were lawful in point of conscience to dissect a human body in order to learn the structure thereof. John of Salisbury severely lashes, in his "Polycraticon,' "the pedantry, vanity, and greediness of his medical contemporaries. Yet (he says) he writes in fear, as he frequently is obliged to be under their care, worthless as they are. Two maxims (he writes) they never violate-not to regard the poor, and always to take money of the rich. We now boast of physicians and surgeons making as much interest for permission to wait on the poorest and most miserable of our fellow creatures, collected together in hospitals, as for the most showy attendance on the rich. In the sixteenth century, the number of physicians was restricted by the College of Physicians to twenty; and in the seventeenth to forty. This institution was established in the reign of Henry VIII. They had powers given them to restrain such ignorant persons" as common artificers, smiths, weavers, and women, from practising physic or surgery, to the high displeasure of God, great infamy of the faculty, and destruction of many of the king's liege people." It was then enacted that no man should exercise the faculty in London, or within seven miles of it, without having been previously examined by the bishop of London, or dean of St. Paul's, with four doctors of physic or surgery. From the 14 and 15 of Henry VIII. downwards, the college extended its privileges, and were authorised and armed with power to restrain empirical or illegal practice. In the history of their proceedings, the college, however, showed nearly as much credulity in exposing an empiric as the people in trusting him. In 1637, one James Leveret was accused of being "an impostor and cozener of the king's people, under the pretence of being the seventh son of a seventh son, by curing and healing all manner of diseases, especially the king's evil, by way of stroking or touching with his hand, without using of any medicines, internal or external." This James Leveret was charged with seven different acts of imposture, in which disloyalty and blas phemy were alleged to be mixed up with quackery. In the first place he said virtue went out of him when he cured a scrophulous patient; and in the second place, "he scornfully slighted his majesty's sacred gift of healing by his blessed hand that disease commonly called the king's evil in comparison of his cure, to the dishonour of majesty among his subjects." The college examined this rival of royalty, and reported, as they were in duty bound, that his touch did no good, but sometimes did harm to the patient. To these experiments they devoted six days! Long before metallic tractors were dreamed of, stroking with the hand was employed as a cure in different diseases, and produced singular effects! Now the influence of the imagination, as a cause and as a cure of the disorders of the body has been long and very generally known; but Wiseman, in his "Surgery," vol. i b. 4, chap. 1, says, "I myself have been a frequent eye-witness of many hundreds of cures performed by his majesty's touch alone, without any assistance of chirur gery; and those, many of them, such as had tired out the endeavours of able chirurgeons before they came thither. It were endless to recite what I myself have seen, and what I have received acknowledgements of by letter, not only from the several parts of this nation, but also from Ireland, Scotland, Jersey, and Guernsey." Mankind have experienced similar effects from the hands of some private individuals, from the hands of men recently dead, from the moss growing out of dead men's skulls, from anodyne necklaces, from cramp rings, sympathetic powder, or, in short, any thing on which imagina tion chose to confer its healing powers. See Shaw's "Abridgement of Boyle's Works." Linacre, the founder of the College of Physicians, formed a statute to restrain apothecaries from carrying the water of their patients to a doctor, and afterwards giving medicines in consequence of the opinions they received concerning it. This statute was followed, soon after, by another, which forbad the doctors themselves to pronounce on any disorder from such an uncertain diagnostic. In the reign of Edward VI., one Grigg was set in the pillory at Croydon, and again in the borough of Southwark, for pretending to cure the diseases of the people by looking at their water. Similar quacks, and others who assumed the title of doctor in medicine, were, in the time of James I. and so late as the reign of King William, brought to public justice, and compelled to find security for their future good be haviour. This method of investigating diseases appears to have prevailed very generally; it is justly ridiculed by Shak speare in the answer of the page to Fal staff's interrogatory," Sirrah, you giant, what says the doctor to my water?". "He said, sir, the water itself was a good healthy water; but, for the party that owed (owned) it, he might have more dis eases than he knew for." Mr. Malone says, "It will scarcely be believed here after, that, in the years 1775 and 1776 a German, who had been servant in a public riding-school, (from which he was discharged for insufficiency,) revived this exploded practice of water-casting. After he had amply increased the bills of mortality, and been hung up to ridicule by those who had too much sense to consult him, as a monument of the folly of his patients, he retired with a princely fortune, and perhaps is now indulging a hearty laugh at the expense of English credulity." F. R. Y. OPPOSITE NEIGHBOURS THE hall bell rings- 'tis just the close of day, No, bless their hearts! but with good will to eat. "Law, ma'!” cries miss, at window o'er the way, While coaches, chairs, and servants fill the street, "Why Lady M. has company! and pray, Why are not we invited to the treat? I smelt the dinner here, and needs must say Bouquet du roi itself was ne'er so sweet." "Mamma! pray come, look at that woman there; No, not the one in blue, that one so bigStuck on her head she's got, I do declare, A thing that looks just like a monstrous wig, Only 'tis frizz'd and bow'd, much as my hair Is dress'd, when I, aye, smarter than yon pig, Who thinks herself so fine, (I do not care, I'm sure I don't, for her one pin or fig;) Go with you, ma', to the sweet opperare." "Well, well, my dear,” cries ma', who felt her pride Insulted with the wig, she best knew why, "Some are so like one's hair, that side by side You'd not know which was which, and I will buy Just such a one, should evil e'er betide My locks. But look, my dear, do look, I spy A girl dress'd all in white-sure she's a bride, And that's her husband with his neck awry— Well, ere I'd married him I would have died!" "But then, mamma, if we the truth could know, He is a nobleman, and you forget In rank and riches such defects don't shew. I wish I had a lord-I should not fret If he were crooked, lame, and blind, oh, no! For then I'd buy a carriage, and a set Of diamonds, that should make our neighbours grow As black with rage and jealousy as jet. And young, things that each booby knows "Do see that old man, hobbling from the chair What does he do at parties? 'twould be kind To lock him up at home -he'll soon be where No scent of dinner comes, and to my mind--"Fie, Anne!" cries ma', "I'm shock'd-but. child, look there How short that poor fool's coat is cut behindAnd what a monkey 'tis! how frizz'd his hair Hush! here's your father-quick, let down the blind He quite abhors a gossip and a stare- APHORISMS AND APOTHEGMS. (For the Mirror.) THE mind of man, (says Locke,) not being capable of having many ideas under view at once, it was necessary to have a repository to lay up those ideas. All the integral parts of nature have a oeautiful analogy to one another, and to their mighty original, whose images are more or less expressive, according to their several gradations in the scale of beings. -Cheyne. To abuse the poor for poverty is to insult God's providence.-Burgh. A man of a clear reputation, though his bark be split, yet he saves his cargo, has something left towards setting up again, and so is in capacity of receiving benefit, not only from his own industry, but the friendship of others.-Government of the Tongue. At a banquet, the embassador desired the wise men to deliver, every one of them, some sentence or parable, that he might repeat to his king, which they did. Only one was silent, which the embassador perceiving, said to him, "Sir, let it not displease you; why do not you say somewhat that I may report ?" He answered," Report to your lord, that there are that can hold their peace.' "-Bacon. There are events in this transitory scene of existence, seasons of joy or of sorrow, of despair or of hope, which, as they powerfully affect us at the time, serve as epochs to the history of our lives. They may be called the trials of the heart. We treasure them up in our memory, and as time glides silently away, they serve us to number our days.-Anon. Man is one simple point in the creation, and the form of each of his members was the result of a sublime thought. He is placed upright on the earth; his feet touches it only by one point, as if to warn him that he ought not there to fix his affections, but that his eternal country is above. Some place their happiness in wealth, some in the liberty of the body, and others in the pleasures of the sense and his own sake, though noknow it; as he would be wn sake, though nobody P. T. W. Biography. No. LIII. LES DIGNUM. some chop-house, near Covent-garden, reasoning with the cook-maid, or contemplating the beauties of the larder. Corpulence was the consequence of this indulgence. But, we are anticipating. Linley bestowed the most indefatigable attentions on his pupil, and would not permit him to sing in public till his judg. ment was sufficiently matured. It was in the year 1784, that Charles Dignum made his debut in the character of Young Meadows, in the comic opera of Love in a Village. His figure was rather unfavourable for the part, but his voice was so lor, in Wild-street, Lin-clear and full-toned, and his manner of singing so judicious, that he was received with great applause. Upon this occasion, however, the desire of Sir William Meadows that his son should go and plant cabbages and cucumbers, was regarded as a palpable hit against the singer's early occupation, and produced an effect upon the audience more risible than nad ever been contemplated by the author. Altogether, his success was such as to give the opera a run for several nights. s; and to the tailoring Dignum was at first deare told, became an early - art. His parents being Catholic church, he sang na boy, at the Sardinian apel. At that time his ed by the frequenters of ts melody and power; so Ir. Samuel Webb, a man emely well known in the emarked his talents, and ction. The youth, howhad a soul above but no idea of adopting music he wished rather to dedithe service of religion, his father to send him to Douay, to complete his fit him for taking holy lan was relinquished, in believe, of the pecuniary of his father; and Charles aced on trial under the and gilder, named Egat the head of that great establishments of in Aldersgate-street. He months in this situation, point of being regularly quarrel between his fa Dignum next appeared in Cymon, and again experienced the most flattering approbation. On the removal of the elder Bannister to the Royalty theatre, he suc ceeded to a caste of parts more suited to his person and his voice, which was a fine tenor. Amongst other characters, those of Hawthorn and Giles particularly suited him; indeed he was thought superior in them to any actor that had appeared since the days of Beard, their original representative. Dignum was decidedly a bad actor, ór rather no actor at all; yet, from his vocal powers he, for many years, held a respectable situation at the theatre. At Vauxhall, at concerts, and at public dinners, he was also exceedingly popular. Or his intellectual superiority, brilliant wit, and splendid conversational talent, many ed. Amongst others, it has been mentioned, that, when he found his body growing very bulky, he observed to some of his professional brethren, that it was troublesome to be always placing his right hand upon his heart, and wished to know, whether, if his heart were occasionally employed in a similar service, it would not do as well! Dignum, amidst all his ludicrous eccentricities, was an amiable, good-natured, jolly fellow. He married, many years ago, Miss Rennet, the daughter of an attorney, with whom he received a considerable accession of fortune. After her death, so greatly did her loss prey upon his mind, he was for some time in a state of mental derangement. Another of his family distresses proved, for a time, very A married daughter of his--we cannot recollect the lady's name-who lived in the neighbourhood of Islington, had her infant son carried off in an extraordinary manner, by a Mr. Rennet, a relation by her mother's side. The child was ultimately recovered; and Rennet was apprehended, tried, convicted, and transported for the offence. severe. Dignum had long retired from the stage, in easy circumstances. He was the composer of several pleasing ballads; and he published, by subscription, a collection of popular vocal music. He died at his residence in Gloucester-street, on the 29th of March, 1827, at the age of sixty-two. The immediate cause of his death was an inflammation of the lungs, produced by severe cold.-Monthly Magazine. LOVE SHOP FOR HEARTS. (For the Mirror.) YOUNG Love now keeps a shop for hearts, And in it does a mighty trade; Has laid aside his dreaded darts To be in tradesman's robes array'd. No more he archly twangs his bow, But paces in his shop to cry, "Come hither, belles, come hither, beaux, Here's hearts to win ye, come and buy." There beauty tripping takes her dow'r, In hopes to buy a heart that's pure; And sightless, hobbling, deaf fourscore Feels for a virgin heart, you're sure. When, to secrete it from all eyes, Lest they the bargain should repent, But yet he is a gen'rous boy, Will sometimes give a heart away. So, penses and beaux, fear not his darts, And like pure gold a stamp they bear, Which honesty must fix thereto, And no base counterfeit can wear. And now I've taught the most I know Respecting young Love's busy trade; So follow my advice-no woe Shall e'er attend the purchase made. But yet, before away I start, I've one more lesson for your ear — Should e'er ye go to buy a heart, Take heed ye do not pay too dear. EDWARD MACKEY. As a worthy city baronet was gazing one evening at the gas lights in front of the Mansion- House, an old acquaintance came up to him and said, " Well, Sir William, are you studying astronomy ?" "No, Sir," replied the alderman," I am studying gastronomy. His friend looked astonished, and the baronet replied, "Do you doubt my voracity ?” "No, Sir William." CONFESSIONS OF AN ACCIDENT MAKER. As I have lost my place and occupation and can make no more profit in that line, I think I will become honest and make confession of my sins. I have been for the last five-and-twenty years accident maker to several of the principal London journals. During that period I have thrilled with horror many thousands of my species, caused the shedding of many hogsheads of tears, and supplied the country papers with many yards of baalam. It is very hard that I am to be cast off in my old age, because, as they say, my powers of invention are on the decline. I deny the assertion; the real truth is, I have invented all that is possible to be invented. There is not a county in Ireland nor a province in France where I have not found some most dreadful and atrocious murder. I do not know what my employers would have, unless they wish me not to leave a single soul living in Ireland, or a single bone unbroken in London. ORIGIN OF "BY HOOK BY CROOK." (For the Mirror.) JUDGE Crook and Hutton were the two judges (says Butler in his Hudibras) who dissented from their ten brethren, in the case of ship money, when it was argued in the Exchequer; which occasioned the wags to say, that the king carried it by Hook, but not by Crook. P. T. W. NOT far from the rise of the Rhine, at a small distance from the lake Constance, a very singular bridge is thrown over that river at Schaffhausen, which is much admired for the beauty and singularity or its architecture, and was built about the middle of the last century. The rapidity of the river had carried away several stone bridges, built upon arches, of the strongest construction. In its course along Alsace, it frequently causes terrible devastations, not only in winter, but in the midst of summer, when the snow melts on the Alps. Its inundations then ruin the fields by covering them with sand. The violent torrents of the Rhine, which generally happen every year, frequently alter the situation of the islands within it. One singularity of this river is, that in its sand are found particles of gold, which the torrents in their fall wash from the Alps, and bring into it; hence it is only below Basel that the sand contains this precious mixture, which, in autumn and winter, when the river is at the lowest, is drawn out with the sand, from which, after passing through several waters, the gold is extracted. The particles of this metal are seldom so large as a grain of millet, but it is very beautiful. D. HUET maintained, that all that had been written since the world began, might be contained in ten volumes, folio, if each thing were said only once, leaving out o. the enumeration the detail of history. The Sketch-Book. No. XXXVI. SEPARATION. BY MISS PARDOE. actual suffering, which unhinges the spiTHERE is, perhaps, nothing in life, save rit, and depresses the heart, like the wrenching away of those kindly feelings and affections which have grown and strengthened with us during years of happiness and tranquillity. It is sweet to gain a friend, but it is a hundred-fold more bitter to lose one. The welling out of new sensibilities, like the bursting forth of an untasted ground spring, is an accession of enjoyment; a delight rather of anticipation than of possession; but the withering up of old, and cherished, and kindly emotions, is a sear and a blight to the spirit; an unrivetting of life's roseate freshness upon sand; a relinquishment chain; a casting forth of the waters of of some of the highest privileges of existence. The heart is as a volume which has many leaves, and whose every page is a deathless record; it can be inscribed upon but once, and the characters of that inscription are indelible. The gay of spirit may indeed glaze over the surface which bears some outworn or withered sentiment with the world's varnish, but they can never obliterate the traces of its existence; for evil or for good, it is registered there for ever! The fiery passions, the hot impulses, the reckless trans |