The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 17, No. 477, February 19, 1831

In Short

This volume of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction serves as a vibrant periodical window into early nineteenth-century thought, culture, and geography. It collects diverse accounts spanning European travel, historical reflection, artistic triumphs, and curious customs, weaving together descriptions of remote Norman architecture, theatrical biographies, and moral essays. It has endured as a fascinating cultural artifact because it preserves the exact texture of contemporary curiosity, capturing both grand historic shifts and eccentric daily details with striking immediacy.

The Story

The volume opens by turning its gaze toward the striking granite masses of Mount St. Michael in Normandy, a geologic wonder freighted with both ancient history and the shifting political exiles of France. From this landscape of stone and sea, the text transitions into poetic laments, capturing the marble grief of Niobe struck down by divine vengeance, her form immortalized in tragic stillness.

The narrative current then flows outward along the grand course of the Rhine, tracing the river's journey from its cradle in the Alpine snows and the Lake of Constance down through cheerful towns, Gothic piles, and ruined castles, until it finally melts away into the sands of Holland like the brief course of human life. Along this path, the reader encounters the bustling public amusements and cultural friction of the era, stopping in Durham to witness a theatrical conjuror whose tricks confound a stern minor canon, leading to an indignant retreat.

Moving from stagecraft to social critique, the text examines the harsh realities of criminal justice, noting how a young girl narrowly escaped being burnt alive for coining due to a casual parliamentary intervention, while reflecting broadly on the proper bounds of public spectacles, legal ethics, and the quiet dignity of those who inhabit the middle station of life, possessing neither poverty nor riches.

The journey expands geographically and biographically, celebrating the industrious life of Mr. Allan Cunningham, who rose from a stone-mason in Nithsdale to chronicle British art, and detailing the triumphant yet tragically brief English residency of composer Carl Maria von Weber. Weber arrives in London amidst damp weather to orchestrate the brilliant reception of Oberon, only to find his exhausted frame giving way until he passes away peacefully in his sleep.

Finally, the volume wanders into remote cultural practices and historical curiosities, detailing how Kalmuck Tartars distill potent brandies from mare's milk and ferment dairy in unwashed skin bottles, how Somerset villagers parcel out common land using marked apples on Midsummer Eve, and how ancient Roman porters and British national anthems bridge diverse worlds before the volume closes its grand tour beside the weathered figurehead of Lord Anson's ship.

How It Unfolds

• The granite mount — The volume begins by examining the geological wonder and political associations of Mount St. Michael in Normandy, noting its massive primary rock formation and its relevance to modern French exiles.
• The silent grief — Verse captures the mythological tragedy of Niobe, detailing the icy numbness and marble death that overcomes a mother struck by divine vengeance.
• The flowing river — A poetic voyage down the Rhine traces the river from its Alpine birthplace through castles and gorges until it dissolves quietly into the Dutch sands.
• The stage and the trick — An account from Durham describes a visiting conjuror whose card and coin tricks accidentally target a minor canon, provoking an outraged departure.
• The shadow of the law — Historical reflections recall the severe criminal codes of recent decades, highlighting the narrow escape of a young girl condemned to be burnt alive for counterfeiting.
• The triumph and decline — The narrative follows composer Carl Maria von Weber from his joyful arrival in rainy London through the triumphant premiere of Oberon to his quiet death.
• The customs of distant lands — Ethnographic notes describe the unique preparation of fermented mare's milk and milk-brandy by the Kalmuck Tartars in their smoky tents.
• The final anchor — The volume concludes with local English antiquities, including the allotment customs of Somerset common land and the weathered figurehead of Lord Anson's circumnavigating ship.

The People

• Niobe — A mythological mother who wants to protect her children from divine wrath, though her maternal devotion is shattered by heavenly darts as she stands fixed in dumb despair and silent woe.
• Carl Maria von Weber — A celebrated composer who wants to bring his romantic operas to triumph while managing his failing health, but finds his tired forces overwhelmed by exhaustion, ending his days peacefully in a London lodging.
• Mr. Allan Cunningham — A former stone-mason from Nithsdale who applies virtuous diligence to literary pursuits, securing a respected place in art and letters through his own hard work.
• The Rev. Mr. P. — A minor canon who wants to enjoy a public entertainment in peace, but finds himself deeply offended when a travelling conjuror tricks him into pulling cards and money from his own pockets, prompting him to lecture the doctor and storm out.

In Its Own Voice

Hush'd are the groans of death, heart-piercing sound, That mournful rose in peals on peals around;

This couplet opens the poetic contemplation of maternal grief and divine vengeance in the verses dedicated to Niobe.

God be thanked! here I sit, well and hearty, already quite at home, and perfectly happy in the receipt of your dear letter, which assures me that you and the children are well...

Composer Carl Maria von Weber expresses immediate relief and domestic affection to his wife upon arriving safely in England.

The Rhine!--That little word will be For aye a spell of power to me, And conjure up, in care's despite, A thousand visions of delight.

The anonymous minstrel concludes a sweeping poetic tribute to the German river by celebrating its lasting hold on the imagination.

What It's Really About

The volume explores the complex interplay between nature's permanence and human ephemerality. It investigates how civilization records itself—through monumental architecture, tragic art, legal codes, and popular amusements. Beneath the descriptions of travel and biography lie persistent questions about the human cost of progress, the dignity found in modest labor, and the fragile balance between public spectacle and private morality. It asks how society manages its institutions, treats its artists, and remembers its past through the shifting currents of politics and culture.

Why Read It Today

Readers who love nineteenth-century periodicals, antiquarian curiosities, and unhurried prose will find immense charm in this collection. Reading it feels like browsing through an intelligent cabinet of curiosities, where a discussion of geological strata sits right beside a theatrical anecdote or an intimate letter from a dying composer.

The book demands patience, as its language is formal, ornate, and rooted entirely in the idioms and assumptions of the 1830s. Period attitudes toward class, justice, and foreign cultures appear without modern sanitization. However, those willing to adjust to its leisurely pace will be rewarded with an authentic, unfiltered view of how people of the past entertained, educated, and understood themselves, leaving behind lingering impressions of river voyages, vanished customs, and the quiet fragility of human ambition.