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    Kirh * ra one-of the executioners , then seized a pistol , and took aim at the king . It Richard , onejtf " ?»«? 7 ~ alone try force .. With difficulty fastened to the fatal plank , iZ ^ Z ^ tTn ^^ cXo ^ y intern , ^ h / the fall of th e kaife , which x ^ tonay Suck off his head . Samson raised it aloft , and showed it to the people . And the " people shouted , " Long live the Republic !' Tie effect of this event in England , Spain , and Germany , the ? anous emofiom of the various courts , the policy of Great Britain directed by Pitt , ? hTwar in La Vendee provoked by the atrocities-of the Royalist party-a new aspect of the story—the Macheeoul slaughters , in comparison with which the acts of September were gentle , led on to the preparations unconsciously made by France for a civil conflict far more dangerous than the Machinations of all the monarchies in Europe M . Louis B&nc . shows tha £ to some of the reigning princes , the death of Louis XVI . was not altogether Sn unacceptable event , since it aroused for them the passions of blind foyalty , gare them a cry , and their poetasters the subject of an . elegy which S accordingly sung in innumerable variations , to bewail the Lycidas

    After the dissolution of the Gironde , and the overthrow of the Council of Twelve , M > Louis Blanc surveys the rising omens of civil war . lo the tempestuous , clamours of the Convention a deadly stupor had succeeded . Men feared to discuss when they were preparing to fight . They seemed retiring to their separate camps . Only the young and the ardent continued to rely on the powers of peace ; to all others it seemed necessary to close their ranks , to search for traitors , to obtain the weapons that are powerful in civil conflicts . Here the revolution seemed to pause , and here M . Louis Blanc pauses , at the close of his eighth volume . Two others will complete the work , which will become a European classic , and stand among the most conspicuous monuments of the French Revolution .

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    FERNY OOMBES . Ferny Combes : a Ramble after Ferns in the Glens and Valleys of Devonshire . By Charlotte Chanter . ^ Reeve . Febny Combes 1 The very words are a treat to us in warm weather , and make us feel cooler as we write them . Every one who has been in Devonshire knows that a Combe is a vale or glen—an opening between the hills , sometimes so wide that a town can nestle in it , sometimes so narrow that nothing but a rivulet can make its cunning way along the hollow , and sometimes threaded by a winding lane , where you may either look at the grand curtain of hills all round you , or let your eye fall on the slate-built bank beside you , every yard of which is a study for a painter like Hunt—an enchanting confusion of starry flowers , delicate trefoil , and long , waving fronds .

    And among all the lovely things that grow along the lanes and on the hills of Devonshire , Ferns are some of the loveliest . There is this additional temptation to their study , that they may be dried without losing their beauty , and that , as Mrs . Chanter tells us , the collector " has but to open his ' Fern-book , ' and the forms of his favourites appear before him as green and graceful as when they hung by the mountain torrent , or waved in some quiet , shady lane , bringing back to remembrance pleasant summer rambles , amid lovely scenes , making the heart swell with gladness at the recollection of the forms of beauty and purity on which he has been permitted to gaze . " Moreover , the most dismal London drawing-room stared at by " nakedeyed" houses , and in which no flowers will flourish , may have a wreath of

    poetry brought into it by a glass-case of living ferns , looking always fresh and happy , aa you return from " taking the dust" in Hy de Park , or even when you light the gas at mid-day in a JSJ ovember fog . Hear Mrs . Chanter's practical-directions to those who have not many shillings to spare on superfluities : — You may have your pretty friends the ferns green and bright all the winter through in your sitting-room , only you must keep them from the impure air , and shield them in part from the changes of temperature to which a sitting-room is liable . If you liin l to for a le of shillings buy a bell-glass

    sufficientlyve a arge wn , you may coup large to cover seven or eight pots ; in the country the glass will cost half as much again . If you stand your plants on a round tin traj ' , to prevent the mdflfcure spoiling anything on which they are placed , and cover them over with your glass , you will , at the expense of a few shillings , have a miniature greenhouse , which will give you much , amusement . You should occasionally take off the glass and water the plants , being careful not to let thorn get too damp , as the crown is apt to decay . This is an inexpensive " closed case . " Those who have money to spare may , for thirty shillings or two pounds , have a Wardian case , in fact a miniature covered garden , for the ferns , which , instead of being in pots , are planted in the mould with which the bottom or tray is filled . It is much more pleasant to collect one ' s own plants than to buy them ; and if you are provided with that indispensable requisite " a tin case , " that is , an oblong tin box which closes tightly , you may toko plants any distance . I have now plants of

    J ' oli / podium JJryopteris and Allosorua crispua that I carried about for three weeks . But we must tell our readers more particularly what this pretty book is , from which we have been quoting . It is a little volume of not much more than a hundred pages , containing not only a description of Devonshire ferns with eight excellent illustrations , but also , as an introduction to this more special matter , a charming sketch of an excursion through the finest and least known districts of Devon , whither , very frequently , only your own horse or carriage can take you . We can wish for nothing p leaaanter at this moment in the wa . j of excursions , than to find ourselves in North Devon , in that guarantee of respectability , a gig , and making the very tour along which Mrs . Chanter has carried us in imagination . A very agreeable companion she is in this imagjnnry tour , for there is an ardour in her enjoyment of nature , and a happy way of describing ^ and narrating , which is the less surprising when one knows that she is a sister of Charles Kingsley . One great attraction in the tour described by Mrs . Chanter—at least to those who shudder at -watering places which leave only a general impression of eyes and flounces and bad German bands—is that it takes you to scenes where the delicious sounds of Nature are not drowned or scared away , und where her beauties are not all ticketed with a price . England is not yet quite transformed into continuous tea-gardens . For example : — Blckloigh ! Here wo had determined to stay the night . It was afx o'clock when

    we reached the village , and we had no wish to througa strange country ia the dark . Bnt we reckoned without our host , or hostess rather , who . came to the door and informed us that there was a ploughing-match on the morrow , and that in consequence her house wasfulL " She , was very sorry ; she would have obliged us . eladlv , but she really could not accommodate us . " " Where can we go then ? " we inquired , having fully made up our minds not to go to Plymouth , only a few miles distant . " Oh , at Jump , three miles off , you will be certain to find room , " was the reply . We went to Jump ; we entered the inn , were taken for two tramps by the landlady , who had not seen us arrive , beat a hasty retreat , and , in spite of our horse ' s weariness and our own hunger , started for Tavistock ; eight miles off , where , after a pleasant drive by moonlight , and many a laugh- &b > oar reception by the landlady of the " Jump Hotel , " we found a good supper , civility-, ' and . attention at the . Beaufort Arms . Travelling in Devonshire , if you leave the beaten track , is not always very easy ; from three inns in one day did we turn away unrefreshed . Of course , when we speak of inns , they were only such as an enthusiastic lover of the romantic , an angler , or pedestrian , would condescend to put his head iuto . " Pride goeth before a fall" is an old proverb ; but " Pride destroys a multitude of pleasures" is a true one of

    modern days , particularly as regards inns , because if you do not occasionally condescend to a humble lodging , some of the most beautiful parts of your own land must remain a terra incognita . In foreign countries people frequent inns they would despise in poor old England ; and as to fare , a good dish of eggs and bacon , nice white bread and fresh butter , are certainly preferable to a wretched omelette flavoured with garlic , black bread , and unmentionable butter , which are the staple commodities at country inns on the Continent . Many people only think of Dartmoor in connexion with mutton , or with prisons and penal settlements . We will give them a more poetic or cheerful association with it by quoting a fragment of Mrs . Chanter ' s spirited description : — Out upon the hills ! the glorious , granite-capped hills of Dartmoor , breezy and fresh ' Thousands of acres free from cultivation , for Nature has put her own seal

    upon them . Ages , ages ago were those huge blocks of granite strewn about , defying man to intrude on Nature ' s solitude ; for who could remove all those countless myriads of stones , to till the ground that lies beneath ? Yet centuries ago this wild region , and the wildest parts of it , now deserted by man , were the abodes of a curious , wonderful people . Dartmoor was one of the strongholds of the Drnids ; and the many " hut circles , " " stone avenues , " tolmens , and cromlechs , show them to have been a numerous people , marvellously attached to stones . Their peculiarly pet place , Wistman ' s Wood , is unique . Gigantic blocks of granite , so piled one on the other that the only way to get along is to jump from stone to stone . Woe betide you if you put your foot on a nice tempting piece of sedge or grass ! The thin crust- speedily gives way , and you may chance to get wedged in between Drnidical remains . __ From -among the rocks spring ancient oaks , known as ancients even in . ancient days , led and stuntedclothed with hoary mosses and parasitical plants .

    gnar , Not long ago we found numerous rabbit-paths along the branches of the : trees . Do naturalists record the fact that rabbits frequent trees ; or is it peculiar to those in Wistman ' s Wood ? Wise people say that Wistman ' s Wood ought to be " Wise Man ' s Wood , " in honour of the very clever and intellectual people who once resided there . Having a slight knowledge of the Devonshire vernacular , we make so bold as to suggest that " whist " or wist signifies sorrowful , mournful . Any one who has visited Wistman ' s Wood can hardly fail to have been struck with the doleful moans and sighing which assail him on all sides ( added to his own if he have a tumble , no unlikely thing ) , making him fancy that a regiment of Arch-Druids and Bards are bewailing the over- * throw of their altars , the desecration of their circles , the standing still of their rocking-r stones .

    In visiting Dartmoor from North Devon the best route is through Torrington to Oakhampton . The former most beautifully situated on a steep bank overhanging the Torridge ; the latter in the pretty valley of the Ockment " Under the Moor . " Oakhampton is a dull , deser ted-looking place , but there are many sights in the neighbourhood which it is considered necessary for those professing to have seen Dartmoor to have visited ; whether they are worth the trouble must depend on the taste of the visitor . Yes Tor , the highest peak in Devonshire , rises , about five miles from the town , to a height of upwards of two thousand feet . The view from the summit ia extensive ; the hills of Exmoor away in the north , Rough Tor and Brown Willy in extensive ; me I 11 U 3 OI JCiX . moor iiWiiy in we uuiiu , nuugu aui huu jljiuwu ituijt iu

    the West , while near at hand the rival hill of Cawsand Beacon and the minor tors and boga of " the Moor " stretch away for miles ; but the ascent is difficult and taiLsome , over huge masses of granite which lie scattered in every direction ; indeed i n some places not a blade of grass is to be seen ; it is literally a hill of rocks . Cawsand Beacon and Taw Marsh are also among the sights of this neighbourhood , but ore hardly worth a visit from any one who has braved the rocks of Yes Tor , as the view is very much the same , and the bogs far more abundant . But if you really wish to see the moor and do not mind " roughing it , " there are two or three out-of-the-way places where you may manage to exist for a day or two . And first , on the high road between Oakhampton and Tavistock we shall find the " Dartmoor Inn . " I give you warning that your fare may be nothing more luxurious than eggs and bacon , sparkling beer , and sparkling water ; but it will be served to you on so white a table as perchance your eyea ne ' er lighted on , and your snowy sheets will smell refreshingly of

    mountain pent . One thing we wish Mrs . Chanter had not done at the opening of her book —namely , araue with certain persons who may inquire "What ia the advantage of knowing the names of a set of weeds which arc of no use to any one ? " Argument is far too great a compliment to pay to people who can take no interest in a plant unless they can bo told that it will cure the cholic , or that it tastes well when boiled and served up with sauce . When her pretty little book reaches a second edition , as it deserves to do , we hope she will re-write her first three pages , and give it a more worthy opening than pedagogical remarks , rather questionable in their logic , to people who aro not likely to profit by her remarks even if they were less questionable *

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    FORGOTTEN HEROES . Lea Morts fnconnu . i : Le Pasteur du Desert . [ " The Unknoxon Dead : The Pastor of tho Wilderiu ) 8 . i . " '] Par M . Eugene Pelletan . Pariu ; Pftgnerre . Thk generations that suffered for conscience' sake during the century succeeding tho revocation of tho edict of Nantes , are the " unknown dead , " to whose heroic struggles for freedom this touching monument has been reared by a sympathizing artist . Tho " pastor of the wilderness" is the author's maternal grandfather , Jean Jurousseau , who in the latter days of tho persecution exercised his xninistry among the sandhills , the forests , and tho

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    " A Z travel h A »« n » Mi MM . } im 13 PTTIK . ™

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 16, 1856, page 787, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2154/page/19/