he had received of the merchant of Kiang-si, who was already very far away with his new spouse. He was preparing to sally forth to go negotiating this new bargain, when he observed at the door four or five individuals, who pressed for admission. These were his elder brother Lin the Diamond, his younger brother Lin the Pearl, his nephew Hicul, and two domestics who were bearing the luggage. Lin the Treasure, confounded at this sight, had not the face to endure their presence; he evaded them as quickly as he could by the back door, and disappeared like lightning. The Lady Ouang, transported with joy, hastened to receive her dear husband. But how incredibly lively were her emotions when she perceived a son, whom she loved with exceeding tenderness, and had long given up as lost. She scarce could recognise him, he had grown so tall and handsome. "Ah! by what good fortune," cried she, "have you recovered this dear child, whom I had believed lost?" Lin the Diamond gave his wife a recital of his whole adventures, and she, in turn, related to him at large all the indignities to which Lin the Treasure had subjected her, and the extremities to which he had reduced her. Lin the Diamond, on this occasion, accorded to his virtuous spouse the just praises which her fidelity merited. He exclaimed, in concluding, "If, by a blind passion for wealth, I had retained two hundred taëls which I found by chance, how should I have been able to retrace our dear son? If avarice had prevented me from devoting twenty taëls to succour those who had suffered shipwreck, my dear brother should have perished in the waves, and I have seen him no more. If, by an unexpected adventure, I had not encountered that excellent brother, how should I have timeously discovered the trouble and confusion which reigned in my house! Without that, my dear wife, we should never have seen ourselves re-united, our family should have been dismembered and plunged into affliction. This is all the effect of a particular providence of Heaven, which has brought about these several events. As for my other brother-a brother most unnatural-who unwittingly has sold his own wife, he has justly drawn on himself the evils that overwhelm him. The mighty Tien treats men according to their deserts. They need not believe that they can escape his justice. We may hereby learn how profitable it is to practise virtue; it is this that renders, day by day, a house more prosperous!" Some time thereafter, the young Hieul returned to Yangtcheu, to espouse the lovely daughter of Tchin. This marriage was celebrated with great tokens of rejoicing, and to the mutual satisfaction of both families. He conducted his wife to Vousi. Their nuptials were exceedingly happy; and Heaven blessed them with a numerous offspring. They beheld a crowd of little grandsons, many of whom ultimately advanced themselves in the path of letters, and arrived at posts of the highest trust. It is thus that this family became illustrious. INSTANCES OF SELF-IMPROVEMENT IN SAILORS.* THERE are many cases on record of individuals who, even with scarcely any other education than what they contrived to give themselves while serving in subordinate and laborious situations in the camp or on shipboard, have attained to great familiarity with books, and sometimes risen to considerable literary or scientific distinction. The celebrated English navigator, Dampier, although he had been some time at school before he left his native country, yet went to sea at so early an age, that considering he for a long time led a vagabond and lawless life, he must have very soon forgotten every thing he had been taught, if he had not, in the midst of all his wild adventures, taken great pains both to retain and extend his knowledge. That he must have done so, is evident from the accounts of his different voyages which he afterwards published. We have few works of the kind more vigorously or graphically written than these volumes; and they contain abundant evidences of a scientific and philosophical knowledge of no ordinary extent and exactness. Along with Dampier's, we may mention an older name, that of John Davis, the discoverer of the well-known strait leading into Baffin's Bay. Davis also went to sea when quite a boy, and must have acquired all his knowledge both of science and of the art of composition while engaged among the duties of his profession. Yet we not only have from his pen accounts of several of his voyages, but also a treatise on the general hydrography of the earth. He was the inventor, besides, of a quadrant for taking the sun's altitude at sea. Robert Drury, too, who wrote an account of the Island of Madagascar, and of his strange adventures there, deserves to be remembered when we are making mention of authors bred at sea. Drury was only fourteen when he set out on his voyage in a vessel proceeding to India, and he was shipwrecked in returning home on the island we have mentioned, where he remained in a species of captivity for fifteen years; so that when he at last contrived to make his escape, he had almost forgotten his native language. He afterwards, however, set about writing an account of his life—a task which he accomplished whilst act *We have found this article in a printed collection of anonymous pieces, and are therefore unable to name its author. ing in the humble capacity of a porter at the India House. The work is composed in a plain but sensible style, and contains many interesting details respecting the manners of the natives of Madagascar. It is perhaps somewhat better for having been compressed by one of the friends of the author, whose original manuscript is said to have extended to eight hundred large folio pages. was at sea, too, that Cook acquired those high scien tific, and, we may even add, literary accomplishments, of which he showed himself to be possessed. The parents of the celebrated navigator were poor peasants, and all the school education he ever had was a little reading, writing, and arithmetic, for which he was indebted to the liberality of a gentleman in the neighbourhood. He was apprenticed, at the age of Falconer, the author of the "The Shipwreck," as thirteen, to a shopkeeper in the small town of Snaith, is generally known, spent his life, from childhood, at near Newcastle; and it was while in this situation sea. He was probably born in one of the small towns that he was first seized with a passion for the sea. in the county of Fife which border the Frith of Forth, After some time, he prevailed upon his master to give but nothing is very certainly ascertained either as to up his indentures, and entered as one of the crew of a his native place or his parentage. Nor has any ac- coasting vessel engaged in the coal trade. He con. count been given of how he acquired the elements of tinued in this service till he had reached his twentyeducation, with the exception of a report that he found seventh year, when he exchanged it for that of the an instructor in a person of the name of Campbell, a navy, in which he soon distinguished himself so greatly, man of some literary taste and acquirements, who that he was three or four years after appointed master happened to be purser in one of the vessels in which of the Mercury, which belonged to a squadron them young Falconer sailed. However this may be, Falconer proceeding to attack Quebec. Here he first showed appeared as an author at a very early age, having been the proficiency he had already made in the scientific only, it is said, in his twenty-first year when he gave part of his profession, by an admirable chart which he to the world his first production, a poem on the death constructed and published of the river St Lawrence. of Frederick, Prince of Wales, the father of George III. He felt, however, the disadvantages of his ignorance He was ten or twelve years older when he published of mathematics; and, while still assisting in the his "Shipwreck," which is said to be founded in a hostile operations carrying on against the French great measure on the personal adventures of the au- on the coast of North America, he applied himself thor. Falconer did not permit the success of his to the study of Euclid's Elements, which he soon poetical efforts to withdraw him from his profession, mastered, and then began that of astronomy. A year in which, having now transferred himself from the or two after this, while again stationed in the same merchant service to the navy, he continued to rise quarter, he communicated to the Royal Society an steadily till he was appointed purser of a man of war. account of a solar eclipse which took place on the 5th Sometime after attaining this promotion, he published of August 1766: deducing from it, with great exactthe other work by which he is chiefly known, hisness and skill, the longitude of the place of observa"Universal Marine Dictionary," which was very tion; and his paper was printed in the Philosophical favourably received, and is still a standard work. He Transactions. He had now completely established his had previously to this written several other poetical reputation as an able and scientific seaman; and it pieces on temporary subjects, which have long been having been determined by government, at the request forgotten. Shortly after the publication of his Dic- of the Royal Society, to send out qualified persons to tionary, he sailed for Bengal as purser of the frigate the South Sea, to observe the approaching transit of Aurora. This vessel, however, was never heard of the planet Venus over the sun's disc-a phenomenon after she passed the Cape of Good Hope, having in all which promised several interesting results to astroprobability foundered at sea. nomy-Cook was appointed to the command of the Endeavour, the vessel fitted out for that purpose. He conducted this expedition, which, in addition to the accomplishment of its principal purpose, was productive of a large accession of important geographical discoveries, with the most consummate skill and ability; and was, the year after he returned home, appointed to the command of a second vessel destined for the same regions, but having in view more particularly the determination of the question as to the existence of a southern polar continent. nearly three years absent upon this voyage; but so admirable were the methods he adopted for preserving the health of his seamen, that he reached home with the loss of only one man from his whole crew. Having addressed a paper to the Royal Society upon this subject, he was not only chosen a member of that learned body, but was farther rewarded by having the Copley gold medal voted to him for his experiments. Of this second voyage he drew up the account himself, and it has been universally esteemed a model in that species of writing. Giordani, an Italian engineer and mathematician of the seventeenth century, was originally a common soldier on board one of the Pope's galleys. In this situation his capacity and good conduct attracted the attention of his admiral, and as a reward he was promoted to the post of purser of one of the vessels. It was his appointment to this situation which first formed his mind to study. Having accounts to keep, he soon found how necessary it was that he should know something of arithmetic, of which he was till then quite ignorant; and he determined therefore to teach himself the science, which it is said he did without assistance. By pursuing his studies from this commencement, he eventually acquired considerable reputation as a mathematician; and, having published several able works, was appointed at last to a professorship in the Sapienza College at Rome. Giordani died in the year 1711. He was All our readers know the termination of Cook's distinguished career. His third voyage, undertaken for the discovery of a passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific, along the north coast of America, although unsuccessful in reference to this object, was fertile in geographical discoveries, and equally honourable with those by which it had been preceded, to the sagacity, good management, and scientific skill of its unfortunate commander. The death of Captain Cook took place at Owyhee, in a sudden tumult of the natives of that island, on the 14th of February 1779. The news of the event was received with general lamentation, not only in his own country but throughout Europe. Pensions were bestowed on his widow and three sons by the government; the Royal Society ordered a medal to be struck in commemoration of him; his eulogy was pronounced in the Florentine Academy; and various other honours were paid to his memory, both by public bodies and individuals. Thus, by his own persevering efforts, did this great man raise himself from the lowest obscurity to a reputation wide as the world itself, and certain to last as long as the age in which he flourished shall be remembered by history. But better still than even all this fame Mr John Fransham, who died at Norwich in 1810, was altogether one of the most eccentric characters to be found in the list of self-educated persons. His name suggests itself to us here from the circumstance of his having passed part of his early life as a common soldier. He had been originally apprenticed to a cooper, with whom he remained for about two years, and it was in this situation that he taught himself mathematics. But although he obtained the situation of clerk to an attorney, his restless disposition would not allow him to remain at his desk; and after wandering for some time about the country, he enlisted in the army, where, however, they did not keep him long, finding him quite unfit for service. Indeed, it was by this time become pretty evident that his mind was not a little deranged-a matter which he shortly after put beyond doubt by renouncing Christianity and making a formal profession of paganism. Although he published several works, however, in support of his peculiar theology, and in other respects conducted himself with great eccentricity, he contrived to maintain himself by teaching mathematics, in which occupation he is said to have displayed very considerable ability. He resided and took pupils for some years in London. Somewhat similar to Fransham's history is that of Mr John Oswald, who is said to have taught himself Greek, Latin, and Arabic, while holding a lieutenant's commission in a than either the honours he received while living, or regiment of infantry in India. He afterwards returned those which, when he was no more, his country and to England, where he published a succession of poeti- mankind bestowed upon his memory he had exalted cal and political pamphlets, making himself remark- himself in the scale of moral and intellectual being; able at the same time by various singularities of had won for himself, by his unwearied striving, a new behaviour and opinions, and especially by a rigid and nobler nature, and taken a high place among the abstinence from animal food, and a professional pre-instructors and benefactors of mankind. This alone dilection for the religious doctrines of the Brahmins. When the revolution broke out in France, Oswald went over to that country, and entered the service of the republic, in which he obtained the rank of colonel. He was at length killed in battle. Columbus, one of the greatest men that ever lived if it be grand ideas grandly realised that constitute greatness-while leading the life of a seaman, not only pursued assiduously the studies more particularly relating to his profession, rendering himself the most accomplished geographer and astronomer of his time, but kept up that acquaintance which he had begun at school with the different branches of elegant literature. We are told that he was even wont to amuse himself by the composition of Latin verses. It is true happiness-the one worthy end of human exertion or ambition-the only satisfying reward of all labour, and study, and virtuous activity or endurance. To the example of Cook, if it were necessary, we might add those of others of his countrymen, who, since his time, have shown, in like manner, the possibility of uniting the cultivation of literature and science to the most zealous performance of the duties of the same laborious profession. For instance, Vancouver was a sailor formed under Cook; and to him we owe an interesting and ably written account of the voyage which he made round the world, in 1790, and the four following years. Lieutenant Flinders commanded the expedition sent out in 1801, to survey the coast of New Holland, and afterwards published an account of his voyage, accompanied by a volume of charts, which are considered as placing the author in the highest rank of modern hydrographers. Nor ought we here to forget the late Lord Collingwood, second in command to Nelson at Trafalgar, and, in all respects, a man of first-rate merit, who, although he never sent any production to the press, has been proved by his correspondence, published since his death, to have been in reality one of the best of writers. Yet he was only thirteen when he first entered the navy, and during the remainder of his life he was scarcely ever ashore-circumstances which used to make his acquaintances wonder not a little where he got his style. He had always, however, been fond of reading and the study of elegant literature; and he found that even a life at sea afforded him many opportunities of indulging his tastes for these enjoyments. OCCASIONAL NOTES. REMUNERATION TO TEACHERS. A NUMBER of years ago, when Stouber, the predeces- a much in the rank of a gentleman-and for sì• The proper education of youth is, without exception ADVICES TO YOUNG MEN ON WALKING EXCURSIONS. t whatever sede strictly proportsion to tea, if to be tath of 17 YOUNG men, who break away from regular, and per- We are not exactly so stupid in this country as 66 "I un We do not know whether this be a true story or only a good joke, but it answers as a clever illustration of the unreasonable expectations formed respecting teachers, and the miserable salaries which are offered for their services. Nothing is more remarkable in high life than the large wages paid to cooks, and the small fees offered for governesses and tutors. derstand Lady So-and-so keeps a French cook at a salary of a hundred guineas a-year." This is a piece of gossip which sounds well, and argues a large fortune and fine taste. Chatter about education and teachers is out of the question; and any young lady of fashionable appearance will answer to pass off before company as my governess," provided she can exhibit with a certain degree of skill on the piano-forte. Surely all this is a wrong state of things, and deserves unmeasured reprehension. We have a great mind to commence holding up to ridicule the monstrous requisitions of advertisers for persons to whom the education of youth is to be intrusted. The advertisements in the Scotch newspapers for parochial schoolmasters are particularly amusing. One appears in a paper now before us: it is for a parish schoolmaster who must be able to teach "English reading and grammar, writing, arithmetic, book-keeping, mensuration, geography, Latin, and Greek" and the salary is to be the maximum, with the addition of a house and garden-that is to say, he is to have the largest allowance which is made, or something below L.40 a-year, and reckoning house, garden, and fees, which are precarious, his entire revenue is to be worth about L.70 or L.75 per annum. Now, we ask if this be not unconscionable? A person is wanted who must have received a classical education, and in fact have been educated up to the point of eligibility for a living in the church; his moral and religious character is to endure the most awfully rigorous scrutiny; he will be expected to dress and live pretty THE FERRY OF BOLDSIDE. THE Ferry of Boldside is situated within half a mile At length, a party of fifteen persons arrived on the bank opposite the ferry-house. This company was somewhat remarkably circumstanced, being not only a fair-party, but also a wedding-party. A bride and bridegroom were there, surrounded by their friends, and with their best-maid and best-man, as the Scottish Young travellers, and old ones too, often make a people denominate the bridesmaid and bridegroom'sgreat mistake with regard to eating. They suppose man. Happy and light-hearted, from the double festhat, having much fatigue to undergo, they ought to tivity of the occasion, this party halloed for the boat. eat a great deal; and the excitement of novelty, and The ferryman did not refuse to come at their call, the tempting and unusual food presented at inns, though he could not avoid casting uneasy glances at enable them to carry out this idea into practice. In the still swelling waters. He got safely across, and a few days, however, they find themselves unaccount-proposed to take the company to the other side by ably unwell. This is the consequence of simple over- turns. Unfortunately, they would not agree to be so eating, for, in travelling, there is no need for more received. In the elation of the moment, they saw not, food than usual. Food is also taken at wrong times, or despised the danger; and, notwithstanding all the and of wrong kinds. It is not uncommon for young ferryman's remonstrances, the whole fifteen leapt at pedestrians to walk ten or twelve miles before break- once into the boat. Ere another word could be said, fast, not so much for any economy of time or money, they had it also pushed off from the shore. as under the impression that they will have a capital appetite at the end of their walk. As they go along, they delight themselves with reflections as to how they will astonish the waiters, how fresh relays of eggs will be called for, and rolls vanish like morning dreams. Alas! when they have walked their dozen miles, their frames are in a state the most unsuited for the receipt of a full meal; and, if they are able to eat largely, it will be the worse for them after. The whole aim here is the very reverse of what it ought to be. A very full meal should never be taken on a pedestrian excursion, and that simply for the reason that there is no time to digest a very full meal. A breakfast or dinner during a walking excursion, when only a little time can be allowed for rest afterwards, should be light. Whether light or heavy, the longer the rest afterwards, the better that is, of course, within a reasonable limit. Certainly the rest should not be less than three-quarters of an hour; and, if a heavy meal have been taken, half an hour longer will be required at the very least. Many young travellers have the prudence to fare slightly during their day's walk, but, on getting to their inn in the evening, they make all up, as they "Sit steady," cried the boatman, earnestly and loudly, as he gave the first stroke with the oars; "be steady, for your lives!" He spoke, unluckily, to those who were not in a mood to attend to his caution, even if they had comprehended, as he did, the full perils of their position. They were all young people, fresh from a scene of enjoyment, and happy in the consciousness of what had brought them together. Some of the men were no sooner in the boat, than they resumed such rustic badinage as had been passing among them ashore. The light boat, already depressed to the water's edge, rocked perilously from their unguarded movements. "Sit still, all of you!" exclaimed the boatman again, in tones of earnest entreaty; "be quiet, or the boat will certainly split or sink!" His words were still needed, and the consequences were as he foresaw. Some who tell the story aver that the boat struck a rock; but this is less likely than that the timbers split open, simply with the weight above, and the oscillations alluded toch would obviously have a powerful effect in, such circumstances. However this may be, the fragile bark was at all events broken to picces, and the whole party thrown into the deep and turbid stream. he had received of the merchant of Kiang-si, who was already very far away with his new spouse. He was preparing to sally forth to go negotiating this new bargain, when he observed at the door four or five individuals, who pressed for admission. These were his elder brother Lin the Diamond, his younger brother Lin the Pearl, his nephew Hieul, and two domestics who were bearing the luggage. Lin the Treasure, confounded at this sight, had not the face to endure their presence; he evaded them as quickly as he could by the back door, and disappeared like lightning. The Lady Ouang, transported with joy, hastened to receive her dear husband. But how incredibly lively were her emotions when she perceived a son, whom she loved with exceeding tenderness, and had long given up as lost. She scarce could recognise him, he had grown so tall and handsome. “Ah! by what good fortune," cried she, "have you recovered this dear child, whom I had believed lost?" Lin the Diamond gave his wife a recital of his whole adventures, and she, in turn, related to him at large all the indignities to which Lin the Treasure had subjected her, and the extremities to which he had reduced her. Lin the Diamond, on this occasion, accorded to his virtuous spouse the just praises which her fidelity merited. He exclaimed, in concluding, “If, by a blind passion for wealth, I had retained two hundred taels which I found by chance, how should I have been able to retrace our dear son? If avarice had prevented me from devoting twenty taëls to succour those who had suffered shipwreck, my dear brother should have perished in the waves, and I have seen him no more. If, by an unexpected adventure, I had not encountered that excellent brother, how should I have timeously discovered the trouble and confusion which reigned in my house! Without that, my dear wife, we should never have seen ourselves re-united, our family should have been dismembered and plunged into affliction. This is all the effect of a particular providence of Heaven, which has brought about these several events. As for my other brother-a brother most unnatural-who unwittingly has sold his own wife, he has justly drawn on himself the evils that overwhelm him. The mighty Tien treats men according to their deserts. They need not believe that they can escape his justice. We may hereby learn how profitable it is to practise virtue; it is this that renders, day by day, a house more prosperous!" Some time thereafter, the young Hieul returned to Yangtcheu, to espouse the lovely daughter of Tchin. This marriage was celebrated with great tokens of rejoicing, and to the mutual satisfaction of both families. IIe conducted his wife to Vousi. Their nuptials were exceedingly happy; and Heaven blessed them with a numerous offspring. They beheld a crowd of little grandsons, many of whom ultimately advanced themselves in the path of letters, and arrived at posts of the highest trust. It is thus that this family became illustrious. INSTANCES OF SELF-IMPROVEMENT IN SAILORS.* THERE are many cases on record of individuals who, even with scarcely any other education than what they contrived to give themselves while serving in subordinate and laborious situations in the camp or on shipboard, have attained to great familiarity with books, and sometimes risen to considerable literary or scientific distinction. The celebrated English navigator, Dampier, although he had been some time at school before he left his native country, yet went to sea at so early an age, that considering he for a long time led a vagabond and lawless life, he must have very soon forgotten every thing he had been taught, if he had not, in the midst of all his wild adventures, taken great pains both to retain and extend his knowledge. That he must have done so, is evident from the accounts of his different voyages which he afterwards published. We have few works of the kind more vigorously or graphically written than these volumes; and they contain abundant evidences of a scientific and philosophical knowledge of no ordinary extent and exactness. Along with Dampier's, we may mention an older name, that of John Davis, the discoverer of the well-known strait leading into Baffin's Bay. Davis also went to sea when quite a boy, and must have acquired all his knowledge both of science and of the art of composition while engaged among the duties of his profession. Yet we not only have from his pen accounts of several of his voyages, but also a treatise on the general hydrography of the earth. He was the inventor, besides, of a quadrant for taking the sun's altitude at sea. Robert Drury, too, who wrote an account of the Island of Madagascar, and of his strange adventures there, deserves to be remembered when we are making mention of authors bred at sea. Drury was only fourteen when he set out on his voyage in a vessel proceeding to India, and he was shipwrecked in returning home on the island we have mentioned, where he remained in a species of captivity for fifteen years; so that when he at last contrived to make his escape, he had almost forgotten his native language. He afterwards, however, set about writing an account of his life-a task which he accomplished whilst act *We have found this article in a printed collection of anonymous pieces, and are therefore unable to name its author. ing in the humble capacity of á porter at the India Giordani, an Italian engineer and mathematician of Mr John Fransham, who died at Norwich in 1810, was altogether one of the most eccentric characters to be found in the list of self-educated persons. His name suggests itself to us here from the circumstance of his having passed part of his early life as a common soldier. He had been originally apprenticed to a cooper, with whom he remained for about two years, and it was in this situation that he taught himself mathematics. But although he obtained the situation of clerk to an attorney, his restless disposition would not allow him to remain at his desk; and after wandering for some time about the country, he enlisted in the army, where, however, they did not keep him long, finding him quite unfit for service. Indeed, it was by this time become pretty evident that his mind was not a little deranged a matter which he shortly after put beyond doubt by renouncing Christianity and making a formal profession of paganism. Although he published several works, however, in support of his peculiar theology, and in other respects conducted himself with great eccentricity, he contrived to maintain himself by teaching mathematics, in which occupation he is said to have displayed very considerable ability. He resided and took pupils for some years in London. Somewhat similar to Fransham's history is that of Mr John Oswald, who is said to have taught himself Greek, Latin, and Arabic, while holding a lieutenant's commission in a regiment of infantry in India. He afterwards returned to England, where he published a succession of poetical and political pamphlets, making himself remarkable at the same time by various singularities of behaviour and opinions, and especially by a rigid abstinence from animal food, and a professional predilection for the religious doctrines of the Brahmins. When the revolution broke out in France, Oswald went over to that country, and entered the service of the republic, in which he obtained the rank of colonel. He was at length killed in battle. Columbus, one of the greatest men that ever lived if it be grand ideas grandly realised that constitute greatness-while leading the life of a seaman, not only pursued assiduously the studies more particularly relating to his profession, rendering himself the most accomplished geographer and astronomer of his time, but kept up that acquaintance which he had begun at school with the different branches of elegant literature. We are told that he was even wont to amuse himself by the composition of Latin verses. It | was at sea, too, that Cook acquired those high scien purpose. He was All our readers know the termination of Cook's distinguished career. His third voyage, undertaken for the discovery of a passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific, along the north coast of America, although unsuccessful in reference to this object, was fertile in geographical discoveries, and equally honourable with those by which it had been preceded, to the sagacity, good management, and scientific skill of its unfortunate commander. The death of Captain Cook took place at Owyhee, in a sudden tumult of the natives of that island, on the 14th of February 1779. The news of the event was received with general lamentation, not only in his own country but throughout Europe. Pensions were bestowed on his widow and three sons by the government; the Royal Society ordered a medal to be struck in commemoration of him; his eulogy was pronounced in the Florentine Academy; and various other honours were paid to his memory, both by public bodies and individuals. Thus, by his own persevering efforts, did this great man raise himself from the lowest obscurity to a reputation wide as the world itself, and certain to last as long as the age in which he flourished shall be remembered by history. But better still than even all this fame than either the honours he received while living, or those which, when he was no more, his country and mankind bestowed upon his memory-he had exalted himself in the scale of moral and intellectual being; had won for himself, by his unwearied striving, a new and nobler nature, and taken a high place among the instructors and benefactors of mankind. This alone is true happiness-the one worthy end of human exertion or ambition-the only satisfying reward of all labour, and study, and virtuous activity or endurance. To the example of Cook, if it were necessary, we might add those of others of his countrymen, who, since his time, have shown, in like manner, the possi bility of uniting the cultivation of literature and science to the most zealous performance of the duties of the same laborious profession. For instance, Vancouver was a sailor formed under Cook; and to him we owe an interesting and ably written account of the voyage which he made round the world, in 1790, and the four following years. Lieutenant Flinders commanded the expedition sent out in 1801, to survey the coast of New Holland, and afterwards published an account of his voyage, accompanied by a volume of charts, which are considered as placing the author in the highest rank of modern hydrographers. Nor ought we here to forget the late Lord Collingwood, second in command to Nelson at Trafalgar, and, in all respects, a man of first-rate merit, who, although he never sent any production to the press, has been proved by his correspondence, published since his death, to have been in reality one of the best of writers. Yet he was only thirteen when he first entered the navy, and during the remainder of his life he was scarcely ever ashore-circumstances which used to make his acquaintances wonder not a little where he got his style. He had always, however, been fond of reading and the study of elegant literature; and he found that even a life at sea afforded him many opportunities of indulging his tastes for these enjoyments. OCCASIONAL NOTES. REMUNERATION TO TEACHERS. A NUMBER of years ago, when Stouber, the predecessor of Oberlin as pastor of a district in Switzerland, arrived at Walbach, he asked to see the school-house. He was conducted to a poor cottage, where he saw a crowd of children doing nothing. He inquired for the master, and a feeble old man was shown, lying on a bed in a corner. "What do you teach ?" said he. "Nothing," was the answer. "How happens that?" "I know nothing." "What are you here for, then ?" "Because I had grown too old and too weak to tend the pigs of the village any longer, and they put a younger and abler man in my place, and sent me here to take charge of the children." We are not exactly so stupid in this country as the inhabitants of Walbach; nevertheless some very odd things could be told of teachers in the rural parts of England. Some who are employed to instruct the village children cannot write, and in some instances they can barely read. Of general knowledge they are so lamentably deficient, that many of the books used in their schools require to be constructed in the form of question and answer like a catechism. The deficient supply of good teachers is in truth a great and universal complaint. Efforts have for some time been making to increase the supply, by establishing normal institutions, yet we feel confident that all such endeavours will prove unavailing unless teachers be better paid for their labours. It is quite common in England to offer L.60 per annum as a sufficient remuneration to teachers; and the consequence is, that no man with a good education and respectable character comes forward for the office. Any man possessing a character for integrity, who can write a good hand and keep accounts, will find no difficulty in realising L.100 per annum as a clerk. How, then, should we expect an individual so circumstanced to become a schoolmaster for L.60? The idea is preposterous. Some of our readers have perhaps heard the following anecdote :-A lady in the country, the mother of a family, wrote to another lady, a friend in London, to ask her to be so kind as seek out a tutor for her boys. He was to be young and good-looking, to have an excellent moral and religious character, to possess a mild temper and obliging disposition, to be accomplished in many respects, and to be so learned as to take the entire charge of her sons' education preparatory to their leaving home for college-salary L.20 per annum. The town lady speedily answered her friend's letter by simply observing, that if she should be so fortunate as discover such a prodigy of excellence, she would be glad to make him her husband! "I un We do not know whether this be a true story or only a good joke, but it answers as a clever illustration of the unreasonable expectations formed respecting teachers, and the miserable salaries which are offered for their services. Nothing is more remarkable in high life than the large wages paid to cooks, and the small fees offered for governesses and tutors. derstand Lady So-and-so keeps a French cook at a salary of a hundred guineas a-year." This is a piece of gossip which sounds well, and argues a large fortune and fine taste. Chatter about education and teachers is out of the question; and any young lady of fashionable appearance will answer to pass off before company as "my governess," provided she can exhibit with a certain degree of skill on the piano-forte. Surely all this is a wrong state of things, and deserves unmeasured reprehension. We have a great mind to commence holding up to ridicule the monstrous requisitions of advertisers for persons to whom the education of youth is to be intrusted. The advertisements in the Scotch newspapers for parochial schoolmasters are particularly amusing. One appears in a paper now before us: it is for a parish schoolmaster who must be able to teach "English reading and grammar, writing, arithmetic, book-keeping, mensuration, geography, Latin, and Greek" and the salary is to be the maximum, with the addition of a house and garden-that is to say, he is to have the largest allowance which is made, or something below L.40 a-year, and reckoning house, garden, and fees, which are precarious, his entire revenue is to be worth about L.70 or L.75 per annum. Now, we ask if this be not unconscionable? A person is wanted who must have received a classical education, and in fact have been educated up to the point of eligibility for a living in the church; his moral and religious character is to endure the most awfully rigorous scrutiny; he will be expected to dress and live pretty much in the rank of a gentleman-and, for all this, he is promised the amazingly high sum of 30s. a-week, which is about equal to the wage of a well-employed artisan or police officer! Can any thing, we ask, be more ridiculous than this modest proposal? The proper education of youth is, without exception, the most delicate and important matter for arrangement in civil society, and the class of individuals to whom it is committed, ought to stand in the very first rank of citizens. It is certain, however, that a highly cultivated body of men will either refrain from attaching themselves to the profession of the teacher, or hasten at all convenient opportunities to leave it, if their condition be not elevated, both as respects emolument and public estimation. In the present note, we have no desire to say more on this important topic, and only add that we shall take every feasible occasion of agitating the question, until we see a little more common sense prevailing on the subject. ADVICES TO YOUNG MEN ON WALKING EXCURSIONS. YOUNG men, who break away from regular, and perhaps sedentary employment, to take a walking excursion of a few days in the country, often commit such grievous errors as mar their enjoyments, and deprive themselves of all the benefit they had calculated upon as the proper result of an exemption from ordinary duty. With soft and relaxed frames, they, in many instances, address themselves to walk such a distance each day as only could be conveniently walked by a person accustomed to such tasks. Accordingly, by the end of the second day at farthest, their feet are all over blisters, their strength is completely exhausted, and their whole system is in a fever of nervous agitation, the consequence of enormous voluntarily incurred suffering. The next morning, perhaps, sees them a little recovered, and, with their small stock of renewed strength, soaped stockings, and a vigorous resolution, they set out upon the third day's travel, which probably concludes by leaving them in a worse state than before. There is no time, however, to wait for a perfect recovery; so they travel on, and probably complete their excursion in a miserable dragging fashion, glad to get over the country without enjoying it, so that they only have the prospect of being again speedily at home and at rest. This is the unavoidable consequence of ignorance and want of reflection. The excursion might have been a source of pleasure instead of pain, and might have added considerably to the youth's stock of ideas, instead of leaving him disgusted with the country and with nature, if he had only proceeded upon right principles. He ought to know that the body, after being long under the influence of a sedentary profession, or of ordinary city life, is not in a state fit for undertaking great fatigue. When soldiers, after being a considerable time in garrison, are about to undertake a long march, they usually are led out to take short walks each day for about a week beforehand, every day's walk lengthening a little, until they be come fitted for the serious task. This they call being beat into a march. It is a practice founded on right physiological principles, and worthy of being followed by every individual in like circumstances. In the walks of the first two or three days, young pedestrians should not set themselves to any certain number of miles, but only walk as far as they feel their strength will agreeably carry them. Thus they will gradually acquire power, instead of losing it, and in the long run become good walkers, enjoying the country, more over, as they go along, and leaving off with an increased love of nature, and a disposition to have another such walk at the first opportunity. Young travellers, and old ones too, often make a great mistake with regard to eating. They suppose that, having much fatigue to undergo, they ought to eat a great deal; and the excitement of novelty, and the tempting and unusual food presented at inns, enable them to carry out this idea into practice. In a few days, however, they find themselves unaccountably unwell. This is the consequence of simple overeating, for, in travelling, there is no need for more food than usual. Food is also taken at wrong times, and of wrong kinds. It is not uncommon for young pedestrians to walk ten or twelve miles before breakfast, not so much for any economy of time or money, as under the impression that they will have a capital appetite at the end of their walk. As they go along, they delight themselves with reflections as to how they will astonish the waiters, how fresh relays of eggs will be called for, and rolls vanish like morning dreams. Alas! when they have walked their dozen miles, their frames are in a state the most unsuited for the receipt of a full meal; and, if they are able to eat largely, it will be the worse for them after. The whole aim here is the very reverse of what it ought to be. A very full meal should never be taken on a pedestrian excursion, and that simply for the reason that there is no time to digest a very full meal. A breakfast or dinner during a walking excursion, when only a little time can be allowed for rest afterwards, should be light. Whether light or heavy, the longer the rest afterwards, the better-that is, of course, within a reasonable limit. Certainly the rest should not be less than three-quarters of an hour; and, if a heavy meal have been taken, half an hour longer will be required at the very least. Many young travellers have the prudence to fare slightly during their day's walk, but, on getting to their inn in the evening, they make all up, as they think, by taking a great composite meal-dinner, tea, and supper, rolled into one. If, as often happens, this be taken pretty late, the tea keeps them awake half the night, by virtue of its exciting power. But it may act injuriously in another way. When much of it is taken in proportion to the solids, it prevents digestion. The gastric juice, it must be understood, requires that what is submitted to it should possess a certain solidity. It is for this reason that nature has so arranged, in the case of sucking infants, that the milk curdles immediately after being taken, the gastrie juice being thereby enabled to catch hold of it. When a young man, after exhausting his energies by a long walk, fills his stomach with a great blashy meal, he commits one of the greatest of imprudences. The gastric juice gets mixed and confounded with the mass, and several hours will elapse before any progress whatever be made in digestion. Many is the sleepless night endured on this account on summer excursions. It is obviously necessary that, if tea is to be taken at all at a late hour, it should be weak, and in quantity strictly proportioned to the solids taken at the same time. Coffee, however, ought always to be preferred to tea, if to be taken near bed-time, as its exciting power is much less. The rules here laid down are all of them grounded on natural principles, which will be found more particularly explained in physiological works-those, for instance, of Dr Combe, which are by far the most intelligibly written, at the same time that they are even more philosophical than most others. By attending to such rules, a rural excursion may be made very delightful, and may have the best effects on both body and mind; while neglect of them as certainly must entail pain and disappointment. THE FERRY OF BOLDSIDE. A SCOTTISH STORY. THE Ferry of Boldside is situated within half a mile of Abbotsford, erected near the Tweed by the great ornament of the literature of Scotland. Though still presenting the convenience of a boat and boatman to passing wayfarers, it is comparatively but little frequented now-a-days, bridges being built near the spot, which afford a safer and more agreeable means of transit. Formerly, however, the ferry-boat constituted the only means of conveyance, to church or market, for all foot-passengers from the Selkirk to the Galashiels' side of the water, and vice versa. The fairs held at these towns always, of course, brought a temporary increase of custom to the ferry, in these circumstances. On one memorable occasion, a fair was held at Selkirk, and many were the passengers on that day at the ferry. In the morning, all went on well, but ere the visiters to the fair returned in the evening, the condition of the river was greatly changed. The rains had fallen heavily during the day, and the Tweed had risen rapidly, carrying down the brown soil from a thousand hills. Still the ferryman, by the help of a bold heart and a strong and skilful hand, continued to labour successfully in his vocation, and brought through the stragglers from the fair safely, by ones, twos, and threes. At length, a party of fifteen persons arrived on the bank opposite the ferry-house. This company was somewhat remarkably circumstanced, being not only a fair-party, but also a wedding-party. A bride and bridegroom were there, surrounded by their friends, and with their best-maid and best-man, as the Scottish people denominate the bridesmaid and bridegroom'sman. Happy and light-hearted, from the double festivity of the occasion, this party halloed for the boat. The ferryman did not refuse to come at their call, though he could not avoid casting uneasy glances at the still swelling waters. He got safely across, and proposed to take the company to the other side by turns. Unfortunately, they would not agree to be so received. In the elation of the moment, they saw not, or despised the danger; and, notwithstanding all the ferryman's remonstrances, the whole fifteen leapt at once into the boat. Ere another word could be said, they had it also pushed off from the shore. "Sit steady," cried the boatman, earnestly and loudly, as he gave the first stroke with the oars; "be steady, for your lives!" He spoke, unluckily, to those who were not in a mood to attend to his caution, even if they had comprehended, as he did, the full perils of their position. They were all young people, fresh from a scene of enjoyment, and happy in the consciousness of what had brought them together. Some of the men were no sooner in the boat, than they resumed such rustic badinage as had been passing among them ashore. The light boat, already depressed to the water's edge, rocked perilously from their unguarded movements. "Sit still, all of you!" exclaimed the boatman again, in tones of earnest entreaty; "be quiet, or the boat will certainly split or sink!" His words were still needed, and the consequences were as he foresaw. Some who tell the story aver that the boat struck a rock; but this is less likely than that the timbers split open, simply with the weight above, and the oscillations alluded toch would obviously have a powerful effect in, such circumstances. this may be, the fragile bark was at all events broken to pieces, and the whole party thrown to the deep and turbid stream. However This melancholy accident, by which twelve persons were consigned to a premature grave, made a great sensation, it may well be believed, in the district where it occurred; and to this hour it is remembered by all who dwell near the Ferry of Boldside. VIEW OF SOME RECENT LECTURES IN This accident happened in the evening; but there which is as unlike real beauty as the churn-shapedness was still sufficient light to enable the whole transacwhich results from it in old age is unlike grace. One tion to be seen perfectly by persons at a considerable example, however, is better than much precept; and as distance, whose attention was arrested in the first inI cannot with propriety instance any lady, I will take a stance by the agonising shrieks of the females, and the gentleman, who, when about seventeen years of age, had attained a much more than ordinary height, and with it lower-toned but not less appalling cries of the men, the disadvantages of what is called over growth, particuthus cast upon the mercy of the waters. To afford larly a sensation of weariness from sitting or standing for help to them, however, was a thing barely possible. The river bore one and all of them down with such any continuance. At that time, the numerous but now extinct race of monkey-men called Dandies were at their rapidity, as to set at nought the exertions of those ON Wednesday, the 8th April last, a series of lectures zenith, and stays were much in use. He procured one, among them who could swim; and this would pro- given in Dublin by members of the Royal Zoological with all its accompaniments of straps, buckles, and bones bably have been the case even if their condition had Society, terminated with one on the Chamelion, deli- and, braced therein, found at the moment comfort and been more favourable for that mode of escape. One vered by Sir Philip Crampton in the theatre of the Dublin relief; but he soon discovered that it was becoming every man only of the number was able to reach the bank. Society, which was crowded on the occasion by a most day more needful. A book on physical education then He had nearly grasped a bush, and safety lay seem-respectable auditory, the Lord-Lieutenant being amongst fell in his way, and opened his eyes to the real state of ingly within his reach, when suddenly he felt himself of the winter's lectures, which was afterwards given by ported, or their work done for them, they become weaker, the more distinguished persons present. The summary the case. He saw that, when muscles are weak, if supseized and pulled back by one of his companions, a "For Mr Balls, contained so many interesting particulars, that young woman, the bridesmaid of the party. until they fade away into uselessness; while, on the conthe love of Heaven!" he exclaimed, "let go your hold, ment of it. We quote from the report given in a supple-gain strength, and acquire permanent health and force. we believe it may be worth while to present an abridge- trary, if worked gently and progressively, they gradually or we must both perish!" "No!" answered the poor ment to Saunders's News Letter of the 13th April. Acting on this view, he cast away his stay, and undertook girl, clinging to him with a degree of force conceiv"I commence with his Grace the Archbishop of Dublin, a course of exercises, the object of which was to develope able only in such a moment of mortal agony-"no! President of the Society, who, in a short address, re- the muscles he before sought to support. The result was, come death, come life, I shall hold by you!" The man, marked on the great progress natural history had made that he rapidly acquired well-developed natural stays, nevertheless, got his foot to the ground, made a power- in public estimation within a few years, and contrasted which rendered him totally independent of artificial ful exertion, and reached the land, carrying with him it with the not very remote time when a naturalist was support. Dr Scouler, in a recent lecture read at the the girl who had fixed herself upon him. considered an object of wonder or contempt. He lauded College of Physicians, described a distortion of head, For a few minutes, the pair thus rescued were un-natural history as a means of developing the intellectual produced artificially, by some of the American Indians; able to utter a word, and could only express their and moral faculties, and very happily illustrated his and showed specimens in which the foreheads were gratitude to Heaven in the silent language of the eyes views by reference to that most excellent story of eyes pressed backwards, and the sides of the head outwards, and no eyes.' His grace stated that, were we merely to and heart. As soon as the young woman regained consider the study of nature as a recreation, it deserved from the doctor's account, this practice is not so inconso as to produce the most astonishing deformity; yet, the power of ordinary speech, however, she addressed our best support as an amusement free from evil, but sistent with reason as that before alluded to; for it does her companion in these words:"I am the betrothed that it had higher claims as a volume of God's works, not appear that the head-pressed, who are the chiefs of bride of another man; but I have said the word at the right understanding of which is within the reach of the nation, are in aught sufferers, either in health or this awful moment, from which I shall never draw the great mass of the population, who, could they be mind, from the operation. Who can say this for the back. In death or life I am yours! If you will take brought to read it, would derive the highest good both lung-pressed? A treatise on the self-produced alteramy hand, we shall part no more in this world." The to their temporal and eternal interests, from the develope- tions of the animal, man, would afford much scope for young woman who thus spoke was noted for her come- ment and exercise of their faculties. His grace wisely philosophical observation. We stare at the Indian who liness, as well as for the excellence of her character adverted to the common but very injurious custom of slits and stretches the cartilage of his ears, until they and her amiableness of disposition. The young man decrying scientific pursuits which have no very definite serve him as straps in which to pack his fishing-hooks, who had saved her was well aware of this, and heard ultimate object of utility, and he well instanced astro- knives, and other small valuables we think not of conher affecting offer with as much pleasure as any thing nomy, from which results so unexpectedly advantageous trasting the utility of this practice with that of certain could excite at such a time. In these extraordinary example-that afforded by the illustrious Jenner, who, hang pendant miniatures of brass candlesticks, or other to man have arisen; perhaps I may add another apposite folk who make tiny orifices in their ears, from which they circumstances was a match made between the pair. with the eye of a naturalist, the skill of a physician, and equally graceful forms. Surgeon Wilde, in his interesting They joined hands, and from that moment held them- the reasoning of a philosopher, saw (what thousands book, lately published, speaks of the exceedingly graceful selves united for life. before must have seen), a loathsome disease in a cow. mein of some Arab girls he met, earrying water pots on But he looked at it, and reasoned-the result has been, their heads. He takes the opportunity of decrying backthat to three-fourths of you he has preserved that boards, collars, and such like implements of ignorant smoothness of skin which forms so important an item in torture, which go far to effect the very object they are personal beauty, to many of you your lives, and to not a few invented to counteract. If the pupils in ladies' boardingyour sight. Who could have imagined that the patient schools were encouraged to dance and run about with examination of a foul disease in a brute beast, could have books, for instance, à la milk-pail, paying forfeits for originated the greatest and most general good that man dropping them, they would take pleasure in the exercise has given to his race." After some further remarks on the as a feat of agility, while their carriages would be quickly Dr T. E. Beatty on the preservation of species, and teazing cry of Hold up your head, my dear." If colleges archbishop's address, and adverting to the lectures of improved, and the governesses saved the perpetual and those of Dr Corrigan on the circulation of the blood, Mr would institute a new degree for professional men, who Balls proceeded-"Dr Coulter gave you an account of may be called doctors of physical education; were inthe habits of grisly bears in California, and told very sur- telligent minds thus directed to the subject, and the prising stories of their great strength and ferocity, which public induced to place confidence, how comparatively fell under his own observation while resident in their little would doctors of medicine have to do. We should neighbourhood. He narrated many hair-breadth escapes then seek advice to preserve health when well, rather and deeds of daring in the pursuit of those monsters of than to repair it when shattered. Dr Kennedy showed the forest, in which he showed how much more man owes to you in M. Huguenin, an example of the effect of wellin his encounters with wild beasts to coolness and self- directed exercise. This excellent professor of gymnastics, while he is a model of graceful strength, shows evidence of having been once of rather slight form. Meanwhile, the waters of the Tweed had swept down, and brought destruction to every other member of this ill-fated party, excepting only one man. This individual had caught and attached himself to a portion of the broken boat, of sufficient size to bear him up above the surface; and along with this splinter he was carried rapidly down the river, while his companions were perishing. It is said that he himself was hopeless of ultimate preservation; but, after being borne down in an inconceivably short space of time, for a distance of two miles and upwards, succour came to him in an unexpected form. A boatman, who kept a ferry at the point alluded to, chanced to be looking out at that moment on the foaming river. He saw approaching him the person attached to the piece of wood, and even heard the unfortunate man's voicenot calling for human help-but calmly chanting a psalm, in praise of Him from whom alone, in that extremity, the worshipper had any hopes of aid. The psalm, it may be interesting to the reader to know, was the 103d, a peculiar favourite in past days with the rural population of Scotland, and one which almost every child could say by heart, to use their own phrase on such occasions. The sentiments contained in it are such as to justify this preference. The Lord our God is merciful, Such pity as a father hath For he remembers we are dust, And he our frame well knows. For over it the wind doth pass, And of the place where once it was Such was the appropriate hymn which the individual referred to was engaged in chanting, when borne along the waters, to a premature grave, as he himself believed. The ferryman who saw him, however, was a man of stout heart, and formed an instant resolution to attempt his rescue. Running hastily to his boat, he loosened the fastenings, and was in a few moments in the middle of the current. He could not prevent himself from being carried rapidly downwards, but he was successful in taking up the floating man. They were both landed in safety, at a point a considerable way down the river. The man thus rescued lived to a very advanced age, and never, during the remainder of his life, did he forget for one day the fearful peril from which he had been saved. He got the splinter of wood into the ferryman's boat, and carried it afterwards to his own home. There, at a future period, he made it be introduced into the structure of the coffin destined to receive his remains, and kept this article beside him till the hour of his death. Then, in accordance with his wishes, he was laid in earth with the wood wrapped around him, which he had ever looked upon as the immediate instrument of his preservation. possession than he does to animal strength. Thus, I once Dr Houston's lectures on the internal structure of the of meeting, with a paper on deer (cervida), and after a Charles Hamilton, Esq., commenced on our third night few general views on life and organised matter, dwelt for some time on the singular phenomena presented by most species in their annual change and growth of hornsas they are improperly called, for they are not analogous to horn, but are in reality processes of bone from the skull-which, in the stag for instance, bud out, as it were, in a soft and sensitive form, in single spikes the first year, and gradually assume a bony hardness. After remaining on the animal's head some months, they drop off, and are succeeded by larger forked horns, and so on at regular intervals, until the full head of antlers is acquired. The variation of the size of arteries, the progress of the antler through its vascular and highly sensitive form into a bony and insensible substance, to be cast away when it appears most useful, with the changes of temper, habits, &c., of deer, during the course of this change, are subjects of great interest, and not the less so because they are common. Mr Hamilton gave you many interesting particulars about several species, amongst others the reindeer, a most important animal, when we consider that without it the people inhabiting the Arctic regions would be destitute. No animal exists in any other part of the world that ministers to so many of the wants of man as the rein-deer. An hour would be well spent in speaking of this one alone. The family are all more or less interesting, and it is to be regretted that much difficulty exists in propagating exotic species in these countries. What this difficulty is, I do not think very clear, but that it exists has been proved by repeated experiments. Possibly impatience under restraint has been the cause; and perhaps if we could defend from man-the common enemy of the race, before whom our own stag is fast disappearing-a few rein-deer, wapati, roe-bucks, &c., and turn them out to stray on our mountains, they would live and do well where now not even a goat finds sustenance. The accomplishment of such naturalisation is one of the particular objects of our society, and it is one of much higher rank than the yielding to love of novelty-a mischievous passion, which grows by indulgence, and is never satisfied. It would be a source of much comfort, did those only complain of want of rarities who well understood a single animal in the creation. I may conclude my very imperfect notice of Mr Hamilton's interesting paper, by recounting an anecdote of a wapati in our own gardens. This deer became affected by a disease of the wind-pipe, and a consultation of physicians being had, it was decided that the operation of laryngotomy should be performed |