the lord mayor; and the bridge took six years in building. The cost, with the approaches at both ends, was not less than two millions sterling, and was defrayed by a particular application of the coal-tax. The ceremonial attending the opening, on the 1st of August 1831, comprised the usual routine of flags, music, procession, addresses, speeches, &c. The old bridge finally disappeared towards the end of 1832; and then began in earnest the career of that noble structure, the new bridge, which is now crossed every day by a number of persons equal to the whole population of some of our largest manufacturing towns.

Strictly, the Old London Bridge, for a water-way of 900 feet, had eighteen solid stone piers, varying from 25 to 34 feet in thickness; thus confining the flow of the river within less than half its natural channel. That this arose simply from bad engineering, is very probable; but it admitted of huge blocks

of

building being placed on the bridge, with only a few interspaces, from one end to the other. These formed houses of four

LONDON BRIDGE-NEW AND OLD.

heads of executed traitors were exhibited; but in the reign of Elizabeth, this grisly show was transferred to the gate at the Southwark end, which consequently became recognised as the TRAITORS' GATE. A representation of this gate, with the row of heads above it, is here given, mainly as it appears in Vischer's View of London (seventeenth century).

There was one clear space upon the bridge, of such extent that it was deemed a proper place for joustings or tournaments; and here, on St George's Day 1390, was performed a tilting of extraordinary character. John de Wells, the English ambassador in Scotland, having boasted of the prowess of his countrymen at the Scottish court, a famous knight of that country, David Lindsay, Earl of Crawford, offered to put all questions on that point to trial by a combat on London Bridge. He was enabled by a royal safe-conduct to travel to London with a

these dwellings must have been sadly pent up and confined; it would be, above all, a miserable field for infant life; yet nothing can be more certain than that they were packed with people as full as they could hold. About the centre, on a pier larger than the rest, was reared a chapel, of Gothic architecture of the twelfth century, 60 feet by 20, and of two floors, dedicated to St Thomas of Canterbury, and styled St Peter's of the Bridge; a strange site, one would think, for an edifice of that sacred character, and yet we are assured that to rear religious houses upon bridges was by no means an uncommon practice in medieval times.

In the earlier days of London Bridge, the gate at the end towards the city was that on which the

of

retinue twenty-nine persons. The ground duly prepared, and a great

concourse

was

of

square-ground spears, to the conflict, Neither party was moved by the vehement impulse breaking the spears; so that the common people affected to cry

and

of

out that David was bound to the saddle of his horse, contrary to the law of arms, because he sat unmoved amidst the splintering of the lances on his helmet and visage. When Earl David heard this, he presently leaped off his charger, and then as quickly vaulted again upon his back without any assistance; and, taking a second hasty course, the spears were a second time shivered by the shock, through their burning desire to conquer. And now a third time were these valorous enemies stretched out and running together; but then the English knight was cast down breathless to the earth, with great sounds of mourning from his countrymen that he was killed. Earl David, when victory appeared, hastened to leap suddenly to the ground; for he

had fought without a anger, and but for glory, that he might shew himself to be the strongest of the champions, and casting himself upon Lord Wells, tenderly embraced him until he revived, and the surgeon came to attend him. Nor, after this, did he omit one day to visit him in the gentlest manner during his sickness, even like the most courteous companion. He remained in England three months, by the king's desire, and there was not one person of nobility who was not well affected towards him.'

EMANCIPATION OF BRITISH SLAVES.

The 1st of August 1834 was the day on which the slaves in the British colonies were assigned, not to their actual freedom, but to a so-called apprenticeship' which was to precede and prepare for freedom. Lord (then Mr) Brougham brought forward a measure to this great end in 1830; and Mr Fowell Buxton another in 1832; but no act was passed till 1833. It provided that on the 1st of August in the following year, all slaves should become 'apprenticed labourers' to their masters, in two classes; that in 1838 and 1840, respectively, these two classes should receive their actual freedom; that twenty millions sterling should ultimately be paid to the masters, who would then lose the services of their slaves; and that this sum would be distributed rateably, according to the market-price of slaves in each colony, during the eight years 1823-1830. Many subsequent statutes modified the minor details, but left the main principle untouched. It was found, on a careful analysis, that on the 1st of August 1834 (all negroes born after that date, were born free), there were 770,280 slaves in the colonies affected by the Emancipation Act.

A remarkable address was issued on this occasion by the Marquis of Sligo, governor of Jamaica: remarkable in relation to the paternal tone in which the negroes were addressed, as children to whom freedom was an unknown privilege, and who might possibly like a lazy life better than an industrious one, when enforced labour should

cease:

'My Friends!-Our good king, who was himself in Jamaica long time ago, still thinks and talks a great deal of this island. He has sent me out here to take care of you, and to protect your rights; but he has also ordered me to see justice done to your owners, and to punish those who do wrong. Take my advice, for I am your friend, be sober, honest, and work well when you become apprentices; for should you behave ill, and refuse to work because you are no longer slaves, you will assuredly render yourselves liable to punishment. The people of England are your friends and fellowsubjects; they have shewn themselves such by passing a bill to make you all free. Your masters are also your friends; they have proved their kind feeling towards you all, by passing in the House of Assembly the same bill. The way to prove that you are deserving of all this goodness, is by labouring diligently during your apprenticeship. You will, on the 1st of August next, no longer be slaves; from that day you will be apprenticed to your former owners, for a few years, in order to fit you all for freedom. It will therefore depend entirely upon your own conduct, whether your

DEATH OF WILLIAM RUFUS.

apprenticeship shall be short or long; for should you run away, you will be brought back by the Maroons and the police, and have to remain in apprenticeship longer than those who behave well. You will only be required to work four days and a half in each week; the remaining day and a half in each week will be your own time, and you may employ it for your own benefit. Bear in mind, that every one is obliged to work: some work with their hands, some with their heads; but no one can live and be considered respectable without some employment. Your lot is to work with your hands. I pray you, therefore, do your part faithfully; for if you neglect your duty, you will be brought before the magistrates whom the king has sent out to watch you; and they must act fairly, and do justice to all, by punishing those who are badly disposed. Do not listen to the advice of bad people; for should any of you refuse to do what the law requires of you, you will bitterly repent it; for when at the end of the appointed time, all your fellow-labourers are released from apprenticeship, you will find yourselves condemned to hard labour in the workhouse for a lengthened period, as a punishment for your disobedience. If you follow my advice, and conduct yourselves well, nothing can prevent your being your own masters, and to labour only for yourselves, your wives and children, at the end of four or six years, according to your respective classes. I have not time to go about to all the properties in this island, and tell you this myself.

have ordered this letter of advice to be printed, and to be read to you all, that you may not be deceived, and bring yourselves into trouble by bad advice or mistaken motives. I trust you will be obedient and diligent subjects to our good king, so that he may never have reason to be sorry for all the good he has done for you.'

AUGUST 2.

St Stephen, pope and martyr, 257; St Etheldritha or Alfrida, virgin, about 834.

Born.-Pope Leo XII., 1760; Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman, 1802; J. J. Gurney, philanthropist, 1788.

Died.-Archidamus III., king of Sparta, son of Agesilaus, B. c. 338, Lucania, in Italy; Quintilius Varus, Roman governor in Germany, A.D. 10; William II, (Rufus) of England, killed in the New Forest, Hampshire, 1100; Henry III., king of France, stabbed the previous day by Jacques Clément, 1589, St Cloud; Etienne Bonnot de Condillac, abbé, author of Traité des Sensations, Cours d'Etudes, &c., 1780, Flux, near painter, 1788; Mehemet Ali, pacha of Egypt, 1849; Beaugenci; Thomas Gainsborough, great landscape Lord Herbert of Lea, British statesman, 1861, Wilton House, Salisbury.

DEATH OF WILLIAM RUFUS.

Few Englishmen of the nineteenth century can realise a correct idea of the miseries endured by their forefathers, from the game-laws, under despotic princes. Constant encroachments upon private property, cruel punishments-such as tearing out the offender's eyes, or mutilating his limbs-inflicted

for the infraction of forest law; extravagant payments in the shape of heavy tolls levied by the rangers on all merchandise passing within the purlieus of a royal chase; frequent and arbitrary changes of boundary, in order to bring offences within the forest jurisdiction, were only a portion of the evils submitted to by the victims of feudal tyranny. No dogs, however valuable or dear to their owners-except mastiffs for household defence -were allowed to exist within miles of the outskirts, and even the poor watch-dog, by a 'Court of Regard' held for that special purpose every three years, was crippled by the amputation of three claws of the forefeet close to the skin-an operation, in woodland parlance, termed expeditation, intended to render impossible the chasing or otherwise incommoding the deer in their coverts.

Of all our monarchs of Norman race, none more rigorously enforced these tyrannous game-laws than William Rufus; none so remorselessly punished his English subjects for their infraction. Even the Conqueror himself, who introduced them, was more indulgent. No man of Saxon descent dared to approach the royal preserves, except at the peril of his life. The old forest rhyme :

'Dog draw-stable stand, Back berand-bloody hand,' provided for every possible contingency; and the trespasser was hung up to the nearest convenient tree with his own bowstring.

The poor Saxons, thus worried, adopted the impotent revenge of nicknaming Rufus Woodkeeper,' and 'Herdsmen of wild beasts. Their minds, too, were possessed with a rude and not unnatural superstition, that the devil in various shapes, and under the most appalling circumstances, appeared to their persecutors when chasing the deer in these newly-formed hunting-grounds. Chance had made the English forests the New Forest especially-fatal to no less than three descendants of their Norman invader, and the popular belief in these demon visitations received additional confirmation from each recurring catastrophe; Richard, the Conqueror's eldest son, hunting there, was gored to death by a stag; the son of Duke Robert, and nephew of Rufus, lost his life by being dashed against a tree by his unruly horse; and we shall now shew how Rufus himself died by a hunting casualty in the same place.

Near Chormingham, and close to the turnpikeroad leading from Lymington to Salisbury, there is a lovely secluded dell, into which the western sun alone shines brightly, for heavy masses of foliage encircle it on every other side. It is, indeed, a popular saying of the neighbourhood: that in ancient days a squirrel might be hunted for the distance of six miles, without coming to the ground; and a traveller journey through a long July day without seeing the sun. Long avenues open away on all sides into the deep recesses of those dark woods; and, altogether, it forms just the spot where the hunter following his chase after the ancient Norman fashion of woodcraft, would secrete himself to await the passing game-a

That is -1. Holding a dog in leash. 2. Standing concealed with bow ready drawn. 3. Detected carrying off a dead deer. 4. The hands stained with blood. Any one of these circumstances was deemed conclusive evidence of guilt.

DEATH OF WILLIAM RUFUS.

*

His friends had dispersed to various coverts, and there remained alone with Rufus, Sir Walter Tyrrel, a French knight, whose unrivalled adroitness in archery raised him high in the Norman Nimrod's favour. That morning, a workman had brought to the palace six cross-bow quarrels of superior manufacture, and keenly pointed, as an offering to his prince. They pleased him well, and after presenting to the fellow a suitable guerdon, he handed three of the arrows to Tyrrel-saying, jocosely, 'Bon archer, bonnes flèches.

The Red King and his accomplished attendant now separated, each stationing himself, still on horseback, in some leafy covert, but nearly opposite; their cross-bows bent, and with an arrow upon the nut. The deep mellow cry of a staghound, mingled with the shouts of attendant foresters, comes freshening on the breeze. There is a crash amongst the underwood, and out bounds 'a stag of ten,' that after listening and gazing about him, as deer are wont to do, commenced feeding behind the stem of a tall oak. Rufus drew the trigger of his weapon, but, owing to the string breaking, his arrow fell short. Enraged at this, and fearful the animal would escape, he exclaimed, 'Tirez donc, Walter! tirez done! si même c'etoit le diable'-Shoot, Walter! shoot! even were it the devil. His behest was too well obeyed; for the arrow glancing off from the tree at an angle, flew towards the spot where Rufus was concealed. A good arrow, and moreover a royal gift, is always worth the trouble of searching for, and the archer went to look for his. The king's horse, grazing at large, first attracted attention; then the hounds cowering over their prostrate master; the fallen cross-bow; and, last of all, the king himself prone upon his face, still struggling with the arrow, which he had broken off short in the wound. Terrified at the accident, the unintentional homicide spurred his horse to the shore, embarked for France, and joined the Crusade then just setting

for the East.

About sun-down, one Purkiss, a charcoal-burner, driving homewards with his cart, discovered a gentleman lying weltering in blood, with an arrow driven deep into his breast. The peasant knew him not, but conjecturing him to be one of the royal train, he lifted the body into his vehicle, and proceeded towards Winchester Palace, the blood all the way oozing out between the boards, and leaving its traces upon the road. There is a tradition, that for this service he had some rods of land, to the amount of an acre or two, given to

family, therefore, is rightly esteemed the most ancient in the county of Hants. A Purkiss of the last century, kept suspended in his hovel the identical axletree made of yew, which had belonged to the aforesaid cart; but which, in a fit of anger, on its accidentally falling on his foot, he reduced to a bag of charcoal, much to the chagrin of the late Duke of Gloucester, who, when appointed ranger of New Forest, was desirous of purchasing it. As to the famous Rufus Oak, after being reduced to a stump by the mutilations of relic-seekers, it was privately burned by one William House from mere wantonness. The circumstance was unknown until after his death, otherwise his safety would have been endangered, so highly did the foresters prize the tree, on account of the profits accruing from a host of sight-seekers. Some fragments of the root were preserved, one of which is still extant, inscribed-Decr 16th, 1751; part of the oak 1 under which King Rufus died, Aug. 2d, 1100; given me by Lord de la War, C. Lyttleton, Nov. 30th, 1768; given by C. Lyttleton, bishop of Carlisle, to Hen. Baker.' In the year 1745, Lord de la War being head-ranger of New Forest, erected a triangular pillar, bearing suitable inscriptions, on the site of this historical tree, in one of which he states that he had seen the oak growing there. Bat his lordship's erection has proved a far more evanescent memorial than the oak, it having also been chipped and defaced by relic-hunters; so that it is now as silent on all points of history as the quondom tree.

of the Arabian Nights hero, Aladdin. And just as strange and sudden as was their elevation, has often been their downfall.

The life of Mehemet Ali, viceroy of Egypt, affords a striking illustration of the first of these remarks, though his success in establishing himself and descendants as hereditary rulers of the country, furnishes an exception to the general slipperiness of the tenure of power in the East. He was of Turkish origin, being a native of the town of Cavalla, in Roumelia, the ancient Macedonia, where he was born about the year 1769. He adopted the trade of a tobacconist, but after carrying it on for a time, abandoned it to enter the army. By his bravery and military skill, he soon received promotion, and on the death of his commander, was appointed his successor, and afterwards married his widow. During the French invasion of Egypt, he was sent thither as the second in command of a contingent of 300 furnished by the town of Cavalla, and greatly distinguished himself in the various engagements with the troops of Bonaparte. For several years after the evacuation of the country by the French, Egypt was distracted by contending factions, Mehemet Ali uniting himself to that of the Mamelukes. last, in an outbreak at Cairo in 1806, the viceroy, Khoorshid Pasha, was deposed by the populace, who insisted on Mehemet Ali taking the vacant post. This tumultuary election was ratified by a firman from the sultan, who probably saw that the only means of preserving the tranquillity of the country, was by placing Mehemet at the head of affairs. It was wholly disregarded, however, by the old allies of the latter, the Mameluke Beys, and with them, for several years, Mehemet was engaged in a perpetual struggle for supremacy. What he might perhaps have found some difficulty in accomplishing by open hostilities, he determined

At

to effect by treachery. During an interval of tranquillity between the contending parties, the Mamelukes were invited to attend the ceremony of the investiture of Toussoon, Mehemet Ali's son, with the command of the army. About 470 of them, with their chief Ibrahim Bey, responded to the summons, and entered the citadel of Cairo. At the conclusion of the ceremony, they mounted their horses and were proceeding to depart, when a murderous fire of musketry was opened upon them by the viceroy's soldiers, stationed on various commanding positions. The unfortunate Mameluke guests were shot down to a man, for literally only one effected his escape, and that was by the extraordinary feat of leaping his horse over the ramparts. The gallant steed was killed by the fall, but his rider managed, though, it is said, with a broken ankle, to escape to a place of safety. The whole affair leaves an indelible blot on the memory of Mehemet Ali. After this act of treachery, he proceeded to consolidate his power, and gradually became undisputed master of Egypt and its dependencies, though still with nominal recognition of the supremacy of the Sublime Porte.

So powerful a vassal might well excite the apprehensions of his superior. In 1831, on the pretext of vindicating a claim against Abdallah Pasha, governor of Acre, he despatched a strong army into Syria, under the command of his son, Ibrahim Pasha, who, in the course of a few months, effected a complete subjugation of the country. The sultan thereupon declared Mehemet Ali a rebel, and sent troops against him into Syria, but the result was only further discomfiture. The powers of Europe then interfered, and through their mediation a treaty of peace was signed, by which Syria was made over to Mehemet Ali, to be held as a fief of the Sublime Porte. After a few years, hostilities were resumed with the sultan, who sought to expel the viceroy from Syria, a project in which he had the countenance of the four European powers-Great Britain, Austria, Russia, and Prussia. Against so formidable a combination Mehemet Ali had no chance, and accordingly, after sustaining a signal defeat near Beyrout, and the blockade of Alexandria by an English squadron, he found himself compelled to come to terms and evacuate Syria in favour of Turkey, the latter power recognising_formally the hereditary right to the pashalic of Egypt as vested in him and his family. This agreement was concluded in 1841, eight years before the death of Mehemet Ali, and was the last public event of importance in his life. That Syria was a gainer by the change of masters, is doubtful. very The vigorous administration of the Egyptian potentate was succeeded by the effete imbecility of the Turkish sway, which in recent years found itself unable to avert the atrocious massacres of Damascus and the Lebanon.

As an Oriental and a Mohammedan, Mehemet Ali displays himself wonderfully in advance of the views and tendencies generally characteristic of his race and sect. Instead of superciliously ignoring the superior progress and attainments of European nations, he made it his sedulous study to cope with and derive instruction from them, in all matters of commercial and social improvement. Through the liberal-minded policy carried into practice by him, Egypt, after the slumber and

DEATH OF JOHN PALMER, THE ACTOR.

decay of ages, has again taken her place as a flourishing and well-ordered state, and regained in some measure the prestige which she enjoyed in ancient times. Trade with foreign countries has been encouraged and extended, financial and military affairs placed on an organised and improved footing, the cultivation of cotton and mulberries introduced and fostered, and various important public works, such as canals and railways, successfully executed. With the view of initiating his subjects in the arts of European civilisation, young men of intelligence were sent by him to Britain and other countries, and maintained there at his expense, for the purpose of studying the arts and sciences. A perfect toleration in religious matters was observed by him, and under his government Christians were frequently raised to the highest offices of state, and admitted to his intimate friendship.

In personal appearance Mehemet Ali was of short stature, with features so intelligent and agreeable as greatly to prepossess strangers in his favour. He enjoyed till the year before his death an iron constitution, but was so enfeebled by a severe illness which attacked him then, that the duties of government had to be resigned by him to his son Ibrahim Pasha, who survived the transfer little more than two months. In disposition Mehemet Ali is said to have been frank and open, though the treacherous massacre of the Mamelukes militates strongly against his character in this respect. His magnanimity, as well as commercial discernment, was conspicuous in his permission of the transit of the Indian mails through Egypt, whilst he himself was at war with Britain. The undoubted abilities and sagacity which he displayed, were almost entirely the results of the exertions of an unaided vigorous mind, as even the elementary acquirement of reading was only attained by him at the age of fortyfive. In the earlier years of his government, Mehemet employed an old lady of his seraglio to read any writing of importance that came to him, and it was only when left without that confidential secretary by her death, that he had himself instructed in a knowledge of writing.

DEATH OF JOHN PALMER, THE ACTOR.

Once now and then the stage has witnessed the death of some of its best ornaments in a very affecting way. This was especially so in the case of Mr John Palmer, who, during the latter half of the last century, rose to high distinction as an actor, identifying himself with a greater variety of characters than any who had preceded him, except David Garrick. Palmer had a wife and eight children, and indulged in a style of living that kept him always on the verge of poverty. The death of his wife affected him deeply; and when, shortly afterwards, the death of a favourite son occurred, his system received a shock from which he never fully recovered. He was about that time, in 1798, performing at Liverpool. On the 2d of August, it fell to his duty to perform the character of the Stranger, in Kotzebue's morbid play of the same name. He went through the first and second acts with his usual success; but during the third he became very much depressed in spirits. Among the incidents in the fourth act, Baron Steinfort obtains an interview with the Stranger, discovers that he is an old and valued friend, and entreats him to relate the history of his career-especially in relation to his (the Stranger's) moody exclusion from