[Illustration: PORTRAIT of the late SIR HUMPHRY DAVY, Bart.] * * * * * THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION: CONTAINING ORIGINAL ESSAYS; HISTORICAL NARRATIVES; BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS; SKETCHES OF SOCIETY; TOPOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTIONS; NOVELS AND TALES; ANECDOTES; SELECT EXTRACTS FROM NEW AND EXPENSIVE WORKS; _POETRY, ORIGINAL AND SELECTED:_ THE SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS; DISCOVERIES IN THE ARTS AND SCIENCES; _USEFUL DOMESTIC HINTS;_ &c. &c. &c. * * * * * VOL. XIII. * * * * * LONDON PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY J. LIMBIRD, 143, STRAND. _(Near Somerset House.)_ 1829 * * * * * PREFACE. * * * * * We begin to think that a long Preface in this season of _ennui_ would be almost as tiresome as tragedy in warm weather, and much more so than the trite three-line Prologue in Hamlet. Our materials are collected from all quarters, with but little of our own; so that we might praise all the authors without the charge of uncommon vanity; but panegyric savours much of the poppy, and we must use it accordingly. Our thanks are first due to such Subscribers as have, by personal observation and research, enabled us to throw a light on certain obsolete customs or portions of our domestic history; for these contributions form a prominent feature of the Correspondence of THE MIRROR; it being our object, in this department, to gather facts rather than to draw only upon the invention of our friends. In support of this system we could select many specimens from the Correspondence of the present volume, the interest of which is, we hope, be equal to any of its predecessors. The _Selector_ will be found to contain many valuable extracts from New and Costly Works, in almost every class of literature; and the piquancy of the _Notes of a Reader_ may be turned to as a convenient little treasury, into which readers of all tastes may dip with pleasure and advantage. The _Sketch Book_ contains rather an unusual number of Narratives, some of them of extraordinary interest, and written in the best style of the best authors. The _Spirit of Discovery_ will be considered characteristic of our times, by illustrating the real economy of science in its application to the conveniences of every-day life. As a collateral branch of this division is _The Naturalist,_ under which head we have endeavoured to identify THE MIRROR with Zoology, as one of the most popular studies of the day. The _Spirit of the Public Journals_ breathes not a few of the sweetest and most recent poetical compositions from the pens of celebrated authors, some of whose names are passports to high excellence.