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unless it were given them; and, besides these prohibitions, one day in each week was set apart for fasting on bread, water, and salt. The monks slept on cork, with a single blanket to cover them; they rose at midnight to sing their matins, and none were permitted to go beyond the bounds of the monastery except the prior and proctor, and they only on indispensable business. Their habit was white, with a black cloak.

During about a century and a half, the history of Sir Walter Manny's monastery presents no particular event to engage attention-the best proof, were any required, of the contented and quiet lives passed within its walls—but when, in the time of Henry VIII., the religious houses were dissolved, the monks of this place rose suddenly into prominence, and became ever memorable for their honest and high principles, proving how far human fortitude can go in what is known to be a good cause. During the sixteenth century the conscientious Catholics were made to undergo, in this monastery, wrongs equal to those they had caused the Protestants to suffer in the preceding century. The superior of the Carthusians, with four others, all perished at Tyburn, and, their bodies being quartered, one of them was set over the gate. After the death of Henry VIII., the monastery buildings and site passed from one proprietor to another, until, in the time of Elizabeth, they became the residence of Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, who made it his chicf residence, and built most of the existing edifice. His son sold the whole to Thomas Sutton, the founder of the present Charterhouse, which is a refuge and retreat, of a superior description, for decayed gentlemen.

Passing from monasteries to military architecture, we find that, whatever improvements were produced on the Continent, few alterations were adopted in Britain. Ancient castles were much diminished; nor was it the policy of the Crown to rebuild them. As fortresses, they were dangerous-i. e., dangerous to public tranquillity-yet not secure against regular sieges. Neither their strength nor construction was calculated, after the invention of artillery, to annoy the besiegers, or resist the continued impression of cannon. Low batteries instead of turrets, and angular instead of square or circular ramparts, were requisite improvements in military architecture, after the application of artillery to sieges; yet, except some platforms for cannon, for the protection of the Thames, and a few block-houses, too insignificant to acquire a name, no new fortifications were erected in England by either of the Henries. Their vigilance repressed or prevented internal discord, and the castles upheld on the borders were sufficient to resist the incursions of the Scots.

We may remark how the increasing refinement of the period was conducive to the perfection as well as to the increase of the metallic arts. The armour, which, in the time of Henry VII., had been heavy and plated, now became lighter and most exquisitely worked, and bore the title of "puffed armour.” Occasionally these suits were inlaid with silver, and some of the best specimens originally came from Milan.

Carving, gilding, embroidery, the making of clocks, and probably other ingenious metallic arts, had been practised in monasteries, and, at their sup pression, all these useful arts were carried on more largely, because more diffusively; but it must be confessed that in England, even at this late date, the dress of the wealthy, and, in some measure, the homely clothing of the poorer orders, were supplied from abroad. Silks, velvet, and cloth of gold—an article at

this time in high estimation-were imported from Italy; and the coarse fustians that came from Flanders were of a texture so durable, that the doublet lasted for two years. England, excelling only in her woollen manufactures-which were more ex ens an those of Spain-was rivalled only by those of Flanders.

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Many curious customs relative to the woollen trade existed; one of which was confining the making of Yorkshire coverlets to the city of York, then nearly depopulated by the neighbouring villages; and in Worcestershire the woollen manufactures were restricted to five towns. York also obtained a patent for shipping wool, to the exclusion of the whole county; and, but for this early and lucrative exportation of wool, England, most probably, would still have been poor and wretched, without cultivation, and destitute equally of arts and commerce.

M. S. R.

N

BELIEF AND UNBELIEF.-We indeed require understanding and experience to accept as truths many occurrences which have not befallen ourselves, and facts discovered by others, but never observed by ourselves. We believe in the events, circumstances, and facts which are asserted by trustworthy persons, if they are not opposed to the laws of nature, or if their effects have been in any way, or at any time, observed by us or by other trustworthy persons. We believe in the existence of Julius Cæsar, whom we have never seen, not only because he was Been by his contemporaries, but because his existence was established by occurrences, manifested by their effects, centuries after, in the history of mankind. We do not believe in ghosts, though thousands are said to have seen them, because the laws of light teach us that even a material body of a certain degree of fineness-as atmospheric air, for example-cannot be seen, and because that which is unsubstantial no longer possesses the property of reflecting light, which is essential to its becoming visible. The species of faith or credulity which leads to a belief in ghosts, belongs not to science; knowledge, indeed, is its worst enemy, for by knowledge it is at once destroyed.

AMONGST THE AMERICANS.

BY F. GERSTÄCKER.

PART VIII.

WHEN the night came, the passengers doubled the guard round the prisoner, who, with his hands bound on his back, lay on the ground silent and gloomy, and seemed to have yielded to his fate; for he looked with glassy eyes at the pale, flickering light of the lantern, till fatigue and exhaustion overpowered him, and he fell into a restless slumber.

The eastern sky had assumed a lighter shade of grey, when the Oceanic reached the little town of Cairo, at the mouth of the Ohio, and passed from the yellow waters of the Mississippi, into the clearer current of the former river, to fasten to the wharf.

The boat lay against the bank, the sounds of the bell had died away, the planks were pushed out, and Mr. Gray led his young protégée down the cabin-stairs, accompanied by the captain, Simmons, Stewart, and Dalton. Upon the plank he turned once again, and took a cordial farewell of his newly-acquired friends-repeating his invitation to all, but more especially to Simmons, to visit him right soon, and convince himself how happily and contentedly he lived.

Simmons accepted the invitation, and the young man cautiously led his beloved Celeste over the narrow plank on shore, and up to the hotel, to await the arrival of a vessel bound up the Ohio; while the Oceanic took all imaginable trouble to get off the tough slime of the bank, in which it was securely imbedded.

The engine was reversed, and the whole crew summoned to the forecastle, to push her back with long poles into deep water; she remained perfectly walled-in by the mud that formed the bank, and which was so soft and yielding, that the poles had no hold, and sank deeply into it, so that they could only be freed by the united struggles of several men.

"Call the deck passengers!" the mate now shouted, rendered quite furious by the useless toil—"call the deck passengers! and you fellows," he said to the workmen, "get closer together-hang it! don't lie on the poles as if you were going to sleep. Give her it, boys-give her it !"

The majority of the deck passengers obeyed the summons, and laboured at the poles with all their strength, in order, by their united exertions, to make one desperate attempt to push her off.

"There she goes!" the mate shouted cheerily. "Be alive, my brave fellowspush away!" And, accompanying his words by a good example, he pushed with such force, while pressing his foot against the scat, that the perspiration ran down his brow, and his eyes seemed ready to burst from their sockets. At this moment a pole broke, which twelve powerful fellows had been pushing against; and, partly through their own impulse, and partly through the pressure of those behind, four men fell overboard, amid the cries of the others.

The prisoner had lain, in the meanwhile, almost deserted by all his guards, as the majority of the men had been required forwards, to help push the boat off. Only two young German peasants had been left to watch him, and never took an eye off him. One of his lads now went past, to cut some slices of meat for break

fast, from the joints hanging in the stern, and him the negro asked to give him a draught of water.

The young mulatto returned in a few seconds, with a tin cup, and held it to the lips of the thirsty man, while the latter greedily swallowed the cooling draught.

At this moment the loud cry was heard which the sudden disappearance of the four men had involuntarily drawn from those around.

The two watchers sprang up in terror, and looked towards the spot whence the noise came; but the mulatto, employing the moment which might never offer again, passed the sharp knife he held in his hand over the cords that bound the prisoner, and, before the two Germans-who were all amaze at the sudden freedom of the negro-could utter a single cry of alarm, the cook sprang up, seized the knife, which the mulatto willingly yielded to him, and leaped, with a wild bound, through the crowd of shrieking women, towards the stern of the vessel, to throw himself into the boat that hung there, or to save his life by swimming. At any rate, he was quite determined, as the brandished knife proved, to defend his newlyrecovered liberty to the utmost. He, however, had scarcely reached the stern, and was just going to spring over the taffrail into the boat, when his wildly-rolling eye fell on a Kentuckian, who had retired hither into the cooler atmosphere, and troubled himself very slightly about the disturbance in the bows.

The shrieks of the women, when they saw the negro rushing upon them with raised knife, first attracted his attention. Before, however, he could recover from his sudden surprise, the negro had bounded into the boat, cut one of the ropes that held it, and was just turning to the other, when the Kentuckian, who had rapidly regained his energies, soon perceived that decision alone would be of service. Despising the long knife of the desperate man, he rushed upon him, not only to upset him, but, at the same time, hold him fast. The pursued man soon perceived the enemy's intention, and, with a rapid motion, got out of the way of the other, as he sprang on him; the Kentuckian consequently lost his balance, slipped on a thwart, and fell forward, exposed to the shining knife of his black and desperate assailant.

The latter was well aware how precious the few moments allowed him were, and sprang with a shout of joy on the fallen man; but, at the moment of securelyfancied victory, a heavy bucket struck him on the chest, and, before he could recover from the unexpected blow, the tall form of the young German followed, who seized his right arm, and tried to take the knife from him. The result of the contest would have been most inauspicious for the young man-for the negro, with great agility, exchanged hands-had not the Kentuckian, by this time, recovered from his fall, and, with the German, thrown down and firmly held the runaway, although he continually employed his disengaged, armed hand, and wounded both men with his expiring strength. Several deck hands, however, sent down by the mate to fetch a plank to push the vessel off, also leaped into the boat, and, by their united help, the criminal was soon mastered, bound, and raised by a rope on to the deck.

Under the kicks and blows of the sailors, they dragged him again to his pillar, where they once more intrusted him to the charge of the passengers; while others -as the vessel was now pushed off, and the men who had fallen overboard savedled the mulatto, who had freed the prisoner and given him the knife, to the bows,

and fastened him to a post. Under the directions of the mate, who appeared to take special delight in it, they flogged him with a heavy leathern whip until the blood burst from the wounds, and he fainted away under the punishment.

The women, in the meanwhile, bound the numerous, though not dangerous, wounds the Kentuckian and German had received from the black, and declared repeatedly that it would do their hearts good to see the villain hanged.

Captain Wilkins had, in the meanwhile, come below, and gave two of his people the special order not to leave the negro for a moment, and to fell every black man who dared to come within ten paces of him.

With this, though, the Kentuckian's countrymen and comrades were not at all satisfied; and, when the captain had gone up again to the cabin, and they were left to themselves, one of them walked forward and addressed the others as follows:

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"Boys! that black dog has not only insulted a poor deaf and dumb white girl, but has also spilled white blood; and although Cap'n Wilkins seems to have a great wish to take him in good condition to St. Louis, still I vote that we throw him overboard, bound as he is. The cat-fish can then see what they'll do with his black hide."

"Wait a couple of minutes, till the woman has bound my arm," said the wounded American, "and I'll help. I should like to have a share in sending the villain to eternity."

"I believe myself it will be the best," said Ehrhold. "The deuce take prisons! it may be possible for the fellow to escape."

"Overboard with him! Overboard !" several voices shouted at the same time, and the very deck hands who were left to guard the prisoner, unfastened him from the pillar.

"Gentlemen!" the negro shouted in terror, who probably read his impending fate in the menacing glances of those around-" gentlemen, don't murder me in cold blood!"

"Dog!" shouted the wounded man, as he struck him in the face, "you shall drown!" And he seized him with his left, unwounded arm, and strove to drag him to the side.

"Murder!" shrieked the horrified prisoner. "Murder! Captain Wilkins, they're going to murder me!"

"Dont

"Hullo, boys! What's up?" cried the mate, springing among them. be fools and run into unnecessary risk. The fellow shan't escape his punishment.” And with these words he tried to remove the Kentuckian's hand from the negro's collar; but his comrades rushed forward, and one of them, as he thrust the mate back, said

"Hang you! keep back and attend to your own business. business, and if you don't like it you can go!"

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"Oh, Mr. Blackheath, don't let them kill me like a dog," the negro implored. "Why delay?" the majority of the passengers now cried, as well as many of the deck hands and sailors, who had come up. "Overboard with him! Overboard!" "Murder! murder !" he yelled, as he in vain tried to break his bonds, while the powerful arms of the Kentuckian and several Germans dragged him to the side. "Stop!" the captain cried, who rushed up, having been called by one of the men-"stop!'

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