should pass the best part of their time amongst Women of the Town.*. In the words of a prophane, but great writer,t" for this amongst the rest," were they "ordained." Highbury Terrace. NESTOR. GIANTS. Ir depends on the length at which the Hebrew cubit is taken, whether the height of Goliath should be estimated at ten feet seven inches, as Calmet has done; or at nine feet seven inches, for which Mr. Parkhurst contends, who founds his calculation on the estimated measure of a cubit, as deduced from Josephus. The latter height is, no doubt, sufficiently tall. C There have been so few well proportioned, able bodied men, of this immense magnitude, that the wonder at the weight of Goliath's armour is greatly increased, on consideration. Such per sons as have had the misfortune to be excessively tall above others, have usually been of weakly body, often of disproportioned, or diseased limbs, or of still more weakly minds; but that Goliath should be able to wear his armour, and carry it on his person, implies a strength of body no less wonderful than his extraordinary dimensions. In proof, however, that the dimensions of Goliath, though extraordinary, are not incredible, the following instances are selected from the best authorities. The tallest man that has been seen in our era was one named Gabara, who, in the days of Claudius the late emperor, was brought out of Arabia: he was nine feet nine inches high. Plin. lib. vii. cap. 16. p. 165. Solin, cap. 5, page 188. Maximus, the emperor, was eight feet and a half in height: he was a Thracian, barbarous, cruel, and hated of all men; he used the bracelet or armlet of his wife as a ring for his thumb, and Roman catholic priests have certainly better morals in this particular, than protestant priests. If," says a friend to the author of Don Quixote, If you would descant upon Women of the Town, there is the Bishop of Mondonuedo, who can furnish you with Lamia, Lais, and Flora, courtesans, whose acquaintance will be very much to your reputation." Shakspeare, in Richard. Pref. his shoe was longer by a foot than that of another man. Zuing, vol. ii. lib. ii. p. 276. Capitolin. There were in the time of Augustus Cæsar, two persons, called Idusio and Secundilla, each of them was ten feet high, and somewhat more; their bodies, after their death, were kept and preserved for a wonder in a sepulchre within the Salustian gardens. Vide Kornman de Mirac. Vivor. 25, Plin. lib. vii. xvi. p. 165. Solin. cap. 5, p. 187. "Vitellius sent Darius, the son of Artabanus, an hostage to Rome, with divers presents, among which there was a man seven cubits, or ten feet two inches high, a Jew born; he was named Eleazar, and was called a giant, by reason of his greatness." Joseph. Antiq. lib. xviii. cap. 6, cap. 5, § 5. Edit. Hudson. Merula, who succeeded Justus Lipsius, as professor of history in the university of Leyden, asserts that A. D. 1583, he himself saw, in France, a Fleming who exceeded nine feet in height. Cosmograph, part i. lib. iii. cap. 14. Leigh, Analecta Cæsar. Rom. p. 265. Becanus saw a man near ten feet, and a woman full ten feet high. Wond. Nat. and Art, vol. ii. p. 268. Vide Phil. Trans. No. 260. In London, Bamford, a hatter, lived some years back near Temple Bar, who measured eight feet and six or seven inches, yet wilfully lost four inches of his stature, by a habit of stooping which he had contracted: and we know that O'Brien, lately exhibited under the name of the "Irish Giant," measured eight feet six or eight inches, while living, and two or three inches more when dead. W. WELCH LUXURIES. MR. EDITOR, WHILST modern tourists are exploring and celebrating the beauties of Wales, I am surprised that they neglect to sing the praises of the most odoriferous of its vegetable productions, leeks and onions; but overlooked as they are by writers of the present age, I feel the honest pride of a true Cambrian, in stating that writers of ancient times have held those savoury plants in the highest estimation. We are told that the Hebrews grew tired of the manna with which they were fed, and longed for the leeks and onions of Egypt-the Egyptians were reproached with swearing by the leeks and onions of their gardens, "allium cepesque inter Deos in jurejurando habet Egyptus," says Pliny:-and Juvenal ridicules that superstitious people who did not dare to eat leeks, garlic, or onions, for fear of injuring their gods. "Porrum & cepe nefas violare, aut frangere morsu. O sanctas gentes, quibus hæc nascuntur in hortis "Tis mortal sin an onion to devour! Each clove of garlic is a heav'nly power: O holy nations, and O sacred clods, Where every fruitful garden teems with Gods! And I hope that in this age of luxury, when the Scotchman exults at the goodness of his pickled herrings-when the Irishman boasts the enormous size of his potatoes, and the Englishman sings with raptures of his " roast beef," your readers will pardon being reminded of the valuable produce of his native country, by Abergavenny. A WELCH CURATE. THE POWER OF MUSIC. A LAUGHABLE ANECDOTE, Now for the first time translated from Berchoux, a modern French Author. THE following verses give rise to the anecdote. La musique est un art que j'éstime & que j'aime, Comme art imitatif, elle ose se vanter D'avoir le pas sur nous et de tout imiter; Sur la danse, ou les Dieux de l'Opera, I had a dispute one day on this subject with a friend of mine, who is an excellent musician, and plays on all sorts of instruments. He maintained that music was an art of imitation, in the most perfect degree; that it painted like speech; that every thing might be said with it; and that, with regard to himself, he should not be embarrassed if he ever became dumb, since, with his different instruments, he could make himself understood, without difficulty, by persons the least intelligent. After having denied this flatly, and persisted in the contradiction for a long time, I proposed a bet to him, which he accepted. We went together to a Restorateur, he taking with him his violin, his bassoon, and his clarinet. I told the waiter not to be surprised at what was about to take place, as a bet depended on it. We sat down at a table. I called for the bill of fare, and desired my friend to begin his music, and to ask, in that language, for pea-soup and toasted bread for two. He immediately began to play on the violin, and executed some very pretty passages, with variations, now adagio, then allegro, according to what he thought necessary for the imitation. The waiter heard him with an air of great stupidity, and never stirred a step. My friend, seeing that he did not comprehend him, told me that it was possible that music might not have the accent to express peas and toasted bread, but that I should see him ask simply for plain beef. "Well," said I, "plain beef; come, that will be more clear." He then took his clarinet; afterwards his bassoon, which he made to rumble away, in his best manner, to imitate the roaring of a bull. The waiter remained as immoveable as before, and no more brought the plain beef than he did the pea-soup. My musician now attempted to imitate the bleating of a sheep, the bellowing of a calf, the crowing of a cock, &c. to instruct the waiter to bring some mutton chops, veal, and poultry. No, not a bit appeared. He then sung a little air, moving his hand gracefully about, and making a thousand charming shakes in the Italian style. This was to call for some macaroni; but the barbarous waiter continued equally deaf to all his overtures, and during this time we got nothing to eat. My friend being a little confounded at the discovery that, by his art of imitation, we were very likely to go without our dinner, I took the opportunity of requesting him to acknowledge that music was at least not a good mode of communication, in regard to the most important operation of life; and I offered to bet him still further, that, in several other operations, it would not be a whit better in respect D-VOL. II.* to its imitative power. It was late. My virtuoso was not less hungry than myself. I asked for a pencil and a bit of paper. I sketched a chicken, &c. and we were served in an instant. We now agreed that music was a charming art, which has the gift of fascinating the ear by a combination of sweet sounds; that it attains sometimes to the imitation of certain objects, but then very often by a sort of understanding between those who cultivate it, and those who are accustomed to hear it; that, as to the rest, it was wrong to pretend, as it did, to paint the movements of the soul, as well as any of the operations of the mind; that it ought to be content with the charm, which naturally arose from its melody; and, finally, that when it endeavoured to wander out of its sphere, it became in a manner pedantic, wearisome, and ridiculous. July 4. PHYSICIANS. ONCE upon a time, a man fell sick, but being able to leave his home, he went in search of a physician. Many men, on their death-bed, have, we are told, turned seers, and to this sickly man it so happened that he was, through his malady, furnished with an uncommon vision, which lent him the power of seeing, as he approached the house of a doctor, all the ghosts of those dispatched by his art, clustering found the door. The portal of the first he came to, who was very eminent, was so beset with departed friends, as to seem to his eyes inaccessible. Not wishing to make one amongst them, nor much admiring the issue of the skilful practice of this medical gentleman, he went to another, and another, before whose abodes he perpetually found flitting innumerable shades. At length, in the suburbs, he beheld a house haunted by only one solitary ghost. "Ah!" he exclaimed, "this is the man for me!" He entered, received a prescription, paid his fee, and was retiring, when the doctor said-" Pray Sir, (if I may presume to ask;) how happens it that you found me out in this obscure corner?" The sick man not replying immediately, he added-"You will not be surprised, Sir, at my question, when I tell you that I have been here these three years, and never had but one patient before!" ** |