For the Monthly Magazine. On DISORDERS of the DIGESTIVE ORGANS, attended with PAIN in the RIGHT SIDE. AT no period were liver complaints, and disorders of the digestive organs in general,more uuiversally talked of,and more frequently met with, than at the present time. The latter occurs every day, but the former are much less frequent than is generally imagined; for when disorder of the stomach and first intestine is of such a nature and severity as to occasion pain in the right side, that is, in the region of the liver, it is no uncommon practice for medical men to declare it a liver disease, and to treat it as such. When a patient afflicted with loss of appetite, sickness, difficulty of breathing, furred tongue, pain in the region of the liver, or in both sides, accompanied with depression of spirits, emaciation, and debility, applies to a medical practitioner for advice, he is commonly told he has a liver complaint; and active purges, bleeding from the seat of pain, or the system at large, with mercurials, in small or large doses, are prescribed for his relief. But a very considerable majority of these cases either remain nearly_stationary under such treatment, or what is much more common, are aggravated by it. For there is no disorganization in the structure of the liver, but simply a disorder of its functions, consequent upon weakness and disorder of the stomach and intestines, which are the chief seats of the complaint. The liver is intimately connected with the stomach; when disordered, it sympathises with it, whence results the pain in the right side, which the patients rarely fail to complain of, and which is usually considered to indicate the propriety and necessity of blood-letting, blisters, &c. Some times severe pain is felt in both sides, in the region of the stomach, as well as of the liver, but it is more frequent in the latter only; and this is not because the liver is principally affected, but because its peculiar texture renders it more susceptible of pain than the stomach, when disordered. This kind of disorder of the digestive viscera, is oftener met with in women than in men. Many females complain of the pain in the side, and back, as the most afflicting symptom, which frequently gives the sensation of smarting and burning. It never fails to be aggravated by venæsection, and other weakening measures, while it is as con stantly relieved by the use of a tonic aperient at night, and a strengthening medicine in the day. To strengthen the stomach, and excite into it a healthy secretion of its juices, the nitric acid is an admirable medicine. It may be given in doses of six or eight drops, three times a day, in a wine glass of water, and is far superior to preparations of steel, or any other tonic with which I am acquainted. Every person of observation is aware that it is by no means unusual for the detraction of blood to be recommended for a long continued pain in the side, and if this fails to afford permanent benefit, active mercurials are administered, under the supposition of there being some disease in the liver. But the ideas of pain, and inflammation, are too often unjustly associated, and lead to an unscientific and injurious treatment. Long continued and severe pain may be experienced in the right side, and it may be increased by pressure, without the existence of disease; and when disease does follow, it wil be removed, if a removal is practicable, not by bleeding, and purging, but by the aperient tonic plan before spoken of. Derangement in the functions of a viscus is easily induced, but disease, which is a disorganization of its structure, is not so readily assumed as many persons conceive, and when induced, it may be justly doubted whether venæsection, and bringing the constitution under the influence of mercury, be either safe or judicious. I believe, with one of the most eminent surgeons of our day, that the soothing plan of treating diseases, is the best. Mercury and blood-letting, especially the former,have done more harm than ever they will do good. Only a few weeks since, a respectable young female, afflicted with the symptoms before detailed, was treated with large doses of mercury for a liver complaint, and died in a state of salivation; and I am well persuaded that the number of females in both high and low life, who have their constitutions irreparably injured by such debilitating measures, is not small. Very lately three cases of the complaint here considered have come under my notice, all attended, more or less, with the symptoms before recorded. They had been treated, before I saw them, with leeches, blisters, bleeding from the arm, &c. and all were aggravated by it; afterwards, a gentle aperient at night, and the nitric acid in the the day was taken, from which they were immediately relieved, and gradually recovered. One of them was a young woman twenty-seven years of age, who was troubled with excruciating pain in the back and sides, and alarming difficulty of breathing; the eyes were surrounded with very dark circles, and her complexion was sallow. A physician prescribed active purges in the day, and six leeches and a blister to the side at night; next morning such frequent faintings occurred, and so great a degree of debility ensued, as confined her to her bed for a fortnight, and excited considerable apprehension for her recovery. After a time she tried the nitric acid, &c. with immediate and permanent benefit; no longer complaining of difficulty of breathing, or pain. In no case I have witnessed, did this plan appear so strikingly superior to the other, as in this: and there is reason to believe that the physician who attended, will in future be less precipitate in calling these maladies liver diseases, and certainly will prefer the aperient tonic plan of treatment to any other. It is of no small importance that the public should be informed that disorder of the digestive organs, attended with severe pain in the parts where they are situated, is of very frequent occurrence, while diseased liver is comparatively rare; because many medical men seem ignorant of this fact, and the means that are often instituted to cure the latter when not existing, cannot fail to increase the former, and even, to produce that disease in the liver which they were mistakingly intended to reT. J. GRAHAM. more. Cheltenhamn, June, 1821. And the wide world in cheerful loveliness Returns to him its joy. The summer air, Whose glittering stillness sleeps within his soul, Stirs with its own delight. The verdant earth, Like beauty waking from a happy dream, Lies smiling. Each fair cloud to him ap pears A pilgrim travelling to the shrine of peace; And the wild wave, that wantons on the sea, A gay though homeless stranger. Ever blest The man who thus beholds the golden chain Linking his soul to outward nature fair, The recollection of our walk over the hills of Merionethshire, has given birth to these imperfect and perhaps gratuitous observations. Beautiful, indeed, is the scenery in that secluded and romantic district, too beautiful for description by any but the heavenborn and rapturous poet. We, therefore, will not presume to pourtray it; but content ourselves with remarking, that had our good-humoured acquaintance, above alluded to, accompanied us in our ramble, his opinion of "countrified landscapes " would have experienced a powerful shock, if not a complete revolution. After dinner, Mr. W. proposed that we should visit the monastic ruins of Vanner abbey in the evening; and after tea we repaired thither, in company with our friend and a young gentleman, a native of the town. Vanner, or as it is sometimes called, Cymmer Abbey, is about three miles from Dolgelley, and situated on the banks of the river Mowthach, near the beautiful village of Llanelltyd. It was once of considerable note, and contained many eminent persons within its walls; but now it is scarcely known to the inhabitants of the neighbouring mountains. The ruins consist of the refectory At converted into a farm-house; and what appears to have been the aisle of the church, the walls of which are very plenteously covered with_ivy. the entrance is a large and venerable plane tree, whose wide-spreading branches cast around a gloem perfectly consonant with the sacred character of the place. The east end is the most perfect, and through its thick covering of ivy may be discerned two or three lancet-shaped windows. Against the wall on the south are a few small gothic pillars, and an aperture in the wall, where where, probably, the holy water was kept. Vanner Abbey was founded about the year 1200, by Meredith and Griffith, sons of Cynan ab Owen Gwynedd, Prince of North Wales, for the reception of some mouks of the Cistertian order, and dedicated to the virgin. A few years after its erection, it is supposed to have been in a very flourishing condition; but narrowly escaped total dissolution from the following circumstance: When Henry the Third marched into the principality, to carry on war against the Welsh, who had risen under their prince, the great and good Llewelyn, he resolved to attack the castle of Montgomery, then garrisoned by a strong party of the Welsh. While preparing for the siege, a monk of Vanner, who happened to be on the spot, fell into the hands of some of the royal troops, and was brought before the king, who questioned him closely as to the strength and position of the rebel army. The monk, actuated by patriotic motives, deceived the king, who determined, in consequence, to attack the castle without delay. An assault was accordingly made, and the Welsh, at the first onset, feigned a retreat to a marsh behind the fortress, whither they were eagerly and quickly pursued by the enemy, habited in the heavy and cumbersome armour of that period. As soon as the greater part of the English were fairly in the marsh, and unable on account of their armour, either speedily to extricate, or effectually to defend themselves, they were surrounded by a numerous body of rebels, and a sanguinary slaughter ensued. Henry, highly enraged at this deception, and passing the abbey a short time afterwards, ordered it to be set on fire, by which all the detached buildings were consumed, and the remainder of the pile only preserved at the earnest entreaties of the abbot, and what was infinitely more effective, the payment of three hundred marks to the monarch: * Pennant informs us, that by a charter granted by Llewelyn ab Jorwerth, in 1209, it "had power over all rivers, lakes, and sea; birds, and wild beasts and tame; over all mountains, woods, things moveable and immoveable; and over all things under and over the lands so granted:" and that "it gave liberty of digging for metals and hidden treasures; all of which was done iu the presence of Esau, then lord abbot, and other religious of the house."-Tours in Wales, vol. 2. p. 252. 8vo. edit. At the general dissolution of monasteries, Vanner Abbey was valued at between fifty and sixty pounds per annum, but the only charge on it in 1553, was £6. 13s. 4d. paid to Lewis ab Thomas, supposed to have been the last abbot. Elizabeth, however, five and twenty years afterwards, granted it to her favourite, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. Since this period, it has gradually decayed, and the land on which it is situated is, we believe, the property of Griffith Howel Vaughan, Esq. brother to the member for the county, Sir Robert Vaughan. Such is the brief outline of the history of Vanner AbbeyWhere sleeps the saint whose holy strains Brought seraphs round the dying bed; And where the warrior, who to chains Ne'er bowed his crested head. Yet how The spot where the ruins are situated is secluded and beautiful, and many a nessed in the days of gloomy superstiscene of pain and penance has it wittion and catholic tyranny. pleasing must have been the emotions excited by the holy vesper hymn of the monks, heard in the deep stillness of the evening, as it floated with the distance into a soothing but melancholy breeze down the valley, softened by the murmur. But all this hath long since passed away, and with it the austere group of the monks of Vanner. Their pile in which they dwelt is now the very names are forgotten, and the proud resting-place of the owl, the bat, and the night-hawk. After our return from Vanner, we arranged with Mr. W. to take the first after which he proposed that we should opportunity of ascending Cader Idris; spend two or three days at Barmouth. We were much pleased with the arrangement, and rejoiced to find that our friend would be enabled to accompany us in our excursions through the tage of having for our cicerone a very country. By this we reaped the advanskilful local antiquary, who is universally esteemed in the country, for his benevolence, affability, and well cultivated mind. On the fourth day after our arrival at Dolgelly, we ascended Cader Idris, in company with our friend W., an agreeable party of two gentlemen, and as many ladies, from the Lion, and a guide--a shrewd, sensible fellow, strong as a mountain bull, and active as a mountain goat, good-humoured and amusing withal, and the fittest man in the the world for the arduous but honourable occupation which he has chosen: he speaks English very well; strongly tinctured, however, with the somewhat musical brogue of the Cymry-is something of a traditional antiquary, and thinks no country so good and beautiful as his own, and none of his countrymen so wise and worthy as himself. much for Mister Richard Pugh, the Dolgelly" guide-general." Thus Our excursion to Cader was performed on horseback, but such was the uncouth cut of our palfries, that our cavalcade made but a sorry figure. But short and shagged as our ponies were, their lack of symmetry was more than compensated by their strength, patience and sure-footedness-qualities exceedingly requisite for the rugged bye-paths of Merionethshire. We commenced our ride soon after eight o'clock, and following the course of a road which wound among the hills, extending in a southern direction from the town, proceeded leisurely on our way. It was a lovely morning-cool, calm, and inspiriting; not a cloud was there to dim the bright blue of the heavens, or to prevent the early beams of the sun from tinging with their golden radiance the peaks of the hills we traversed. We were all in high spirits, and rode on among the wild hills in glee and joyousness. We viewed the green earth with a loving look, Like us rejoicing in the gracious sky; A voice came to us from the running brook That seemed to breathe a grateful melody. Then all things seem'd imbued with life And as from dreams with kindling smiles and sense, to wake, Happy in beauty and in innocence. Six miles from Dolgelley, we arrived at the base of Cader Idris, whose majestic summit towered proud and loftily in the heaven before us. Here at a small cottage we all left our horses, the ladies excepted, and prepared for our ascent; the guide, accompanied by one of the gentlemen, leading the two horses which bore the fairest portion of our party, and the rest of us following Mr. W. up the craggy sides of the mountain. The task of ascending Cader Idris is no trifling one, more especially to those quiet personages who are not intimately versed in the art of scaling precipices, and wading more than knee-deep in the purple heather of the hills. However, notwithstanding various mishaps and impediments, we gained the summit of the Parnassus of Cambria, in something less than two hours after we quitted our horses; and we had the pleasure, a short time afterwards, of receiving our fair companions, unhurt and scathiless, and wondering greatly at the sublimity of the prospect around them. Sublime, indeed, is the scene from the summit of Cader Idris ; and it more than recompensed us for the toil we had experienced in our progress to it. Tremendous Cader! from thy towering brow His wildest views the mountain genius flings. Here broken cliffs Caught at long intervals, anon a sea Of liquid light-dark woods, and cities gay With gleaming spires, brown moors, and verdant vales, In swift succession rush upon the sight. The day was beautifully clear, and although a few fair and fleecy clouds were sailing slowly in the air above us, below, enabled us to see to great advanthe pure transparency of the atmosphere tage the noble prospect which our elevated situation commanded.* The scene was indeed grand, beautiful, and extensive. Mountain beyond mountain rose in the distance beneath us, and bounded the prospect in one direction, while it terminated in another in a broad expanse of ocean, which appeared like a sheet of brilliant light as it glistened in the sun-beam. Towns, villages, rivers, lakes, (of which we counted nearly twenty), and dark gloomy forests, were submitted unobscured to our view, and the surface of the earth beneath us seemed like a large and beauteous and living picture. In restless gaze the eye of wonder darts O'er the expanse : mountains on mountains pil'd, And winding bogs, and promontories huge, Lakes and meand'ring rivers, from their exertion of our journey, and the keen and exhilarating mountain air, had sharpened our appetites. We did not, therefore, reject a proposal made by Mr. W. that we should seek one of the numerous wells with which the mountain abounds, and by its brink discuss the contents of a basket which the guide had brought from Dolgelly. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. SIR, HA AVING read several curious letters of distinguished individuals, with fac-similes of their hand-writing, never before given to the public, in some of your late numbers, I am led to imagine something of a similar nature may not be wholly unacceptable. I have at present in my hands a little volume in duodecimo, published by the learned Dr. Warburton, in 1724, intitled "Miscellanous Translations in prose and verse, from Roman Poets, Orators, and Historians." On inspecting the title page, I found this copy had belonged to the great commentator Edmund Malone. There is a little frontispiece in the beginning, exhibiting an engraving of an urn, in the centre of which is seen the Bishop's arms, and the surrounding parts in the form of a book-case, the backs of the books visible, so as at once to convey an idea of the bishop, the scholar, and the mortal. Under the coat of arms is a small inscription or motto: "Fidelis ad Urnam," Underneath which again is written Edm. Malone, et Amicorum. and lower down, but on the same plate an observation from Menage: "La premiere chose qu'on doit faire quand on a emprunté un livre, c'est de le lire, afin de pouvoir le rendre plûtót."— "The first thing you ought to do when you borrow a book is to read it, that you may return it as soon as possible to the owner." On the opposite page we find written in Malone's hand: "This was I believe the first piece published by Dr. Warburton. His second publication was, I have heard, a small tract on Prodigies and Miracles, printed in 1727." E. M. Nov. 1775. Immediately after this follows: "The author was son of George Warburton, attorney and town clerk, of Newark-upon-Trent, (who died in 1706) by Elizabeth, daughter of William Hobman, alderman of Newark."-" See a very curious letter in MS. at the end of this volume." This very curious letter, accordingly I found written on a few leaves pasted in the end of the volume. It seems chiefly to consist of a criticism on Addison's play of Cato, with the writer's remarks on his imitations, and those of many of his contemporaries. We give it as exactly as possible, with its grammatical peculiarities, from a copy of the original. It is as follows: LETTER from MR. W. to MR. M. CON CANEN. DEAR SIR.-Having had no more regard for those papers which I spoke of and promised to Mr. Theobald, than just what they deserved, I in vain sought for them through a number of loose papers that had the same kind of abortive birth. I used to make it one good part of my amusement in reading the English poets, those of them I mean whose vein flows regularly and constantly, as well as clearly, to trace them to their sources; and observe what oar, as well as what slime and gravel they brought down with them. Dryden, I observe, borrows for want of leisure, and Pope for want of genius; Milton out of pride, and Addison out of modesty. And now I speak of this latter, that you and Mr. Theobald may see of what kind those idle collections are, and likewise to give you my notion of what we may safely pronounce an imitation; for it is not, I presume, the same train of ideas that follow in the same description of an ancient and a modern, where nature, when attended to, always supplys the same stores, which will authorize us to pronounce the latter an imitation; for the most judicious of all poets, Terence, has observed of his own science, Nihil est dictum quod non sit dictum prius: for these reasons, I say, I give myself the pleasure of setting down some imitations I observed in the Cato of Addison. Addison. A day, an hour of virtuous liberty Is worth a whole eternity in bondage. Tully. Quod si immortalitas consequeretur presentis periculi fugam, tamen es majus ea fugienda ope videretur, quo diu turnior esset servitus. Philipp. Or. 10. Addison. Bid him disband his legions, Restore the commonwealth to liberty, Submit his actions to the publick censure, And stand the judgment of a Roman senate, Bid him do this, and Cato is his friend. Tully. Pacem vult? Arma deponat, roget, deprecietur. Neminem equiorem reperiet quam me. Philip, 5. Addison. |