When this mass was ignited, the spectators were obliged to move to a distance of nine or ten yards to avoid the heat. The flames appeared to fill up the whole space between the rows, and rose to the height of about ten feet. When the flames were most fierce, six firemen, clad in the incombustible dresses, marched many times at a slow pace along the fiery passage. One of the men carried behind him a child eight years old in a wicker basket covered with metallic gauze. A still more striking exhibition was made in 1829 in the yard of the barracks of Saint Gervais. Two towers were erected, each two stories high, and were surrounded with faggots and straw, and ignited. The firemen entered the towers with impunity, and one of them with his child in the wire-gauze basket rushed into the flames which were raging to the height of eight yards. This violent combustion, accompanied by a thick black smoke, hid him from the view of the spectators, and he remained so long invisible that serious apprehensions were felt for his safety; but he at length appeared, uninjured, and exulting in having braved the terrors of this fiery gulf. It is remarkable that, in these trials, the firemen were able to breathe in the midst of the flames without difficulty. This effect arises from the circumstance that much of the heat is intercepted by the wire-gauze in the passage of the heated air to the lungs; and also from the remarkable power of the human body to resist great heat, and of the lungs to breathe very hot air. LIKE some vast flood, unbounded, fierce, and strong, But Freedom, that exalts the savage state, is gone.- PRINTING was invented by a soldier, gunpowder by a monk, and several branches of the clothing trade by a bishop; this last is said, however, agreeably to the vulgar notions concerning Bishop Blaze, the patron saint of the woolcombers. But he obtained that honour, not on account of any improvements he made in the trade, but because he suffered martyrdom by having his flesh torn by carding irons. MELANCHOLY. Of the melancholy of common life there are two species that have but little resemblance. There is a sullen gloom which disposes to unkindness and every bad passion; a fretfulness in all the daily and hourly intercourse of familiar life, which, if it weary at last the assiduities of friendship, sees only the neglect which has forced and not the perversity of humour which gave occasion to it, and soon learns to hate, therefore, what it considers as ingratitude and injustice; or which, if friendship be still assiduous as before, sees in these very assiduities, a proof, not of the strength of that affection which has forgotten the acrimony to soothe the supposed uneasiness which gave it rise, but a proof that there has been no offensive acrimony to be forgotten, and persists therefore in every peevish caprice till the domestic tyranny becomes habitual. This melancholy temper, so poisonous to the happiness, not of the individual only, but of all those who are within the circle of its influence, and who feel their misery the more because it may perhaps arise from one whom they strive, and vainly strive to love, is the temper of a vulgar mind. But there is a melancholy of a gentler species, a melancholy which as it arises, in a great measure, from a view of the sufferings of man, disposes to a warmer love of man this sufferer, and which is almost as essential to the finer emotions of virtue as it is to the nicer sensibilities of poetic genius.-DR. THOMAS BROWN. IF ever any book was truly poetical,—if ever any abounded with poetry, it is Paradise Lost, What an expansion of facts from a small seed of history! What worlds are invented,-what embellishments of nature upon what our senses present us with! Divine things are more nobly, other poem ; a more beautiful idea is given of Nature than more divinely, represented to the imagination than by any any poet has pretended to,-Nature-as just come out of the hand of God, in all its virgin loveliness, glory, and purity; and the human race is shown, not, as Homer's, more gigantic, more robust, more valiant, but without comparison more truly amiable, more so than by the pictures and statues of the greatest masters. And all these sublime ideas are conveyed to us in the most effectual and engaging manThe mind of the reader is tempered and prepared by pleasure it is drawn and allured, it is awakened and invi gorated, to receive such impressions as the poet intended to give it. The poem opens the fountains of knowledge, piety, and virtue; and pours along full streams of peace, comfort, and joy, to such as can penetrate the true sense of the writer, and obediently listen to his song.-RICHARDSON, ner. CIRCLES are praised, not that abound In largeness, but th' exactly round; Such praise they merit, who excel, Not in wide spheres, but acting well.-? it THE Common imagination that we have of Paradise on the other side of death, is, that of a loftly aërial region, where the inmates float in ether, or are mysteriously suspended upon nothing-where all the warm and sensible accompaniments which give such an expression of strength, and life, and colouring, to our present habitation, are attenuated into a sort of spiritual element, that is meagre, and imper ceptible, and utterly uninviting to the eye of mortals here below-where every vestige of materialism is done away, and nothing left but certain unearthly scenes that have no power of allurement, and certain unearthly ecstacies, with which it is felt impossible to sympathize. The holders of this imsgination forget all the while that really there is no essential connexion between materialism and sin-that the worl which we now inhabit, had all the amplitude and solidity of its present materialism before sin entered into it-that God so far, on that account, from looking slightly upon after it had received the last touch of his creating hand, re viewed the earth, and the waters, and the firmament, and all the green herbage, with the living creatures, and the man whom He had raised in dominion over them, and He saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was al very good. They forget that on the birth of materialist when it stood out in the freshness of those glories which the great Architect of Nature had impressed upon it, that the "the morning stars sung together, and all the sons of G shouted for joy." They forgot the appeals that are made everywhere in the Bible to this material workmanship and how, from the face of these visible heavens, and the garniture of this earth that we tread upon, the greatness and the goodness of God are reflected on the view of his worshippers. No, my brethren, the object of the adminis tration we sit under, is to extirpate sin, but it is not to sweep away materialism. By the convulsions of the last day, it may be shaken, and broken down from its present arrangements; and thrown into such fitful agitations, that the whole of its existing framework shall fall to pieces; and with a heat so fervent as to melt its most solid elements, may it be utterly dissolved. And thus may the earth again become without form and void, but without one particle of its substance going into annihilation. Out of the ruins of this second chaos, may another heaven and another earth be made to arise; and a new materialism, with other aspects of magnificence and beauty, emerge from the wreck of this mighty transformation; and the world be peopled as before, with the varieties of material loveliness, and space be again CHALMERS. 11841.] RURAL SPORTS FOR THE MONTHS. AUGUST. Now westlin winds, and slaught'ring guns THE sport which is eagerly anticipated and vigorously pursued by our northern neighbours at this season of the year is grouse shooting. On the extensive moors and dry central mountains of Scotland red grouse especially abound, finding cover and protection from their enemies in the wide-spread carpet of heather, and being concealed from observation by their similarity of colour with that of their place of shelter. The Heath, which is so common in the northern parts of the kingdom that our moors and mountain sides are completely empurpled with its blossoms, is a most valuable plant, and admirably adapted for the situations in which it is found. Multitudes of birds find sustenance in the tender buds and numerous seeds; while to the poor this plant affords a convenient substitute for more expensive fuel. On the slopes and flats where the heath is of considerable length, the red grouse is sure to be abundant, but so difficult is it to raise them from their cover when the season has been unfavourable, and they are not in good feather, that we are told that “one who has little knowledge of the moors may wander for days, in the places where they are most abundant, and not see a single bird." Scotland is undoubtedly superior to every other part of Great Britain for the breeding and rearing of grouse, yet there are other localities where they are, or have been found. Black grouse were formerly common in the New Forest in Hampshire, and in some parts of Derbyshire, Devonshire, and Staffordshire, but red grouse were more rarely found, and are probably not to be met with in any one of those counties at the present time. The heights and moors of England, especially of the southern parts, are deficient in cover and in food, and are not therefore adapted for the protection of these birds. In Yorkshire they are to be met with in tolerable abundance, but the ravages of the lead miners have greatly lessened their numbers. These men act in concert, and are not easily hindered or restrained from their pursuit. According to Mr. Blaine they go from ten to twenty in a body, marching in a line from forty to sixty yards' distance from each other, and as they are excellent walkers, and usually expert shooters, they destroy a vast number of birds, especially as they generally begin their maraudings before the legal time. They also take other advantages, for certain houses of call are ready to receive the birds and to dispatch them by coach to London, or by horseloads to the large provincial towns or watering-places on The system of plunder is therefore complete; and the sporting, as it regards grouse, is in a great measure annihilated. the coast. English grouse shooters usually proceed towards the northern counties from Staffordshire to the Tweed, or from Whitby to Whitehaven, but the poaching propensities of the miners, as above noticed, have left some districts, once abounding in game, now nearly destitute of Among the most esteemed localities for this sport we may mention Kirby Lonsdale, Brough, Bowes, Sed bergh, Kirkby Stephen, and the old Spittal. Leaving our readers to seek for information concerning these places in professedly sporting publications, we proceed to notice the grouse shooting of Ireland and Scotland. it. The numbers of grouse in Ireland are few when compared with those of England and Scotland. A sportsman tells us that he saw more of them on the mountains about Langholm in Scotland in one day, than he ever saw in Ireland in twenty, although he has visited the best preserved mountains of the latter country. These are on the south side of the great Galty Mountains, near Michells' Town in the counties of Cork, Limerick, and Tipperary, and are considered to be the best for grous- In the Highlands of Scotland grouse shooting is so The heavy mist so frequent in mountainous regions is a great drawback to this sport, it is also of little avail to beat the moors in the heat of the day, so that success Perin grousing may be considered very precarious. haps it is mainly owing to the risk and uncertainty connected with the sport, that it is so highly esteemed and zealously practised. The red grouse is exclusively confined to the British Islands, and has never been found on any part of the It is fifteen inches long, and weighs about Continent. nineteen ounces, being a little larger than the ptarmigan, though the difference, except in the length of the wings, The bill is black; the eyes hazel; is inconsiderable. the nostrils shaded with small red and black feathers; at the base of the lower bill there is a white spot on each side; the throat is red; each eye is arched with a large naked spot; the body is beautifully mottled with deep red and black, which gives it the appearance of tortoiseshell; the breast and belly are of a purplish hue, crossed with small dusky lines; the tail consists of sixteen feathers of equal lengths, the four middlemost barred with red, the others black; the quills are dusky; the legs are clothed with soft white feathers down to the claws, The female is which are strong, and of a light colour. somewhat less: the naked skin above each eye is not so conspicuous, and the colours of its plumage, in general, much lighter than those of the male. The red grouse (Tetrao Scoticus) belongs to a sub- shoots of heath. It has been remarked that in cultivated The a rude nest on the ground, and is remarkable for care and attention to her young. She resolutely fights their battles against the birds of prey and the vermin that attack them, nor is the male bird neglectful of his offspring. In order to secure the flight of the cheepers, (as young grouse are called,) both parents will practise such manœuvres as may best divert the shooter's attention, so that we find a sportsman saying:-" The very self-devotion which makes the parents so ready a mark, by the lingering flight they make, in order to secure the retreat of their brood, should plead for them, especially when the cheepers are now almost arrived at maturity, and consequently are fit prey for the shooter." Several instances are recorded of the grouse being reared in a domesticated state. A gentleman, residing at Green Mount, Tipperary, Ireland, is said to have kept two brace of grouse for several years, which were so tame that it was a common practice with their owner to bring the birds and his setters into the parlour together, and divert himself with seeing the dogs set: the birds did not pay the smallest attention to the dogs, or indicate the least wish to escape. In concluding our notice of the sport for which the present month is distinguished we take the opportunity of expressing our regret that any reader of the Satur day Magazine should disapprove of the publication of our accounts of rural sports, on the ground that some of the incidents are calculated to justify and encourage cruel and unfeeling pursuits. The description of the several sports practised throughout our country is a mere description of facts, employed in this instance as a vehicle for conveying information respecting the animals pursued, and the localities which they inhabit. This was distinctly stated in our opening remarks, (to which we beg to refer our readers, Vol. XVIII., p. 38,) and we are not conscious of having departed from the plan originally laid down. In the description of the angler's sport, we have used the term "fascinating," in a way which, though it has excited the objections of a correspondent, we know to be strictly true. The artist and the admirer of nature have expatiated with delight on the scenes which in their days of angling they were led to explore, and which, but for that amusement, they might never have beheld. We perfectly agree with our correspondent, in his remark that such advantages as these be attained by other and more rational means. may In the article in question, while we have given the opinion of the honest Izaak Walton, to show what a person of mild and amiable disposition can say in defence of this sport, we have also given the satirical remarks of Sir Walter Scott, directed at such as would endeavour to prove that fishes are possessed of a very low degree of sensibility to pain. For ourselves, we see but immaterial shades of difference, as far as it regards cruelty, in the several sports which have for their object the extinction of animal life, and we can therefore fully adopt the language of our favourite poet, when he says with respect to animals : But most accordant to his word I deem it, that the needful bird HIM, who is merciful and kind RED GROUSE. Tetrao Scoticus, Chaucer. I CAN conceive no office more noble than that of a Christian minister. The triumphs of successful legislation may adorn round the brow of the victor-but the Christian minister may the statesmen-the laurels of conquest may wreathe proudly boast of acquisitions more important than the one and more permanent than the other. He may be buried in an obscure and impoverished parish-his circle may be narrow-his enjoyments few-his relaxations sparing-but his name will be precious to those whom he has comforted in affliction, soothed in suffering, and cheered in death.--Nor is this all; -his memory will ever be a ffectionately cherished by these who reverence in him the instrument of their eternal salvation.-ANONYMOUS, delivered down from generation to generation, as presents to Books are the legacies that genius leaves to mankind, to be the posterity of those who are yet unborn.-ADDISON. peevishness and discontent: may not this be one cause of ROUGH uncultivated ground, dismal to the eye, inspires the harsh manners of savages? A field richly ornamented, containing beautiful objects of various kinds, displays in full lustre the goodness of the Deity, and the ample provision He has made for our hap piness. Ought not the spectator to be filled with grati tude to his Maker, and with benevolence to his fellow-crea tures? Other fine arts may be perverted to excite irregular, and even vicious, emotions; but gardening, which inspires the purest and most refined pleasures, cannot fail to pro mote every good affection. The gaiety and harmony of mind it produces, inclining the spectator to communicate his satisfaction to others, and to make them happy as he is himself, tend naturally to establish in him a habit of huma nity and benevolence.-LORD KAIMES. 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. BULGARIA AND THE BULGARIANS. BULGARIA, a province of European Turkey, owes its origin, like many other nations or tribes in the eastern parts of Europe, to an immigration of Tartar hordes, from the countries near the Caspian. There was a country called Great Bulgaria, on the confines of Asia and Europe, whose inhabitants penetrated to the west of the Black Sea, about the sixth century of the Christian era. They were repelled by the celebrated Belisarius: but in the following century they succeeded in forming a kingdom, which they called Little Bulgaria, along the southern shores of the Danube, in the heart of what is now European Turkey. The victories of Justinian the Second, Emperor of Constantinople, kept the Bulgarians in awe for a time; but they gradually extended their power at the expense of the Greek Empire, till, in the tenth century, they became masters of Dardania, Thessaly, and Epirus, under Simeon, the most celebrated of all their kings. Bulgaria was subsequently again united to the empire as a tributary state, and so continued for two centuries; but, in the thirteenth, it recovered its independence, and maintained a continual struggle with its more powerful neighbours; till it was at length reduced to a Turkish province by Bajazet, in 1396. As a Turkish province it has ever since remained. Bulgaria is bounded in a more definite manner than most of the Turkish provinces. Its northern limit is the Danube, which separates it from Wallachia; the eastern boundary is the Black Sea; the southern is the mountains of the Balkan; and the western is formed VOL XIX. principally by two small rivers. Placed, as it were, on the declivity of the Balkan, nearly the whole province is rugged and mountainous. Few countries owe more to the libera. hand of nature than Bulgaria. The soil is everywhere productive, and the numerous streams fertilize the fields which they traverse; while the beauty considerable of the climate in summer, tempered by a. degree of cold in winter, contributes materially to the rapid increase of every kind of produce. All sorts of grain, cattle, horses, wool, iron, and wine, are raised in abundance, and would render this a highly flourishing country under a more liberal government than that of the Turks; for the Danube affords an easy communication with the neighbouring provinces and the Mediterranean, by means of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is considered by the Turks as the granary of Constantinople, so that the exportation of corn to any other place is strictly prohibited. Wheat, barley, and millet are raised in large quantities; and at one part of the province are large rice farms belonging to the Sultan, from the produce of which, many of the officers receive their salaries in kind. Honev, of excellent quality, is produced in great abundance, but the exportation is prohibited, on the same ground as that of corn, viz., in order to secure a plentiful supply to the capital. The Rev. Mr. Walsh gives a favourable picture of the peasantry of this province. Although it forms part of Turkey, yet the inhabitants, like those of Moldavia and Wallachia, are Greek Christians, and have little of the Turkish character. The Turks who reside there are chiefly officials, or, at least, persons who deem them 58 selves superior to the native inhabitants of the province. Mr. Walsh draws a striking contrast between the Bulgarians, who are simple, kind, and affectionate; and the Turks residing among them, who were rude and often brutal in their conduct. On the road, (he says,) we frequently met groups of both, always separate, but employed in the same avocations; the Turks were known by turbans, sashes, pistols, and yatigans; but still more by a ferocity of aspect, a rude assumption of demeanour, and a careless kind of contempt, that at once repulsed and disgusted us. They never turned their buffaloes or arubas out of the way to let us pass, or showed the smallest wish to be civil and obliging; on the contrary, they were pleased if they pushed us into a bog in the narrow road, or entangled us among trees and bushes. Any accommodation in houses was out of the question; if we approached one for a drink of milk or water, we ran the hazard of being stabbed or shot. The Bulgarian peasants are distinguished by caps of brown sheep-skin; jackets of cloth, made of the undyed wool of dark brown sheep, which their wives spin and weave; white cloth trousers, and sandals of raw leather, drawn under the sole, and laced with strings over the instep. They carry neither pistol, yatigan, nor any other weapon of offence. The dress of the females is described as being neat, clean, and comfortable. It generally consists of a jacket and petticoat of dark blue cloth, with a bright border of list round the edges or down the seams; and an under-garment of hemp and cotton, very large, hanging far below the petticoat, and gathered in full folds round the neck and arms, and worked or woven with lace-like borders. Married women wear handkerchiefs on their heads, with a long lappel hanging down the back behind; girls have their heads uncovered, with their hair braided and ornamented with different coins. All wear ear-rings, bracelets, and finger-rings, from an early age; and nearly all go barefooted. Those who are accustomed to read books of travels, cannot fail to remark-at first with surprise, and afterwards, perhaps, with a smile-the very discordant results at which authors arrive respecting the manners, character, and industry of the people with whom they come in contact in their travels. The truth is, that, in most cases, these writers, however desirous they may be to adhere to the truth, have seldom opportunities to sift the matters on which they offer opinions. One traveller may pass through a country in the bleak season of winter, and his account of it will be tinctured with the cheerlessness which he observes; whereas another, who happened to travel there in a more genial season, will speak in glowing language of the country. Again, if a traveller happens to meet with kind usage from those with whom he has communication, he is apt to jump to the conclusion that the inhabitants, as a nation, are kind; while an opposite treatment will lead to an opposite result. We mention these circumstances, because we have found that the Bulgarians, their character, manners, and dwellings, are represented in different lights by different travellers; and we have wished to point out the probable cause for these discrepancies. The traveller from whom we just took an extract, says, that the countenances of the peasantry are so open, artless, and benevolent, and their demeanour so kind and cordial, that every one he met seemed to welcome him as a friend. Whenever their buffaloes or arubas stopped up the way, the peasants were prompt to turn them aside; and whenever they saw him embarrassed, or obliged to get out of the road, they were eager to show that it was not their fault. Their houses were always open to him, and his presence was a kind of jubilee to the family; and the compensation he. gave for their hospitality was so small, and their mode of receiving it so disinterested, as to induce him to believe that if none had been offered, none would have been asked for.-Another traveller, who passed through this province in the winter season, when all was discomfort, has scarcely a word to say in favour either of the people or the country. We believe, however, that, in this instance, those who speak in rather favourable terms approach nearer to the truth. A brief notice of Mr. Tietz's journey from the north. ern to the southern boundaries of the province will enable us to describe some of its features. The party, consisting of two gentlemen, two servants, a Tatar or armed courier, and two postilions, were mounted on seven horses; while four horses carried the luggage; all the horses being hired, for a certain agreed sum, to carry the traveller and luggage from Rustchuk on the banks of the Danube, to Constantinople. The travellers left Rustchuk in the winter season, and travelled along a road which is deemed one of the best in the Turkish empire. Arriving at a river over which there was no bridge, the travellers had to swim their horses across; and as the water was partially covered with ice, the fording was anything but agreeable. However, after a good hour's ride they arrived at a village inhabited by Bulga rian Christians, entered a peasant's dwelling, and thou roughly dried themselves upon mats and carpets. Meanwhile the Tatâr, who was a Turk, prepared a meal in the Turkish manner; consisting of a roasted fowl, a dish of pilau, which consists of dried rice cooked in a little fat,- -a dish of kibabs, consisting of small pieces of mutton, stuck on a wooden skewer, and roasted,-and finally cheese-cakes, to which succeeded a dessert of figs, dates, and grapes. The place of a table was supplied by a low footstool turned upside down, on the four inverted legs of which was placed a round wooden dish. for the reception of the food. The cottage-as appears to be generally the case in Bulgaria-was inhabited by a whole family, and the travellers sat comfortably round a blazing fire, conversing with the host; while the young men were smoking, and the women and girls were spinning cotton and wool. The Turks know the value of the Bulgarians as an industrious people, and seem, on the whole, to treat them more mildly than most others of their Christian subjects. The travellers proceeded at a quick rate through a country sparingly supplied with towns and villages; meeting on their way with many fountains, founded in most cases by the pious endowment of individuals, for the refreshment of travellers who would else suffer from the little accommodation afforded in the way of inns or khans. Much taste is usually displayed in selecting an agreeable spot, shaded by trees, close to the road side, as the site of these springs; an iron or earthenware vessel is often found in a small niche built over the spouting tube; and around it are a few large stones, serving as seats. A well-kept, and gradually-ascending road conducted the travellers through a few villages to the foot of the Balkan mountains, which separate Bulgaria from Roumelia. The northern or Bulgarian side of these mountains is cooler than the southern, and is covered with large forests, consisting of fir, beech, and oak trees. The entrance to the pass of the Balkan is very romantic. On the left, close to the road, and surrounded by cypresses and plantains, is an elegant fountain; on the right, at the distance of about a mile, a pleasant village nestles in a hollow, at the foot of the mountain. The travellers passed over a bridge, beneath which a loud rushing stream descended from the heights; and then rode through a narrow ravine, bordered on either side by preci pitous and almost overhanging rocks, and occasionally shaded by large oak trees. After ascending for four hours, they arrived at the small town of Tirnowa, which is deemed the metropolis of Bulgaria. We may here remark, that Bulgaria contains very few important towns; the inhabitants being rather of a pastoral character. living in villages more than in towns. The travellers left Tirnowa, and ascended by a path contiguous to fearful abysses, and full of loose stones; |