, the Funding System. The Customs at the Revolution exceeded, as forty to one, those of Queen Elizabeth.

The Funds.-Among the many benefits accruing to society from the operation of the public Funds, it has been stated that herein the orphan, the widow, the aged, the infirm, and all other descriptions of capitalists, place their money with the most perfect ease and security. The interest, invariably paid with the most scrupulous regularity, immediately circulates through the body politic, as generally and beneficially as the blood through the human frame. If the Funds did not exist, those wealthy descriptions could not invest one-fourth of their money in mortgages; and if so placed, the interest, in the very nature of things, would seldom be regularly paid; and this would prove as disadvantageous to the creditors, as to the commerce and revenues of the kingdom.

American Expedition.-In March last, the United States ships, Vincennes and the Peacock, arrived at Sydney, the latter having been successful in her researches in the south. The Peacock obtained soundings in a high southern latitude; but the Vincennes, more fortunate in escaping injury, completed the discovery, and ran down the coast from 154° 18' to 970 45' east longitude, about 1,700 miles, within a short distance of the land, often so near as to get soundings with a few fathoms of line, during which time she was constantly surrounded with ice islands and bergs.-Times.

"Those dear eyes of thine," as the old gentleman said when he bought his wife a pair of dollar specs.

Late one night, that most miserable of all human beings, a drunken husband, after spending his whole time at his club, set out for home. "Well," said he to himself, "if I find my wife up, I'll scold her: what business has she to sit up wasting fire and light, eh? and if I find her in bed, I'll scold her: what right has she to go to bed before I get home?"

A Mrs. Boots, of Pennsylvania, has left her husband, Mr. Boots, and strayed to parts unknown. We presume that the pair of Boots are rights and lefts. We cannot say, however, that Mrs. Boots is right; but there is no mistake that Boots himself is left.

Consultation of Physicians,-A man much addicted to drinking, being extremely ill with a fever, a consultation was held in his bed-chamber, by three physicians, how to "cure the fever and abate the thirst." "Gentlemen," said he, "I will take half the trouble off your hands; you cure the fever, and I will abate the thirst myself."

LONDON: Published by GEORGE BERGER, Holywell Street, Strand. Printed by WHITEHEAD & Co. 76, Fleet Street, where all Communications for the Editor may be addressed.

A JOURNAL OF POPULAR INFORMATION AND ENTERTAINMENT. CONDUCTED BY JOHN TIMBS, ELEVEN YEARS EDITOR OF "THE MIRROR."

[merged small][merged small][merged small][graphic][subsumed][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

RUNJEET SING.
RUNJEET SING, the valorous defender
of the Sikh power in the north-west of
India, must be regarded as one of the most
remarkable among modern Oriental ad-
venturers," a personage to whom our
attention has been much drawn, of late
years, accustomed as we are to watch

with jealousy the rise of any compact
power on the frontier of our Indian pos-
sessions; and the importance of whose
alliance has been fully evinced by the ser-
vice which he has rendered us in our re-
He
cent enterprise beyond the Indus."
was, altogether, one of the most remark-
able men of our times; but his monarchy
will, probably, soon be crumbled to pieces,
while its name will only remain in history
as indentified with his own.t

The Sikhs were so called from a Sanscrit term, denoting a disciple: the founder of the sect was Nanac Shah, a native of a small village in the province of Lahore, where he was born, in 1469. They appear to have occupied the country of the Punjaub as a permanent residence since the year 1762, when they were left undisputed masters of it by the recal of Ahmed Shah, from his contest with them, to Cabool. The Sikh chiefs then associated together, and were called Misuls, of which twelve were originally enumerated, who could bring into the field about 70,000 horse. Of these Misuls, that of Churut Sing, the ancestor of Runjeet, was one of the least considerable; but the distracted state of the country presented to him a tempting field for aggrandizement.

Runjeet Sing was born on the 2nd of November, 1780: his father, Maha Sing, was an enterprising chief, who soon rose above all the other Sikh chiefs. He died in

1792, at the early age of twenty-seven, leaving a high character for bravery, activity, and prudence; and was succeeded by his only son, Runjeet, then twelve years old.

Little care had been bestowed on the education of the young Rajah, whose early years were spent in the sports of the field, and who had never been taught to read or write. On attaining the age of seventeen, Runjeet, as his father had done before him, dismissed the deewan, (minis* Edinburgh Review, No. cxliii. p. 263.

The country subject to Runjeet is the Punjaub, the northern portion of the plain of the Indus, or country of the five rivers, extending from the lower ranges of the Himalaya mountains to the confluence of the Chenaub with the Indus, between 340 and 290 N. lat., and having the form of an isosceles triangle, whose shortest line, or base, which is about 450 miles in length, lies along the Himalaya; and the equal sides, each about 600 miles, unite at the confluence of the Indus and Chenaub. Runjeet's dominions likewise extended over the whole of the Himalayan range which lies north of the Sutlege river, including Cachmere.

ter,) and assumed the conduct of affairs. In the four following years, the Punjaub was invaded by Shah Zemaum, who had recently succeeded to the throne of Cabool. On the Shah's retirement, Runjeet began to entertain the design of obtaining Lahore for himself; and by opportune service rendered to that prince, he obtained from sion to take possession of it; and the him a grant of the place, with permiscity ever after remained in his hands.

The distracted state of the Affghan empire now encouraged Runjeet to look westward; and, in 1804, he determined to seize the dependencies of that empire east upon of the Indus. He accordingly crossed the Ravee, and so intimidated the chiefs as far as the Indus, that they at once submitted to him, and withdrew from all further connexion with the court of Cabool.

Runjeet Sing continued steadily to pursue his career of occupations and usurpations on the eastern and southern banks of the Sutlege; and his authority in the Punjaub was so completely established, that it became essential to the policy of the British Government in India to enter into amicable relations with his court; and, to accomplish this purpose, in the year 1808, Mr. Metcalf (now Sir Charles Metcalf, governor of Jamaica, was despatched to Lahore. Runjeet was, at first, refractory; but he soon became sensible that it would be better

policy to conciliate our friendship than to provoke our enmity; and, on the 25th of April, 1809, a treaty of mutual peace and friendship was concluded; Runjeet having satisfied himself that the apprehensions he entertained of the designs of the Government of Calcutta were unfounded, and that the ulterior views for which he gave us credit had no existence, he acquiesced in the connexion with a zeal and cordiality which suffered no interruption during the remainder of his life. It was about this time that Runjeet commenced the formation of battalions of troops on the British model, influenced, probably, by the efficiency and discipline of the British Sepoys, who had accompanied Mr. Metcalf.

In 1813, Shah Shooja, the rightful king of Cabool, sought Runjeet's protection at Lahore: but he had no sooner arrived than a demand was made upon him to surrender the celebrated diamond, "Kohi-noor," or mountain of light;* a jaghire being promised as the price of his compli

ance.

The Shah was, however, obstinate, and denied that the diamond was in his

This diamond, which is said to be an inch and a half in length, and an inch wide, adorned the peacock throne at Delhi; it was carried off by Nadir Shah, after whose death it was seized, in the plunder of Nadir's tents, by Ahmed Shah, from whom it descended to his son, Shah Shooja.

possession. He and his family were kept without food for two days; till, at length, the Shah agreed to give up the jewel, on June 1st, 1813, when the Maharajah Runjeet waited on him for the surrender. The Shah, sometime afterwards, purchased his release by a payment of 20,000 rupees; but Runjeet, eventually, took from him some other rare jewels, and all the costly articles he could lay his hands on. Shooja then placed himself under the protection of the British Government, by whom a moderate provision was assigned for his maintenance; and in this asylum he remained until recent events caused a revolution in his favour, and seated him, beyond all expectation, on the throne of Cabool.

Runjeet's next grand expedition was against Cachmere, in which he was defeated. The beginning of the year 1818 was signalized by the occupation of the province of Mooltan, and the end of it by the capture of Peshawur. Early in 1819, Runjeet prepared for a second expedition against Cachmere; and in July he effected the conquest.

The same course of petty warfare, systematic aggression, and almost constant success, was continued for the next ten or twelve years. The desire of the Maharajah to maintain and improve his amicable relations with the British Government, led to several interchanges of compliments and presents with the British governors and commanders. Probably, the most magnificent of these pompous interviews was that, on October 20th, 1831, with Lord William Bentinck, then Governor-General of India.

We now pass on to May, 1838, when a complimentary deputation was sent by Runjeet Sing to the Governor-General, (Lord Auckland,) at Simla. This interview was sagaciously returned by his lordship; as the menacing advance of the Persians on Herat now rendered the alliance of Runjeet a matter of immediate and pressing interest. Accompanying this mission was Capt. the Hon. W. G. Osborne, military secretary to the Earl of Auckland; who, on

his return, published a very entertaining account of the court, military displays, and personal habits of Runjeet Sing,* illustrated with several characteristic engravings, from one of which the prefixed embellishment has been copied.

The party crossed the Sutlege, the northwestern boundary of our empire, on the 20th of May, 1838, and proceeded across the plains of the Punjaub towards Adcena

The Court and Camp of Runjeet Sing. By the Hon. W. G. Osborne, &c.; with an Introductory Sketch of the Origin and Rise of the Sikh State. Colburn, 1840.

nuggur, where Runjeet was then holding his court. The heat here was tremendous; the thermometer, in June, ranging from 100° in the day, to 90° in the night; and on the 9th, it was 112° in the tents all day. Here Captain Osborne became acquainted with Runjeet's principal people; the chief among whom were, Kurruck Sing, his legitimate son, who has since succeeded him, but has inherited none of his ability; Sher Sing, his adopted son, the bravest of the Sikhs; Dhean Sing, the minister, a fine specimen of the nation, but a determined anti-Anglican; Heera Sing, his son, the first favourite with the sovereign; and Soocket Sing, Dhean's brother, the very beau idéal of a Sikh chief.

The Engraving represents the Maharajah Runjeet, his minister and his son, seated in state, to receive the British mission. On the previous evening, the presents from the Governor-General to the Maharajah were unpacked, and got ready for the morning's interview. They consisted of Lord Auckland's picture, set in a star of fine diamonds, suspended to a string of large pearls; a pair of gold-mounted pistols; a splendid Damascus sword, in a golden scabbard, inlaid with precious stones; and two thorough-bred Cape horses, with housings and accoutrements of gold, richly studded with turquoise and enamel.

(To be concluded in our next.)

OBSERVANDA.

DOCTOR HARVEY, of Dublin, complained much of the injury which he suffered from the Union: "for," said he, "it removed the bishops, who, as they had plenty of ready money, and were anxious to live as long as possible, were by far my most valuable patients."

It is worthy of notice, that, in England, there has been no instance of a prelate having been rewarded with a peerage: in

Ireland there have been two-Decies and

Rokeby.

Chancellor Thurlow was supposed to be on About the year 1790, when the Lord (Mr. Pitt), a friend asked the latter, how no very friendly terms with the minister

Thurlow drew with them? "I don't know," said the premier, "how he draws, but he has not refused his oats yet."

True dispatch is a rich thing; for time is the measure of business, as money is of wares; and business is bought at a dear hand where there is small dispatch.- Bacon's Essays.

A man who loves only himself, without regard to friendship and desert, merits the severest blame; and a man who is only susceptible of friendship, without public

« AnteriorContinuar »