Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

All made of fantasy,

All adoration, duty, and observance." At Rouen, they idolized a donkey in the most ludicrous manner, by dressing him up very gaily in the church, dancing round him, and singing, "eh! eh! eh! father ass! eh! eh! eh! father ass!" which, however flattering to him, was really no compliment to themselves.

The ass on which Silenus rode, when he did good service to Jove, and the other divinities, was transported up into the celestial regions. Apion affirms, that when Antiochus spoiled the temple at Jerusalem a golden ass's head was found, which the Jews used to worship.-To this Josephus replies with just indignation, and argues how could they adore the image of that, which, "when it does not perform what we impose upon it, we beat with a great many stripes!" Poor beasts! they must be getting used to hard usage by this time! The wild ass was a very favourite creature for hunting, as we learn from Martial (13 Lib. 100 Ep.); and Virgil sings

"Sæpè etiam cursu timidos agitabis onagros." Its flesh was esteemed a dainty. Xenophon, in the first book of the "Anabasis," compares it to venison; and Bingley says, it is eaten to this day by the Tartars: but what is more curious, Mæcenas, who was a sensible man in other respects, preferred, according to Pliny, the meat of the foal of the tame donkey! "de gustibus non disputandum" indeed! With its milk Poppea composed a sort of paste with which she bedaubed her face, for the purpose of making it fair; as we are told by Pliny (Lib. 11. 41.) and Juvenal (Sat. 2. 107): and in their unadulerated milk she used frequently to bathe for the same purpose (Dio. 62. 28.):

Propter quod secum comites educit asellas Exul Hyperboreum si dimittatur ad axein." Juv. 6. 468.

And in both respects she was imitated by many of the Roman ladies. Of its efficacy to persons of delicate habits there can be no doubt, and Dr. Wolcott only called it in question (when recommended by Dr. Geach,) for the purpose of making the following excellent epigram :

"And, doctor, do you really think
That ass's milk I ought to drink?
'Twould quite remove my ecugh, you say,
And drive my old complaints away.—
It cured yourself-I grant it true~
But then-'twas mother's milk to you?"

[blocks in formation]

On the 20th of September, 1753, the foundation stone of the new exchange at Edinburgh was laid by George Drummond, Esq. grand master of the society of freemasons in Scotland. The proces sion was very grand and regular: each twelve or thirteen, walked in procession lodge of masons, of which there were by themselves, all uncovered, amounting to six hundred and seventy-two, most of whom were operative masons. The military paid proper honours to the company, and escorted the procession. The grand master, supported by a former grand master and the present substitute, was joined in the procession by the lord provost, magistrates, and council, in their robes, with the city sword, mace, &c. carried before them, accompanied with the directors of the scheme, &c. The foundation stone, bearing the Latin inscription, lay all that day on the pavement, to be viewed by the populace.

The freemasons, having caused a magnificent triumphal arch in the true Augustine style to be erected at the entry of the place where the stone was laid, they passed through it, and the magistrates went to a theatre erected for them, covered with tapestry, and decked with flowers, on the west of the place where the stone was to be laid; and directly opposite, to the east, another theatre was erected for the grand master and officers of the grand lodge, and being seated in a chair placed for him, the grand master soon after laid the stone; and put into it, in holes made for that purpose, two medals, one of them being inscribed

"IN THE LORD IS ALL OUR TRUST." The grand master having applied the square the plumb, the level, the mallet, &c. to the stone, in order to fix the same

in its proper position, gave it three knocks with the mallet, which were followed by three huzzas from the brethren: then the mason's anthem, which was played by the music when the stone was first slung in the tackle, was again repeated, the brethren, &c. joining in the chorus, which being ended, a cornucopia, with two silver vessels, were handed to the grand master, filled with corn, wine, and oil; he, according to an ancient ceremony, poured them on the stone, saying,

"May the bountiful hand of heaven supply this city with abundance of corn, wine, oil, and all other necessaries of life."

This being also succeeded by three huzzas, the anthem was again played; and when finished, the grand master repeated these words:

"May the grand architect of the universe, as we have now laid the foundation stone, of his kind providence enable us to carry on and finish what we have now begun; and may he be a guard to this place, and the city in general, and preserve it from decay and ruin to the latest posterity."

Having closed the ceremony with a short prayer for the sovereign, the senate of the city, the fraternity of masons, and all the people, and the anthem naving been again played, the grand master addressed himself to the lord provost and magistrates, &c. in a polite and learned manner, applauding their noble design, and praying that heaven would crown their endeavours, &c. with the desired success. He also made a speech to the undertakers, admonishing them to observe the instructions of the directors, &c. and to do their duty as artificers, for their own honour, credit, &c. Several medals struck on the occasion, were distributed by the grand master to the magistrates, &c.*

[blocks in formation]

St. Matthew.

This is a festival in the church of Eng. land calendar, and in the almanacs.

Mr. Audley notices of Matthew, that he was also called Levi; that he was the son of Alpheus, a publican, or taxgatherer, under the Romans; and that he is said to have preached the gospel in Ethiopia, and to have died a martyr there.

Mr. A. inclines to think that he died a natural death. He says, it is generally, if not universally, agreed by the ancients, that Matthew wrote his gospel in Hebrew, but that several moderns think it was written in Greek, and that Matthew has more quotations from the Old Testament than any of the evangelists.

[blocks in formation]

brown'd,

And with the sportsman's war the newshorn fields resound.'

[blocks in formation]

On the 23d of September, 1751, a man ran, driving a coach-wheel, from the Bishop's-head in the Old Bailey, to the eleventh mile stone at Barnet, and back again, in three hours and fifty-one minutes, having four hours to do it in, for a wager of 501.*

FLORAL DIRECTORY.
White Starwort. Aster dumotus.

Dedicated to St. Thecla.

September 24.

St. Gerard, Bp. of Chonad, A. D. 1046. St. Germer, or Geremar, Abbot, a. D. 658. St. Rusticus, or St. Rotiri, Bp. o. Auvergne, 5th Cent. St. Chuniald, or Conald.

FLORAL DIRECTORY.

Dung Fungus. Agaricus fimetarius.
Dedicated to St. Gerard.

September 25.

S. Ceolfrid, Abbot, A. D. 716. St. Barr, or Finbarr, first Bp. of Cork, 6th Cent. St. Firmin, Bp. of Amiens, 3d Cent. St. Aunaire, Bp. of Auxerre, A. D. 605.

[ocr errors]

Gymnastics.

A late distinguished senator said in parliament, man is born to labour as the sparks fly upwards." This observation is founded on a thorough knowledge of the destiny from which none can escape. The idle are always unhappy, nor can even mental vigour be preserved without bodily exercise. Neither he who has attained to inordinate wealth, nor he who has reached the greatest heights of human intellect is exempt from the decree, that every man must "work for his living." If the "gentleman" does not work to maintain his family, he must work to maintain his life; hence he walks, rides, hunts, shoots, and travels, and occupies his limbs as well as his mind; hence noblemen amuse themselves at the turning lathe, and the workman's bench, or become mail coachmen, or 66 cutter-lads:" and hence sovereigns sometimes "play at being workmen," or, what is worse, at the "game" of war.

Without exercise the body becomes enfeebled, and the mind loses its tension. Corporeal inactivity cannot be persisted in even with the aid of medicine, without symptoms of an asthenic Gentleman's Magazine.

state. From this deliquium the patient must be relieved in spite of his perverseness, or he becomes a maniac or a corpse. Partial remedies render him "a nervous man;" his only effectual relief is bodily exercise.

Exercise in the open air is indispensable, and many who walk in the wide and rapidly extending wilderness of the metropolis have sufficient; but, to some, the exercise of walking is not enough for carrying on the business of life; while others, whose avocations are sedentary, scarcely come under the denomination of sesquipedalians. These resort to stretching out the arms, kicking, hopping, what they call "jumping," running up and down a pair of stairs, sparring, or playing with the dumb bells: these substitutes may assist, but, alone, they are inadequate to the preservation of health.

Some years ago a work on gymnastics, by Salzmann, was translated from the German into English. Its precepts were unaided by example; it produced a senand agreed that the bodily exercises it sation, people talked about it at the time, prescribed were good, but nobody took them, and gymnastics, though frequently thought upon, have not until lately been practised. In the first sheet of the EveryDay Book public attention was called to this subject, and since them Mr. Voelker, nasium at No. 1, Union-place, in the a native of Germany, has opened a gymNew-road, near the Regent's-park; and another at Mr. Fontaine's riding-school, Worship-street, Finsbury-square. The editor of this work has visited Mr. Voel

ker's gymnasium in the New-road; and with a view to public benefit, and because they will operate a new feature in manners, he promulgates the information that such institutions are established.

blishment is judicious. Mr. Voelker's prospectus of his estathat while education has been exclusively He contends faculties, the bodily powers have been directed to the developement of the mental entirely neglected. "The intimate conbeen sufficiently considered; for who does nection between mind and body has not not know, from his own experience, that the mind uniformly participates in the when the body is strong and healthy; and condition of the body; that it is cheerful, depressed, when the body is languid and unhealthy?"

Mr. Voelker refers to Xenophon, and to the great promoters of education in

modern times, namely, Locke, Rousseau, Campe, Basedow, Pestalozzi, and Fellenberg, as authorities for the use of gymnastics; but he says it was reserved for professor Jahn to be the restorer of this long-lost art. In 1810, he established a gymnasium at Berlin; and the number of his pupils, consisting of boys, youth, and men, soon increased to several thousands. His ardent zeal and indefatigable exertion, and his powerful and persuasive appeals to his pupils, had such an effect, that all vied with each other in endeavouring to render their bodies strong and active But the rising of the German people, in 1813, suddenly changed the cheerful game into a serious combat. Professor Jahn, and such of his pupils as were capable of bearing arms, (many of these being but fourteen years of age,) joined the volunteers of Lutzen. But few lived to revisit the place, where they had prepared themselves for enduring the hardships of war. Most of these young

heroes covered the fields of battle with their corpses from the gates of Berlin to the capital of their enemies. The exercises, however, were resumed at Berlin, and had spread through several other towns, when the campaign of 1815 caused a new, but short interruption.

[ocr errors]

"As a pupil of Jahn's," says Mir. Voelker, I also had the honour of serving among the volunteers.

The cam

paign being finished, I returned to my studies and when I thought myself sufficiently qualified for the duties of a teacher, I commenced them in 1818. At irst I established gymnastic exercises at the academy of Eisenach, and in the university of Tubingen. In these establishments, as in all others where similar exercises had been introduced by professor Jahn or his pupils, a new vigour was imparted to the scholars. Boys, youths, and men, soon found more pleasure in exercises which strengthened the powers of their body, than in pleasures which render it effeminate and weak. By the consciousness of increased vigour, the mind, 200, was powerfully excited, and strove for equal perfection; and each of the pupils had always before his eyes, as the object of his exertions, mens sana in corpore sano. Even men indolent by nature were irresistibly carried away by the zeal of their comrades. Weakly and sick persons, too, recovered their health; and these exercises were, perhaps, the only effectual remedy that could have been

found for their complaints. The judgment of physicians, in all places where these exercises were introduced, concurred in their favourable effect upon health; and parents and teachers uniformly testified, that by them their sons and pupils, like all other young men who cultivated then, had become more open and free, and more graceful in their deportment. Fortune led me to the celebrated establishment of M. Von Fellenberg; and this great philoso pher, and at the same time practical educator, gave the high authority of his approbation to the gymnastic science. it would not become me to state how I have laboured in the academy of that gentle man; but the recommendations wit. which he and others have favoured me, and also the testimonials, for which I am indebted to them, sufficiently prove that I do not set too high a value upon the utility of this branch of education. After I had established this system of education there, I accepted an invitation as professor at the Canton school at Chur, which I received from the government of the Canton. My exertions there had the same result as in other establishments, as is fully shown by the testimonials or the government. The thanks which I received from so many of my pupils, the testimonials from the directors of those establishments in which I have taught, my own consciousness of not having worked in vain, and the invitations of some friends, emboldened me to come forward in England, also, with gymnastics, on the plan of professor Jahn, and animate me with the confidence that here, too, my endeavours will not be fruitless."

The subscription to professor Voelker's gymnasium in the New-road and at Worship-street is, for one month, 17.; for three months, 21. 10s.; for six months, 41.; for a twelvemonth, six guineas: or an association of twenty gentlemen may pay each 21. for three, and 31. for six months. Pupils from boarding-schools pay each 21. for three, and 31. for siz months; but a number together pay each 17. 10s. for three, 27. 10s. for six, and 41. for twelve months. Pupils not taking lessons with the other pupils, pay a guinea for every lesson. Twelve lessons may be had when convenient for 1l. 10s.

[blocks in formation]

principally to strengthen the arms and legs, and to increase their activity, to give the body a graceful carriage, to accustom it to labour, and thus prepare it for the other exercises.

II. Running for a length of time, and with celerity. If the pupil follows the prescribed rules, and is not deterred by a little fatigue in the first six lessons, he will soon be able to run three English miles from twenty to twenty-five minutes. Some of Mr. V.'s pupils have been able to run for two hours incessantly, and without being much out of breath.

מן

III. Leaping in distance and height, with and without a pole. Every pupil will soon convince himself to what degree the strength of the arms, the energy of the muscles of the feet, and good carriage of the body, are increased by leaping, particularly with a pole. Almost every one learns in a short time to leap his own height, and some of the pupils have been able to leap ten or eleven feet high. It is equally easy to learn to leap horizontally over a space three times the length of the body; even four times that length has been attained.

IV. Climbing up masts, ropes, and ladders. Every pupil will soon learn to climb up a mast, rope, or ladder of twenty-four feet high; and after six months' exercise, even of thirty-four or thirty-six feet. The use of this exercise is very great in strengthening the arms.

V. The exercises on the pole and parallel bars, serve in particular to expand the chest, to strengthen the muscles of the breast and small of the back, and to make the latter flexible. In a short time, every pupil will be enabled to perform exercises of which he could not have thought himself capable, provided that he do not deviate from the prescribed course and rules.

VI. Vaulting, which is considered one of the principal exercises for the increase of strength, activity, good carriage of the body, and courage, which employs and improves the powers of almost all parts of the body, and has hitherto always been taught as an art by itself, is brought to some perfection in three months.

VII. Fencing with the broad sword throwing lances, wrestling, and many other exercises.

All these exercises so differ from one another, that generally those parts of the body which are employed in one, rest in

another. Every lesson occupies from one hour and a half to two hours, its length depending on the degree of labour required for the exercises practised in it.

In the New-road, lessons are given on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sa turday, from six to eight o'clock, A. M., or on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday from six to eight o'clock, P. M. Young pupils are instructed every day from eight to nine o'clock, A. M.

At Worship-street, the lessons are given on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, from seven to nine o'clock in the evening

The drawing for this article was made by Mr. George Cruikshank, after his personal observation of Mr. Voelker's gymnasium in the New-road: it was engraved by Mr. H. White

To the Editor of the Every-Day Book Sir,

You, who have so long and so ably instructed us in the amusements of our ancestors, will not, I hope, neglect to give publicity to a new species of amusement which is not only pleasant in itself, but absolutely necessary in this overgrown metropolis. I allude to the gymnastic exercises which have lately been introduced from Germany into this country. They are as yet but little known, and some portion of that prejudice exists against them which, invariably attends new discovery fortunately, however, it is in the power of the Editor of the Every-Day Book to combat the former by a simple notice, while the latter wil be much shaken if it be known that these exercises are approved by him.

An inhabitant of London need only look out of his own window to see prao tical illustrations of the necessity of these exercises. How often do we see a young man with an intelligent but very pale countenance, whose legs have hardly strength to support the weight of his bent and emaciated body. He once probably was a strong and active boy, but he came to London, shut himself up in an office took no exercise because he was no! obliged to take any; grew nervous and bilious; took a great deal of medical advice and physic; took every thing in fact but the true remedy, exercise; and may probaby still linger out a few years of wretched existence, when death will be welcomed as his best friend This,

« ZurückWeiter »