barrack for any shipwrecked crew which might have chanced to be thrown on the rock. necessarily so much time for reflection. Those changes, together with the continual succession of hopes and fears connected with the important work in which we were engaged, and the oft-recurring calls for advice or direction, as well as occasional hours devoted to reading and correspondence, and the pleasures of news from home, were more than sufficient to reconcile me to, nay, to make me really enjoy, an uninterrupted residence, on one occasion, of not less than five weeks on that desert rock.' In May, the party took up their residence in the barrack, and the time formerly consumed in embarking and disembarking being thus spared, they were able to advance somewhat faster with their labours. It was, however, an uncomfortable habitation, and in bad weather, life on Skerryvore was far from agreeable. According to Mr Stevenson-During the first month we suffered much from the flooding of our apartments with water, at times when heavy sprays lashed the The masonry of the tower was commenced on the 4th walls of the barrack with great violence, and also dur- of July 1840, and conducted with great spirit for the ing rainy weather; and in northerly gales we had much remainder of the season, at the close of which it had difficulty in keeping ourselves warm. On one occasion, been carried to the height of 8 feet 2 inches. Recomalso, we were fourteen days without communication menced in the ensuing May, the solid part, forming with the shore or the steamer; and during the greater the basis, was completed on the 8th July. During the part of that time we saw nothing but white fields of early part of this season the weather was intensely foam as far as the eye could reach, and heard nothing cold, with showers of sleet, and heavier showers of but the whistling of the wind and the thunder of the spray, which dashed round us in all directions, to waves, which were at times so loud, as to make it almost the great discomfort of the poor masons, whose apartimpossible to hear any one speak. For several days ments did not admit of a large wardrobe, while they the seas rose so high, as to prevent our attempting to go had not the benefit of much room for drying their down to the rock; and the cold and comfortless nature clothes at the small coboose or cooking-stove in the of our abode reduced all hands to the necessity of seek- barrack. For days together, also, the men were left ing warmth in bed, where (rising only to our meals) we without building materials, owing to the impossibility generally spent the greater part of the day, listening to of landing them, or, what was worse, without the power the howling of the winds and the beating of the waves, of building what we had on hand, in consequence of the which occasionally made the house tremble in a startling violence of the winds. During such times we often felt manner. Such a scene, with the ruins of the former much anxiety about the safety of the stones which we barrack not twenty yards from us, was calculated only had piled on the rock ready for being built; and it took to inspire the most desponding anticipations; and I well no small trouble, by the occasional application of the remember the undefined sense of dread that flashed crane, to save them from being swept into the sea by across my mind on being awakened one night by a the surf. Nothing struck me more than the illusive heavy sea, which struck the barrack, and made my cot effect produced on the mind by the great waves which or hammock swing inwards from the wall, and was im- rolled past the rock. The rapidity of their movements, mediately followed by a cry of terror from the men in and the noise which accompanied their passage through the apartment above me, most of whom, startled by the the gullies and rents of the rugged reef, seemed to give sound and tremor, immediately sprang from their berths them the appearance of being much larger than they to the floor, impressed with the idea that the whole really were; and even when viewed from the tower, fabric had been washed into the sea. The alarm, how- after it had risen to the height of thirty feet, they ever, was very short, and the solemn pause which suc- seemed, on approaching the rock, to be on the eve of ceeded the cry was soon followed by words of reassurance washing right over the top of the building, and sweepand congratulation. Towards the end of the fourteen ing all before them into the sea. It was a long time days I began to grow very uneasy, as our provisions before, by continually watching the waves, and comwere drawing to a close; and when we were at length paring their apparent height with the results of their justified, by the state of the sea on the rock, in making impact on the rock, we were enabled to correct our the signal to those on shore (at the hour fixed for point- notions of their magnitude, so as to mark the approach ing the telescope at Hynish on the barrack) that a of their crested curling heads with composure; and landing could be effected, we had not more than twenty-some of the party never became sufficiently familiarised four hours' provision on the rock, so that when the steamer came in sight she was hailed by all hands with the greatest joy.' He says elsewhere-The economy of our life on the rock was strange enough. At half-past three in the morning we were called, and at four the work commenced, continuing till eight, when half an hour was given for breakfast; after which it was carried on till two, when another half-hour was given for dinner; and the work was again resumed, and continued till seven, eight, and even nine o'clock, when anything urgent was in hand. Supper was then produced, and eaten with more leisure and comfort in the cool of the evening. Such protracted exertion produced a continual drowsiness, and almost every one who sat down fell fast asleep. I have myself repeatedly fallen asleep in the middle of breakfast or dinner; and have not unfrequently awakened, pen in hand, with a half-written word on the paper! Yet life on the Skerryvore rock was by no means destitute of its peculiar pleasures. The grandeur of the ocean's rage, the deep murmur of the waves, the hoarse cry of the sea-birds, which wheeled continually │over us, especially at our meals, the low moaning of the wind, or the gorgeous brightness of a glassy sea and a cloudless sky, and the solemn stillness of a deep blue vault, studded with stars, or cheered by the splendours of the full moon, were the phases of external things that often arrested our thoughts in a situation where, with all the bustle that sometimes prevailed, there was with those visitors to avoid suddenly looking round when the rush of a breaker was heard behind them, or recoiling a few paces when they saw its towering crest apparently about to burst in a torrent over their heads. It was only after a long residence on the rock, and continual experimental observation, that I acquired confidence to approach within a few feet of the point which I expected the breakers to reach.' At the close of the season in August, when the pile was gauged, it was found to preserve the diameter due to the height to the 16th of an inch, and the height exceeded the contemplated dimension by only half an inch! On the 21st July 1842, the masonry was completed, being a tower of 137 feet 11 inches, curving inwards from a basis of 42 feet, and containing nine apartments over each other, for the accommodation of the establishment by which the light was to be sustained. It contains 58,580 cubic feet, and 4308 tons of material. From the exactness with which the stones were dressed, it had never been necessary to redress any deviation from the outline of the building to an extent materially exceeding an eighth of an inch. Not a joint in the structure was ever found in the slightest degree to give way. The lantern was now put up, and thus the whole structure was completed before the close of the third season: but it was not till February 1844 that, the whole furnishings being complete, and the keepers introduced to reside in the building, the light was for the first time exhibited. It is an apparatus of eight annular lenses revolving round a lamp of four concentric wicks, and producing a bright blaze every minute, visible to the distance of eighteen miles.* So ended the construction of the Skerryvore lighthouse-a work which we hope will long remain as a monument of the power of man over the physical elements by which he is surrounded. Notwithstanding all the difficulties and perils attending the work, and though several scores of men were engaged in it for several years, it was accomplished without any serious accident. It is a work which could only have been carried into execution in a time of great material wealth and great scientific skill like the present. There are some shortsighted persons who condemn capital as a thing opposed to the interests of the industrious classes; and there are others who, with less in their circumstances or education to excuse them, speak disparagingly of our age as a mechanical one. Let the one inform us how, without great stores of wealth, any country could have afforded to spend eighty-nine thousand pounds on a lighthouse, in order, among other objects, to save poor sailors from destruction. Let the others tell us if there are many moral spectacles more sublime or ennobling than that of natural science turned to such purposes, and working out its ends amongst such difficulties. The age of chivalry is not past: only, the heroes of our age are men who, instead of pursuing whims or wreaking out sanguinary feelings, endure great toils, in order to bring the laws established by the Almighty to work for the extension of human happiness, and the diminution of human suffering. SHANEEN OF THE HILL. DID any of our readers ever go mushroom-gathering? It is pleasant sport; at least so we thought long ago in what is called life's holiday-though the time we are supposed to be learning our lessons-when with basket in hand, or with hat or bonnet as a substitute, we would ramble away, on some summer's eve, over the breezy hills, diligently looking out for the snowy little tufts, that showed their heads here and there through grass so green, and so short, from the cropping of the sheep, that even the tiniest foot could find nothing to sink in. What sharp reconnoitring glances were cast around; what demure unconscious looks lest another should espy our prize before we could reach it; or if, perchance, more than one keen pair of little eyes did light on the same object at the same instant, what headlong racing, what rolling on the close slippery grass, what active bounding-one, two, three, and away -over the prostrate bodies; what gratitude to the lazy good-natured one, always the last, that saved his credit so well by stopping to pick up the fallen; and then what forgiveness to the success of the foremost, returning with contrite face to offer the fruits of victory as an amende! In such sport then, and on such an evening, we children once wandered away, regardless of distance or of time, until our well-filled baskets allowed no excuse for farther lingering, and the brilliant clouds in the west, now growing paler and paler, warned us it was time we should return home. Yes, we knew it well-that even then we were expected-that we must have strayed too far-that we were surely earning a lecture: but all the same was it to us in that happy heedless hour; and still, and still we loitered: now yielding to each fresh temptation of adding another, and yet one more, to our gatherings; now sitting on the mossy bank beneath some old hawthorn counting over our spoil; now argu *The completion of Mr Stevenson's labours has been the preparation of a splendid quarto, giving an Account of the Skerryvore Lighthouse, with Notes on the Illumination of Lighthouses.' Adam and Charles Black, Edinburgh. To the narrative portions of this volume we are indebted for the materials of the above paper. The scientific details, and numerous illustrative plates, give the work itself an attraction which must be felt considerably beyond the bounds of the profession. ing which, in number or size, ought to reckon for most; and now making all contentedly equal by emptying the baskets, and refilling them from one common heap. Thus engrossed, we had forgotten all but our occupa tion and ourselves, when suddenly a long shadow was thrown in amidst our little group; and raising our heads with a start, we saw standing between us and the last rays of the sun a figure not at all like the gigantic one prostrate before us. It was only a young lad, not very much older than the oldest of ourselves, bareheaded, barefooted, and with garments more picturesque than entire, evidently the shepherd of the flock, which, now closing up together as they hastily cropped the short herbage at our feet, told audibly, as well as visibly, that they at least felt it time to prepare for the night. The boy returned our look of inquiry with one still more searching, relaxing at last into a sort of comical glance as he spoke some words in Irish, which we guessed to mean that he had mistaken us for fairies; but changing the expression of his face in an instant, with a perplexed but still shrewd and inquisitive look he thus more intelligibly addressed us:- If ye didn't rise up out of the earth, or drop down from the sky, at any rate 'tis far from home ye must be, and the night coming on. Where is the house that would hould ye, or the people that own ye, for I never laid eyes on the likes of ye before?' True enough now was our time to look really startled. We all stood up, heedless of our overturned baskets and their lately-valued contents; we stood up, and gazed far and wide, as well as the fading light would permit; but not one familiar landmark could we descry, and turning to each other with faces blank with dismay, the one thought needed no words to express it-we have wandered too far: we are lost! How exactly that scene returns-that feeling-the miserable transition from unthinking enjoyment to alarm and care; the sudden importance acquired by the ragged little shepherd, as we all turned our eyes on him for information and advice, and his own quick consciousness of his position, as, assuming the great man in a moment, he looked down on us wretched little people with a grave and troubled air, all the while preserving an ominous silence, more reproachful and alarming than words could have been! At last the smile that all the time had been lurking in his eyes broke out into a laugh of irrepressible gaiety, as, bounding down from the little mound on which we were standing, he led the way to the brow of the hill behind us; and there, on the other side, far away indeed across the valley, but still within view, pointed out a line of plantation, at the same time pronouncing the name of our home with another quick glance of inquiry, succeeded by a nod of satisfaction, as we all joyfully exclaimed, "Oh, is it there!' And yet the sight was but a passing relief. Every one that remembers an adventure of childhood, can recall how powerfully imagination always magnified the danger or the delight; how far away the landmarks seemed - how very near the clouds; and we. young as we were, being well read in story, all kinds of recollections mingled with our anticipations to heighten our distress: wild beasts, banditti, forests, caves; the wide, wide valley before us, the river in which some one had been drowned; until at last a night on the hill, and a bed on the heather, seemed the better alternative to those imaginary fears that conquered the more rational dread of alarm to our parents, and anger to ourselves. But there were brave little hearts amongst us after all; and their exhortations, with reiterated assurances of safe guidance from our new friend, at last gave some courage even to the most timid; and with spirits somewhat calmed, and hearts at any rate resolved, we set out eastward darkly going' on our pilgrimage home. So this was our first acquaintance with Shaneen. We have dwelt so long on the introduction, that there is hardly time to tell how well he fulfilled his under taking; how the look of mischief and fun vanished at the sight of our evident distress; how nothing but good-nature shone out as he would stoop to mount the smallest of us by turns on his back; how exactly he made his way to the ford with the stepping-stones; how he knew all the short cuts, and the gaps in the ditches; and above all, how, when utterly foot and heart-weary, some stumbled and fell, declaring they never again could get up; how he drew out, as if by magic, a little fife from his pocket, and playing up a well-known national air, put fresh vigour into us all, and enabled us to march steadily to the sound of it for the rest of the way. He was a wonderful Shaneen! What a speech, nothing daunted, he made in our favour when we hadn't a word to say for ourselves! What a first-rate performer we all considered him, when, forgiven and rested, we were allowed after supper to bring him into the parlour, and hear him play two tunes more, a slow and a merry one, before we went off to our nests! What regrets when we inquired for him again in the morning; and yet what approval to find that no persuasions could induce him to desert his post for the night, and that, before our weary heads were well laid on the pillow, he was off and away to his flock on the hills! But from that time forward Shaneen often paid us a visit. Many an old tune he taught us, many a new one he learned: gradually he was made possessor of shoes, and a cap, and more comfortable clothing; and then he was taken to watch our own sheep, and then at last he was sent to school. All was well until then: but Shaneen was a born idler. It was said he was a genius; but if so, it lay between mischief and music-his friends giving him credit for the one, his foes for the other. He would set the whole school distracted with his song or his whistling, his pranks or his jokes; and the master could never leave the house for ten minutes, without finding himself recalled by the sound of the fife. This was particularly unfortunate, as he was of an agricultural turn, and would gladly have made leisure, even during school hours, to bestow on his farm. Under the monitorship of some good stupid lads, this had been always attainable, until the luckless moment of Shaneen's admission: then all was turned upside down. What a scandal to have the passers-by think he was holding a pattern,' when he, decent man, had set all to their Voster, and little expected to find them figuring in a reel when he came back from the field! Human patience could bear no more; so Shaneen also probably thought after undergoing a merciless drubbing; and being further threatened with expulsion, he escaped the disgrace by a voluntary flight. Very sorry were we for poor Shaneen, and uneasy about him too. Days and months passed away without bringing any tidings, and we often blamed the schoolmaster, and even sometimes blamed ourselves, as we remembered the simple pastoral life from which we had withdrawn him, and feared that it had but badly prepared him for the friendless intercourse with the world to which in all probability he had subjected himself. But long as we had known Shaneen, we did not really know him: he had a plan of his own, to which all his aspirations long had been tending; and he was only waiting an opportunity to place it before us in a favourable light, when his hopes were completely upset by finding us bent on his mental improvement. Silently submitting, he was still heard at the time to say, 'If the ould masther must make a scollard of me, why, there's no saying agin' it. I'll do my best; and no blame to me or his honour if natur breaks out.' This soliloquy was often afterwards remembered in his favour when charges of ingratitude were brought against Shaneen; and he had still better advocates; for never would a burst of the dairymaids' chorus float in from the bawn, or never would an old lonesome Irish air rise up from the valley, whistled by the ploughman as he followed his team, without reviving a memory of our own little minstrel, and winning even the most obdurate to say, 'I wish we could tell what became of poor Shaneen." · At length a round-about message gave news of his existence, and of his yearning to see us again. Poor fellow! he had viewed his offences in a much more aggravated light than any one else, as he did not venture even to send a direct messenger with his earnest request for forgiveness, and permission to play for the dancing on Miss Lucy's birthday;' and we with curiosity, or rather interest, too much alive to await his arrival, had some difficulty in tracing the intelligence to a source that could supply us with farther news. At last we made it out, and then for the first time learned that Shaneen's enterprising spirit had worked out the fulfilment of its own early day-dream. By a kind of freemasonry, which stood him instead of other recommendation, he had ingratiated himself with a favourite old piper, who used to pay his periodical visits quite in reputable guise with his pony and his boy. To become his pupil and attendant was Shaneen's secret ambition, the plan for which he had hoped our influence would not be refused; and he had only been waiting the next visit more effectually to propose it, when he was thus suddenly thrown upon his own resources, and acting for himself at a venture, succeeded as well as if he had all our interest at his back. The old man took a fancy to him at once, taught him his art, made him the companion of his wanderings-the life of all others most delightful to Shaneen-and even in regard to his feelings, withdrew for a while from the line of route which included the scene of his delinquencies; and finally, quite won by his assiduity, his talent, and his progress, bequeathed the pipes and the pony to his worthier hands.' And now, to use Shaneen's own phrase, he was settled for life to travel about.' The first use he made of his independence was, as we have told, to renew his intercourse with his earliest friends; and never surely was arrival hailed with greater pleasure. He came exactly on Miss Lucy's birthday.' How we rejoiced in his advancement, wondered at his improvement, praised and introduced him to our assembled guests; while invitations and engagements came so fast upon Shaneen, that one would have thought there was to be nothing but dancing for the rest of the year. Merrily on our side we set the example; well was his part performed; and dear little Lucy, when she stood up at the top of that long country-dance set, promoted for the first time to the honour of a grown-up partner, what would she have done, 'midst her embarrassment and blushes, with every eye fixed on her, waiting until she named the dance-what would she have done with that cruel partner that enjoyed her confusion, calling audibly for Miss Lucy's fancy,' by way of giving help, had not sly Shaneen, prompt and good-natured as ever, caused a diversion, and given them all full occupation in a moment, by playing up that irresistible measure, the Foxhunter's Jig? Honours and rewards fell thick on Shaneen - Mr O'Flaherty now, except amongst ourselves. In those jovial days he was made welcome wherever he went: short need be the invitation that at the same time announced his arrival; and many an impromptu ball was got up for the sake of the piper, instead of the piper being summoned to attend at the ball. Indeed it began to be whispered that prosperity was spoiling him that he had his especial favourites, and could be relied on only by them: but we never found out that he unreasonably disappointed any; and if he had favourites, could we blame him while we were at the top of the list? Once only-for complaints were always brought to us -we found it hard to excuse him, when, being appointed piper to the Esmonde Hunt, and called on to play for the club after dinner, he shut up his pipes and walked out of the room, because whisky punch was ordered for him while the members were enjoying their claret. It surely seemed an absurd impertinence: but he had his favourites there too, and some of them followed to remonstrate some advising him to apologise, some requesting him to return, and all promising better treatment for the time to come: but no; Shaneen was inexorable, and to all their intreaties gave this one answer, comprehending all he would say for past, present, and future-Twas not for myself, but for my music I stood up; 'tis that alone that brings me into sich honourable company, and for its sake I expect honourable tratement wherever I go. I would play for the childer on the cabin flure, and thank them kindly for the dhrink of cowld water they brought from the spring; the girls at the farm will never say I slackened my hand when there was nothing in theirs but the cup of fresh buttermilk; and yer honours can remember that many's the time the jug passed backwards and forwards between the ould masther and myself, till I bothered him fairly to sleep with "The colleen dhas crutheen a mo." But new music for new fashions they will never match meand if I once was to light up my heart with a dhrop of the cratur, while the cowld wine was quenching their hearts and their brains, believe me for once-and there's no more use in talking-we'd part before the end of the night with more difference than now.' you do not know what pleasant recollections the sound would recall;' and beckoning to her side two little prattlers, in whom she had an especial property, and who on this occasion had been allowed to sit up somewhat later than usual, she prepared them and the circle round her for the enjoyment they were about to have. It was a large, long room, and at the farther end the musician entered, and making his bow, took a seat near the door. Lucy's glance just rested for a moment on the uniform of the regiment, and then leaning back in her chair, with eyelids half-closed, in silent pleasurable expectation listened to the first few preluding notes; but hardly had they floated up along through the room, when, starting, her eyes met those of her husband's, turned towards her at the same moment, and instantly the same exclamation burst from each, Can it be-can it possibly be Shaneen?' It really was himself. In a minute they stood beside him; in a minute glad words of recognition, of surprise, and of welcome had mutually passed; then followed the hurried questions, when, how, and why did he come all the way; and of course Shaneen in one word threw the blame on the praties; adding, that between poor-laws There was no arguing further; the club dinners lost and poor-houses,ould Ireland was no place for a gintletheir chief attraction: but one of the members secured man now. And the short and the long of it, Miss Lucy, it at once for his own. A jolly old sportsman, he asthore-madam, I mean, begging yer honour's pardon applauded O'Flaherty's spirit, dubbed him his family-sorry a wedding or a christening from Advent to piper, and carried him home. Here for a while Shaneen seemed quite contented, 'with the best of tratement, company, music, and dancing galore;' but at the first opportunity the errant nature once more broke out: he transferred his allegiance from the father to one of the sons; and sorry, though not much surprised, we received his farewells before he set out with Master Darby,' and some others as restless and enterprising as himself, to try their fortune in fighting with the Irish legion for the young queen of Spain. Their fortune was sorely tried-to believe their own story-the fickle goddess having made them her especial sport. But in one respect they were successfulthey returned again; though without one other companion left to contradict or confirm their tale. For this singular good luck Master Darby modestly and quite satisfactorily accounted, by hints of royal regard, which of course no one expected to have more fully detailed; but Shaneen, who did not feel under such deep obligations, whispered, in confidence, that they had barely escaped from a prison, where he at least was near being ruined for life by the rats having taken a fancy to nibble his fingers and toes; and he never could remember the outlandish name of that princess to whose favour Master Darby imputed their deliverance, though always ready to swear in Spanish, English, and Irish, that she would gladly have made him her own, only he thought it rather pleasanter to come home with his head on his shoulders than remain to have it chopped off for the amusement of the furrinners. Upon my life it is no lie, though not one of ye believe me. If Miss Lucy was here, 'tis she would give me credit, for she understood my manners, and knew I always meant the truth when I tould a good story of another or a bad one of myself.' Shrove, or to Advent again: and when mirth is gone, music may well say good-by.' 'Well, Shaneen,' said Lucy's husband, 'I hope you will find a different story here; and as they are all in expectation, will you give us once more " Miss Lucy's fancy," for the sake of old times?' Shaneen's lively glance rested on them both for a moment with its happiest expression; then something made him bend over his pipes as if to tune them; but they wanted no tuning, so again looking up, he said gaily as ever, Shall I give it all to them? The "Madhereen Rhue" will astonish the natives.' 'Then do give it all,' answered both of them laughing; and yet not to astonish the natives, Shaneen, but for the sake of many an Irish heart now in the room, that will warm to the sound of the Madhereen Rhue.' We hope that few of our readers are so unlucky as never to have heard this exciting composition. Played on the Irish bagpipe, and by a good performer, it gives, as far as mere sound can convey, a scene of life and motion, a complete idea of a fox-hunt-the 'Madhereen Rhue' being the Irish for the little red dog,' alias 'Mr Fox,' whose peccadilloes form the opening and burden of the air all along in every interval between the find, the pursuit, the death, until at last the supposed convivialities of the evening are wound up by the neverfailing Fox-hunter's Jig. Even on the spot where those scenes are real, how often have we been carried away by this lively representation! What, then, must have been its effect on those who now heard it again for the first time in a foreign land? All outward, all present associations forgotten, once more the hand was on the bridle, the light laugh upon the lip, then the gathering by the covert-side, the throwing off, the breathless pause; while amidst the measured notes would But Miss Lucy was no longer there-that ally was break in the chopping of some favourite hound, then gone. Whether in a spirit of observation or of pro-another, and another, and then the wild burst as all phecy, Shaneen struck the right chord when he played mingled in full cry, and were off at a view: hardly could the Fox-hunter' as Miss Lucy's fancy. Happily her even Lucy refrain from joining in the 'tally-tally!' choice possessed other perfections also, and more than that broke from every lip; hardly could she bear the supplied the place of home and friends when they had laugh it excited the next minute; and proudly would to cross the Atlantic together, and settle for a while in she have directed her husband's glance to the old Irish a distant land. There, one evening at a party in her blood mantling up in the cheek of their own bright boy, own house, an Irish officer in command of the neigh- as instinctively it warmed to the sound, had she not bouring garrison came up to her with a smiling apology been restored to recollection by a smile that said plainly, for bringing an uninvited guest; but,' added he, 'we' I trust he is born to better things.' brought a piper over from Ireland with the regimenta capital one too-and I thought, for the sake of our common country, you would like to hear some of its old music again.' 'Oh surely-most gladly,' answered Lucy eagerly: Poor Lucy, she answered the smile with another, that might just as well have been a tear, for memory at the moment would not down; and in the young beaming face beside her she saw again her own boy brothers, and many a dear companion of their time; and now, when the music saddened, and the wild lament at the And Shaneen, amidst a continually-shifting tide, has at last, strange to say, come to a quiet anchor: he has found out that there are better ways of settling than 'thravelling about,' being partly indebted for the discovery to Lucy's light-hearted Canadian maid. But still, even as in earliest days, his notes give fresh life to the disheartened and weary ones: many a poor and careworn emigrant has passed onwards, revived by some well-beloved strain that was heard in the freshness of life's early promise, and now almost renews that promise again; while on happier occasions, when even far away over the waters, a rale Irish wedding' may be still brought about, who like Shaneen to complete the illusion, and make them all but believe they are dancing again with those they've left behind them?' A WORD ON A DIFFICULT SUBJECT. In 1846, an Industrial School for the education of poor children gathered from the streets was established in Dundee, from which the best effects, as regards the diminution of petty crime, were confidently anticipated. We are sorry to observe by a police report in a Dundee newspaper, that notwithstanding the operations of this useful seminary, crime cannot be said to have diminished in amount within the town; at least only two persons fewer have appeared before the police court in 1847 as compared with the number in 1846; while there is an increase of 101 persons as compared with 1844. This phenomenon has naturally attracted considerable attention, and the conviction is arrived at, that there must be 'some power at work' counteractive of the exertions made to cut up crime at its roots, by the establishment of the institution to which we have referred. If there be such a power, what is it? This is a question which merits an earnest investigation, and we could have wished that it had engaged the attention of the local authorities, and others interested, in a manner which would have gone far to settle all doubts on the subject. should almost systematically take so narrow a view of this very serious and complicated subject. That much crime is imputable to drunkenness, is quite true, but drunkenness is surely nothing more than the causeproximate: there is a cause remote-a cause which causes the drunkenness; and can that, with any justice, be said to be merely the number of public-houses the convenience presented for purchasing and imbibing liquors? Of course temptation leads to error; and every well-disposed person would wish to see the temptation to drinking lessened as far as is practicable. On that we agree with the speakers on the above occasion. But we hope to be excused for stating it as our belief, that local authorities will find it necessary to go somewhat deeper into social statistics, if they desire to reach the origin of the mischief. The prevalence of habits of intoxication in Scotland would require to be investigated on a comprehensive scale, and with constant reference to the usages and social condition of other countries. A few observations will show the necessity for this form of inquiry. Drunkenness is caused by the cheapness and accessibility of liquors, says almost every body. But how does this assumption agree with the fact, that there are countries-Holland, for example-where intoxicating liquors are abundant and cheap, and yet the people in these lands are comparatively sober in their habits? Again, of public-houses on Sunday. But this assumption is met drunkenness is pretty generally ascribed to the opening by the equally startling fact, that there are countries nearly all kinds of traffic are carried on as usual on where there is no legally-recognised Sabbath, and where Sunday; and yet the people in these countries are less given to habits of intoxication than the Scotch, or even the English. We appeal to all travellers if such is not obviously the case. Nothing is more common than to hear otherwise well-informed persons accounting for social evils by an exclusive reference to things only secondary or superficial, or which, in reality, have no actual connection with the subject. How frequently, for instance, do we hear it stated that the whole cause licism, while, by taking a short trip to Belgium, it would of Ireland's poverty and wretchedness is Roman Cathobe distinctly seen that a country may be most intensely Roman Catholic, and yet that its people may be sober, orderly, industrious, their houses and farms models of neatness, and their morals unexceptionable. To account for great national idiosyncrasies by a reference to causes not borne out by principles universally applicable, is neither wise nor safe. In all investigations of this sort, we must ever take human nature, with all its aspirations and failings, along with us. the track of right investigation. For the sake of seeing At a public meeting which ensued on the publication A volume would be required to treat the subject of of the Report, all the speakers, the resident sheriff in- intemperance thoroughly; and all we can here expect cluded, were of one mind as to the cause of fully one-half to do, is to point out the fallacy of imputing this monof all the criminal cases which occurred in the town; strous evil to either Sunday trafficking or general dramand that cause, as will readily be supposed, was inor-selling, and to lead those who possess more leisure into dinate indulgence in intoxicating liquors. The power counteractive of peace and orderly behaviour was traceable to drink. On this point there could not exist the slightest doubt, for the fact was proved by statistical analysis. Having arrived at this unavoidable conclusion, the speakers one and all seem to have formed the opinion that the cause of drunkenness was the great number of public-houses and shops in which drink was sold; and that it would be proper to adopt all reasonable means to have that number reduced. One speaker, a clergyman, imputed the evil chiefly to the opening of public-houses on Sunday, and contended for some rigorous measures to enforce their being closed on that day. There the matter appears to have rested. It is to be regretted that bodies of intelligent men an effective reform accomplished, we would wish to toss unfortunately misdirect public attention. Let the authooverboard the small and local notions which at present rities by all means proceed to regulate the public-house system; but with the assurance that where there is a demand, there will be a corresponding supply. They may rest satisfied of a fact warranted by experience, that the shutting up of all public-houses on Sunday, as some have recommended, would probably lead to the sale of liquors in private or unlicensed dwellings. As it is, no little tippling takes place by the clubbing of pence to by this means the profit to the public-house keeper is introduce quantities of spirits into private houses; for saved. And how far such clandestine practices will be aggravated by the general closing of licensed houses need not be particularised. Any attempt whatever to lessen |