The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1845-05-20 00:00:00

ttteraturr.

POETRY.

THE

DAWN O'ERCAST

BY RICHARD HOWITT

gs wild,

too heav

thrown—
:er shrill :

ness fill

earth's hu

wets astray

rs art thou

uop
rig has (

'en is still

must go

gives and takes,

SELECTIONS,

THE D

N OF 1845

A. DREAMER OF REALITIES

(From George Cruikshank's Table Book.)
I heard a mighty noise in the great city, a loud laugh-
ter, and a shriek of exultation, as though it were a period
of merriment, and yet not all merriment, for the laugh,
though it was loud, was hollow in its sound ; and the
shriek, although it was triumphant, was harsh, and almost
frantic. And I was raised—as one can be only in dreams
—to an eminence, wh nce I looked down on the city, with
its great streets, its lanes, and its alleys, as we look on a
panorama.

How great was the tumult in every direction ! Men of
messed forward, pushing and scuffling, all
~ards one central point. The lazy
bloated rich seemed to have acquired new activity ; the
pallid face of the poor was illumined by a hectic flush ; the
industrious had flung aside the implements of his toil :
there were many men, but there was one spirit infused by
some magic power into the whole.
I turned my eyes towards an eminence in the great city,
for thither I saw the people were tending; and strange was
the sight I beheld. A gigantic form, seemingly fashioned
of iron, but animated by a sort of semi-life, was seated as
on a throne. The eyes flashed, but it was with the red-
ness of fire, not with the life-sparkle of humanity; the
breath ,of the nostrils was a thick white vapour, which
reached the far distance ere it began to disperse. The oc-
cupation of the figure was unpoetical enough. In each
mar of its huge mouth it held a large iron pipe, through
• '-w innumerable spheres, that all glittered like
.d about in the air : and it was strange
.ous face the figure made when it had
e than usual quantity of these floating
lips forced themselves into a hard merha-
, if through the workings of a stiff unwilling
; and it was difficult to say whether this smile
sort of heavy satisfaction, or whether it was
'h something of fronv

every rank pr
crowd inz as

winch it
gold, an(

'e wafte

what a curi

I out a more

erections. Tt
nical smile, as
organisatio
expressed

not mingled

now perceived the object of all the crowding and
pushing on the part of the multitude. The glittering sur-
faces of the spheres flashed upon their eves, and blinded
them to all else. The possession of these had become the
Ile object of those who gazed on them, and it was with
intensity of passion that they jostled and crushed each
puriuit. The spheres, I observed were of
nuterent natures. orcie, when touched, gave a, metallic
sound, and seemed really to be formed of precious mate-
rial, and to possess some solidity ; others were so flimsy,
that, the least breath seemed sufficient to annihilate them.
I saw this ; but the mob below me did not
distinction : nay, the flimsiest balls
rsued the most.

other in t
a

seem a

re of t

ere often p

Soon a

.....cnon presented itself. I saw several
range themselves in little groups, in which
...st each other with the wildest disorder;
n every one of these groups was a host of peo-
rieked and roared as the balls struck together,
that some particular one would escape unin-
-.rd a great shout of " The Board ! the
ently all the spheres in a group burst,
:h sparkled more brightly than ever.
Jelight did part of the people dance and
what despair did others roll themselves on
iu rend their hair ! The same thing happened
7roups ; but I could not tell what was meant
say whether th.

f the spheres ai
hey dashed aga

what de)

gigantic figure, which
irevailmg genius of the great city, was good
ved a fire that was kindled beneath, and
appeared togive additional animation to the huge,
,ieldy limbs. This was sedulously kept up by many
.-looking persons, such as lean mustachiod vagrants, and
.nen with the feverish air of desperate gamesters ; but it
was also maintained by many benevolent-looking folks, in
whose countenances honesty was most plainly written.
Moving behind the figure, I found it equally difficult to
come to a result ; for there was Mammon reclining on a
soft couch, in bodily luxury and mental misery : there was
Poverty wailing in the midst of her rags, and there was
Fraud, with his bland smiles, and little twinkling eyes.
But there also stood the fair form of Civilization tram-
pling on the implements of war, and holding in her bands
light ornamented chain, with which she declared that
would unite all mankind as in brotherhood.
,g all this time the sky was clear, and the sun
hone brightly . the crowded streets. And a hand ap-
4efore me a sort of weather-glass, upon
er words than those denoting the changes
re. The hand of this glass, which shone
Anted to the word PREMIUM.

erred u
. evil. I obsex

pared, 1;oldin

of the a

e diamond

sau changed, though I still hovered over the
That animation and bustle which I bad ob-
was at an end, though the streets
Men seemed to pass by each other
„nerally walked with their eyes on the
,h sometimes they raise them, and
uneasily, as if in terror. The day was dark
and altogether there was a foreboding aspect.
he figure ; it was lazily puffing light clouds
nom its mouth, but there were no more of the glittering
spheres, nor was there a multitude expecting them. The
eyes of the figure flashed less brightly, and there seemed
less vigour in its iron joints. Nay, it tottered and shook,
and seemed as if it maintained itself with difficulty and
when I looked on the group behind it, I observed that
Mammon rolled more uneasily on his couch, while Fraud
trembled, and Poverty shrieked louder than before. But
Civilization looked towards Heaven with a firm counte-
nance, and seemed not to heed the uneasiness of the rest.
And the glass again appeared before me, but the hand was
dull as steel when it is breathed upon, and it pointed to

rved in every street

were somew

rrnlind

and gloomy

I turned to t

rd Pet

The gloomy stillness did not last long. A strange rum-
bling noise proceeded from the interior of the figure, and
the people audibly expressed their terror. This was done
ns, such as I did not understand. Some,
would utter the word call," and at this
would grow as pale as death. Then arose a
murmuring sound about " heavy differences" and " re-
sponsibilities," and a panic," and many were cursing the
hour when the giant first appeared in the great city.
Many other bubbles had burst besides those I had seen ;
and even those who hsd secured for themselves the more
precious boons, I saw hugging them with wild uneasiness, as
if they feared they would vanish like the rest. Presently all
joined in one terrible shout, " Here comes the crisis!"
id on this, there was an explosion so fearful that I awoke,
t not before I saw the limbs of the giant scattered in
-y direction, and myriads shattered by the burst, or
The glass was gone, but for a moment,
in lightning, there flashed upon my eyes the

in strange t
for instaneF

m4ny a c

flying in alarm

if w ritt

word DISCOUN