His Royal Highness

THE LORD HIGH ADMIRAL.

K.G.G.C.B. &c. &c.

THE

MIRROR

OF

LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT,

AND

INSTRUCTION:

CONTAINING

ORIGINAL ESSAYS;

HISTORICAL NARRATIVES; BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS; SKETCHES OF SOCIETY; TOPOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTIONS; NOVELS AND TALES; ANECDOTES;

SELECT EXTRACTS

FROM

NEW AND EXPENSIVE WORKS;

POETRY, ORIGINAL AND SELECTED;

The Spirit of the Public Journals;

DISCOVERIES IN THE ARTS AND SCIENCES;

USEFUL DOMESTIC HINTS;

&c. &c. &c.

VOL. X.

LONDON:

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY J. LIMBIRD, 143, STRAND,

(Near Somerset House.)

1828.

[pg iii]

PREFACE.

Each volume of a successful periodical miscellany resembles Seneca's "one good turn—a shoeing-horn to another;" and the Editor of THE MIRROR, in prefacing his tenth volume with this comparison, hopes that he does not over-rate what the present patronage of the public encourages him to expect. Indeed, he would fear the suspicion of ingratitude on his part, were he not thus to acknowledge the long-extended success which has attended his labours, from their commencement to the present moment. At the same time, lest vanity should be thought to have mastered his better judgment, he assures his patrons that he does not claim the undivided merit of his good fortune; since, beyond his own taste of adaptation and selection, he "misses nothing he can fairly lay his hands on;" so that, the multiplicity of his resources being considered, his success is, perhaps, more complimentary to the discernment of the public, than it is laudatory of his individual exertions.

As many readers would yawn over a long preface like so much Latin, the Editor will not, in the present instance, subject them to so extraordinary a stretch of ennui, by any lengthy comment on the character of his last volume. He hopes that its contents will be found equal to either of its predecessors; and, if any superiority be observed, he begs that it may be attributed to the "march of mind," in whose rank and file he may be allowed his proper order.

Like the well-graced actor, who, at the conclusion of a play, bows to the performers before he addresses the audience, the Editor first returns his acknowledgments to his several Correspondents, who have contributed to the public entertainment in his last volume: perhaps this class may be very small, although in the usual proportion of good and evil which is scattered up and down all paths of life. To the other and more numerous class, viz. those whose Communications (from various motives, generally explained) have not been inserted, the Editor is equally indebted,—for intention, if not accomplishment; and he hopes that the performance of his critical duty has been such as to conciliate their respect and good-will. As a pleasantry, he would remind a fair proportion of his readers, that,