solemn service, sermon, and increase of commons." The good cheer consumed at the feast of "Founder's Day," Elizabethan as it is in character, bears, however, no proportion to the hecatomb of poultry consumed by the mourners assembled at his funeral, when, before starting, they drank a hogshead of claret, sixteen gallons of Canary, twelve gallons of white wine, ten gallons of Rhenish wine, six gallons of hippocras, and six barrels of beer; and at the dinner afterwards in Stationers' Hall, consumed, besides a still larger allowance of liquids, ten turbots, twenty-four lobsters, forty stones of beef, forty-eight capons, thirty-two geese, forty-eight chickens, thirty-two neats' tongues, forty-eight turkeypoults, seventy-two pigeons, forty-eight ducklings, and thirty-six quails, with such trifles as oysters and pastry in addition. Within three years from the founder's death, Charterhouse received its first inmates. It was decided by the governors soon after the foundation, that, "the Poor Brothers" should not exceed the number of four-score, and that only such as should be within the intention of the king's letters patent of the foundation should be held qualified, viz. "gentlemen by descent and in poverty, soldiers that have borne arms by sea or land, merchants decayed by piracy or shipwreck, or servants in household to the King's and Queen's majesties." The eighty pensioners, or "Poor Brothers," who have been ever since maintained on the foundation, have been, for the most part, selected from amongst professional or mercantile men; and, although serious abuses have sometimes been committed by appointing inferior persons, the governors seem generally to have recognised the principle that Charterhouse was designed to afford to men of education, who have sustained misfortune, who have fought the battle of life honourably but without success, a home and refuge in old age, that shall not contrast bitterly with the memory of comforts lost. The brethren live together in collegiate fashion, but each is provided with separate apartments, and with the necessaries of life, and 147. a year as an allowance in lieu of apparel-a pension, however, which is not sufficient to defray the cost of some simple comforts very needful to infirmity and age but not provided by the foundation. There are also forty-four " Poor Scholars" on the foundation, who are nominated in the same manner as the brethren, by the governors in turn. By "Poor Scholars" are understood the sons of poor gentlemen to whom the charge of education is an object. They are taught, maintained, and clothed free of all expense, save about 201. a year, and most of them are placed out at the proper age, or sent on "Exhibitions" to the universities. The exhibitions, and the placing out of scholars, averaged in the ten years to 1854, 11557. a year.† The names of Addison, and Steele, and Barrow, of Judge Blackstone, The governors (arranged in the order in which they nominate) now are, her Majesty, the Prince of Wales, Archdeacon Hale (Master of the Charterhouse), the Earl Howe, the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensbury, the Earl Russell, the Earl of Dalhousie, the Earl of Derby, the Lord Cranworth, the Earl of Harrowby, the Bishop of London, Lord Justice Turner, the Earl of Romney, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Viscount Palmerston, the Earl of Devon, the Archbishop of York, and Lord Chelmsford. The expenses of the establishment in the year ending March, 1854, exceeded 17,000l., and that sum is of course exclusive of the money paid in respect of the estates and trust funds. Lord Chief Justice Ellenborough, and Havelock, are but a few of those, among departed worthies, that reflect lustre on Charterhouse School, in which, as is well known, a great number of scholars other than those on the foundation are educated as at ordinary schools, both as day-scholars and as boarders in the schoolmaster's house. No event has thrown a darker shadow over the Christmas festivities of 1863 than the death of that noble, kindly-hearted author whose love for Charterhouse-the place of his education-and whose many references to it in his novels, will for ever associate the name of THACKERAY. With the traditions of the school. Both as to the scholars and the "Poor Brothers," this great foundation continues to be governed by the statutes of 1627, save so far as they have been altered by subsequent orders, all of which are fully set out in the report made in 1854 by an inspector of the Charity Commission, and subsequently laid before parliament. It is hardly necessary to remark in conclusion, that Charterhouse is no ordinary charitable foundation, and is not a mere hospital, nor an almshouse, nor a free grammar-school, but justly ranks with the great collegiate and other public foundations of this country. When one looks at the portrait of the worthy founder which decorates the great hall, or at the monumental effigy in beard and gown which commemorates him in the chapel, he seems still saying through all time:* Here seek ye young, the anchor of your mind, W. S. G. THE COSSACKS. BY DR. MICHELSEN. army. SUWAROFF used to call the Cossacks the of the eye This great general of his time and his country in particular, knew well how to make use of these irregular troops, to whom he owed a great part of his victories and their political results. Next to Suwaroff, it was General Tettenborn and Count Platoff, who, during the French war (1812-1814), did wonders of exploits with their Cossacks. The Cossack, however, of the present time is no longer the same what he was in the last, or even the beginning of the present century. His position, character, and function, have undergone material changes, and he has now become a mere sort of gendarme, to guard the frontiers of the empire, and to form a safeguard of honour to distinguished states' functionaries. Various native writers have, within the last twenty years, expressed their regret at this derogatory character wrought in the position of the Cossack, without, however, considering that a government like the Russian, which is so notorious for its sly and calculating proceedings, must -Petite hinc, juvenesque senesque Finem animo certum, miserisque viatica canis. have had weighty reasons for a transformation of such an important part of the army. Nor is it so very difficult to arrive at them. The whole system of warfare had already undergone considerable changes long before railways and other easy means of transport were introduced. Individual genius and bravery no longer decided the fate of a battle, and the success depends now, more than ever, chiefly on the skill and judicious strategy of the leaders. A great number of discoveries and inventions in the arts and sciences are now applied with destructive success to the instruments of war, against which only regular troops provided with similar means are able to cope. Indeed, even in former times, the Cossacks were but rarely, and in extreme emergency, employed against regular infantry, and hardly ever against artillery. Their chief value consists in disquieting and harassing the enemy. The Cossacks-like all Asiatic troops-show great reluctance to face the mouth of a cannon, and in the use of which they exhibit extreme clumsiness and inaptitude. But though in a European war the Cossack is of but little use, his great importance in wars with less civilised nations remains now the same as before. Russian policy has, therefore, found it advisable to divide the whole race into two sections. The first is destined to guard-as mentioned above-the frontiers of the empire; and it has recently received such constitutional laws and regulations as to render their previous roving and marauding life of independence, a matter of absolute impossibility. In the north of the Caucasus and Great Tartary the present Cossacks of the line still defend the southern frontier of the empire with the same success as did in the past centuries the Cossacks of the Don and Dnieper. In continual strife with the bordering Kirghisi, Circassians, and other tribes, these Cossacks of the line have acquired the habits of martial life, and have thus become very useful guardians of the Asiatic frontiers. In the previous centuries, when they were less ruled by the state, and their existence depended to a certain extent on their own exertions, the Don and Dnieper-Cossacks usually found a safe asylum of rest and retreat in the deserted provinces along the frontiers, while at present they have their regular fortresses to retire into, which, by their proximity to each other, form a close line of defence against sudden invasion or attack by superior forces. The other section, the descendants of the Don-Cossacks, are now stationed at the frontiers in those parts of the empire where no invasion is to be apprehended, such as Prussia, Austria, Turkey, and even Persia. Their main task and duty are, to prevent smuggling and desertion, and they perform, besides, especially in the west and south, the duties of the police, and even executioners, of the local authorities in the various provinces. Moreover, travellers of distinction and rank obtain these Cossacks as guides and guards of honour, whose duty it is to provide for those travellers post-horses, provision, and other accommodations along the route. It may easily be imagined, that by such a change in his life, position, and function, the Cossack has lost much of his national character and peculiarities, and has become a complete nonentity in a European war. During the Polish revolution (1830-1831), as also in the last Crimean war, the Cossacks played but an inferior part in the various encounters, while in the wars with Turkey and Persia they proved themselves extremely useful. The Cossack has a number of native qualities that render him very valuable in war. The sharpness of his hearing organ is not inferior to that we read of the savages in the backwoods of America. With his ear on the ground, he can distinctly hear for miles off the roaring of the cannon, and even the hoof-steps of cavalry or footsteps of infantry. When placed as forepost, his eye can discern at a great distance objects of suspicious appearance. Though they use neither drum or trumpet, nor, in fact, any instrument of call, retreat, or alarm, they all rally at a certain point by mere signs of recognition, however much and far they may be dispersed and separated from each other. A stranger from childhood to comforts and luxury, the Cossack can bear fatigue, hardships, and sufferings without harm or injury to his body. Like his horse, he can bear hunger and thirst for a long time, and is then perfectly satisfied with the coarsest meal. His horse is quickly saddled and bridled, and defies any surprise. The Cossack knows of no apparent obstacle that he cannot remove by some means or other. He plunges heedlessly and foolhardy into a stream on the back of his horse, and reaches the other bank with his clothes all dripping wet in pursuit of the enemy or any object in view. He assails and rushes with impetuous rapidity at the enemy, but retreats as quickly as soon as he meets with resistance. In the rapidity of his movements he resembles the Bedouin Arab, being here, there, and nowhere. No sooner has the assailed enemy made his preparations to meet him than the Cossack is already out of sight, and suddenly makes his reappearance at a spot where he is least expected. In the last French war (1812-1814), the cleverness of the Cossack in that respect even attracted the admiration of Napoleon himself, who was frequently harassed in the midst of the night by a handful of Cossacks who ventured to approach his head-quarters, and were out of sight as soon as the alarm was given. With his Russian god (a different one from that of other Christians) in his heart, and his emperor in his thought, he is the blind organ of his commander, who can do with him anything he likes. to all external influences or obstacles, he most punctually and literally executes the orders of his superiors, while his vigilance has almost become proverbial. No soldier understands nocturnal marches better than the Cossack, who rests half asleep on his horse, which in its turn trots on with its eyes equally half closed with sleep. But, however indefatigable he may be in the pursuit or harassing of the enemy, he is the most idle and indolent creature on earth when far from the seat of war, when he passes the whole of his time alternately in sleeping, loud carousing, gluttony, and drunkenness. During the latter fit, all present acquaintances and strangers are obliged to share in his merriment, even those from whom he has purloined the spirits. In the house where he is billeted, he soon becomes familiar, and assists in the drudgeries of the household work. Cossacks with long beards were frequently seen playing even excellent nurses in German families abroad during their stay in Germany; they were seen cradling, rocking, and lulling the infants to sleep, or carrying them about in their arms, and trying to pacify them by all sorts of amusements, caresses, and endearing terms. But no sooner is the Cossack removed from the house where he has become almost one of the family, than various articles are missed in the household, which the lodger has-no doubt-appropriated to himself in his assumed title and right as a member of the family. Deaf CONSOLATION. BY HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN. DECEMBER 30, 1863. TRANSLATED BY MRS. BUSHBY. AH! no one can tell what a day may disclose! But whenever o'er Denmark the black clouds have bent, Our country lay prostrate, and nearly crushed, when The night it is stormy, and high swell the waves, Ah! no one can tell what a day may disclose! That, only the God of omnipotence knows; But whenever o'er Denmark the black clouds have bent, * Niels Ebbesen. A patriotic and valiant Danish hero, a nobleman of Jutland. During the interregnum of seven years which occurred between the death of King Christopher the Second and the accession to the throne of Valdemar the Third, Denmark had been overrun by marauding German barons, or counts, and other unprincipled adventurers. These despotic intruders-perhaps robbers might be a more appropriate name-caused such evils in the Danish provinces, that a champion for Denmark happily arose in the person of Niels Ebbesen, a man of great courage, ability, and good sense. When the Count of Holsteen's tyranny was at its height, Ebbesen, with only sixty followers, entered the town, garrisoned by a thousand men, where the German pretender resided, and made his way into his very bedroom; the count, starting from his sleep, beheld his enemy standing over him with a drawn sword in his hand. Humbly he prayed for life, and numerous were the fair promises which he made, but the sword was not a knife in a child's hand. The count and two others were killed, and Ebbesen left the town as safely as he had entered it. The count's death occasioned great consternation in his army, and his sons sought safety where they could. However, they gathered troops and rallied, and a bloody battle was fought on November 2, 1346, wherein the noble Ebbesen fell, but fell victorious, for the greater part of the Holsteen army were annihilated. Atterdag. Valdemar Christophersen the Third was one of the victorious Valdemars, whose names are so revered in Denmark. He expelled the lawless German invaders, and restored the kingdom to its integrity and rights. He acquired the name of "Atterdag" from a habit he had of saying, "To-morrow we will have another day." What he could not accomplish in one day he expected to finish in two. |