1834.] THE MONUMENT OF LONDON. 9. The turkeys in Norfolk are famous we know, We've now got to London, so great in renown, 11. Through the county of Surry we'll now take our ride, 12. To the bright shores of Sussex we next will repair, 13. In Dorset and Som'rset we'll tarry awhile, So famed for its valleys and worthies of old. 14. And now we've arrived at the end of the land, We'll make at the Land's-end of Cornwall a stand; And since that in so many places you've been; You'll remember, I hope, all the things you have seen. THE MONUMENT OF LONDON, 307 THIS Monument is perhaps one of the noblest columns in the world. It was built to commemorate the great fire of London, and the rebuilding of the city after the fire. It is in Fish-street Hill, a very short distance from London Bridge. It was built by that great architect,SirChristopher Wren, in the reign of king Charles the second. It was begun in the year 1671, and finished in the year 1677. The whole height of it is 202 feet. In the inside there is a large staircase of black marble, with 345 steps, leading to an iron balcony which surrounds the Monument, and where people go to look down upon the wonders of London below. The sides of the pedestal of the pillar are adorned with curious figures, intended to represent something of the history of the Fire of London, and its restoration. From the inscriptions upon it we read that " In the year 1666, the second day of September, a terrible fire broke out about midnight, just 202 feet eastward of this column, (which is exactly its height,) that the fire was driven by a high wind, and not only laid waste the adjoining parts, but very distant places too, with incredible noise and fury." It consumed 89 churches, the city gates, guildhall, many public buildings, hospitals, schools, and libraries, besides many hundreds of streets, and many thousands of houses. The ruins of the city are said to have covered 436 acres. When this dreadful fire had continued to rage for three days, and when all human aid seemed to be wholly vain, it pleased God to put a sudden stop to it. This fire was indeed dreadful, but we have seen that in the end it was made productive of good, for the city was built again on a much better plan than before; the streets were made much wider, and consequently London became much more airy and healthy than it had been before. In former days, that most dreadful disease, the plague, was very frequent in London, and the very year before the fire it had swept off a vast number of the inhabitants. An inscription on the Monument tells us that this dreadful fire was caused by the malice and treachery of the popish faction, in order to the carrying on their horrid plot for destroying the Protestant religion and English liberty, and introducing popery and slavery; but whether this is true or not, I am not able to say. I hope not. For in those days, the people had seen so much of the real evils of popery, that they were apt to believe that every misery that occurred was brought about by them; and so we may hope that they were not really guilty of so dreadful a piece of wickedness. 1834.] COUNTRY THEATRES. 309 The Monument has been generally open to the public, to be seen for sixpence; and a person may ascend by the steps to the balcony which commands a noble view of London and the distant country. But we have been informed that of late years it has not been usual to allow persons to go up, from an apprehension of danger. As we have not tried, we do not know how this is; and our young readers will be safer in looking at the Monument from below, than at London from above; and save their six-pence besides. A fine opening has been lately made, by pulling down many houses in the neighbourhood of the Monument, so that the whole of this noble column is now beautifully brought before the eye of the public. COUNTRY THEATRES. V. We have had occasionally letters from our correspondents on the evils of theatrical entertainments. As this is a subject which did not seem much to concern our cottage readers, we have not inserted any of the letters relating to it. It is, indeed, true, that a company of players will sometimes visit a country town; and we can quite understand why the inhabitants are inclined to complain of the evils arising therefrom. The appearance of a company of players in a country place is generally the introduction of a great deal of vice and misery; the inhabitants spend their time and their money on what is not likely to do them any good; and the heads of many poor people are often turned with all the finery and nonsense which they hear and see on the stage; the country players generally leave a town in debt, and thus produce much misery. The moral of many of our plays is very bad; the songs and the dances are often very indelicate; the language is often so profane and loose, that a man possessing any religious principle, feels himself quite out of place when he visits a theatre. We are fully aware that the theatre has been considered as a school of morals; and no one would deny that there are dramas which contain excellent lessons of instruction; but this is far from being the case with the greater number of them: and, even in London, we much fear that the profligacy and wickedness encouraged or produced by all that is connected with the theatre, is constantly doing more harm to the mass of the attendants, than can be compensated by any good which a few well-disposed persons might chance to pick up even from the most moral of the dramas which are now performed before them. The Bishop of London, from his place in the House of Lords, lately said, he must be permitted to repeat now what he stated last year—namely, that the theatres of the metropolis were conducted in a manner that was a scandal to a moral people and a Christian country. (Hear.) He repeated this, notwithstanding all the obloquy and odium to which he had been subjected in consequence of his former declaration to the same effect. He felt that the mode in which plays were represented at the theatres was subversive of the moral feelings of the people, and if not checked would ultimately tend to shake the State itself, because whatever tended to demoralise the people would endanger the institutions of the country. GARDENING, &c. V. Budding Trees.-The following suggestion is from the Floricultural Cabinet, p. 166, No. 17, July, 1834. It might be a useful practice in budding, for young gardeners, and add much ornament to common hedges. "Last year, I budded a number of the garden variety of roses, upon the wild ones growing in my hedge-rows. I selected different shades of colour in the kinds, and such as are highly fragrant. They are now in bloom, and to view the variety of shades in colour, and to inhale the delightful odoriferous scent they impart is most gratifying." Both the Horticultaral Register and Floricultural Cabinet most strongly recommend a book called "A Catechism of Gardening, intended for the use of Village Schools and Cottages, by an Old Practitioner." Is. Ridgway and Sons. The Floricultural Cabinet strongly recommends "Letters on the Consumption of Malt, addressed respectively to the Farmer, Labourer, and Labourer's Friend, by F. 1834.] DYING SENTIMENTS OF HOOKER. 311 Skimshire, M.D." Pamphlet, 8vo. 31 pages. Publisher's name not given. Whittaker and Co. Ave Maria Lane, the publishers of the Cabinet, would perhaps know. The transcriber has not yet received the above works-nor heard of them otherwise. On the Culture of Peas.-(By Mr. Townsend.-See Horticultural Register, No. 37, July, 1834, p. 302.)— "The method I have been in the habit of pursuing, is to sow the seeds of the second and after crops in rows, a considerable distance apart, say from twenty to thirty feet, according to the size of the kitchen garden, or the quantity required. The interval between the rows is cropped with other vegetables of dwarf growth, such as broccoli, savoys, cabbage, spinach, celery, &c., so that there may be no loss of ground. The tall peas, when sticked, are an advantage to the intermediate crops when first planted, on account of the shade they afford. By the above treatment the crop is increased fully one-third, and of superior quality. The produce of the common bean and scarlet runner is considerably increased. A strong rich loam is the best soil for late peas; and for early peas, I believe, a light dry soil will answer best. It is a general practice, in small gardens particularly, to sow the peas too thick, which is greatly detrimental to the crops. As a criterion, I should recommend for the earliest sorts, about a pint to every fifteen yards, and for the later kinds, the same quantity to about twenty-five yards. All the varieties of grey peas are unfit for garden culture." (Sent by a Correspondent.) THE DYING SENTIMENTS OF THE GREAT AND JUDICIOUS HOOKER. We believe that the following extract (now sent by a Correspondent) has been already inserted in one of our Numbers; but it will well bear repetition. We have not, at this moment, the means of reference. "I have lived to see that this world is made up of perturbations, and I have been long preparing to leave it, and gathering comfort for the dreadful hour of making my account with God, which I now apprehend to be |