DOMESTIC PEACE.
Reading edition
Tell me on what holy ground
May domestic peace be found?
Halcyon-daughter of the skies!
Far on fearful wings she flies
From the tyrant’s scepter’d state,
From the rebel’s noisy hate.
In a cottag’d vale she dwells,
List’ning to the sabbath bells,
While all around her steps are seen
Spotless Honour’s meeker mien.
Love, the sire of pleasing fears,
Sorrow smiling through her tears;
And, mindful of the past employ,
Memory, bosom spring of joy!—Coleridge.
Ants of Brazil.—So numerous were the ants, and so great was the mischief which they committed, that the Portugueze called this insect the King of Brazil; but it is said by Piso, that an active husbandman easily drove them away, either by means of fire or of water; and the evil which they did was more than counterbalanced by the incessant war which they waged against all other vermin. In some parts of South America they march periodically in armies, such myriads together, that the sound of their coming over the fallen leaves may be heard at some distance. The inhabitants, knowing the season, are on the watch, and quit their houses, which these tremendous, but welcome visitors clear of centipedes, forty-legs, scorpion, snake, every living thing; and having done their work, proceed upon their way.—Southey’s Brazil.
Singular Customs.—There is a custom, proper to Sicily, which I must not forget to mention. This is a right of purchase of a singular kind. If any man buy an estate, be it house, land, or vineyard, the neighbour of the purchaser, for the space of an entire year afterward, may eject him by an advance of price. In vain would the first purchaser give more to the original owner. This singular law is generally evaded by a falsehood. The purchase-money is stated, in the articles of agreement, at a higher sum than has been agreed upon in the presence of four witnesses. There is another no less singular law in Sicily, according to which any man can oblige his neighbour to sell his house, if he will pay him three times its value. The intention of this law was, the improvement of the towns. It was to encourage the possessors of large houses to purchase the humble abodes of the poor.—Count Stolberg’s Travels.
Volcano in Iceland.—The Oræfa mountain is not only the loftiest in Iceland, but has been rendered remarkable by the great devastation made by its eruption about a century ago. Nothing can be more striking than the account of this calamity given by Jon Thorlakson, the aged minister of a neighbouring parish. He was in the midst of his service on the Sabbath, when the agitation of the earth gave warning that some alarming event was to follow. Rushing from the church, he saw a peak of the neighbouring mountain alternately heaved up and sinking; the next day, this portion of the mountain ran down into the plain, like melted metal from a crucible, filling it to such a height, that, as he says, no more of a mountain which formerly towered above it could be seen, than about the size of a bird; volumes of water being in the mean time thrown forth in a deluge from the crater, sweeping away whatever they encountered in their course. The Oræfa itself then broke forth, hurling large masses of ice to a great distance; fire burst out in every direction from its sides; the sky was darkened by the smoke and ashes, so that the day could hardly be distinguished from the night. This scene of horror continued for more than three days, during which the whole region was converted into utter desolation.—North American Review for July, 1832.
Farming in Iceland.—The most important branch of rural labour in Iceland, is the hay-making. About the middle of July, the peasant begins to cut down the grass of the tûn (the green around his house,) which is immediately gathered to a convenient place, in order to dry, and, after having been turned once or twice, is conveyed home on horseback to the yard, where it is made up into stacks. At the poorer farms, both men and women handle the scythe; but in general, the women only assist in making the hay after it is cut. In many parts of the island, where there is much hay, the peasants hire men from the fishing plains, who are paid for their labour at the rate of thirty pounds of butter a week. They cut by measurement; the daily task being about thirty square fathoms. Hay-harvest being over, the sheep and cattle that had been out all summer on the mountains are collected; the houses are put into a state of repair for the winter; the wood needed for domestic purposes is brought home to each farm; the turf is also taken in. During the winter, the care of the cattle and the sheep devolves entirely on the men; and consists chiefly in feeding and watering the former, which are kept in the house, while the latter are turned out in the day-time to seek their food through the snow. When the snow happens to be so deep that they cannot scrape it away themselves, the boys do it for them; and as the sustenance thus procured is exceedingly scanty, they generally get a little of the meadow hay about this time. The farm hay is given to the cows alone. All the horses, excepting perhaps a favourite riding horse, are left to shift for themselves the whole winter, during which season they never lie down, but rest themselves by standing in some place of shelter.—Henderson’s Iceland.
⁂ The Office of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge is at 59, Lincoln’s Inn Fields.
LONDON:—CHARLES KNIGHT, PALL-MALL EAST.
Shopkeepers and Hawkers may be supplied Wholesale by the following Booksellers, of whom, also, any of the previous Numbers may be had:—
London, Groombridge, Panyer Alley.
Bath, Simms.
Birmingham, Drake.
Bristol, Westley and Co.
Carlisle, Thurnam; and Scott.
Derby, Wilkins and Son.
Doncaster, Brooke and Co.
Exeter, Balle.
Falmouth, Philip.
Hull, Stephenson.
Kendal, Hudson and Nicholson.
Leeds, Baines and Newsome.
Lincoln, Brooke and Sons.
Liverpool, Willmer and Smith.
Manchester, Robinson; and Webb and Simms.
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Charnley.
Norwich, Jarrold and Son.
Nottingham, Wright.
Oxford, Slatter.
Plymouth, Nettleton.
Portsea, Horsey, Jun.
Sheffield, Ridge.
Staffordshire, Lane End, C. Watts.
Worcester, Deighton.
Dublin, Wakeman.
Edinburgh, Oliver and Boyd.
Glasgow, Atkinson and Co.
Printed by William Clowes, Duke Street, Lambeth.
Transcriber’s Notes
New original cover art included with this eBook is granted to the public domain. Itemized changes from the original text:
p. 282: Replaced “n” with “in” in phrase “the war in which the human race engages.”
p. 282: Replaced “endered” with “rendered” in phrase “is rendered absolutely necessary by the wants of navigators.”
p. 282: Replaced “s” with “as” in phrase “as they come from the sea.”
p. 283: Supplied partially misprinted words “which” and “actually” in phrase “from which it must not be concluded that such an event actually will take place.”
p. 284: Added closing double quotation mark after phrase “many thousands of years must elapse before the event can be really expected.”
p. 285: Changed “as we must first” with “we must first” in phrase “As we cannot measure anything exactly, we must first decide what degree of accuracy is necessary.”
p. 286: Replaced “4⁄12” with “8⁄12” in phrase “Thus, ⅔, 4⁄6, 6⁄9, 8⁄12, &c. are all of the same value.”
p. 287: Replaced “ast” with “last” in phrase “his master was at last induced to let him off.”
p. 287: Added comma after phrase “the Resolution and the Adventure.”
p. 287: Added comma after phrase “after four of them had been killed.”