A DINNER IN AN OLD MANOR HOUSE. (Time of Edward I.) da'-ïs, the portion of a floor raised | pri-or-i-ty, state of being first above the rest ad-ja'-cent, near in-sip-id-i-ty, want of flavour crit'-i-cal, exact e-lab'-o-rate, finished with great labour ex-pans'-ive, having the power to com-press', to press together ex-clu'-sive, shutting out others Let us imagine ourselves in one of them, as lookers on, and that we see a lord sitting down to dinner with his guests and his vassals. All are gathered together in the hall. At the upper end, on the daïs, where the ground is somewhat raised and boarded over, sit the lord and his chief guests. They are protected by a covering, which, as our host is a great man, is made of silk. Below, in the marsh,' sit the vassals, farm servants and others. The door, which has lately been widened to let in carts more easily, is closed, to keep out the wind, a dim light is let in through the canvas windows, and the marsh' is made tolerably dry and clean by litter and rushes. Fish in plenty is served up; eels and pike, and even whale, grampus, porpoise, and sea-wolves,' may be had. There is plenty of beef, and plenty of mutton, but it is nearly all salted; and the bread is rather black. Vegetables are plentiful enough; there are no potatoes, but there are peas, beans, onions, garlic and leeks, pot herbs and sweet herbs. There is fruit enough, though not equal to what we now have. There are pears, and particularly one sort, grown by the monks of Wardon, in Bedfordshire, which are made into Wardon pies. There are apples, particularly of the sort called costard.' These cost 1s. per 100, or about 12s. of our money. Peaches and cherries, and mulberries too, are not wanting. If we suppose the entertainment to be given in London, the garden of the Earl of Lincoln, in Holborn, would be ready to furnish a good supply, for the fruit out of it was sold for above 100% of our money in one year alone. There is plenty of claret, or clairets-so called because the wine was sweetened with honey, and afterwards strained till it became clear-from our possessions in Gascony, and some sort of sherry from Spain, for those who sit on the daïs; and beer and cider enough for those who sit in the marsh.' But the beer is made of a mixture of barley, wheat, and oats, without hops, which have not yet been found out.' The insipidity of the beer is taken off by spices. There is wine too made from English vineyards, but it must be sour stuff, and fit only for the marsh.' Nobody but the King has glass to drink out of, and he has none to spare for his friends; but he has cups made of cocoa-nuts, of gourds, of . buffalo horns, and of beautiful agates for his principal guests. The wooden bowl, the earthen jug, and the leathern jack serve well enough for the great bulk of the assemblage. The tables are pretty firm, for their legs are well stuck into the mud floor. Now that the guests are seated, and ready for their repast, up comes the meat on a spit, served round by the servants, and each man cuts off a bit with his knife, and puts it into his wooden bowl or on his trencher. Most of the people have wooden spoons, but nobody has a fork. The pitchers and jugs are made of earthenware, but the plates or dishes are all of wood. History of England, by William Longman. INVENTION AND USE OF GUNPOWDER. The only hope of salvation for the Greek empire and the adjacent kingdoms would have been some more powerful weapon, some discovery in the art of war, that should give them a decisive superiority over their Turkish foes. Such a weapon was in their hands; such a discovery had been made in the critical moment of their fate. The chemists of China or Europe had found, by casual or elaborate experiments, that a mixture of saltpetre, sulphur, and charcoal produces, with a spark of fire, a tremendous explosion. It was soon observed, that if the expansive force were compressed in a strong tube, a ball of stone or iron might be expelled with irresistible and destructive velocity. The precise era of the invention and application of gunpowder is involved in doubtful traditions and equivocal language; yet we may clearly discern that it was known before the middle of the fourteenth century; and that, before the end of the same, the use of artillery in battles and sieges, by sea and land, was familiar to the States of Germany, Italy, Spain, France, and England. The priority of nations is of small account; none could derive any exclusive benefit from their previous or superior knowledge; and in the common improvement they stood on the same level of relative power and military science. Nor was it possible to circumscribe the secret within the pale of the church; it was disclosed to the Turks by the treachery of the apostates and the selfish policy of rivals; and the sultans had sense to adopt, and wealth to reward, the talents of a Christian engineer. The Genoese, who transported Amurath into Europe, must be accused as his preceptors; and it was probably by their hands that his cannon was cast and directed at the siege of Constantinople. The first attempt was, indeed, unsuccessful; but in the general warfare of the age, the advantage was on their side who were most commonly the assailants. For a while the proportion of the attack and defence was suspended; and this thundering artillery was pointed against the walls and towers, which had been erected only to resist the less potent engines of antiquity. By the Venetians the use of gunpowder was communicated without reproach to the sultans of Egypt and Persia, their allies against the Ottoman power; the secret was soon propagated to the extremities of Asia; and the advantages of the European were confined to his easy victories over the savages of the new world. If we contrast the rapid progress of this mischievous discovery with the slow and laborious advances of reason, science, and the arts of peace, a philosopher, according to his temper, will laugh or weep at the folly of mankind. (1) 17 ells to nails. (2) 4 qrs. to inches. (3) 3 yds. to inches. REDUCTION. (4) 2 ells. 3 qrs. 2 n. 1 in. to in. (16) 4 roods to s. yds. Gibbon. (19) 3s.m. 144a. 3r. 5s.yds. tos.ft. (20) 79 a. 3 r. 29 p. 4 s. ft. to s.in. (21) 17 a. 19 p. 8 s. yd. 7 s.ft. 119 s.in. to in. (22) 4 s.m. 337 a. 2 p. 3 s.yd. to (23) 166 a. 2r. 9 p. 3 s.ft. to s.ft. (25) 16 c.yds. to c.in. (28) 36 c.yd. 26 c.ft. 1661 c.in. to in. (29) 47 c.yd. 17 c.ft. 1492 c.in. to c.in. (30) 17 c.yds. 19 c.ft. 1128 c.in. to in. A PSALM OF LIFE. num'-bers, poetry, verse sub-lime' (adj.), lofty, grand droop'-ing, fainting, sinking to'-ken, a sign, a mark Par'-a-dise, heaven Tell me not in mournful numbers, And the grave is not its goal; Art is long, and time is fleeting, And our hearts, though stout and brave, In the world's broad field of battle, Be not like dumb, driven cattle! Trust no future, howe'er pleasant! We can make our lives sublime, |
