POLITENESS. The middle stations of life in England are the most desirable; they enjoy more solid comforts; they are sufficiently removed from envy on the one hand, and from fear and the forbidding prestige of station on the other. Forms and ceremonies with them are less conventional, and are observed with more ease-adopted or thrown aside, just as the occasion may warrant. There is more real good breeding, properly so called, in this grade of life than in any other-that is, where the parties have a fair portion of intellect, and the means of making themselves and their friends comfortable. Good breeding is nothing more than true politeness. The great secret of the attraction of manner, which is so fascinating in persons who are eminent in station, is not an art, but rather the absence of all art-a recurrence to the principles of nature in its purest kindliness. Though it may rest with princes only to be gracious, so as to have their graciousness more impressively felt, when the regal orbit from which they stoop is regarded, the same principle holds good in every other station of life. The first impulse in manner, which one man adopts towards another, where there are no disturbing influences, is kind and inartificial. Stript of the control of custom, and all sophisticated distinctions, the ruling tendency in the mind of each would be that of rendering rather than receiving service. He must be a poor observer of life who does not recollect the number of strangers he has met with, of both sexes, whose easy and unconstrained manners gave him a favourable impression of their characters. The slightest offer of service or kindness in a stranger produces an agreeable effect far beyond the value of the kindness itself: it shows the existence of natural virtue at a premium. The actions of children are always graceful, till they are disciplined into the forms of politeness by art. To make ourselves agreeable in company, and easy under all the contrasts of station, we require not to learn any thing, but to unlearn; to fall back on those natural capacities which place all men on a level, bating those inequalities which partake of our nature, and which more frequently give the ascendancy to the poor than to the rich, because they are greater in number.-- National Advertiser. [It is to be regretted that the spirit of politeness is so often wanting amongst the labouring class-oftener in large towns than in primitive rural situations. In this, as in every other department of society, a grace would arise, and a happiness be diffused, from a courteous deportment, far beyond what mere wealth could give. The right to speak and act rudely and ungraciously is by too many considered equivalent to sincerity and independence of principle; and it is too often entirely forgotten that civilised society exists by a wide-spread system of mutual concession to feelings. He who will not concede and conform should free society of his presence, and live as a savage in the wilderness.] ASTRONOMICAL DISCOVERY. M. Bessell, a German astronomer, has made one of the greatest discoveries of modern times, by having ascertained the parallax of the double star 61 Cygni. He found, from repeated observations, made from August 1837 to March 1840, that the parallax of Cygni did not exceed 31-hundredths of a second, which places the distance of that star from us at nearly 670,000 times that of the sun, or which is nearly 64 millions of millions of miles (or, more nearly, 63,650,000,000,000 miles). This immense distance can better be conceived when we state, that if a cannon-ball were to traverse this vast space at the rate of 20 miles a-minute, it would occupy more than 6,000,000 years in coming from that star to our earth; and if a body could be projected from our earth to 61 Cygni at 30 miles an hour (which is about the same rate as the carriages on railroads travel), it would occupy at least 96,000,000 years. Light, which travels more than 11,000,000 miles in a minute, would occupy about 12 ticed in the beginning of the scuffle, and hid themselves turned upon his route, stopped at will, and made the FLOWERS FOR THE BEE. Come, honey-bee, with thy busy hum, There is spread for thee A rich repast in wood and field, To thee their nectar'd essence yield. That scent the air, Like pleasant friends drop balm for thee, And thou winnest spoil By thy daily toil, Thou patient, and thrifty, and diligent bee. We may learn from the bee the wise man's lore, "The hand of the diligent gathereth store." He plies in his calling from morn till night, Nor tires of his labour nor flags in his flight; From numberless blossoms of every hue, He gathers the nectar and sips the dew. Then homeward he speeds O'er the fragrant meads, And he hums as he goes his thankful lay- For our daily supplies, As homeward and heavenward we haste on our way. -The Wild Garland. THE UNFORTUNATE CIPHER. curious anecdote relating to one of the first commerThe Marseilles Gazette a few weeks ago tells us a cial men of the town. This gentleman, having a thought him some time since, that, as some members business correspondent on the African coasts, bemight gratify them by sending for one or two speciof his family had shown a partiality for monkeys, he mens of these animals from Africa. Accordingly, he them to Marseilles. Chance so ordered it that the wrote to his correspondent to procure two or three, of the finest and most admired species, and transmit merchant, in putting down the ou (in English or), nent, while the u remained scarcely visible. between the figures 2 and 3, made the o very promi "What great events from trifling causes spring." Some months afterwards, a ship-porter came in all haste to the old merchant, and announced to him that his menagerie had arrived. merchant. Menagerie!" cried the monkeys had arrived to his consignment!" The mer"Yes, a menagerie; a whole cargo of chant could scarcely credit the announcement, until 6 AMIABILITY BEFORE BEAUTY. Amiability of temper, as we have always represented, is in most instances more highly esteemed than personal attractions, whether in the choice of wives or in accepting of husbands; and, what may be often remarked, the most amiable in disposition are the most plain in appearance. A newspaper, a few weeks since, offered the following little narrative, in illustration of the bleed effects of this kind of amiability ::-"A beautiful geny, lively, and agreeable, was wedded to a man of coarse features, and a stupid-looking phynomy. A y figure, kind friend said to her one day, 'My dear Julia, how came you to marry that man?" •The question is a natural one. My husband, I confess, is not graceful in his appearance, not attractive in his conversation; but he is so amiable. And goodness, although less fascinating than beauty or wit, will please equally, at least, and is certainly more durable. We often see objects which appear repulsive at first, but if we see them every day, we soon regard them not only without aversion but with feelings of attachment. The impression which goodness makes on the heart is gradual, but it remains for ever. Listen, and I will tell you how I came to marry my husband. I was quite young when he was introduced for the first time into the house of my parents. He was awkward in his manner, uncouth in his appearance, and my companions used often to ridicule him; and I confess that I was frequently tempted to join them, but was restrained by my mother, who used to say to me, in a low voice, He is so amiable.' And then it occurred to me that he was always kind and obliging; and whenever our villagers assembled together at our fêtes and dances, he was always at the disposal of the mistress of the house, and was profuse in his attentions to those whose age or ugliness caused them to be neglected. Others laughed at his singularity in this respect, but I whispered to myself, He is so amiable.' One morning my mother called me to her boudoir, and told me that the young man, who is now my husband, had made application for my hand. I was not surprised at this, for I already suspected that he regarded me with an eye of affection. I was now placed in a dilemma, and hardly knew how to act. When I recollected his ill-favoured look and his awkwardness, I was on the point of saying, 'I will not wed him,' and I blushed for him, which is a strong proof that I even then felt interested in him; but when I recalled the many excellent traits in his character, and dwelt on his benecontinued to visit me, encouraged by my parents, and volence and good actions, I dismissed the idea of banishing him from my presence. I could not resolve to afflict him, and I whispered to myself, He is so amiable.' He cheered by my smiles. My other admirers, one by one, left me, but I did not regret their absence. I repeated the expression, he is so amiable,' so often, that it seemed I loved him, and took him as my husband. Since then, to me to carry the same meaning as he is so handsome.' I have not only been resigned to my fate, but happy. My husband loves me devotedly, and how can I help loving lence, or tender compassion, regulated by reason, and him? There is something exceedingly touching in this love which beauty entertains for goodness; and there is no doubt that some women love from a feeling of benevowill endure through life." an affection will know no change; it is a firm basis, A PERCEPTION FOR IMPROVEMENT. years in coming from that star to our earth.- Newspaper the letter of his correspondent was put into his hands. of society, can never be at a loss to find objects to which paragraph. EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURE OF TWO SEAMEN. An English navy captain found himself in Lisbon during the late civil war. Numerous complaints were continually making to him of the detention of English subjects by the Miguelite squadron. Among the rest were two men, whose account of themselves was such that he caused a strict examination to be made concerning them. The result of his inquiries was to confirm the truth of their story, which was to the following effect : In that epistle, the African negotiant, a man of the very earnestly for not having been able, with all his most uncompromising exactitude, excused himself exertions, to procure more than 160 monkeys, in place to fulfil the entire demand. The feelings of the hoof the 203 ordered; but promised, as soon as possible, nest merchant may be guessed, when, on moving down to the quay to satisfy himself on the subject by ocular men, belonging to an English vessel called the St Helena, able pertinacity. It was a moment when a man might ey were the sole survivors of a crew of twenty-four and littered, and grinning at him with the most laudinspection, he beheld his 160 monkeys, all duly caged which was sailing near the island of that name, when a ship under Portuguese colours hove in sight. She bore reasonably doubt whether it would be best to laugh or down on the St Helena, and a boat with persons dressed as officers came alongside, and asked and obtained percry. So much for the value of ciphers! mission to come on board. They behaved with great party asked leave of the captain of the St Helena for his courtesy, and while inspecting the ship, the chief of the second in command to come and see the ship too. A signal was hoisted for him, and on board he came, bring ing another boat's crew of men along with him. They then asked leave to go below and see the arrangements there; meanwhile, another signal was hoisted for a third officer, who with his boat's crew made up fifty foreigners on the deck of the St Helena, The captain meanwhile escorted his guests about below; but on his return to the pinioned. Looking round, he perceived that the whole of his crew were fast bound to the rigging, and his ship in the hands of pirates. deck, he was instantly seized from behind, and his arms AN AGED INFANT. north of France, and has attained her hundredth year. present living in the Faubourg of Maubeuge, in the An honest peasant-woman, named Maria Plor, is at the age of eighty. "Ah," said the old mother, weeping for her recent loss, " I always said that I should She lately lost one of her offspring, who had reached never be able to bring up that child!" 66 GUIDING BALLOONS. :-"On one occasion Sir A man whose mind is bent on advancing the condition his good wishes and enterprise may be directed. The improvement, was a man of this stamp; of the quickness late Sir John Sinclair, the eminent friend of agricultural of his perception, and the warmth of his philanthropy, in his account of that parish:the minister of Latheron presents the following anecdote, John happened to be travelling along Loch Tay side, and observing the country very densely peopled with small the people, in so remote a quarter, disposed of their wool; the very summits, with which this beautiful lake is sur tenantry, and that the lofty range of mountains, green to rounded, were chiefly pastured by sheep, inquired how and being informed that each family employed one, two, or three spinning-wheels, according to the number of sought ourected to a Mr M'Naughton in the vicinity of trict, and find abundant employment. He accordingly spinning-mill might prove a great acquisition in the disfemales it contained, it readily occurred to him that a enumerating the advantages likely to arise to the the neighbourhood from such a concern, together with the Kenmore. To him he immediately repaired, and, after out the ablest person for such an undertaking, vidual in the place could afford to run the risk of a failure great probability of its success, and the prospect of the assigning as a reason, that neither he nor any other inde. emoluments which it held out, strongly urged him to take risk upon myself?" To this Mr M'Naughton, afred undertake it. This Mr M'Naughton at first declined, Well, said Sir John, but will you conduct it, provided John's predictions realised, that in a few years therepense some hesitation, assented. The mill was soon procured Mr M-Naughton erected other two at his own expense and commenced operations; and so completely were Sir in other parts of the country-a circumstance no lese surrounding community." gratifying to the originator than advantageous to the the last month (April), at the chateau of Villetaneuse, Concealment being at an end, the pirates now hastened 100 in tary School ve Paris, had been attended with below, and commenced a search for plunder, in which they were very successful, as the St Helena had specie perfect success, and, at the chateau of Villetaneuse, on board. Unhappily, in the course of their search, they more extensive experiments produced the same result. M. S came upon a cask of spirits, and knocking the top off, they drank till they were half intoxicated, when they of several hundred yards, in a balloon with a rope atrushed upon deck in a state of fury, and commenced pro- tached to it, put in operation the ingenious mechanism the younger, after being elevated to a height ceedings by cutting off the captain's head, and throwing invented by himself and his father, and made the him into the sea. One by one the crew shared the same fate, except the two men in question, who escaped unno-pretty strong gale from that direction. He then remachine course towards the west, in the teeth of a Printed and Published by W. and R. CHAMBERS, Edinburgh, DINBURGA NUMBER 489. STATE OF THE WEST HIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS. THE old saying that the one half of the world does not know how the other half lives, is not more true in its original meaning with regard to the various grades of people in one place, than it is with reference to the inhabitants of different provinces of the same country. The rural labourers of southern England-the factory people of the west-the Scottish lowland peasantryare all of them specimens of our general population, marked by broad peculiarities in their character and style of living, but who know little or nothing of each other. It matters not that the external character or designation of the parties be the same. The landproprietors of Devonshire and the land-proprietors of Orkney are alike to be regarded as land-proprietors, but yet how different are their whole circumstances, and how little are they mutually acquainted! Not only are there varieties in the institutions of different divisions of the empire, and vast differences in the modes of industry and modes of living in each, but, what is less dreamt of, there are sections of the population who, though living in one island, would not understand each other's speech. Different originally in race, and all along different in their moral and physical circumstances, they are so distant from each other in situation, that, even in an age of steamers and railways, they are mutually as much strangers as if they lived in opposite quarters of the globe. While united politically, there could not perhaps be civilised men more various in all respects than are, for instance, the Saxons of Suffolk and the Celts of the Scottish Highlands; and these parties are, in general, as little aware of the peculiar circumstances and characteristics of each other, as are the Fins of the Caffres, or the Peruvians of the Chinese. We wish to employ this universally diffused sheet as a means of sending abroad over all some knowledge of the present condition of a certain portion of our population. We refer to the inhabitants of a remote and not easily accessible part of Scotland-a district of many romantic features, and generally allowed to be the scene of the half-mythic poems of Ossian-namely, the west of Inverness-shire, Ross-shire, and the adjacent islands. The country of these people is a series of barren mountains and moorlands, fringed here and there by strips of fertile territory, and possessing a great extent of coast-a picturesque but most unbountiful country, and liable to so much moisture, that every thing like grain culture is almost forbidden. In former ages, the inhabitants of this region were the vassals of a set of chiefs, to whom they owed military service for the means of subsistence. They were the followers of the Locheils and the Clanranalds, who, by their means, shook the throne of the Hanover dynasty in 1745. Since that period, great changes have taken place. A chief of those days, when asked his rental, would answer, "I can bring five hundred men into the field." Now the chiefs are mere proprietors, and the vassals are ordinary cottiers or small farmers, paying a money rent. Religion and education have made some progress, and a few Lowland fashions have been introduced; but, in the main, the people preserve the superstitions, the attachment to chiefs, the language, and all the simplicity of manners appertaining to a former age. One of their most remarkable and most affecting peculiarities is attachment to that very soil which, as we shall show, often denies them bread. Though nature says as plainly as possible that the country is only fitted for the support of sheep and cattle, it is just possible, in fair seasons, to wring some SATURDAY, JUNE 12, 1841. cereal crops from the soil. Wheat is out of the question, but oats and barley will grow, and may be reaped, if not previously laid down and ruined by autumn rains. In the old times, there was always a little cultivation for the sake of meal, besides an extensive rearing of cattle. After it ceased to be an object to the proprietors to have large "followings," their obvious policy was to introduce store-farming and diminish the population. Accordingly, during the first thirty years of the reign of George III., there was an extensive emigration to the British possessions in America. Nevertheless, owing to some counteracting circumstances, the population was not reduced, but rather increased. In the first place, the proprietors were tempted by the government to aid in the wars of the country, by having commissions granted to their younger sons, when they could raise a certain number of recruits. When recruits were raised, it was necessary to settle their relations in small farms, and to promise similar settlements to the men themselves after a certain period of service. Herrings came to the coast for a series of seasons, and led to the establishment of fishing villages. But what chiefly tended to increase the population was the legislative restrictions upon the introduction of foreign barilla, leading to an extensive manufacture of kelp from the sea-weed produced upon the shores. At one time, during the last war, kelp afforded the proprietors a profit of eleven pounds per ton, and two or three of these gentlemen prepared several thousand tons of the article. More enlightened legislation has since taken away this source of employment and of income from the Highlands, leaving nothing to supply its place. The failure of the herring-fishery and the kelp-trade has placed the increased population of these remote districts in a most hapless condition. Attention was first called to the state of the west Highlanders in 1837, when the failure of a crop had brought an absolute famine upon the district. On that occasion, by dint of great exertion on the part of a few benevolent persons, nearly eighty thousand pounds were raised throughout the country, and spent on provisions for the support of these poor people. But while the temporary exigency was thus got over, the generally low condition, if not habitual misery, of the great bulk of them, has demanded further consideration; and a committee of the House of Commons has sat in the spring of this year to collect evidence on the subject, with a view to considering the propriety of bestowing public aid towards the removal of a portion of the surplus population to the colonies. The picture afforded by this evidence of the state of these people, is one which must greatly affect every humane mind. In consequence of the encouraging circumstances which formerly existed, the little holdings or farms are in a vast number of instances subdivided into still smaller farms, each being the residence of a family. In one estate, there are 1108 crofters or cottiers, paying a rent of L.5200 a-year, being an average rent of L.4, 14s. 5d. each. But parts of these crofts are almost invariably allotted to other families, generally sons and other relations of the ostensible tenant. Almost every little holding has two, three, or even four, families upon it. Assuming that each croft in the above instance has two families, and that the families average five in number, we have a population of 8310 upon land rented at L.5200, which gives a rental of only 12s. 7d. to each individual. The population in this instance is, we need scarcely be told, "wretchedly poor." In another instance, an estate with the ascertained population of 2237, has a rental which assigns 13s. 3d. to each individual. This state of matters applies to several districts. The po PRICE THREE HALFPENCE. The pulation of the island of Skye, and that range of islands known as "The Long Island," is, according to the census of 1831, no less than 55,000, while the gross rental of these districts is only L.42,000, which gives a rental of only 15s. 3d. to each individual.* bulk of this miserable tenantry live upon potatoes. They get even meal " very rarely," and "they do not taste butcher meat from the beginning to the end of the year." Last year, in Skye, the crops were cut green; the potatoes in many places failed; and, owing to the rains, the poor people could not secure their usual supply of peats, so that, where they have potatoes, they perhaps lack the fuel to boil them. The only resource in these cases is in the shell-fish which they find amongst the rocks after the recess of the tide. Living upon such fare, in small stifling bothies or huts, the picture of Caledonian misery drawn by the English satirist appears realised; but not with " disdainful smile" can such things now be heard of. Humanity must every where melt to think of any portion of our population, more particularly a simple, virtuous, and innocent race, exposed to privations so extreme, at once patient under them and unable of themselves to escape from them. It is of course to be readily acknowledged that a great error has been committed, in allowing so large a surplus population to come into existence. It has not been, however, the fault of any particular parties. The nation may be considered chargeable with the error of the kelp manufacture-a manufacture which never should have existed, while it was possible to procure the article so much cheaper elsewhere. So is it with the want of a proper poor-law, enforcing upon the rich the duty of attending to the poor, and preventing the people from sinking into the low condition wherein considerations of prudence are lost sight of by individuals. True knowledge on these points has only arisen of late years, after considerable evil had occurred: it is therefore necessary to remedy the past, before we think of making right arrangements for the future. So little, we may add, were the principles here adverted to understood forty years ago, that, at that time, bounties were all but directly put upon families of a certain number of children, and emigration was stopped by act of parliament. The landlords profited in some instances by the multitude of the people; but it was also useful to the state. At one time a full fifth of the men of this district capable of bearing arms, did bear arms in their country's service; and the plains of Maida, Albuera, Vittoria, and Waterloo, were witness to their headlong, yet conscientious valour. When we think, on the one hand, of the poor soil and climate of the Highlands, with an excessive and starving population, and on the other of the widespread and rich lands of Canada and Australia, as yet bearing only a few scattered settlers, the idea of transferring the surplus people to the superior and unoccupied country at once occurs. Emigration has long been practised in the Highlands, and there are whole tracts in the nearer colonies almost exclusively peopled by the descendants of the Gael. What should prevent an effort being now made to effect the transfer of such an amount of the people of the distressed districts, as would leave the rest in comparative comfort? From the partial measures of this kind already taken, the best results have followed. We shall relate a few particulars. In 1837, the government took measures for deporting a part of the suffering population of the Western *This particular fact we have from a private, but perfectly trustworthy source. Highlands, and about 3000 were shipped to Australia, of the greatest comfort. They have been promoted When the government agent was superintending The surplus population of the district under notice -that portion of it whose removal is necessary to enable the remainder to live in comparative comfort is estimated at 44,600. On the other hand, Dr Rolph and Mr Justice Hagerman, two Canadians of high character, state in their evidence that Canada could, with the greatest ease, receive and furnish immediate employment and subsistence to 10,000 emigrés per annum, provided they arrive at the beginning of the busy season. that remains is, how are the means to be provided for Such being the case, the only question carrying out the surplus population? To remove a large number, it is calculated that L.4, 1s. 7d. is necessary if they are to land at Quebec, Cape Breton, or Prince Edward Island, and L.5, 11s. 7d. if they are to be carried to Upper Canada; the above sums including 20s. a-head for clothing and blankets. The former colonies, it may be mentioned, are those which the Highlanders prefer to all others, as their friends are already there in great numbers. For the necessary funds, three sources are pointed out-emigration bounties from the colonies, the purses of the Highland 'proprietors, and the government. 'buted by the last might be in the form of transports. The aid contriThat the colonists have a direct interest in promoting the immigration of labourers is obvious, and we apprehend that little difficulty would be experienced in inducing them to contribute their share to this good work. The public of this country has a less direct interest, though the claim on its humanity is certainly strong; and it might even be shown that, by converting some thousands of paupers into comfortable independent colonists, able and willing to be good customers for our goods, a small expenditure would be in the long run amply repaid. Highland proprietors, there will be no want of will to As to the contribute, but, in some instances, a sad lack of means. Many of the estates belong to men deeply embarrassed, or are "under trust." those instances to obtain proper contributions. Yet It will not be easy in so much good will has been shown by the class in general towards this and all other philanthropic undertakings in behalf of the poor tenantry, that we must not despair. On this subject some unjust views and statements have gone abroad; and it has even been said, why should not the proprietors bear the whole burden of the surplus population? In the first place, the latter proposal is not fair, as they have not been the sole causes of the surplus population. How would the wealthy manufacturers of Glasgow receive a proposal that they should be at the whole expense of deporting the ten thousand miserables who litter in foresee any great mischief likely to result from this On first consideration, one might not be able to mischievous trick of the boy with his match. Gra consequences, nevertheless, were the result. To make that goes too quick or too slow will often originate a not an error to be committed with impunity. A watch a mistake of half an hour in the progress of time, is series of mistakes of the most serious kind, from the consequences of which it may be very difficult to escape. 66 their "wynds," a hot-bed of fever? The one pro-to the hour of noon, or, in other words, half an hour posal would be as fair and reasonable as the other. in advance of the real time. The evidence of all the With regard to the sacrifices already made by the clocks of Paris could not stand against the fiat of the proprietors for their tenantry, they have in reality sun. been very great. Not only do these gentlemen not seek to thin their lands as the law would allow, not only do they pass from great arrears of rent, but they are constantly disbursing for the benefit of their people, albeit that many of them are mere squatters donald sent food and other supplies, to the value of or intruders. It is stated in evidence that Lord MacL.2000, to the people on his lands in 1837, and that many other proprietors came forward in a most liberal manner. occasion to take the whole duty upon them of sucThe proprietors proposed on that couring the starving thousands, and only consented Already noon? Boy, my bill!" These words far beyond their means. to appeal to the public when they found the evil to be gentleman who had breakfasted at Véfour's, and who, were uttered, on the morning here referred to, by a given as to their liberality in providing for the reli- reverie. This gentleman was Monsieur D, the The strongest evidence is after his meal, had fallen into a long and thoughtful gious and educational wants of the people. The banker, whose affairs had long appeared to be in a Duke of Argyle has 400 families on his property in flourishing state, but who had lately sustained some the island of Tyree, paying no rent of any kind. In- pecuniary reverses, which his credit found it difficult stead of doing little for their people, it would perhaps to conceal much longer. When the young rascal's munity, who are content to want the use or benefit of D. be difficult to show any set of capitalists in our com- lucifer had done the duty of the meridional sun, M. so much of it, or make so many positive sacrifices of He had in his hands at the moment a letter, which it, merely to fulfil the demands of humane feeling. he re-read, as he hurried along. It was conceived in started up in haste, and left the restaurateur's. Dr Macleod states, with regard to these people of the following terms :of Argyle shed tears over their distress. He said, Tyree, that, to his certain knowledge, the late Duke attached to that island, and I cannot think of remov"These people wish to remain; they are devotedly ing them: they were my fencible men, and I love them." you communicate to me the disastrous position of your "I have received, my dear friend, the letter in which affairs, and tell me that you have no remaining hope well know, to enable me to relieve you, but I am about but in me. My own resources are insufficient, as you At this stage of proceedings, we can only express little hope, I confess. Nevertheless, it is possible that to set out, as you suggest, to the country, though with our hope that all the parties here spoken of as in- the application may be successful, and you may rest meet the object in a conceding spirit, and seek in I succeed in realising the sum necessary for your preterested in the removal of the surplus population will assured that I shall spare no pains to make it so. If union to accomplish it on the scale and with the spirit servation, I will meet you to-morrow in the Orleans and vigour which alone can avail. When the popula- Gallery, within the hours of twelve and one, pointedly. tion, however, is reduced to its proper level, equally You will be punctual, of course, in meeting me. I do vigorous measures must be taken to prevent the redecidedly include a poor-law, giving the proprietors der you afraid of receiving embarrassing visits there. currence of the same evil. Amongst these we most the precariousness of your present condition may ren not propose to meet you at your own house, because every where a direct interest in keeping up the people If I am not at the appointed place exactly within the at that point of comfort which is their best preserva- hour, you may be assured that I have failed; and I tive against becoming abject, dependent, and excessive should advise you in that case to lose no time in acin numbers.* complishing your project of quitting Paris. Your creditors will then see more strongly the necessity of arrangement, that they may have your personal aid My uncle, to whom you stand so heavily indebted, in making your assets available. You may readily would never pardon me if he thought that I had aided guess my reason for not wishing to come in person and tell you of my having failed to procure funds. Lucien B" you in your flight. Be punctual. Yours ever, &c. THE MID-DAY SIGNAL OF THE A SHORT time since, on a fine spring morning, illumi- and coffee-houses of the city, men might have been The watchmakers were still more astonished than looked again and again at his watch, as he paced the The moments passed away. No appearance of Lucien gallery. He had set the watch by the unlucky report Agitated by such harassing reflections, the banker of the Palais-Royal, happy at the time, poor man, that Every minute destroyed a portion of hope, and when the unfortunate banker's watch at last told the hour he had such an assurance of chronological accuracy. of one, a cold sweat broke out on his temples. "He gallery, scanning anxiously every outlet and inlet. It comes not," muttered M. D—; "all is over." Yet he lingered on still. Again and again he trod the hour, and twenty-five minutes more, had passed away place by another entrance. He was still five minutes structed by a report of the evidence taken before the parliamen-walking about with steps somewhat hurried and im- * In the compilation of this we have been in quainted with the state of the Highlands. patient; and an attentive observer might have remarked upon her countenance an expression of angry surprise. Nay, she might have been heard to mutter end pretty loudly, and very peevishly, "It is scandalous! My watch must be right"—and here she looked at it for the tenth time-"my watch must be right; but a few minutes have passed since I got it out of the hands of my watchmaker in the Palais-Royal. It cannot be wrong already, and Monsieur Leopold chooses to be behind his time! After my condescending, too, to listen to his humble petition that I would go to the museum with him, and going out of my way, besides, to meet him here! Scandalous !" The surprise, impatience, and anger of the lady increased every moment and no wonder that it was so. Young, pretty, rich, and surrounded by admirers, the widowed Madame de Luceval had distinguished in the crowd of her suitors M. Leopold de Versy. She had even given him fair grounds to hope, that ere long she would consent to resume for his sake the chains of matrimony; and, by the way, she had agreed to take his arm to visit the Museum of the Louvre-an honour envied by many and accepted by him with gratitude; yet the hour had seemingly come, the lady was in waiting, and the gentleman was not there! "I expected to find him before me," continued the irritated lady, in her meditative mood, "but I was in error. It was a piece of presumption on my part. M. Leopold does not plume himself on punctuality. If I am to wait thus upon him before marriage, what will be my condition afterwards? Shall I re-marry only to taste again of evils which I have already felt in such bitterness?" These murmured meditations boded no good to the unfortunate but innocent M. Leopold de Versy. The fair widow looked at her watch for the last of many times. Ten minutes past one was the hour indicated. "My patience is at an end," said the beautiful widow; "the most rigorous politeness accords but a few minutes on occasions of appointments; but where one ought reasonably to expect to be eagerly waited for, this conduct on the part of M. Leopold is somewhat too bad." And the beautiful widow waited no longer, but walked away. M. Leopold de Versy arrived at the appointed spot, on the wings of love, full ten minutes before the time agreed upon. He of course received a disappointment, nor would the lady afterwards either give or take explanations. The match between the pair was broken off decisively, and the lady sought, and soon afterwards found, a gentleman of whose punctuality she took care to be well assured. Behold, then, what mighty consequences may flow from a little gunpowder, ignited too soon! Not on the field of battle, and between two powerful armies -for there great consequences might be expected but in the gardens of the Palais-Royal, from the premature discharge of a single harmless little cannon, through the agency of a lucifer match, in the hands of a little mischievous boy! Doubtless, other results, equally serious, flowed from the same event; but we can carry the inquiry no farther.* BIOGRAPHIC SKETCHES. LETITIA ELIZA LANDON. * * smiled at hearing us. When I asked Letitia any question relating either to history, geography, grammar-to Plutarch's Lives, or to any book we had been reading-I was pretty certain her answers would be perfectly correct; still, not exactly recollecting, and unwilling she should find out just then that I was less learned than herself, I used thus to question her. Are you quite certain? Oh yes, quite! You feel sure you are correct? Yes, very sure.' 'Well, then, to be perfectly right, bring the book and let us look over it again. I never knew her to be wrong. At so early an age as this, she would occupy an hour or two of the evening amusing her father and mother with accounts of the wonderful castles she had built in her imagination; and when rambling in the garden in fair weather, she had taken with her, as a companion, a long stick, which she called her measuring-stick; if she was asked, 'What that was for? her answer would be, 'Oh, don't speak to me--I have such a delightful thought in my head.' And on she would go talking to herself. There was a little world of happiness within her; and even then, the genius afterwards developed was constantly struggling to break forth.” An all-devouring appetite for books-that unfailing mark of active and superior intellect distinguished her at this period. A hundred and fifty volumes of poets and novelists in Cooke's editions, were but a clandestine indulgence in the midst of the more solid reading permitted to her. Plutarch was a great favourite with her, and she was particularly struck by the hardy self-denying character of the Lacedemonian heroes, as contrasted with the opposite character of the Sybarites. Her greatest reproach to her brother at any time was to call him a Sybarite. The two playmates, being angry on one occasion with the gardener, adopted an antique mode of revenge, by shooting at him with arrows. As they had headed these weapons with nails, to make them war-arrows, the gardener found this attack no joke, and rushing forwards, with his spade before his face, he captured the two assailants, and set them on the top of a quickset hedge, by way of penance. They cried for a time, being totally unable to get down; and the brother, after attaining some degree of composure, asked his sister if she had ever heard of Spartans being so served. "The idea instantly converted her tears to laughter, and she said, 'Very like Spartans, indeed !'" In about half an hour the gardener relieved them, on promises of future amendment. Miss Landon, on emerging from childhood, soon showed in what direction the energies of her active mind were to be permanently turned. "The days of tasks and lessons over, her studies took their own turn, and the tastes she displayed were those of the poetry and the romance that coloured all her visions, waking or asleep. Pen and ink had succeeded to the slate, writing to scribbling, distinct images to phantasies that had as little form as substance; and it followed that ideas of publication, and a thirst for fame, should succeed to the first natural charm of parental kisses and family pats on the head-the delicious encouragement of an occasional 'not so bad!' or even a very clever, indeed!' from some more enthusiastic THERE is something of natural and pleasing gallantry patron. The desire was soon gratified." Mr Jerdan, in the enthusiasm with which the critical portion of editor of The Literary Gazette, a periodical just estathe world, usually of the masculine species, receives blished, was shown some of the fragments of romance an accession to the literary phalanx in the form of a and snatches of song which the young lady had comyoung and beautiful woman. The entrance into the posed, and gave a most favourable opinion of them. walks of poetry of Miss Landon, latterly Mrs Maclean, Thus encouraged, Miss Landon wrote a romantic and better known by the initials L.E. L. than by poetical tale of some length, entitled the "Fate of either of these names, was an instance in which such Adelaide," and published it in 1820. Immediately enthusiasm was displayed. Miss Landon, of whom a after the issue of this volume, the authoress began that memoir has just appeared from the pen of Mr Laman series of contributions to The Literary Gazette, under Blanchard,+ was the eldest of the three children of Mr the signature of L. E. L., which first established her John Landon, partner in an army-agency house in reputation as a poet. Week after week she poured London, and son of the Rev. John Landon, rector of forth pieces so far surpassing the common run of Tedstone in Herefordshire. She was born at Hans-journal poetry, and indicating so much fertility of place, Chelsea, August 14, 1802, and at or near that spot she passed the greater part of her days. In childhood, she exhibited great quickness of talents. An invalid friend used to cast down the letters of the alphabet, in card, on the floor, and reward the child as she assorted them well or ill, according to instructions. Rarely did she fail to secure some of these certificates of merit, and not less sure was she to show the liberality of her disposition by immediately sharing what she had obtained with her little brother and playmate. Miss Landon was sent, in her sixth year, to be regularly taught at a school in Chelsea, where Miss Mitford and Lady Caroline Lamb had been taught before her. Here "the clever little child," as she was called, was chid but for one fault, and that a most characteristic one-she would never walk quietly in the ranks with the other children. Soon after, she became the pupil of a cousin at Trevor Park, East Barnet, to which the family had removed for a time. Liveliness alike of talent and temper, chiefly marked these early years. We have a delightful picture of the child of genius in a letter of her preceptress. "In very many instances," says this lady, "in endeavouring to teach, I have myself been taught, the extraordinary memory and genius of the learner soon leaving the humble abilities of the teacher far behind Any experienced person used to instruction wouid nave a fancy, that general curiosity was excited respecting the writer. When, in answer to repeated queries, the editor of the Gazette announced L. E. L. to be " young lady still in her teens," the favour of the world was any thing but withdrawn or diminished. The poetry which she produced at this time, and indeed the whole of her poetical compositions, presented almost always a pensive or gloomy tinge, though the temperament of the writer, excepting under peculiar circumstances, was the reverse of pensive or gloomy. Her wailings and sorrows were for the most part entirely imaginary. Nothing can exhibit this fact more strikingly than a letter from Miss Landon to her mother, in the memoir before us. "I like my aunt more and more," says she. Nothing can be pleasanter than my visit to Castle End, and I only wish you were in as agreeable a place." After some other lively observations, she bids her friends write, as "a letter is delightful-it makes me quite happy for three days." She then encloses a piece of poetry "written last night," in which such lines as the following occur: "When I remember I am quite alone, That all I loved most fondly-all are gone. It is comforting to think that the numberless "Farethee-wells," which Miss Landon poured forth during her poetical career, were not founded upon real parting sorrows; but, at the same time, it forces almost unpleasantly upon one a conviction of the fictitiousness of almost all poetical feeling. We are lingering too long, however, upon the beginning of Miss Landon's career. Living with her father, and afterwards with her brother, the Rev. W. H. Landon, she continued to pour forth verse in an abundance certainly extraordinary, though no doubt hurtful to her permanent fame. In addition to a multitude of small pieces, she produced, in 1824, the poem called the "Improvvisatrice," one of great beauty and interest. No subject could have been more congenial to the mind of L. E. L., for she herself may be said to have improvised almost the whole of her poetry. The faults of the poem were those arising from her "fatal facility," and from youth and inexperience. The "Troubadour," published in 1825, was marked by the like features, but, on the whole, it› confirmed and increased her celebrity, which was now such that her society and acquaintance were very generally courted, not only by the ordinary people of the world, but by her compeers in literature, and especially those of her own sex, Mrs Hemans, Miss Mitford, Miss Jewsbury, and many others. The "Golden Violet, with Tales of Chivalry and Romance," was a new work, containing some of Miss Landon's best effusions, and proving the perfecting effect of time and practice on her style. "The Venetian Bracelet, the Lost Pleiad," &c., followed in 1829; and in 1831, she produced her first prose work of consequence, Romance and Reality." In the two or three years immediately succeeding, "Francesca › Carrara," "Ethel Churchill," and a volume of prose stories for the young, were given to the public, confirming the high promise of her first novel. All the while, periodicals and annuals, almost without number, were receiving contributions from her, and, in some instances, were indebted to her for editorial care and superintendence. The account which we have from Mr Blanchard of Miss Landon's personal appearance and deportment about 1830, will be read with interest. It may be premised that she was then living, and had for several years lived, as a boarder in the house of Misses Lance, Hans Place :-" Nobody who might happen to see her for the first time about this period, enjoying the little quiet dance (of which she was fond), or the snug corner of the room where the little lively discussion (which she liked still better), was going on, could possibly have traced in her one feature of the sentimentalist which popular error reputed her to be. The listener might only hear her running on from subject to subject, and lighting up each with a wit never illnatured, and often brilliant-scattering quotations as thick as hail-opinions as wild as the winds-defying fair argument to keep pace with her, and fairly talking herself out of breath. He would most probably hear from her lips many a pointed and sparkling aphorism, the wittiest things of the night, let who might be around her he would be surprised, pleased, but his heroine of song, as painted by anticipation, he would be unable to discover. He would see her looking younger than she really was; and perhaps struck by her animated air, her expressive face, and her slight but elegant figure, his impression would at once find utterance in the exclamation which, a year or two afterwards, escaped from the lips of the Ettrick Shepherd, on being first presented to her whose romantic fancies had often charmed him in the wild mountains-Hey! but I didna think ye'd been sae bonnie !'-staring at the same time with all a poet's capacity of eye. Without attempting an elaborate description of the personal appearance of L. E. L., we cite this expression of surprise as some indication that she was far prettier than report allowed her to be, at the period we are speaking of; and never, perhaps, did she look better than about this time. Her easy carriage and careless movements would seem to imply an insensibility to the feminine passion for dress; yet she had a proper sense of it, and never disdained the foreign aid of ornament, always provided it was simple, quiet, and becoming. Her hair was 'darkly-brown,' very soft and beautiful, and always tastefully arranged; her figure, as before remarked, slight, but well formed and graceful; her feet small, but her hands especially so, and faultlessly white and finely shaped; her fingers were fairy fingers; her ears, also, were observably little. Her face, though not regular in every feature,' became beautiful by expression: every flash of thought, every change and colour of feeling, lightened over it as she spoke, when she spoke earnestly. The forehead was not high, but broad and full; the eyes had no overpowering brilliancy, but their clear intellectual light penetrated by its exquisite softness; her mouth was not less marked by character, and, besides the glorious faculty of uttering the pearls and diamonds of fancy and wit, knew how to express scorn, or anger, or pride, as well as it knew how to smile willingly, or to pour forth those short, quick, ringing laughs, which, not excepting even her bon mots and aphorisms, were the most delightful things that issued from it. To judge of her powers of conversation, it is necessary to consider, not only the qualities already referred to, but her extraordinary memory, and the stores of information and anecdote which an unwearied and diversified course of reading, during many years, had placed at her command. had, in truth, been an indefatigable reader; and while triflers in society listened, expecting that her talk would be of moonlight and roses, they were often surprised to hear her unless mirth happened to be her object, and satire or mystification her choice-dis * She cussing the character of a distant age, or the rise of a great nation; the influence of a mighty genius upon his contemporaries; the value of a creed outworn; or some historical event, a judgment of which demanded -what she would not fail to exhibit if she spoke at all-an insight into the actors, the policy, and the manners of the time, to which it related." It seems to have been partly in consequence of her uncommon frankness of manners, but greatly also through causeless malice in some obscure parties, that Miss Landon's fair fame was for a while clouded by a disgraceful scandal, which, being utterly exploded in these volumes, we shall not further allude to. cine, and perished in consequence. Being at the time On the last page of this number of the Journal, VISIT TO LINCOLN. SECOND AND CONCLUDING PAPER. the house which Dr Paley had occupied for a consi- The shell of the Conqueror's castle still exists towards the west of the cathedral. A huge wall, enclosing probably three acres, still exists in a tolerably entire state, together with the basis of the great round tower or keep. Within the area enclosed by the wall, an elegant court-room for the assizes and a county jail have been erected, without occupying very large proportion of the ground, much of which is used as a garden. Farther to the westward, and also cresting the same slope which has been so often alluded to, is the Lunatic Asylum-a modern establishment of which I had heard a good deal, in consequence of its being the first in There has been much affected talk about the cirwhich personal restraint had been disused. It is a cumstances in which various poets have composed, or handsome modern building, surrounded by a wide might be supposed to have composed, their stanzas. area, laid out as airing courts, or as pleasure-grounds, Such persons might be expected to imagine L. E.L. THE Close is an irregular space surrounding the cathe- from the latter of which a fine view is commanded. penning her elegantly pensive measures in a beautiful dral, and enclosed by a range of plain domestic build-On applying for admission to see the asylum, I learned bower, amidst the glories of an autumn sunset, with a ings, generally of brick, and most of them very old, that Mr Hill, the originator of the system of nonbe to learn that she usually wrote in a plain back bed-blishment. One of these was pointed out to me as silver rill trinkling near. How surprised must they being the residences of the clergy attached to the esta- restraint, had resigned his situation a year ago, in consequence of some disputes respecting the internal room, on an old desk not the least interesting in aparrangements; but I was afforded every facility in pearance! Of her literary habits Mr Blanchard gives examining the house and the patients by his successor some account as follows:-" Writing verses was to Mr Smith. This asylum was founded by private her but a labour of love, if labour in any sense it could benevolence, and was intended to afford accommodabe called; it was far less irksome to her to compose a poem than to sit idle; and, as she rarely looked about tion for the wealthy, whose payments should be profor choice subjects, but seized on those that first ocportionate to their advantages and comforts and for persons in necessitous circumstances, who were to be curred to her, she never waited for the 'poetic fit,' admitted as objects of charity, and supported out of the 'happy moment,' but sat down to her desk in the profits on the wealthy class, and the proceeds of been in some measure departed from, in consequence the annual subscriptions. The original objects have of the large admission of county lunatics, who might have been expected to be provided for otherwise. Out of 104 inmates, a large proportion are of the latter character, and hopeless cases. It was therefore the less surprising, that, while the house was remarkably clean, and most of the arrangements suitable, the common rooms in which the worse class of cases were assembled presented more clamour than is usually found now-a-days in the better class of asylums. The most troublesome patients are kept without any restraint; but the surgeon mentioned that this system of attendants, which are sometimes necessary as a is not without its drawbacks, as the personal exertions succedaneum, often prove more injurious than the restraint of simple bandages. On this point I am not qualified to give an opinion; but I formed a very decided one as to the small number of persons who All persons of infirm brain, except in extreme cases, have any employment furnished to them in this house. have some remains of sound and active intellect, and their minds, such as they are, continue liable to the same laws as sane minds. The total seclusion in a house or court-yard, without occupation, which, to a sane person, would be one of the cruellest of punishments, is in a great measure the same thing to most inmates of a lunatic asylum. Such life is itself mental disease. I was therefore struck by the penal air which almost every thing bore in the Lincoln asylum, and the consequent dejection and discontent which many of the inmates manifested. The surgeon endeavours to get a little work in the garden for as many as possible; but for the greater number there is no such occupation, although the good effects of the introduction of weaving and other kinds of work have been abundantly proved in some of our Scottish establishments. I make these remarks in the hope of stimulating the directors to the adoption of this admirable expedient for preserving the comfort and aiding in the cure of this unhappy class of patients. plainness of speech is said to have proved a frequent any mood, careless or solemn. Thus it is not sur- schools, tutors, and society, must have imposed upon In 1836, Miss Landon formed an acquaintance with Mr George Maclean, nephew of LieutenantGeneral Sir John Maclean, and governor of the Sierra Leone colony. Her friends were somewhat surprised by her decision on this occasion, chiefly as Mr Maclean was bound to return without delay to the African coasts, so fatal to Europeans. However, on the 7th of June 1838, the marriage took place, Sir E. Lytton Bulwer, her attached friend, giving away the bride. Although, for some years previously, the poetess had enjoyed but partial health, she left England, immediately after her nuptials, in good health and spirits, designing to continue her literary labours in her new situation, while her husband might be occupied with his official duties. Near the Close, a little way down the slope towards the south, are the ruins of the Bishop's Palace, presenting little besides the remains of a hall of august proportions, in which James I. was once entertained, and some traces of a kitchen, whose huge fireplaces and wide chimneys speak strongly for the redundant hospitality of old times. Throughout the Close, and the adjacent courts and lanes, one sees many bits of curious old architecture—mullioned windows, projecting chimneys, tablets of coats armorial, &c.-mixed up with more modern masonry. There are also remains of a precinct wall of a fortified character, which had once protected the cathedral and its dependencies. Throughout all these places there reigns a solemn quiet, peculiar in England to the vicinage of cathedrals, and which scarcely appears compatible with ordinary domestic life-as if the hearts of human beings were here stilled into a condition almost vegetative, or which at least was utterly exclusive of all strong emotion. Education and refined manners, connected with moderate income, and sequestered from all the stimuli of ambition, produce in such scenes a "society" strikingly peculiar, but which must be, to those whose minds are attuned to it, by no means disagreeable. It includes no excitement, much small placid enjoyment, many minute and nice observances, and perhaps makes the nearest approach which our country now any where presents, to the serene and meditative life preached up by the poets. In Lincoln, this society has a local habitation which serves to keep up its distinction from the bulk of the community. It resides entirely on the high ground connected with the cathedral, while the trading classes generally occupy the slope and the valley. Hence there is a divarication of Lincoln society into up-hill people and down-hill people, and between these, at one time, no social intercourse took place. There is now a somewhat different state of things. The educated and respectable of all classes mix more together than they did, and "up-hill" and "down-hill" are becoming, as they ought to be, only local distinctions. Even as it is, what a curious contrast is presented in such an old punctilious place, to the hearty fusion of all the social elements which takes place in new communities. But human nature can be adapted to an infinite variety of circumstances, and though, between the dainty civilities of an university or cathedral town and the rough good fellowship of a Port Nicholson, the space appears immense, yet happiness is fortunately a plant that will flourish in all possible conditions. She arrived at Cape Coast Castle in safety, but was soon involved in considerable troubles, partly arising from the want of proper servants, and partly from an illness with which her husband was seized, and during which he required her own close attendance. Nevertheless, her letters to her friends in England spoke Most readers will probably be surprised to learn the language of cheerfulness and hope, and she de- that one of the Roman gates of Lincoln still exists. scribed her husband as beloved both by herself and all It is called the Newport gate, and still gives admission around them. Suddenly, these friends, and all who to the city from the north. The road which enters took an interest in her, were astounded by the intel- by it (that from Hull) is also of Roman origin, and ligence of her sudden death. On the morning of the for eleven or twelve miles is as straight as an arrow. 15th October, she had complained of spasms and a The gateway has a rude appearance, being composed sense of weariness, and, after giving an early meal to of large coarse uncemented stones, while fully eleven her sick husband, retired to her own room. She was feet of its height is sunk below the present level of there soon after found expiring, with an empty phial the street. There is one smaller arch at the east side, of prussic acid in her hand. After all the evidence while another of the same character on the other side we have seen adduced on the case, we can only deem is concealed by an adjoining house. This must cerit most probable that the unfortunate poetess incau- tainly be ranked as among the most interesting retiously took an over-large dose of a dangerous medi-mains of a remote antiquity in England. In the common room devoted to the worst class of female patients, my attention was called to an aged woman of most extraordinary figure, her neck being distorted, and her knees drawn, in consequence of anchylosis of the joints, up to her breast. This poor creature originally resided in a rural district some miles from Lincoln. Being of weak mind, a near relation had secluded her in an outhouse, where she was kept like a mere animal, or perhaps worse, her food being thrust in to her by a window, and her den being cleaned out perhaps once in a fortnight. In this state she is said to have lived for about twenty years; and the consequence was that, while her mind experienced no improvement, her body became contorted into the form in which I now saw it. It was only in consequence of an investigation instituted by the Poor-Law Commissioners, after the act of 1834, that she was rescued from her horrible captivity, and placed here in the comfort which she now enjoys. Another case in this asylum interested me greatly. Amongst the better class of boarders is a middle-aged respectable-looking man, possessing a large and active brain, but deranged on some points. This person, some months ago, took a particular interest in a young man, also a patient, of good abilities, but imperfectly educated, and given over to habits of sloth and indolence. From the senior inmate the junior obtained, in the course of six months, not only much instruction in reading, writing, and accounts, but habits of occupation and attention, and a desire to make himself useful in the world. Thus, by constantly employing the powers of his mind to the utmost, his intellect and self-respect gradually re-developed themselves, and, afterwards, being discharged cured, he obtained a situation which gave him the means of independent subsistence. I was shown a series of grateful and neatly-penned letters which the pupil had since sent, from time to time, to his friendly instructor. |