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more stormy during the winter, and rather warmer in the summer; on the whole, however, it is fine, the cold being moderated by its insular situation and the rains not more than usually prevail in similar situations,and tending to the fertility of the ground.

It is with regret, the writer mentions the fate of the adventurous and singular character who formed this settlement. "King Jonathan," it seems, like other potentates of much greater power and territories, could not agree with his subjects, few as they were. It is a remarkable fact, and deserves notice in the history of the perversities of the human mind, that of these three or four men, shut out from all the world in a distant and nearly desolate island, their dissensions at one time had reached to such a pitch that no two exchanged words, but each, shut up in his hut in sullen solitude and silence, disdained to court the converse of his companions. This, however, did not long continue, for poor "King Jonathan" going out one day to fish round a point of land, at some distance from his habitation, is supposed to have been accidentally drowned, as he never returned, and no trace of his fate could be discovered. Shortly before this, he had sent a present of cabbages and other vegetables to Admiral Sir Robert Stopford, at the Cape of Good Hope, by a merchant vessel bound thither, which had called at his island, as a specimen of the produce, which the Admiral received very good humouredly; and the subsequent intelligence of bis premature loss caused very general regret at that settlement.

His followers, notwithstanding the fate of their chief, kept their ground, and

have since been reinforced by two or three others, who, from a gentleman who has been at the island within the last six months, the writer is informed, seem to live comfortably, by selling the fruits of their industry to shipping, which being now generally aware of the settlement, often call there expressly for the purpose. Their huts, it appears, show both neatness and comfort, being very tolerably furnished. Their boats likewise for fishing, are good, and in this occupation, as if nature had purposely sharpened their faculties according to their necessities, they are infinitely more expert than any of their visitors. The quantity of land under cultivation, is increased from two to about six acres. Every thing, particularly the grain and vegetables, seems luxuriant in the extreme; and the cabbages alone are a curiosity from their size and uncommon delicacy. From having no sufficient funds, however, and no connections to gain a supply of live stock from the Cape or elsewhere, they continue backward in this respect, notwithstanding the contributions of occasional visitors.

On the whole, this is a curious little colony, as well from the mode of its establishment as its situation, which is nearly as far south as any Europeans in Spanish America reside, or, perhaps, farther. And considering the assistance it may be of to our whalers, in whose direct track it lies, as well as in that of vessels bound from Brazil to the Cape, it would be an act of charity of the English government at the latter place, to forward a supply of cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry, by any vessel intending to call there.

X.

THE

OLIVER GOLDSMITH. From the Literary Gazette, December 30, 1820.

HE birth-day of Oliver Goldsmith was celebrated on the 6th inst. (Dec. 1820) at Ballymahon, in Ireland, near which place this fine genius was born. An annual observance of the day in the capital is projected, and a monument is about to be erected to this one of

Hibernia's greatest sons. These national festivals are always to be applauded; they are at once a noble re ward, and excitement of talents.

Mr. Lewis Grummit, formerly an eminent grazier in Lincolnshire, died a few days ago at a very advanced age.

It was from an hospitable joke of this worthy man that Dr. Goldsmith took the hint of Marlow mistaking the house of Mr. Hardcastle for an inn, in the comedy of She Stoops to Conquer. The circumstance was as follows:Mr. Grummit late one night met a commercial traveller, who had mistaken his road, and inquired his way to the nearest inn. Mr. G. replied, that as he was a stranger, he would show him the way to a quiet respectable house of public entertainment for man and horse, and

took him to his own residence. The traveller, by the perfect ease and confidence of his manner, showed the · success of his host's stratagem, and every thing that he called for was instantly provided for himself and his horse. In the morning he called in an authoritative tone for his bill, and the hospitable landlord had all the recompense be desired in the surprise and altered manuers of his guest. Many other whimsical acts of kindness are related of him.

GERMAN DESCRIPTIONS OF HOGARTH'S WORKS.

From Baldwin's London Magazine.

THE RAKE'S PROGRESS.

Plate I.

BEFORE I commence my expla

nation of this series of Plates, so replete with humour, wit, and knowledge of the human character, it will be proper to premise a few remarks upon the word Rake itself. We Germans usually translate it Liederlicher, and, indeed, every rake is Ein Liederlicher, (dissolute person) but it is not every Liederlicher that is a rake. For Die Liederlichkeit (dissoluteness) may, like poetry, be divided into separate classes, and, what is rather extraordinary, the clases are pretty nearly the same in regard to each. The life of a rake may be said to belong to the lyrical division. A genuine rake drinks, games, &c.: he talks of pills and potions, as school-boys talk of barley-sugar; be turns day into night, and night into day. He is continually engaged in an offensive war against lamps; and, in cudgeling or being cudgeled, with the watch. He ruins innocent creatures who love him, and fights with men whose honour he has injured. He throws away both money and money's-worth, whether it belong to himself or other people, sometimes himself too into the bargain. In doing all this he seeks the acqusition of honour: it may therefore, by chance, happen, that he, after all, becomes a good and useful member of

society all that is wanted for this metamorphosis, is, that his notions of honour should change before he is himself

worn-out or extinguished. But a dis

solute scoundrel, on the contrary, has not the least notion of honour. The latter recounts but few of his adventures; he is careless of fame,—while all the actions of the former are principally undertaken to the intent that they may be recorded in newspapers, and spoken of at routes. It is pretended that since the invention of brandy (the true spiritus Brunonis, or Brown's spirit) which enables people to purchase a transitory elevation above the rest of their fellow mortals, at a trifling expence, this class of blades of spirit bas been considerably on the increase. Hogarth's rake, however, is not thoroughbred there is a cross in him: he has a mixture of the scoundrel in his blood.

The father of our hero was a rich, miserly, old, curmudgeon, named Rakewell; an appellation which, in his case, can be deemed appropriate only by considering the word rake as the synonym of scrape. This name, along with all the wealth he had been all his life raking together, is now, at his death, turoed over to his hopeful heir, Rakewell II. the lad whom we behold in this print with the milksop face. But the youth affixes a very different meaning to the name Rakewell: and the new

signification will play the devil with the old treasures.

The moment which Hogarth has .selected for representation in this first plate, is that eventful instant, soon after the death of the old man, when the young squire is admitted for the first time into the sanctum sanctorum of the deceased. This place is a compound of treasury, lumber room, countinghouse, and archive-chamber. It is evident that the person who has here buried so much wealth, has not been long buried himself, for preparations for the mourning are actually going forward. He is not yet buried, for the Upholsterer on the ladder is employed in hanging with black the room in which the body is to lie in state; and another individual is kneeling to take the dimensions of the sable trappings in which the young heir intends to walk about in state. Upon a beavy old fashioned chair, that seems to be some ancient relique deposited in this sanctuary, is a bulky roll of black cloth, most probably intended for the Upholsterer on the ladder as it is not likely that this lighthearted heir to thousands would mourn in such stuff. Thus the tomb, wherein the riches of nobles and the plunder of cits have been buried without any distinction, as in a common church-yard, and have been sleeping in the expectation of their release for the last half century; as well as the heir who has been anxiously looking forward to their resurrection, are both now about to be decorated with the trappings of woe. "Let the devil wear black," says Shakspeare !

The signal for the release of the imprisoned has not been delayed: each coffin is already burst, each grave already opened. Gold and silver, and old iron, and bags containing thousands, peep from their dungeons, and hail the new seen day: documents on parchment, papers, inventories, bonds, mort gages, leases, and a long et cætera, roll down and are at the feet of their deliverer, flutter around his knees, and crawl beneath his tread! Even the guineas that have been slumbering next the ceiling, obey the mighty summons, and

descend in a golden shower. Only some old wigs, shoes and boots, broken jugs, cups and bottles, a hat-box, a street-lanthorn, a great coat of Dr. Johnson's cut, seem unwilling to come forward, as if already conscious of the untoward doom awaiting them.

Here then now stands our hero, Thomas Rakewell, with his youthful and healthy yet somewhat vacant countenance. We should certainly be disposed to say, that he was by nature more of the simpleton than the rascal, did we see his face by itself; but the presence of two females alters the business very materially.-Duo cum faciunt idem non est idem. The history connected with their introduction, is as follows. The lad is just arrived from Oxford, where he has been doing all that is expressed at the Universities by the comprehensive term studying. The sound that has awakened the parchment deeds, has also summoned hither this couple of aprons, both of which contain documents that may truly be called opuscula academica. One of them belongs to the mother, the other to the daughter. The former is filled with manuscripts of true love; the latter contains the fruits of over-belief-an embryo sketch that may in time become a Rakewell III. The studies of our young spark have been attended with serious consequences to the poor, and, (as we shall afterwards discover) goodhearted, honest, and faithful creature, who is standing weeping by the door. The unaffected grief of the girl is well expressed; but she is much too old, and might, and ought to have been handsomer: the analyzer of beauty, however, was by no means successful in depicting it. It must be observed, too, that she is weeping, in the truest sense of the word--not crying, for bere we perceive the deepest sorrow and affliction-seeking but without much success, to relieve themselves by a few silent tears. Her face does not express childish grief, but a profound and heartfelt agony that lies heavy in her bosom. I said that she was weeping in the real sense of the word and it is necessary to give this assurance, for, at times, the

sex, as is well known, are skilful in employing tears of a different sort, intended not so much to relieve sorrow as to produce it. This however is not the case here.

This female's name is Sarah Young; as may be seen by examining the extensive collection of love-letters, which the mother is holding in her apron. The romance must either have been very much spun out, or have been played off at a furious rate. We can read a direction to Oxford; the formula dear est life (a mere præmissis præmetendis instead of Madam ;) and lastly the words to marry you. The artist has expressed the rest by blank paper-than which the words in the original had probably no more meaning. Thus we find that the graceless dog has been promising marriage; and we can also see a ring in the girl's hand. She is holding it up to him as a memento of his promise; but the days of promise-making are over, in consequence of which her arm has sunk in despondency against her deserted-so faithlessly deserted side! The youth is however, disposed to honour her notes with his purse, and he reaches out to her his protest accompanied with a handful of guineas. "I am sorry child,"-(not dearest life) "that you are, as I perceive, in a certain situation but that too, is, as you may perceive, the case with myself. Here is something for your trouble and kindness. There are many more young men to be found in Oxford-one does not know but there, take the money, or I shall pay it to the overseers, and then you will get nothing." We may easily suppose that some such words as these have issued from his open mouth. But his gold is rejected-by the daughter at least, that is certain. She no more attempts to take the money than the marble statue upon a monument holds out its hand for the fee, paid to the Verger who has been explaining it. The mother too although not much of a statue, seems equally indifferent to it. Fists bent like hers and seconded by such a countenance, take no money; no more does such an elbow which may be said to be the very symbol of repul

sion. "What, rascal," exclaims she, "do you value the honour of my daughter at this rate;" a speech that, judging from her air, we may suppose to be accompanied with a storm of inprecations and prophetic denunciations, which, for this once, will be exactly fulfilled-how much to the benefit of virtue and morality let experience prove. This female has rings upon three out of the four of her fingers which are visible: she has put them on probably by way of dressing herself out for a visit, which she expected to turn out more advantageously than it has, and also to shew that she and her daughter are not reduced to sink their claims in an acceptance of money.

The young gentleman is listening to her invectives with great sang froid; stretching out his arm like a direction post, and with as little feeling. But he who can forget what is due to bonour, to love, and to innocence, is yet so considerate as to recollect what may facilitate the tailor's employment: he therefore carefully holds back his cost that it may not impede the measuring process. I have always heard that those tailors are the worst workmen who have the appearance of shoemakers: if the observation is correct, this fellow must be a bungler indeed, for he looks, every inch of him like a cobler. One perceives playing around his brow and lips, a something of theosophical apocalyptical light,—a beatification that rarely I believe visits the countenance of a tailor, although it may, by chance, wander ultra crepidam-among other professions than that of St. Crispio. This man is evidently of the elect few, who, after a discount of 50 per cent, had their bills discharged in this lumber-hole by the deceased; and our Thomas, who here dismisses his dearest life, nevertheless retains the theosophist, for the present, as his tradesman, out of filial respect!

Directly behind our bero, and in immediate contact with the coat which he is holding back, stands a table covered with documents, upon which are served up, two dishes an inkstand, and a bag of guineas-both of which

are well-known to a guest who avails himself of the opportunity afforded him by the little dispute upon the subject of honour and disgrace, which his host is now maintaining with his dearest life, to help himself out of one of the best dishes being not exactly certain whether he will be invited to partake of it. This consuminately prudent visitor is beyond all doubt, one of the most expressive heads that Hogarth ever drew. He is not, as Gilpin pretends, employed in taking an inventory of the treas ures, and merely counting out the money: he is evidently related to Dame Justice an attorney or something of that kind; for under his right arm he carries the green baize bag, which infallibly serves to denote this class of men. In this bag they carry about their papers, and it here serves to carry off something more solid than paper. How was it possible for Gilpin to im agine, that the owner of it was content ed with only chinking the gold of another, and revelling in imagination on the abstract idea of wealth! The notion of itself is excellent, but too refined for our artist, who is more remarkable for the correctness and force, than for the delicacy of his feeling. No! the fellow is a knave did his handling of the guineas proceed from a pure esthetic taste for gold there had undoubtedly been more of poetical ardour in his look; whereas, these pettifogging eyes are evidently keeping watch, while the band is committing the theft. We may be assured that he steals with perfect legal security, with foresight, and with the aid of a plea in reserve!

Although old Rakewell is dead, it is chiefly with him that the artist now brings us acquainted; and he still lives in his portrait over the chimney, and in the sordid penuriousness displayed through the whole chamber. The use which Hogarth here makes of the picture is truly excellent: how ingeniously too has he contrived to inform us that this is the old man's portrait, by placing on the mantel of the chimney-piece the identical fur cap! The spectacles that hang there were those of the careful and scrupulous gold-weigher; and the 3H ATHENEUM VOL. 8.

crutches were his legs: these latter are of unequal length, probably because their owner was lame principally on one side. Here then, Hogarth means to say, was he wont to sit ;-here did he place his legs when he reposed in his chair;-and here he used to hang his eye-crutches, at such times as he weighed his guineas merely in his brain. He enlightened his darkness, when absolutely necessary with a candle's end stuck upon a save-all, for two are now lying on the chimney-piece--one quite burnt out, and another in reserve. This light, small as it was, constituted, when burning, not only the most brilliant, but likewise the warmest part of bis fireside, of which the fur-cap gives but a sorry notion. Even the dress in which the old fellow is painted, has more the resemblance of a wrapper fit for a journey upon the top of a stagecoach, than of a robe-de-chambre. In this house every thing appears either to have been a save-all, or to have been stuck upon one-this, at least, may be said of the two wretched animals whom we shall presently examine. Perhaps the master's life has burnt out on this chilling spot-no physician being at band to stick up the candle's end in reserve!

Those who are acquainted with the lapidary work still used in monuments, will, without my pointing it out to them, discover how greatly Hogarth has enriched the art by the composition which he has here given us. Imagine a monument with its marble saveall, and portrait like this in bas relief, executed in a splendid style, and placed in the interior of some church: Would there be any occasion for words to explain the character either of the person entombed beneath, or of the heir who erected such a memorial ?

The upholsterer's hammering has caused a part of the cornice of the room to fall down-but it evidently was not very securely fixed before. It has served to conceal a treasure that has been indebted for its security more to the inaccessibility than to the strength of its hiding-place ! The golden-shower passes by the save-all, and descends upon the crooked back of an ancient

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