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Dr. Drake's new work, Shakspeare and his Times.-Dances. [VOL., S brawl, as probably did Sir Christopehr little is to be said, except that it was a Hatton, when he exhibited before Queen favourite air in the days of Queen ElizaElizabeth; for he makes Moth in Love's beth. Ligon, in his History of BarbaLabour's Lost, ask Armado,-" Master, does, mentions a passamezzo galliard, will you win your love with a French which, in the year 1647, a Padre in that brawl?" and he then exclaims, "These island played to him on the lute; the betray nice wenches." That several very same, he says, with an air of that dances were included under the term kind which in Shakspeare's play of brawls, appears from a passage in Shel- Henry the Fourth was originally played ton's Don Quixote :-"After this there to Sir John Falstaff and Doll Tearsheet, came in another artificial dance, of those by Sneak, the musician, there named." called brawles;" and Mr. Douce in- Of equal gravity with the "doleful forms us, that amidst a great variety of pavin," as Sir W. D'Avenant calls it, brawls, noticed in Thoinot Arbeau's was The Measure, to tread which was treatise on dancing, entitled Orchesogra- the relaxation of the most dignified chaphie, occurs a Scotch brawl; and he racters in the state, and formed a part of adds that this dance continued in fashion the revelry of the inns of court, where to the close of the seventeenth century. the gravest lawyers were often found

Another dance of much celebrity at treading the measures. Shakspeare puns this period, was the pavin or pavan, upon the name of this dance, and conwhich, from the solemnity of its mea- trasts it with the Scotch jig, in Much sure, seems to have been held in utter Ado about Nothing, where he introaversion by Sir Toby Belch, who, in re- duces Beatrice telling her cousin Hero, ference to his intoxicated surgeon, ex- "The fault will be in the musick, claims, "Then he's a rogue. After a cousin, if you be not woo'd in good passy-measure, or a pavin, I hate a time: if the prince be too important, drunken rogue." This is the text of Mr. tell him, there is measure in every thing, Tyrwhitt; but the old copy reads,- and so dance out the answer. For hear "Then he's a rogue, and a passy mea- me, Hero; Wooing, wedding, and resure's pavyn," which is probably correct; penting, is as a Scotch jig, a measure, for the pavan was rendered still more and a cinque pace: the first suit is hot grave by the introduction of the passa- and hasty, like a Scotch jig, and full as mezzo air, which obliged the dancers, fantastical: the wedding, mannerly-moafter making several steps round the dest, as a measure full of state and anroom, to cross it in the middle in a slow cientry; and then comes repentance, step or cinque pace. This alteration of and, with his bad legs, falls into the time occasioned the term passamezzo to cinque-pace faster and faster, till he sink be prefixed to the name of several into his grave." dances; thus we read of the passamezzo A more brisk and lively step accomgalliard, as well as the passamezzo pa- panied the canary dance, which was van; and Sir Toby, by applying the lat. likewise very fashionable :-"I have seen ter appellation to his surgeon, meant to a medicine," says Lafeu, in All's Well call him, not only a rogue, but a solemn that Ends Well, alluding to the influcoxcomb. "The pavan, from pavo a ence of female charms,—

peacock," observes Sir J. Hawkins, "is "That's able to breathe life into a stone; a grave and majestick dance. The Quicken a rock, and make you dance canary, method of dancing it was anciently by With spritely fire and motion." gentlemen dressed with a cap and sword, and Moth advises Armado, when dancby those of the long robes in their gowns, ing the brawl, to canary it with his feet. by princes in their mantles, and by ladies The mode of performing this dance, is in gowns with long trains, the motion thus given by Mr. Douce, from the treawhereof in the dance resembled that of a tise of Thoinot Arbeau :-"A lady is peacock's tail. This dance is supposed taken out by a gentleman, and after to have been invented by the Spaniards, dancing together to the cadences of the and its figure is given with the characters proper air, he leads her to the end of for the step, in the Orchesographia of the hall; this done, he retreats back to Thoinot Arbeau. Of the passamezzo the original spot, always looking at the

YOL. 3.]

The Coxcomb of the Sixteenth Century.

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lady. Then he makes up to her again, any thing; jest at your creditor, even to with certain steps, and retreats as be- his face; and in the evening, even by fore. His partner performs the same lamp-light, steal out; and so cozen a ceremony, which is several times repeated whole covey of abominable catch-polls." by both parties, with various strange fanSuch was the resort of the male fashtastic steps, very much in the savage ionable world to this venerable Gothic style." pile, that it was customary for tradesBesides the brawl, the pavan, the mea- people to frequent its aisles for the pur sure, and the canary, several other dan- pose of collecting the dresses of the day. ces were in vogue, under the general "If you determine to enter into a new titles of corantoes, lavoltos, jigs, galli- suit, warn your tailor to attend you in ards, and fancies; but the four which we Pauls, who, with his hat in his hand,shall, have selected for more peculiar notice, like a spy, discover the stuff, colour, and appear to have been the most celebrated. fashion of any doublet or hose that dare

LOUNGERS OF THE 16TH CENTURY.

be seen there, and, stepping behind a pillar to fill his table-books with those notes, will presently send you into the world an Among the amusements more pecu- accomplished man; by which means you liarly belonging to the metropolis, and shall wear your clothes in print with the which, better than any other, exhibits the first edition."

fashionable mode at that time of dispo- The author even condescends to insing of the day, we may enumerate the struct his beau, when he has obtained his custom of publicly parading in the mid- suit, how best to exhibit it in St. Paul's, dle aisle of St. Paul's Cathedral. During and concludes by pointing out other rethe reign of Elizabeth and James, Paul's sources for killing time, or withdrawing Walk, as it was called, was daily fre- from the cathedral, "Bend your course quented by the nobility, gentry, and pro- directly in the middle line, that the whole fessional men; here, from ten to twelve body of the church may appear to be in the forenoon, and from three to six in yours; where, in view of all, you may the afternoon, they met to converse on publish your suit in what manner you albusiness, politics, or pleasure; and hither fect most, either with the slide of your too, in order to acquire fashions, form cloak from one shoulder: and then you assignations for the gaming table, or shun must, as 'twere in anger, suddenly snatch the grasp of the bailiff, came the gallant, at the middle of the inside, if it be taffeta the gamester, and the debtor, the stale at the least; and so by that means your knight, and the captain out of service; costly lining is betrayed, or else by the and here it was that Falstaff purchased pretty advantage of compliment. But Bardolph; “I bought him," says the one note by the way do I especially woo jolly knight," at Paul's." you to, the neglect of which makes many Of the various purposes for which this of our gallants cheap and ordinary, that temple was frequented by the loungers of by no means you be seen above four the 15th and 16th centuries, Decker has turns; but in the fifth make yourself left us a most entertaining account in his away, either in some of the semsters' tract on this subject, published in 1609, shops, the new tobacco-office, or amongst which throws no incurious light on the the booksellers, where, if you cannot read, follies and dissipation of the age. exercise your smoke, and inquire who The supposed tomb of Humphrey, has writ against this divine weed, &c." Duke of Gloucester, but in reality that of After dinner, it was necessary that the Guy Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, ap- finished coxcomb should return to Paul's pears to have been a privileged part of in a new dress :-" After dinner you the cathedral:-"The Duke's tomb," may appear again, having translated yourobserves Decker, addressing the gallant, self out of your English cloth into a light "is a sanctuary; and will keep you alive Turkey grogram, if you have that happifrom worms, and land rats, that long to ness of shifting; and then be seen, for a be feeding on your carcass: there you turn or two, to correct your teeth with may spend your legs in winter a whole some quill or silver instrument, and to afternoon; converse, plot, laugh,and talk cleanse your gums with a wrought hand,

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The Indian Philosopher's Stone.

[VOL. 3. kerchief: it skills not whether you dined, century:""in which departure," enor no; that is best known to your sto- joins the satirist, "if by chance you eimach; or in what place you dined; ther encounter, or aloof off throw your though it were with cheese, of your own inquisitive eye upon any knight or squire, mother's making, in your chamber or being your familiar, salute him not by study." his name of Sir such a one, or so; but

The fopperies exhibited in a place, call him Ned, or Jack, &c. This will set which ought to have been closed against off your estimation with great men and such unhallowed inmates, rival, if not ex- if, though there be a dozen companies ceed, all that modern puppyism can pro- between you, 'tis the better, he call aloud duce. The directions which Decker gives to you, for that is most genteel, to know to his gallant on quitting St. Paul's in where he shall find you at two o'clock; the forenoon, clearly prove, that the loun- tell him at such an ordinary, or such; gers in Shakspeare's time are not sur- and be sure to name those that are dearpassed, either in affectation or the as- est, and whither none but your gallants sumption of petty consequence, by the resort." same worthless class of the nineteenth

From the Panorama, Jan. 1818.

THE ALCHYMIST.

THE following singular fraud has been locked up during the night. In the morn

committed on a credulous but wealthy ing the door is opened, and behold a native of Madras, by a man pretending piece of silver, double the weight of that to be an Alchymist; a profession, we had furnished, is found in the bottom of the thought, long since exploded. He was crucible: the Alchymist asks something prosecuted at the late Sessions at Ma- as a reward for his trouble, and receives dras, but no evidence was gone into; a the value of the metal he had produced; correct statement of the case, however, his employer, however, naturally asking has appeared in the Madras Courier, of him how it happened, as he could make August 5, 1817, which, for its singular- silver, that he should continue a Byragee ity, and the art and cunning displayed asking alms; to this he readily replied, by the offender, deserves to be recorded. he could perform the operation for other This man was a native, thought to people, but was not permitted to do so possess, as is generally the case with cha- for himself. He then went away, and at racters of this stamp, more wit and cun- the end of three weeks returned, asking ning than pagodas. He was a Byragee, alms as usual, and saying if he were furprofessing also to be an Alchymist, and nished with a larger piece of silver than to understand the valuable and generally before, he would make it more producsupposed impenetrable secret of the trans- tive. The experiment was repeated and mutation of the inferior metals into gold with the success predicted; he did not and silver-having discovered a person make his appearance again till about suited to his purpose, one whom he seems three weeks aftewards, when he said he to have considered the reverse of himself could perform the same operations with -as having more pagodas than cunning; gold as he had done with the silver; he he, (according to the prosecutor's state- was furnished with a small piece of gold, ment), asks alins at the door of his house, which in the morning was found doubled and obtained what he asked; he visits in quantity, as the silver had been; he the house again, and being treated kindly, repeated the operation more than once he tells the owner, if he will furnish a at different intervals, and with the like small piece of silver, he will put it success. Having by these means got comthrough a process by which it shall be plete possession of the mind of his emdoubled; the silver is furnished, put into ployer, he brought with him at his last a crucible with some lead or copper, and visit, a greater quantity of the powder covered with leaves and a powder; it is and leaves used in the process, which he then placed over a fire in a room and produced, desiring a large sum might be

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VOL. 3.]

Captain Golownin's Narrative of his Captivity.

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furnished for him to operate with. The in the morning, it appears, and walked master, and all in the house, according quietly away. Before the usual hour, his to their account, were spell-bound by the employer, whose slumbers had doubtless Alchymist, and they could deny him been disturbed by dreams of coming nothing; about 900 pagodas were fur- riches, rose also, and repaired with his nished him, the melting pot was placed servant to the room; the crucible was on the fire, and the usual preparatory uncovered, when lo! instead of the exsteps taken; the door was locked and pected golden barvest, a hole was discov the key given to the servant. In the mid- ered in the bottom of the pot, the gold dle of the night, however, the operator conveyed away, and a quantity of copper wished to see how the process was going left. After a search of two years, his creon, and desired the servant to give him dulous employer discovered the Alchythe key; the latter, like his master, felt mist at some distance from Madras, and himself, as he said, obliged to comply brought him down to answer at the seswith every demand of this transmuter of sions, for having thus reversed the process metals, he therefore gave the key. The of transmutation. Such was the statement operator entered the room, and being sat- of the prosecutor and his servant. The Alisfied that matters were going on exactly chymist was, however, acquitted, in conas he wished, he locked the door, gave sequence of the prosecutor having comthe key to the servant, and again retired municated with the prisoner through the to his usual resting place, under the ve- medium of an interpreter, who was not to randah of the house. He rose very early be found.

GOLOWNIN'S NARRATIVE OF HIS CAPTIVITY IN JAPAN,

From the Literary Gazette, Jan. 1818.

NARRATIVE OF MY CAPTIVITY IN JAPAN, DURING THE YEARS 1811, 1819, AND 1813; WITH OBSERVATIONS ON THE COUNTRY AND THE PEOPLE BY CAPTAIN GOLOWNIN, R. N. VOLS. 8vo. &c. &c.

OF Japan so little is truly known, the negociation of the Chamberlain Re

that nothing can be published res- sanoff, which ended in a prohibition from pecting that Empire which is not inter- that jealous government, forbidding all esting. This work is eminently so; for Russian vessels to approach the coasts of to the abundant notices it contains of Ja- Japan. Resanoff afterwards sailed to panese laws, manners, and customs, it America in one of the American Comjoins the most affecting narrative of the pany's ships, commanded by Lieutenant adventures and sufferings of the author Chwostoff, and died soon after his return and his companions in captivity, than to Okotzk. This Chwostoff seems to which romance of real life, no story ever have been a bad subject: he sailed coined by the brain, can lay a more irre- again, and without provocation attacked sistible hold on the attention and feelings and plundered several Japanese villages of the reader. The Eastern colouring of on the coasts of the Kurile Islands, thus the scenery, and characteristics of the widening the misunderstanding which actors greatly enhance the novelty and already existed between the countries. charm of this eventful history and the Of this breach Captain Golownin was air of fiction which belongs to the extra- the unfortunate victim. Having received ordinary circumstances of which it is orders to visit the southern Kurile Islcomposed is advantageously contrasted ands, some of which are in the posseswith its truth, carrying conviction with sion of the Japanese, he sailed in the Dievery particular, and with the simplicity ana sloop, and on the 17th of June, of a relation at once extraordinary and 1811, arrived off the northern extremity unquestionable. of Eetoorpoo, where some communication took place with some of the inhabitants, who induced the Russians to sail for Oorbeetsh, under the hope of obtain

It appears that the Emperor of Russia attempted to open a commercial in tercourse with Japan, in 1803, through

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Capt. Golownin's Captivity.—Customs, &c. in Japan,

ters will be further explained in our extracts; and we hasten to wind up the narrative, by stating, that at the end of two years and two months, the negotiations between Siberia and Japan, conducted by the friendly zeal of lieut. Ricord, were brought to a successful issue, the affair of Chwostoff was satisfactorily accounted for, and Captain Golownin and his comrades restored to their families and country.

[VOL. 3 ing water and provisions. At Eetoor- underwent incredible hardships, and after poo they saw a toian, or chief, of that ten days wandering were retaken, and singular aboriginal race of these islands, carried back to their cages. They receiv the Hairy Kuriles,and about fifty of those ed, however, no further ill-treatment: sorely oppressed people, whose bodies and the conduct of the government of are entirely covered with short hairs, and Japan is painted, in all the prior and subwhom their Japanese conquerors use like sequent proceedings, as a very curious beasts, which, in this covering, they mixture of severity and kindness; always resemble. From this island they sailed equable, and always suspicious, aiming to the eastern coast of Ooroop, and en- at the discovery of the motives of Russia, countering contrary winds for some time, through investigations the most patient, on the 4th of July they reached the persevering, and cunning; immoveable Straits between Matsmai and Kimaschier, in adhering to established forms and into the harbour of the latter of which laws; but withal doing every thing conthey entered on the following morning. sistent with the security of their prisonIt would extend this sketch far beyond ers, to render their loss of liberty as conthe limits we prescribe for it, were we to soling as possible. Some of these matenter into a detail of all the transactions which ensued between Captain Golownin and the Japanese. Suffice it to say, that he, with two officers, (Mr. Moor, a midshipman, and Mr. Chlebnikoff, a pilot,) four sailors, and a Russian Kurile named Alexei, in all eight persons, were enticed on shore to a conference, surrounded by armed men, seized, tied with ropes, and marched prisoners up the country. The senior officer on board the Diana, Lieut. Ricord, could do nothing to relieve his companions, thus treacherously entrapped, and returned to Okotzk to devise with the Russian governor the means for their deliverance. Meanwhile, bound in the cruellest manner, with cords round their breasts and necks, their elbows almost constrained to touch, and their hands firmly manacled together, from all which fastenings a string, held by a Japanese keeper, proceeded, who could in an instant tighten the nooses to helplessness or strangulation, these unfortunate men were marched for Among the Japanese customs, it is fifty days, till they reached a prison at a one not the least singular, to cover all eity called Chakodale. Thence, after their fortifications outside with cloth, as being confined some time, they were if to dress the walls for war. White, transported to Matsmai, where they were black, and dark blue striped hangings, literally imprisoned in large cages. Here conceal entirely the nature of these dethey underwent daily and protracted ex- fences. Their guns are few, and in bad aminations of the strangest nature; but their treatment became gradually ameliorated their food was better, they were removed under a guard to a house, and were frequently allowed to walk for ex- "I had not long to wait for the govercise and health. Despairing of being ernor (of Kimaschier, the person who restored to their country, on the 20th of managed their seizure): he soon apApril an attempt at escape was made by peared, completely armed, and accomall but Moor and Alexei. The fugitives panied by two soldiers, one of them care

The chief part of the facts related in these volumes, being detached from the thread of the main story, which details the proceedings of the Japanese authorities, and the behaviour of the prisoners, it will not be easy to preserve any very regular connexion in those points which we select as best calculated to illustrate the peculiar habits and situation of this country; but if the mass furnishes, as we think it will, a lively picture of what is most worthy of observation, we trust the matter will be an apology for the manner.

condition; and their gunpowder of an inferior quality. The dress, &c. of the of ficers and soldiers may be gathered from the following:

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