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writer of this paper enjoyed for many years), | on the grass, the slight, nervous, but well-made Leigh Hunt lived; and here Keats and Shelley form of the young poet; his well defined and visited him. Here it was that, on a bitter susceptibly expressive features, his large dark, winter's night, with a fierce wind blowing-and earnest eyes, brown flowing hair, and small the wind (says the writer of Rimini) loses head-and, alas! faded hands; for, even then, nothing of its fierceness on Hampstead Heath- he felt the flowers growing over him. It was Shelley found a woman lying on the snow, amidst the sylvan shades and sunny slopes on the top of the hill. Knocking at the first of Hampstead that "Endymion" was written, door he came to, he asked to have her taken in while living with his friend Charles Brown. and cared for; or, at least, that she might be Keats afterwards resided with Leigh Hunt, in placed in an out-house, out of the inclement the house already referred to in Heath Vale; night. Being refused, he made an application and "Lamia," "Isabella," "The Eve of St. at the second house, only to meet with the same Agnes," and the noble fragment of " Hyperion" result; whereupon he took her up, and carried are said to have been written in a pleasant her down the bleak path to the Lodge. His chamber of it which looks out upon the Upper charity was not ill bestowed. The woman (who Heath. Lord Byron also is said to have tenanted was on her way home to Hendon) had been a house in the Vale, and probably about this all-day attending a criminal court in which a time. charge had been made against her son, and, though he had been acquitted, the suspense and agitation, together with fatigue, had affected her so seriously as to produce fits, from which the doctor who was called in asserted she could not have recoved but for the timely care and shelter she received.

In the pages of Leigh Hunt we find Shelley loitering in the fields, leaning, note-book in hand, upon the old grey gates that led through fields, or wood-paths out upon the breezy Heath. Sometimes we wonder if it were here that he heard the skylark singing, as he himself sang

"Like a poet hidden

In the light of thought,
Singing hymns unbidden,

"Till the world is wrought

But while the whole of this bright galaxy were "gathered to the King of thoughts," with the exception of Leigh Hunt, who outlived her, the author of "De Montford" kept a little court for literary callers, and received, in her simple, old-fashioned home, the homage of the great in rank and intellect. It was on the occasion of a visit to Joanna Baillie that Mary Howitt, calling with her little son Charlton, had the pleasure of meeting Sir Walter Scott, whose admiration of the fair Saxon curls, and bright looks of the boy, must ever be associated with her remembrance of the kind-hearted author of the Waverley novels.

In 1851, at the ripe age of eighty-six, the little church-yard through which her feet had passed for so many years, received the remains of the

To sympathy with hopes and fears it heedeth not." Hampstead poetess, whose sister survived her

Sometimes we see him, on a summer's
day, sauntering in Millfield Lane, with
branches
66 green and shadows number-
less"-a lane so sylvan and flowery, in blos-
som time, that, if my readers do not know it,
they should take the earliest opportunity of be-
coming acquainted with it, if only for the sake
of the memories that cling about it. It runs
from the road between Hampstead and High-
gate to the foot of Highgate hill, dividing the
grounds of Lord Mansfield and Southampton,
but affording pleasant glimpses of the former
through breaks in the trees that overhang it.

It is a charmed spot for ordinary idlers; but
most of all for those who bring with them
memories of "Endymion," and
66 Adonais,"
whose authors are for ever associated with it.
Here Elia and Hazlett walked in the steps of
the poets; and others have trodden it with silent
feet who shall be in the hereafter of their com-
pany. Keats, who had many friends in the
neighbourhood of Hampstead, was fond of re-
siding here; its localities were the scenes of his
earliest abstractions, and suggested many of his
best poems. Here he found

"All he had loved, and moulded into thought

From shape, and hue, and colour, and sweet sound."
In those bygone days, one might see, cast

some ten years. During this time Hampstead
had still its literary settlers, who, if they did not
lead the Muses "into fields full ankle-deep with
lilies of the vale," conversed with them very
The Howitts-William and Mary-
sweetly.
though living at Highgate, were frequent visitors
to Hampstead Woods and Heath. And, though
the author of "Lydia," and other works which
have made a permanent place for themselves in
our literature, Camilla Toulmin (Mrs. Newton
Crosland), did not reside at Hampstead when
we first knew her (too long ago to tell contem-
poraries), her pretty home was on the high road
to it.

The Lovells, also, whose plays have won as
"De Montford," are
many tears and plaudits as
residents as I have said. The Lintons, too, she
whose young pen wrote "Azoth, the Egyptian,"
and who, together, charmed with pen and pencil,
lived here some time; so did also the sweetly
serious writer of "John Halifax." At present
the cottage in which she lived, at North-end, is
tenanted by the clever author of "The Life of
Wedgewood," Miss Meteyard (the "Silverpen"
of "Douglas Jerrold's," and many other ma-
gazines). She, if she sees them, will remember
pointing out many a green spot named in
these pages.

"While through the west, where sank the crimson day, Meek twilight slowly sailed, and waved her banners grey,"

Nor must we forget, amongst names to be remembered in connection with our subject, that of Florence Nightingale, who came hither to recruit her failing health, after the effects of her almost superhuman efforts in the Crimea. Royal visits to Hampstead in our own times are not unknown. King William the Fourth, who was chiefly remarkable for doing things that others did not, upon a summer's day (23rd of July, 1835), paid a Royal visit to Hampstead, and afforded his subjects in these northern parts a day of loyal effervescence, and high festival. In happier days, her Majesty Victoria used, it is said, to ride frequently to the grounds in the vicinity of Fitzroy Park (but then the Queen has the eye of an artist), for the sake of enjoying the lovely view, which is so much more beautiful and extensive than one would imagine; for still, as in the time of De Foe, one may distinguish, on a clear day, in the north-west, Hanslip steeple, which is within eight miles of Northampton, and see the Langden Hills, in Essex, to the east-objects which lie at least sixty-six miles apart. Then there is the prospect to London, and beyond to Banstead Downs, Shooter's Hill, and Red Hill; while, on the west, the view is uninterrupted to Windsor Castle. But to the north (says the topographer) one can see no further than Barnet, which is only six miles distant.

We are living in days of removation: old novels, old songs, old superstitions, and old fashions crop up from the past, and are read and sung and restored. "Clarissa" wakes the sympathy of a new generation of readers-the kettledrum of the ladies Betty or Dorethea, who bought the best green tea at eighteen shillings a-pound of the poet Gray's aunts, at the "Two Fans" on Ludgate Hill, or at some India-House at Exeter Change, is again in | vogue, and gowns à la Watteau all the fashion. Who knows, therefore (hydropathy being on the increase) but that the fashion of the Hampstead Wells may return! The water at the Shepherd's Well is in excellent rusty condition; and in the following advertisement, which has recently appeared, we cannot help thinking that something of the kind is in anticipation. Let my readers judge for themselves :

HA

AMPSTEAD-HEATH-HOUSE, with garden in the centre of Hampstead-heath. This lovely spot, near to the Metropolis, can never be built over, protective rights being attached to this property, in common with that of other owners of land enfranchised from the Heath, which also affords an almost unlimited area for exercise and amusement, in the highest and healthiest suburb of London. The FREEHOLD or LONG LEASE of this castellated MANSION is now on SALE by Private Contract. It contains 28 bed-rooms, capable of being made into spacious dormitories, besides large public rooms and offices; gas and water laid on from the company's mains, hot baths, and every arrangement adapted for a public institution, sanatorium, large infirmary or school, or economical place of resort, like the establishment at Malvern or Buxton, there being chaly

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beate springs on the grounds, the nature of which Hampstead was once well known. The principal walls are 2 feet thick, being built for an hotel for a public company and with the present fittings, cost nearly £15,000. To effect a speedy sale £5,500 will be taken for the freehold, or £3,500 for 99 years an annual ground-rent of £100. lease, subject to Apply to Messrs. Dowsett and Chattell, 29a, Lincoln'sInn-fields, where a plan and views maybe seen. In other ways, at all events, this advertisement is consolatory, For having thus traced the story of this loveliest of London suburbs, it is not toomuch to say that we hope its wide views may never be impeded, and that future generations may make unnumbered 'sunshine-holidays" amidst its verdant nooks, woody shades, its new-mown fields of scented vernal grass, and the wild freshness of the wind-swept Heath! so shall Hampstead still, as in old Drayton's time, re

66

main the noblest Hill."

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LEAVES FROM MY MEDITERRANEAN JOURNAL.

BY A NAVAL CHAPLAIN.

CHAP. VIII.-SMYRNA.

As the return journey from Constantinople, lying through the Archipelago, gave us opportunity of touching at Smyrna, an account of our visit to the latter forms a natural continuation of what has gone before. Smyrna is well worthy of prolonged notice on many accounts; and, first of these may be said to be its antiquity; next, is its peculiar distinctive character; and lastly, its commercial importance, as the centre of the Levant trade. Our voyage to Smyrna did not present any incident of such especial interest as to be worthy of note. Making a passage in a man of war, is always more or less monotonous, more so than any similar run in a packet would be. This is easily accounted for, by the fact that, in the former, the individuals who are compagnons de voyage, on this occasion have been so for months past, perhaps years; whilst each successive trip in a packet presents new faces, new phases of character, and representatives of different nationalities. "The watches were duly kept," the "rounds were regularly gone," and all that belonged to the monotonous inner life of a man of war went on with the usual horary regularity, as we lessened the distance (over two hundred miles), separating Constantinople from Smyrna. The general occupation when making a passage to a new place is to endeavour to learn, either from some more travelled messmate, or, failing this, from books, what the "sights" are. The number of ports visited by a man of war, and the shortness of the stay in many of them, renders it necessary to know beforehand what objects of historical or other interest are within such distance as to be of easy access by short excursions. Sailors have a proverbial and practical knowledge of geography, but their principal historical knowledge is, I am inclined to think, derived from James's Naval History and such topographical notices as their visits to remarkable localities suggest attention to. I am afraid that very few of our number knew-before the date of the visit I am now describing that the name Smyrna is borne by the city in honour of a heroine or Amazon, to whose worship its inhabitants were devoted. Whether the heroine Smyrna was an historical reality we are not able to ascertain: I shrewdly suspect she had no more real existence than had "the great Goddess Diana of the Ephesians;" nay, more, that they were identical! This opinion gains ground when it is remembered that some historians ascribe the origin of the ancient City of Smyrna to the labours of the Ephesian colonists.

With the ancient City of Smyrna, however, this sketch will have very little to do. Suffice it for its purpose to remark, en passant, that it was one of the many claimants to the honour of being the birthplace of Homer; and boasted of possessing the grotto in which his famous epics were written. Irenæus ascribes the introduction of Christianity into this part of Asia chiefly to the exertions of Polycarp, who was the first Bishop of Smyrna, and was afterwards martyred there. It is with the modern City of Smyrnaor as the Tnrks call it, Izmir-that the present narrative must concern itself. As soon as we had learned that Smyrna was our next destination, the city began to acquire considerable importance in our minds, and this arose, I must admit, not from its being the Smyrma of Homer, nor yet from its being ciated with the memory of the good "Bishop and martyr," but, from its being the well-known centre of eastern trade, and consequently the best mart in which to purchase such specimens of oriental manufacture and curiosities as we intended to take home.

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Arrived at Smyrna, our anticipations became greater than ever, owing to the imposing effect of the bay. This, which affords a splendid anchorage to the ships of all nations, is very extensive, and stretches its fair proportions into the town in such manner as to have suggested the building of handsome quays abounding with solid and capacious store-houses. The presence of these gives the visitor a more favourable impression of the town when seen from the sea; and, even on the first landing, the expectation is greater than is at all borne out by subsequent experiences of narrow streets and miserable wooden-houses to be met with in the interior of the city. As is usual, when a ship arrives in a foreign port, we were soon surrounded by boats, and these, though Turkish in character, fell far short of the gilding and general ornamental style of the Constantinople caiques. "The correct thing," on landing in a foreign port, is to "leave a card on the Consul." This custom, however useful in the case of admirals and post-captains, is rarely productive of much benefit to any of the officers. Wardroom or gun-room officers will, however, according to my experience, make a much more useful acquaintance by calling on the contractor instead. This latter functionary is generally an English or native merchant, who, in addition to his regular mercantile occupation, supplies such men-of-war as arrive in port with fresh beef, vegetables, and any other stores they may stand in need of. His account is vouched for by the signature of two other local merchants, testifying

to the prices charged being those of the market; | kneeling position, as the burdens are thereby and the amount is paid by a bill on the British rested upon the ground on either side of the Government, drawn by the paymaster of the weary brute; in the latter, the fact that the ship, and endorsed by the captain. Contracting kneeling posture renders the loading or unloadfor the supply of necessaries to English men-of- ing of the animal an easier task, causes the war, though fairly conducted, is of considerable driver to suggest to the camel the adopting of profit to the contractor; and he will generally be that posture, conveying the hint to him by refound civil and obliging to all the officers, and peated blows upon the legs. Before leaving the very willing to be of use to them by his counsel camels to their rest, I may remark that, although and advice as to the best stores, or traders to they are in general animals of mild and docile deal with, in the purchase of such specimens of disposition, and have always a very mild exthe native trade or manufacture as they may pression of countenance, instances, however, desire to purchase as souvenirs of their visit. are not wanting, in which camels have been Repairing at once from the landing-place to the known to fight with each other with great fury; house of business of the contractor, we ex- and I believe they would, when incensed, turn changed our English money for the current coin | upon the driver were such rebellion safe. Anyof the place; and then, under guidance of one one who has seen a camel "show his teeth" of his subordinates, proceeded in the direction will not doubt of the assertions sometimes heard of the Turkey carpet and Persian rug-stores. as to the bite they can occasionally give. I myOn entering that indicated as the best of these self have heard the angry voice of an obstinate shops, we found ourselves in a large square camel, and can well believe that, if he be as house, devoid alike of partitions or furniture. patient as the donkey, he is, in all probability, Piles of carpets and rugs were ranged along the just as dogged and mulish. The old saying, walls, ample space being thus left in the centre that "It is the last straw that breaks the for displaying the beauties and attractions of camel's back," is suggestive of an amount of quality exhibited by those that were in turn un- patience that would induce this animal to folded for our inspection. The articles dis- endure to the death almost unrepiningly. Anyplayed in this store were all of excellent quality one who has stood to see a caravan loaded, howand well worth the prices we gave for them. ever, will, I think, bear me out in saying that he The Persian rugs varied in price from two has often heard a camel "cry out before he was pounds upwards, a really valuable one, though hurt," and emit the sound that is supposed to of course not one of the highest price, being to be the symptom of being over-loaded, whilst the be had for three or four pounds. The Turkey load, though bound on to the saddle on his back, carpets were of all prices, and varied in pro- still rests its weight on the ground on either side portion to texture, colouring, and size. Our of its kneeling body. Some animals-obstinate purchases were confined principally, if not all and ill-tempered ones, I suppose--begin to murtogether, to the Persian rugs, which not only mur from the moment that the process of loading wear for ever, but were no higher in price than has commenced, and long ere any weight can their imitations would have been in England. have been felt. The trade of Smyrna with the The purchase of these wares will naturally lead interior is so extensive and varied, that caravans the visitor to the inspection of the great rendez- are constantly arriving or departing, some carry vous of the caravans. Here, in an inclosed carpets and rugs in huge bales slung one space, with a fountain in the centre, may be seen on either side of the rude camel-saddle. Others to arrive troops of camels bearing bales of rich carry packages, sacks, and even boxes. The merchandize from the interior. The fact that principal articles thus conveyed to Smyrna, and Mahomet was a camel-driver must, of necessity, thence exported to Europe, are cotton, guns, invest with a momentary interest the first camel- | drugs, opium, oil, wax, goats, wool, skins, Perdriver that a European sees pursuing his calling sian rugs and carpets. Smyrna has also a in the east. The western traveller will, however, large and exclusive export trade in figs; and as be doomed to disappointment, if he expects to we saw these fruits undergoing the process of find an appearance above the ordinary Arab in packing, it may not be out of place to say a few the man he now sees in charge of a long string words thereof. The Smyrna market is the only of camels arriving to unload. Without any one, that I am aware of, that is supplied with inclination to lecture upon natural history in figs from the country so early as September. general, or that of the camel in particular, I The packing of these in boxes gives considerable must say, that few more striking or essentially employment not only to men but to women also. eastern sights can be fancied than that presented The figs are brought in in camel loads, and by a long string of camels, all laden with the deposited on the floors of the receiving stores. products and manufactures of Persia, and all The women now take them in hand, and pull marching in single file along a sandy road. Nor them, or, rather work them into shape, after is the picture less effective when the caravan which they are taken in baskets to the men. arrives at a resting-place; or, as is the case at The men sit ready to receive these trays or Smyrna, at its destination. The great hulking baskets of figs, which they afterwards pack into frames soon begin to sink down, one by one, to "drums." The last-named proceeding is of a kneeling position: this movement is due such a nature as to effectually prevent anyone partly to instinct and partly to education. In who has seen its process from enjoying the he former case, the desire of ease suggests the eating of dried figs for ever afterwards. The

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