 The Gale by Richard Henry Dana, Jr. This is a LibriVox reporting. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. The Gale by Richard Henry Dana, Jr. Read by Bill Mosley, Krellsburg, Texas. We were now off point conception, the Cape Horn of California, where the sailors say it begins to blow the 1st of January and blows until the last of December. Toward the latter part of the afternoon, however, the regular northwest wind, as usual, set in, which brought in our studying sails and gave us the chance of beating around the point, which we were now just abreast of, and which stretched off into the Pacific, high, rocky, and barren, forming the central point of the coast for hundreds of miles north and south. A cap full of wind will be a bag full here, and before night our royals were furled, and the ship was laboring hard under her top gallant sails. At eight bells, our watch went below, leaving her with as much sail as she could stagger under, the water flying over the full castle at every plunge. It was evidently blowing harder, but then there was not a cloud in the sky, and the sun had gone down bright. We had been below but a short time before we had the usual premonitions of coming gale. Seas washing over the whole forward part of the vessel, and her bowels beating against them with a force and sound like the driving of piles. The watch, too, seemed very busy trampling about decks and singing out at the ropes. A sailor can tell by the sound what sail is coming in, and in a short time we heard the top gallant sails come in, one after another, and then the flying jib. This seemed to ease her a good deal, and we were fast going off to the land of Nod wind. Bang, bang, bang, on the scuttle, and all hands reef top sails ahoy! Started us out of our berths, and, yet not being very cold weathered, we had nothing extra to put on, and were soon on deck. I shall never forget the fineness of the sight. It was a clear and rather a chilly night. The stars were twinkling with an intense brightness, and as far as the eye could reach, there was not a cloud to be seen. The horizon met the sea in a defined line. A painter could not have painted so clear a sky. There was not a speck upon it. Yet it was blowing great guns from the northwest. When you can see a cloud to windward, you feel that there is a place for the wind to come from, but here it seemed to come from nowhere. No person could have told from the heavens, by their eyesight alone, that it was not a still summer's night. One reef after another we took in the top sails, and before we could get them hoisted up, we heard a sound like a short quick rattling of thunder, and the jib was blown to atoms out of the bolt rope. We got the top sails set, and the fragments of the jib stowed away, and the four top mastaceae set in its place, when the great mainsail gaped open, and the sail ripped from head to foot. Lay up on that main yard and furl the sail before it blows to tatters, shouted the captain, and in a moment we were up, gathering the remains of it upon the yard. We got it wrapped around the yard and passed gaskets over it as snugly as possible, and we're just on deck again, wind with another loud rift which was heard throughout the ship. The four top sail, which had been double reefed, split in two of the warped ships, just below the reef band from earring to earring. Here again it was down yard, haul out reef tackles, and lay out upon the yard for reefing. By hauling the reef tackles chock-a-block, we took the strain from the other earrings, and passing the close reefed earring, and knotting the points carefully, we succeeded in setting the sail close reefed. We had but just got the rigging coiled up, and we're waiting to hear, go below the watch when the main royal worked loose from the gaskets, and blew directly out to Lourdes, flapping and shaking the mast like a wand. Here was a job for somebody, that the royal must come in or be cut adrift, where the mast would be snapped short off. All the light hands and the starboard watch were sent up one after another, but they could do nothing with it. At length, John, the tall Frenchman, the head of the starboard watch, and a better sailor never stepped upon a deck. Sprangaloft, and by the help of his long arms and legs, succeeded after a hard struggle, the sail blowing over the yard arm through Lourdes, and the sky sail adrift directly over his head, and smothering it, and frapping it with long pieces of synnet. He came very near being blown or shaken from the yard several times, but he was a true sailor, every finger of his hook. Having made the sail snug, he prepared to send the yard down, which was a long and difficult job, for frequently he was obliged to stop and hold on with all his might for several minutes. The ship pitching so as to make it impossible to do anything else at that height. The yard at length came down so, and after it, the fore and mids and royal yards were sent down. All hands were then set aloft, and for an hour or two, we were hard at work, making the booms well fast, unreading the studding sail and royal and sky sail gear, getting rolling ropes on the yard, setting up the weather breast backstage and making other preparations for a storm. It was a fine night for a gale, just cool and bracing enough for quick work without being cold, and as bright as day, it was sport to have a gale in such weather as this, yet it blew like a hurricane. The wind seemed to come with a spite, an edge to it, which threatened to scrape us off the yards. The force of the wind was greater than I'd ever felt it before. The darkness cold and wet are the worst parts of the storm to the sailor. Having got on deck again, we looked round to see what time of night it was and whose watch. In a few minutes, the man at the wheel struck four bells, and we found that the other watch was out and our own half out. Accordingly, the starboard watch went below and left the ship to us for a couple of hours, yet with orders to stand by for a call. Hardly had they got below before a way went the four top mast stay sail, loaned to Rivendez. This was a small sail, which we could manage in the watch, so that we were not obliged to call up the other watch. We laid out upon the bowsprit where we were under water half the time and took in the fragments of the sail, and as she must have some head sail on her, prepared to bend another stay sail. We got the new one out into the nettings, seized on the tack, sheets and howards and the hanks, manned the howards, cut adrift the frapping lines and hoisted away, but before it was half way up the stay, it was blown all the pieces. When we belayed the howards, there was nothing left but the bolt rope. Now, large eyes began to show themselves in the fore sail, and knowing that it must soon go, the mate ordered us upon the yard to furlase. Being unwilling to call up the watch who had been on deck all night, he roused out the carpenter, sailmaker, cook and steward, and with their help, we manned the foreyard, and after nearly half an hour's struggle, mastered the sail, got it well furled round the yard. The force of the wind had never been greater than at this moment. And going up the rigging, it seemed absolutely to pin us down to the shroud, and on the yard, there was no such thing as turning a face to windward. Yet, here was no driving sleet, and darkness and wet and cold as off-cake horn, and instead of stiff oil cloth suits, southwester caps and thick boots, we had on hats, round jackets, duct trousers, light shoes, and everything light and easy. These things make a great difference to a sailor. When we got on deck, the man at the wheel struck eight bells, four o'clock in the morning, and all star-bowlons ahoy brought the other watch up, but there was no going below for us. The gale was now at its height, blowing like scissors and thumb screws. The captain was on deck. The ship, which was light, rolling and pitching, as though she would shake the long sticks out of her, and the sails were gaping open and splitting in every direction. The mizantopsa, which was a comparatively new sail and close reef, split from head to foot in the bunt. The four top sail went in one rent from clue to earring and was blowing to tatters in one of the chain bobstays parted. The spritzail yard sprung in the slings. The martingale had slewed away off to lured, and owing to the long dry weather, the lee rigging hung in large bites at every lurch. One of the main top gallant shrouds had parted, and to crown all, the galley had got a drift, had gone over to lured, and the anchor on the lee bow had worked loose and was thumping the side. Here was working up for all hands for half a day. Our gang laid out on the mizantopsail yard, and after more than half an hour's hard work, furled the sail, though it bellied out over our heads, and again, by a slat of the wind, blew in under the yard with a fearful jerk and almost threw us off from the foot ropes. Double gaskets were passed around the yards, rolling tackles and other gear bowels taut, and everything made as secure as it could be. Coming down, we found the rest of the crew just coming down the four rigging, having furled the tattered top sail, or rather, swabbed it around the yard, which looked like a broken limb bandaged. There was no sail now on the ship, but the spanker and the close reef main top sail, which still held good, but this was too much after sail, and order was given to furl the spanker. The brails were hauled up, all the light hands and the starboard watch sent out on the gaff to pass the gaskets, but they could do nothing with it. The second mate swore at them for a parcel of soggers and sent up a couple of the best men, but they could do no better when the gaff was lowered down. All hands were now employed in setting up the lee rigging, fishing the sprint sail yard, lashing the galley, and getting tackles upon the martingale to bouse it to wind them. Being in the larbid watch, my duty was forward to assist in setting up the martingale. Three of us were out on the martingale guise and back ropes for more than half an hour, carrying out, hooking and unhooking the tackles, several times buried in the seas until the mate ordered us in from the fear of our being washed off. The anchors were then to be taken up on the rails, which kept all hands on the folxel for an hour, though every now and then the seas broke over it, washing the rigging off the bluard, filling the lee scupper's breast high, and washing chalk-act to the taff-rail. Having got everything secure again, we were promising ourselves some breakfast, for it was now nearly nine o'clock in the forenoon when the main topsel showed evident signs of giving way. Some sail must be kept on the ship, and the captain ordered the fore and main Spencer gaffes to be lowered down, and the two Spencers, which were storm sails, brand new, small, and made of the strongest canvas, to be got up and bent, leaving the main topsel to blow away with a blessing on it, if it would only last until we could set the Spencers. These we bent on very carefully with strong robins and sizings and, making tackles fast to the clues, bows them down to the waterways. By this time, the main topsel was among the things that have been. We went a walk to stow away the remnant of the last sail of all those which were on the ship 24 hours before. The Spencers were now the only whole sails on the ship, and being strong and small and near the deck, presenting but little surface to the wind above the rail, promised to hold out well. Hove, too, under these, and eased by having no sail above the tops, the ship rose and fell, and drifted off to the word like a line of battleship. It was now eleven o'clock, and the watch was sent below to get breakfast, and at eight bells, noon, as everything was snug, although the gale had not, in the least, abated. The watch was sent, and the other watch and hybrids were sent below. For three days and three nights, the gale continued with unabated fury, and with singular regularity. There were no lulls, and very little variation in its fierceness. Our ship, being light, rolled, so as almost to send the four-yard arm underwater, and drifted off, bottling to the word. All this time, there was not a cloud to be seen in the sky, day or night. No, not so large as a man's hand. Every morning the sun rose cloudless from the sea, and set again at night in the sea, in a flood of light. The stars, too, came out of the blue one after another, night after night, unobscured, and twinkled as clear as on a still frosty night at home, until the day came upon them. All this time the sea was rolling in immense surges, white with foam, as far as the eye could reach, on every side. For we were now leagues and leagues from shore. The between decks being empty, several of us slept there in hammocks, which are the best things in the world to sleep in during a storm, it not being true of them, as it is of another kind of bed, when the wind blows, the cradle will rock, for it is the ship that rocks, while they hang vertically from the beam. During these 72 hours, we had nothing to do, we turned in and out, four hours on deck and four below, eat, sleep, and keep watch. The watches were only varied by taking the helm in turn, and now and then by one of the sails, which were furrowed, blowing out of the gaskets, and getting a drift, which sent us up on the yards, and by getting tackles on different parts of the rigging, which were slack. Once the wheel rope parted, which might have been fatal to us, had not the chief mate sprung instantly with a relieving tackle to windward, and kept the tiller up, till a new rope could be rolled. On the morning of the 20th, at daybreak, the gale had evidently done its worst, and had somewhat abated, so much so that all hands were called to ban new sails, although it was still blowing as hard as two common gales. One at a time, with great difficulty in labor, the old sails were unbent, and sent down by the buttlines, and three new top sails made for the homeward passage around Cape Horn, which had never been bent, where it got up from the sail room and under the care of the sailmaker, were fitted for bending, and sent up by the halyards into the tops, and with stops and frapping lines were bent to the yards, close reefed, sheeted home, and hoisted. These were bent one at a time, and with the greatest care and difficulty. Two spare courses were then got up and bent on the same manner and furl, and a storm jib with the bonnigaw bent and furled to the boom. It was 12 o'clock before we got through, and five hours of more exhausting labor I never experienced. No one of that ship's crew, I will venture to say, will ever desire again to unbend and bend five large sails in the teeth of a tremendous Norwester. Towards night a few clouds appeared on the horizon, and as the gale moderated, the usual appearance of driving clouds relieved the face of the sky. The fifth day after the commencement of the storm, we shook a reef out of each top sail and set the reefed foresail, jib, and spanker. But it was not until after eight days of reefed top sails that we had a whole sail on the ship, and then it was quite soon enough where the captain was anxious to make up for leeway. The gale, having blown us half the distance to the Sandwich Islands. Inch by inch, as fast as the gale would permit, we made sail on the ship. For the wind still continued ahead, and we had many days sailing to get back to the longitude we were in when the storm took us. For eight days more we beat to windward under a stiff top-gallon breeze when the wind shifted and became variable. A light southeaster through which we could carry a reefed top mass studying sail did wonders for our dead reckoning. Friday, December 4th, after a passage of 20 days, we arrived at the mouth of the Bay of San Francisco, in Doe, the Gale, by Richard Henry Dana, Jr., reported by Bill Mosley, Krellsburg, Texas. How the memory may be improved from Mind, Matter and Motion with Directions for Good Health in Old Age by Adam Miller. This is a LibriVox recording, or LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Without memory our lives would be a dreary waste, the past would be a blank, the present a fretful and perplexing hour. Without a recollection of the past we would find very little encouragement in looking into the future. With the storehouse of our memories well filled with past events, many pleasant scenes of our past lives are brought in review before us. Even our sufferings and disappointments, when recollected in connection with the relief that may have come to us and our deliverance from the apparent accidents and dangers to which we found ourselves exposed, all have a tendency to encourage us for the future. A recollection that the same or similar help may come to us in the future that sustained us in the past will enable us to move forward in the struggles of life and trust in the same powers and forces for protection that sustained us in the past. All persons are endowed with this faculty, but some in a much higher degree than others. While there are natural endowments and some have much better memories than others it is undeniably true that when neglecting to exercise and cultivate this faculty it becomes enfeebled. While on the other hand by a proper course of training and a systematic exercise the memory may be strengthened beyond the highest conceptions of those who have not made suitable and systematic efforts in this direction. The reason why many persons in advanced years complain of a feeble memory is an inattention to the common concerns of life and a want of effort to treasure up the ordinary occurrences. The idea of many that because they have lived a certain number of years and arrived at an age where the mental faculties generally become enfeebled has caused many to feel prematurely old and a general loss of bodily and mental vigor follows a determination that it must be so because it is the natural order of things. Many live and finally go down to their graves without being aware of the wonderful undeveloped powers they possessed which, if they had been properly cultivated would have contributed much to the support of the physical organism. There is such an intimate connection between the body and the mind that the lack of a proper treatment of the one will unfavorably affect the other. We have gymnastics for physical culture and find from experience and observation that much is gained by a proper exercise in muscular development. The memory is more susceptible to improvement by proper exercise and training than the body. It is that which possesses the body and is destined to survive its final dissolution and decay. The dweller in the house is of more importance than the house. So the mind of man, of which memory is a part is of more importance than the body in which it dwells. We talk of a mind well stored with knowledge but we must not forget that memory is the storekeeper and not only holds the key to the storehouse but arranges all the shelves and drawers and the different compartments for storing away the treasure accumulated by mental efforts. The mind selects and brings in the treasures, sometimes secures them by hardest toil and perilous efforts. The memory takes the treasures and stores them away on different and appropriate shelves or in different drawers and so marks them and the place where they are deposited that they can be looked at any time when they are wanted. What advantage would we have in the accumulation of wealth in silver and gold and diamonds and other precious things that make men rich if we brought them home and handed them over to our steward or servant for safekeeping and he put them where they never could be found? Suppose a man had millions on millions of treasures hidden in this way that he nor no one else could ever find. What advantage would they be to him? None. He might say I have lost them because I have not provided a proper place to store them away. I had no systematic arrangement in my treasure-house and now they are forever beyond my reach. In this way, from a want of a properly arranged house to store away the treasures of the mind thousands of precious gems have been lost. We may deeply regret the loss but this will not return to us the lost treasures. The only safe and proper way is to guard against these losses in the future. Why have safes with various compartments been invented with bars and bolts and locks but to protect our goods from the hands of the thief and the robber and also with a view to have them at our command at a moment's notice for our use? The thief of time is watching us every hour to snatch away the accumulations for our mental toil. Much has been taken from us and laid in the grave of oblivion but there are still vast outlying fields where we can gather more and there are means provided to keep our gathered treasures securely. But someone advanced in years may say I am too old to commence building a store-house to treasure up my mental wares. You need not build a new house. The old one is good enough but it will only go to work and make some repairs. And when you begin this repairing process you will be surprised to find how easy the task will be. The sweeping out of a few dark corners of the old building will soon throw light over other parts. The opening of a few windows will let in the light and make everything cheerful about the old homestead where the higher nature has long dwelt in gloom and sadness because the house was so much out of repair. How sad it is to think that thousands of persons when they arrive at the age of 45 or 50 years think that their time of improvement is past and under this impression they neglect mental culture and with this neglect the body soon becomes like a house uncared for. We build the house we live in, that is our inner and higher nature to such an extent controls organic matter so as to build up and nourish those parts most suited for mental activity where no other abnormal or disturbing agencies interfere. This is especially true in reference to the growth and development of the brain which is the seat of mental power. Proper training not only improves the mind but enlarges the dwelling place where the mind resides, acts and operates. The bright, expressive and speaking eye, the elevated forehead, the intelligent features all indicate an intelligent working power or force superintending the material organization. This working force in the intellectual realm is under the control of the human will. If we determine that the mind shall lie dormant and the memory shall become feeble and inactive from a want of proper exercise the inevitable results will follow. On the other hand if we determine that the memory shall be retentive and that the shelves in our memory's storehouse shall keep our deposited treasures we have only to keep these shelves and drawers in good order and have our deposits so marked and labelled as to find them at any time we may wish to use them. If we cannot immediately find the key to unlock our repository and find the gems of thought and all the beautiful and useful things of the past we must tie a string to the treasure and keep the string in view and when we get bewildered and confused we can follow up the string or wind it up into a ball till it leads up to our repository and to the very drawer or shelf where our treasures may be found. If we have many shelves in memory's storehouse and a great variety of different things stowed away and these of different qualities and require many strings by which to trace our way to our hidden treasures we can very easily attach a mark or place a label on the end of each string each separate mark directing us to the object we wish to find. There are many plain and simple things that the mind may be placed on and that the memory can retain that may be well compared to a single thread and by association of one thing with another either from a striking similarity or dissimilarity a thread may be followed by winding it into a ball or unwinding it from a ball. As an illustration of following up the thread we will commence with a white woollen thread. The wool leads up to the sheep. The sheep is an emblem of innocence. Here we come into a large field innocence, playfulness, pastures, flocks wool and garments, cold weather blankets, carpets and ornamented parlours or if we wish to run in another direction the thread will lead us to mutton to a good dinner to the dinner party to the names of those present to their conversation and many other things we may wish to bring in review before us. A silk thread will lead us to the silkworm the mulberry tree the manufacturing establishment the silk dress the beautiful lady that we saw wearing it her sparkling eye her wit her diamonds her language home fortunes or misfortunes all from the end of a small silk thread a cotton thread will lead us to the cotton fields the spinning and weaving the factory girls employed in the mills the great variety of cotton goods the sails of ships a trip across the ocean the commerce of different and distant countries the ties that bind nations in one common brotherhood a linen thread will conduct us back to the field where flax grows to the spinning and weaving of linen to Irish linen to the thousands of toilers who produce the beautiful fabric to the weaver of the linen to the rags of worn-out garments to the paper mill that manufactures the rags to paper to the beautiful white letter paper on which our correspondence to loved ones may be written a hemp string leads to the fields the rope walks where it is manufactured into cords and ropes to the rigging of a ship hauling and directing the sails carrying the commerce of the world to their destined ports a red or scarlet thread will lead us to something fiery or intense ardent, high-tempered wars and bloodshed or such things as will incite or inflame the passions a blue thread will lead one's mind up to the pale blue sky in which the clouds are floating and behind which the stars and planets appear to us to be pursuing their nightly march we think of distance and magnitude of time measured off by their revolutions and in bewildering amazement we are led to the infinite power that controls and directs all things from an infinite purpose a white thread is the emblem of innocence and purity it leads us to the lily of the valley flourishing near by the Rose of Sharon this will bring to the mind a train of beautiful and lovely things how delightful in the stillness of the night to take hold of the beautiful white thread and begin to wind it up into a ball or follow it back along the path we have travelled until we get back to the days of youth and childhood and have the innocent amusements of our younger years pass in review before us the tear of sorrow may start from the eye at the recollection of friends long since gone from us but even this opening of the fountains of affection may bring relief in the hour of affliction a black thread may lead us into the dark but darkness is not always dismal it is necessary for us as well as light long winter evenings bring us many comforts that we could not have under the rays of the burning sun it is true we might travel along the line of a dark thread into dismal and gloomy regions but we should always prefer to go along the line of the innocent and the beautiful to feed the memory on that which will give us higher views of our lives and destinies the questions may arise in the minds of some what will be the advantage of all this what can I do without an active memory to follow up these different threads we can easily see where the advantage of such a mental exercise is found it is an effort to build up and strengthen the memory or prepare the different shelves in this storehouse for repositories of our mental wares instead of leaving the mind of vacant blank and tossing restless upon our beds in the stillness of the night we may start the wheels of memory running backward over the past and stop at the different waystations with such delight and pleasure that we will soon be lulled to sleep perchance to dreams and pleasant dreams and awake with better opinions of life than when our minds were blank and the shelves of our memory storehouses in a dilapidated condition now we would advise anyone in lonely hours to take hold of the end of a string one of those we have referred to the white, for instance and start back in a contemplative mood and stop to linger a while around every point of innocence, beauty and purity then let it stretch out into the future follow it up and on until it reaches within the very gates of the celestial city or if you do not wish to go quite so far just now then take another thread and follow it along the line of which it is emblematical do not hasten too fast from one point to another when you find some event in your past life linger around it as long as pleasant memories continue to come up in groups or single and then pass on to other points and in this way the scenes of the past will come up in succession as old associates that had appeared lost to you and entirely faded from your memory to those who have never made an effort to recollect the scenes of the past by such associations it will be surprising to find the mind-pictures like beautiful panoramas pass in review before them the memory is like the blacksmith's arm which has grown strong from using it there is no faculty of the human mind so susceptible of improvement as the memory and none so much neglected some persons are naturally endowed with good memories while others are deficient and must depend on culture for improvement before letters were invented for the purpose of recording the events of life and our historic narratives the memory must have been much stronger than it is now the transactions and constantly recurring events of life had to be carried in the memory instead of recorded in books many of the historical narratives now found in books of history both sacred and profane must have been preserved in the storehouse of memory for ages before they were permanently recorded in books now found in our libraries there are many marvellous instances on record of extraordinary memories among the ancients it would be out of place here to enter into a detailed account of the different prodigies of memory speeches were committed from once having been heard lectures, poems and the most difficult problems the human mind can grapple with have been retained in the memory from having only once heard them repeated but these are rare instances and not a common inheritance of mankind the amount of memory we have is a natural endowment or a working capital on which we can improve to a marvellous extent with every advancement we make we increase our stock in trade and add to our wealth which no thief can steal and no wreck of earthly fortune can destroy end of how the memory may be improved by Adam Miller read by Ruth Golding Burnham interview about Baden Powell this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer visit LibriVox.org Burnham interview about Baden Powell by Frederick Russell Burnham published in the Manchester Guardian page 10 May 19th 1900 this interview came by way of Reuters telegrams and took place on the day of the arrival of the British relief force at Mafeking the day the boar abandoned the siege and the British forced possession of the town Limfontein Tuesday I've had a long conversation with Fr Burnham the famous American scout now employed with Lord Robert's army who gave me his impressions of Colonel Baden Powell formed from personal contact on active service of the gallant defender of Mafeking he said returning with others from the Matabella war aboard ship we happened one day to discuss coming men naturally Baden Powell's name was mentioned I said that he was the ideal of what the British officer should be he fought with his brains as well as with his hands whereby good work was accomplished and waste of men saved yet in a fight to the finish he was not slack but as stubborn and bulldog a combatant as the best of those who discarded strategy whilst as my chief I naturally stuck up for him nevertheless apart from that I have the highest regard for him to be the true type of soldier of the future one of those who should and must command armies if victories are to be won as a soldier his tact readiness and resources are remarkable these things do not come by accident but are the result of careful garnering and the accumulation of minute details used to advantage where people imagined him reckless Baden Powell really was cautious he was daring rarely in a critical position to use measures except such as had been essayed before under similar circumstances he left little to chance endeavoring by personal inspection and supervision to cover the whole ground over which operations were to be conducted I know he was criticized for wearing rubber shoes and crawling about rocks of knights leaving such tasks to others we nicknamed him old rubber shoes but he was right despite all their poking fun at him for he gathered in a night and has possibly forgotten more than his critics could learn in a lifetime that is the knowledge that doubtless he has gained by painstaking personal experience that has enabled him to defend Mavikin so long against such heavy odds Baden Powell is a wonderfully able scout and a quick sketcher on one occasion in the Matapas he was in a very trying situation surrounded by 25 so-called friendlies who were waiting to kill him apparently unconcerned he worked away his hardest and made an accurate drawing of the whole position one of the closest shaves was at a spruet six miles from Bulawayo a coffer scout had concealed himself in a tree beneath which several officers rested and the nigger fired down at Baden Powell the bullet just grazing his skull of course the coffer was killed Baden Powell profited by the occurrence remarking that it would be just as well to look up as down when scouting thereafter the boers say that Baden Powell is by far the slimmest officer that the British have and they greatly dread him and with good reason all the bits of odd knowledge that he has so studiously gathered for the last 20 years are stored away in his active brain the result of that great unosentatious labor he has diligently been utilizing for the saving of the community at Maffa King I don't know another man who could have done his work there if the same conditions had been imposed on him end of Burnham interview about Baden Powell Mosquitoes by Lafcadio Hearn With a view to self-protection I have been reading Dr. Howard's book Mosquitoes I am persecuted by mosquitoes there are several species in my neighborhood but only one of them is a serious torment a tiny, needly thing all silver speckled and silver streaked the puncture of it is sharp as an electric burn and the mere hum of it has a lancinating quality of tone which foretells the quality of the pain about to come much in the same way that a particular smell suggests a particular taste I find that this mosquito much resembles the creature which Dr. Howard calls stegomaiia fasciata or culax fasciatus and that its habits are the same as those of the stegomaiia for example it is diurnal rather than nocturnal and becomes most troublesome in the afternoon and I have discovered that it comes from the Buddhist cemetery a very old cemetery in the rear of my garden Dr. Howard's book declares that in order to rid a neighborhood of mosquitoes it is only necessary to pour a little petroleum or kerosene oil into the stagnant water where they breed once a week the oil should be used quote at the rate of one ounce for every 15 square feet of water surface and a proportionate quantity for any less surface but please to consider the conditions in my neighborhood I have said that my tormentors come from the Buddhist cemetery before nearly every tomb in that old cemetery there is a water receptacle or cistern called misutami in the majority of cases this misutami is simply an oblong cavity chiseled in the broad pedestal supporting the monument but before tombs of a costly kind having no pedestal tank a larger separate tank is placed cut out of a single block of stone and decorated with a family crest or with symbolic carvings in front of a tomb of the humblest class having no misutami water is placed in cups or other vessels for the dead must have water flowers also must be offered to them and before every tomb you will find a pair of bamboo cups or other flower vessels and these of course contain water there is a well in the cemetery to supply water for the graves whenever the tombs are visited by relatives and friends of the dead fresh water is poured into the tanks and cups but as an old cemetery of this kind contains thousands of misutami and tens of thousands of flower vessels the water in all of these cannot be renewed every day it becomes stagnant and populous the deeper tanks seldom get dry the rainfall at Tokyo being heavy enough to keep them partly filled during nine months out of the twelve well it is in these tanks and flower vessels that mine enemies are born they rise by millions from the water of the dead and according to Buddhist doctrine some of them may be reincarnations of those very dead condemned by the error of former lives to the condition of chikiketsu-kaki or blood-drinking pretas anyhow the malevolence of the kulaks fasciaris would justify the suspicion that some wicked human soul had been compressed into that wailing speck of a body now to return to the subject of kerosene oil you can exterminate the mosquitoes of any locality by covering with a film of kerosene all stagnant water surfaces therein the larvae die on rising to breathe and the adult females perish when they approach the water to launch their rafts of eggs and I read in Dr. Howard's book that the actual cost of freeing from mosquitoes one American town of 50,000 inhabitants does not exceed $300 I wonder what would be said if the city government of Tokyo which is aggressively scientific and progressive were suddenly to command that all water surfaces in the Buddhist cemeteries should be covered at regular intervals with a film of kerosene oil how could the religion which prohibits the taking of any life even of invisible life yield to such a mandate would filial piety even dream of consenting to obey such an order and then to think of the cost and labor and time of putting kerosene oil every seven days into the millions of misutami and the tens of millions of bamboo flower cups in the Tokyo graveyards impossible to free the city from mosquitoes it would be necessary to demolish the ancient graveyards and that would signify the ruin of the temples attached to them and that would mean the disparition of so many charming gardens with their lotus ponds and Sanskrit lettered monuments and humpy bridges and holy groves and weirdly smiling Buddhas so the extermination of the Kulaks fasiatis would involve the destruction of the poetry of the ancestral cult surely to great a price to pay besides I should like when my time comes to be laid away in some Buddhist graveyard of the ancient kind so that my ghostly company should be ancient carrying nothing for the fashions and the changes and the disintegrations of the Meiki that old cemetery behind my garden would be a suitable place everything there is beautiful with the beauty of exceeding and startling awareness each tree and stone has been shaped by some old old ideal which no longer exists in my brain even the shadows are not of this time and sun but of a world forgotten that never knew steam or electricity or magnetism or kerosene oil also in the boom of the big bell there is a quaintness of tone which awakens feelings so strangely far away from all the 19th century part of me that the faint blind stirrings of them make me afraid deliciously afraid never do I hear that billowing peal but I become aware of a striving and a fluttering in the abyssal part of my ghost a sensation as of memories struggling to reach the light beyond the obscurations of a million million deaths and births I hope to remain within hearing of that bell and considering the possibility of being doomed to the state of a jikiketsu gaki I want of my chance of being reborn in some bamboo flower cup or misutami once I might issue softly singing my thin and pungent song to bite some people that I know end of mosquitoes by lovecario hern on the unequal sensibility of the forayment central to light of different colors by james clerk Maxwell this is a liprevox recording all liprevox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit liprevox.org from the report of the british association 1856 when observing the spectrum formed by looking at a long vertical slit through a simple prism I noticed an elongated dark spot running up and down in the blue and following the motion of the eye as it moved up and down the spectrum but refusing to pass out of the blue into the other colors it was plain that the spot belonged both to the eye and to the blue part of the spectrum the results to which I have come is that the appearance is due to the yellow spot on the retina commonly called the forayment central of summering the most convenient method of observing the spot is by presenting to the eye in not too rapid succession blue and yellow glasses or still better allowing blue and yellow papers to revolve slowly before the eye in this way the spot is seen in the blue it fades rapidly but is renewed every time the yellow comes in to relieve the effect of the blue by using a nickles prism along with this apparatus the brushes of hiding are well seen in connection with the spot and the fact of the brushes being the spot analyzed by polarized light becomes evident if we look steadily at an object behind a series of bright bars which move in front of it we shall see a curious bending of the bars as they come up to the place of the yellow spot the part which comes over the spot seems to start in advance of the rest of the bar but it seems to indicate a greater rapidity of sensation at the yellow spot than in the surrounding retina but I find the experiment difficult and I hope for better results from more accurate observers end of on the unequal sensibility of the forayment central to light of different colors by james clerk Maxwell read by avai in march 2010 the poems in Alice in Wonderland an essay by Florence Milner published in the bookman volume 18 September 1903 this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org the poems in Alice in Wonderland 50 years ago the child world was made glad by the appearance of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland it is a universal story and so belongs to all time it has never gone out of fashion and never will as long as children love wonder stories and grown ups have young hearts but those who read the book when it was first published found in it a delight which the child of today misses 50 years ago certain poems appeared in every reader and were read over and over again until the child was stupid indeed who did not unconsciously learn them by heart today there is a new fashion in literature children are whirled from one supplementary reader to another conning graceful rhymes and pretty stories all illustrated with artistic pictures but the old things have passed away all the poems in Alice in Wonderland are parodies upon these once familiar rhymes scattered lines of the poems cling to the minds of older people they remember being once familiar with them they recognize the meter and can sometimes repeat two or three opening lines but the complete poem eludes them and the author they probably never did know the children of today do not know the verses at all and as a parody ceases to be a parody without the original poem as a background the trouble of gathering these originals seems worthwhile after Alice had fallen down the rabbit hole and had passed through her first transformation when she shut up like a telescope until she was only ten inches high and then grew bigger and bigger until her head struck the roof of the hall she became confused as to her identity to make sure of it she tried to repeat a little poem which everybody in those days knew by heart and to such children it was very funny when it came all wrong and she says how doth the little crocodile improve his shining tail when she thought she was repeating that highly moral poem by Isaac Watts against idleness and mischief how doth the little busy bee improve each shining hour and gather honey all the day from every opening flower how skillfully she builds her cell how neat she spreads the wax and labours hard to store it well with the sweet food she makes in works of labour or of skill I would be busy too for Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do in books or work or healthful play let my first years be past that I may give for every day some good account at last again in her conversation with the caterpillar Alice told him that being so many different sizes in a day was very confusing as he would find when he changed into a chrysalis and then into a butterfly she confessed that she could not remember things and told her experience with how doth the little busy bee the caterpillar wishing to test the matter ordered her to say you are old Father William how well she succeeded will appear from comparing what she said with what she thought she was going to say the old man's comforts and how he gained them you are old Father William the young man cried the few locks that are left you are grey you are hail Father William a hearty old man now tell me the reason I pray in the days of my youth Father William replied I remembered that youth would fly fast and abused not my health and my vigor at first I never might need them at last you are old Father William the young man cried and pleasures with youth pass away and yet you lament not the days that are gone now tell me the reason I pray in the days of my youth Father William replied I remembered that youth could not last I thought of the future whatever I did that I never might grieve for the past you are old Father William the young man cried and life must be hastening away you are cheerful and love to converse upon death now tell me the reason I pray I am cheerful young man Father William replied let the cause thy attention engage in the days of my youth I remembered my God and he hath not forgotten my age Robert Southy the Duchess's song to the pig baby speak roughly to your little boy and beat him when he sneezes is an absurdity in itself but a much greater one when contrasted with its serious parallel there is evidently some uncertainty as to the author of this poem for it occasionally appears as anonymous but is generally credited as below speak gently speak gently it is better far to rule by love than fear speak gently let no harsh word mar the good we may do here speak gently to the little child its love be sure to gain teach it in accents soft and mild it may not long remain speak gently to the young for they will have enough to bear pass through this life as best they may tis full of anxious care speak gently to the aged one grieve not the care-worn heart whose sands of life are nearly run let such in peace depart speak gently kindly speak gently kindly to the poor let no harsh tone be heard they have enough they must endure without an unkind word speak gently to the airing no they must have toiled in vain perchance unkindness made them so oh win them back again speak gently love doth whisper low the vows that true hearts bind and gently friendships accents flow affections voice is kind speak gently tis a little thing dropped in the hearts deep well the good the joy that it may bring eternity shall tell G.W. Langford twinkle twinkle little bat which the hatter said that he sang at the concert given by the Queen of Hearts is the most familiarly suggestive of them all Jane and Anne Taylor were two English sisters who wrote together publishing their poems under such titles as original poems for infant minds and hymns for infant minds Jane was supposed to have written most of them and this one carries her signature the star twinkle twinkle little star how I wonder what you are up above the world so high like a diamond in the sky when the blazing sun is gone when he nothing shines upon then you show your little light twinkle twinkle all the night then the traveller in the dark thanks you for your tiny spark he could not see which way to go if you did not twinkle so in the dark blue sky you keep and often through my curtains peep for you never shut your eye till the sun is in the sky as your bright and tiny spark lights the traveller in the dark though I know not what you are twinkle twinkle little star Jane Taylor Mary Howard wrote the spider and the fly the first stanza of which originally read will you walk into my parlor said the spider to the fly tis the prettiest little parlor that you ever did spy the way into my parlor is up a winding stair and I've got many curious things to show you when you are there oh no no said the little fly to ask me is in vain for who goes up your winding stair can Nair come down again this poem has suffered various modifications and several versions appear in print but the quoted stanza is doubtless from the original one the beat of the meter is very perfectly kept in the mock turtles will you walk a little faster tis the voice of the lobster which Alice repeats at the gruff order of the griffin turns to Isaac Watts probably no poem in the book is further removed from modern thought and modern literary ideals than this one the sluggard tis the voice of the sluggard I heard him complain you have waked me too soon I must slumber again as the door on its hinges so he on his bed turns his sides and his shoulders and his heavy head a little more sleep and his waist half his days and his hours without number and when he gets up he sits folding his hands or walks about sauntering or trifling he stands I passed by his garden and saw the wild briar the thorn and the thistle grow broader and higher the clothes that hung on him are turning to rags and his money still wastes till he starves or he begs I made him a visit still hoping to find that he took better care of improving his mind he told me his dreams talked of eating and drinking but he scarce reads his Bible and never loves thinking said I then to my heart here's a lesson for me this man's but a picture of what I might be but thanks to my friends for their care in my breeding who taught me betimes to love working and reading beautiful soup is a very funny parody upon a popular song of the time and runs as follows beautiful star in heaven so bright softly falls thy silvery light as thou movest from earth afar star of the evening beautiful star chorus beautiful star star of the evening beautiful star in fancy's eye thou seems to say follow me come from earth away upward thy spirit's pinions try to realms of love beyond the sky shine on oh star of love divine and may our souls affection twine around thee as thou movest far star of the twilight beautiful star James M. Sayle the most delightful part of the parody is the division of the words in the refrain in imitation of the approved method of singing the song with its holds and its sentimental stress upon the last word beautiful soup beautiful soup beautiful soup soup of the evening beautiful beautiful soup the poem upon which the last parody is based is not as well known as most of the others the first two lines being the only ones often quoted Alice Gray she's all my fancy painted her she's lovely she's divine but her heart it is in others she never can be mine yet loved I as man never loved a love without decay oh my heart my heart is breaking for the love of Alice Gray her dark brown hair is braided or a brow of spotless white her soft blue eye now languishes now flashes with delight her hair is braided not for me the eye is turned away yet my heart my heart is breaking for the love of Alice Gray beneath the summer sun and trembled in the blast but my pilgrimage is nearly done the weary conflicts past and when the green sod wraps my grave may pity happily say oh his heart his heart is broken for the love of Alice Gray William Me Carol's first writing followed the wording in the original first stanza and began she's all my fancy painted him I make no idle boast or you had lost a limb which would have suffered most but for some unknown reason he dropped the first stanza beginning with the second thus obliterating all evident resemblance between parody and original the parody is not the highest form of wit and not the most skillful form of verse but Lewis Carol has done these eight so well that doubtless some of them will live after the originals are forgotten even now in order to search them out it has been necessary to beat the dust from many a forgotten volume in a library's unmolested corners but the nonsense rhymes they suggested are jingling upon the tongues of children the wide world over and mingling with their happy laughter end of the poems in Alice in Wonderland by Florence Milner read by Kara Schellenberg www.kray.org march 2010 in San Diego California Boxiana or sketches of ancient and modern pugilism by Pierce Egan this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org that the English nation has distinguished itself among the moderns as bestowing applause and substantial reward on every brave and noble exertion I am proud to allow and I will also concede that the present age surpasses those of former times and the last hundred years as the great milling era of the world but as a true admirer of the nations of antiquity I should feel that I did not do justice to their character did I not remark that the Greeks and Romans were equally assiduous in cultivating the powers of the human system and no less famous for their admiration of feats of valor in the arena of the amphitheater to ascertain who was the first boxer is a question of more than ordinary difficulty in deciding with accuracy Shakespeare makes the grave digger in Hamlet tell us was the first that bore arms but that is not sufficiently to the purpose Pollux, the twin brother of Caster is the first it appears who made such proficiency in the science as to hand down his name to future ages this was he whom Jupiter in the form of Swan is said to have begotten on the body of the fair Lida the mother of the beauty as Helen such was the admiration in which he was held that future ages ascribe to him immortality as for the same reason they had done to Hercules and assigned to him a seat on Olympus in the assembly of the gods he is the father and in pagan times he was deemed the god of all the boxers Hacarte Pollux at Vagous Hercules Enixus Arces Atiget Ignaius Horus Pollux and wandering Hercules by sparring gained in heaven a place Eryx the Sicilian a son of Venus had used the Cistus with such success that he vanquished every opponent at length having challenged Hercules he was killed by the latter in a desperate combat nor could Amisus find an equal till Pollux in a trial of skill with him obtained the superiority over his prowess but the best account of a battle with the ancient Cistus is given in Virgil where although the rounds are not described with the peculiar minute of a prize contest at Mulsleyhurst the arena of modern exploits yet enough is mentioned to give an adequate idea of the gluttony and bottom of Darius and Antelus the latter of whom in particular after a tremendous flooring when his friends and the spectators thought Antelus was decidedly finished he by a determined rally gave his opponent so severe a milling that he was eventually declared the winner while Darius on the contrary was carried from the scene of action with scarcely any life in him and totally incapable of making use of his legs there appears no regular data to determine the fact whether in the exercise of the Circus of Rome the pugilists ever fought with naked hands and arms but as this nation it seems borrowed most of her arts from Greece it is probable that the boxers never engaged without the or gloves stuffed with lead more especially as the ancients were remarkably fond of show in their public exhibitions of vigor and strength originally little doubt can exist when every man stood on the alert to provoke or resist an insult he fought without system and with naked fist but soon rules were laid down and these natural means of attack or defense submitted to peculiar regulations the collection of which became a discipline a science and an art a discipline because it was taught for the benefits of the respective individuals a science on account of the necessary trainings before the acquisition of expertness and an art with respect to the different studies it presupposed consequently in order to give a better opportunity to the boxers to show their skill by protracting the temporal length or duration of their exertions strong armor for the head and hand was invented this circumstance gave rise to two sorts of boxing the first when the champions had no other arms than their natural strength and agility the other when they made use of the Amphotides and Cistus the Amphotides as the word implies were a sort of guard to secure the temporal bones and arteries and encompassing the ears in their thongs and ligaments which used to buckle either under the chin or behind the head they were not unlike caps made of hides of bulls studded with knobs of iron or strongly quilted in order to blunt the impetus of the blows but this mode of fighting seems rather to belong to the second age of the pugilistic era the Cistus was an offensive weapon the headpiece a defensive dress several sorts of Cistus or gauntlets were known to the ancients and were composed in general of strong interwoven leather straps which embracing the fist and part of the carpus or wrist and winding up round the forearm were fixed at the elbow they appear to have often been armed with knobs of brass blunt points of iron plummets of lead, etc. the following lines from Dryden's Virgil BVP 533 beautifully described the Cistus used by Eric's he and Tellus threw two ponderous gauntlets down in open view gauntlets which Eric's wanton fight to wield and sheath his hands within the listed field with fear and wonder seized the crowd beholds the gloves of death with seven distinguished folds of tough bulls hides the space within his spread with iron or with loads of heavy lead Darius himself was daunted at the sight renounced his challenge and refused to fight astonished at their weight the hero stands and poise the ponderous engines in his hands the performers in the athletic art it appears were divided into three classes the boxers wrestlers and runners if we attend to the manner in which a man attacks his antagonist we shall find that boxing comes in the first place closing or wrestling in the second and running if fear makes its unwelcome appearance in the third thus Homer considers it and generally follows this order in his descriptions of gymnic games Plutarch asserts that the Pugilate was the most ancient of these games and took generally the lead in all public spectacles as the most manly and scientific of the gymnic arts it also appears that Pugilism or Pugilate is derived from the Latin Pugilatus the art of fighting with the fist pugnus these words were evidently borrowed from the greek pics adverb pugnovel pugnus pigma hin pugnus pugnare it is not unworthy of observation that this thema seems originally to have signified anything in the shape of a round box and consequently the human fist which when clenched takes that form as we may easily see by its derivative pixis a box hence our expression of boxing box being often used for a blow of the fist a proof of this etymon in the compound words pugnose pugdog employed to indicate a knobby fist-like shape in the most prominent part of the face and the tree used for making boxes claims the same origin for its name pixos boxes box the Greeks it seems were the first people who cultivated the pugilate as a science confined it to strict rules and selected experienced masters and professors who by public lessons delivered gratis in polystery and gymnasia erected for the purpose instructed the youth in the theory and practice of the art the kings and princes of this nation did not disdain to lay aside their dignity for a few hours and exchanging willingly the scepter for the cistus seem to be more proud of the vigor of their fists and muscular length of their limbs than of the strength of their armies and the extent of their dominions in Greece the science of boxing like all the other liberal arts was cultivated with much ardor once in three years the whole nation consisting of so many various states assembled at the Isthmus of Corinth to celebrate the games in honor of Neptune to this place resorted all that was surprising in youth great in manhood or glorious in old age the generous admiration of an applauding nation placed the crown upon the head of the successful pugilist and at his return home he was received in triumph as the supporter of his country's fame the pen of the poet sought renown in handing down to posterity in musical numbers the heroic enterprise even the genius of Pindar found the way to reputation by celebrating the horses victorious in the chariot race the first of these poets appeared in the train of heroism and sought immortality under the shade of the name of men whose hardyhood had conducted them to glory the inferior lot of the poet is described by the first of all the Latin lyric writers QM II Melpomene Simel Nicentum Placido Luminae Videris Ilum non-labor Isthmius Chiarabit Pugilim Lib IV, Ode III which may be thus rendered he at whose birth the muses did preside shall nare in victory's car as champion ride the poets however may take comfort in the reflection that next to the performing of great deeds ourselves the most honorable part is to celebrate them in others it is a glorious thing says Cicero to do well to the republic and also to speak well is not contemptible in returning to the period of English history when scientific boxing became a prominent national feature nearly a century has elapsed since Fig first publicly exhibited himself as a pugilist by promulgating the art of self-defense it was about the year 1720 the science of boxing might then be considered in its very dawn the superior knowledge that he possessed of the sword and stick drew crowds after him when he professed to teach pugilism Fig was a native of Tem in Oxfordshire dwelt in Mary LeBone and taught numbers of gentlemen scientifically at his amphitheater in Oxford Road when his fame was so great that we find him praised in the Tatler, Guardian and Craftsman by the several writers in those miscellanies with the sword he was unrivaled he was not so scientific as a pugilist but he tested with more modern times he would rank with the old ruffian Simmons Sutton, the pipe maker of Gravesend was his rival and dared the mighty Fig to the combat twice they fought with alternate advantage but at the third trial a considerable time elapsed before victory decided for either party in fine neither Ned Sutton Tim Buck nor Bob Stokes could resist his skill and valor he had never been defeated but once and then by Sutton in one of their previous combats though it was generally allowed to have been owing to his illness at the time Fig died in 1734 he had often exhibited before George II with great applause Bill Flanders a noted scholar of figs fought at the amphitheater in 1723 with Chris Clarkson denominated the old soldier it was highly spoken of at that period it was looked upon as a very great proof of self-denial in an amateur if he failed a meeting on those occasions from Fig's theater he will miss a night though Cox and Bulls and Irish women fight but it is due to Broughton to observe that owing to his exertions he gave a refinement to the practice of boxing it did not possess before his period of teaching the art of self-defense which not only rendered it familiar but interesting to all ranks of the British nation the Cistus so much deprecated by the enlightened part of mankind as forming a part of the gladiatorial system of the Romans from its death-like qualities in the combat which rendered their public displays so repulsive to the feelings of humanity was by the above gymnastic hero completely avoided in his exhibitions by the introduction of the harmless mufflers as may be seen from the following advertisement in the daily advertiser of February 1st 1747 N. B. Mr. Broughton proposes with proper assistance to open an academy at his house in the Haymarket for the instruction of those who are willing to be initiated in the mystery of boxing where the whole theory and practice of that truly British art with all the various stops, blows, cross buttocks, and etc incident to combatants will be fully taught and explained and that persons of quality and distinction may not be debarred from entering into a course of those lectures they will be given with the utmost tenderness and regard to the delicacy of the frame and constitution of the pupil for which reason mufflers are provided that will effectually secure them from the inconvenience of black eyes broken jaws and bloody noses the above invitation had the desired effect and Broughton school was crowded with scholars of the first rank and character in the nation originally Broughton was a waterman but he afterwards became one of the yeomen of the guard he accompanied to the continent the Duke of Cumberland his patron and great admirer of pugilism and upon being shown the fine regiment of grenadiers at Berlin belonging to Frederick the Great so distinguished for their martial appearance rigid discipline and great valor was asked by the Duke what he thought of any of them for a set to when Broughton with a smile instantly replied why your Royal Highness I should have no objection to fight the whole regiment only be kind enough to allow me a breakfast between each battle this pugilistic veteran lived to the good old age of 85 years and died on January 18th 1719 at Wolcott Place Lambeth and was interred in the churchyard of that parish it does not appear that either Tom Johnson or Big Ben those war-like champions of the fist were ever anxious to obtain an eminence as sparrers but their exploits in the ring have given to those boxers characters so distinguished for manhood that while the annals of pugilism are preserved from the ravages of time the names of Johnson and Brain will never sink into oblivion as a teacher of the science it was Mendoza that immediately trod in the steps of Broughton he made the art of self-defense when quite a boy his peculiar study his success as a professor in the kingdom in which Mendoza did not exhibit his finished talents as a pugilist with admiration it seems he derived his primitive knowledge of boxing from the tuition of his elegant rival Humphries but he so rapidly improved upon the system of his master as to remain several years without a rival no man united the theory of sparring with the practice of boxing to greater advantage in Dan Mendoza and though upwards of 50 years of age he exhibits at the present day with attention and respect the next in succession among the highest circles of the patrons of the art of self-defense stands Mr. Jackson it is upwards of 20 years since he appeared in the ring with Mendoza as a teacher of the science in every point of view Mr. Jackson is entitled to his preeminence and no man more deservedly independent of the conciliatory prepossessing manners of a gentleman and the advantages of fortune and superior company his fine athletic frame added to his indefatigable study and extensive practice he has been enabled to acquire those requisites toward perfection that few if any pugilists in other situations of life could be expected to attain his guard is altogether so firm and compact his arms so powerful and irresistible and his mode of instruction so explanatory and decisive that it appears it is almost impossible to plant a blow upon any part of his person with anything like severity of effect at his elegant rooms 13 Bond Street Mr. Jackson's lessons on the pugilistic art were long honored by the numerous attendants of nobility and gentry among whom the names of many of the first characters in the nation might be seen in the subscription list the rooms during the season are open three times a week where everything respecting the prize ring and connected with pugilism are determined under the immediate auspices of Mr. Jackson it is only at the above rooms that Mr. J exhibits he is pronounced by the scientific amateurs to have no superior in his knowledge and display of the art scarcely and equal in setting too and few if any disposed to dispute this superiority with him it may not in this place be improper to remark that among the numerous species of amusements prepared to attract the attention of the royal heroes and their generals who visited the Prince Regent in England in 1814 in honor of the peace of Europe it should seem none interested those great warriors more than the art of self-defense portrayed in an exhibition of sparring Lord Louther invited the Emperor of Russia Generals Platoff and Blucher to an elegant déjeuner when the national sport of boxing as a peculiar trait of the brave natives of England was introduced for their approbation at his lordship's house in Palmao on Wednesday June 15, 1814 those distinguished visitors were so much gratified with this generous mode of settling quarrels and the scientific mode of attack and defense exhibited that they earnestly requested of Lord Louther that another trial of skill might take place on the Friday following when, in addition to the above visitors the King of Prussia the Prince Royal of Prussia princes Frederick and William of Prussia the Prince of Mecklenburg General York et cetera et cetera honored the meeting with their presence some elegant specimens of the pugilistic art were displayed between Messers Jackson Belcher, Cribb Richmond, Painter, Oliver et cetera the set twos in general were excellent but the sparring of Jackson was particularly admired the elegance of his positions the celerity of his attack the fortitude of his manner and the superior mode he developed of guarding his frame from the attacks of his adversaries he created a lively interest among the royal warriors his symmetry of figure and fine muscular powers also did not pass unnoticed the champion of England Cribb occasioned a general stare among the spectators and the veteran Blucher eyed him with more than common attention the royal guests expressed their satisfaction at the treat they had experienced and their departure complemented his lordship as the patron of so manly and characteristic a trait of his country since the popular fighting days of Mendoza no pugilist it is certain has appeared in the prize ring in possession of science to realize inequality of milling fame with the above distinguished Israelite as Tom Belcher the debut of the latter with Jack War in 1804 exhibited such superior knowledge of boxing as to astonish the most competent amateur present of his decisive talents and from that period down to the present moment he stands confessedly as the first public exhibitor of sparring on the list of scientific pugilists it appears since the fives court in St. Martin street Leicester fields has held its rank as the national and manly place of amusement among the numerous public exhibitions of the present enlightened era in the first metropolis in the world scientific pugilism has made rapid strides towards perfection and the art of boxing has not only been more extended but its requisites in consequence become better known the fives court holds out two particular advantages namely those pugilists who from their good conduct are entitled to the patronage of the amateurs are permitted to take their benefits and those persons whether from want of inclination or inconvenience who do not witness the combats of the ring may at the above place see the science illustrated in every point of view with the gloves by the various boxers with all the minute of a regular match and without offending the most fastidious advocates of humanity besides it not only affords new candidates an opportunity of exhibiting their pretensions but it also operates as a mode of public practice and keeps the abilities of the professors continually before the eyes of their patrons improvement may be discovered and condition is not overlooked from such frequent opportunities as above stated the wary better is enabled to form a tolerably correct judgment respecting new matches and he does not attend a prize battle with a mind totally uninformed upon the subject viewed as an object of national amusement it operates in another sort of way that if the merits of the milling stage cannot boast so often of the advantages of criticism as the boards of more classic theaters nor the qualities of the performers become so generally the theme of discussion as the extraordinary flights of genius elicited by a Campbell or a keen yet nevertheless the elegant attitudes and scientific traits of a belcher the manliness of a crib the unceasing activity of a Carter and the getting away system of a Richmond are in their peculiar circles perhaps as much the objects of attraction and their various requirements decanted upon with equally as much warmth and attention by the amateurs of this old English sport towards promoting the true spirit of the country as to raise its importance from subjects of a more refined source the fives court is well attended during the season and the exhibitors rather numerous but the principal heroes who take the lead in point of excellence are Belcher eels Richmond crib Carter Randall head etc. the admission by tickets is three shillings each person it will hold upwards of 1000 spectators and upon several patriotic occasions such as in aid of the suffering Portuguese from the burning of their towns by the French for the British prisoners in France and for the widows and orphans of the brave fellows who fell at the battle of Waterloo some hundreds of pounds have been collected towards their relief the audience generally are of the most respectable description and many persons of the first rank are often witnessed among them respecting the utility of the above exhibitions it has been observed by a that to advance rules in a magisterial manner and lay them down as infallible would be truly absurd since the principles of almost every science have been found liable to change it were presumptuous to pronounce ours free from the same imperfections sparring is absolutely necessary to form a complete pugilist it is certainly a mock encounter but at the same time a representation and in most cases an exact one of real fighting it is the only proper introduction to boxing and a just mode of realizing whatever principles the scholar may have imbibed or trying the success of any new plan he may have invented by this method he can also judge of the propriety of his master's lessons and exercise his reasoning faculties an advantage of which he is often deprived in battle some are of the opinion that sparring is of no great use and that it takes from the natural powers of manhood while it only teaches finesse that cannot prove hurtful to a courageous adversary this however is merely reviving an opinion maintained by the pupils of school in which strength generally prevailed over skill it is not evident that preparation is necessary for every exercise but more particularly for that in which hostilities take place and what is sparring but a preparation and of the nearest affinity to boxing the advocates for this opinion might with equal propriety assert that shooting at a park was of no service informing an expert gunner it should be generally understood that the practice of sparring is recommended as if in real action no maneuvers no attitudes ought to be adopted unless experimentally but what would be introduced in actual fight for instance let anyone suppose a sparring room the scene of battle and hurt himself upon that principle he will easily habituate himself to the exercise of all his powers and act by the same rules in the hour of danger there may be a great difference between sparring and fighting one may be very courageous in play whose heart would be intimidated in real action but this want of valor is by no means an argument against the doctrine that is since cowardice is not produced by sparring for he must have been in the same degree dastardly if he had never seen it and perhaps more so what is mentioned here only goes to prove that where two persons possess equal courage strength and activity the man who makes sparring his practice must be superior to him who does not as one who considers a thing before its performance must, unless chance interfere, have an advantage over him who thinks consideration unnecessary strength, science courage, activity the power of bearing blows a quick eye and good wind are the constituents of a complete boxer in describing the above requisites to form a complete boxer it is not insinuated that no person can be a good pugilist without them all one man possesses more requisites than many others and will be therefore superior but he who unites all that is necessary in himself will be victorious until his equal appears whom a single requisite possessed on either side in greater degree will give the advantage or milling on the retreat is, at the present period, a greater requisite toward victory than it was formerly considered some have censured shifting as an unmanly custom but without reason if indeed mere brutal force were to decide a combat it might be deemed improper but where the mind has considerable share in the decision as the case at present getting away cannot be thought unmanly the same censure might be passed on fencing or an accidental rencontre in the field of battle but would it not be absurd to say to a man whose only care is the preservation of his life you must not avoid your enemies sword by changing your ground you must not make use of that activity of which you are capable because it is unmanly Richmond has in all his battles practically decided the advantages of milling on the retreat towards victory the power of bearing blows or what is generally called bottom quickness of eye and wind are requisites of great importance and may be all improved by constant practice there are men who seemed peculiarly formed for bottom the severest blows make little impression on the ribs of some and the heads of others the old school furnishes a surprising instance of bottom the noted Buckhorse it is said made a practice of standing without a guard and permitting himself to be knocked down by the hardest hitter for a trifling sum of money the modern school also furnishes numerous instances of bottom exhibited by crib painter Oliver the unfortunate Curtis et cetera the advantage of a good eye is evident it is necessary to discern the approach of a stroke as well as to perceive the vulnerable parts of an opponent a resolute look is useful in owing an opponent and often disconcerts the boldest the eye should never be closed in the time of action wind though naturally good may be improved by the exercise of sparring the pupils first object of knowledge should be to acquire a proper mode of striking a decisive blow may be made by a person unacquainted with the other parts of pugilism and though a man may be well versed in the guards he hazards much in parrying his adversary if he himself is ignorant of the principles of striking because he knows not the common direction of the arms against which he is to defend himself thus whether we consider striking in an offensive or defensive view either to assault an adversary or receive his attack it is the most elementary part of boxing and should be the first studied the large knuckles of the hand should be only used they are rarely disabled the middle of the fingers frequently give way straight blows are preferable to all others they are stronger because they come directly from the center of the power and quicker because they describe less space in the attainment of the object it therefore follows that it is more difficult to parry them than any others round hitting is now universally exploded it is condemned by the same reasons which recommends straight blows for it is directly contrary to them in the zenith of Mendoza it was the custom to extoll chopping as the best mode of hitting it is a blow struck on the face with the back of the hand Mendoza claims the honor of its invention but unjustly he certainly revived and considerably improved it it was practiced long before our time Broughton occasionally used it and Slack it also appears struck the chopper in giving the return in many of its battles the advocates for chopping at the present period are very few if any experience proves that it can be of no great service since of all the pitched battles which have been lately fought it has not contributed to gain one in the contest between Mendoza and Krab chopping suffered a shameful disgrace Krab was thought next to Mendoza the most successful in the use of it yet he never hit time indeed reason convinces us that it can be of no great utility it partakes of the nature of a round blow for it is given downwards or sideways and must therefore deviate from the center to danger every chopper should take its force from the play of the arm between the elbow and wrist but if in the eagerness of action the elbow should be thrown too forward the small of the arm may be broken some pugilists are not for entirely laying it aside and think it may be happily used in giving the return considering if a boxer engages with a person ignorant of the science it may prove successful but when two skillful boxers meet no reliance is to be placed upon it and such is the opinion of the most experienced professors of the present day a knowledge of the parts of the body most dangerous to be struck is necessary to every boxer but first it should be observed that any blow planted on the waistband or below it is unfair and causes the loss of the battle whatever rules are laid down and sparring should be followed in fighting they are both considered in the same view and what is mentioned concerning the one is applicable to the other every student should endeavor to unite grace with power and this may be easily accomplished since nature delights in the graceful to point out any attitude as the best in all cases would be ridiculous a physician might as well prescribe one medicine for all constitutions everyone should adopt his mode of defense to his own powers of which after some practice he must be the best judge this only is necessary to remark when a person after mature deliberation and some experience has adopted a particular guard he should not easily relinquish it his only plan should be its improvement for if he continually seek for new positions he cannot act by rule and must often leave the decision of a combat to fortune the triumph of Humphries over Mendoza at Odeham is a strong proof of the propriety of this advice though the latter changed his manner of fighting as often as Proteus did Shapes yet he was as often vanquished a systematic conduct will prevail over irregularity which chance can only render victorious perhaps it may be necessary to notice lest it should be adopted by others who might think it proper merely from seeing it often used the arms are crossed to form the guard two disadvantages result to any person who practices this in the first instance one of his adversaries hands placed upon the upper arm will force them both down and expose the superior part of the body secondly a blow given by one in this position cannot be in a direct line and must therefore lose much of its force though we cannot be always guarded particularly in attacking an enemy yet we should as much as possible preserve our guard upon this principle the arms should be drawn but very little back to strike for the guard is lost in proportion to the retrograde motion an adversary also gets notice of his danger and is of course prepared to receive the assault a blow should be struck without any previous alteration of attitude for even should it fail the attempt is productive of little mischief and leaves no opening if the guard be immediately recovered but this cannot be done when the weight and strength of the body are thrown in with the blow a measure which never ought to take place unless it is absolutely certain that an opponent cannot defend it a skillful boxer will never hazard a blow without the prospect of putting in a second to more advantage faints though extremely useful and the effects of science are not so much attended to as they merit if in fencing they prove so decisive why should they not be adopted with equal success in pugilism it has urged by some that a boxer should always keep his arms in motion to and fro the reason given in its defense that the action of the fists prevents the approach of a blow from being perceived is perhaps not strictly just for is not the violentness of motion as easily discerned as its beginning if this be true it will follow that it is better to keep the arms steady because motion will cause an antagonist to be more carefully on his guard since he must every moment expect an assault whereas their firmness may betray him into fancied security closing has been for some time exploded and this alone may serve as an argument to show that boxing is greatly improved since what was formerly of much utility is now esteemed unnecessary or of little value yet pugilists should familiarize themselves to closing that whenever it occurs they ought to be prepared for the worst in concluding this subject it is thus Sir Johnson Claire in his Code of Health and Longevity observes with respect to fencing and which applies with equal force towards the improvement of the Constitution has derived from the exercise of sparring many instances of which the author of this work has been well assured of from the teachers of pugilism that induced him to make the following extract there is no exercise says Sir John with a view to health better entitled to the attention of those focused among the higher classes of society then that of fencing the positions of the body in fencing have for their objects erectness, firmness and balance and in practicing that art the chest, the neck and the shoulders are placed in positions the most beneficial to health the various motions of the arms and limbs whilst the body maintains its erect position enables the muscles in general to acquire vigorous strength and in young people the bones of the chest and thorax necessarily become more enlarged by means of which a consumptive tendency may be prevented various instances may be adduced where fencing has prevented consumption and other disorders it has been remarked also that those who practice this art are in general remarkable for a long life of good health they have enjoyed these considerations combined with the graceful movements which it establishes and the elegant means of self-defense which it furnishes certainly render the art an object of considerable importance sparring equally produces the above beneficial effects in every point of view end of boxiana or sketches of ancient and modern pugilism by Pierce Egan read by Rick Rodstrom