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    ~~ ' ~.y , C\ t (OlvitB ^100 "vJ/ *!*- - « wvv4A'»

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    breachings . How abruptly the cats have ceased to caterwaul under our terrace ! no wandering dog any longer bays the eclipsed moon , nor stays to bark at the taifrequent passenger ; every other sound is either hushed or absorbed in the terrible voice of the storm ; and once begun , there is no pause in its violence . Thunderings , more and more loud , come at shorter intervals , and its red artillery , more and more dazzlingly bright , appears to penetrate through the opacity of all things . "Tis vain to close our eyes , and try to shut it out ; the lightning flames in at the smallest chink of the shutters , revealing our coward countenances to one another ' s observation . Anon & few drops begin to patter against the window , and the assembled party , breathing more freely , hail the familiar sound ; the rain increases , and is soon heard rushing down in torrents . Hopes are now entertained that the deluge of water will drown the lightning , or render it innoxious ; but that thought has scarcely given comfort , when a flash more blinding than any yet seen , accompanied by an instant loud explosion , which makes every shutter sliake , and the whole house tremble , dissipates the illusion . That detonating crack was no brwtumjulmen , but has done its work somewhere in our Immediate proximity . As the howling of the wind subsides , the waves , lashed into fury , may be heard thundering against the cliffs . Oh , what a terrible night at sea !

    Another hour , and the rain has entirely ceased ; we throw open the casement , and look out upon the wild night with something like the " suave mari rmgno" feeling ; then close the window and retire to bed , where , lulled bv the distant roar of the waters , we soon fall asleep , and rise next morning to find everything much , as it was at the ¦ same hour yesterday . Vesuvius , more solito , sending up his grey wreath , the bay scarcely ruffled , fishermen in all directions putting out their boats , and , but Cor the ponds about the house , no indication afforded that there had been any disturbance in the weather last night . We have only room to quote part of Mr . Badliam ' s description of

    THE NAPLES FISH-JIAItKET . In . the centre of a dirty little largo , something like the confluence of the Seven Dials , where the sale offish is principally'carried on , is one of those short ugly monuments called Aguglia , which are so profusely stuck over Naples ; architectural scarecrows , neither column , pyramid , nor obelisk , but seemingly devices taken from the chessboard or jeweller ' s shop , — -IBrobdignag pawns in marble , 01 colossal seal-handles in stucco , capped either-with , a gilt Madonna , or a flag , bearing Santa Maria on one side , ¦ and St . Januarius on the other . Ever and anon , accompanied by afresh crowd , and announced by beat of drum , new arrivals of fish , just landed , are paraded , as was the sturgeon in days of yore , in long procession to the spot . Next come the Copi del SperameMi , or chiefs of the market

    with their huge scales , which being speedily adjusted , the fish is duly weighed and registered , an-d then sold in lots . Messrnen , trattori , chefs , convent cooks , crowd round the auctioneer , who forthwith begins , a la Robins , to put up for sale the pesce nobile , the chefs d ' aeuvre of the market . ' < Ah ! iichi ! fichi ! che belle cose ! a quanto , signior riiiei ? " etc ., looking interrogatively at the principal buyers , hoping thereby to excite them to outbid one another ; and the same fierce contention ; then-commences which was exhibited nineteen centuries ago , when Lucullus purchased mullet and parrot-fish for his entertainments , and , Apicius wrote aphorisms in his study on preparing and ¦ c ooking them . There is always a loud and amusing competition between the hotel and convent cooks , each acting according to the instruction of his chief , but the former generally bearing awav the prime specimens .

    It is impossible to conceive anything like the din and discord of an Italian or Sicilian market at the market hour . " None but itself can be its parallel , " and yet the whole is effected by some score only of human tongues let loose at will . Everybody there either is , or seems to be , in a passion , each trying to outscream , outroar , outhellow , and outblaspheme his neighbour , till the combined uproar-fills the whole area , and rises high above it . The men are all Stentors ; the women perfect Mjenads ; the ¦ children a set of howling imps , whom nothing short of Thuggism could pacify ; it is no unfrequent spectacle in this frantic neighbourhood to see some baby clenching its tiny lands and boneless gums in concentrated passion , tearing at the rudiments of hair , and screaming with all its puny strength ; or , in yet wilder extravagance , its arms in the air , hurling defiance at its own mother , who , standing at bay with , the mien of a Tisiphone , strives to drown her baby's voice in her own frenzied treble , and looks as if she could drown him , too , foTa very small consideration .

    The noise arouses every living creature , even to the flies , wlvo are stimulated into consciousness , and begin to buzz full lmlf-an-hour sooner than the warmth of the sun "would have awakened them ; hungry dogs , fearless of observation , press close on the heels of the bawling , pre-occupied . crowd ; sleek cats beyond the reach of dogs come creeping over the fish-stalls , and prescient rats , peeping from obscure holes , can scarce refrain from rushing out en masse upon the offal , shortly to be left at their disposal . As a specimen of Mr . Badham ' s quaintly-humourous way of giving us the benefit of his classical and antiquarian knowledge , talec the following passage about

    THE BI 11 TH OF EELS . Touching tlie birth of eels , much has been conjectured , and little positively ascertained : their origin , like that of evil , is a voxed question still ; whether they come from eggs , or wriggle into existence little eels , few havo been able quite to satisfy themselves . Several theories on the subject were early broached . Oppian supposes an embrace of the sexes actually to take place ; after which a . strigmontuni , or gluey ¦ exudation from the surface of the body , detaches itself and falls to the bottom , where it is vitalized ; not by the co-operation of any apocryphal mud-nymph—some " Young Lutotin , softer than tho down , Nigrimi bluok , or Mordamanto brown , " Imt by an intm-utcrmo action of the mud itself ! for Avlmt , asks Oppian , is so engendering « s mud ? Aristotle calls cols " the solitary ' race that havo neither seed nor offspring . " Ho thinks also thnt their origin , as the Greek name indeed denotes , ia from the mud . Pliny ' s theory was , that when eels hud lived their day they instinctively rubbed themselves to piooes against the rocks , and that out of tho living

    detritus issued a now brood : a mode of generation which In some lower animal organisations actually takes place . Many us implicitly bciliovoil thl . t ingenious ) hypothtsirt , as children , duly instructed buliovo that tho o < Foto moon is cut up into etars , nivl that tho monthly miumwlon of old onus ha * gradually boon lilling tho i * ky ¦ with fhoiV 3 lessor luminaries over since tho world began to the present hour . Soino , dissatisfied with such explanations , observing" how cnsily Virgil contrived to fill his toeo-hives fr « m the carcuao of u hoifor , nnrt not seeing why if boos wore ho gunuratod fiah might not « e also , affirmed that coin cmno from tho doud bodies of animals iiftor long immersion in water . Others , again , modified this notion , and Biippo . ied that only tho hairs o ? a horse ' s tail , soaked a nitfllciunt time , would at la » t adapt thomhoIvoh to a now ol « m « iit and bt !< ioino ooIh . Finally , wonio anoiant nnturnliutH , uncling tho terrestrial origin of ouIh obscure , had recourse to tho nkion , and attributed this ntultiUidinoua race to Jupitor nnd a whito-avincd goUiUwn named Angullla ; iioeordiwtfljS ^ UcUestratwa , in hid description of an Attic feuat , iutroducoa Aitguilla , bundling of hiejr Jove-sprung offspring . Our last extract must present an admirable vindication of

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    THE FKEE 3 OM OF FISH . As free as a bird , says the proverb ; as free as a fish , say we ; for if fish be not their own masters , who are ? N " o other creature has half the facilities for shifting quarters and changing domicile that he has . Furnished with a body in itself a perfect locomotive , a vigorous tail for a piston , and cerebral energy in lieu of steam , the sea itself affords a level for railroads of communication and transport in every direction , and the North aud South Poles are the only natural terminuses to the journey . Man cannot compete with fish here ; for few , from various lets and hindrances , are permitted to vagabondize at will , and of those who might be disposed to indulge the fancy , fewer still possess the means for its accomplishment . The yacht animal enjoys himself , no doubt , as he cruises about the high seas for amusement : but this

    pleasure has risks , as well as obvious limits . Squalls may upset 01 whirlpools engulf him and his frail bark ; her mast may be struck by lightning , hex keel may be run upon , a rock ; her rudder be carried away ; her sails torn to ribbons ; her ribs melt ia the red glare of fire on board ; ' or if she adventure too near the woles , the crew is liable to be hemmed in , and fortunate if , after six months' bumping , " nipping , " and crushing , they bring her oflf at last , and manage to escape white bears , famine , and an icy grave . Besides these liabilities to mischief , the wants of those on board compel frequent forced halts ; here for coal , there for water : and then there are sundry runnings into harbour in dirty weather , to the further delay of the ship's voyage ; all which "touchings , " in order to " go , " must often sadly retard a sigh in its passage from Indus to the Pole . ;

    In birds , wings supply the place and greatly exceed the efficiency of sails ; but even wings have their limitations of action , and are also subject to many mishaps . Birds can neither soar heavenward nor skun far across the waters without being made sensible of this ; the stoutest pinion cannot long beat the frosty air of high altitudes , and remain unnumbed ; thus high and no . higher may the eagle aeronaut mount ; whilst of birds of passage , how many thousands , trusting , like Icarus , to uncertain -wings , drop and die in the transit to another continent , and cover whole roods of ocean ¦ with their feathery carcases ! Quadrupeds , again , are yet n « re restricted in their wanderings over the earth : natural obstacles are continually presenting so many bars to their progress ; the dry and thirsty desert where no water Is , inaccessible snow-capped mountain-ridges , the impenetrable screen of forest-trees , the broad lake , the unfordable and rapid river , the impassable line of a sea-girt sho ' t ; any of these impediments are enough to keep beasts

    within an area of no very wide range . Thus it fares with all creatures , denizens either of earth or air ; but none of these obstacles impede the activity of fish .. They may swim anywhere and everywhere through the boundless expanse of waters ; and , in defiance alike of-trade-wind or storm , may traverse the open seas at every season , surrounded on all sides with suitable food , and finding at . different dfepths the temperature most congenial to their health and comfort , whether at the torrid or frozen , zone . Some of the scaly tribe , to whom fresh water is not less palatable than salt or brackish , may even go far inland , visit without a " Guide " , lakes . hitherto undescribei by tourists , or follow , a la Bruce , the meanderings of some miglrty river from its rhouth up to its sources . Supported in a fluid of nearly the same specific gravity as

    their own , the upper portion of trie body throws no weight upon the lower , and ¦ we ariness is impossible . Where tliere is no fatigue , repose becomes unnecessary ; and accordingly we find these denizens of the deep , like their " mobile mother , " the sea , " who rolls , and rolls , and rolls , and still goes rolling on , " never perfectly at rest . When the day has been passed in swimming , and the evening paddled out ia sport , away float these everlasting voyagers through the night , and are borae in a . Luxurious . hydrostatic bed , wherever the current chances to carry them ; and , with no other trouble than that of occasionally opening their mouths for a gulp of fresh air , on they g o , till early dawn , bursting upon a pair of unprotected eyeballs , gives their owners timely notice to descend deeper , and to strike out with fins and tail in whatever direction waking thoughts may suggest .

    We must now leave our readers to pick oufc for themselves all the other good passages in this very entertaining and very instructive book .

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    THEATRICALS IN BERLIN . Although the Drama has lost its high office , and lias long ceased to be no more than an Amusement—a fact against which it is in vain to strive , lying as itdoea in the very development of national culture—yeb I must own that in witnessing tlie performance of Lossing ' s noblo play , Nathan the Wise , I was profoundly impressed with the high capabilities the stage still possesses of presenting the people with an Amusement ; which should be elevated , impressive , educational - It is of course a very difficult problem to unite the requisite amusement with this higher aim ; and I very much fear that a recalcitrant London pit would not bo greatly amused by Sal / iun the Wino . Tho greater the difficulty the greater tlie honour . There is no reason why tho dramatist should not havo a higher aim ; no reason why the Teacher should nob for his purposes cultivate the- arfc oC amusing . But if there is no valid reasun to be given—there is undoubtedly the stolid fact that dramatists with high aims aro the reverse of amusing , while tho amusing dramatists are the last men one would accept as teachers .

    li \ Nathan the Wise there breathes a grand spirit of tolerance ; such male accents of humanity as bring delicious tears into tho eyes—such deep and farraiching thoughts aa stimulate the activity of the soul , rebuking ; its intolerance , and startling us into a more loving human mood than that which pulpit tenchings havo made habitual ! Bat while wo soo this exhibition of tolerance , this rebuke of spiritual pride and dogmatic narrowness unfolding itself before our ej'ea in tho actions and language of iikmi , wo also witness tlio development of a drama , which is , indeed , not very exciting as a drama , but which mig ht have

    been , hud a dramatist treated tho subject . Tlio magnificent drama of Jv .. ius C ( csa >—one of Shnkspeare ' s highest and most massive- works—is ample evidence of how intensely dramatic tlio mere exhibition of character and principle may be made ; and had he treated Nathan the Wine , it would luvvo had ait influonco as profound and lasting as the I'itc / riins Proyrcmt . Unhappily tho condition of tho English public , as to religious thought , is so narrow , that ovan now ia this nineteenth century such a i > lny as Nathan would not bo tolerated on any English stage . The pit would " rise" at it . Tho shrinks of horror which would , assail its maxims of tolerance—tho yells of Christian indignation which would

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    in tfeeir December 30 , 1854 , ] THE LEADER . 1243

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 30, 1854, page 1243, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2071/page/19/