The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 14, No. 388, September 5, 1829

In Short

Published on September 5, 1829, this issue of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction offers a diverse collection of essays, poetry, historical sketches, and travel accounts. It guides readers from the historic stone and clockwork of London churches to the melancholy remnants of the extinct Boeothick people in Newfoundland, while touching upon European literary shrines, Parisian criminal exploits, and humorous anecdotes. The periodical has endured as a rich capsule of nineteenth-century popular culture, preserving the curiosities, sentiments, and intellectual tastes that captivated everyday readers of the Georgian era.

The Story

The volume opens with a detailed look at London’s historic Saint Dunstan’s in the West, noting its famous wooden savage figures that strike the hours, its antiquity documented by Stow, and its survival through the Great Fire of London. From urban architecture, the text shifts to the philosophy of travel and literary association, examining how modern visitors feel profound emotional connections when visiting the former haunts of great men like Erasmus in Rotterdam or Charles Fox at Chiswick. This meditation on memory and place extends to the old wynds and closes of Edinburgh, where romantic associations created by the author of Waverley transform the Scottish landscape into hallowed ground.

The rhythm then turns lyrical with a humble sparrow’s poetic address celebrating nature’s chorus, before plunging into a sobering historical account of the Red Indians, or Boeothicks, of Newfoundland. Mr. Cormack’s journey across Red Indian Lake uncovers the quiet desolation of abandoned wigwams, birch-rind canoes, and deer fences, bearing witness to a culture cruelly extirpated by historic misunderstandings and tragic violence, such as the 1810 expedition led by Captain Buchan. Moving past these dark reflections, the periodical lightens its tone through miscellaneous notes of a reader, featuring Dr. Southey’s reflections on the serene composure of the poor facing death near Derwentwater, and a fascinating nineteenth-century Chinese visitor’s poetic observations of London’s smooth streets and autumn migrations.

Further cultural vignettes follow, including Burmese anxieties regarding social dignity and women treading overhead on steam vessels, alongside Thomas Campbell’s poignant verse bidding farewell to emigrants departing for New South Wales. The instruction continues with practical social advice on how to conquer the awful silence of dinner parties through small talk, fashion gossip, and name-dropping newspaper editors. The editorial selection then shifts to Vidocq’s criminal memoirs, detailing the audacious thefts of rogues like Beaumont, who impersonated a magistrate to pillage the Bureau Central, and Capdeville, who exploited false keys.

The journey concludes with witty recollections of Dr. Paley, highlighting his pragmatic views on ready money as a check upon imagination and his dry encounters with plagiarism. Finally, after passing through brief historical jests involving Voltaire and royal courts, the issue closes with publisher J. Limbird’s catalog of cheap, popular works, ranging from the Arabian Nights and Plutarch’s Lives to classic essays by Franklin and Bacon, sealing a comprehensive, engaging window into the intellectual and literary diet of Georgian readers.

How It Unfolds

The London landmark opens The issue begins with a comprehensive exploration of Saint Dunstan's in the West, detailing its famous clock-striking wooden savages, its architectural features, and centuries of ecclesiastical history. It highlights the building's survival through major fires, its prominent London celebrity, and its deep roots in the capital's public life before its anticipated demolition. Readers learn of its early rectory records and associations with celebrated preachers.

The pilgrimage of memory The narrative transitions to the deep emotional resonance of visiting historic sites, tracing an observer's footsteps to the modest, neglected Rotterdam lodging of Erasmus. Similar reflections on place and history carry the reader northward through the old town of Edinburgh, evoking the romantic associations immortalized by Walter Scott. These journeys emphasize how human memory clings to physical spaces left behind by great figures.

The tragedy of Newfoundland A sharp shift introduces Mr. Cormack's harrowing expedition deep into the interior in search of the Red Indians of Newfoundland. The text surveys abandoned wigwams, birch-rind canoes, and silent cemeteries, carefully documenting the tragic extinction, deer fences, and unique culture of the unoffending Boeothick people who once inhabited the lake. It reflects upon past violent encounters and the lingering ghosts of a displaced community.

The diverse notes of a reader An eclectic gathering of essays and poems follows, moving smoothly from Southey's observations on Derwentwater and human mortality to a Chinese visitor's fresh impressions of London architecture and seasonal migration. These segments blend poetic melancholy with cross-cultural curiosities, encompassing Burmese etiquette, small talk rules for dinner parties, and emotional emigrant farewells bound for New South Wales.

The art of society and crime Practical social instruction shares space with Parisian criminal memoirs from Vidocq, detailing the audacious thefts committed by master rogues like Beaumont within the Bureau Central. The volume concludes with dry, witty anecdotes of Dr. Paley, playful historical sketches involving Voltaire, and publisher advertisements for affordable literary classics. Each entry contributes to a multifaceted mosaic of Georgian culture and entertainment.

The People

Several distinct figures populate the pages of this periodical, each driven by specific pursuits. Erasmus wants to engage in classical reveries, but time and neglect stand in his way, leaving his former habitation reduced to a squalid, moth-eaten estaminet visited by an ignorant landlady. Captain Buchan wants to open a friendly intercourse with the Red Indians of Newfoundland, but a lack of mutual confidence and suspicion of betrayal stand in the way, resulting in tragedy and the execution of English hostages. Shawnawdithit, a surviving Red Indian woman, provides vital facts about her people's lost way of life, though her entire tribe ultimately faces cruel extirpation. Mr. Cormack wants to find and document the elusive Boeothicks, wandering across desolate lakes to uncover their abandoned wigwams and artifacts.

Among the criminals, Beaumont wants wealth and ease, successfully impersonating a magistrate to plunder the Bureau Central; however, betrayal by a friend stands in his way, and he ends up condemned, dying in exhaustion at Brest after failed escapes. Similarly, Capdeville seeks illicit gains by exploiting false keys and darkness, but suspicion eventually exposes him. In intellectual circles, Dr. Paley wants practical wisdom, using dry wit to advise on ready money as a check upon imagination, while Voltaire wants to maintain his standing with the King of Prussia, but after being squeezed like an orange, he chooses to quit the royal dominion. Each figure illustrates the period's diverse human dramas, from scholarly devotion to criminal downfall.

In Its Own Voice

Reflecting on the emotional pull of historic spaces, the author describes a profound encounter with the scholar's legacy in Rotterdam:

Imagination transported me back to the eventful times in which Erasmus flourished, opening to my mind's eye a long vista of historical recollections, till my absorbed demeanour attracted observation.

Contemplating the silent relics of an erased community in Newfoundland, the writer captures the haunting atmosphere of an abandoned settlement:

We spent several melancholy days wandering on the borders of the east end of the lake, surveying the various remains of what we now contemplated to have been an unoffending and cruelly extirpated people.

Offering pragmatic counsel on personal finance and daily restraint, Dr. Paley illustrates a familiar domestic truth:

A man should never paay mooney till he can't help it; soomething maay happen.

What It's Really About

Beneath its varied surface of poetry, news, and trivia, this volume explores the profound human desire to connect with the past and preserve vanishing worlds. It investigates how physical places—whether a historic London church, a modest Dutch room, or a remote Newfoundland lake—retain the emotional resonance and memory of those who once inhabited them. The periodical ponders the sharp contrasts between civilization and desolation, examining human ingenuity alongside moral failure, social artifice, and deep-seated historical tragedy. Through travel essays, criminal records, and lyric verse, it questions how society remembers the displaced, honors intellectual achievement, and navigates the quiet, inevitable passage of time and mortality.

Why Read It Today

Modern readers will love this issue for its remarkable time-capsule quality, offering an unvarnished portal into the intellectual appetites and daily reading habits of 1829 Britain. It feels like flipping through the personal scrapbook of an inquisitive, highly literate Victorian ancestor who clipped together urban legends, tragic colonial histories, poetry, and police reports. Reading it provides a charmingly varied rhythm, shifting seamlessly from heartfelt romantic verse to dry philosophical wit and gritty criminal exploits.

While modern audiences may find some period conventions leisurely or notice dated attitudes regarding indigenous peoples and social etiquette, these elements offer genuine historical texture rather than simple obstruction. What stays with you long after closing the volume is the haunting image of the deserted Newfoundland wigwams, the quiet dignity of Erasmus's forgotten room, and the timeless human impulse to find meaning in places touched by history. It rewards anyone curious about the textures of nineteenth-century life, blending entertainment, instruction, and a poignant awareness of what time leaves behind.