har, the purchaser and present pos sessor of Fonthill Abbey, who, we understand, is at present residing on this splendid property, and is so much engaged in examining the great collection of rare and valuable books which it contains, that he has never yet bestowed any portion of his attention on the curious and costly articles of virtu which have also come into his possession. It is a singular fact, that this gentleman, at the time he purchased the Fonthill estate, had, never seen any portion of the land, or of the magnificent pile which adorns it. He trusted entirely to the representations and judgment of Mr. who acted as his agent on the occasion, coupled with the corroborative reports which had been circulated through the public press, and even allowed ten days to elapse after he became proprietor, before proceeding to the Abbey. It seems yet doubtful whether Mr. Farquhar has purchased Fonthill Abbey as a residence, or merely on spe culation. Many well-informed persons believe the latter, and we have reason to believe that, at all events, the splendid effects, if not the estate, will again be offered for sale. The Mermaid, (Concluded from No. II.) In our last Mirror we gave a very correct engraving and description of the compound animal now exhibiting at the west-end of the town as a Mermaid. We also gave a general history of Mermaids, or of the evidence on which their existence is founded, from an early period down to the commencement of the last century. That history we shall now bring down to the present day. Valentyn describes a Mermaid he saw in 1714, on his voyage from Batavia to Europe, sitting on the surface of the water, with its back towards them, the body was half above water, and was of a grizzly colour, like the skin of a codfish; it had breasts, and was shaped like a woman above the waist, and from thence downwards went tapering off to a point. In the year 1758, a Mermaid is said to have been exhibited at the fair of St. Germains, in France. It was about two feet long, very active, sporting about in the vessel of water, in which it was kept, with great agility and seeming delight. It was fed with bread and fish. Its position, when at rest, was always erect. It was a fe male, with ugly negro features. The skin was harsh, the ears very large, and the back parts and tail were covered with scales. M. Gautier, a celebrated French artist, made an exact drawing of it. Another Mermaid, which was exhi bited in London in 1775 (for the one now shown is neither the first nor the second with which Joha Bull has been duped), was said to have been taken in the Gulf of Stanchio, in the Archipe lago, by a merchantman trading to Natolia, in August, 1774. Its face, say the accounts of the day, is like that of a young female; its eyes a fine light blue; its nose small and handsome; its mouth small; its lips thin, and the edges of them round like that of the codfish; its teeth are small, regular, and white; its chin well shaped, and its neck full. Its ears are like those of the eel, but placed like those of the human species, and behind them are the gills for respiration, which appear like curls. Some are said to have hair upon their head; but this has only rolls instead of hair, which, at a distance, might be taken for short curls. But its chief ornament is a beautiful membrane or fin rising from the temples, and gradually diminishing till it ends pyramidically, forming a foretop like a lady's head-dress. It has no fin on the back, but a bone like that of the human species. Its breasts are fair and full; the arms and hands are well proportioned, but without nails on the fingers; the belly is round and swelling, but there is no naval. From the waist downwards the body is in all respects like the codfish; it has three sets of fins one above another below the waist, which enable it to swim erect on the sea. In the year 1794, a Mermaid, as it was called, was shown at No. 7, Broadcourt, Bow-street, Covent-garden; it was said to have been taken in the North Seas by Captain Fortier. This nymph of the sea, a woman from the head down to the lower part of the waist, and a fish from thence downwards, was three feet long, having ears, gills, breasts, fins, shoulders, arms, hands, fingers, and a contiguous scale covering the fish part. The existence of this animal is firmly believed in the northern parts of Scotland, and in the year 1797, a school-master of Thurso affirmed, that he had seen one, apparently in the act of combing its hair with its fingers. The portion of the animal which he saw was so near a resemblance to D 2 the form of a woman, that but for the impossibility of a female so long supporting herself in the waves, he should have presumed it to have been one. Twelve years afterwards, several persons observed near the same place a like appearance. The next publication in which we find any account relative to the Mermaid worthy of notice, is Dr. Chisholm's Essay on the Malignant Fever in the West Indies, published in 1801. The Doctor speaks of it as follows:"I probably hazard the implication of credulity by the following note:-In the year 1797, happening to be at Governor Van Battenburgh's plantation, in Berbice, the conversation turned on a singular animal which had been repeatedly seen in Berbice river, and some smaller rivers. This animal is the famous Mermaid, hitherto considered as a mere creature of the imagination. It is called by the Indians méné mamma, or mother of the waters. The description given of it by the Governor is as follows:-The upper portion resembles the human figure, the head smaller in proportion, sometimes bare, but oftener covered with a copious quantity of long black hair. The shoulders are broad, and the breasts large and well formed. The lower portion resembles the tail portion of a fish, is of immense dimension, the tail forked, and not unlike that of the dolphin, as it is usually represented. The colour of the skin is either black or tawny. The animal is held in veneration and dread by the Indians, who imagine that the killing it would be attended with the most calamitous consequences. It is from this circumstance that none of these animals have been shot, and, consequently, not examined but at a distance. They have been generally observed in a sitting posture in the water, none of the lower extremity being discovered until they are disturbed; when, by plunging, the tail appears, and agitates the water to a considerable distance round. They have been always seen employed in smoothing their hair, or stroking their faces and breasts with their hands, or something resembling hands. In this posture, and thus employed, they have been frequently taken for Indian women bathing." Mr. Van Battenburgh's account was much corroborated by that of some gentlemen settled in Mahaycony and Abary. At Sandside, in the parish of Reay, in the county of Caithness, there was seen, on the 12th of January, 1809, an animal supposed to be the Mermaid. The head and the chest, being all that was visible, is said to have exactly resembled those of a full-grown young woman. The breasts were perfectly formed; the arms longer than in the human body, and the eyes somewhat smaller. When the waves dashed the hair, which was of a sea-green shade, over the face, the hands were immediately employed to replace it. The skin was of a pink colour. Though observed by several persons within the distance of twenty yards, for about an hour and a half, it discovered no symptoms of alarm. In 1811, a young man, named John M'Isaac, of Corphine, in Kintyre, in Scotland, made oath, on examination, at Cambletown, before the sheriff-substitute of Kintyre, that he saw, on the afternoon of the 13th of October, in that year, on a black rock on the seacoast, an animal, of the particulars of which he gives a long and curious detail. He states, that the upper half of it was white, and of the shape of a human body; the other half, towards the tail, of a brindled or reddish-grey colour, apparently covered with scales; but the extremity of the tail itself was of a greenish-red shining colour; that the head was covered with long hair ; at times it would put back the hair on both sides of its head; it would also spread its tail like a fan; and, while so extended, the tail continued in tremulous motion, and, when drawn together again, it remained motionless, and appeared to the deponent to be about twelve or fourteen inches broad; that the hair was very long and light brown; that the animal was between four and five feet long; that it had a head, hair, arms, and body, down to the middle, like a human being; that the arms were short in proportion to the body, which appeared to be about the thickness of that of a young lad, and tapering gradually to the point of the tail; that when stroking its head, as above mentioned, the fingers were kept close together, so that he cannot say whether they were webbed or not; that he saw it for near two hours, the rock on which it lay being dry; that, after the sea had so far retired as to leave the rock dry to the height of five feet above the water, it tumbled clumsily into the sea; a minute after he observed the animal above water, and then he saw every feature of its face, having all the appearance of a human being, with very hollow eyes. The cheeks were of the same colour with the rest of the face; the neck seemed short; and it was constantly, with both hands stroking and washing its breast, which was half immersed in the water; he, therefore, cannot say whether its bosom was formed like a woman's or not. He saw no other fins or feet upon it, but as described. It continued above water for a few minutes, and then disappeared. The Minister of Campbelltown, and the Chamberlain of Mull, attest his examination, and declare that they know no reason why his veracity should be questioned. In 1812, Mr. Toupin, of Exmouth, published the following account of his having seen a Mermaid: "The day (August 11)," says he, "being very fine, I joined a party of ladies and gen tlemen in a sailing excursion. When we had got about a mile to the southeast of Exmouth-bar, our attention was suddenly arrested by a very singular noise, by no means unpleasant to the ear, but of which it is impossible to give a correct idea by mere description. It was not, however, unaptly compared by one of our ladies to the wild melodies of the Eolian harp, combined with a noise similar to that made by a stream of water falling gently on the leaves of a tree. In the mean time we observed something * Here we have the fiction of the Syrens realized, which none of our Argus-eyed Mermaid hunters had hitherto done. The Syrens, in fabulous history, were certain celebrated songstresses, who were ranked among the demi-gods of antiquity. Hyginus places their birth among the consequences of the rape of Proserpine. Others make them the daughters of the river Achelous and one of the Muses. The number of the Syrens was three, and their names were Parthenope, Lygea, and Leucosia. Some make them half women and half fish; others, half women and half birds. There are antique representations of them still subsisting under both these forms. Pausanius tells us that the Syrens, by the persuasion of Juno, challenged the Muses to a trial of skill in singing, and these, having vanquished them, plucked the golden feathers from the wings of the Syrens, and formed them into crowns, with which they adorned their own heads. The Argonauts are said to have been diverted from the enchantment of their songs by the superior strains of Orpheus. Ulysses, how ever, had great difficulty in securing himself from seduction. about one hundred yards from us, to windward. We all imagined it to be some human being, though at the same time we were at a loss to account for this, at such a distance from the shore, and no other boat near. We hailed, but received no reply, and we made toward this creature as soon as possible; when, to the great astonishment of us all, it eluded our pursuit by plunging under water. In a few minutes it rose again, nearly in the same place; and by that time we had got sufficiently near for one of the boatmen to throw into the water a piece of boiled fish, which he had in his locker. This seemed to alarm the animal, though it soon recovered from its fears, for we presently observed it to lay hold of the fish, which it ate with apparent relish. Several other pieces were thrown out, by which the creature was induced to keep at a short distance from our boat, and afforded us the opportunity of observing it with attention, and found, to our astonishment, that it was no other than a Mermaid. As the sea was calm, and in a great degree transparent, every part of the animal's body became in turn visible. The head, from the crown to the chin, forms rather a long oval, and the face seems to resemble that of the seal, though, at the same time, it is far more agreeable, possessing a peculiar softness, which renders the whole set of features very interesting. The upper and back part of the head appeared to be furnished with something like hair, and the forepart of the body with something like down, between a very light fawn and a very pale pink colour, which, at a distance, had the appearance of flesh, and may have given rise to the idea that the body of the Mermaid is, externally, like that of the human being. This creature has two arms, each of which terminates into a hand with four fin gers, connected to each other by means of a very thin elastic membrane. The animal used its arms with great agility, and its motions in general were very graceful. From the waist it gradually tapered so as to form a tail, which had the appearance of being covered with strong broad polished scales, which occasionally reflected the rays of the sun in a very beautiful manner; and, from the back and upper part of the neck, down to the loins, the body also appeared covered with short round broad feathers, of the colour of the down on the fore-part of the body. The whole length of the animal, from the crown of the head to the extremity of the tail, was supposed to be about five feet, or five feet and a half. In about ten minutes, from the time we approached, the animal gave two or three plunges, in quick succession, as if it were at play. After this, it gave a sudden spring, and swam away from us very rapidly, and in a few seconds we lost sight of it." It must be in the recollection of most persons, that in the autumn of 1819, a creature appeared on the coast of Ireland, about the size of a child of ten years of age, with a bosom as prominent as a girl of sixteen, having long dark hair, and full dark eyes. We shall not transcribe the account, as it will doubtless be well remembered; but it may be right to add, for the satisfaction of those who have not seen it, that a spectator endeavoured to shoot it, but on the report of the musket, it plunged into the sea with a loud scream. Since this time, we heard nothing of Mermaids until an American Captain, and a Bostonian too, Captain Eades, established this wonder of the deep, which is now the wonder of the good people of London, at the Cape of Good Hope. It is said to have been caught on the north coast of China, by a fisherman, who sold it for a trifle, when Captain Eades bought it for 5,000 Spanish dollars. At least so the first account from the Cape stated; but the present possessor of this interesting creature, who certainly believed it to be a real Mermaid, only estimates the whole cost at the Cape and bringing home at 1,000l.; so that it is probable Jonathan did not give half the money stated. Without offering any remarks as to the existence or non-existence of the Mermaid, we may observe, that the question is as far from solution as ever, since it seems to be universally acknowledged, by all persons capable of judging, that the Mermaid now exhibiting is nothing but the head and bust of a baboon joined to the tail of a fish. This circumstance, however, does not appear to affect the exhibition, which continues as crowded as ever. SPECIMEN OF A NEW DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. New customs introduce new modes of thinking, and words gradually lose their primitive meaning by their application to different objects. Refinement of manners produces a corresponding refinement in language, as may be In proved by referring to the familiar treatises on medicine and surgery in the reign of Elizabeth, when nothing that required to be mentioned, was veiled in the obscurity of technical terms, or the learned languages. At a later period the language of conversation, even among ladies, was much less chaste (as we should think) than at present; though it should not be forgotten that all chastity is in the mind, and not in the word. A virgin may be very meretricious in delicate language, or very delicate in sensual terms. Spain, for example, where female purity is carried to as great a height as ever it was in any country, under the auspices of chivalry itself, Bourgoing says, that he was repeatedly lost in confusion at the sort of conversation which prevailed, unrepressed, in the company of females. The grossest double entendres, and the most intelligible voluptuousness, are tolerated without any shame, because they are not, in fact, ministrant to vice or immorality. It need not be urged, however, by any copiousness of illustration, that languages change. It may be assumed as granted, what no one will deny, and being granted, it will also follow, that our existing lexicons must be considerably obsolete. It becomes, therefore, necessary, that new Dictionaries should be compiled to accompany the progressive mutations of language; and as the writer has paid some attention to the subject, he proposes, forthwith, to publish a Dictionary which shall carefully and perspicuously note all these changes. He has made considerable progress with his labour, but as he is anxious to derive all the benefit he can from gratuitous assistance, he wishes to submit a specimen through the medium of the MIRROR, in the hope that it may engage the attention of some of its readers, and procure him their aid and patronage. He has selected his examples at random, but they will serve to show the spirit and plan of the undertaking. SPECIMENS. PILLORY.-A state machine. It is now used only as an engine to punish rogues; but was formerly appropriated to Members of Parliament, Patriots, and Statesmen. "Thou art no shame to truth and honesty, "Nor is the character of such defac'd by thee." DEFOE'S HYMN TO THE PILLORY. POET.-A manufacturer of lines; consisting generally of eight syllables, sometimes of ten. They are paid for by the gross, and should be used immediately, as they will not keep. PATRON. A man who feeds needy dependents with moonshine: a huge promiser; a specious tyrant, who kills his victims by the slow poison of "hope deferred." AUTHOR. A Sort of intellectual spider, who eviscerates from his brain the means to live: a drudge of opulence, and jest of fools; a day-dreamer; one who pampers rich knaves with flattery, and yet dies poor; a man who thinks aloud that others may do without think ing. PATRIOT.-A stalking horse, bought by the people to frighten a minister and may be bought by the minister to amuse the people. GENTLEMAN. Any body. BLUSH.-The ambiguous livery worn alike by modesty and shame. It is sometimes only an index to the heart of a voluptuous woman. GRATITUDE.-The art of forgetting favours. INGRATITUDE.A quality which we see in all men except ourselves. OWL.-A species of bird; it is frequently called a Common Council man. DUEL, An interview between two fools. ADONIS. The reflection of a Dandy, in a looking-glass. ABSTINENCE.-Getting rid of one surfeit to make room for another. ABSURD.-Any thing done or said different from what we ourselves should do or say. ABUNDANCE. An imaginary quantity of which every man thinks his neighbour possessed, and himself deprived. ABUSE.-Unwelcome truths. ACCOMMODATION.-Obliging a friend in order to serve ourselves. REASON. The faculty by which a man always justifies his own conduct. Some vain theorists have supposed, that it was given to regulate and direct our actions: but the uniform practice of mankind has proved that it is of no use but to vindicate what we do. ANGEL. Our mistress. D-L.-Our wife. HONESTY. A commodity which every man has to dispose of, and is willing to sell till he is a bankrupt. BULLY. A coward who strives to frighten away fear. SWINDLER. A gentleman who lives by his wits; but often finds himself at his wits ends how to live. THE PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT. The various travellers who have visited these wonderful remains of antiquity assert, that in magnitude they far surpass any thing the imagination can conceive; nor is the surprise of the beholder, on viewing the stupendous whole, any way diminished by the appearance of the component parts, which are on a corresponding scale, and occasion wonder that human efforts could have elevated the pondrous masses of solid stone of which they are composed to so great a height, and disposed them in a regular order, unassisted, as may naturally be supposed, at that early period, by powerful machinery. The French traveller Denon and others have observed, that the sublime effect produced by the appearance of such immense objects is in some degree rendered less from not being placed near to others where their bulk might be estimated by comparison. This may doubtless be the case, for the eye judges by comparison, as is evident in almost every instance; and if it were possible to place St. Paul's or the Monument by the side of the Pyramids, an opportunity would then be obtained of forming a correct idea of the astonish❤ ing size of those justly celebrated wonders of the world. Those who have not been exposed to the dangers and inconveniences of a long journey through sandy deserts infested with hordes of ferocious plundering Arabs, may, however, be able to form a comparative idea (here at home) of the magnitude of these ancient struc tures from the following circumstance. In the reign of James I. Lord Chancellor Bacon and others obtained a commission for laying out and new building Lincoln's Inn Fields, and the celebrated architect Inigo Jones was employed on that occasion. He is said to have taken the measurement of the base of the great Egyptian Pyramid as the size of the area of the projected square; so that, if the building covers a piece of ground of the same extent as Lincoln's Inn Fields, the mind may comprehend in some degree the immensity of this one monument of human labour, the height being stated as between 6 and 700 feet. To the above account, which has been sent us by a correspondent, we add the following dimensions of the Great Pyramid, according to different authors. |