Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

me intelligence of her name, her abode, and her circumstances. It will be better to do this yourself; I would not have the police to interfere. Have you taken care of the bomb, and removed it?" "I have, citizen-consul." "Come, then, let us again drive in the park," said Bonaparte. The drive was resumed, but, on this occasion, the coachman was allowed to fulfil his own duties.

On the morrow, the eyes of more than one person were turned to the window in the gallery. But the jealous Josephine sought in vain for the elegant figure of the young girl. She was not there. The impatient First Consul, with his confidant Duroc, were greatly annoyed at her nonappearance, and small was the attention paid by them to the service that day. Their anxiety was fruitless. The girl was seen at mass no

more.

The summers of Napoleon were chiefly spent at Malmaison, the winters at St Cloud and the Tuileries. Winter had come on, and the First Consul had been holding court in the great apartments of the last of these palaces. It was the third of the month, which the republicans well called nicose, and, in the evening, Bonaparte entered his carriage to go to the opera, accompanied by his aide-de-camp Lauriston, and Generals Lannes and Berthier. The vehicle was about to start, when a female, wrapt in a black mantle, rushed out upon the Place Carrousel, made her way into the middle of the guards about to accompany Napoleon, and held forth a paper to the latter, crying, "Citizen-consul! citizen-consul! read-read!" Bonaparte, with that smile which Bourrienne describes as so irresistible, saluted the petitioner, and stretched out his hand for the missive. "A petition, madam ?" said he inquiringly; and then continued, "Fear nothing; I shall peruse it, and see justice done." "Citizen-consul!" cried the woman, imploringly joining her hands. What she would have further said was lost. The coachman, who, it was afterwards said, was intoxicated, gave the lash to his horses, and they sprung off with the speed of lightning. The First Consul, throwing into his hat the paper he had received, remarked to his companions, "I could not well see her figure, but I think the poor woman is young."

The carriage dashed rapidly along. It was just issuing from the street of Saint Nicholas, when a frightful detonation was heard, mingling with and followed by the crash of broken windows, and the cries of the injured passers-by. The infernal machine had exploded! Uninjured, the carriage of the consul and its inmates were whirled with undiminished rapidity to the opera. Bonaparte entered his box with serene brow and unruffled deportment. He saluted, as usual, the assembled spectators, to whom the news of the explosion came with all the speed which rumour exercises upon such occasions. All were stunned and stupified; Bonaparte only was perfectly calm. He stood with crossed arms, listening attentively to the oratorio of Haydn, which was executed on that evening. Suddenly, however, he remembered the paper put into his hands. He took it out, and read these lines :-"In the name of heaven, citizen-consul, do not go to the opera to-night, or, if you do go, pass not through the street Saint-Nicholas !" The warning came in some respects too late.

On reading these words, the consul chanced to raise his eyes. Exactly opposite to him, in a box on the third tier, sat the young girl of the chapel of Saint-Cloud, who, with joined hands, seemed to utter prayers of gratitude for the escape which had taken place. Her head had no covering but her flowing and beautiful chestnut hair, and her person was wrapt in a dark mantle, which the consul recognised as identical with that worn by the woman who had delivered the paper to him at the carriage door. "Go," said Bonaparte quietly but quickly to Lannes; " "go to the box exactly opposite to us, on the third tier. You will find a young girl in a black mantle. Bring her to the Tuileries; I must see her, and without delay." Bonaparte spoke thus without raising his eyes, but, to make Lannes certain of the person, he took the general's arm, and said, pointing upwards,

"See there-look!"

Bonaparte stopped suddenly. The girl was gone; no black mantle was to be seen. Annoyed at this beyond measure, he hurriedly sent off Lannes to intercept her. It was in vain. The box-keeper had seen such an individual, but knew nothing about her. Bonaparte applied to Fouché and Dubois; but all the zeal of these functionaries failed in discovering her. Years ran on after the explosion of the infernal machine, and the strange accompanying circumstances which tended to make the occurrence more remarkable in the eyes of Bonaparte. To the consulate succeeded the empire, and victory after victory marked the career of the great Corsican. At length the hour of change came. Allied Europe poured its troops into France, and compelled the emperor to lay down the sceptre which had been so long shaken in terror over half the civilised earth. The isle of Elba became for a day the most remarkable spot on the globe; and, finally, the resuscitated empire fell to pieces anew on the field of Waterloo.

Bonaparte was about to quit France. The moment had come for him to set foot in the bark which was to convey him to the English vessel. Friends, who had followed the fallen chief to the very last, were standing by to give him a final adieu. He waved his hand to those around, and a smile was on the lip which had lately given the fare

well kiss to the imperial eagle. At this instant a woman broke through the band that stood before Napoleon. She was in the prime of woman's life; not a girl, but yet young enough to retain unimpaired that beauty for which she would at all times have been remarkable among a crowd of beauties. Her features were full of anxiety and sadness, adding interest even to her appearance at that moment. "Sire! sire!" said she, presenting a paper hurriedly; "read! read!"

The emperor took the paper presented to him, but kept his eye upon the presenter. He seemed, it may be, to feel at that instant the perfumed breeze in the park of Saint-Cloud, or to hear the choristers chanting melodiously in the chapel, as he had heard them in other days. Josephine, Duroc, and all his friends, came haply before him, and among them the face which he was wont to see at the fourth window in the gallery. His eye was now on that countenance in reality, altered, yet the same. These illusory recollections were of brief duration. Napoleon shook his head, and held the paper up to his eye. After perusing its contents, he took it between his hands, and tore it to pieces, scattering the fragments in the air. "Stop, sire!" cried the woman, "follow the advice! Be warned; it is yet time !"

66

No," replied he; and taking from his finger a beautiful oriental ruby, a valuable souvenir of his Egyptian campaigns, he held it out to the woman. She took it, kneeling and kissing the hand which presented it. Turning his head, Napoleon then stepped into the boat, which waited to take him to the vessel. Not long afterwards, he was pining on the rock of St Helena.

Thus, of three warnings, two were useless because neglected until the danger had occurred, and the third which prognosticated the fate of Napoleon if once in the power of his adversaries-the third was rejected.

"But who was this woman, Duke of Otranto?" "Oh," replied Fouché, "I know not with certainty. The emperor, if he knew ultimately, seems to have kept the secret."

All that is known respecting the matter is, that a female, related to Saint Regent, one of the authors of the explosion of the street Saint Nicholas, died at the hospital of Hotel-Dieu in 1837, and that around her neck was found suspended, by a silk riband, the exquisite oriental ruby of Napoleon.

[This little story is abridged from a recent French feuilleton, by Maria Aycard, one of the most fertile authors of such nouvellettes now figuring in the Parisian world. There was so much of the marvellous in Napoleon's whole career, that it would be hard to say when or where the anecdotes told respecting him diverge into fiction. Certainly he was an object of unbounded admiration, almost of idolatry, to thousands of whom he himself knew nothing, yet who would have preserved him from danger at the cost of their own lives.]

THE NEW VACCINATION ACT.

WE do not know any species of discovery, invention, or improvement, which has been more unworthily treated than vaccination. For half a century it has had to struggle against the indolent prejudices entertained by the bulk of society, and, notwithstanding its marked power of preventing small-pox, and thereby arresting one of the greatest scourges of the human race, it is still regarded by a pretty large section of the community either with indifference or hostility. With the hope that what we write may in some manner reach this numerous class, we beg to say a few words for their special benefit.

In the first place, let us explain (for this is necessary with many) what vaccination is. It is well known that there is a disease called small-pox, peculiarly apt to affect children. It is a hideous disease, which, if it do not kill the infants, leaves them much disfigured, and also, in some cases, deprived of sight. With the view of modifying this dreadful disorder, it was formerly customary to communicate it from one child to another by the insertion of a little matter, which is called inoculation. This, in some cases, has the desired effect of giving the small-pox in a less violent degree than if taken naturally; but disfigurement, and even death, often ensue from the practice-thus showing that it is no perfect safeguard-while the child who is affected forms a source of contagion to the whole neighbourhood around. Let this be clearly understood. We say, that a child who is smitten with small-pox by inoculation is as capable of communicating the disease in a natural form as if the child had taken the disease naturally itself. Hence the parents who allow their child to be inoculated, endanger the lives of old and young in the same house, and probably in the adjacent dwellings, or all who visit them. What, then, is to be done to prevent these calamities? We shall explain. There is a process called vaccination, which consists in inserting a small portion of matter taken from pustules which rise on the udder of a cow; the insertion in the arm of the infant being done in the same manner as inoculation. This matter raises a pustule at the spot where it is inserted, and this is called having the cow-pox. Where the vaccination has been properly performed, the child is at once relieved from all liability to take the small-pox.

How such should be the case cannot be well explained, but the fact is indisputable. The constitution is affected by vaccination in such a way, that those who have undergone it, and really had cow-pox, never catch the infection of small-pox. Besides, children enduring cow-pox or vaccination, do not communicate any contagion to others. Such being the case, is it not wonderful that mothers should persist in keeping their children from being vaccinated? We say distinctly to parents, if you do not have your children vaccinated, you are clearly guilty of incurring the risk of killing them with small-pox, and perhaps endangering the lives of hundreds of unvaccinated persons about you. Think a little on the disgracefulness of incurring such a serious charge as this.

We shall now show what havoc small-pox has been lately committing in England, all through the prejudices of parents against vaccination, or from pure negligence. From the valuable information recently obtained by the registration of the causes of death, it appears that in 1837, there were in England only four diseases by which more people were killed than by small-pox. The number of deaths registered as caused by small-pox, during the two years and a half ended December 31, 1839, was 30,000, which gives about 12,000 deaths annually in England and Wales. It appears that the extremes of mortality at the Small-Pox Hospital in London, amongst those attacked by the disease, have been 15 per cent. and 42 per cent. In some districts the mortality from smallpox is stated to be one in six of those attacked. But if, according to other statements, the average mortality be taken at one in four, or 25 per cent. of those attacked, the number of persons attacked in England and Wales must amount, on an average, to nearly 50,000 persons; thus, besides 12,000 killed, there are probably nearly 40,000, who, although they recover, have at least been subjected to a painful and loathsome disease, with all the disadvantages which attend and follow it.

It appears that the practice of inoculating with the small-pox has been long abandoned by the whole of the respectable part of the medical profession, on the grounds, first, as respects the individual inoculated, that it is much more dangerous than the cow-pox; secondly, as respects others, that it makes the person inoculated a source of contagion, thus multiplying the chances of its spreading, and without absolutely protecting the life of the one person inoculated, exposes to imminent risk the lives of others, who are the more entitled to protection as they have the less warning to protect themselves. The practice of inoculation with small-pox is mostly pursued by ignorant and unqualified persons, old women, and itinerant quacks. Excessive mortality from small-pox is frequently traceable to the proceedings of such persons. Instances are authenticated of persons having caught small-pox after vaccination, and having died, as there are also instances of persons having small-pox a second time and dying from it; but instances even of the former kind are extremely rare; and allowing that the sufferers had been properly vaccinated, a fact which is still more rarely proved, the proportion of such fatal cases is so small as scarcely to affect the value of vaccination as a measure of prevention.

ventive of small-pox, the following evidence is given With respect to the value of vaccination as a prein a report to the Poor-Law Commissioners :-" In the year 1827, the small-pox appeared in one of the largest institutions in Dublin, the average number of inmates being between 2000 and 3000. The disease attacked 106 individuals, and was confined chiefly to the nurmothers or nurses, many of the latter having been sery, in which were 141 children, together with their vaccinated during their infancy or childhood, and they all escaped the small-pox, though placed under circumstances most favourable for the reception of the infection. Up to the 28th of March of the present year, thirty-eight cases of small-pox have occurred, and notwithstanding the close and constant intercourse which arises from the crowded state of the establishment, no instance of small-pox after vaccination was observed, excepting in one child, who was said to have been vaccinated two years ago in Liverpool, but on whose arm there was no trace of cowpox."

It is important to note, that vaccination should be carefully performed. If done carelessly, there is no certainty of the right effect being produced. In all cases, it should be performed by properly educated and practising medical men-not by midwives, or ordinary women, who cannot be expected to possess the pure vaccinating matter.

In consequence of the great number of deaths annually occurring from inoculation with small-pox, an act of parliament has lately been passed,* and which has already come into operation throughout England, Wales, and Ireland, having for its object the extension of the practice of vaccination, and the entire prohibition of the inoculation of children with smallpox, by constituting the latter a misdemeanour, punishable with one month's imprisonment. In adopting this course, the legislature has followed the example of several of the continental states.

We conceive that we shall be performing an acceptable service to our readers, and promoting, in some degree, the benevolent intention of the legislature, by giving increased circulation to the provisions of the

*The 3d and 4th Vict. cap. 29.

act, and the measures which are to be immediately taken to carry out the execution of those provisions.

This act is entitled "An Act to extend the Practice of Vaccination," and enacts

1. That from and after the passing of this act, it shall be lawful for the guardians of every parish or union, and for the overseers of every parish in which relief to the poor shall not be administered by guardians, in England and Wales; and they are thereby directed to contract with the medical officers of their several unions or parishes respectively, or with any legally qualified medical practitioner or practitioners, for the vaccination of all persons resident in such unions or parishes respectively: provided always, that it shall be a condition of every such contract, that the amount of the remuneration to be received under the same shall depend on the number of persons, who, not having been previously successfully vaccinated, shall be successfully vaccinated by such medical officers or practitioners respectively so contracting.

2. That in making such arrangements as may be required for the execution of this act, such guardians and overseers, and all other officers engaged in the administration of the laws for the relief of the poor, shall conform to the regulations which may from time to time be issued by the Poor-Law Commissioners in that behalf, which regulations the said commissioners are thereby authorised and required to make and issue. 3. Medical officers to report from time to time the number of persons vaccinated to the guardians or Sections 4, 5, 6, and 7, refer to the arrangements of the medical officers in the various districts.

Overseers.

S. It is enacted, That any person who shall, from and after the passing of this act, produce, or attempt to produce, in any person, by inoculation with variolous matter, or by wilful exposure to variolous matter, or to any matter, article, or thing impregnated with variolous matter, or wilfully, by any other means whatsoever, produce the disease of small-pox in any person in England, Wales, or Ireland, shall be liable to be proceeded against and convicted summarily before any two or more justices of the peace in petty sessions assembled, and for every such offence shall, upon conviction, be imprisoned in the common jail or house of correction, for any term not exceeding one month. The Poor-Law Commissioners, under whose direction this act is generally to be carried into effect, have, as a preparatory step, issued a circular letter to the boards of poor-law guardians in England, calling their attention to the several provisions of the act, with a view to the understanding of their object, and | the steps to be taken for its accomplishment.

The act of parliament does not extend to Scotland, none of the Scottish members of the legislature, as we have been told, having thought proper to desire that it should do so, although precisely the same evils require to be remedied in the one country as in the other.

EXHIBITION OF MODELS
AND MANUFACTURES AT GLASGOW.

gentleman's parks, in every minute alighting to open the gates. By a peculiar mechanism, this gate is no sooner approached by a carriage, from either side, than it flies open, the leaves receding from the side on which it is approached. The carriage, again, is no sooner through, than the leaves fall together, and are fastened by a central catch, "which remains down out of the way of the horses' feet, and rises in time to secure the gate." Of the mechanism for causing the gate to open, we see nothing besides two plates of iron on the wheel track, resembling those connected with weighing-machines for carts, and which are made to operate upon the central catch and the hinges of the gate by means of the weight of the carriage when it passes over them. Thus it would appear that a carriage might pass through a series of gates without one moment's interruption, every one flying open, like those encountered by John Gilpin, at the approach of the vehicle, and as readily closing behind it when it has passed.

many things placed upon the ground or suspended
from the walls. Immediately opposite the door stood
a large model of Glasgow Cathedral, by Mr G. M.
Kemp, the self-taught Gothic architect, whom we
formerly introduced to our readers as the successful
competitor for the furnishing of a plan for the Scott
Monument in Edinburgh. This model is executed
with the greatest neatness and accuracy, on a scale of
four inches to ten feet, and it comprehends the resto-
rations or re-edifications proposed upon the existing
building by Mr Kemp. Glasgow, it occurred to us,
ought to possess this very interesting model. Near
by, in a corner, we found a model of a different but
not less interesting kind-the subject represented being
the district of the Western Pyrenees, and the object
being to illustrate the campaign of 1813. This is done
in papier machée, by Major Sir T. L. Mitchell. Every
hill, every path winding over and amongst them-every
town, village, and castle, every river and every stream-
let is here clearly, and, we should presume, accurately
represented. We have been informed that this model
Again we pass on through a crowd of ingenious
was exhibited last winter in London, when the Duke of machines, many of them of recent invention-as, a
Wellington visited it, studied it for several hours, and patent self-acting mill for spinning wool, by Mr Smith
went away declaring his complete satisfaction with it. of Deanston, a pneumatic grate, models of steam-
In such an assemblage of objects, the oddest asso- engines of various kinds, dissected models of chemical
ciations sometimes occur. Very near to this beautiful manufactories, by Mr Griffin of Glasgow, and many
high-relief map, as it might be called, lay, upon the others, the enumeration of which would convey few
same table, a patent gridiron frying-pan, made by a Mr definite ideas to the mind-until we are arrested by
Rettie, a brassfounder, a most ingenious piece of appa- what may be called a curiosity, in the shape of certain
ratus certainly. The design evidently is to broil steaks hanks of cotton yarn, spun at New Lanark between
or chops, and at the same time save the greater part the years 1790 and 1800, the early days of cotton-
of the juice and fat, which, when ordinary gridirons spinning in Scotland. They are labelled with their
are used, falls, as all the world knows and laments, prices, which range from 5s. to 6s. 4d., while beside
into the fire. To effect this end, Mr Rettie's gridiron them lie specimens from the same mill done in 1840,
is made primarily as a frying-pan, but with a pretty and the prices of which are from 10d. to 1s., thus
high convexity in the centre, and this convexity is showing the great cheapening which has been effected
composed of bars in radiating fashion, each having a in cotton goods through the improvement of machinery
channel running down the middle of it, all of these and the general advance of the trade. Again, a crowd
channels meeting in one larger channel, forming the of indescribable engines, including one which we under-
rim of the vessel. Thus, steaks put upon the convexity stand to be of considerable importance, a self-acting
receive the fire through the bars; the juice runs down feeding machinethat is, a machine in which the rolis
the channels in the bars, and collects in the hollow rim; of wool are made to supply themselves to the machine
and, while the process is essentially a broil, the results in which they are spun, the invention of Mr H. Brown,
also involve the benefits of a fry. Dr Kitchener would woollen manufacturer, Selkirk; also a patent self-act-
have beheld Mr Rettie's contrivance with transport. ing reel," which stops when the thread breaks or bob-
But a truce with whim-an object is before us which bin empties, or when a given quantity is reeled, with-
calls for something not much short of awe. We be-out straining the thread," the invention of Mr William
hold the identical model steam-engine with which Nairne, flax-spinner, Perth-engines these which al-
James Watt experimented in his youth, within the most give human intelligence to inanimate matter,
walls of Glasgow College; also, suspended over it, the and renew, but for a good instead of a vain end, the
original portrait of the venerable mechanician, by offence of Prometheus. We have now passed up one
Partridge. The model is a frame about three feet side of the room and are coming down the other; and
high, two broad, and one in thickness, comprehending here we have presented to us, hanging like great and
a furnace scarcely large enough to boil an old woman's gorgeous palls upon the walls, specimens of carpets, of
tea-kettle; over that, a small barrel-shaped boiler of the kind bearing the name of Axminster, manufac-
copper, supplying a cylinder about the size of a half tured in Glasgow. This kind of carpets, it is gene-
pint measure; from this rises the stalk of a piston, rally known, are distinguished as being made all in
attached at the top to the extremity of a beam like a one piece, with a very deep pile on one side, the other
balance, the other end of which works upon a minia- side being, like the back of a picture, not designed for
ture pump below. Between the pump and the boiler show. For some time they have been made in other
lies a small trough, into which the water, when places besides Axminster, for example, at Lasswade,
pumped, was discharged. Altogether, the apparatus near Edinburgh, in the factory of Messrs Whytock;
strikes one as simple and homely, and has something but, in these instances, the pile is formed by a range
affecting in it from that very cause. The portrait is of boys, who insert it thread by thread, each attend-
a bust, very lively and beautiful; it made us aware ing to his own little portion of the pattern. We find
for the first time of the philosopher having possessed to our surprise that in Glasgow this process has been
a pair of uncommonly fine blue eyes, adding greatly transferred from human labour to machinery, these
to the mildness of his aspect. It may be added, that specimens being described as "woven entirely in the
the model belongs to the College of Glasgow, and the loom," by the patentees, Messrs James Templeton and
portrait to John Smith, Esq. of Crutherland. Close Company. Richer stuffs Luxury could not wish to set
beside these objects, we found another of great inte- his proud foot upon.
rest, as connected with the history of steam power,
namely, the actual engine employed by Henry Bell
in his first vessel-the first working steam-vessel, as
is well known, out of America. This vessel, named the
Comet, began to ply upon the Clyde in 1812; and
station, it was wrecked about 1819 in the Doors of
afterwards, being transferred to the West Highland
Dorrismore. Many years after, Messrs Girdwood and
Company, machine-makers in Glasgow, desiring to
have the engine as a curiosity, caused it to be raised
from the wreck and erected in their works, at an ex-
pense of L.120. It now belongs, we believe, to Messrs
Craig and Company, Tradeston (a suburb of Glasgow).
The cylinder is surprisingly small, not above a foot in
diameter; and the whole works, like Mr Watt's model,
are of rude construction. To see these two objects so
near each other struck the mind forcibly. If there
experimental vessel which Mr Miller set a-going on
had also been present the small engine used in the
Dalswinton lake in 1788 (not long ago placed by Mr
Miller's son in the British Museum), it would have
been one of the most remarkable groups of objects
which the world could produce. It is to be lamented
wish to see the Watt model or the Bell engine sent
that they are separate; but certainly we could not
out of Glasgow, even to be united with Mr Miller's
engine in the British Museum. There is an additional
interest in seeing such objects on the same ground
which their authors trod in life, where they encoun-
tered all their difficulties, and finally made good their

AN exhibition of Models and Manufactures was pre-
pared, in connexion with the British Association, in
the Monteith Rooms in Buchanan Street. This is a
kind of exhibition of which, as far as we are aware,
the Adelaide Gallery in London afforded the first ex-
ample. There was one in Edinburgh last winter, of
which an account appeared in the present work. An-
other and flourishing one was open to the public at
Newcastle in spring, and about the same time there
was one of immense extent and variety of objects, in
connexion with the Mechanics' Institution of Liver-
pool. The results of the one last mentioned were such
as to show how well calculated such exhibitions are,
in the present day, to attract public attention. Dur-
ing the six weeks it was open, it drew (at a shilling
a-head of admission-money) upwards of three thou
sand four hundred pounds, of which all, except a few
hundreds for expenses, went to the funds of the insti-
tution. A confectionery table, opened in it for the
refreshment of the visiters, drew above four hundred
pounds, and from the half of its profits afforded a little
dowry to the shop-girl who kept it. The show held
forth in Glasgow was not of such vast extent, but a
very good exhibition nevertheless. After doing service
during the week of the association, it was opened to
the public at a small rate, and was well attended.
In the entrance hall, we observed some models by
the ingenious Mr Thom of Rothesay, the engineer of
the extraordinary water-works at Greenock. Amongst
them was one of a self-acting filter, which was stated
to have been established at the Paisley water-works
two years since, and to have completely accomplished
its object. In the same hall was suspended a loco-admirable designs.
motive carriage-wheel, of wrought iron, "forged at a
blow." Touched with a hammer, this large mass
sounded like a bell, thereby denoting its perfect sound-
ness. The catalogue states it to have been "from Mr
Jeremiah Grime, Lancashire."

On entering the lower room, we found five tables, covered with various objects; besides which there were

Pass we on amongst objects of various kinds-a model of a drain-tile work, a model of Chester Bridge, a printing roller engraved by galvanism, and many others until we come to one which arrested our at

the second, at the door of which we find an unexpected The first room being now surveyed, we ascend to sentinel, in the shape of a stuffed and glass-cased specimen of the Alpaca, a hitherto little-known example of the sheep tribe, inhabiting the higher regions pony, with a long neck and long erect ears. Unlike of Peru. The alpaca is as large as a tolerable Shetland its congener the lama, it has long silky wool, of a perfectly black hue, and containing no grease, the animal not being a perspiring one. Some peculiar interest attaches to the creature at the present moment, as a considerable importation of its wool has lately taken place for manufacturing purposes, and it has even been proposed to introduce the live animal to our pastures. Some specimens of cloth made from the wool are shown upon a neighbouring table, and seem to justify the saying of the manufacturer, that alpaca wool rather have our doubts as to the naturalisation of the animal. interferes with the silk than the wool trade. But we The high climates of Peru are certainly as cold as our Highlands, but one of the elements of our condition is wanting there, namely, the humidity. Our rains have been found to rot the feet of foreign sheep, to which the Sir John Sinclair getting home a flock of some such cold alone would have done no harm. We remember creatures, and sending them out to winter on the Pentland hills, with greatcoats on their backs. He quite forgot to supply them with shoes and leggins also, and hence, if we recollect rightly, they were all dead mutton before the end of the season.

Immediately within the door of this second room, there is a water tank, designed to exhibit in an appropriate manner models of steam and sailing vessels, including a peculiarly interesting set of models, "contention for a little while, namely, the model of a self-appointed for ascertaining the best forms of vessels." structed by a committee of the British Association acting gate. This is an invention by a Mr Paterson, We pass this, and come to a table presenting a variety architect in Dundee, for saving all the trouble which of cutlery and other instruments, including "a sixis encountered, while driving in a carriage through a | barrelled self-acting revolving pistol;" a huge razor,

with a view of Chatsworth House beautifully etched | on the blade;" a piece of mechanism composed chiefly of two gems, "for correcting the edges of surgeons' cutting instruments;" and "an improved pivot castor for heavy furniture, constructed so as to have a constant supply of oil;"-the two last being the invention of Sir John Robison. Here also is an old Tyrolese matchlock, a similar weapon formerly belonging to Tippoo Saib, and a horn of great length, brought from Abyssinia by Bruce. Vain were it to detail the multitude of similar articles which immediately follow; but we must advert to what struck us as a good, because a useful and instructive idea, namely, trays containing articles of hardware, in all their various stages of manufacture, from the rudest to the most polished. Pins, buttons, files, gun-locks, German silver articles, &c., were thus illustrated. Some exquisite specimens of turning, from the private lathe of Sir John Graham Dalyell, were also here exhibited.

joint after joint proceeds up the chimney, which, the
better to exemplify the principle, is bent almost at
a right angle; and finally, after a few minutes have
elapsed, the spectator sees the brush appear above the
top of the vent, near the ceiling of the room. The
importance of this machine, as a means of doing away
with "climbing-boys," is so obvious, that we heartily
wish it may come into general use.*

NOTICES OF EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.
THE SCOTTISH INSTITUTION (EDINBURGH), FOR THE
EDUCATION OF YOUNG LADIES.

and the library, on paying 5s. for each per annum. Members who have no sons present, may send apprentices, aged from fourteen to twenty-one, on the same terms. Wives and daughters of members to be admitted to the lectures and library, on paying each 10s. 6d. annually. The election of officers, and all ordinary business, is managed by ballot-voting at general meetings.

The number of members belonging to the institution, in March 1840, is thus stated in the report :512 life members; 1595 annual members; 43 quarterly members; 655 sons of members; 266 apprentices of members; and 389 ladies." The recent income of THIS institution was noticed in the Journal some the institution is described as unprecedentedly great. years ago, while as yet it was in its infancy. Some The following is an abstract of the accounts:-The may recollect its being described as an attempt to available funds for 1839-40 (from March to March) combine all the useful and ornamental branches of a amounted to L.9273, 17s. 4d.; the subscriptions of young lady's education under one roof, at a compara- members, and receipts from lectures and evening tively moderate fee. To be more particular, a certain classes, for the year, being L.3229, and the rest, exAt the head of the room, "a Paisley shawl loom, number of teachers-all of them men standing in the clusive of balances on hand from the preceding year, with draw-boy," was seen in full operation. Here also first rank of their profession in a city which acknow- being chiefly derived from receipts on account of stood a large case, containing Mr Alexander's electric ledgedly takes a lead in education-associated thom- day-schools, open to ordinary payment. The large telegraph, a model of Mr Ponton's being exhibited at selves for the purpose of establishing a school apart sum of L.7130 was expended on teachers' salaries the other, under the care of Mr Dunn, optician. from their ordinary classes, where young ladies, for and other expenses of the establishment; and the Having lately treated of electric telegraphs in general, one slump fee (twenty guineas per annum), might institution, after all other demands for the year we shall not enter further into the description of these, acquire all those accomplishments which, taken under were settled, could spare L.1400 to the building fund, than to say that Mr Alexander's produces 42 signals by separate masters of the same reputation, usually cost for the completion of a sculpture gallery, which was means of as many wires, while Mr Ponton's, by some short-hand sleight, gives as many signals by means of plan has been completely successful. The average a much larger sum. We learn with pleasure that this in the course of being added to the establishment. The institution, it will therefore be seen, is in a three wires-a circumstance which we only mean to attendance at the Scottish Institution for the last most flourishing condition as regards the indispensable state as a matter of fact, and not as any proof of the three years has been eighty; the season just com- article, money. Respecting the schools in connexion superiority of the one telegraph to the other, on which menced has brought even a larger number of pupils, with the institution, and in which lies its great and point we have not had an opportunity of forming a many of them from distant parts of the world. At the peculiar utility, the report must be allowed to speak judgment. We may, however, take this opportunity same time, other establishments following the same partly for itself. It is proper, however, to remark, in of adverting to the fact that, for soine months past, plan have met, we believe, with a fair share of success; the first place, that the schools of the institution are the telegraph patented by Messrs Cooke and Wheat- and private teaching in the same branches has been in of two kinds, the evening ones being intended, genestone has been in operation between Paddington and no degree injured. The Scottish Institution is now con- rally speaking, for young men who are already engaged West Drayton, on the line of the Great Western ducted in a large house in the most elegant part of the in the pursuit of some trade, and whose early educaRailway, the communication being in that case effected city. The branches taught in the establishment, each tion has been more or less imperfect; while the high by ❝ metallic wires made to operate on fine magnetic under a first-rate master, are twelve-namely, junior and preparatory day-schools have the character of needles, which point to twenty letters of the alphabet English department; writing, arithmetic, and book- ordinary academical seminaries, for the bestowal of a marked upon the dial, being acted upon by electric keeping; elocution and composition, history and geo- perfect course of instruction on the young. "The currents passing through coils of wire placed immedi-graphy; piano-forte, singing, theory of music and evening schools (says the report) consist at present ately behind them." This telegraph requires five elements of composition; drawing and perspective; of eighteen departments, conducted by twenty-six wires throughout the length of the intervening space; mathematics, with its more interesting applications; masters, and containing, in all, about 650 pupils, to but Mr Wheatstone has invented a new plan, by French language and literature; Italian language whom instruction is afforded in English grammar, which only two wires will be required, and "so exand literature; German language and literature: composition, geography, history, writing, arithmetic, tremely simple, that any person, without any previous dancing and calisthenics. There are also lectures, mathematics, navigation, chemistry, natural philo acquaintance with it, can send a communication, and by gentlemen of equal attainments, on chemistry, sophy; the French, German, Latin, and Greek lanread the answer." It appears that the expense of including electricity and galvanism; natural philo guages; landscape drawing; practical, perspective, laying down such an electric telegraph along a line of sophy, including astronomy; geology and minera- architectural, mechanical, and naval architectural railway will be about L.300 per mile. There may logy; botany, zoology; and ancient and modern his- drawing; ornamental and figure drawing; painting, also be placed in the same tube different sets of wires, tory. It is obvious that no young lady could learn modelling, vocal music, and rhetorical delivery." Defor the use of different companies or individuals: for all these things at the same time, at least with the tailed accounts of the condition of each of the classes instance, one might be for the use of the railway company, another for the service of government, and a her attention; but a choice may be made, and it is a same rapidity as when a few things only engage for these branches are then given, and the results of the various courses are equally creditable to teachers third for general commercial purposes. If any party principle in the institution to afford a long and deli- and taught. Great, indeed, must be the benefit to entertained a fear of their correspondence being tam- berate course of instruction at the same rate at which the mechanical arts of the country from such instrucpered with, they might correspond by cipher, "of a short and hurried one is usually obtained. At the tions as are derived by young tradesmen at the folwhich an extremely safe and simple mode had been head of the establishment there is a lady exercising lowing class. "The number on the list of the mechadevised, enabling a person to communicate with a all the functions of the superior of a boarding-school; nical drawing class, under Mr Thomas Baker, is 48. thousand correspondents so as that it should be im- four governesses are retained to assist in the musical The average attendance is about 30. This class is possible for any one of them to read what was intended department, and one in the French; while the junior chiefly composed of apprentices-engineers, millfor another." Mr Wheatstone proposes, in the case school has also an assistant. Such an amount of wrights, pattern-makers, smiths, moulders, and coachof a railway telegraph, to have, at every distance of a teaching power, at so moderate a rate of cost to in-makers with a considerable number of young stuquarter of a mile, posts through which the magnetic dividual pupils, is perhaps unexampled: indeed, dents." Nor can we omit noticing particularly wires can be carried up, and with an apparatus at the nowhere but in such a city as Edinburgh, where edu- the class for vocal music, in which "there are about top. The guard, with a portable instrument, might cation may be said to be a staple production, could 70 pupils, who are now divided into two sections, a at any of these stations communicate a message in any thing exactly like this institution be expected to senior and a junior. To each of these, in consequence either direction, so as to give warning of the approach exist. One of its most important effects is to make of the great numbers, it has been found necessary to of the carriages under his charge. Thus the risk of the ornamental branches of education more accessible devote a separate evening. Without a single excepcollisions would be considerably diminished. than formerly to the middle classes of society. An- tion, the pupils are deeply interested in their pursuits; other is to introduce physical science into the educa- their progress has been proportionably rapid; and tion of the upper classes. At the beginning of the when the directors consider the influence of music in present season, a new and important feature was refining and elevating the character, they confidently added, namely, a normal school for governesses, for expect that this class will be found to be not merely which the existing elements of the institution cer- attractive, but useful in the highest sense." Thirty tainly furnish great advantages. years ago, this combining of the agreeable with the useful would have been called a wild waste of time. But the human mind, with all its wants and powers, is now better understood.

The remainder of the tables in the second room are covered with a profusion of objects of art, and models of mechanism, which our space will scarcely allow us to touch upon. One small carved group in ivory, "Death sparing neither age nor sex," by Fiamingo, attracted general attention by its extreme beauty. A series of specimens of papier machée articles, by Messrs Jennens and Bettridge, of Birmingham, and a series of ornamental boxes and other articles, by Messrs THE LIVERPOOL MECHANICS' INSTITUTION. Smith of Mauchline, showed to what a pitch of eleWe have before us the Report for 1839-40 of the The library of the institution, and its museum, are gance, in form and pictorial design, some of even our Liverpool Mechanics' Institution, one of the greatest thus noticed. "During the past year, upwards of manufactures of little or humble pretension have now establishments of the kind in Great Britain, or per- L.200 have been expended on the purchase of suitable attained. Another object generally admired was a haps in the world. Many points in the conduct of works, and nearly 3000 books have been added, by "Warwick vase," done in terra cotta at the Garnkirk this institution are worthy the special attention of purchase or donations, to the library, which now conWorks, near Glasgow. The only other object we have those who have the management of others of the tains in all upwards of 6000 volumes. This great inroom to notice, is a chimney-sweeping machine, the same kind throughout the kingdom. It was estab-crease in the number of books has induced the direcinvention of Mr Malcolm Muir, of Glasgow. This lished in June of the year 1825, under the patronage tors to allow members three volumes of a single work was exhibited at work upon a wooden chimney reared and presidency of the late Mr Huskisson, then memfor the purpose at the end of the room. The mecha- ber for the city. It continued for some subsequent nism for sweeping consists of a series of rods, connected years to flourish in a manner worthy of so great a seat by joints, which, like those of a clasp-knife, allow of of commerce and enterprise, and, in 1835, the foundaa bending only in one direction. By means of these tion-stone of a handsome and massive building, for joints, the series of rods can be wound up upon a reel, the purposes of the establishment, was laid by Lord so as to be readily carried about from house to house. Brougham, a fund being provided for the erection by The reel containing the wound-up rods being brought subscriptions. All subscribers of ten guineas were close in front of the supposed fire-place, a man fastens appointed members for life. The ordinary members a brush on the extremity of the first rod, inserts this of the institution consist of individuals above the age into the chimney, and then, beginning to turn the of fourteen, who subscribe one guinea annually. The reel, causes the series to unwind, open, and proceed, main privileges of membership consist in the use of the like one long connected rod, up the chimney, driving, library, and admittance to the schools and lectures of course, the brush before them. To keep the united connected with the establishment. Life members, rod right in the centre of the vent, and to enable it and those paying 21s. per annum, have a right to the to make lateral turnings in conformity with the turn-admittance of such of their sons as are under twentyings of a chimney along a wall, each individual rod is one years of age, to the lectures, the evening schools, furnished with a wheel of about nine inches diameter, revolving upon an axis fastened in it, and there are other joints permitting of flexure to either side, but not forward or backward. The unwinding goes on,

laudable object of establishing a permanent exhibition of models
* Since the above was written, steps have been taken for the
and manufactures in Glasgow.

at a time, instead of one volume as formerly. Twelve of the most esteemed monthly and quarterly periodicals have been introduced into the library, the numbers being received as soon as published. As might have been expected, the increase of readers has been so great as to justify the increased expense which has been incurred, and to demand a still further expenditure in the purchase of useful works, whenever the funds shall be able to meet the outlay. At present the number of readers on the list is 1210; and the average daily number of books distributed is 200.

The Museum has been recently fitted up with shelves, and lighted. A curator has been appointed, by whose exertions the numerous specimens, chiefly of ornithology, which have been either purchased or presented, have been arranged. At present, the museum is open to members every Saturday, from

twelve to five; and it is intended that, whenever the crowded attendance of visiters, greater facilities shall collection increases so greatly as to induce a more be given to members for its inspection. To the pupils

of the various schools, it is expected that this depart- of any branch of knowledge on a peculiar profession, ment of the institution will be of the utmost service." be the test of its utility or desirableness, the labours Not the least valuable feature in the conduct of of education may be greatly diminished. But not to this establishment is the delivery of lectures in con-mention that, in these days of rapid and startling nexion with it, upon all manner of important sub- improvement in all mechanical, commercial, and jects. "Since March 1839, twelve courses of lectures, scientific matters, every profession, nay, the humblest or in all, eighty lectures, have been delivered to audi- trade, will yet require for its successful conduct a ences varying in numbers from 800 to 1400. The much wider intellectual range than was ever before subjects have been diversified as much as possible, imagined-mental cultivation in itself, and for its own that all classes of members might find something sake, is our highest, our ultimate aim, and to try its suited to their various tastes and pursuits in life." Organic chemistry, animal mechanics, electro-mag-play our own ignorance of its nature and importance. value by any inferior or extrinsic standard, is to disnetism, astronomy, vegetable physiology, landscape Your committee trust that it will ever be the object painting, steam power, &c., are but a few of the sub- of those to whom the management of this institution jects lectured upon-the lecturers being among the may in after years be confided, to send forth, as far first men of the day in their respective depart- as possible, its pupils imbued not merely with techledge; and not merely with knowledge, but with nical and practical science, but with general knowwisdom, sound feeling, clear views, and the power of appreciating excellence and beauty wherever they may be found. The truly educated man is he who combines the learning and reverent spirit of the past, with the inquiring and improving tendencies of the present, and the brilliant expectations of the future; whose mind, in the words of an eloquent writer, 'resembles an eastern palace, in itself magnificent, and fied treasures; its lofty turrets commanding an ample its wide spaciousness adorned and filled with diversihorizon, circling field, flood, and mountain, art's stately gardens and nature's wild loveliness; and its hundred gates ever open for the welcoming of each worthy guest, from all earth's regions, far or near.'"

ments.

The institution is preparing to open an exhibition of objects illustrative of science, arts, and manufactures, such as that noticed in our present number. "No exertion will be spared to render it worthy of the institution and of the town, and the co-operation of all the members is earnestly requested, in order that the institution may not only be assisted by the proceeds, but that the collection of articles may be such as to instruct as well as amuse and gratify the public."

The report, after noticing the preceding points, concludes with an account of the state of the dayschools of the institution, where a complete education is given to boys. "Your committee have peculiar pleasure in stating that the Lower School has not been left behind in the general progress of the institution. In March 1838, it contained 221 pupils, and 3 masters. In March 1839, it contained 429 pupils, and 10 masters. It now contains 470 pupils, who are under the care of 12 masters, and are divided into eight classes, including the two which belong to the preparatory department. Experience only could demonstrate the possibility of teaching and keeping in order, without the fear of corporal punishment, so large a number of boys, of so various ranks, in all classes of advancement, many of whom have been sadly neglected, and almost all of whom have been imperfectly taught. The only two serious evils still prevalent in the schools, though both are much diminished, are the practice of irregular attendance at school on the part of many, and the rudeness and unseemliness of behaviour, which are the natural results of early improper education, and of want of intercourse with refined society. The preparatory department now contains 80 boys, most of whom are between 7 and 9 years of age. An additional master has been appointed, and the directors, in November last, reduced the fees of this department from 15s. to 10s., and for members' sons, from 12s. 6d. to 7s. 6d. per quarter, in order that a still more numerous class of society might avail themselves of its advantages. This department derives peculiar interest from the considerasion that the intellectual, and still more the moral, welfare of the whole school, depends greatly on the age at which the pupils are subjected to its mild yet firm discipline. The earlier a child enters the school, the more likely is he to improve in knowledge, and to escape the contagion of evil habits." The branches taught in the Lower School are numerous-arithmetic, mathematics, geography and history, grammar, the French language, natural history, natural philosophy, &c., being amongst the most prominent objects of study. The "High and Preparatory Schools" are attended by 356 pupils. Here instructions are given in almost every department of useful knowledge, six years being the term of a complete course. The classics form a branch of the teaching in these schools, and we are pleased to see classes also for dancing. "A Juvenile Library and Museum have likewise been established, the first containing volumes of a kind most attractive and useful to boys." We ought not to omit notice of the prizes given to the pupils, both of the day and evening schools. These are bestowed, in some cases, for general scholarly excellence, in others for models of engines, drawings, &c.; and, in the latter instances particularly, cannot but have a great effect in stimulating the ingenuity of the pupils.

Upon the whole, this establishment combines such a vast number of objects, and works them out upon a scale of such magnitude and liberality, that we feel the sketch now given of it to be very imperfect. It combines the purposes at once of a reading-room and a library, of a school and a lecture-room, of a museum and an exhibition-gallery; and, in short, possesses in itself every requisite for the entertainment alike and instruction of the young and old, rich and poor, of a great community. Smaller towns cannot possibly imitate the scale on which matters are conducted in the Liverpool institution, nor is it necessary that they should; but the wise and generous combination of amusement with utility is what may be widely copied. The musical courses, the exhibition of arts, and the museum, are what we chiefly refer to. If it be imagined by any one that the instruction given in the Liverpool institution is too comprehensive, and that a tradesman, whether master or man, can derive no benefit from his initiation into the mysteries of so many different arts and sciences, we would beg to answer this doubt in the concluding words of the report:-"What is the use to ME of this or that branch of knowledge is a question more frequently than wisely asked. If the obvious and direct bearing

RECOLLECTIONS OF CEYLON SPORT.

MY FIRST ELEPHANT HUNT.

COLD, wet, and hungry, after a ten hours' ride over the bleak, rugged mountains in the interior of Ceylon, we at last hailed with satisfaction our longwished-for bungalow-the place we had fixed on as being most appropriate for our scene of action with the birds, beasts, and fishes of the creation. No sooner did the white walls of our future domicile attract the major's eye (than whom a finer specimen of a well-fed Scot never broached a whisky-tub), than the jungles around re-echoed with his jolly shout, and digging his brawny heels into the ribs of the Tattoo pony that lightest weight of the two, away we went, with a total carried him, and which really was, I believe, the disregard and indifference of all mortal accidents. Brandy-pawnee, pale ale, cheroots, and a hot dinner, in perspective, it required more than the power of minutes brought us all (five in number) to a commoman to stop him, so making a Chifney rush of it, five dious jungle habitation, that had been built some time before by a sportsman of Ceylon, both for his own amusement, and also for the benefit of such of his brethren in the craft as might at times feel inclined to risk their life and limbs in warfare with the elephants, with which the place abounds. The country in which the said abode is situated resembled an English park somewhat out of repair; clumps of large forest trees being interspersed at intervals, and the ground carpeted with smooth elastic turf, while the countless herds of spotted deer that lay scattered over it, the wild gaudy peacock, and the jungle fowl that we put up in all directions, gave promise to the sportsman of glorious sport. protection we had placed ourselves, in addition to his other good qualities, was a most excellent cook. His "The major," under whose fatherly stews were unexceptionable; a bottle of Madeira in them generally prevented any body, except himself, knowing what they were made of; and should they be overdone, underdone, or the ingredients rather tough, in went another half bottle, which, in the major's estimation, was a specific remedy for all culinary irregularities. Moreover, our friend evinced sporting friends do) of not eating the game they shoot. The old soul was never half so happy and pleased as none of those affectations (which I know some of my when masticating a tough old pea-fowl that he had shot, cooked, and served up himself. But we are digressing. Having put our nags into the best place we could find for them (and, luckily, jungle ponies are not over fastidious in their ideas of local habitation), sariat, a supply of provisions enough to have lasted us for a six months' siege. We all agreed that it was no we commenced tapping and overhauling the commisadvantage working on empty stomachs, and we were too old soldiers to rely on our guns for subsistence. Having satisfied our inner man for the present, we proceeded to business, getting ready the guns and ammunition for the morrow's slaughter, while "the major" due time, and as gladly welcomed by a party of hungry subs as a brevet company would have been, the portly was sent off to cook the dinner. This was served up in old major bringing in the last dish himself, with an expression of cannibalism on his features that would have petrified a rhinoceros. Oh! ye gods, that dinner! It was all the same to our worthy cook, which had soup was a compound of all three, with a half-boiled come to hand first-whisky, Madeira, or water. The hare in the middle of it; while a goodly piece of boiled beef tasted far more of "Old Tom" than anything else. But who would grumble? Here we were thirty miles from any habitation, except those of the denielephant-shooting-so pass the bottle and keep up the zens of the forest-modern Robinson Crusoes out song was our motto, till the small hours warned as that steady hands and clear heads would be a requi

335

In

sition for the morning's work; so into bed we turned, considerately helping, in the first instance, those dered incompetent to turn into theirs. The morning came, and with it a pretty considerable quantity of whom the potency of the major's cookery had renheadaches, while numberless anathemas were bestowed this case it certainly was not the wine-" It was all on the major's soup and cooking propensities. the beef," as some one said. The major was the only called a parcel of unseasoned hogsheads. However, he actually gloated over the sufferings of what he one on whom his cookery had not visible effect, and we gained our point, and the major was turned out of the kitchen, except in the stewing department, for which we gave him an allowance of a half bottle of whisky and one of Madeira daily, and he supplied pepper. Having dressed, we lighted our cheroots, any deficiency he thought might exist with Cayenne and started on our ponies for the jungle, in which we had received intimation that a herd of elephants was feeding; each of us being armed with three or four double-barreiled guns, carried by natives, as in case of the first fire missing the mortal spot, there is generally time to take the second gun, and if not kill, at least turn the animal from you. The natives that carry the supernumerary guns are, for the most part, imminent danger. staunch, steady hands, and will not run unless in very

jungle, lost no time in finding the position the brutes had taken up; there were five females, with as many The old elephant-finder having guided us to the young ones. To get within shooting distance of an elephant (and we never fire at them with any certainty of killing at above ten paces), it requires nearly as much caution as to get near a hare in her seat, but, unluckily for themselves, made a rush in the going against the wind, &c. However, they scented direction we were standing. They came down in us long before we could get at them in this instance, elephant-shooting before) and on the smoke clearing line. At the first shot from the major, we poured in off, we found two of the beasts stretched dead on the our broadside (none of us except him had been out ground. The major had killed one, but who killed the other, out of so many who fired with the same sized ball, would be no easy matter to find out. While reloading, I observed something, about a dozen yards off, in the bushes, and sincerely hoped it might prove elephant), but I was disappointed; for on approaching, I found it to be the calf of one of the dead elephants, to be a cheetah (much nobler game in Ceylon than the about two feet in height. I immediately secured him, and walked him off prisoner of war. I kept this grew up such a thief and dissipated character, clearing fruit shops, &c., that I was obliged to have him desame youngster for nine months afterwards, but he stroyed. at times the whole of the bazaar, and rifling all the

each of us might kill. This we were not long in arWe now agreed to separate, and make two parties, ranging. H. and myself, taking "a line of our own," or we should never be able to identify the elephants were eventually the most fortunate of the party. We had scrambled on for about five miles in the midst of herds of deer, at which we dared not fire, for fear of alarming the elephants, when we espied an elephant not twenty yards off, standing in the jungle. He stationary, he might escape our observation, but his evidently saw us, and was in hopes that, by remaining quarters, off he bolted at a long trot. H. fired-his right-hand barrel did its duty, and the brute fell on stars had fated otherwise, and on our coming to closer its knees wounded. We ran up, put a ball through its head, and finished him. I must own, if ever I felt envious, it was at the moment I saw the tail (the trophy we preserve of our game) find its way into his shooting-coat pocket. Elated by our success, we went sport; nor were we disappointed. On emerging from forward with sanguine and sanguinary expectations of ing about a quarter of a mile before us. to them, we used every possible means in our power, now creeping like snakes on our bellies, and now lying the jungle, we discerned a herd of fifty elephants feedTo get up perfectly still for minutes together, until our exertions were crowned with success, and we rose at last within about eight yards of the whole herd. I fired at the head of the nearest animal, but he merely shook it, every thing. My left barrel was still loaded, and the brutes were now in the most admired state of confustared at me, and walked away, evidently disgusted at sion, some retreating, others charging, until a noble my daring impertinence, while I felt mortified above fellow thought me worthy of his notice, and picking my back against a tree, with my gun at my shoulder, I let him come within six paces, when a slight pull of me out for single combat, came at me. Steadying he dropped dead at my feet. Never do I remember to have experienced such a moment of intense excitement as at the fall of that noble brute to my gun. It the forefinger sent an ounce ball into his brain, and had I wished it, and had my gun missed fire, I should never have lived to record this day's adventures. The others immediately took to the jungle, and the crash was a matter of life and death, as I could not retreat of fifty elephants rushing through a forest jungle beggars all description. We were now far from the santly warm, so we turned our steps homewards, in bungalow, and the sun was beginning to get unplea hopes of falling in with our compagnons de chasse. They had been nearly as fortunate as ourselves, and

on emptying our pockets we mustered eight tails fair sport for griffs at the work-and pale ale and cheroots was the first order of the day. Of that jolly party one has since fallen a victim to his zeal. My companion of the morning went out elephant-shooting some months after, his gun missed fire in front of an elephant, and the brute transfixed him with his tusks. Poor boy, he deserved a better fate !-Sunday Times newspaper.

CAUSES OF DEPRESSION IN THE LABOURING CLASSES.

First, how much of this depression is to be traced to intemperance! What a great amount of time, and strength, and money, might multitudes gain for self-improvement by a strict sobriety! That cheap remedy, pure water, would cure the chief evils in very many families of the ignorant and poor. Were the sums which are still lavished on ardent spirits, appropriated wisely to the elevation of the people, what a new world we should live in! Intemperance not only wastes the earnings, but the health and the minds of men. How many, were they to exchange what they call moderate drinking for water, would be surprised to learn, that they had been living under a cloud, in half stupefaction, and would become conscious of an intellectual energy of which they had not before dreamed! Their labours would exhaust them less, and less labour would be needed for their support; and thus their inability to cultivate their high nature would in a great measure be removed. The working class, above all men, have an interest in the cause of temperance, and they ought to look on the individual who lives by scattering the means and excitements of drunkenness, not only as the general enemy of his race but as their own worst foe. In the next place, how much of the depression of labourers may be traced to the want of a strict economy! But how many waste their earnings on indulgences which may be spared, and thus have no resource for a dark day, and are always trembling on the brink of pauperism! Needless expenses keep many too poor for self-improvement. And here let me say, that expensive habits among the more prosperous labourers often interfere with the mental culture of themselves and their families. How many among them sacrifice improvement to appetite! How many sacrifice it to the love of show, to the desire of outstripping others, and to habits of expense which grow out of this insatiable passion. A labourer having secured a neat home, and a wholesome table, should ask nothing more for the senses; but should consecrate his leisure, and what may be spared of his earnings, to the culture of himself and his family, to the best books, to the best teaching, to pleasant and profitable intercourse, to sympathy and the offices of humanity, and to the enjoyment of the beautiful in nature and art. Another cause of the depressed condition of not a few labourers, as I believe, is their ignorance on the subject of health. Health is the working man's fortune; and he ought to watch over it more than the capitalist over his largest investments. Health lightens the efforts of body and mind. It enables a man to crowd much work into a narrow compass. Without it little can be earned, and that little by slow exhausting toil. For these reasons, I cannot but look on it as a good omen that the press is circulating among us cheap works, in which much useful knowledge is given of the structure, and functions, and laws of the human body. It is in no small measure through our own imprudence that disease and debility are incurred, and one remedy is to be found in knowledge. Once let the mass of the people be instructed in their own frames-let them understand clearly that disease is not an accident, but has fixed causes, many of which they can avert-and a great amount of suffering, want, and consequent intellectual depression, will be removed. I will mention one more cause of the depressed condition of many labourers, and that is sloth, "the sin which doth most easily beset us." How many are there, who working languidly and reluctantly, bring little to pass, spread the work of one hour over many, shrink from difficulties which ought to excite them, keep themselves poor, and thus doom their families to ignorance as well as to want! In these remarks, I have endeavoured to show that the great obstacles to the improvement of the labouring classes are in themselves, and may therefore be overcome. They want nothing but the will.-Channing's Lectures on the Elevation of the Working Classes.

TREATMENT OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS.

*

The employment of the savages by the French and British, and of bloodhounds by the Spaniards, to destroy their enemies, are among the most atrocious acts which Christendom has been called to witness. * The records of history cannot furnish a more cold-blooded, heartless document, than the official report of Sir Jeffrey Amherst, the British commander-in-chief, dated Albany, 13th August 1763, and communicating the result of Colonel Grant's expedition against the Cherokees. He states, that Colonel Grant had burnt fifteen towns, and all the plantations of the country; destroyed fourteen hundred acres of corn; and driven about five thousand men, women, and children, into the woods and mountains, where, having nothing to subsist upon, they must either starve or sue for peace. Not a vestige remains of any permanent advantage derived by the Indians from the cessions [of land] and sacrifices they made. Their actual relations with the British may be emphatically stated in few words. They were useful, and were used, in war to fight, and in peace to trade. Queen Anne, indeed, presented sacramental vessels to the Mohawks, and other furniture for a chapel; and this is about the extent, as far as we have been able to discover, of the direct interference of the British in any plan to improve the moral condition of the Indians.-North American Review.

[The above, we believe, is all true. The British cannot be sufficiently blamed for their inhumane treatment of the borigines, not only in America, but in Australia and

[blocks in formation]

LINES ADDRESSED TO A FRIEND FROM THE
VICINITY OF ABBOTSFORD.

Here, upon the waveful Tweed,
Haunt of love and song decreed,
Prone beneath a willow tree,
Shall I chant a stave to thee.
Would that thou wert with me here,
Now when July warms the year,
And the Tweed careers below,
Bright and breakless in its flow,
Save whore trouts leap here and there,
Bathing in the sunny air;

While, upon the adverse bank,
May be viewed, in stately rank,
All the trees which he, the lord,
Ever-famed of Abbotsford,
Planted with his wondrous hands,
Pleasure-givers to the lands.
Peeping o'er the leafy screen
May the turrets, too, be seen,
Of the bright "romance of stone,"
Builded by the Mighty Known.
Towers, and crystal streams, and trees,
Ever may the gazer please;

How much more should such as lie
Now before my charmed eye,
Steep'd in twilight, dewy, cool,
Like the landscapes of a pool!

Oft on such an eve have I
Wander'd through these woods hereby,
Musing on the mightiest mind
Kernell'd e'er in earthly rind;
While from every shrub and tree
Issued floods of melody.

There the mavis pour'd its song,
Like old wine, mellow and strong,
Calling answers, pleased and loud,
Even from those echoes proud,
Which were wonted to rejoice
At the master-minstrel's voice;
There the blackbird's stirring note
Through the woods was heard to float;
And the finch's whining plain
Mingled with the linnet's strain;
And an hundred other lays
Made an evening hymn of praise,
Such as caused that vast arcade,
Bedded by the dark green glade,
Once and oft to nod with glee
To the pleasing minstrelsy.
On the hilly slopes in view,
Propp'd against the arc of blue,
Mark'd I then the heather bell,
Grasping close the mountain swell;
And the broom's bright flowers were seen,
Stars of gold in skies of green;
And the fox-glove's purple cup
Seem'd to drink the breezes up;
While, upon some brown scaur side,
Waved old Caledonia's pride-
Emblem fit, in form and deed,
Of her bold and hardy breed,
Who, upon their island rocks,
Laugh to scorn a foeman's shocks.
As the breeze with deeper plain,
Seems to start away again,
When its rash, assailing wing
Meets the thistle's wardful sting,
So, e'en so do Scotland's foes
Still repent their hostile blows.
Well the Minstrel might declare,
"Breathed I not my native air-
Saw I not the heather bloom-
Heard I not the wild bee's boom-
Once as every year ran by,
Surely, surely I should die!"
Such a scene, and such a land,
Well may poet's love command'
Die he did! and, well-a-day,
Short thereafter was the stay
Of the daughters of his race,
Who drew life but from his face!
Brief thereafter was the span
Of the sweet and gentle Anne,
Who for her great father bore
Such a love as child before
Never felt, nor may feel more.
When the complete progeny

Of bright works that cannot die,
From that wondrous brain were born,
And the earthly case was worn
By the inward fire away,
And the debt was paid of clay,
Thou, the poet's gentlest child,
Felt a woe so deep and wild,
That, if this should e er be said,
Thine was grief beyond all aid.
Soon did that absorbing pain
Burst the bonds of life in twain;
In the tomb wert thou laid low,
Victim of that filial wo.

Who can wander through these woods,
Or behold these pleasant floods,
Nor thus dwell on thee and thine,
Poet of the living line?
Many a flower is scatter'd there,
Nursling of the sunless air;
But the most I prize by far,
One that, like an earth-born star,
Seems to shrine the name of Scott,
Saying still," Forget-me-not."
Yes! sweet flower, so brightly blue,
Eye which Flora may look through
When she scans man's acts below,
Scott shall ne'er oblivion know!
While old Scotland lasts, his name,
Fitly form'd for mutual fame,
Shall with her's still co-exist,
First in honour's lofty list.
Till his land and race are not,
Glory be to Walter Scott!

T. S.

SINGULAR PRISONERS. James Swan, an American merchant, was committed to the prison of St Pélagie [in Paris], on the 28th of July 1808, for a sum of 625,640 francs (upwards of L.25,000), and re-passed the gates, for the first time, on their opening to the Revolution, on the 28th of July 1830, twentytwo years afterwards, to a day. This man, possessed of a fortune amounting to nearly four millions of francs, denied the justness of the claim beyond the sum of six or seven thousand francs, and determined to pass his life in prison, rather than obey a judical sentence which he considered unjust. Having, first, caused it to be intimated to his wife and children that he would disinherit them to the last farthing of his property if they paid the debt, he furnished his prison apartment in a style of princely magnificence, and hired, in the Rue de la Célé, opposite the gates of St Pélagie, a spacious dwelling, with coach-house and stables, for his friends, cooks, &c. For the former class, he kept two carriages; and they were commissioned to appear for him, and spend his money, in the Bois-de-Boulogne, public streets and promenades, balls and theatres. "A curious original was James Swan. He strutted and attitudinised in his prison, like Chodruc-Duclos in his rags: it was his method of flinging a defiance in the face of society. Consistent in his determination, he was preparing to return to his prison, after the events of the three days,' when, on the 31st of July, he was seized with apoplexy at his temporary lodging," and consigned to the closer and longer imprisonment of the grave. The motives of the wellknown M. Ouvrard are less honourable, though the consequences to himself were less severe. Not disputing the debt for which he was detained, he yet refused to pay it, and determined, like Mr Swan, to undergo his imprisonment, which, as a Frenchman, could not, in his case, exceed five years. He, too, led a life of princely expenditure in his prison; and, amongst other instances of his extravagance, it is told of him that, for the purpose of adding a neighbouring room to his establishment, he paid the debt of the prisoner who occupied it. "Oze day, when M. de Villèle, the Finance Minister, was dining with him, the latter urged him to settle matters with Séguin, representing the scandal which his conduct reflected on the government, which had so long retained him as contractor-general. Parbleu, Monseigneur !' replied Ouvrard; you speak very much at your ease. I am here for five years, for five millions of money: I gain, therefore, by my imprisonment, one million a year; and if you know of any speculation at once more lucrative and sure, I am not obstinately wedded to this, observe! In that case, I will pay to-morrow.'" For the sake of its honourable contrast, we may add to these the case of Dante, the Conde de Foscolo, patriarch of Jerusalem, who was incarcerated for 100,000 francs, at the suit of a curé of Paris, and liberated by an accidental omission in the deposit of the aliment money required by law on the part of the detaining creditor, after an imprisonment of upwards of six years. "But the patriarch was an honest man. When he had recovered his liberty, and was under no further compulsion to do so, he paid every farthing of his original debt; and the cure eventually lost nothing but those costs which a more evangelical spirit would have prevented his incurring."— Athenæum reviewing Maurice's History of Prisons, a new Parisian work.

[ocr errors]

CHOICE OF PAPERS FOR ROOMS.

[ocr errors]

Many elegant patterns are displayed on coloured grounds: the effect may please in one room, which in another will be displeasing; yet the cause will be inexplicable light, more or less, will account for the differenee. Coloured grounds, however pale, will always be too gloomy in rooms which have not much light. In London, this is an essential matter of consideration; even in the country, the aspect and number of windows will produce a surprising difference in the general effect. Nor ought any erroneous idea to be entertained, that a paper with much white in it will quickly soil, and therefore must be more extravagant; for if white soils, colours fade. A room, then, scantily supplied with windows, ought never to be papered with a coloured ground; for the same reason, the doors and other wood-work should invariably be white. Apartments well supplied with light may rejoice in a less confined range of colours. Another failure in effect-little suspected in the choice of colours, even where light can be commanded to an unlimited extent-is the want of consideration of the hue that will best light up." Exquisite as is pale blue in itself, it is heavy in a mass; and even where sparingly introduced, ay, even in small portions, among gilding and pure white (as in large concert rooms), it dulls the whole. A blue dress by candle-light is unsatisfactory; and a room with blue grounded paper and blue paint to correspond, will never light well at night; an apartment similarly decorated with buff or "flesh" colour would require but six wax candles to produce a cheerful and sufficient illumination, if blue would swallow up the light of eighteen candles, and then not produce an agreeable impression. Pale flesh, or pink and buff, are very charming hues, but are ill for the complexion; few persons look in health with much of these colours around them; and blue is trying; white, with a hint of blush, or tint of stone, is good. The most perfect-or rather the nearest approach to perfection-is a paper with a pure white ground, and running pattern of shaded slates, and white paint, "picked in" with pale slate to correspond. Rooms hung with or painted scarlet are rich, but very dismal, and invariably look less than if adorned with a light tint. They require also to be illuminated more, and much earlier in an evening, than those with pale colours. Towards dusk, scarlet appears black: let any person doubting this try the fact, by wearing a scarlet cloak or shawl, and look at it as the shades of twilight advance. Yellow, and buff, and pink, can be scarcely better discriminated by candle-light than can blue and green.-Correspondent of Magazine of Domestic Economy.

LONDON: Published, with permission of the proprietors, by W.S. ORR, Paternoster Row; and sold by all booksellers and newsmen.-Printed by Bradbury and Evans, Whitefriars

« ZurückWeiter »