Paris, and, if possible, recover his girls from the gang of villains into whose hands they had fallen. Mr Cripps, and a lawyer's clerk who could speak French, of course lost no time in setting off to Paris. But, alas! they were too late. Count, countess, Livy, Jemima, and Colonel Jones, had all departed together a week before, on their way, as the mistress of the hotel understood, to the count's chateau, which was situated a long way off--where, she never rightly understood; only she was sure it was a place she'd never heard of in France. Here was a sad blow; and if Mr Cripps had been alone, as a journey to the unknown regions of Transylvania was quite out of the question, he would straightway have returned home. The young clerk, however, was more resolute. By inquiries he traces the party in the direction of Brussels; and to bring the story to a close-the youngest of the girls is found, while the two elder, with Susan, afterwards find their way back to England.

OCCASIONAL NOTES.

SMALL COUNTRY NEWSPAPERS.

We have observed with much pleasure lately the starting into existence of small monthly sheets, containing general intelligence and advertisements, in country towns which could not support a newspaper of the regular kind. Haddington, Dunfermline, and Linlithgow, are places provided with these monthly miscellanies. According to the existing laws affecting the newspaper press, a news-sheet containing an inferior modicum of advertisements may be published at intervals of not less than twenty-seven days, without being liable to stamp-duty, but exposed, of course, to the usual payment of duty on advertisements. Any country town, therefore, may advantageously set up and support one of these monthly intelligencers at little risk; and as the paper may be sold at a penny, a tolerably large sale among country gentlemen, farmers, and the public generally, might be reckoned upon. That which is published at Dunfermline, is a most respectable small sheet, and sold at a penny; we see it speaks of a circulation of three thousand copies. Papers of this description are calculated to inspire a taste for literature in localities little open to the intrusion of metropolitan prints. All people like to read about affairs in which they are intimately concerned, and we do not see any reason why their taste should be balked-there may be as much profit in reading the account of the last monthly meeting of the Golf Club," the " Farmers' Ploughing Association," the Savings' Bank Society," or the "Juvenile association for promoting," &c. of the village of So-and-so, as in perusing the debates in parliament or any other great assemblage. The notice of such matters in print does good. Speakers take care what they say when they know that through the press they are addressing not only a roomful of very decent-looking folks, but a whole county. In this manner the paper cultivates up a race of great men in their own excellent small way-men who will take a lead in promoting objects of utility in the district; and what is this social advancement when viewed in the aggregate?

66

In

For these and other reasons, we recommend the issuing of cheap monthly intelligencers in all country towns where it is reasonably expected they will pay expenses, and leave a profit to the publisher. England, in particular, they might be rendered highly conducive to the spread of information on agricultural and economical topics; already, we believe, they have afforded considerable assistance to the temperance cause. Nothing could so effectually extend the advantages of such sheets, as the total abrogation of duties on advertisements. We consider these duties as a dreadful barrier in the way of literary and commercial speculation. Think of a poor man in the village of paying eighteenpence to the public purse for the liberty of letting his neighbours know that he has a litter of pigs to dispose of! Surely if the advertising press were anxious on the subject, they could lead to the removal of such pitiable restrictions on commercial intelligence.

INSURANCE SOCIETIES.

assigned to each a separate course of study. One he instructed in the precepts of morality; another in logic and oratory; a third in jurisprudence and the duties of the civil magistrate; and a fourth class were trained to moral and theological lecturing.

Engaged in such tasks, Confucius lived to the age of seventy-two. When on his death-bed, he called his pupils around him, and told them that grief for the obdurate profligacy of mankind had worn him down to the grave. "Kings neglect and scorn my precepts, and I quit a world that I can no longer benefit." He was buried in his native country, and, as usually happens when men have irremediably lost any valuable thing, honours were ere long showered upon the memory of the sage. Temples were erected in honour of him, and his name was recorded in innumerable inscriptions, with the appended titles of the "great doctor," the "wise king of literature," the "instructor of emperors and kings." It was also enacted that his descendants should be exempt from taxes, and bear the rank of Mandarins for ever-privileges which they enjoy to this day.

country at large has advanced centuries within the
time we specify. Gas burners, or fixed lights, have
been very generally introduced, thus removing the
chance of overturning lamps, and setting down candles
in improper situations. All kinds of domestic fire-
places have been prodigiously improved; and one of
the greatest of all improvements, the Arnott stove, is
now pretty common. Many buildings are now heated
by pipes with hot water or steam, by which the risk
of burning is removed in a very material degree. Add
to all, that the manners of the people are greatly mo-
dified, and with increasing intelligence are manifested
more marked habits of carefulness and forethought.
Notwithstanding these various and important im-
provements in the state of things, the fire-insurance
societies hold by their absurd scheme of rates, without
caring for one thing or another. "I wish to insure
my printing premises." "Well, we charge double
hazardous for all printing premises." "But I heat
the whole place with steam." "We don't care; you
must be charged double hazardous." "No fires,
candles, or lamps, are used in the place, no oleaginous
inks are prepared, as used to be the practice among
printers." "We don't care; it is a printing office;
that is enough; all printing premises are double
hazardous.”
66
"But show me where the risk lies; con-
vince me that there is a risk of two to one in compa-
rison with domestic dwellings." "We are sorry, sir,
we have no time to discuss these niceties; you wish
double hazardous there are the rules." Such is a
to insure a printing office, and all printing offices are
specimen of the very amusing kind of way fire-insur-
ance societies deal with proposing customers. No in-
ducement is held out to use caution with respect to
fire, or to employ means the least hazardous for either
lighting or heating. The careful are indiscriminately
classed with the careless. Among the large number
of fire-insurance companies, some may perchance pos-
sess rules less stringent and unaccommodating; but if
so, we never heard of them, and the public might be
benefited by their making themselves known.

SKETCHES OF SUPERSTITIONS.

CONFUCIUS-CHINESE SUPERSTITIONS.

THE name of Confucius, as civilised writers have
styled the Chinese philosopher Kong fu-tzee, or Koung-
tzee, is one so enveloped in fable and mystery, that
the majority of people are entirely at a loss what to
believe, and what to disbelieve, regarding him. Gold-
smith did much to produce this feeling, by mixing
up, in his Citizen of the World, a good deal of
matter really of Chinese origin, with a still greater
quantity of fiction, in the shape of tale, apologue,
and allegory. In the outset of the present paper, we
propose to give a correct account, as far as that is
practicable, of the Chinese philosopher, who was cer-
tainly no fabulous personage, but a man of remarkable
genius, and whose opinions, for several thousand years,
have deeply influenced the fate of hundreds of mil-
lions of the human race. It is with no disparaging
views that Confucius is treated of in these papers on
superstitions; but because the Chinese sage is one of
the most prominent objects in the Pantheon of his
country, and receives superstitious homage, in house
and temple, as a divinity, or at least as a mortal
deified.

Such was the comparatively uneventful life of Confucius. After his decease, his writings were carefully collected and preserved. The titles of them areTay-hyo, the Grand Science, or School of Adults; the Chong-yong, or Immutable Medium; Lung-yu, or Moral and Sententious Discourses; Meng-tsi, or Book of Meng (a disciple of the sage); the Hyau-king, or Dissertation on Filial Duty; and the Syan-hyo, or Science for Children." The great subject of these works is Morals; for Confucius was not one who attempted to dive into the abstruse secrets of natural science, nor was he even peculiarly great as a lawgiver. He shines chiefly as a teacher of practical virtue. A few of his moral maxims are subjoined:

"Endeavour to imitate the wise, and never discourage thyself, how laborious soever it may be; if thou canst arrive at thine end, the pleasure thou wilt enjoy will recompense all thy pains.

When thou labourest for others, do it with the same zeal as if it were for thyself.

Virtue which is not supported with gravity gains no respect amongst men.

Take heed that thy promises be just; for, having once promised, it is not lawful to retract: we ought always to keep our promise.

When thou doest homage to any one, see that thy submissions be proportioned to the homage thou owest him. There is stupidity and pride in doing too little; but, in overacting it, there is abjection and hypocrisy.

Eat not for the pleasure thou mayest find therein. Eat to increase thy strength; eat to preserve the life

which thou hast received from Heaven.

Labour to purify thy thoughts: if thy thoughts are not vicious, neither will thy actions be so.

The wise man has an infinity of pleasures; for virtue has its delights in the midst of the severities that attend it."

While we are bound to acknowledge that, as an instructor of men in the practical duties of life, Confucius has exerted, in all probability, a beneficial influence on China, it appears, at the same time, that he rather increased than diminished the mythological darkness of his country. At this day, temples are dedicated to him, and he is worshipped in these ediThe native biographers of Confucius, who are nume- fices as a deity; at least no other being is there worrous, concur in the assertion that he was born at a shipped. The sage is not besought, as saints are period preceding the commencement of the Christian elsewhere, to assume the character merely of an interera by about 550 years, in the kingdom of Loo, now a cessor with some greater power. The usual oblation province of China, and named Chang-ton. He was a to him is a hog, which is sacrificed before a tablet descendant of the royal Chang dynasty, and doubtless inscribed with his name; and at the base of the owed his subsequent distinction in part to his origin. tablet a grave is dug to receive the hair and offals of At a very early period he exhibited great abilities, and the animal, that no part of it may fall to unworthy made himself famous for his mastery of all the litera- purposes. The worshippers feed on the body of the ture of preceding times, and particularly the Five hog, and at the same time they pour out libations of Volumes, containing the canonical and legislative wine, chant solemn hymns, and make prostrations labours of the sages Yao and Chun. His sovereign, before the name of the sage. Such homage, if we may the king of Loo, soon took notice of Confucius, and judge from his writings, would be any thing but pleasadvanced him to offices where he was enabled to exerting to the manes of Confucius; but we simply describe a beneficial influence on the morals of his countrymen, the truth. and further the cause of education among them. Before the times of Confucius, the Chinese adored Under his sagacious ministry, the kingdom grew so a being called Xamti, and this worship still exists in Individuals, as is well known, if pursuing an erro- prosperous, that the neighbouring provinces began to China, being called the old religion. But two other neous course, are open to conviction and amendment entertain apprehensions lest the increase of wealth and sects have long been prevalent in the country. One on the point; but you can make little or no impres- strength among the Looites might prove dangerous to is the sect of Tao-tse, which sprung up in China about sion on corporations or societies, be they ever so far themselves. It is said that they fell upon a scheme a thousand years before Christ; and the other is the wrong. On account of this slow tendency to improve, to undermine the power and authority of Confucius at worship of Fo, introduced in the first century of societies of men, instituted for almost any useful ob- the court of Loo, which was only too successful. The the Christian era. Compared with the follies comject, fall behind in comparison with the general enter- king of Loo received from his neighbour of Tsi a pre-mitted by the priests of Fo and Tao-tse, in their prise of individuals. An individual is ever on the sent of a number of beautiful women, who were duly now numerous temples, the hog-oblations to Confualert; he is beset by and cares for rivals; he catches instructed to use all their efforts in impairing the in- cius are rational and seemly. The priests, who are eagerly at any feasible means of recommending him- fluence of Confucius. The sage speedily saw and felt said to number above one hundred thousand persons, self and of advancing his prospects. But an associa- the effects of their stratagems. Disgusted and indig-profess celibacy, do not drink wine, and abstain from tion is, for the most part, a very lumbering sort of nant, he quitted the country of Loo, and sought a garlic and onions; the latter act being held an indiaffair; there are so many interests to be reconciled, so place where his exertions might be more extensively cation of marvellous continence in China. The temples many minds to be fathomed and persuaded, so many useful; but he found no such arena for his labours as of Fo are filled with idols, some single ones containing formalities to be attended to, &c., that alterations of he desired, and finally resolved to devote himself to three hundred monstrous figures, exceeding the size any usage, however bad, are next to impossibilities. the instruction, in morals, logic, philosophy, and ora- of life. The burning of incense and tapers, sacrifices, We beg to instance a case in point, in reference to tory, of pupils who might at least be the depositories hymns, bell-ringings, and processions, form the outinsurance against damage by fire. All the fire-insur- and preservers of his doctrines. Six hundred scho- ward ceremonies of the Fo worship, and prove very ance societies we are acquainted with have a scale lars were trained by him, and diffused his doctrines attractive to the populace. It is allowed by the best of charges, corresponding, as they allege, to the dif- far and wide through the country. Seventy-two authorities that the Fo or Fo-hi of the Chinese is the ferent degrees of hazard in which the insured property pupils are said to have been peculiarly distinguished same as the Budh of the Burman empire, whence the is supposed to be put. One building is single hazard-by their superior progress in knowledge, but ten only superstition is originally believed to have sprung. ous, another is double hazardous; and so on. make no doubt that this nicely-adjusted scheme was all right and fair some thirty or forty years ago, but not so now. As respects danger from fire the

We

were able to master the whole system of their great
instructor. To increase their future usefulness, by
giving them different objects and spheres of exertion,
Confucius divided his scholars into four classes, and

The priests of Tao-tse are more like augurs or fortune-tellers than any thing else. They openly pretend to the powers of magic and alchemy; they consult oracles; they profess to hold intercourse with

demons; and they maintain a class of old women, who are regarded as sybils or witches. From what has been stated here, it will be observed, that in addition to a superior object of worship, the Chinese believe in the existence of inferior spiritual beings, good and bad. These they call Quei-shin, and ascribe to them the government of the seasons, and other operations of nature. Private oblations of wine and tea are offered to these invisible agents. The Chinese also believe with great fervency in lucky and unlucky days, and these are actually noted down, by way of warning, in the imperial calendar for each successive year. No marriages or bargains are entered upon on these unlucky days; and even funerals are put off, as liable to be rendered of evil omen by the same cause. Even the emperor is guided in all his actions, important or unimportant, by the Board of Astronomers. Another curious superstition, which prevails univer sally, is the fung-shui, wind and water, which relates to the exact angle necessary for the roof of a house, in order to ensure the owner's prosperity. Odd numbers are likewise held of peculiar virtue by the Chinese. They reckon three powers-heaven, earth, and man ; three lights-sun, moon, and stars, &c. They reckon seven ruling bodies-sun, moon, and five planets, &c. But fire is the number in most repute, because the Chinese reckon the great virtues as five, namelycharity, justice, good manners, prudence, and fidelity; the elements with them are five in number; the seasons of the year five; the planets five; the primitive colours five; and so on. Our more accurate scientific knowledge is not required to show us the folly of all this. The superstitious feelings of the Chinese are strongly exhibited in the case of fires. Though Canton has been visited by appalling conflagrations, the inhabitants are yet totally regardless of all ordinary precautions, contenting themselves with the indolent belief of eastern fatalism, that such things, being decreed by destiny, could not be affected in the slightest degree by their exertions.

it should have been spared, for it is a sacred animal.' | irregularity of work. Their wages are at once low
IIe then related a story respecting crows having once
and uncertain. Mr Austin, the assistant-commissioner
performed some essential public service, just as geese for the south-western parts of England, states that the
are said to have saved the Roman capitol. This inference from all his evidence is, "that the weavers,
shows, at least, the utility of being acquainted with taken as a body, are out of work one-third of their
the most trivial superstitions of a country."
time !"

The Chinese have a mode of divination by throw-
ing up pieces of wood, of a peculiar shape, and judging
of the decrees of fate by the mode in which they fall
and lie. A book is hung up in certain of their
temples, to decide questions of this kind. Though a
common mode of divination, this cannot be a very
satisfactory one even to the parties who use it, because
they for the most part toss up the sticks until these
fall in a way suitable to their wishes.

Such are a few of the facts detailed in the report, and which may serve to convey an idea of the general remuneration of hand-loom weavers in various parts of the country. With the exception of those employed on coarse fabrics, which require strength, and which command a regular sale, their condition is extremely miserable. Long hours, small pay, and inconstant employment, are the hardships with which, from year to year, they have to contend. The causes which The Chinese have many other superstitious notions combine to keep them so far under the general level and practices. With all their mechanical ingenuity of British artisans, are not difficult to discover. The and powers of imitation, they are an ignorant people, attractiveness of hand-loom weaving, the little skill or and mental cultivation can alone emancipate man strength which most of its branches require, and the from the bondage of superstition. This subject, how-employment which it offers to the wife and children ever, has already occupied as much space as is fitting of the weaver, all tend to overstock the labour market, while the labourers have to compete with improved processes of manufacture, and with the giant powers of the steam-engine! They are thus engaged in a hopeless contest with mechanical power-a contest which some of the causes we have named may prolong, but which no ingenuity or exertion can render ultimately successful. The distress, too, of the handloom weavers, particularly those engaged in the fancy trade, is, as we have stated, greatly aggravated by the uncertainty of employment. They are alike exposed to the vicissitudes of commerce and the caprices of fashion. The slightest shock to trade, arising from whatever cause, has a crushing effect on those at the bottom of the social machine, who have no capital on which to fall back, and hence the periodical destitution to which this class of operatives are subject.

or necessary.

HAND-LOOM WEAVERS' REPORT.
[We have for some time contemplated presenting a review of
a Report of the Commissioners on the Hand-Loom Weavers, but
were prevented by the pressure of other duties. We have now
great pleasure in transferring from the Scotsman (Edinburgh
append a few concluding observations.]
THE Report of the Commissioners on the Condition
of the Hand-loom Weavers, is a work of no ordinary
value. It contains a summary of the voluminous re-
ports already published of the assistant commissioners
appointed to visit the principal weaving districts,
and enters at considerable length, and with marked
ability, into a consideration of the various measures of
a remedial nature which have from time to time been
suggested.

newspaper) an abstract of this valuable document, to which we

Few classes of artisans are entitled to more symMr Davis, in his description of China, thus alludes pathy than the hand-loom weavers. Not only are to the remarkable kind of charms and talismans used they reduced to distress which nothing but constant by the people of that country:-" Among the principal toil saves from absolute pauperism, but they bear with are 'money-swords,' as they are called, consisting of a them the feelings and remembrances of happier days, number of ancient copper coins, each with a square to embitter and aggravate their misery. Mr Symons, hole in the middle, fastened together over a piece of one of the assistant commissioners, mentions, that in iron, shaped like a sword with a cross-hilt. These are the houses of some of the weavers in Scotland, alsuspended at the heads of sleeping-couches and beds, though in general poorly furnished, he found occathat the supposed guardianship of the sovereigns, in sionally "articles of massive and even handsome whose reigns the coin was issued, may keep away furniture, the relics of former and happier days, still ghosts and evil spirits. They are chiefly used in treasured up with a pride which poverty cannot subhouses or rooms where persons have committed sui-jugate," and in general they present the spectacle of cide, or suffered a violent death; and sick people some- a class of men poor without being inured to poverty, times resort to them in the hope of hastening their and retaining tastes and habits which they are unable recovery. Their efficacy is no doubt fully equal to longer to indulge. The inquiry into their condition, that of a horse-shoe nailed over a door, or any of those the causes from which their distresses have arisen, infallible devices formerly adopted in this country and the measures by which these may be alleviated, against witches and ghosts. The Chinese have com- is therefore one of vast importance, and well worthy monly a firm belief in, and consequently a great dread of a government actuated by a wholesome spirit of of, the wandering spirits of persons who have come to reform, and having the good of the labouring popuan unfortunate end, and which they denominate quei. lation at heart. When Europeans first arrived in the country, their red or yellow hair, and high noses, were strongly opposed to the idea of Chinese comeliness. Mothers and nurses pointed them out as ogres and devils to their children, and hence the present term for any Europeans, fan-quei, foreign ghost, spirit, or devil,' with some allusion, perhaps, to their wandering so far

from their homes.

A common Chinese talisman is the hundred families' lock,' to procure which, a father goes round among his friends, and having obtained from a hundred different parties a few of the copper coins of the country, he himself adds the balance, to purchase an ornament or appendage fashioned like a lock, which he hangs on his child's neck, for the purpose of locking him figuratively to life, and making the hundred persons concerned in his attaining old age. Another charm worn by children is a figure of the ky-lin, a fabulous animal supposed to have appeared at the birth of Confucius, and therefore ominous of promotion and good fortune to the young. On the 5th day of the fifth moon, sprigs and cuttings of the acorus calamus, and a plant called by the Chinese gae, are placed at the doors of houses to prevent all manner of evil from entering. The 'peach charm' consists of a sprig of that tree covered with blossoms, which, at the new year, is placed at door-ways for the same purpose as the foregoing. The pa-kua, or eight mystical diagrams of Fo-hi, cut in stone or metal, are often worn as charms; and the bottle-gourd, a curious species of the genus cucurbitus, closely resembling a bottle, is represented in ornaments as an emblem of longevity.

We now come to the discussion of the remedies for these formidable evils. To this branch of the inquiry the greater part of the report is devoted, nor is its object confined to the elevation of the hand-loom weavers alone. It is, in fact, an essay on the means by which the commerce of this country may be maintained and invigorated, and the condition of the labouring classes generally improved. The commissioners are clearly of opinion that the hand-loom weavers can only be permanently benefited by a diminution of their numbers. In those branches of weaving to which the power-loom is applicable, it is in vain to continue a struggle with inferior tools. The south of England clothiers, in like manner, must yield to the superior local advantages of the north. Again, with reference to those branches of weaving which require little either of strength or skill in the operative, the commissioners justly remark, that "if men will submit to do the work of women and children, they must submit to receive their wages." A business easily acquired and easily performed, holding out great temptations as a domestic occupation, and one in which women and children can engage, must always be overstocked with hands. "No conduct," says the report, "on the part of those engaged in it, can prevent it from being at the bottom of the scale. It can improve only under the influence of causes which raise the condition of the whole body of labourers."

Holding this belief, the commissioners had a wide field for discussion opened up to them; and the conclusions at which they have arrived are entitled to the utmost consideration, from the ability and candour with which the investigation is conducted. Their first proposal is to render the demand for labour more steady, by "the substitution for the present anomalous and fluctuating corn duty, of a duty, either to be annually reduced or to be permanently fixed at a low rate; and such a change in the duties on timber as may no longer exclude from all buildings intended for the use of the great majority of the people, the timber which is cheapest and best." They also recommend measures "for promoting the healthiness of the labouring classes, and for the improvement of our foreign trade." Secondly, they propose, in order to cheapen the material on which one class of weavers are employed, and thereby increase the demand for their labour, that the duty on organzine (a particular kind of silk) should be either abolished or reduced. Thirdly, for the purpose of further increasing that demand by the improvement of British patterns, they recommend "the protection and extension of copy right in designs, the establishment and promotion of schools of design, and the general cultivation of the popular taste." Fourthly, "believing that the cost of production to the manufacturer is much increased, and, consequently, the demand for hand-loom labour much diminished, by the embezzlement of woven goods, and of the materials of weaving, they recommend measures for its more effectual repression." Fifthly, "believing the restrictions on the manufacture and sale of Irish linen to be mischievous, they recommend their abolition." Sixthly, "believing that hand-loom weavers suffer even more than the labouring classes in general, under the obstacles to the free use and circulation of labour imposed by combinations, they recommend measures for restoring liberty to the working classes, by depriving combinations of their powers of intimidation." The following is the concluding paragraph :

The first part of the report describes the condition of the hand-loom weavers, and their general rate of wages. In the north of England, the lowest paid class of weavers-that is, those engaged on work requiring little strength or skill-seldom earn more than 5s. or 6s. a-week. A family of six persons, two of them employed, average about 7s. 6d. weekly. Where three of a family are employed, their united weekly wage is only about 128.-the father perhaps earning onehalf, and his wife and son or daughter the remainder. But instances are given of families of four or five depending on the labours of one person, and where the whole income is not more than 3s. or 4s. a-week! At Ashton-under-line, 483 families were visited, whose average weekly earnings amounted only to 4s. 111d.! This is sufficiently deplorable. In Scotland, families are represented as earning, according to their number, 78., 16s., or, where there are four or five at work, 20s. a-week. The linen weavers in Yorkshire earn about 7s. 6d. a-week each. Weavers employed on fabrics requiring moderate skill, are paid at a somewhat higher rate. Their wages in some instances amount to 12s., 13s., or even 16s. a-week, while women earn about a third less; but from this sum the expense of candles, dressing, and perhaps loom-rent, have to be deducted. Where strength is required, some further improvement in the rate of remuneration is observable. At a bolting-cloth factory at Wandsworth, the men earn 258. a-week, but out of this they have to pay for candles, &c., and also for the assistance of a boy in some parts of the work. At Diss and North Lopham, in Norfolk, the net average wage, after deducting expenses, amounts only to The Chinese look upon rooks as unlucky birds, 10s. At a sacking and tarpauling factory at Bristol, whose visits prognosticate visits still more unpleasant the average wage of sixteen weavers for two years was from the mandarins. There is, however, a species of 12s. 7d. per man. The average wage of sailcloth white-necked crow, for which they have a high vene- weavers at Dundee, Arbroath, Aberdeen, Montrose, ration, as was proved in the last embassy. A gentle- and Kirkcaldy, is Ss. 6d., or, with steadiness and skill, man of the party had carried a gun with him, in one 10s. The Spitalfields weavers employed on waistcoat of those long walks which we were accustomed to take velvets average 20s. a-week; weavers of broad and at the frequent points of sojourn. The unusual ap-rich-flowered shawls at Norwich earn about 25s. apearance of this crow, with a white cravat, led to its week; those employed on the finest cloths at Leeds being for once considered as fair game, and the bird make from 24s. to 288., and in all similar cases, where was shot. The occurrence was reported to the empe- superior skill as well as strength is required, the rate ror's legate, who conducted the embassy, and from of remuneration is equally high. But this class of him an earnest request was conveyed to the ambassa- weavers are liable to be thrown frequently out of emdor that no more such birds might be killed. But ployment; so that their annual income is sometimes it was only a crow,' was the natural answer. 'Only a less than that of the inferior operatives. Almost all crow!' exclaimed the legate of all the birds that fly descriptions of weavers, however, complain of the

"We have, lastly, considered the means by which the number of hand-loom weavers may be diminished, or their undue increase prevented. After remarking that the restoring freedom to the labour market will,

to a certain degree, effect these purposes, we have directed our attention to two auxiliary measures -emigration and education. We have stated our fears that the weavers will not derive much direct and specific advantage from emigration. Nor have we encouraged the hope that they will be peculiarly benefited by the extension of education. But believing most firmly that the whole body of the labouring classes would derive benefit from a general system of education, under which the community should be bound to supply the means, and parents, and all others filling the place of parents, to use them, we have suggested an outline of a plan by which such a system may be introduced."

Such is a brief digest of the remedial measures suggested by the commissioners, and equally enforced by facts and arguments. It is obvious, however, that, even if immediately carried into effect, many of these remedies would operate slowly, and only in an indirect shape, on the condition of the hand-loom weavers. The work of amelioration must, in the main, be performed by the weavers themselves. With the knowledge brought home to them so forcibly that their trade is inevitably on the decline, it is incumbent on the married to find other employments for their children; and on the unmarried to avoid incurring the responsibility of a family until they have in some way provided for their support. There are, no doubt, large numbers who cannot be expected to seek new occupations, but the young and the active must carry their industry to more profitable markets; and by so doing they will not only benefit themselves but those left behind, whose labour will rise in value in proportion as their numbers are diminished.

time that she came from Madrid, and that she desired
to pass the rest of her life in peace, at a distance
from the gay world. Excepting as respected the occu-
pations which her character drew upon her, and
which she did not dislike, or at least did not avoid,
Calakena really passed her days in quiet. During the
civil war, indeed, consultations thickened upon her.
She read horoscopes to the chiefs of the Christinos,
and to the soldiers of the army of Cabrera. All par-
ties treated her with respect for her mystical charac-
ter, and she could pass from place to place, among
their wildest ranks, without a shadow of injury. Such
was the sorceress Calakena.

One evening in December last (1840), an equipage
stopped before the cabin of Calakena. A lady stepped
out of it. She was a young creature of exquisite
beauty, with cheeks coloured like the pomegranate,
and long tresses, dark as ebony.

"My dear mother," said the visitant to the reputed sorceress, slipping at the same time a ducat of gold into her hand, "I am about to be married; and I come to you to know if my fortune is to be a happy

come with me to some distance from this place. But,
in the first place, let me ask if you have a firm bold
heart?' I think I have,' was my reply. Then
let us hence,' answered the sorceress; and desiring
me to follow closely, she walked away from the cabin.
The night was rather dark, the light of the moon being
but feeble. We walked on without stopping, for
nearly a quarter of an hour, until we reached the court
of the church of Pilar. Calakena here made me
enter into a low and dimly-lighted chamber.
that I could see in it was a table with a black cloth
upon it, concealing something. An empty glass and
a poniard stood on another table or shelf.

All

Giacomo said the sorceress, in a low but emphatic voice, if you would be happy, strike that poniard through this cloth!'

I hesitated. I know not,' said I, 'if I ought to do such a thing without knowing'

'Coward!' muttered Calakena, you would command destiny, and yet your arm trembles at such a petty trial !''

Thinking that, at the most, this trial could only be a foolish and fruitless piece of mummery, I became ashamed of my weakness, and, lifting the poniard, struck it into the middle of the black cloth. Horrible to relate, blood immediately burst in a stream

"From Venice, mother," was the reply. "Venice!" cried the sorceress, with kindling eyes, through the aperture made by the weapon! In one "Venice!—and his name?"

"Giacomo Salvadi," answered the visiter.

The sybil bounded from her seat in a state of seemingly irrepressible excitement, with which was mingled an appearance of wild joy. After a pause, she said, with a little more calmness, "He loves you, does he?" "Yes, mother," returned the young lady.

"He calls you his angel, his divinity, the living sun of his life?"

"Yes, my good mother."

"He passes days at your feet in gazing upon your
eyes, and the night he passes under your windows?"
"Yes, often, my good mother; you speak the exact
truth," said the visitant.

"And then he sings to you," said the sorceress;
"he sings to you such words as these--
The ruby and the opal stone,

The diamond with its kindling dyes,
The star of morn, so brightly lone,
Have not the charm of thy sweet eyes.
One tells us of the coming sun,

And gems their owner's wealth may prove,
But thy sweet eyes, beloved one,

They speak of love!"

[The occasion of reporting on the condition of the hand-loom weavers, might not be exactly appropriate for discussing the question of extending national or district relief to that unfortunate class of men; but it is made tolerably clear to us, that not only they but a host of others, who are sunk to the most abject state of penury, should be provided for on a large and satisfactory footing. We hold it as a truth in social economy, that all have a claim on the country for a provision in some shape, after every fair exertion on their own part fails to gain the means of support. The provision may either be on the spot or at a distance, but it must be somewhere, otherwise civilised society is put in a state of peril. To provide for the better support of the existing mass of hand-loom weavers by simply improved education and an alteration of fiscal duties, is absurd; and it would neither be sound policy nor agreeable to the men themselves to support them as paupers. We should in these circumstances decidedly recommend removal at the public expense to those parts of the empire where the services of swered Calakena, "and you will be the better pre"You see that every thing is known to me," anworking-men are required, and where there is bound-pared to follow my counsels. In order that your less provision for all human wants. Emigration on a marriage may be happy, it is necessary that you large but judicious scale, in short, is what ought to be should send your intended bridegroom to me. On resorted to for a cure of present evils; and with the his firmness and courage, under the proofs to which I other economic plans suggested by the commissioners, shall subject him, depends your future welfare." we may expect to be exempted from future misfortunes The young lady, Donna Isabella, was delighted with of the same kind.] this answer to her application. Seeing the extent of the sorceress's knowledge in one respect, she had no doubt but the latter could ensure her wedded happiness, or at least ward off any impending evils by a timely warning. "If our happiness depend on the firmness and courage of Giacomo, we must be happy, for he is brave as the Cid."

A REMARKABLE SPANISH TRIAL. THE criminal records of Spain ever and anon present cases, which prove that the revengeful spirit, long held peculiar to the people of that country, and some other parts of southern Europe, still exists among them in almost undiminished force. Circumstances, indeed, have prevented the peaceful spread of education in these quarters, and we could rationally look for improvement from no other source. A Saragossa paper describes the following appalling case as having been heard before the magisterial tribunal of the city, on the 4th of January last. We give the narrative here, as translated into the French jour

nals.

Upon the flowery borders of the Ebro, near the city of Saragossa, there lived, within these few months, a woman named Calakena. She called herself sixty years of age, and appeared not to be young; but, notwithstanding any tokens of age discernible on her countenance, it was still evident that she had been remarkable for beauty. Calakena had dwelt in her cabin on the Ebro for many years; she lived alone, and, like the owl, only issued, for the most part, by night. She carried continually in her hand a long black staff or wand, and her dress was a gown composed of stuffs of various kinds, and of different colours, pieced together. Throughout the whole district -at Saragossa, Tarragona, and Huenca, from the garden plains of Navarre even to the far south-she was known, and reputed a redoubtable sorceress; and all devout Spaniards crossed themselves and muttered a prayer at her approach, or in passing her residence. This very fear of her indicated the extent of the popular belief in her power; and hundreds came, even from great distances, to avail themselves of that power, in order to get a glance into the future, or to further worse purposes. It was no uncommon thing to find even carriages at the door of the sorceress's cabin when the shades of evening had fallen in.

Those who remembered the arrival of Calakena in the neighbourhood of Saragossa, said that she had then appeared young and exceedingly beautiful, though the traces of some gnawing grief were visible in her lock and deportment. She herself had said at that

"Oh, mother!" cried the young visiter to the sorceress, your power is astonishing. He does sing these very words to me !"

"Go, then," answered Calakena, "and tell him to
come hither to-morrow evening. But you also must
come, and before him."

"Why before him, mother?" asked the visitant.
"Because it is essential to the proof to which he
must be put," said the fortune-teller; "and, above
all, it is requisite that he should not be aware of your
coming hither. The charm would be rendered of no
avail by his knowledge of your presence."

The lady Isabella entered her equipage, and went
home in all haste. She strictly obeyed the directions
of Calakena, telling Giacomo only so much of what
had passed as the sorceress desired. To please his fair
young mistress, Salvadi readily consented to visit the
cabin of Calakena. At the time appointed, he went
thither accordingly.

On the following morning, Giacomo Salvadi stood as a prisoner before the chief magistrate of Saragossa, in the presence of an eager and whispering crowd. The hands of Salvadi were tied behind his back. On the court-table, in front of the bench of justice, there lay some linen and portions of female attire, stained deeply with blood. In a glass beside them was a portion of the same fluid.

The alcade-mayor first broke silence, by addressing the accused. " Giacomo Salvadi," said the magistrate, "you are charged with the assassination of Donna Isabella, your own betrothed bride. Have you any defence to offer, or explanation to give?"

"Yes, sir," replied the accused, in low but firm tones.

"Speak, then," said the alcade; "and may Heaven enable you to justify yourself and clear up this dreadful transaction!"

The accused commenced by a statement of what has already been detailed here, describing Donna Isabella's visit to the sorceress, and the consequent request made to himself that he also should visit Calakena's cabin. "I went thither," continued the accused, "and, as directed, nearly at the hour of midnight. The sorceress met me at the threshold of her cabin. You are welcome,' said she; 'you must now

instant after the stroke was struck, and before I could recover from the shock consequent upon its results, Calakena, who had the glass in her hand, darted forward, and caught some drops of the flowing blood into it.

To thy health, Giacomo Salvado!' cried she, with the voice of a triumphant demon, as she raised the glass to her lips; it is Marianetta who drinks to thee!'

In the sorceress I now recognised a woman with whom I had been acquainted many years before, and who, when I had left her, had sworn bitter vengeance against me. But I had no time to attend to her, for ere her frantic words were uttered, quick as her proceedings were, the black cloth had been cast off, and I found a woman on the table, uttering her dying moans. The meaning of the sorceress was now made but too clear to me. The victim was my betrothed bride, Isabella! From her simple lips, Calakena had learned my name and my intention of marriage, and had profited by Isabella's belief in her magical powers to bring her to this retired place, and to deliver her over to the knife with which she had armed me.

This is the truth," said Giacomo in conclusion. "As regards intention, I am innocent of this murder as the new-born child."

Several witnesses came forward when Giacomo had While Giacomo hung in agony over his bleeding bride, concluded, and testified to several points in his favour. the sorceress had fled, and some of the witnesses had seen her passing with speed from the neighbourhood. Isabella, too, had lived long enough to explain the whole transaction, as far as she knew of it. Her dying declarations went to substantiate all that had been tion of these proofs in his favour, Giacomo was finally related by Salvadi. In consequence of the producacquitted of the crime, with the consent of all acquainted with the case.

The sorceress, Calakena, has been sought for, but has it has been learned that she was a woman not more not as yet been heard of. From Giacomo and others, than thirty-five years old, and must have assumed the appearance of age in order the more effectually to impose on the public, and prosecute the profession to which she had applied herself. On her cabin being examined, a number of colouring substances were found, by means of which she had given herself the which she had nursed the sentiment of revenge, shows hue and look of old age. The length of time during a violence of passions scarcely credible without such proofs as those given. It appears even but too probable that she had assumed the character of a sorceress at first, in the hope that she would better attain her desired object, and that her plan of revenge had been one long matured. But for the lamentable and ignorant credulity, however, of her victims, her murderous purposes might have been frustrated. Half of the calamities of mankind come in the train of superstition.

TRUE GREATNESS.

I cannot admire (says Pascal) the man who possesses one virtue in high perfection, if he has not at the same time the opposite virtue in an equal degree; as in the case of Epaminondas, who united the extremes of valour and of meekness; without this, it is not an elevated, but a fallen character. Greatness does not consist in being at one extreme, but in reaching both extremes at once, and occupying all the intermediate space. Perhaps this is in

no case more than a sudden movement of the soul, from one extreme to the other, and, like a burning brand whirled quickly round in a circle, it is never but in one point of its course at a time. Still, this indicates the energy of the soul, if not its expansion.

INTEGRITY OF THE DOG.

The Almighty, who gave the dog to be the companion of our pleasures and our toils, hath invested him with a nature noble and incapable of deceit. He forgets neither friend nor foe-remembers, and with accuracy, both benefit and injury. He hath a share of man's intelligence, but no share of man's falsehood. You may bribe a soldier to slay a man with his sword, or a witness to take life by false accusation, but you cannot make a hound tear his benefactor. Walter Scott,

same sort of division of it is made as if it had been taken away from him. He may, perhaps, if he be a selfish man, care nothing for the maintaining of all these families, but still he does maintain them; for if he should choose to spend one thousand pounds a-year in fine pictures, the painters who are employed in those pictures are as well maintained as if he had made them a present of the money and left them to sit idle. The only difference is, that they feel they are honestly carning their living, instead of subsisting on charity; but the total quantity of food and clothing in the country is neither the greater nor the less in the one case than in the other. But if a rich man, instead of spending all his income, saves a great part of it, this saving will almost always be the means of maintaining a still greater number of industrious people; for a man who saves, hardly ever, in these days at least, hoards up gold and silver in a box, but lends it out on good security, that he may receive interest on it. Suppose, instead of spending one thousand pounds a-year in painting, he saves the sum every generally borrowed by farmers, year, then this money or manufacturers, or merchants, who can make a profit by it in the way of their business, over and above the interest they pay for the use of it. And in order to do this, they lay it out in employing labourers to till the ground, or to manufacture cloth and other articles, or to import foreign goods, by which means the corn, and cloth, and other commodities of the country, are in

The rich man, therefore, though he appears to have so much larger a share allotted to him, does not really consume it, but is only the channel through which it flows to others. And it is by this means much better distributed than it could have been otherwise.

AN EVENING WALK IN BENGAL.
[BY THE REV. REGINALD HEBER.]
Our task is done!-on Gunga's breast
The sun is sinking down to rest;
And, moor'd beneath the tamarind bough,
Our bark has found its harbour now.
With furled sail and painted side,
Behold the tiny frigate ride:
Upon her deck, 'mid charcoal gleams,
The Moslem's savoury supper steams;
While all apart, beneath the wood,
The Hindoo cooks his simpler food.

Come, walk with me the jungle through-
If yonder hunter told us true,
Far off, in desert dank and rude,
The tiger holds its solitude;
Now (taught by recent harm to shun
The thunders of the English gun)
A dreadful guest but rarely seen,
Returns to scare the village green.
Come boldly on ;-no venom'd snake
Can shelter in so cool a brake-
Child of the sun, he loves to lie
'Midst nature's embers, parch'd and dry
Where o'er some tower in ruin laid,
The peepul spreads its haunted shade;
Or round a tomb his scales to wreathe,
Fit warder in the gate of Death.
Come on; yet pause! Behold us now
Beneath the bamboo's arched bough,
Where, gemming oft that sacred gloom,
Glows the geranium's scarlet bloom;*
And winds our path through many a bower
Of fragrant tree and giant flower-
The ceiba's crimson pomp display'd
O'er the broad plantain's humbler shade,
And dusk anana's prickly glade;
While o'er the brake, so wild and fair,
The betel waves his crest in air;
With pendant train and rushing wings,
Aloft the gorgeous peacock springs;
And he, the bird of hundred dyes,†
Whose plumes the dames of Ava prize.
So rich a shade, so green a sod,
Our English fairies never trod!
Yet who in Indian bowers has stood,
But thought on England's "good green wood;"
And bless'd, beneath the palmy shade,
Her hazel and her hawthorn glade;
And breathed a prayer (how oft in vain!)
To gaze upon her oaks again?

A truce to thought-the jackal's cry
Resounds like sylvan revelry;
And through the trees yon failing ray
Will scantly serve to guide our way.
Yet mark, as fade the upper skies,
Each thicket opes ten thousand eyes--
Before, beside us, and above,
The fire-fly lights his lamp of love,
Retreating, chasing, sinking, soaring,
The darkness of the copse exploring;
While to this cooler air confest,
The broad dhatura bares her breast,
Of fragrant scent and virgin white,
A pearl around the locks of night!
Still as we pass, in soften'd hum,
Along the breezy alleys come
The village song, the horn, the drum:
Still as we pass, from bush and brier,
The shrill cigala strikes his lyre;
And, what is she whose liquid strain
Thrills through yon copse of sugar-cane?
I know that soul-entrancing swell,
It is it must be-Philomel!
Enough, enough, the rustling trees
Announce a shower upon the breeze,
The flashes of the summer sky
Assume a deeper, ruddier dye;
Yon lamp that trembles on the stream,
From forth our cabin sheds its beam;
And we must early sleep, to find
Betimes the morning's healthy wind.
But oh! with thankful hearts confess
E'en here there may be happiness;
And He, the bounteous Sire, has given
His peace on earth-his hope of Heaven!
-Heber's Poetical Works.

* A shrub whose deep scarlet flowers very much resemble the geranium, and thence called the Indian geranium. †The Mucharunga.

DINBURG

JOURNA

CONDUCTED BY WILLIAM AND ROBERT CHAMBERS, EDITORS OF "CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE,”