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Gleanings.-Literary Notices.

Come in Time." I never come late to a friend's dinner," says Boileau, for I have observed, that when a company is waiting for a man, they make use of that time to load him with abuse."-Family Album. Drowsy Hearers.-In the early times of this state, as we learn from Lewis's History of Lynn, a person was deputed to wake the sleepers in church. He bore a long wand. On one end was a fox's tail, with which he gently touched the faces of the drowsy fair; but on the other end was a ball, with which he bestowed on the sconces of the snoring men a startling rap.Boston Bulletin.

Singular Circumstance.-The "Liverpool Mercury" states the following as a fact, and avers that it took place near the village of Upton-in-Wirral, near Cheshire:-A female, of respectable appearance, with an infant of colour at the breast, entered the cottage of a labouring man, whose family consisted of a wife and several small children. The visitor was welcomed to the homely dwelling, and observing an infant in the cradle, she wished to ascertain the child's age, and seemed pleased to find it correspond with her own. She then inquired by what means the family were maintained and being informed that their only support arose from the husband's labour, with much seeming sympathy and kind feeling observed,-"Suppose some friend made you a present of five hundred pounds, to open a small shop, don't you think it would be the means of helping you to bring up your family"-"Yes, madam," replied the poor woman," but I have no such friend;" upon which the lady took from her pocket-book a £500 Bank of England note, and presented her with it. The astonished cottager, struck speechless by such unexpected good luck, was roused from her stupor by her benefactress requesting change for a sovereign, meaning to share it amongst the rest of the children. 20 shillings being a sum not often seen by the poor woman, she replied, "O dear madam, I have not one shilling; but, if you'll wait, I'll go to the next village, about a quarter of a mile distant, and get it for you." The poor woman, in high glee, made the best of her way towards Upton; but, before she had reached a hundred yards from her door, the generous benefactress placed her swarthy offspring in the eradle, and made a precipitate retreat with the faircomplexioned infant, leaving the poor woman to console herself, on her return, with a Mulatto child in one hand, and five hundred pounds in the other.

Mexican Manuscripts.-Several Mexican manuscripts, brought some time ago to Europe, and forming part of the celebrated collection of Botturini, have been purchased for the Royal Library, Paris. Amongst the number is the report of the spies sent by Montezuma to the Spanish camp; a third manuscript represents the human sacrifices.

Literary Notices.

Just Published.

Views in the East, comprising India, Canton, and the Shores of the Red Sea; from Original Sketches by Capt. Robert Elliot, R.N.-The Subjects of Part II. are, Entrance of a Mosque at Futtypore Sicri; Tomb of Shere Shah, at Sasseram; and Aurungzebe's Mosque, at Benares.

No. XVIII. of the National Portrait Gallery presents Likenesses of Viscount Melville, Viscount Clifden, and John Abernethy, Esq.

A Series of Church of England Divines: No. 1, Works of Bishop Sherlock; to be continued Monthly. Valpy's Greek Exercises, or Elements of Composition. 2d Edition. 12mo. bound.

The Sixth Part of The Family Cabinet Atlas, will complete the first half of the Work, and will contain Maps of Holland and the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal, Sweden and Norway, and the West Indies.

Humann on the Greek Metres, abridged and translated into English, for the Use of Schools and Colleges, by the Rev. J. Seager. 8vo.

Divines of the Church of England, No. 4, being a continuation of the Works of Bishop Sherlock, with a Summary to each Discourse, Notes, &c., by the Rev. T. S. Hughes. Small 8vo.

Valpy's Greek Grammar. 12th Edition. 8vo. Elements of Latin Grammar, by the Rev. Dr. Valpy. 19th Edition.

The Life of the late John Walker, M.D., Director and Vaccinator of the Royal Jennerian and London Vaccine Institutions, by John Epps, M.D., Lecturer on Materia Medica and Chemistry, and now Director and Vaccinator of the Royal Jennerian Society, and London Vaccine Institution.

976

Deadly Adulteration and Slow Poisoning, or, Disease and Death in the Pot and the Bottle.

Models of Modern French Conversation; Dialogues in French and English, by M. de la Claverie. Full Annals of the Revolution in France in 1830, by Wm. Hone, with engravings.

Utility of Latin discussed, for the Consideration of Parents, by Justin Brenan.

Composition and Punctuation familiarly Explained, &c., by Justin Brenan.

Anti-Slavery Reporter, Nos. 66 and 67.
Pinciples of Dissent, by Thomas Scales.
The Family Library, No. XVI.

Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft, by Sir Walter Scott, Bart.

The Substance of a Course of Lectures on British Colonial Slavery, delivered at Bradford, York, and Scarborough, by the Rev. Benjamin Goodwin.

The Omnipotence of the Deity, a Poem, by the Rev. John Young. 12mo.

By Messrs. Blackie & Fullarton of Glasgow, in one volume quarto, a new and corrected edition of Brown's Self-Interpreting Bible.

In the Press.

A Help to the Private and Domestic Reading of the Scriptures, by J. Leifchild. Second Edition, considerably Enlarged and Improved.

Also, A Defence of the Surinam Negro-English Version of the New Testament, by Wm. Greenfield, Superintendant of the Editorial Department of the British and Foreign Bible Society.

The Law of the Sabbath, Religious and Political, by Josiah Conder.

By Mr. Bray, Author of De Foix, The White Hoods. &c. a Romance, entitled, The Talba, or Moor of Portugal, in 3 vols. post 8vo.

The British Merchant's Assistant, by G. Green.

Neatly bound in cloth, carefully revised and enlarged by the Author, an entirely new edition of" An Original Essay on the Immateriality and Immortality of the Human Soul, founded solely on Physical and Rational Principles," by Samuel Drew, M.A.

An elaborate work on Book-Keeping, in its various branches by Edward T. Jones.

Preparing for Publication.

The British Herald, or Cabinet of Armorial Bearings of the Nobility and Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, from the Earliest Period to the Present Time; with a complete Glossary of Heraldic Terms; to which is prefixed, a History of Heraldry, by T. Robson.

A Manual of Prayers, in Easy Language, for every Day in the Week, by the Rev. J. Topham, M.A. F.R.S.L. Rector of St. Andrew and St. Mary Witten, Droitwich.

The Poetical Works of the late F. Sayers, M.D.; to which is prefixed, his Disquisition on English Poetry, and English Metres: and also a Life, by W. Taylor, of Norwich.

On the first of November will be Published, Price One Guinea, in One Volume, Post Octavo, elegantly bound in rich crimson silk, and illustrated with 18 splendid Engravings on Steel, by the most celebrated Artists of the day, Le Keepsake Francais.

On the first of November, in royal 18mo. elegantly bound in crimson silk, The Winter's Wreath, for 1831, illustrated with 13 elegant engravings.

The First Volume of the Quadrupeds of the Zoological Gardens, will be ready in a few days.

The Lyre and the Laurel, two volumes of the most beautiful fugitive Poetry of the XIXth Century, will appear in a fortnight.

The true Dignity of Human Nature, or Man viewed in relation to Immortality, by the Rev. W. Davies, Minister of Croft Chapel, Hastings. 18mo.

Mr. Boaden has nearly ready, his Life of Mrs. Jordan, from her first appearance on the Irish Stage, until her lamentable death at St. Cloud.

The Lives of the Italian Poets, in 3 Vols., by the Rev. Henry Stebbing, the much admired author of the History of Chivalry and the Crusades, are just ready for publication, embellished with nearly thirty. medallion portraits."

Chartley the Fatalist, a Novel, from the pen of a regular Contributor to Blackwood's Magazine, may be expected in a few days.

The Sixth Edition of the Cabinet Lawyer, revised and enlarged, in One Vol. 18mo. and comprising the New Acts of the 11 Geo. IV, and 1 Wil. IV. and Legal Decisions to the Summer Assizes.

Professor Jameson has undertaken to edit, for Constable's Miscellany, an edition of Wilson's great work on American Ornithology. The whole of the Literary Contents of the original and only Edition will be comprised in Three Volumes, not only without abridgment, but with numerous additions and improvements,

LONDON PRINTED AT THE CAXTON PRESS, BY H. FISHER, SON, AND CO.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][graphic]

THE

Emperial Magazine;

OR, COMPENDIUM OF

RELIGIOUS, MORAL, & PHILOSOPHICAL KNOWLledge. NOVEMBER.] "PERIODICAL LITERATURE IS THE GERM OF NATIONAL LEARNING."

ST. JAMES'S CEMETERY, LIVERPOOL.

(With a View.).

THE man who denies that we live in an age of improvement, must be a hardy cynic, in every respect worthy of the tub which Diogenes occupied. The inventive powers of man have given birth to energies, which to former generations were totally unknown; and human ingenuity has formed contrivances, through which the elements of nature are controlled, and rendered subservient to the purposes of art. There are few departments of life to which the inventions and improvements of modern times do not extend.

Our streets, warehouses, shops, and taverns, our churches, chapels, theatres, and other public buildings, are illuminated with gas. Steam has extended its influence over the ocean, and both wind and tide have been taught to submit to its power. In machinery, stationed on the land, its mighty agency has been long well known, in giving motion to engines which drain our coal mines of water, and render productive of wealth, those still deeper excavations in Devon and Cornwall, which the adventurer explores, while searching for subterranean treasures.

From stationary existence and operation, the powerful agency of steam has been taught to acquire a loco-motive property. It has been directed to traverse our public roads, and, with a celerity unknown before, to transfer enormous weights from one town to another. Liverpool has had the honour of giving effective birth to this peculiar mode of its operation; and future generations will register this place as the cradle of the infant giant, when, having attained maturity, its history shall, hereafter, be recorded among the memorable inventions of the world.

The improvements which will distinguish the present century are not confined to the living. They extend to the repositories of the dead; and here, also, Liverpool will stand foremost, in the field of honourable enterprise. Increasing both in population and commerce, the inhabitants of this justly celebrated town long felt the inconveniences attendant on the interment of the dead. The burying places were found too contracted to 143.-VOL, XII.

[1830.

accommodate the victims of death. It was frequently difficult to discover room for a grave, without disturbing bodies that had been previously interred; and many instances occurred when they were removed while only in a state of partial decomposition. This violation of decorum was acutely felt, and seriously deplored by all; but to the surviving friends of those, whose mouldering fragments were mutilated by a premature disinterment, the feelings excited were too agonizing to be described. The claims of decency became at length too imperious to be resisted. To meet these demands, a cemetery, comprising about 24,000 square yards, was formed at Low Hill, near Everton. It was opened Feb. 21, 1825, and furnished to the inhabitants a great accommodation; but even this was found too contracted for general interment. A new and more enlarged burying-ground became absolutely neces sary, but the difficulty of finding an appropriate place was, for some time, an obstacle not to be surmounted. At length, a spot was discovered suitable in almost every respect, for the solemn but useful purpose. The situation was eligible, being somewhat detached from the habitations of the living, without being at an inconvenient distance; and what operated still more in its favour was, its being scarcely adapted for any other use.

Of this cemetery, the prefixed engraving furnishes a faithful representation, and gives an appropriate distinctness to every thing remarkable that is included within its confines. The foundation stone was laid Aug. 28, 1827. It was consecrated Jan. 13, 1829; and the first interment, that of Mr. Haram, a wine merchant of Liverpool, took place June 13, 1829. In an entertaining, useful, and much circulated work, entitled "The Stranger in Liverpool," a brief description of this cemetery has been published, from the pages of which we transcribe the following particulars.

"This burial-ground is situated at the top of Duke-street, and is formed on the site of a delf or quarry, from which sufficient stone has been abstracted to construct many of the public buildings of the town, and several docks. The cemetery comprises 44,000 square yards of land, sur

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The New Cemetery, Liverpool.

rounded with a very strong and elegant stone wall and handsome iron railing. There are four entrances by gates, supported by handsome stone piers, two from the head of Duke-street, one from Hope-street, and another from the south-end of St. James's Walk, by an elegant archway, being the principal entrance to the lower part of the grounds.

"The eastern side is nearly perpendicular, and not less than 1,100 feet in length, and 52 feet in height, and is faced with masonry taken from the bottom of the delf. A road, commencing at the north end, near Duke street, gradually descends upon an inclined plane, and is intersected midway by another road from the southern end of the ground, each road advancing beyond the point of intersection, and continuing upon the same declination to the bottom. There is also another horizontal road running parallel with the upper and lowest part of the wall, cutting the inclined planes at the point of intersection, and running north and south to each extremity of the wall. These roads are sufficiently wide to admit a carriage, and are protected by a course of masonry, about 2 feet 6 inches high.

"The entrances to the catacombs consist of doorways 4 feet 6 inches wide and 7 feet high, finished at the sides and round the arches with rustic masonry. There are twenty-nine of these catacombs placed on the south side of the horizontal road, and twenty-two to the north, with one in the centre, 14 feet high. Fifteen more of these openings are placed on the southern extremity of the inclined road, near the bottom, and twelve on the extremity of the corresponding road to the north. These, with twenty-seven placed on the ground, under the angular section of the figure formed by the dip of the roads, make altogether one hundred and five in number, the large one in the centre being only ornamental. The two extremities of this extended line, owing to the irregularity of the face of the rock, are not uniform; but this, instead of offending the eye, is so managed as to produce a pleasing variety.

"The width of the ground is about 90 yards, and its extreme length, from the entrance at the southern end of St. James's Walk to the base of the rock upon which the Oratory is placed, is about 500 yards; the western side and each end are formed by sloping banks, planted with the smaller kind of forest-trees and shrubs. The lower part of the burial-ground is tastefully disposed in shrubberies, serpentine walks, &c.

"The church, or oratory, stands an interesting and prominent object, near the

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face of the perpendicular rock, at the top of Duke-street, nearly on the site of the old windmill. Its exterior exhibits a small, but fine and elegant specimen of pure Grecian Doric architecture: it is 46 feet long and 29 feet wide, inside measure. For this classical gem, which is a perfect specimen of a Greek Hypaethral temple, as well as the design of the catacombs, &c., the town is indebted to the refined taste and professional skill of Mr Foster, the architect of the works. The minister's house is a handsome stone building, situate near to the church, and the porter's lodge is likewise built of stone, and is placed on the high land at the south end.

"This establishment has been compared with the celebrated cemetery of Pere la Chaise, at Paris. There are, however, several points in which they are materially dissimilar. The Parisian one, for instance, contains no catacombs; a fact which gives variety and characteristic interest to the Liverpool cemetery. On the other hand, the latter is formed out of a large tract of hollow ground, whilst the former is on an eminence, commanding an extensive view of Paris and the surrounding country. On the whole, however, if a similar mode of introducing a variety of monumental designs into the ground of the Liverpool cemetery is adopted, taken in connexion with the architectural and picturesque views, which fall beneath the eye of the spectator almost at every step, the cemetery of St. James will be at once a credit and and an ornamental appendage of the highest utility to the town, and an object of curiosity and philosophical interest to the visitor."

Widely as these two branches of improvement are, to which we have already alluded, namely, the steam-carriages which accommodate the living, and the formation of the cemetery as a receptacle for the dead, the melancholy death of Mr. Huskisson most awfully connects them together. In our preceding number, col. 971, we gave a brief account of this national loss, and of the manner in which it occurred; and the monument about to be erected to his memory, and of which the spot is marked in the engraving, will perpetuate the associa tion, and transmit a memorial of the fatal catastrophe to distant generations. As the funeral of this statesman is the most awfully memorable event that has ever distinguished, and we hope that ever will distinguish this cemetery, we make no apology for laying it in this place before our readers.

On Friday, September 24, 1830, the remains of the right hon. William Huskisson were committed to the grave, at the new

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