Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

and

nest during the interval, leaving an aperture on one side for ingress and egress, thus endeavouring to secure a continuance of the shelter previously supplied by the long grass. Larks will also attempt the removal of their eggs young in seasons of danger. Mr. Jesse mentions an instance where a clergyman, riding towards Dell Quay, in Chichester Harbour, had his attention drawn by a shrieking cry, and observed a pair of larks rising out of a stubble-field. As the larks crossed the road at a slow rate, it was observed that one of them had a young bird in its claws, which was dropped in the opposite field, at a height of thirty feet from the ground, and killed by the fall. On taking it up, it appeared to have been hatched eight or nine days. The watchful parent was endeavouring to convey it to a place of safety, but her strength failed in the attempt.

This bird is the musician of the fields, announcing the first blush of morning, and the arrival of the sweetest season of the year. The matin song of the lark was, in ancient Greece, the signal for the commencement of the reaper's task, which was suspended during the heat of the day, when the bird also is silent. There is something peculiarly exhilarating in the song of this bird, and many a listener to its strains has felt what is thus expressed by a modern writer:

Of all birds I should like to be a lark; he revels in the brightest time of the day, in the happiest season of the year, among fresh meadows and opening flowers; and when he has sated himself with the sweetness of earth, he wings his flight up to heaven, as if he would drink in the melody of the morning stars. Hark to that note! how it comes trilling down upon the ear! What a stream of music, note falling over note in delicious cadence! Who would trouble his head about operas or concerts, when he could walk into the fields and hear such music for nothing? There are homilies in nature's works, worth all the wisdom of the schools, if we could but read them rightly; and one of the pleasantest lessons I ever received in a time of trouble, was from hearing the notes of the lark.

But the great charm of the sky-lark's song consists rather in its rapturous nature, and the associations connected with it, than in the perfection of the strain itself. On a lovely morning in May, when all nature responds to the joyous accents of the song, the gradual ascent of the bird, and the consequent receding of the sounds that charm the ear, have almost a sublime effect. The notes reach us after the bird has mounted beyond our sight, where he continues for a long time suspended in the air, and singing unweariedly. He descends slowly to within ten or twelve feet of the ground, when he precipitates himself downward like an arrow.

With fluttering start, in silence, from his nest,
The sky-lark breaks; then steadier upward soars,
And with melodious trill his prelude pours
To earth, in hues of full-flush'd summer drest;
Now, poised on moveless wing, he seems to rest;
Careless what bird, beneath the airy height,
May cross his path with horizontal flight,
The measured lay he breathes :-then like a guest
Singing to other spheres, is lost in light,
Till, fondly lured, he turns his faithful breast,
Downward through fields of blue. The warbling strain,
Near and more near he swells; then hushed again,
Falls, like a shadow, from the sunny dome,

And chants his three wild notes to welcome home".

The eggs and young of the sky-lark, in common with those of other birds which build on the ground, are subject to numerous casualties, both from the seasons and from the ordinary enemies of birds, yet the increase of this species is so great, that in autumn they assemble in larger flocks than almost any other description of British land birds. In the midland counties, where they are excessively numerous, they are captured at this

We have taken the liberty to apply these lines to the male instead of the female bird (they were originally written to describe the latter), because in this case, as in many others, the song is the peculiar attribute of the male bird.

season, and sent in vast numbers to the London markets, where, as a dainty for the tables of epicures, they sometimes fetch four shillings a pound.

If persons are desirous of bringing up young larks for the aviary or cage, they must attend to the directions of Bechstein, who recommends that the birds be taken from the nest when the tail is about three quarters of an inch long, and fed with the crumb of white bread and poppy seed steeped in milk, with the addition of some ant-eggs, or a little minced lean meat. The males will soon be distinguished by their yellow colour. As they advance towards full growth, they may be fed with a paste made of grated carrot, white bread soaked in water, and barley or wheat meal, all worked together in a mortar. In addition to this paste, larks should be supplied with poppy-seed, bruised hemp, crumb of bread, and plenty of greens, such as lettuce, endive, cabbage, or water-cress, with a little lean meat or ant-eggs occasionally by way of a delicacy. Old larks, on being first made prisoners, are fed only on oats and poppy-seed, in order to reconcile them to their captivity. Larks may be kept in rooms, in aviaries, or in large It is pitiable to see the narrow prisons to which these birds of the sky are often doomed. The cage should never be less than eighteen inches long, nine wide, and fifteen high, and a deep layer of sand should always cover the bottom, in order that this bird, accustomed as it is to roost and nestle on the ground, may have the means of scratching and dusting its feathers in the natural manner. The cage should be without any cross stick, and furnished with a piece of fresh turf, to be often renewed. Great attention to cleanliness is required with this bird, the feet being very tender, and subject to disease in a state of confinement; even a thread or hair becoming entangled in them, easily cuts the skin and maims the bird, so that the toes shrink and fall off. The extreme length of the hind claw is the reason why the lark is incapable of perching, and, therefore, needs no rods to be placed across his cage.

cages.

Larks usually live nine or ten years in captivity, if they are well cared for, but instances have occurred of much greater longevity; some have been known to attain the age of four-and-twenty years. Like most other caged birds, larks are subject to epilepsy.

There is a partial migration of larks to other countries every autumn, but great numbers remain behind, as is proved by the state of our markets, and by the unfailing supply in our fields, or in very severe weather about the edges of sheltered unfrozen pools, or similar spots where worms and insects may still be found.

Bird of the wilderness,
Blithesome and cumberless,

Light be thy matin o'er moorland and lea!
Emblem of happiness,

Bless'd is thy dwelling-place!

Oh, to abide in the desert with thee!

Wild is thy lay, and loud,
Far in the downy cloud;

Love gave it energy; love gave it birth.
Where, on thy dewy wing,
Where art thou journeying?
Thy lay is in heaven, thy love is on earth.
O'er fell and fountain sheen,
O'er moor and mountain green,
O'er the red streamer that heralds the day;
Over the cloudless dim,
Over the rainbow's rim,

Musical cherub, hie, hie thee away!

Then, when the gloaming comes,
Low in the heather blooms,
Sweet will thy welcome and bed of love be!
Emblem of happiness,

Bless'd is thy dwelling-place!
Oh, to abide in the desert with thee!-
The Ettrick Shepherd,

EASY LESSONS IN CHESS.

XXIII.

THE QUEEN'S-PAWN-Two Opening. THIS game, which is a branch of the King's Knight's opening, receives its name from the third move of the first player, who sacrifices his Queen's Pawn by playing it two squares. On this account the game is also sometimes called "The Queen's Pawn's Gambit," or "The Central Gambit." It has yet another name, "The Scotch Opening," from the circumstance of its having been adopted in three out of the five games which were played in the year 1824, by correspondence, between the clubs of London and Edinburgh.

This method of opening generally leads to an interesting game, and it is perfectly safe; for the second player cannot preserve the Pawn which he wins at the third move, without loss. After the first few moves the game may branch out into so many ramifications, that we cannot in this short notice pretend to give more than a few specimens.

[blocks in formation]

upon

some

Black may also take the P. with his Q. Kt., which you play K. Kt. takes Q. Kt., and then take his K. P. with your Q. This course of play was recommended by the Anonymous Modenese; but Mr. Cochrane, (who has greatly improved this opening, and recorded beautiful games illustrative of it,) remarks:-" I object to this move, [i. e. 3. Black Q. Kt. takes P.,] not because it can actually be proved to entail defeat, but because the White, by taking the adverse Knight with his King's Knight, and afterwards placing his Queen at her fourth square, will (if the situation of the game be considered,) remain with a much better position than his adversary. In the first place, the White has the Queen and his King's Pawn in the middle of the board, the former of which cannot be displaced unless the second player make a feeble move, viz., Queen's Bishop's Pawn two squares. Secondly, the power of action, i. e., the number of squares which the pieces of the White command, is in favour of the first player; and, lastly, the White can castle his King, and secure his game sooner than his adversary. There is nothing in chess so extremely difficult as the proving from any weak move of your opponent, the absolute loss of a game, more especially when one or two minor pieces have been exchanged, the great force of the Queen frequently rendering any determinate calculation next to impossible; the only method we can have of approaching demonstration, is to show that the one player has apparently a more confined game than his adversary."

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]

If the Black K. capture your Kt., you will play Q. to K. R. fifth square checking; thus securing his K. B. in return; if he play B. home or to Q. Kt. third square, you capture his Q.; therefore,

8. Q. B. P. one sq.

7. K. B. to Q. Kt. fifth sq. chg. 8. P. takes P.

If you capture his Q. he takes your Q. Kt. P. with the P. discovering check, capturing Q. R. and making a Q. next move; therefore,

9. P. takes P.

10. Q. Kt. takes B.

11. Q. to Q. fifth sq. chg.

9. K. B. takes P. chg. 10. K. takes K. Kt.

[blocks in formation]

18. Q. B. to Q. sixth sq. 19. Q. B. to K. Kt. third sq.

He dare not capture the Kt. with his K.; for with the assistance of your Rooks and Q. B. you would speedily win.

20. Q. R. to Q. sq. 21. K. R. to K. sq. chg. 22. Q. R. takes B.

19. Q. B. to Q. B. third sq.

20. B. takes Kt.

21. K. to K. B. third sq.

White thus recovers his piece, and cuts off the Black K. from assisting at the attack on the P.

23. Q. R. to Q. R. fifth sq. 24. Q. R. to Q. B. fifth sq. 25. K. R. P. takes Kt. 26. K. R. to Q. sq. 27. K. R. to Q. sixth sq. 28. Q. R. to K. B. fifth sq. chg. 29. K. R. to Q. eighth sq. chg. 30. Q. R. to K. B. eighth sq. chg 31. P. takes R. becoming a Q., checking, and winning.

22. K. Kt. to K. R. third sq.
23. Kt. to K. B. fourth sq
24. Kt. takes B.

25. K. to K. B. second sq.
26. K. R. to K. sq.
27. K. R. to K. second sq.
28. K. home.
29. R. takes R.
30. K. takes R.

[graphic]

In the following well-contested game, the first five | play in answer to it Q. B. to K. seventh square, but moves are the same on both sides, as in the first exam- Black played ple; after which a different attack and defence are

adopted. Black moves first.

[blocks in formation]

The introduction of this move at this particular point is due to Mr. Cochrane. Its immediate object is to prevent your K. Kt. from occupying K. B. third square, but its influence may generally be traced throughout the remainder of the game. Q. P. one square is not an unusual answer to it, but such a move is full of danger, because your adversary can play Q. to Q. Kt. third, or Q. B. to Q. R. third, or he can castle and get a Rook into play almost immediately. The safer and bolder course is to play the Pawn to its full extent; you have nothing to fear from his taking it en passant, and should he take it with the B. you play Q. B. to K. third square.

[blocks in formation]
[merged small][merged small][merged small][subsumed][merged small][graphic][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][graphic]

I.

THE SOUTH FRONT OF ASHRIDGE.

THE princely residence we are about to describe is situated on the confines of the counties of Hertford and Buckingham, at about thirty miles' distance from London, and is invested with more than usual interest from having been the abodes of the Earls of Bridgwater, and especially of that seventh_Earl whose name is perpetuated in the Bridgwater Treatises, and commands the respect and admiration of his fellow-men. The noble mansion of Ashridge was entirely rebuilt by this celebrated individual, and the result has been, the union of the magnificence and splendour of modern times, with the venerable and pleasing memorials of the past. The spectator is still able to recall the stately battlemented edifice of the sixteenth century; and may exclaim, with

Milton:

Straight my eye hath caught new pleasures
Whilst the landscape round it measures;
Towers and battlements it sees
Bosomed high in tufted trees.

In retracing the early history of this interesting spot, from the notices collected by the chaplain of the late Earl, and published in a magnificent work, entitled The History of the College of Bonhommes at Ashridge, the first point which requires comment is the name; this, however, carries its own explanation, being derived from a hill set with ash trees, the oldest denomination of the place being Aescrugge, from aesc, the ashen tree, and rugge, a hill or steep place.

At this place a college was founded in 1285, by

VOL. XXV.

Edmund earl of Cornwall, for a rector and twenty brethren or canons, called Bonhommes, of whom thirteen were to be priests. This was the earliest establishment of this religious order in England, and to the Earl in question is ascribed their introduction from the south of France. They appear to have been nearly allied to the Albigenses, and were esteemed a set of mystics. At any rate they were quite opposed to the orders of Preaching Friars and Minorites, then in their prosperity in England, and whose lives of pretended poverty and selfdenial, but of real luxury and excess, were made the subject of ridiculous paintings on the walls of the college at Ashridge. Besides this college of Bonhommes at Ashridge, there was another at Edingdon, in Wiltshire; and these are the only two houses of that order certainly known to have existed in England.

The college of Ashridge was founded expressly in honour of the blood of Christ; to account for which remarkable dedication, Hollinshed gives the following relation:" Edmund, the son and heir of Richard earl his father in Germany, and there beholding the reliques of Cornwall, who was second son to King John, being with and other precious monuments of the ancient emperours, he espied a box of gold, by the inscription whereof (as the opinion men then gave) he found that therein was contained a portion of the blood of our blessed Saviour. He therefore, being desirous to have some part thereof, by fair entreaty and money, obtained his desire; and brought over the box his father's decease, in the Abbey of Hailes, which his father with him into England; bestowing a third part thereof at had founded, and wherein his father and mother were both buried; whereby to enrich the said monastery, reserving

772

the other two parts in his own custody; till at length, moved upon such devotion as was then used, he founded an abbey at Asserugge, in Hertfordshire, a little from the manor of Bercampsted, in which he placed the monks of the order of Bonhommes (good men), being the first that had ever been of that order in England; and assigned to them and their abbey the other two parts of the sacred blood."

The reputation derived from this supposed treasure brought numbers of deluded people to the two monasteries. The state of ignorance in which the generality of people lay at that time, was favourable to the success of the imposition; but at the Reformation the cheat was

discovered and exposed, and the venerated relic proved to be nothing more than clarified honey, coloured with saffron, as was openly shown at Paul's Cross by the Bishop of Rochester on the 24th February, 1538. Bishop Burnet, speaking of that portion of the supposed blood of Christ which was deposited at Hailes, says that it was shown in a vial of crystal, and sometimes the people could see it, and sometimes not; "so they were made to believe that they were not capable of so signal a favour, so long as they were in mortal sin; and so they continued to make presents, till they bribed Heaven to give them the sight of so precious a relic. This was now discovered to have been the blood of a duck, which they renewed every week; and the one side of the vial was so thick that there was no seeing through it, but the other was clear and transparent; and it was so placed near the altar that one in a secret place behind could turn either side of it outward. So when they had drained the pilgrims that came thither of all they had brought with them, then they afforded them the favour of turning the clear side outward, who upon that went home very well satisfied with their journey and the expense they had been at."

Soon after the foundation of the college of Ashridge, it was distinguished by Edward the First holding a parliament in it. A great debate was there agitated in 1291 respecting the original and necessary use of fines. After largely endowing this college, and building several other religious edifices, the Earl of Cornwall died on the 1st of October, 1300, in his college of Ashridge. His bones were deposited with those of his ancestors in the Abbey of Hailes.

The rector and brethren of Ashridge held this college until the twenty-sixth year of Henry the Eighth, when they were visited by the commissioners of his Majesty, and made their recognition of the royal supremacy. After the dissolution of monasteries, Ashridge became the residence of royalty, being bestowed by Edward the Sixth on his sister, the Princess Elizabeth, who took up her abode there, and occupied Ashridge during a portion of Mary's reign. It was her chosen retreat, when suspected by her imperious sister of conspiracy, and from this place was she forcibly torn, though weak and ill, by the Queen's messengers, and conveyed in a litter, by slow journeys, to London, to answer the charges against her.

An existing document proves that the Princess Elizabeth assigned in 1556 many parcels of the land and demesnes belonging to the late college, to Richard Combe, of Hemelhemsted, gentleman. Elizabeth, as Queen, in the fourteenth year of her reign, granted Ashridge to William Gorge, one of her gentlemen pensioners; and in the seventeenth of her reign, to John Dudley, and John Ayscough, and their heirs. In the second year of James the First's reign, Ashridge came into the possession of Sir Thomas Egerton, Lord Ellesmere, the founder of the house of Bridgwater. This nobleman died at Dublin Castle, and Ashridge became the property of his eldest surviving son, who, almost immediately after the death of his father, was created Earl of Bridgwater. In 1631 he was promoted to the presidentship of Wales and the Marches, and it was to his acquisition of this honourable post that the mask of Milton's Comus owes its foundation. Mr. Todd

(the author of the work already noticed) says: "He had probably been long acquainted with Milton, who had before written Arcades for the Countess of Derby, and who, as it

has been supposed, wrote also, while a student at Cambridge, his elegiac ode to the Marchioness of Winchester, in conse quence of his acquaintance with the Egerton family. I have been informed from a manuscript of Oldys', says Warton, that Lord Bridgwater, being appointed Lord President of Wales, entered upon his official residence at Ludlow Castle with great solemnity. On this occasion he was attended by a large concourse of the neighbouring nobility and gentry. Among the rest came his children, in particular Lord Brackley, Mr. Thomas Egerton, and Lady Alice,

To attend their father's state
And new-intrusted sceptre.

They had been on a visit at the house of their relations in Herefordshire; and in passing through Haywood Forest, were benighted, and the Lady Alice was even lost for a short time. This accident, which in the end was attended with no bad consequences, furnished the subject of a mask for a Michaelmas festivity, and produced Comus.' Lord Bridgwater was appointed [rather installed] Lord President May 12, 1633. When the perilous adventure in Haywood Forest, if true, happened, cannot now be told. It must have been soon after. The mask was acted at Michaelmas, 1634."

The first Earl of Bridgwater, who thus did honour to his name by patronizing the illustrious Milton, lived to the age of seventy, and died "an example of patience and piety." His acquirements were varied and extensive; his manners graceful; his "discourse" fluent and polished, so that he seldom spake, but he did either instruct or delight those who heard him." In fact, he is said to have earned the character of being a profound scholar, an able statesman, and a good Christian.

66

John, second Earl of Bridgwater, possessed many of his father's excellences. He is commended as having been true to his word, faithful to his friend, loyal to his prince, wary in council, strict in his justice, and punctual in all his actions. At the early age of nineteen he married the Lady Elizabeth Cavendish, daughter to the Duke of Newcastle, a lady in whom uncommon piety was united with beauty and rare accomplishments, conspiring to render her one of the best and most lovely of women. A collection of prayers and meditations of this countess are still in the possession of the family.

This worthy pair appear to have patronised learning, and to have exercised the charity and hospitality becoming their station. At the same time they were desirous of conducting their household with economy, and in accordance with religious principles. The household. roll written by this nobleman affords an interesting picture of his establishment, and will repay the curiosity of those who are able to peruse it at length in Mr. Todd's work. After commanding, first, that all the servants in his house be ready "att the ringinge of a bell, or other warnings given," to attend morning and evening prayers or sermons in the chapel, coming thither with reverence and devotion, and not absenting themselves without special and urgent cause; he then gives rules for the deportment of those who wait at table, of which we

select a few.

All both gentlemen and yeomen are in a willing and decent manner to bringe up the first course to the table, and because the attendance of the gentlemen cannot afterwards be spared from thence duringe the meale, the yeomen are afterwards to bring up the second course and the fruite; and all take care not to use any uncivill, careless, slightinge, or unseemly demeanour in their attendance at the table, and particularly to show respect and curtesie to strangers.

All are diligently to attend their service at the table, without gazinge about, (so blindinge their owne eyes from finding what is fitting for them to doe, without being called,) or listening too earnestly to what is said (so stoppinge their owne ears against the call of such as shall have occasion to make use of them.)

None is to carry out of the dininge-room any napkin, spoone, knife, glasse, or any thing else belonging to the service of the table, but by the privity or appoyntment of the buttler, that soc nothinge of that nature may be sett in windowes, or by-corners there to adventure breakinge,

« AnteriorContinuar »