the heavy expense to which it gives rise, occasion the ship-owner to charge a higher sum for the hire of a vessel to convey a cargo, than he would otherwise do: this is invariably done, for he cannot tell beforehand that the ship will not be liable to quarantine. Moreover, it is asserted, that mercantile intrigue and manoeuvre sometimes occasion a foul bill of health to be given to a ship when there is no necessity for it. The freight of a vessel is higher, the merchant waits longer for a return of his capital, the charge for pilotage is increased, and the provision for a ship's crew are expensive, during quarantine. Many kinds of cargo are perishable, and become utterly useless if detained forty or fifty days, as is sometimes the case. The cargo of each ship is generally soon known among the merchants; and if several ships, with a certain class of articles as cargo, be detained for quarantine, the market for those articles becomes thrown into a forced state, from the known arrivals of the cargoes, but the impossibility of getting at them for some weeks. Lastly, if a vessel under quarantine be attacked by a storm and placed in peril, the natural humanity which distinguishes seamen towards each other receives a check: one vessel fears to assist another, lest it should become liable to quarantine, and consequently to loss, by communication with a suspected ship. To make humanity a losing game is a thing always to be regretted.

In a second paper we shall speak of Lazarettos, a subject to which we have not yet alluded.

NATURAL MONITORS.

I ASKED the Lark in the Summer morn,
Why he left so lightly his nest in the corn;
Why he sang so sweetly his matin song,
Which the clouds and the breezes bore along,
When he knew, that, perhaps, before 'twas night
The hunter's shaft might stay his flight?
By the messenger Wind was this answer given,
"I fear not, I fear not, I fly towards heaven!"
I asked the Flowers in the soft Spring time,
Wherefore they smiled in their youthful prime,
When the stormy days so soon should come,
That would blight for ever their beauty and bloom?
And the sweet Flowers answered, "Each day renews
On our leaves the sunshine that dries the dews:
Why should we not smile? Till now we have thriven;
And the sunshine and dew are both from heaven !"

I asked the Clouds, in their pomp of light,
As they sat in the crimson west at night,
Wherefore they gathered around the sun,
And brightened, although his race was run;
When, perhaps, the breezes of night might strew
Their fragile folds into mist and dew?

The Clouds replied, "Though we should be driven
Away from our rest, we should still be in heaven!"

And I saw a lovely Child, who knelt
Beside the cot where his father dwelt,
At the sun-set hour; and his hands were raised
Towards the sky on which he gazed ;
And on his rosy lips a prayer
Seemed hovering, like the Summer air:
"Fear'st thou," said I, "the shades of even ?"
He smiled and said, "See how bright is heaven!"
MISS M. A. BROWNE.

ATHEISM is not the persuasion of the man, no, nor the belief of the Devil, but the punishment of the Beast. 'Tis that hardness of heart, that reprobate sense to which God delivers up an obstinate sinner,-'tis the last of judgments inflicted by God on him that has refused all methods of his mercy. God has forsaken him, and delivered him up to the worst of all evils, that is, to himself.-OLD

DIVINE.

ADVERTISEMENTS AND COUNSELS OF
SIR THOMAS SMITH.

ALTHOUGH all men promise to help you if you had need, yet nevertheless trust not too much thereto. Many of them which now do offer to take armour for your sake, if occasion be offered, will be the first to strike you, to give you the overthrow.

hurt though you may for the tears of the offended and the Do good while you have power thereunto, and never do complaints of the grieved, may one day have place in the sight of God to move Him to chastise you.

Bestow your benefits and offices rather upon the good, than upon your friends; for among your friends it is lawful to depart your goods, but not your conscience.

If you will not err in your counsels, nor stumble in your actions, embrace them that tell you truth, and hate them that flatter you; for much more ought you to love them that advise you, than those that will seem to pity you, when you are in danger.

Have always in memory the benefits you have received from others, and enforce yourself to forgive such injuries as others have done unto you.

Esteem much that little of your own, and regard not the abundance of others.

Make much of your dearest friends; and do not procure any enemies.

Deny not justice to the poor because he is poor; neither pardon the rich because he is rich.

Do not good only for love, neither chastise only for hatred. In evident cases abide not the counsel of others; and in doubtful cases determine not of yourself.

Suffer not sin unpunished; nor well-doing without reward.

Deny not justice to him that asketh, nor mercy to him that deserveth it.

Chastise not when thou art angry, neither promise anything in thy mirth.

THE COMMON ARUM, OR CUCKOO-PINT. THE Cuckoo, which is welcomed amongst us at this season of the year, as the sure harbinger of genial weather, has given their common names to several flowers which make their appearance about the time of his annual visit. Among these is that curiouslooking flower, the common arum, whose wonderful structure has given rise to disputes and differences of opinion among eminent botanists, while at the same time it has afforded unmixed delight to numbers of the unlearned; we mean the little rosy vagrants who search the hedges at this gladsome season for lords and ladies, or wake-robin, or cuckoo-pint, as this plant is indifferently called.

This plant is generally known, and is sufficiently abundant on shady banks, at the bottoms of hedges, near the margin of rivulets, &c. Its flowers are very thickly set upon a club-shaped part, called a spadix, which is itself enclosed in a leaf of a very peculiar form, the edges of which are curved inwards till they meet, and form a hollow sheath or spathe. The spathe may be observed on many of our garden plants, but the spadix is not so common, being confined, as we believe, to the palms and the arum tribe. After a while the spadix and its aggregated flowers, with the spathe which had enveloped them, die away, and disclose a small long bunch of berries, green at first, and afterwards of a yellowish red colour, containing in each berry several seeds. These berries are sometimes as large as the kernel of a hazel nut, and last all the summer, looking very brilliant among the briers and wild plants of our hedges.

The botanical name of the cuckoo-pint is Arum maculatum: it is the only British species of a family of plants belonging to the natural order Aroidea. This family is botanically divided into three sections, according to the form of the leaves, which are either The roots of

THE vermin of equivocation are often hidden under the composite, simple, or arrow-shaped. mass of words.-FULLER.

many species are thick and tuberous, and made use

of in tropical countries as a common article of food, though they are said to disagree with Europeans. The roots of Arum maculatum are edible when properly prepared, but it is only in times of extreme scarcity that they have been made use of for that purpose. One of the species, Arum macrorhizon, is cultivated in China to a great extent, and answers the same purpose as the potato in this country. But although the roots of the arum tribe, after roasting or boiling, are many of them found useful as food, all these plants are acrid in a high degree, and some few are dangerous poisons. The sharp, biting taste of the root of the common arum was proved by a person who, having heard of its many uses in former times, dug up one from curiosity and tasted it. "The piece I bit off was scarcely the size of half a split pea, yet it gave out so much acrid milk, that for more than half an hour my lips and tongue were inflamed, and continued to burn, as if cauterized by hot iron nor did the sensation wholly cease till after breakfast the next morning."

"

;

We

The uses of the British arum are detailed to us by the old herbalists at some length. As a medicine they would have us believe it to be, in one form or another, a remedy for poison and the plague, for boils, for coughs and shortness of breath, for subduing inflammation of the eyes, and restoring them "when by some chance they become black and blue," for pains in the ears, for the gout, &c. As a cosmetic it is said to be of sovereign efficacy in removing blemishes of the skin. As it is not likely that our readers will feel disposed to make trial of its virtues in these respects we omit the directions given concerning the different modes of preparing the plant. learn from Gerard and others that the roots of the cuckoo-pint were employed in making starch, and that the article thus obtained was very "pure and white." But it is added "it is most hurtful to the hands of the laundresse that hath the handling of it, for it choppeth, blistereth, and maketh the hands rough, and rugged, and withall smarting." From this ancient domestic use of the arum, it obtained the name of starch-wort. We may conclude our account of the uses of this plant in the words of the quaint-speaking Culpepper. "Authors have left large commendations of this herb, you see, but for my part, I have neither spoken with Dr. Reason nor Dr. Experience about it."

'Humble as is the appearance of this plant, it is welcomed among the other harbingers of spring, and though closely wrapped in its spotted veil has not escaped the notice and admiration of the lover of nature and of flowers. Hervey thus speaks of it in his Theron and Aspasio:

Arum-a wild herb, which unfolds but one leaf, formed after a very singular pattern, bearing some resemblance to a hare's ear. It is really one of the prettiest fancies in nature's wardrobe, and is so much admired by country people that they have dignified it with the apellation of "lords and ladies;" because it looks, I suppose, somewhat ike a person of quality, sitting with an air of ease and dignity in his open sedan. In autumn, after both flowers have vanished, a spike of scarlet berries, on a simple stalk,

is all that remains.

The

This comparison of the flower with a person seated in a sedan, recals another familiar name of the arum, i. e. Jack in a box, derived from a ridiculous resemblance found for it to an image standing in a case. author just quoted is not content to consider the arum as a mere curiosity; he introduces it to our notice in conjunction with some of the most beautiful products of spring :

The hawthorn in every hedge is partly turged with silken gems, partly diffused into a milk-white bloom. Not a

straggling furze, nor a solitary thicket on the heath, but wears a rural nosegay. Even amidst that neglected dike, the arum rises in humble state; most curiously surrounded with luxuriant families, each distinguished by a peculiar livery of green.

The poet Clare has placed the appearance of the arum among the tokens of the arrival of spring, in the following pleasing lines:

Sweet are the omens of approaching spring,
When gay the elder sprouts her winged leaves;
When tootling robins carol-welcomes sing,
And sparrows chelp glad tidings from the eaves.
What lovely prospects wait each wakening hour
When each new day some novelty displays,
How sweet the sunbeam melts the crocus flower,
Whose borrowed pride shines dizened in his rays;
Sweet new-laid hedges flush their tender green;
Sweet peep the arum leaves their shelter screen;
Ah! sweet is all that I'm denied to share;
Want's painful hindrance holds me to her stall,-
But still Hope's smiles unpoint the thorns of care,
Since Heaven's eternal spring is free from all.

A KEEN and exquisite perception of whatever is ludicrous or defective is rarely united with a lofty or poetical sensibility for elegance and beauty.

SIR WILLIAM TEMPLE observes, that he esteemed Sir Philip Sidney, both as the greatest poet, and the noblest genius of any that have left writings behind them, and published in our own or any other modern language; a person born capable, he says, not only of forming the greatest ideas, but of leaving the noblest examples, if the length of his life had been equal to the excellence of his wit and virtues.

How beautiful and how varied are the forms of praise and thanksgiving in the Book of Psalms! They appear as the outpourings of a grateful heart before God for the glories of his creation, for succour in the hour of danger, for deliverance from affliction, for national privileges, and for anticipated salvation. There is an earnestness in many of them, that lays hold upon our strongest sympathies: for (without speaking of their inspired and prophetic charactes) they may be truly said to spring from feelings which are natural to every man who is not utterly debased, and in the exercise of which, generous tempers ever take delight.SEDGWICK.

LONDON!

JOHN WILLIAM PARKER, WEST STRAND. PUBLISHED IN WEEKLY NUMBERS, PRICE ONE PENNY, AND IN MONTHLY PARTS, PRICE SIXPENCE.

Sold by all Booksellers and Newsvenders in the Kingdom,

William the Conqueror, on a branch of the house of Alençon, in France, from which was derived the name Alston. Henry Ferrers held this manor in Henry the Second's time, and had a castle here. Martin Ferrers, in the time of Edward the Third, had the defence of the southern coast against an invasion of the French. From this family the manor successively passed into those of Lord Brook, Lord Mountjoy, Earl of Newport, Sir John Maynard, Earl of Stamford, and the Duke of Northumberland. There are several lead mines near Bere Alston, but they are not now rich in ore, although at one time not only lead, but silver likewise, was procured there.

Approaching still nearer to Plymouth, the Tamar arrives at Weston Mill. This little hamlet is deeply seated in a vale at the head of the creek of the river. The creek presents an extremely gratifying scene when the tide is up, and is gently rippling round the little promontories: it then exhibits all the charms of a sequestered lake.

We now approach the point where the Tamar suddenly expands to that large sheet of water which, under the name of the Hamoaze, is so well known as a fine harbour for our men of war. At this spot is situated Mount Tamar, the seat of the late Captain Sir Thomas Byard, well known for the distinguished part he sustained in Lord Duncan's memorable vic

Not far from hence is the village of Tamerton, a pretty sequestered spot, but not remarkable for any-tory at Camperdown. The house is situated on the thing except an aged oak, under which a tragical deed is reported to have been committed in the time of Queen Elizabeth, and which has formed the material for a metrical tale by the Rev. Mr. Johns, of Crediton.

brow of an acclivity, and commands a fine view of
the adjacent country, the prospect being seen to the
best advantage from some broken ground which rises
rather to the eastward of the house.
On the Cornwall bank now appears the town of
Saltash;
Saltash appears,

Beheld with interest; for, though the hand
Of boastful, spruce, and calculating Art
Has here no level and right-angled streets,
And traces here no long unbroken lines
Of buildings uniform, there is a charm
In thy irregular rush adown the hill,
Saltash! And the continued dotting of thy slope
With gardens, which the hand of Leisure forms,—
Abode of flowers and fruitage, where repose,
Fit recompense for years of honoured toil,
Waits on the sons of Ocean.

We next come to Warleigh House, the seat of Walter Radcliffe, Esq., on the banks of the Tamar, about six miles northward of Plymouth. The estate belonged to Samson Foliott, in the time of King Stephen; and afterwards passed into the families of the Gorges, the Bouvilles, the Coplestons, and the Bamfyldes, from whom it descended to the Radcliffes. The house is large, and appears, both from internal evidence and from records still preserved, to have been built prior to the reign of Queen Elizabeth. The south front has nearly the form of the letter E; and the entrance hall from its lofty and imposing aspect, appears like one of the ancient baronial halls. As It is thus that the Devonshire poet speaks of the the house is situated nearly at the point where the pleasant town of Saltash. Saltash is built on a solid river Tavy flows into the Tamar, there are beautiful rock, with houses of the same material. The houses views presented from its grounds. An eminence rise one above another in steep ascent, and at the top within the grounds commands a view of the Ha- of the hill is the chapel, the town-hall, and other moaze, with the British ships lying there, the buildings. Saltash was originally made a borough at churches of St. Budeaux and Landulph,-the junction a very early period, and was in the possession of of the Tavy and the Tamar,-with a long undulating Reginald de Valletort in the reigns of Kings John line of the varied banks of the latter, bounded by the and Henry the Third. From this family it passed to heights of Hengeston-down, in Cornwall; while on Richard, Earl of Cornwall, Henry the Third's brother; the other hand are seen the winding course of the and these estates being afterwards vested in the Tavy, the distant landscape affording a view of Buck-crown, were by Edward the Third made part of the land Abbey, and being terminated by the Dartmoor Duchy of Cornwall, which, we believe, they still

hills.

The Tamar next reaches St. Budeaux, called also Budeokshed, and familiarly Budshed. The village is situated on an eminence commanding many fine prospects. The family of the Budeoksheds possessed the estate for some centuries. From this family it passed to the Gorges; and from them successively to the Trevills, the Trelawneys, and the Clerks. The manor house is a very old and dilapidated building, and is at present, we believe, inhabited only by a farmer. The church of St. Budeaux is a plain and simple edifice, built from the materials of an older structure. During the latter part of the last century the rectorship was filled, for more than sixty years, by the Rev. T. Alcock, who was remarkable for many peculiarities in his character. The homeliness of his dwelling was extreme; for every article of modern convenience was excluded. His drawing-room was a miserable bed-chamber, with walls that had been once whitewashed. Here he boiled his coffee, toasted his cakes, and entertained his guest at the same time; who forgot, in the charms of his conversation, the wretched apartment they were in, and the time-worn bed on which they were seated, for want of chairs and sofas. It does not appear that this style of living arose from scantiness of income, but from penuriousness of disposition :-he was, however, both a learned and an amiable man.

remain.

The Tamar is very wide both above and below Saltash, but here narrows to a ferry. A skilful pilot is said to be needed to traverse with safety this part of the river. Immense tracks of mud stretch out from each side, which, when slightly covered with water, are so extremely delusive, that they can scarcely be distinguished from the deeper portions of the channel. Parties have frequently been detained all night on these shoals; for if a boat once runs aground there, she is almost always obliged to wait till the next flood tide, before she can get off.

At the junction of the river Lynher with the Tamar is situated Antony, the fine mansion of R. P. Carew, Esq. This is a square massive edifice, built in 1721. The interior is commodious and elegant, and contains several fine portraits, by Holbein, Vandyck, Kneller, Reynolds, and other distinguished artists. In front of the house is a court-yard, enclosed on two sides by rows of offices, supported by piazzas, and on the third by a brick wall.

Still farther down is Thanckes, the seat of Lady Graves, widow of the late Admiral Lord Graves. The house, which is unassuming in its exterior, is pleasantly situated at the head of a small bay, near some fine groves of ancient trees. Admiral Graves was engaged in the action of the 1st of June, 1794; and for his services on that occasion he was created a peer of

Ireland, by the title of Lord Graves, Baron Graves, of Gravesend, in the county of Londonderry. He was also rewarded with a gold chain and medal, and a pension of 1,000l. per annum. The following year he was raised to the rank of Admiral of the White. He died in 1801, after having spent fifty years in the naval service.

A

We have now approached nearly to Mount Edgecumbe, on the western side of the mouth of the Tamar. Mount Edgecumbe has been celebrated by writers of different classes, and of different countries, for the beauty of its situation. It is a beautifully luxuriant hill, with a mansion near the summit, belonging to the Earl of Mount Edgecumbe, which was built by Sir Richard Edgecumbe, about the year 1550, and is constructed in the Gothic style, of an oblong shape, with octagonal towers at the four corners. modern wing, containing a library and other rooms, has been since added to the building; but as this part is hidden by a row of stately trees, it does not injure the architectural effect of the mansion. The interior possesses some spacious apartments, among which is the noble hall. At the bottom of the lawn on which the house is situated, and close to the water's edge, are the flower gardens, cultivated in the English, French, and Italian styles. This garden is celebrated for its beauty in every respect.

The position of Mount Edgecumbe with reference to the surrounding scenery, is well described by the celebrated French writer, Dupin, who visited England

some years ago.

ON QUARANTINE AND LAZARETTOS.
II. LAZARETTOS.

179

IN our last paper we detailed the precautions which
have been taken by our Legislature to prevent the
introduction of the plague into the British dominions.
We have now to turn our attention to countries
have been erected for this purpose.
bordering on the Mediterranean, where Lazarettos

structed to facilitate the performance of quarantine,
Lazarettos, or Pest-houses, are establishments con-
and particularly the purification of goods. They
have usually a port, in which ships from a suspected
place may anchor; and when perfect, are provided
sick may be separated from the healthy; and with
with lodgings for the crews and passengers, where the
warehouses where the goods may be deposited; all
country being, of course, interdicted. The lazarettos
intercourse between the lazaretto and the surrounding
at Leghorn, Genoa, and Marseilles, are considered to
facilities they afford to navigation are very great; for,
be better than all others in their arrangement. The
cargo in the lazaretto, they are not detained longer
as ships from suspected places may discharge their
than they would be were there no quarantine regula-
tions. The goods deposited in the lazaretto, being
inspected by the proper officers, and purified, are then

admitted into the market.

strikingly different from anything existing in England; and many of our most eminent commercial writers think that England has much to learn from foreign countries on these subjects; among others, Mr. M'Culloch remarks:-"We do not know that many more important services could be rendered to the commerce of the country, than by constructing a proper quarantine establishment on the Thames."

It must be evident that such an establishment is

Mount Edgecumbe stands on an extensive base; it rises and projects like a promontory, forming the western boundary of Plymouth roads. Its sides are majestically shaded by some beautiful old plantations, and its summit commands one of the finest prospects England presents. On the east, the spectator beholds, as if beneath his feet, the road and the vessels lying at anchor. The long narrow It may be interesting to inquire what are the line formed by the town of Stonehouse is distinctly marked; internal arrangements of the lazarettos of foreign in front rise the Citadel and insulated barracks of the Royal countries; and fortunately we can have these queries Marines, and in the rear the magnificent Naval and Ordnance answered by the labours of one, to whose name is Hospitals. Farther to the left, the Hamoaze sends off nume-attached one of the most enviable characteristics that rous and deep ramifications from both its banks, as the trunk of a vigorous tree shoots forth its branches in all direca human being could possess: we allude to John tions. Along an extent of upwards of four miles, its prin- Howard, the philanthropist. This truly amiable cipal course is filled by first-rates, frigates, and smaller man, who, fully responding to the precept, "Oh, let ships of war; some entirely dismantled, others rigged, fully the sorrowful sighing of the prisoners come before equipped, and ready to join any sudden expedition, at a moment's warning. Finally, to crown this magnificent pic-directed his attention to lazarettos. He visited France, thee," visited almost all the prisons in Europe, also ture, the plains, hills, and high mountains of Devon and Cornwall, form on the east, north, and west, an immense amphitheatre of fields, meadows, heaths, forests, and rocks. The two extremities of this amphitheatre, extend gradually to the ocean, the immense surface of which presents no resting point to the eye, except Eddystone lighthouse."

The whole range of important buildings and towns on the eastern bank of the mouth of the Tamar, such as Devonport, Plymouth, Stonehouse, Stoke Damerel, &c., together with the Breakwater, the Citadel, Mount Wise, Drake's Island, &c., are too important to be included in the present article, which has relation more to the natural scenery along its banks, than to the naval arrangements at its mouth. Here, therefore, for the present, we must quit the Tamar and its interesting associations.

ORDEAL is a word derived from the Anglo-Saxon, which also comes from the Teutonic, and signifies judgment. The methods of trial by fire, water, or combat, were in use till the time of Henry the Third, and the right of exercising them was annexed to several lordships or manors. At this day, when a culprit is arraigned at the bar, and asked how he will be tried, he is directed to answer "By God and my Country," by the verdict or solemn opinion of a Jury. "By God" only, would formerly have meant the ordeal, which referred the case immediately to the Divine Judgment.

Italy, Greece, Turkey, and Asia Minor, drew plans and elevations of all the lazarettos, conversed with the physicians of all the countries he visited, respecting the nature of the plague and the arrangements of the buildings to be used as lazarettos; and gave to the public the result of his self-imposed and almost self-destroying labours, in An Account of the principal Lazarettos in Europe. From this work we shall draw a few details, observing that the main features are probably nearly the same now as when Howard wrote, although alterations have doubtless been made in minor points.

At Marseilles, a port of the south of France, is a Health Office, Le Bureau de Santé, situated close to the port. In an outer room of this office, the depositions of captains of ships are taken, who come in their boats to an iron grating: this book is open to public view. If letters, or orders for supplies, be brought by the captains who are performing quarantine, a servant, situated at an iron lattice two feet distant, takes the letter with a pair of iron tongs, and dips it into a bucket of vinegar, previous to handing it

in to the directors of the office.

The lazaretto is on an elevated rock near the city, quite close to the sea, and commanding the entrance to the harbour. It is of large extent; and among