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maintained by the public, and one great cause of fever would not have existed. The same would have been the case with the numerous second-class working-people whom the strike of the spinners in April 1837 threw upon the world. These would have been sustained till it pleased the spinners to resume their work. In Scotland, however, where none but the old and infirm get any public relief, and even they very little, a horde of unemployed people massed up in a dense city immediately becomes a focus of pestilential disease, spreading outwards to the wealthier classes, who then pay with their lives for the erroneous theory on which their institutions are founded, and only become convinced of the necessity of doing something for the poor when they see the mischief take place on a sufficiently large scale, unfortunately taking no warning from the past for the future, but allowing every thing to go on as before, as soon as the danger has been temporarily reduced.

A paper not much less elaborate than that of Dr Cowan, was read* by Dr Alison "on the Practical Operation of the Scottish System of Management of the Poor," from which, however, we have only room to glean a few facts. The number of vagrant beggars in Scotland was shown to be great: at an average, 845 enter the town of Peterhead every year. They take refuge in large towns in winter, and in summer wander through the country, begging by day, and sleeping in out-houses at night. In a parish in the Old Town of Edinburgh, containing 2500 persons, 103 families, or nearly a fifth of the whole people, were lately found by a church missionary in a destitute state. Of 120 such families reported on by two of the city missionaries, only 30 had any parish relief. Again, of 57 very destitute families, only 10 had such assistance. Twenty-six persons accustomed to visit the poor in the Old Town, gave their testimony to the extent of the destitution, its effect in sending all kinds of furniture and clothing to the pawnbroker, and its being, in a large proportion of instances, quite independent of intemperance, the frequently-recurring want of work (that is, the redundancy of the population) being apparently the leading cause of the evil. Dr Alison adduced grounds for his opinion that the fever which ravages Edinburgh as well as Glasgow, is more the result of, or favoured by, destitution, than the result of noxious effluvia or density of population.t

In a long paper read afterwards, Dr Chalmers took the same view of the actual condition of the poor in Scotland, but endeavoured to show that a compulsory provision is not necessary. He described a course of procedure which he followed some years ago in the parish of St John's, which is one of the poorest in Glasgow, he being then its pastor. Dismissing all legal provision, he looked for pecuniary means only to the collections at his church door, which, if we recollect rightly, he stated to amount to L.400 per annum. The population of the parish was about 10,000. He depended chiefly on the sympathy which the poor feel for the poor, the affection which individuals feel for their relations, and the principle in all men that they will rather work than starve. His agency for working out his system consisted of a number of officers whom he called deacons, members of his congregation and generally persons in respectable circumstances, residing, some within the parish, and some throughout the city. Each deacon had a particular small district under his charge. To him any destitute person in the district applied for relief. The first step taken by a deacon, on an application for relief being made, was to inquire if the applicant could not get work. If he could not, work was, if possible, obtained for him, the deacons having, from their place in society, considerable facilities in procuring employment. Should this expedient fail, the next was to see if the applicant had any friends who would contribute to his support till he was again able to maintain himself. This part of the plan met generally with such success as to convey a favourable impression of the kindness subsisting amongst relatives in the district. It was also found that neighbours, unrelated to the parties, would do much to alleviate the condition of the destitute. Dr Chalmers described the plan as

others. Some others might have been pressed. For
example, there is no assurance that in each parish
the church collections would be sufficient: in St
John's, the sum collected was unusually large, in con-
sequence of a popular preacher attracting a congrega-
tion of ladies and gentlemen from all parts of a large
city. Also, while the utility of such an agency may
be admitted, the country cannot be satisfied that such
an agency is every where, and within every parish, to
be had, or that each particular clergyman in the land
is able or willing to frame and keep it in action.
Again, there is no certain dependence to be placed on
relatives and neighbours. These may do much for an
unfortunate person; but they will scarcely do all
that is necessary, as is in fact shown by the present
system, which mainly consists in leaving the poor to
be supported by the next class above them, the result
of which is that they are, in general, barely kept in
life, while the object desired by the advocates of the
compulsory system is, that all shall be fed up to the
point of health, though not with the comforts or en-
joyments of the independent labourer, and that this
should be done, not at the expense of the benevolent
alone, or of any class in particular, but by an assessment
laid equitably upon all. It was strongly urged against
Dr Chalmers, at the close of the meetings, that
among the most destitute of the people in Scotland,
who are continually migrating in search of employ-
ment, the care for relations is practically found to
be much less than in any of the superior ranks of
society; that many such destitute families receive
little or no religious instruction, simply on account of
want of decent clothing; and that many such families
have been reduced to this condition by causes over
which they have had as little control as over the
visitations of disease, for which he avowed that he
thought provision ought to be inade by assessment;
and also (what he himself admitted), that in this
lowest class, habituated to one form or another of
beggary, population advances with the most rapid
strides.

On the whole, it appeared but too plainly, from the
statements made on this occasion, that the condition
of the poorest class of our countrymen is neither satis-
factory, nor, as compared with other nations (parti-
cularly England, Holland, or Germany), creditable to
our national character; and that a searching inquiry
into the facts, and an impartial consideration of re-
medial measures, has become a national duty.

OCCASIONAL NOTES.

TEACHERS' SALARIES.

IN advertisements for teachers, the ludicrous contrast of almost universal accomplishment against diminutive salary continues to be frequently exhibited. In one newspaper, we lately found an advertisement for a parish-schoolmaster, who is required to be able ❝to instruct in Latin, grammar, writing, arithmetic, and geography;" and it is added, that "a knowledge of the French language will be a recommendation. The salary to be about L.26 per annum, besides the fees for scholars (perhaps 80 at 2s. a-quarter each), and there is a free house and garden." Something like L.58 a-year (or 22s. 6d. a-week), besides a shabby cottage for a residence, along with a cabbage garden, are here offered for the services of a highly educated man of first-rate character; the said highly favoured individual being of course required to settle down for life in an out-of-the-way part of the world, where there is no prospect of promotion. Another advertisement in the same paper is for a master "to teach the usual branches of elementary education in a village school," for which he is to have the extraordinarily large sum of L.50 per annum (or 19s. a-week). In the same paper there are several other advertisements for teachers, but, with commendable modesty, they do not mention the amount of salary. In one, in which the teacher is to instruct in all the usual branches, and besides, "conduct a Sabbath evening school"-in other words, to work seven days a-week-he is "to have a small salary;" very small, we have no doubt; perhaps, at a guess, Ss. a-week, besides an empty lodging. To make all this the more ridiculous, there are advertisements in the same columns requiring the services of young men as clerks, overseers, &c., to whom salaries are promised on a reasonable scale of allowance. A sub-manager for an iron-work is offered "from one to two hundred pounds per annum, with a house;" a person to look after blast-furnaces is to get "L.100 and a house;" and for a clerk to a railway contractor, "the salary is to be liberal." We again ask the needless question, Is it to be expected that men of good abilities and attainments are to adopt the profession of the teacher, at wretched salaries, when they can get good salaries in other professions? It is not unworthy of notice, that, of late years, the condition of teachers has in some situations been worse than it even used to be at the time when education was attracting little attention. We advert in particular to several of the burghs of our own country, where the magistracies, having the lavishness of the old system before their eyes, are animated by an ultra disposition to pinch, pare, and screw down. We have heard of the salaries in some places being so reduced, that the teachers are now strikingly inferior in qualifications, parts of the country precluding the possibility of a moro equal formerly. This is bad policy, which must soon tell or at least younger and less experienced men than upon the reputation of the schools in question.

altogether so successful, that there was a constant flowing in of poor into his parish, in order to enjoy its benefits. Yet, during the four years in which he superintended its operation, there were only as many additional poor upon the roll as called for an expenditure in all of L.32, or L.8 a-year at an average. The general result he indeed described to be, that, by merely a minute system of inspection, and a little management in obtaining work and throwing as many as possible upon their own resources, or upon relatives and neighbours, the poor were supported with comparatively a very small expenditure of money.

A good deal of discussion followed the reading of this paper, but to little purpose. The only strong objection presented was one by Dr Alison, that nothing had been done to prove to the section that the destitute of the parish were really and adequately supplied, or that, during the late disastrous years, the condition of this parish was better than that of

*Friday, September 18.

+ All those evils in the great towns were shown to be very much dependent on a continued influx of poor families from other parts of the country, and on the law of three years' settlement, and the miserably scanty provision for the poor in many

diffusion of the burden of pauperism over Scotland. Tuesday, September 22.

A HINT FOR MAP-MAKERS.

guidance of tourists, would do well to look into Those who, in this country, prepare maps for the but sold, we believe, in England. This map is made Keller's Map of Switzerland, a foreign production, to tell of many things which are usually only noticed in the books accompanying maps, and all this without confusing the eye of the peruser, as might be expected, with an unusual quantity of writing. The object is attained by a set of neat signs or marks, the explanations of which are given on a slip of paper pasted on the case of the map. There are at least thirty such signs, and amongst them we find not only indications of the chief towns of districts, cathedral towns, battle-fields, &c., which are sometimes given in our own maps, but things denoting mines, factories, fine views, inns, bridges, post-houses, and so forth. As much intelligence is accordingly conveyed on the face of this map as would otherwise occupy a volume.

While on this subject, we cannot resist the opportunity of rendering our humble meed of praise to the ingenuity and industry of the late Mr Drummond, under-secretary for Ireland, as exemplified in the maps of that country prepared for the commission on the proposed Irish railways. These maps are on a large is designed to present Ireland in a certain aspect. For scale, and beautifully engraved and coloured. Each example, one is to illustrate the comparative populousness of different districts of the country; another is to show the various amounts of travelling in different districts, as manifested by tax returns; a third, the various degrees in which districts are devoted to manufactures; and so on. All this is done by employing different depths of colouring at the different places, so that the elements of consideration required by the commissioners for their guidance may be said to meet their eyes in a moment. While lauding the ingenuity of the author of these maps, it must ever be regretted tion proved destructive to his life, and deprived the that the excessive labour undergone in their construccountry of one of the most valuable minds devoted to

its service.

GAS BURNERS.

About six months ago, a paper was read before the Scottish Society of Arts by Dr Andrew Fyfe, respecting the comparative illuminating power of different kinds of gas burners, from which some useful information was derived. The following is an abstract from the proceedings of the society on the subject:

"In trying the comparative illuminating powers of different gas-burners, Dr Fyfe stated that he took a single jet-burner, burning with a flame of five inches in length as the standard, in which case he had it so adjusted as to burn exactly one foot per hour. Assuming the light given by this burner, as thus used,

to be as

The light given by a fish-tail for an
equal consumpt of gas is
By a bat-wing, about

100

140

164 180

By an argand (24 holes) Accordingly, for equal consumpts of gas, the additional light given, over and above that afforded by a jet, is, by the fish-tail 40, by the bat-wing upwards of 60, and by an argand 80 per cent. For this purpose, however, it is necessary to use the fish-tail and batwing burning with their full supply of gas, and to have the argand with a flame of about three inches. On increasing the number of holes in the argand, though the quantity of gas consumed becomes greater, the comparative illuminating power is not augmented; the increase in light being merely proportionate to the enlarged expenditure. From the numerous experiments which he had performed, Dr Fyfe stated that he had come to the conclusion that the argand is by far the most economical method of consuming gas when illumination is the only object, and provided, of course, so much light is required; and that the single jet is the most unprofitable, and ought never to be used. When the light of a single jet only is required, he mentioned that it is much better to have a burner with two or three holes so near each other used as to give the light of a jet, it consumes from 10 that there shall be only one flame. When this is so to 20 per cent. less of gas, thus causing a great saving to those who burn by meter."

UN-LOCOMOTIVE CHARACTER OF FARMERS.

The following observations on a somewhat remarkable point in the character of British farmers, occur in a letter of a traveller published in a late London newspaper :

"This leads me to add an observation upon a somewhat singular matter of fact connected with my experience as a traveller. In the course of my journeyings abroad, which have occupied, at different times, some years of my life, and during which I have visited the four quarters of the globe, I never either met with an English farmer, or became acquainted with any person who had. Every other class of my countrymen have fallen in my way; the manufacturer, the wholesale and retail dealer, the shop assistant, the merchant's clerk, men of all callings and professions, are to be met with abroad; but the British farmer is never encountered, unless on board an emigrant ship destined for America, or some other country containing new settlements. Yet whose business affords so much leisure as that of the farmer?-and who so likely to derive pleasure or profit from travel

ling, as he who would be able at every revolution of the wheels of his carriage to observe some new fact bearing upon his own pursuit, and to compare it with what he had left at home? Án English farmer who made the tour of Belgium, France, and Switzerland, would acquire more knowledge and experience than by attending a thousand meetings of agricultural societies in England."

The writer surmises that, as it is from no want of leisure or motives of self-interest and pleasure that farm-tenants are never found abroad, it must be from want of means; and he converts this surmise to his own purpose, as reflecting on the insufficiency of "protection" to create wealth. Whatever "protection" may do, we cannot but see that the great mass of British farmers are capitalists on so small a scale, that they could not be expected readily to afford the expenses of a continental journey. Many, on the other hand, are capitalists on so large a scale, that they might be expected to travel abroad like other persons of the same degree of wealth; but the minds of the agricultural class are not enterprising or active in this particular direction. The languor of mind consequent on rural quiet and a limited and unvaried range of duties, is sufficient to make the British farmer so little of a traveller. We may mention that we know one Scottish farmer who has travelled over the Continent in quest of information.

BIOGRAPHIC SKETCHES.

MRS PIOZZI.

FEW females have been fated to associate their names so intimately and lastingly with the literary history of England, as Hester Lynch Salusbury, better known under her successive marital names of Mrs Thrale and Mrs Piozzi. This arose partly, it is undeniable, from the accidents of fortune and position, but, independently of these circumstances, this lady had a sufficiency of personal merit to render her history a matter of interest on her own account alone. She was born in 1740, and was the daughter of John Salusbury, Esq. of Bodville, in Caernarvonshire. Miss Salusbury received an excellent education under the care of the learned Doctor Collyer, and made unusual proficiency, considering her sex, in classical literature. The Hebrew, Greek, and Latin languages, were among her acquisitions in this department.

part with a man, possessed of virtues so great and
numerous, and so far transcending, on the whole, his
failings. Three years after the death of her husband,
she went to Bath, for the advantage, partly, of her
health, and partly that she might be for a time freed
from the yoke which had become so heavy. At Bath,
she met a music-master, named Piozzi, an Italian by
birth, and a man of respectability, though not the
equal, certainly, in fortune or station, of herself.
However, she married him, and Johnson and she
parted for ever. The fact of Piozzi being a foreigner
and a musician, as well as the consciousness, no doubt,
of the altered position in which the marriage would
place himself with respect to the Thrale family-all
this conspired to make the match odious to the doctor,
and some have asserted (what others deny) that in a
letter to herself he called it a "most ignominious bu-
siness." But the lady's mind was made up. John-
son took leave of her mildly, and, indeed, affectingly,
after all was concluded. "What you have done,"
he said, "however I may lament it, I have no pre-
tence to resent, as it has not been injurious to me; I
therefore breathe out one sigh more of tenderness,
perhaps useless, but at least sincere. I wish that God
may grant you every blessing."

Mrs Thrale became Mrs Piozzi in 1784. Her
name was too famous in the literary circles to permit
of her escape from the pellets of the wit-mongers of
the day, though there was certainly nothing very
wonderful in the re-marriage of a woman of forty, |
even with a person a little below her in rank. Peter
Pindar treats this marriage-matter in a very humorous
way, in his piece called Bozzy and Piozzi, where he
paints a contention between James Boswell and the
lady, as rival candidates for the honour of biogra-
phising Dr Johnson. The lady is made to defend her
escape from widowhood thus emphatically :-

What was my marriage, sir, to you, or him?
He tell me what to do! a pretty whim!
He to propriety (the beast!) exhort!
As well might elephants preside at court!
*

*

*

Tell me, James Boswell, what's the world to me?
The folks who paid respects to Mrs Thrale,
Fed on her pork, poor souls! and swilled her ale,
May sicken at Piozzi; nine in ten

Turn up the nose of scorn ;-what then?
They keep their company, and I my meat.

guided or biassed by regard for Johnson, did very It was true, as the satirist hints, that the world, generally condemn the match. Mrs Piozzi freed herself from their immediate sneers by going abroad with In her twenty-fourth year, Miss Salusbury married her husband. At the close of 1784, they visited Henry Thrale, Esq., an eminent brewer in South- France, and subsequently passed through Germany wark, and a man of education and talent. He was Florence. Here Mrs Piozzi's fixed literary tastes led and Italy. They settled ultimately, for a time, at acquainted with the well-known critic and dramatist, to the congregation of a congenial knot of English Arthur Murphy, by whom he was introduced, soon gentlemen and ladies, who, chiefly for their own after his marriage, to Dr Samuel Johnson, then in amusement, published a volume, called the "Florence the full blow of his fame. The decided literary tastes, Piozzi was a leader in the business, and many pieces, Miscellany," to which they all contributed. Mrs both of Mr and Mrs Thrale, led to a mutual attrac- of no slight merit, appeared at this time from her pen. tion between them and Dr Johnson, and he was their One in particular may be adverted to, as worthy of frequent guest from the first hour of their acquaint- notice, namely, the Three Warnings," a pointed ance. Ere long, the connexion grew closer, Johnson allegorical piece, which has found a place in almost all being invited, in 1766, to take up his residence with subsequent collections of poetry. The contributions them at Streatham altogether an invitation which to this miscellany constituted Mrs Piozzi's first appearhe willingly accepted. Boswell represents this as a ances in print. She had for a coadjutor at Florence happy event for the great lexicographer." He had the famous Della Crusca (Mr Merry), "on whose at Mr Thrale's all the comforts and luxuries of life; coming over to England," says Mr Gifford, " a poetical his melancholy was diverted, and his irregular habits amatory fever spread through the land and its periolessened, by association with an agreeable and well-dicals-Laura, Maria, Carlos, Orlando, Adelaide, and a ordered family." For fifteen years, this connexion thousand other nameless names, caught the infection; continued with, upon the whole, mutual satisfaction and from one end of the kingdom to the other, all was to guest and entertainers, impaired only on occasions nonsense and Della Crusca." Mrs Piozzi was of a by the rough and dogmatic manners of Dr Johnson. grade superior to these scribblers, and ought never to But when Mr Thrale died in 1781, the case was al- have been accounted of their number. tered. The doctor had always been easily kept in check by the presence of the mild but manly Thrale, for whom he had a sincere and rooted respect. Now, however, he assumed the dominion of the family circle, and exercised his power in such a way that Mrs Thrale could not see any of her own friends at her house, without subjecting them to the chance of meeting with bearish rudeness and insult. In her "Anecdotes," published afterwards, she mentions, in proof of this statement, that two quiet and respectable gentlemen came one day to dine with her at Streatham. One of them, a Quaker, chanced to tell an anecdote respecting the red-hot balls thrown at the siege of Gibraltar, which had just taken place. When he had done, "I would advise you, sir," said Johnson, with a cold sneer," never to relate this story again. You can scarce imagine how very poor a figure you make in the telling of it." The abashed and unassuming Quaker never again ventured to open his mouth but in a whisper throughout the evening, and, even then, he spoke only to his friend who had come with him. When the two visiters departed, and Johnson was left alone with Mrs Thrale, " I did not quarrel with those fellows," said he, with a satisfied sense of his own forbearance. "They gave you no cause of offence," replied Mrs Thrale. "No offence!" returned the doctor, with an altered voice;" and is it nothing to sit whispering together when I am present, without even directing their discourse towards me, or offering me a share in the conversation?"

This story will prepare the reader for learning that the connexion between Mrs Thrale and Johnson did not last long after Mr Thrale's death. It is to her credit, however, that she did not hurriedly or rudely

After visiting every part of Italy, Mrs Piozzi re-
turned with her husband to England. In a fanciful
moment, she imitated Dean Swift by composing some
light verses at Dover, of which the merit is the
rhyming. They run thus :-

He whom fair winds have wafted over,
First hails his native land at Dover,
And doubts not but he shall discover
Pleasure in every path round Dover;
Envies the happy crows which hover
About old Shakspeare's cliff at Dover;
From this fond dream he'll soon recover,
When debts shall drive him back to Dover;
Hoping, though poor, to live in clover,

Once safely past the straits at Dover; &c.

And so on. The fruit of her continental journey was
a two-volume work of travels, which is written in a
lively style, but did not take any very permanent hold
on the public attention. The wonder with which a
traveller is struck by the customs and sights of a
foreign country, is one of the main requisites for
drawing up a perfect account of them. Seeing much
with her husband's eyes, Mrs Piozzi seems to have
been led into the pococurante train of sentiment. For
a while, however, her work was popular.

In 1786, Mrs Piozzi published her well-known
volume of "Anecdotes of Dr Johnson." The great
interest of the subject would alone have made this
book a favourite, but the authoress ought not to be
deprived of the share of merit justly due to her, as a
ness of fancy. Smarting as she then was under the
narrator of much acuteness of observation and liveli-
neglect which Johnson's open disapproval of her war-
riage had brought upon her from the circles in which
she had previously shone, it is scarcely to be wondered

at that she should have allowed the shades of her former friend's character to come out pretty broadly on her canvass; but we believe she cannot be proved to have told any untruths, and she over and over again admits the greatness of his virtues. In the year 1788, she published a second work relating to Johnson, being a series of Letters which had passed between herself and him. These are very interesting; and had not Boswell's unique production given us a view so wonderfully minute of the doctor's character, would have been held as a most important contribution to literary history. Boswell, however, superseded and threw into the shade all other works upon the subject of which he treated. But Mrs Piozzi has still the merit of having produced a pleasing record of many incidents in the life of a remarkable man.

Her next work was one published in 1794, and entitled "British Synonymy; or an attempt at regulating the choice of words in familiar conversation." Mr Gifford passes a very harsh censure on this work, harsher than justice called for, though certainly the lady was not possessed of that profound knowledge requisite for the complete fulfilment of the task which she had chosen for herself. In place of giving any specimen of the prose compositions of Mrs Piozzi, however, in support of the favourable view which we take of her talents, we prefer to give a passage from her poetry. The following piece was not published till after her decease, and appeared in the "Literary Gazette :"

DUTY AND PLEASURE.
Duty and Pleasure, long at strife,
Met in the common walks of life.

"Pray don't disturb me-get you gone!"
Cries Duty in a serious tone.

Then, with a smile, "Keep off, my dear,
Nor force me to be thus severe.'

"Dear sir," cries Pleasure, "you're so grave;
You make yourself a perfect slave.

I can't think why we disagree;

You may turn Methodist for me.
But, if you'll neither laugh nor play,

At least don't stop me in my way.

Yet sure one moment you might steal,

To see the lovely Miss O'Neill.
One hour to relaxation give:
Oh, lend one hour from life to live!
And here's a bird, and there's a 2ower-
Dear Duty, walk a little slower!"
"My morning's task is not half done,"
Cries Duty, with an inward groan;
"False colours on each object spread;
I know not where or how I'm led:
Your bragg'd enjoyments mount the wind,
And leave their venom'd stings behind.
Where are you flown?"- Voices around
Cry," Pleasure long hath left the ground.
Old age advances; haste away,

Nor lose the light of parting day!
See! sickness follows, sorrow threats;
Waste no more time in vain regrets.
Oh, Duty! one more effort given

May reach, perhaps, the gates of Heaven,
Where only, each with each delighted,
Pleasure and Duty live united."

In 1801, Mrs Piozzi gave to the world another couple of volumes, entitled "Retrospection; or a review of the most striking events of the last eighteen hundred years," &c. This was the last important work of the subject of our memoir, who lost her second husband in 1809, and from that period, up to the close of her life in 1823, resided constantly at Clifton, near Bath. Her last years were cheerful and happy; and, as may be imagined, she was an object of much interest to all around her, being one of the few living memorials of the flourishing age of Johnson, Goldsmith, and Burke. She retained so much of the health and spirit of youth up to the last, that, in her 82d year, she gave a ball to her friends, and led down the first dance in person.

AN ENTHUSIASTIC NATURALIST.

THE following passage occurs in a letter of Wilson, the American ornithologist, to a friend, and contains a pleasing portrait of the amiable and enthusiastic spirit of the author:--

"That lovely season is now approaching, when the garden, woods, and fields, will again display their foliage and flowers. Every day we may expect strangers, flocking from the south, to fill our woods with harmony. The pencil of Nature is now at work, and outlines, tints, and gradations of lights and shades, that baffle all description, will soon be spread before us by that great Master, our most benevolent friend and Father. Let us cheerfully participate in the feast he is preparing for all our just peeping into day, as so many happy messengers senses. Let us survey those millions of green strangers, Creator. I confess that I was always an enthusiast in come to proclaim the power and munificence of the my admiration of the rural scenery of nature; but since to imitate her productions, I see new beauties in every your example and encouragement have set me to attempt bird, plant, or flower, I contemplate; and find my ideas of the incomprehensible First Cause still more exalted, the more minutely I examine his works.

I sometimes smile to think that while others are immersed in deep schemes of speculation and aggrandisement, in building towns and purchasing plantations, I am entranced in contemplation over the plumage of a lark, or gazing, like a despairing lover, on the lineaments of an owl. While others are hoarding up their bags of of mind, those beautiful specimens of Nature's works, money, without the power of enjoying it, I am collecting, without injuring my conscience or wounding my peace and owls, opossums, squirrels, snakes, lizards, &c., so that are for ever pleasing. I have had live crows, hawks, that my room has sometimes reminded me of Non's

ark; but Noah had a wife in one corner of it, and in this particular our parallel does not altogether tally. I receive every subject of natural history that is brought me; and though they do not march into my ark from all quarters, as they did into that of our great ancestor, yet I find means, by the distribution of a few fivepenny bits, to make them find the way fast enough. A boy, not long ago, brought me a large basket full of crows. I expect his next load will be bullfrogs, if I don't soon issue orders to the contrary. One of my boys caught a mouse in school, a few days ago, and directly marched up to me with his prisoner. I set about drawing it that evening, and all the while the pantings of its little heart showed it to be in the most extreme agonies of fear. I had intended to kill it, in order to fix it in the claws of a stuffed owl, but happening to spill a few drops of water near where it was tied, it lapped it up with such eager ness, and looked in my face with such an eye of supplicating terror, as perfectly overcame me. I immediately untied it, and restored it to life and liberty. The agonics of a prisoner at the stake, while the fire and instruments of torture are preparing, could not be more severe than the sufferings of that poor mouse; and, insignificant as the object was, I felt at that moment the sweet sensations that mercy leaves on the mind when she triumphs

over cruelty."

SKETCHES OF SUPERSTITIONS.
SPECTRAL ILLUSIONS.

In a preceding paper, reference was made to various authentic cases, in which disorder of the system, mental and bodily, had produced illusions of a spectral character. Our general and leading object, it was then stated, was to show that all similar phenomena may be traced to the same causes, and this principle will be kept in view in continuing the subject.

power, when aided by the imagination, and perhaps by a little bodily derangement with which the senses sympathise, may be carried so far as to produce an actual and forcible spectral illusion. A gentleman, who had gazed long and earnestly on a small and beautiful portrait of the Virgin and Child, was startled, immediately on turning his eye from the picture, by seeing a woman and infant at the other end o his chamber of the full size of life. A particular circumstance, however, disclosed in a moment the source of the appearance. The picture was a three parts' length, and the apparitional figures also wanted the lower fourth of the body, thus showing that the figures had merely been retained on the tablet of the eye. But the retina may retain an impression much longer than in this case; or rather may recall, after a considerable time, an impression that has been very vividly made at the first. A servant girl living in a family where there were some phrenological busts, and, among others, a conspicuous one of Curran, awoke her bed companion one morning with the alarming information that the ghost of Curran stood at the foot of the bed dressed in a sailor's jacket, and having on his pale face the unwonted and unbustlike ornament of an immense pair of black whiskers. The other servant could see nothing, though the apparition seemed to her companion to remain visible for some minutes. On the tale being told, a pretty strong light was thrown on the matter. The master of the house had a yacht, and its sailors at that period were frequently about the premises. Going to bed much fatigued, and having her dreaming thoughts divided between her household duties and some gay whiskered beau of the yacht, the girl's fancy had dressed up Curran's bust, an object most familiar to her retina, in the way menDisease in the brain, organic mental disorder, hys- tioned, giving him the sailor's person and whiskers as terical and epileptic affections, deranged digestion a fitting appendage. Had the object called up to the (producing delirium tremens), and a plethoric state of eye in this case, instead of being a bust of Curran, the blood-vessels, were pointed out as capable of caus- chanced to be a portrait of some wicked ancestor or ing spectral illusions. An unsound state of the organ ancestress of the family, as might easily have occurred of vision itself may also cause them. Dr Abercrombie from the greater comparative impression made on mentions two cases strikingly illustrative of this fact. the mind by portraits of that cast, then should we In one of these, a gentleman of high mental endow- have had a splendid instance of the preternatural ments, and of the age of eighty, enjoying uninterrupted appearance of a spirit stung by remorse, and haunting health, and very temperate in his habits, was the per- restlessly the scene of its mortal guilt. The girl, son subject to the illusions. For twelve years this without imposture, might have conscientiously reitegentleman had daily visitations of spectral figures, rated her conviction of the reality of the vision, and attired often in foreign dresses, such as Roman, Turk- the possession of a haunted chamber would have most ish, and Grecian, and presenting all varieties of the certainly been assigned to the mansion, inspiring such human countenance, in its gradations from childhood terror that renewals of the illusion might really have to old age. Sometimes faces only were visible, and taken place in consequence. Where the whole affair the countenance of the gentleman himself not unfre- is not a fiction in such haunted-chamber cases, some quently appeared among them. One old and arch- solution of this kind may be with certainty applied. looking lady was the most constant visiter, and she It appears, then, from the cases described, that the always wore a tartan plaid of an antique cut. These eye, through defectiveness of its parts, or through the illusory appearances were rather amusing than other-power of the retina in retaining or recalling vivid wise, being for the most part of a pleasing character. impressions, may itself be the main agent in pro[In our former paper, the principle that regulated ducing spectral illusions. From one particular cirthe illusions in this respect was pointed out. A man cumstance, we may generally tell at once whether or of quiet life, temperate habits, and cheerful disposi- not the eye is the organ in fault on such occasions. tion, such as the old gentleman now alluded to, could In Dr Abercrombie's cases, the spectral figures never not but have ordinarily an agreeable train of fancies; spoke. This is equivalent to a positive indication that and hence the spectra were necessarily pleasing in the sense of hearing was not involved in the derangecharacter, since they consisted merely of an embodiment; in short, that the eye, and not the whole of the ment of these fancies, through some peculiar disorder senses, or general system, constituted the seat of the of the system, upon the retina or optic nerve.] The defect. This is an important medical diagnostic. second case mentioned by Dr Abercrombie was one even more remarkable than the preceding. "A gentleman of sound mind, in good health, and engaged in active business, has all his life been the sport of spectral illusions to such an extent that, in meeting a friend on the street, he has first to appeal to the sense of touch before he can determine whether or not the appearance is real. He can call up figures at will by a steady process of mental conception, and the figure may either be something real or the composition of his own fancy." Another member of the family was subject to the same delusive impressions.

These very curious cases indicate, we think, a defective condition of the retina, which may be held as one distinct and specific source of spectral deceptions. That defective condition seems to consist in an unusual sensitiveness, rendering the organ liable to have figures called up upon it by the stimulus of the fancy, as if impressed by actual external objects. In ordinary circumstances, on a friend being vividly called to one's remembrance, one can mentally form a complete conception of his face and figure in their minutest lineaments. "My father!" says Hamlet," methinks I see him now!" "Where, my lord?" "In my mind's eye, Horatio." In Hamlet's case, an apparition is described as having followed this delineation by the memory, and so may a vivid impression of any figure or object be transferred from the mind to the retina, where the latter organ is permanently or temporarily in a weak or peculiarly sensitive state. the spectral illusions seem to have been habitually caused in the two cases described. There the defect in the retina was the fundamental or ultimate cause of their existence, and the fancy of the individual the power which regulated their frequency and character. Slighter cases of this nature are of comparatively common occurrence-cases in which the retina is for a short time so affected as to give the impression of an apparition. Every one is aware that a peculiarly bright or shining object, if long gazed upon, does not leave the retina as soon as the eye is withdrawn from it. It remains upon the nerve for a considerable time afterwards, at least in outline, as may be observed by closing the eyelids on such occasions. This retentive

In this way

Our readers have now seen, that there are various modes in which the system may be so disturbed as to produce spectral illusions, and that, in the majority of these cases, the parties subject to them might seem to be not only of sound mind, but in perfect bodily health. Another mode of explaining cases of this description may now be indicated. Many of the apparitions which have been vouched for by those subjected to them, have certainly been neither more nor less than vivid dreams. Practically, the phenomena of dreams are so well known to every one, that it is needless to enlarge upon the force and impressiveness which they may occasionally assume. When they bear upon an interesting and important subject, it is peculiarly natural that they should deeply affect the mind, and perhaps leave the parties to whom they occurred, in permanent doubt as to whether they were merely dreams, or supernatural visitations. We shall here quote a case remarkably in point, and one which is not mentioned in English works on this subject; it is told by the compiler of Les Causes Celebres. Two young noblemen, the Marquisses De Rambouillet and De Precy, belonging to two of the first families of France, made an agreement, in the warmth of their friendship, that the one who died first should return to the other with tidings of the world to come. Soon afterwards, De Rambouillet went to the wars in Flanders, while De Precy remained at Paris, stricken by a fever. Lying alone in bed, and severely ill, De Precy one day heard a rustling of his bed-curtains, and, turning round, saw his friend De Rambouillet, in full military attire. The sick man sprung over the bed to welcome his friend, but the other receded, and said that he had come to fulfil his promise, having been killed on that very day. He further said that it behoved De Precy to think more of the after-world, as all that was said of it was true, and as he himself would die in his first battle. De Precy was then left by the phantom; and it was afterwards found that De Rambouillet had fallen on that day. De Precy recovered, went to the wars, and died in his first combat.

Here, after a compact-the very conception of which argues credulousness or weakness of mind-we not

only have one of the parties left in anxiety about the other, but left in a violent fever, and aware that his friend was engaged in a bloody war. That a spectral illusion should occur in such a case, is a thing not at all to be wondered at, as little as the direction and shape that the sick man's wanderings took. The ful filment of the prophecy is the point of interest; and regarding it we would simply use the words of Dr Hibbert, in referring to the story of Lord Balcarras and Viscount Dundee. Lord Balcarras was confined as a Jacobite in the castle of Edinburgh, while Dundee was fighting for the same cause, and, on one occasion, the apparition of the latter came to the bedside of Balcarras, looked at him steadfastly, leaned for some time on the mantel-piece, and then walked away. It afterwards appeared that Dundee fell just about the time at Killiecrankie. "With regard to this point," says Dr Hibbert, "it must be considered that, agreeably to the well-known doctrine of chances, the event (of Dundee's death) might as well occur then as at any other time; while a far greater proportion of other apparitions, less fortunate in such a supposed confirmation of their supernatural origin, are allowed quietly to sink into oblivion." This observation applies equally as well to the case of De Precy as to that of Balcarras, each of whom knew that his friend was then hotly campaigning, and could most probably even guess, from the latest bulletins, on what day the hostile armies would decisively meet. We are not told whether or not Balcarras, like De Precy, was in ill health, but the Scottish lord was confined on a charge of high treason, and on Dundee's life or death, victory or defeat, the fate of the prisoner must have been felt by himself to rest. This was enough to give his lordship a vivid dream, and even to give him a waking portraiture of Dundee, after the fashion of the bust of Curran case.

But though explanations may thus be given of the common run of apparition cases, it may seem to some that there are particular cases not to be so accounted for. Of this nature, such readers may say, is the well-warranted story of the Irish lady of rank, who, having married a second time, was visited in the nighttime by the spirit of her first husband, from whom she received a notification of the appointed period of her own death. The lady was at first terrified, but regained her courage. "How shall I know to-morrow morn," said she boldly to the spectre, "that this is not a delusion of the senses-that I indeed am visited by a spirit?" "Let this be a token to thee for life," said the visitant, and, grasping the arm of the lady for an instant, disappeared. In the morning, a dark mark, as if of a fresh burn, was seen on the wrist, and the lady kept the scar covered over while she lived. She died at the time prophesied.

This story is told with great unction by some memoir writers, and the circumstances are said to have been long kept secret by the lady's family. For argument's sake, let us admit the most striking points of the case to be true. As for the circumstance of her death at the time foretold, it is well known how powerful imagination is in causing fulfilment in these cases; and, at all events, one instance of such a fulfilment is no great marvel amid hundreds of failures. But the black mark-what of it? We confess to the reader, that if we had actually seen the scar upon the hand of the lady, we should not have been one step nearer to the admission of supernatural agency. A most respectable merchant-captain told Sir Walter Scott the following story, which will well illustrate the point under consideration. While lying in the Tagus, a man belonging to his ship was murdered by a Portuguese, and a report soon spread that the spirit of the deceased haunted the vessel. The captain found, on making inquiry, that one of his own mates, an honest, sensible Irishman, was the chief evidence respecting the ghost. The mate affirmed that the spectre took him from bed every night, led him about the ship, and, in short, worried his life out. The captain knew not what to think of this, but he privately resolved to watch the mate by night. He did so, and, at the hour of twelve, saw the man start up with ghastly looks, and light a candle; after which he went to the galley, where he stood staring wildly for a time, as if on some horrible object. He then lifted a can filled with water, sprinkled some of it about, and, appearing much re lieved, went quietly back to his bed. Next morning, on being asked if he had been annoyed in the night, he said "Yes; I was led by the ghost to the galley, but I got hold, in some way or other, of a jar of holy water, and freed myself, by sprinkling it about, from the presence of the horrible phantom." The captain now told the truth as observed, and the mate, though much surprised, believed it. He was never visited by the ghost again, the deception of his own dreaming fancy being thus discovered.

Had the mate burnt his hand with the candle, and, by the same mode of reasoning which led him to believe in the banishment of the ghost by holy water, formed the conclusion that the spectre had touched his hand to imprint on it a perpetual mark, what would have been said of the matter by his comrades and himself in the morning, supposing no watching to have taken place? They would assuredly have held the scar as an indubitable proof of the supernatural visitation, and the story would have remained as darkly mysterious as could be desired. If the reader imagines that the pain must have awakened the somnambulist, we beg to point to a well-authenticated incident, stated to have occurred in England but a few weeks

ago. A respectable young man rose from his bed, one other company, which he sent with the young
and went out in his sleep by a high window, dislocat- man to take its place in a fencible corps posted in a
ing his shoulder by the fall he received. He after-town upon the borders of the low country.
wards contrived to place a ladder against the wall,
reascended, and went to bed. For the first time did
he learn the truth, when, in the morning, the open
window, the ladder, and his disjointed arm, told him
that the occurrences which he believed to have taken
place in a dream, had been so far a reality. It is also
well known with what ease and rapidity the mind
can invent circumstances in sleep to accord with any
passing sensation. A dream that seems to involve a
long and complex train of circumstances, will some-
times occupy not more than a single moment of time
-the whole is a rapid shoot of a half-awakened fancy.
For instance, a pistol report, that actually awakened
a sleeper, has been known to give him an instanta-
neous yet seemingly extended series of adventures,
including a quarrel, a challenge, and a duel. Me-
taphysicians have long been aware of these pheno-

The raising and constitution of this company, which
gave so much joy to the old heart of the father,
hurled a corresponding mass of confusion on the
young head of the son. The latter discovered, when
rather late, that even at home, in those stirring times,
there was something more intricate in the study of
the art of war than the pleasant dream of love and
idleness, which he had fancied to form the "be all"
and the "end all" of a military life. The mysteries of
fortification and tactics were hard indeed in the ini-
tiation. But these were trivial to the perplexities
arising from the Highland habits of his men. Being
naturally looked upon as responsible for their conduct,
some of the notions on which they acted proved
equally prejudicial to his peace and patience. Amongst
other things, their contempt for strict discipline was
only paralleled by their dislike to strict attendance.
They seemed to have entered the service on the single
The reader will have no difficulty in seeing the understanding of obtaining "leave of absence" when-
applicability of these circumstances to those appari-ever they pleased; and “leave of absence" they would
tion-cases where such a thing as a mark is shown as a
proof of a supernatural visitation. The Irish lady
may readily have risen in her sleep, burnt her hand
against the bed-room grate, and, conscious of an un-
pleasing sensation, though not awakened by it, her
fancy may have formed the whole story of the pre-
ternatural visitation, precisely as the Irish mate in-
vented the circumstances connected with the holy
water. When we find that such an explanation of
the matter is accordant with observed and unquestion-
able facts, it would be irrational to overlook it, and
seek a solution in a supposed breach of the laws of

mena.

nature.

Besides, let us think of the apparent reasons for the majority of spectral communications, supposing them to be supernatural. Can we deem it accordant with the dignity of that great Power which orders the universe, that a spirit should be sent to warn a libertine lordling of the hour of his death, as was held to be done in the famous case of Lord Lyttleton? Or that a spiritual messenger should be commissioned to walk about an old manor-house, dressed in a white sheet, and dragging clanking chains, for no better purpose than to frighten old women and servant girls, as said to be done in all haunted-chamber cases? Or that a supernatural being should be charged with the notable task of tapping on bed-heads, pulling down plates, and making a clatter among tea-cups, as in the case of the Stockwell ghost, and a thousand others? The supposition is monstrous. If to any one inhabitant of this earth—a petty atom, occupying a speck of a place on a ball which is itself an insignificant unit among millions of spheres-if to such a one a supernatural communication was deigned, certainly it would be for some purpose worthy of the all-wise Communicator, and fraught with importance to the recipient of the message, as well, perhaps, as to his whole race. Keeping this in mind, how absurd do the majority of our apparition stories appear!

BLACK HUGH CAMPBELL.
AN ANECDOTE.

usual to Little Hugh, that it frightened him into a forgetfulness of his condition; and reflecting only on the possibility of the captain's conceiving him to have passed without the customary ceremony, he judged it expedient to overtake him without delay; which done, he made no scruple of rendering assurance doubly sure, by tapping his superior's shoulder. The captain turned abruptly at the intrusion, and Hugh, upon the instant, bent his wretched body before him. The captain had not been unmindful of his previous obeisance in passing, with which he could, under the circumstances, have gladly dispensed. His conviction now was that the fellow before him, whom he fully recognised, intended a deliberate insult. He raised his foot in vengeance for a kick; but of this movement Little Hugh knew nothing. His duty (as he conceived it to be) discharged, he had turned quickly away, impressed with the reasonable belief that enough of him at that season might be quite as good as a feast.

"Bless me, Captain Campbell!" exclaimed the ladies in a breath, "surely that was not one of your men?" It was enough to drive the young hero mad. Disposing, therefore, of the fair ones as fast as etiquette would permit, and burning with indignation, he sought the barracks. Instantly on reaching his apartments, he commanded the attendance of Sergeant Campbell. With accustomed promptitude, that athletic dignitary of the drill presented his muscular self before his officer.

"Sergeant !" began the captain in a rage, "Hugh Campbell was out of barracks to day?"

"To be surely," assented the sergeant-for many of the name had, to his certain knowledge, been strolling off duty; and, aware that the individual identity of the precise person indicated would not be so easily settled with the captain, he took refuge in this general acquiescence.

"Then," responded the captain with vehemence, "send him to the guard-house immediately !”

To hear was to obey with the sergeant, when he knew how. In this instance he had avoided Scylla, and fallen on Charybdis. He had avowed his knowledge of a fact of which he was ignorant, and now he was called upon to act on his avowal.

have. Shamus o' ta' muckle mouth, for instance, had
suddenly got notice that divers of his wedders had
gone a wool-gathering for themselves," and, to be
shurely, how could he stay?" Evan Mohr had "ta
pit up ta sheillin' for hir nainsell's wife, and her wife's
bhairns, and it was onpossible she could bhide!" After
this fashion, the young laird soon found it a moral
impossibility to get more than a tithe of his High-
landers to render his majesty simultaneous service.
Ere long, therefore, he was fain to issue, through his
favourite sergeant, positive injunctions against even
the making of applications for furlough, except on
great emergencies. The men, then, we believe, re-
sorted to the simple expedient termed "French leave."
Another source of the young chief's distractions,
but one which he conveniently devolved on his sub-
ordinates, arose from the difficulty of distinguishing
amongst the Campbells those whose Christian names
chanced to correspond. Without some device, the
predominant patronymic "Hugh," which amongst
the men themselves (who could have specified to the
splinter of a hairsbreadth the relationship of each to
the other) was no source of inconvenience, would have
led, in the muster-roll, to unutterable confusion.
Every day, therefore, as the drill-sergeant arrived at
the many Hugh Campbells, of all shapes and di-
mensions, arranged on parade, he simply supplied an
affix or prefix, with the tacit assent of the parties con-
cerned. The most obvious epithets came first, such "An it please you, your worship," inquired the
as "Muckle Hugh Cammel" and "Little Hugh Cam-sergeant deprecatingly, "which of them?"
mel," "Red Hugh Cammel,” “ Black Hugh Cammel,"
"Which of them?" echoed the captain in a pet;
and " Brown Hugh Cammel," and so on through every and then, summoning the entire force of his lungs,
hue in creation, until the wit of man could name no he vociferated, "Idiot! did I not tell you-Hugh
more; and then the indefatigable sergeant would sink Campbell !"
his sonorous voice as he entered on the more common-
place soubriquets of "Hugh Cammell, nummer wan,"
"Hugh Cammell, nummer twa," till the end of the
chapter. These refinements were utterly lost on the
captain, who deemed the precious distinctions to be
distinctions without a difference. Some people were
malicious enough, however, to attribute his perplexi-
ties, his obtuseness, and a certain air of apathy in
his demeanour, to an innocent young lady dwelling
near the barracks.

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GENERAL STEWART, in his work on the Highland Regiments, presents a pleasing picture of the relation In consequence of the interdict laid on the demands which existed, in those corps, between the officers and for furlough, a keen competition arose amongst the men. The former being generally the sons and other men for the favour of their superiors. They hoped near relatives of the chiefs, and the latter the sons of that by standing well there, they might possibly have the clansmen and tenantry, matters remained much the order occasionally relaxed in their behalf, or at on the same footing between the parties as while the least have their irregularities more lightly considered. whole resided in their native glens. Regimental dis- Amongst those who adopted this policy, none was cipline was comparatively little regarded, being in more zealous in practising it than the individual who fact superseded or rendered unnecessary by the de- has been specified as Little Hugh Campbell. The voted attachment of the soldiers to the officers, and light active figure of this man had drawn, on more their genuine anxiety to act a brave and honourable than one occasion, an encomium from the lips of the part in their military career. Animated by high feel- captain, whose mind was probably resting on a subings of affection and duty, the Highlanders made ex-ject for softer praise. The rule against applying for cellent though somewhat irregular soldiers. It is furlough was not only suspended in favour of this lamentable to have to relate that the government did person, known to the captain, in his indifference to not sufficiently appreciate the character of these men, the distinctions of the muster-roll, simply as Hugh and often violated the engagements under which they Campbell; but he was to have his reasonable desires had entered the militia and volunteer service, by in that respect as soon as asked. draughting them into the line and sending them to foreign stations. It was with reference to this custom, that the late Sir Ewen Cameron, head of the Camerons, broke one day in upon the Duke of York with the stormy defiance: "You may tell your faither to send us to [here he mentioned a very terrible place] if he likes-and we'll gang tu-but he daurna dhraft us !"—a defiance not altogether without some serious meaning, when we remember that Ewen's uncle was one of a few who, not many years before, had shook the British throne. With all the fine sentiment which existed between the officers and men, it could not nevertheless be, but that sometimes most unmilitarylike proceedings would take place in the Highland corps; and one of these it is now our purpose to

relate.

Old Campbell of G- in Argyllshire, had sent so many sons as captains into the army, each attended by a company of his clansmen, that his territory had become almost depopulated. Under these circumstances, when his youngest son came from college, he thought of devoting him to some peaceful profession; but just at this juncture the American war broke out; a fresh call was made upon the Highlands, and the laird, making a desperate effort, was able to raiso

Little Hugh Campbell was not long master of the knowledge of this favour, when he availed himself of it. Inspired by the conviction of its being the proud reward of merit, he was returning one evening, in eager haste to be once more at his post, from a haycutting, the scene whereof lay in the immediate vicinity of quarters. Unhappy man that he was! whom should he encounter but his lawful superior the captain, in full regimentals, with a dashing young lady hanging on either arm! The captain had just been vaunting of the distinguished appearance of his corps, especially of that section of it that owed fealty to his lefty house. Now, Little Hugh was in all respects, at this moment, the beau ideal of a tatterdemalion. He was habited in a worn-out philabeg, whose longitudinal dimensions alone rendered it unfit for its office; an old military coat, which looked only the more miserable from the gaiety of its original colour; and he was, moreover, most admirably besmeared with the accumulated traces of many a hot day's haymaking, during which his person had never tasted of ablution. However much Little Hugh might dread to face his captain in this atrocious plight, there was nothing for it but to offer the passing salute. It was not returned! The circumstance was one so un

"Please yer honour". stammered the sergeant ; but he stopped short, with a clear notion of being fairly detected, as his eye caught the look of mingled astonishment and anger turned on him by Captain Campbell.

"Well, sir?" growled the captain.

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But, please your honour," persisted the sergeant, taking up the wrong end of the muster-roll first, on a very shrewd surmise of the truth, "was it Hugh. Cammel, nummer wan-or Hugh Cammel, nummer twa-or Hugh Cammel, nummer three-or Hugh Cammel, nummer fower; or was it Muckle Hugh Cammel, yer honor, or Little Hugh Cammel, or Red Hugh Cammel, or Black Hugh Ca"

"Stop!-stop there!" cried the captain, rising and pacing the apartment to soothe his ire, as the full recollection of his dingy bowing acquaintance rushed back on him with the cognomen "black"-" stop there!-that's the very man! The black-hole, I think, will just suit the black rascal."

The sergeant wondered; but it was none of his business; he had played long enough with the lightning already. So, accompanied by a file of the guard, he entered the barrack dormitory, for it was now late, with what dispatch he could; and, sword in hand, he thundered forth the name of "Black Hugh Cammell." A second summons was necessary ere he was answered by the brief acknowledgment, "She's here," vented in tones betokening both chagrin and surprise.

"Black Hugh Campbell," said the sergeant peremptorily, "you're ordhered to the gaard-hous !" "Faat ta teevil for wad she du wi' me at ta gaardhous at sic a time o' night ?" remonstrated Hugh.

Black Hugh Cammell," reiterated the sergeant, with mounting dignity, "you are ordhered to the gaard-hous; and you most shust go to the black-hole, because you are ordhered!"

Remonstrance being fruitless, Black Hugh was lugged unwillingly away, and, half awake, and scarcely half dressed, was instantly immured in the adjoining hermitage, familiarly known as the black-hole. It was not without abundance of Highland ejaculations. expressive of rage, that the honest fellow submitted to his unmerited fate.

Campbell appeared not amidst his comrades. No Days passed gloomily away, and Black Hugh charge of any kind had been preferred against him; but such was the awe with which the simple mountaineers regarded the commands of the son of their chief, that scarce a murmur arose in which the prisoner's name was whispered. In fact, the captain, resolved upon punishment, but disinclined, for reasons of his own, to prefer a regular charge, had made up his mind that the matter should rest where it was during his good will and pleasure; and there it probably would have rested while the captain's pique endured, had not an accident disclosed the situation of the prisoner.

An officious gentleman from the mess-room, having taken a fancy to visit the guard unseasonably, and purely for the pleasure of making the men turn out to salute him, caught them napping, as he expected. As certain dolorous sounds, however, were emanating from the prison hard by, curiosity induced him, before beginning to exercise his authority, to listen to the voice of lamentation. This, as the reader may well conjecture, was the disconsolate wail of his friend, Black Hugh Campbell, who was mournfully haranguing the walls of his dungeon. As the officer listened, he thus proceeded with his soliloquy: :"Hoogh! ta teevil o' this can pe porn; tare was ta first week tat ta captain pegan to ca' her muckle Hugh Cammel, she was shust hawled awa tu ta ospital! An' syne anither week, be't reason be't nane, an' he ca'at her Hugh Cammel nummer wan, an' sent her tu ta awkward squad! An' syne she's ordhered oot on gaard, wi' a' her paggage, for Hugh Cammel nummer tira: an'"

"Who's there?" inquired the officer. "Tare!" cried the Celt, starting to his feet with surprise, and using the privilege of his country by answering one question with another; "Ay, to be surely, wha's tare?"

66 I say, who's there?" repeated the officer. "An' wha'd pe speirin'" rejoined Hugh. “I ask you, sir—who are you?" insisted the officer. "Her nainsell-Plack Hugh Cammel," answered the prisoner subduedly, distinguishing the tones of authority.

The officer knew the speaker very well. "Why, Hugh, my lad," said he, "you used to be a wellbehaved soldier. How came you here?" "She couldna shust say; ye see, she wasna shust

telt."

"Told!" exclaimed the interrogator; "not told ! You surely know what you have been about?"

"Hoot," cried the soldier, "fa'at cud her nainsell peen apoot-teevil a thing; they shust clappit her here for shust naething!"

"But-you had committed some offence. You had forgot yourself in some way or other. How long have you been here ?"

"Maybe twa days, maybe three; unless she could tell, she cudna shust say; there's nae day free nicht

here."

"This is very strange," said the officer. "I must inquire into it." At his back, aroused by the altercation, stood the guard as stiff as a row of lamp-posts. He did not stay to rebuke them, for Black Hugh Campbell, although he subsequently became the narrator of this story, was, it may be stated, a general favourite. The officer, forthwith, sought the retreat of Sergeant Campbell, and roused that functionary from his blest repose.

"Sergeant! you've got a man in the guard-house." "Shurely-to be shurely," said the sergeant dryly. "Black Hugh Campbell," said the officer.

"Yes, and shurely," said the sergeant.

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Now, I should like to know the charge on which he is confined," observed the officer. "Sharge!" ejaculated the sergeant with Highland sarcasm; "by ordhers of Captain Campbell."

"Very well," replied the major (for such was the officer's rank), catching fire at the insolence of Captain Campbell's factotum, the sergeant; "Captain Campbell certainly arrests his men upon public grounds. Show me to the captain; this affair appears mysterious."

Marshalled by the sturdy sergeant, and arrived in presence of Captain Campbell, the major began by apologising for the untimely nature of his visit, and ended by detailing the circumstances that had occasioned it.

The captain perceived that the hour for concealment of the offence for which he intended Campbell should suffer, was over. He therefore recited, not without acrimony, the insulting part played towards him by the supposed offender. But, as often happens, his anger evaporated, with a consciousness of the irregularities into which he had fallen in seeking his revenge. And he added, with a smile, which the major accepted as a signal to relieve himself of an immoderate fit of hitherto suppressed laughter, that he believed Black Hugh Campbell had already suffered sufficient punishment, and might be liberated without delay.

Our dark Celt thus regained his liberty; and here our tale might have come to a close, for, with the equanimity of a Turk, Hugh would have been satisfied with any confinement, directed by the sovereign authority of his captain. Neither would the major have said more upon the point, much as he respected the rights of a good soldier, and Black Hugh was certainly a promising one. But there was another concerned in the business, whose brains just entertained the conception that his commander had been insulted egregiously by Black Hugh Campbell. This was the worthy sergeant. The tornado of native abuse and incoherent threats with which Black Hugh was consequently assailed by his liberator, would certainly have ended in "trial by battle," had he not eloquently demonstrated to the sergeant "tat it cudna' her!" pe The result, however, provided Captain Campbell with a morning salutation from Black Hugh, as, in spite of every opposition on the part of the captain's servant, he made good his way into his private quarters. The captain entertained enough of alarm, on ascertaining who was the intruder, to have his pistols

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at hand as Black Hugh entered the room. But what was the surprise of the former, when, in place of the dirty little varlet who had done him such foul disgrace, the fine figure of Black Hugh Campbell met his gaze! It needed no eloquence to convince the captain "tat it cudna' pe her," although much breath was spent on the subject by his visiter. Sergeant Campbell was again in requisition; but as he was proceeding to recount the distinguishing characteristics of those rejoicing in the common name of Hugh Campbell, the captain became doubtful of his ability to appreciate the sergeant's descriptions any more. Many of the parties were put to the question, and still the general point established was "tat it cudna' pe her." The sergeant was ultimately saddled with the responsibility of detecting the real Simon impure. But as the nature of the offence by no means thoroughly transpired, whilst Little Hugh, with a profundity of native cunning, kept his own secret, suspicion settled down on no individual, although it alighted on many. It was known, however, that the captain had been insulted-the Highland blood was roused - impeachments were showered around like gages at a tilt. In short, within the lapse of half an hour, the whole fraternity of the Campbells were engaged in a general melée, in the barrack-yard, with dirk, claymore, and bayonet. To quell the fray, the regiment was beat to arms; the combatants were disarmed; and, in the sequel, never did that or any other guard-house contain an equal number of the name of Hugh Campbell. It was observed, that, from that day forth, the captain was infinitely better acquainted with the muster-roll. If, however, his studies ever suggested to him the real style and title of the author of the imaginary insult, to use the emphatic language of Black Hugh Campbell, he kept it "under her thumb."

DR BUCKLAND ON AGRICULTURE IN CONNEXION
WITH GEOLOGY.

At a social meeting of the Nithsdale Agricultural Society at Thornhill, Dumfriesshire, on the 15th of September last, Dr Buckland, who was present as a guest, being then on his way to the meeting of the British Association at Glasgow, gratified the company by a brief exposition of some points in which Geology gives light to Agriculture. We find the following abstract of his remarks in the Dumfries Herald:-" The stomach of the animal was a laboratory, by which hay, grass, and corn, were converted into roast beef; but how were animals in their turn, and other substances of the earth, to be changed into corn, grass, and hay, that necessary pabulum, without which all the successive generations of animals would be lean and die? Here the geologist and the agriculturist met. The two great points for the improver to secure were, first, dry land; and, secondly, the necessary compound of the four or five elementary substances which enter into the composition of every good soil. From chemical and mineralogical analysis, it had been found that, in alluvial land, confessedly the most fertile of all, the main component parts were lime, silex, iron, and magnesia, with some manganese; and therefore, of course, it became the chief feature of all improvement of the land, to secure the proper proportions of these ingredients, so as to produce as nearly as possible a result the same as alluvial soil, in which they were found in most efficient combination. Silex entered into the composition of every thing, though it was deficient in the slate countries. There was more of it in oats than in any other grain. The oat-fed Scotchman had, therefore, more flint in his body than the natives of any other country; and hence, no doubt, the great superiority of the Scotch regiments. (Much laughter). Manganese was comparatively a rare ingredient, but there was not a man in that room with hair on his head who had not manganese in him. But no matter where, and in what proportion, these substances were found, nature had given us the limestone to make up or correct almost every other ingredient of soil. The learned professor then minutely pointed out the rationale of the use of lime. In Lincolnshire, an agriculturist, in improving a peat bog, had induced every property of soil upon it, but without adding lime. The first season of crop there was plenty of straw and husks upon it, but no corn.

He was admonished of the deficiency; added lime; and next year had the finest oats in the country. This was quite parallel with the enterprising experiments of his own friend, Sir Charles Menteath, who had converted a useless peat bog into a meadow worth L.4 an acre."

sight; another, the organ of the remonstrances of some colonial parliament; another, a widow struggling for some pension, on which her hopes of existence hang; and perhaps another is a man whose project is under consideration. Every one of these has passed hours in that dull but anxious attendance, and knows every nook and corner of this scene of his sufferings. The grievance between colony and home, by letter or by interview, has originated probably long years ago, and, bandied about dragged on its existence thus far. One comes to have an interview with the Chief Secretary; one, who has tried Chief and Under-Secretaries in their turn, is now doomed to waste his remonstrances on some clerk. One has been waiting days to have his first interview; another, weeks to have his answer to his memorial; another, months in expectation of the result of a reference to the colony; and some reckon the period of their suffering by fears, and pour out their tale to their fellow-sufferers; years. Some are silent; some utter aloud their hopes or give vent to their rage, when, after hours of attendance, some endeavour to conciliate by their meekness; some the messenger summons in their stead some sleek contented-looking visiter, who has sent up his name only the moment before, but whose importance as a member of Parliament, or of some powerful interest or society, obtains him an instant interview. And if by chance you should see one of them at last receive the long-desired summons, you will be struck at the nervous reluctance with which he avails himself of the permission. After short conference, you will generally see him return with disappointment stamped on his brow, and, quitting the office, wend his lonely way home to despair, or perhaps to return to his colony and rebel. These chambers of wo are called the Sighing-Rooms; and those who recoil from the sight of human suffering should shun the ill-omened precincts. From a late pamphlet.

[The above may be a true picture, yet it might have been fair to add that men in office are dreadfully annoyed with calls upon their time, by persons who have either no proper claim upon them, or who wish to have crotchets patronised. If the head functionaries in government offices were to receive readily all who choose to seek an interview with them, their whole time would be occupied, and the proper business of the country neglected. The bulk of people whom one meets with have no idea of the value of time, and are most heedless in intruding their visits on persons who are fully occupied.]

THE TWIN SISTERS.
Stand both before me; for, when one is gone,
I scarce can tell which is the absent one:
To stray asunder ye should aye be loath,
So much alike ye are so lovely both!

Together ye are peerless, but apart
Each may be match'd by each; to rule the heart
Keep, gentle cherubs, a conjoined sway;
Our love's divided when there's one away!
Oh! wherefore both so lovely? wherefore came
Such beauty separate and yet the same?
Was it too great for one alone to bear,
That each comes laden with an equal share?
It may be, Nature, anxious to excel,
Moulded one lovely face and loved it well,
Then, hopeless to achieve a higher aim,
Sought but to form one more, in all the same!
Or haply 'twas in kindness to the one,
That Nature would not trust her forth alone,
Lest she should mar her looks with vanity
To think none other was so fair as she!
If you but hold a mirror up to each,
'Twill name its sister in its lisping speech;
And still, while equal loveliness is theirs,
May one see only what the other shares!
Beauty that only looks upon itself
Becomes unlovely; yet, thou little elf,
Not e'en thy sister should be praised by thee,
Lest the harsh world pronounce it vanity!

Talk not to others of her silken hair,

Lest they should say, "Thou know'st thine own as far!" Nor praise the lustre of her light blue eye, Lest thy own glance win back the flattery! Ah me! I wonder if alike ye'll prove, When ripen'd into votaries of love! Then will sad lovers, puzzled which to choose, Find solace in the thought, "Can beth refuse ?** Then will the promise which the one has named Be haply often from the other claim'd, And the fond wish of secret whisperer, Be met with "Oh, it was my sister, sir!" Go, go your ways, and in your little breasts Still bear the innocence your joy attests! Go, wander forth 'neath childhood's sunny sky, And gather flowers whose fragrance will not die! -From the Scotsman.

MANAGEMENT OF PIGS.

J. H.

tleman of Norfolk. Six pigs of nearly equal weight The following experiment has been made by a genwere put to keeping at the same time, and treated the same as to food and litter for seven weeks. Three of them were left to shift for themselves as to cleanliness; the other three were kept as clean as possible by a man employed for the purpose with a curry-comb and brush. The last consumed in seven weeks fewer peas by five bushels than the other three, yet weighed more when killed by two stone and four pounds upon the average. -Wade's British History.

THE SIGHING-ROOMS AT THE COLONIAL OFFICE. There are some rooms in the Colonial Office, with old and meagre furniture, book-cases crammed with colonial gazettes and newspapers, tables covered with baize, and those who have personal applications to make are doomed some old and crazy chairs scattered about, in which to wait until the interview can be obtained. Here, if perchance you should some day be forced to tarry, you will find strange, anxious-looking beings, who pace to and fro in impatience, or sit dejected at the table, unable in the agitation of their thoughts to find any occupation to while away their hours, and starting every time that the door opens, in hopes that the messenger is come to announce that their turn is arrived. These are men with colonial grievances. The very messengers know them, their business, and its hopelessness, and eye them with pity as they bid them wait their long and habitual period of attendance. No experienced eye can mistake the faces, once expressive of health, and confidence, and energy, now worn by hopes deferred, and the listlessness boiling over with a sense of mortified pride and frus-publishers or their agents; also, any odd numbers to complete of prolonged dependence. One is a recalled governor, trated policy; another, a judge, recalled for daring to resist the compact of his colony; another, a merchant, whose property has been destroyed by some job or over

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