Mitre

“ In “Your Five Gallants,” a comedy by Middleton, about 1608, Goldstone prefers it to the Mermaid:—“The Mitre in my mind for neat attendance, diligent boys and—push, excels it [the Mermaid] far.” But the most famous of the inns with this name, was the Mitre in Mitre Court, Fleet Street, one of Doctor Johnson’s favourite haunts, “where he loved to sit up late,” [465] and where Goldsmith, and the other celebrities, and minor stars that moved about the great doctor, used to meet him. ”

“ There is no suggestion of the popular idea that the mitre symbolizes the “tongues of fire” that descended on the heads of the apostles at Pentecost.
According to the Roman Caeremoniale the bishop wears the mitra pretiosa on high festivals, and always during the singing of the Te Deum and the Gloria at mass. He is allowed, however, “on account of its weight,” to substitute for the pretiosa the auriphrygiata during part of the services, i.e. ”

“ It is possible that the branch on the western side, which we may call the Old Mitre fault, which is known to have a downthrow of 65 yards to the west thereabouts, runs on to the south till it is cut off either by the New Invention fault, or even till it reaches the extension of the Great Bentley fault. ”

“ Shell slender, fawn coloured, unspotted, marked by slender crowded, transverse, convex ribs, the interstices deeply cancellated; inner lip wanting, outer lip crenately undulate; pillar 5 plaited.
It is highly probable that the Mitres, like some other carnivorous marine animals, seek their prey, and habitually reside, in the deep recesses of the ocean. Instances are recorded of individuals having been brought up from great depths; and notwithstanding the number of species, of which we already know near 150, very few are common. ”

“ Amongst the beautiful series of sculptures of the portal of the Cathedral of Chartres, is one of a figure wearing a long pallium, holding in his left hand the base of a pastoral staff or cross, the top of which is destroyed, and who is crowned with a conical kind of cap. Mr. Shaw has given a beautiful representation of this figure, which he describes as an archbishop, and says that the mitre bears a close resemblance to the tiara seen on the head of the pope in an illumination given by Gerbertus. ”

“ We have also added a figure of our Mitra acuminata, to shew how beautifully Mitreola is represented by the fourth type of the genus Mitra, as now restricted, to which type (represented by M. Zebra) , acuminata also belongs: both, as prototypes of the Strombidæ, have the outer lip gibbous near the top; but the plaits of the pillar are totally different, while the spire of one is acute, and of the other papillary. ”

“ The species yet discovered are few, and hence we yet can only trace three types of form; the first evidently representing Mitra, and the third, probably, typifying Conohelix. M. Olivaria Lam., which truly belongs to this genus, may, perhaps, be only a modification of the 2nd type, to which our present species strictly belongs. The representation of this group among the Volutes, will be found in Voluta Zebra and its allies.
Mitrella fusca is small, and of great rarity; our own specimen, beautifully perfect, is the only one we have yet seen. ”

“ But as we descend in time, and remove in distance from the country where this object was worn, we find that the Romans affixed another notion to the word, which they used very commonly to designate the Asiatic or Phrygian cap (Virg. Æn. iv. 216.; Servius, l.c.) ; and this sense has likewise been adopted in our own language:
"That Paris now with his unmanly sort,
With mitred hat."—Surrey, Virgil, Æn. iv.
Thus the word mitra in its later usage came to signify a cap or bonnet, instead of a turban ”

“ I cannot help considering this as a distinct species from Mitra caffra (Voluta caffra Linn.) , with which it has hitherto been placed only as a variety: it is much larger, the volutions more convex, but compressed on the suture, and the whole shell (except near the point) perfectly smooth: the beak or channel likewise, which in M. caffra is short and nearly straight, is in this lengthened and recurved. The mouth is very narrow (occasioned by the outer lip being thick and slightly inflexed) and smooth within, the terminal volutions slightly plaited, and the base of the shell grooved. ”

“ A very perfect one exists in my father's collection which measures only two inches one line long: it differs slightly in wanting the lower white band and its inferior border: there is also an additional small plait between the second and third, a variation not uncommon in the Linnæan Volutes, and which lessens the importance of this character as a specific distinction. ”

“ As a species, it is principally distinguished by the rows of irregular brown spots which are always disposed in transverse bands, running into larger blotches adjoining the suture, and near the base of the body whorl, which is thick and obtuse ”

“ With one part of his army he occupied Concepcion and Talcahuano, cutting off the retreat of the enemy by sea, and despatched O’Higgins with his division to Arauco, securing the South, but in these manœuvres he lost much time, and one detachment of 650 men left in reserve on the Nuble, was captured by a Royalist force from Chillán. ”

“ Until then they had been crossed only by small detachments of soldiery, or by troops of mules, the paths being in many places so narrow as only to give room for one mounted man at a time. The passage of a numerous army with guns and baggage was held to be impossible and had never been thought of till the feat was accomplished by San Martin. Food and forage for men, mules, and horses had to be carried with them, and it was necessary to reach the other side in force sufficient to overcome a watchful{134} enemy ”

“ Barreiro then formed his infantry in columns, with cavalry on the flanks, throwing out a battalion of light infantry on the right, whose fire might enfilade the attacking column of the Patriots. The Patriot centre and right wing drove in an advanced party of Royalist infantry, and crossing a shallow stream threw themselves upon the left flank of the Royalist army, while the left wing and the cavalry attacked in front. ”

“ At the same time the left wing crossed the hollow, ascended the slope in front of them, and reached the high ground without seeing an enemy, but were then vigorously charged by the bulk of the Royalist infantry, under Ordoñez and Morla,{178} and driven back with heavy loss; but the Royalists pursuing them down the slope were in their turn forced to retire by a withering fire from the Chilian guns, under Borgoño, which had remained on the crest of the Loma Blanca. ”

“ Taught by his late disasters, which were the result both of his own imprudence and of the lack of cohesion in his troops, he was convinced that without a properly disciplined army any advantage he might gain would be ephemeral, and that if he did eventually triumph, he would stand as a conqueror over ruins. Learning these lessons, he grew from a mere warrior to be a great captain; without the science and mathematical precision of San Martin, but with greater boldness and with a heavier crop of laurels. ”

“ He joined Santander at the foot of the Andes, at the sources of the river Casanare, on the 11th June, 1819. His army now comprised four battalions of infantry, one of which, the “Albion,” was composed entirely of English, two squadrons of lancers, and one of carabineers, with a regiment called the “Guides of Apure,” part of which was English also. Two thousand five hundred men, well armed, but nearly naked. ”

“ In the early spring, San Martin brought the various corps of his army from their cantonments, and encamped them on an open plain about a league to the north of Mendoza, where the recruits were thoroughly drilled, and the whole force was taught to act in concert. Every hour of the day had its allotted work, and in the evening the officers attended classes for instruction in tactics. ”

“ He commenced by the invocation of the war-spirit among them, organizing their militia, and forming even the children into regiments, doing military exercise and carrying their own flags. He invited foreign residents to enlist, among whom the most forward were the English, who raised at their own cost a free company of light infantry, having the right to name their own officers. But the nucleus of his army he formed of well-disciplined troops. This spirit he kept alive by exaggerated reports of the strength of the enemy in Chile, and by alarms of an imminent invasion. ”

“ It arose not only from the semi-barbarous instincts of the masses, but also from the discontent of the more educated classes with a political system which was not in accordance with the principles of the Revolution, and this discontent permeated the ranks of the army itself. ”

“ Here all was confusion; and the people having lost confidence in their own leaders were ready to shout for the King. Las Heras, marching south with the Argentine auxiliaries, met O’Higgins in full retreat towards the Cordillera, and protected the rear until the fugitives from Santiago were safe on Argentine soil. ”

“ Bolívar with all his perspicacity never suspected that the main strength of the country lay on the plains around them.
When these two men were left on the north bank of the Orinoco by Cajigal they adopted Bolívar’s plan of rousing the country by proclamations. They called the Llaneros to arms, offering them bloodshed and booty in the cause of the King, with pain of death to all who disregarded the summons. Each man presented himself on horseback with a lance; in each district a squadron was formed which took its name. ”

“ In Chile he had the farm which had been given him, and a small sum of money left with a friend, most of which was lost. The Government of Peru, hearing of his poverty, sent him 2,000 dollars, with which, after an illness of two months in Chile, he crossed to Mendoza early in 1823, and while living there as a farmer, heard of the banishment of O’Higgins, and of the death of his own wife.
The reasons for his sudden departure were for long a mystery to all, except to Bolívar and to Guido. Some looked upon it as an act of self-abnegation, some as one of desertion. Time has solved the problem. ”

“ THE Army of the North when reinforced, barely numbered 2,000 men, mostly recruits, among whom desertion was frequent. Disorganized, short of officers, and badly clothed, it was quite incapable of making head against the enemy. Jujui and Salta were held by the victorious Spaniards, who threatened the whole of the northern frontier. San Martin was more especially troubled by the lack of officers and the general want of discipline in the troops. ”

“ The army which had twice defeated the armies of the United Provinces was almost entirely composed of natives of the Highlands of Lower Peru. They were men inured to hardships and privations, untiring on the march, faithful to their flag, obedient to their officers, and undaunted under fire. ”

“ She was the Carthage of San Martin.
At the outbreak of the revolution Peru proper had a population of about a million and a half, and Upper Peru had nearly half a million. Of these the indigenous races formed about half, mixed races a fifth, negro slaves about fifty thousand, and Spaniards hardly a seventh, the remainder being Creoles, the descendants of Europeans born in America. The North and the South of Peru were two separate countries, which looked with jealousy one on the other, even for many years after they became one nation. ”

“ At her house there were daily meetings of Chilian emigrants who were hostile to O’Higgins. Among them a plot was hatched. She herself was the life and soul of the conspiracy. It was decided that several of the conspirators should cross the Andes to prepare their friends in Chile for an outbreak, and should be followed by Don Luis and by Don Juan José Carrera, who should keep quiet until joined by Don José Miguel, who would go round Cape Horn from Monte Video, in the ship General Scott, which he was expecting from New York. ”

“ He was well supplied with guns, small arms, and ammunition, and was granted letters of marque as a privateer. On the 15th October, 1815, he sailed from Buenos Ayres for the Pacific with Captain Buchardo, a Frenchman, as his second in command. His squadron consisted of four vessels—the Hercules of 20 guns, commanded by Michael Brown; the Trinidad of 16 guns, commanded by Walter Chitty; the Halcon, commanded{121} by Buchardo, which three vessels were brigs; and the armed quetch Uribe, named after its commander, a Chilian, who had been a colleague of Carrera in the late revolution. ”

“ Paez, by skilful manœuvres, forced his old opponent, Colonel Lopez, to retreat to the line of the Apure in October. The town of San Fernando on this river was the key of the plains; he resolved to seize it, but had no boats in which to cross the river. The Royalists had a flotilla of four “flecheras” [18] and seven long-boats, manned by 400 men. An officer named Peña had committed some fault. Paez ordered him as a punishment to get himself killed by the enemy. ”

“ The commander, Colonel Quintana, had gone off for orders and had not returned. The officers held a council of war and put themselves under command of Las Heras. He found himself with 3,500 men, but had no ammunition for his guns and no cavalry. He placed his guns in front, and, forming his infantry into one compact column, commenced his retreat soon after midnight, pursued by a squadron of Royalist horse, which did not dare to attack him. At daybreak he was sixteen miles from the field of battle. He rested for an hour, and found that 500 men had deserted during the night. ”