ANNALS OF PUBLIC JUSTICE. THE TRAVELLER'S DREAM. please even Gaspar Taganrog and Cassimir Bellipotski. Travellers in quest of science and political observation passed sometimes through this dreary region, and entered into a short intercourse with the natives. One of this number stopped to repair his sledge and feed his dogs at Zittau, THE HERE is still in a wild district on the borders of the Kuban, some relics of a groupe of huts once inhabited by a few wretched descendants of exiles sent to perish there by the Empress Catherine. Towards the latter end of her reign, a family settled amongst them whose origin appeared to be Tran- where the family of Halden occupied sylvanian; and certain indications of southern manners increased the surprise of the little colony at their visit. The family consisted of two old men, a young woman, and a girl less than sixteen, whose language was wholly unknown to the Cossack cottagers, nor did her companions appear desirous to instruct her in their's. She acted as handmaiden to the young wife of the oldest man, cleaned their fish-kettles, bruised their grain, and did every menial office with an air of sullen stupidity, and a squalidgligence of attire which soon made halloperson undistinguished among the on tbrutal women of the village. Ps bed, and threats were not wanting on to thart of one of her old masters, amainted seconded by the mistress, but thand thether produced neatness nor obasic wr. She was sulky, silent, and at idebauch hideously ragged to the most convenient dwelling. They had furnished themselves with good mattresses and stores; and a stranger accustomed to luxury easily invented a pretence to beg a lodging with them during the few hours of his stay. He was surprised to find their manners so inferior to their accommodation, and even to their knowledge, for they appeared to have visited every part of Europe, and had gleaned many rare kinds of intelligence. The traveller heard anec. dotes of the agriculture, domestic life, and municipal policy of several towns far distant from the usual route of tourists, but could gather no distinct account of the source. He formed his own conjectures, and established them on the olive complexions, jet-eyes, and robust forms of these people, whom he concluded to have belonged once to the tribe of gypsies so well known in Hungary, and By an ukase uke of Ored of June, 1792, Catherine established a set of vagabond Tartars on the banks of the Cuban. Theired to call opolis was called Ekaterinadara, or Catherine's Gift, and Prince Potemkin voured them. X rely pend apt to make incursions on the Saxon territories. Why they had abandoned their wandering tribe, and settled in this barren spot, unless because the habits of their Tartar neighbours had some affinity with their's, or because they formed some secret link of communication with other gypsies, he had no means of judging; but he added the fact to the private fund he had collected of political and historical curiosities. The rough cleverness and hospitality of his hosts induced Frankenstien to extend his stay to three days, which he spent with great benefit in hearing the tales of the garrulous old men,or observing the woman in her occupation as a herbalist and physician to the village. On the last night of his visit, he chose to sit by the stove with his feet on their bearskin rug,preferring, as he said, the merriment and comfort of their hearth to his solitary mattras. But either the long stories or the powerful rye-spirit overpowered him,and he fell asleep with his head reposing on the wooden screen. Qiska and the two old men were more wakeful, and continued their conversa in low whispers and another lang They rose, perhaps, to go to rest themselves, at the instant that their guest awoke suddenly and looked eagerly round. "Did none of you speak to me just now?" he said, with a startled yet animated look. They assured him none had spoken." well," rejoined Frankenstien, "my dream bodes you good. Methought that unwashed drudge who lies nestled in the corner brought a hon eycomb from the forest, and the bees as they settled themselves on her tatters, became like the golden bees embroidered on an emperor's purple." Qiska, her husband, and her uncle, admired the strangeness of the dream, and assured him she was not without beauty, if her hair could be combed,and her surly temper changed. They would not have been much displeased if he had offered to release them from the burden of keeping a servant so idle and refractory; and Qiska having some experience and the instinctive shrewdness of a woman, imagined Frankenstein had devised this mode of intimating that she The next might be profitably sold. morning, contrary to her custom, she urged Lilla to leave her work, and equipped her in one of her own laced boddices. Grotesque as it seemed with long silver tags and scarlet fringe, very ill-suited to the woollen petticoat and bare feet of the wearer, there was some prettiness in the turn of her head and neck seen through the knots of yellow beads and the striped handkerchief that encumbered them. But Frankenstein, after a single look of surprise and pity, mounted his stedge and departed, leaving the cup from which he had taken his farewell draught filled with rubles. As avarice has no reason, it is always merciless; and Qiska repaid her chagrin at the traveller's insensibility by harder blows and taunts to her slave. The old men had more humanity or more wit, and began to consider whether the traveller's dream might not have some meaning. Concluding that any benefit to Lilla might be one to themselves, they sent her every day to the forest with orders to hew wood and seek honeycombs. At first she went sullenly, and returned with few proofs of diligence, but hunger and blows obliged her to obey. In a few weeks she became an expert wood-cutter; and though she still brought back no better prize than a load of branches or a little honey, she was encouraged in her labours, and seemed to endure them more cheerfully. The old Hungarians contented themselves with the ease they enjoyed at her expense by imposing on her the toil of providing winter-fuel, but Qiska began to make other remarks. She perceived that Lilla's hair was not always matted odiously though it still hung long and loose Cjesty her face; nor was her face so black xpre the soot and stains of their chimerson kery. But she appeared to havte the e bunches of yellow and blue been poich used to hang about her nec rals. Ours pe Daly virtuous for finery and food enthat innate si, till Qiska accused her both caves, with tha, necklaces and sweetineats. the glory o ves, and the fs were so severely punished. the ned the slidest of her masters interceded end denied i et the abomin: arour. This was enough to cor Qisca's fure, E that this shower-bath for passengers, with hopes of its good success. In this miserable hole, in spite of all its wretchedness, we discern a man of some consequence certainly, for he has a servant with a bag-wig behind him, and is regarded with a look of respectful submission. His legs and thighs, to be sure, are a little crooked. He is come hither merely to await the arrival of the waggon with Yorkshire lasses, and to select for himself the first of the market. Besides his satellite in the bag-wig, he has for his ally the lady with the cul-de-Paris-for she evidently belongs to him. Who can these personages be?-This is what the reader shall now be circumstantially informed of. The man, who has one foot over the threshold of the inn-door, and the other still in the house; his left hand resting on his cane, and his right privately employed, is the notorious Colonel Chartres. Whoever, therefore, knows with what ease Hogarth could catch likenesses and figures, must be delighted at finding, thus preserved, the physiognomy and person of one of the greatest scoundrels that the graver has ever immortalized. Among the actors in this drama, there are two who actually died upon the scaffold-yet this being is not one of them-not because he did not deserve hanging most assuredly not-but he escaped being tied up, because, with those innumerable arts of cheating which conduct to the gallows, and in which he was such an adept he had most prudently studied that which enabled him to cheat the gallows themselves of their just and legal due. And never were the gallows more grossly defrauded than upon the day when this animal died in his bed. This is no new information to those of my readers who are acquainted with Pope, Swift, Arbuthnot, and the generality of the English classic writers of that period. Sharper, debauchee, knave, and Char tres, are various words which mean the same thing, Pope has expressed his character very briefly, when he says" Chartres and the Devil,”which sounds very much like Chartres and Co. Another Chartres of our own time has shown himself worthy of being admitted into the firm.* The most excellent epitaph with which the celebrated Arbuthnot drummed the English Chartres out of the world into an infamous immortality, is well known. Why do we not sometimes read similar ones in our churchyards? After reading the lapidary eulogies so common with us, I have been frequently embarrassed to decide to which side of the grave a state of perfection belongs :-Surely there cannot be a happier and a better world" than this, where every one who has escaped the gallows has lived the exemplary worthy person described on his tomb-stone! It is said, that a few days after Chartres' death, the following moving article appeared, in the Edinburgh Paper, among the advertisemen the apprehension of thieves, and 66 ancement of the merits of quack medicines : Yesterday evening, at Stennihill, near Edinburgh, 22d May, 1732, at the age of 62, our dear husband and father, Col. Fras. Chartres of Amsfield, after a complete exhaustion, exchanged his active and laborious life for a state of eternal bliss. Religion and his country bewail in him a brave defender :-the orphan a generous parent; the poor an indefatigable bene factor. No one feels more acutely than ourselves this heavy stroke, which fills an entire province with mourning. Convinced how deeply not only our friends, but the world in general, participate with us upon this loss, we prohibit all further expression of condolence. Signed, Helena Chartres, N. Chartres, Countess of Weems. This man, who was possessed of an income of 10,000l. has come into this filthy hole, to await the arrival of a fresh importation of Yorkshire girls. The fellow behind him is a certain John Gourlay, who was generally his aide-de-camp on such expeditions, a The Duke of Orleans, previously Duc de Chartres-nomen et omen. We should also recollect the Regent, who used to call himself a roue; although he died merely a rouable, just as his namesake in EngPand died merely pendable, 屋 kind of blood-bound on the scent of what his master sought. These worthies however do not trust entirely to their own prowess and generalship in their attack upon innocence, but judge it expedient to commit the opening of the campaign to their valuable ally. This is the old gentlewoman with the gold watch a decoy bird, which, upon such occasions as the present, exchanges its accustomed brothel strains for the rural notes of the grove, in order to entice some young unwary creature to relinquish its freedom for a London cage. This most notorious female, who indeed was not hanged, but who died in a manner as disgraceful and more severe-this well-known and odious character of her day, used generally to be called Mother Needham. She kept a disorderly house in Park-place; which, if I am not mistaken, is a back street leading into St. James's, one of the principal of London. She probably obtained the appellation of Mother from her tenderness towards her protegèes, whose virtue and honour were equally dear to her as her own. She too has been immortalised by Pope, who calls her "the pious Needham." (Dunciad 1, 323.) To call a bawd and procuress pious merely in irony, would have been too contemptible a joke for such a wit as Pope: No! She was truly pious; and her piety like that of a thousand others, went very accurately by clockwork. Every morning and evening she performed her ablutions by prayer, after the most approved recipes, and made an entire purification each Sunday all her remaining time was dedevoted to the various duties of her profession. My readers will perhaps suppose that she was a hypocrite; but this supposition is still more disparaging to Pope's ability, for what are more common than hawds who are hypocrites? No! her praying was not altogether mechanical; a circumstance that constitutes the differentia specifica, and that renders Pope's idea worthy of such a satirist. It has been expressly remarked of her, that she has frequently, with tears, supplicated heaven to bless her calling, in order that, at length released from such a scandalous vocation, she might serve it in spirit and in truth. Yet heaven rejected her wellintentioned supplication. She was taken into custody; put into the pillory; and at the second operation was so terribly handled by the populace-who according to the proverb Still love the treachery, but the traitor hate, that she died before it came to the third trial. This was indeed somewhat worse than being hanged. Such as she was, we find her standing here; and in sooth she looks somewhat weather-beaten. The plaistering on her face is somewhat out of repair, as well as that of the inn wall, which most significantly serves as the back ground to this portrait. But in order to prevent, if possible, the escape of her remaining charms, she has prudently stopped up with patches the holes through which they might take flight, and she seems to have been retouching her faded beauties. In order to bring her heart more immediately in contact with that of this young creature, she has pulled off her glove-since the manual rhetoric which she employs for this purpose, does not act so effectually through intervening calf's skin; and thus the poor bird sinks into an infatuated sleep, during which it is put into the cage of a supposed lady of rank; but this cage will be found to have a back door for Chartres, and she is consequently doomed to inevitable destruction.-All this is contrived and settled while our good old parson is absorbed in studying the direction of his letter; so that we must here again place to the account of this poor man, the fracture of this other brittle ware, which not even a bishopric will enable him to mend again. So much for the effects of a letter of recommendation ! And so much too for the more essential parts of this first scene: now proceed we to notice shortly the accessories. In the corner, on the right hand, stands a spacious trunk, with the letters M. H. upon its lid: it contains the maiden's dowry at this her union with infamy and perdition. With a kind of we are accustomed to regard them merepredestination, that nothing in the world ly as Christian names :—thus the godcan justify, Hogarth has given to his liness of many a Theophilus stands upheroine the name of Mary Hackabout, on the same footing with the blessedwhich does not express her present char- ness of the incarnate BenedictusSpinoza. acter so much as her future destiny. Close to this trunk lies a poor goose, This, therefore, had better been let nearly strangled by the label on its alone. The English word hack, when neck, which runs thus-" To my lofing applied to a female, is one of the most cosen in Tems-street in London." insulting that can be used and if the Where is this gift to be carried? Madaughter's name be Hackubout-what ny are the lofing cosens in Thamesthen is that of her poor innocent father? street,-well disposed to receive geese It is certainly honourable to the taste of either with or without labels: so that us Germans, that we do not tolerate the feathered innocent is not likely to similar inuendoes on the part of an au- fall into more honest hands than thythor at least not without testifying our self, Maria-and perhaps too thy tradispleasure. Woe to the writer who, velling companions seated in the wagin order to distinguish his heroes, must gon. There is, alas, reason to fear invent for them these sort of titles. No that in London will be found “lofing man bad ever less need to have recourse cosens" for them all. to such expedients than Hogarth. He gives us the history of his heroine so plainly, that we could not have failed, at its conclusion, to acknowledge her to be a Hackabout, even had the trunkmaker nailed the chaste name of Susanna herself upon the box-lid. Such significant appellations are tolerable in Latin, in Greek, or in Hebrew, where There still remains another cordedup box with its direction ; we notice it merely to observe, that this direction is quite illegible, and it must therefore, in all probability, remain undelivered, until some honest waggoner, who cannot read, or some cunning rogue who does not trouble himself about the address, provides for it a place of security. REMAINS OF PETER CORCORAN.* A STRANGE reaction seems about ments of the literary spirit, and a natural repugnance to the shadowy existence which they possess in their writings. On the same principle some of them give themselves to racket-playing, as though "they were entirely devoted to the artmarried to that immortal bride." Some cherish an enthusiasm for the sports of the field-some for robust anglingand some, less venturous, for mere good cheer-and all are anxious to proclaim their skill in racket-playing, shooting, fishing, and eating, as though they were jealous of their personal identity, and feared that the world would imagine them fit for nothing but criticism. Time was when the facetious The Fancy; a selection from the Poetical Remains of the late Peter Corcoran, of Gray's Inn, Student - at Law, with a brief Memoir of his Life. 1820. |