188 to meet them. Coming towards her house was a female friend, agitated and tearful, who passing her arm around her, would have spoken. "Oh, you come to bring me evil tidings! I pray you let me know the worst." The object was indeed to prepare her mind for a fearful calamity. The body of her husband had been found-drowned, as was supposed, during the darkness of the preceding night, in attempting to cross the bridge of logs, which had been partially broken by the swollen waters. Utter prostration of spirit came over the desolate mourner. Her energies were broken and her heart withered. She had sustained the privations of poverty and emigration, and the burdens of unceasing labour and unrequited care, without murmuring. But now, though relieved from the bane of her existence, she acutely felt that her miserable husband-he who had fondly loved her prior to his falling into vicious habits-had been cut off in the midst of his ca reer of wickedness, and was now past repentance for his depravities. With heaviness of an unspoken and peculiar nature was this victim of vice borne from the home that he troubled, and laid by the side of his son, to whose tender years he had been an unnatural enemy. The widowed mourner was not able to raise her head from the bed, when the bloated remains of her unfortunate husband were committed to the earth. Long and severe sickness ensued, and in her convalescence a letter was received from her brother, inviting her and her child to an asylum under his roof, and appointing a time to come and conduct them on their homeward journey. With her little daughter, the sole remnant of her wrecked heart's wealth, she returned to her kindred. It was with emotions of deep and painful gratitude that she bade farewell to the inhabitants of that infant settlement, whose kindness through all her adversities had never failed. And when they remembered the example of uniform patience and piety which she had exhibited, they felt as if a tutelary spirit had departed from among them. In the home of her brother she educated her daughter in industry, and that contentment which virtue teaches. Restored to those friends with whom the morning of life had passed, she shared with humble cheerfulness the comforts that earth had yet in store for her; but in the cherished sadness of her perpetual widowhood, in the bursting sighs of her nightly orison, might be traced a sacred and deep-rooted sorrow-the memory of her erring husband, and the miseries of unreclaimed intemperance. GREEK TRADITIONS OF THE FLOOD. TRADITIONS of the flood are, together with the vi- This name has been derived by some from a corruption of the Greek word signifying ark-the ark of Deucalion that rested upon it. If this ety It may be remarked, that all these names seem to be derived from the Egyptian word lucos, signifying, according to Macrobius, the sun-whence is derived the Latin word lux. mology be true, the first cities and high places of Greece obtained their names in reference to their connection with the worship of the san. impieties called down upon himself and his people flood of Deucalion. He intimates that this Deucalion the Euphrates, carry up sea-water all the way from the The idea of a vast abyss of water within the earth is not now favoured by geologists.-Ed. C. E. J. also Ovid's fine description, which it is difficult to equal He lets the south-wind forth; the south-wind flies, Earth too combines, and through her ruptured sides, THE SWORD-PLAYERS OF THE LAST CENTURY. THOSE who are shocked by the descriptions of the gladiatorial scenes exhibited on so large a scale, and with circumstances of such monstrous barbarity, in ancient Rome, will be still more so when informed that practices similar in kind, if less remarkable in degree, were common in our own country till within the last hundred years. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, a place of amusement called the Bear-Garden at Hockley in the Hole, in or near London, was devoted to amusements of this description, which were not only resorted to by the lower popu. lace, but by noblemen, and occasionally even by the resident ambassadors. Men, styling themselves professors of the noble art of defence, and occasionally assuming the title of champion for particular English counties, were either stationary at that place of exhiabout the country, challenging particular towns to bition, where they defied all competitors, or went furnish them with an antagonist; a failure in which could only be expiated by a purse of gold to purchase their departure. The professors of this barbarous art were in many cases Irishmen; and that there was at least one eminent proficient, who claimed Scotland for his place of birth, is proved by a scarce old volume, in which is chronicled the life of Donald Bane, a man who had originally been a soldier, but afterwards gained a subsistence by teaching the broadsword, and occasionally taking a purse by prize-fighting. On the days when there was to be a fight at Hockley, they used to advertise the circumstance, by parading the streets in fancy dresses, with swords drawn, colours flying, drums beating, and a few officials whose duty it was to disperse bills of the performance. The of fensiveness of these promenades is alluded to in terms of bitter reprobation in a presentment of the grand jury of London in June 1701; but they were not fi nally put down for fully thirty years after that period.* In 1712, the reigning gladiator of the Bear Garden was one named Timothy Buck. The Spectator devotes a paper to an account, by no means conceived in a strain of indignation, of a combat which took place in July of that year, between Buck and a gigantic soldier named Miller, who, hearing of the great renown of the Hockley champion, had thought proper to challenge him at back-sword, sword and dagger, sword and buckler, single falcion, case of falcions, and quarter-staff, Miller came first upon the stage, preceded by two disabled drummers, and attended by a second-a gentleman, whose lowering looks seemed to express dissatisfaction at his not being a principal. The challenger was six feet eight inches high, "of a kind but bold aspect, well-fashioned, and ready of his limbs," with a blue ribbon round the sword arm. "Buck came on in a plain coat, and kept all his air till the instant of engaging; at which time he undressed to his shirt, his arm adorned with a bandage of red ribbon. No one can describe the sudden concern in the whole assembly; the most tumultuous crowd in nature was as still and as much engaged as if all their lives depended on the first blow. The combatants met in the middle of the stage, and shaking hands as removing all malice, they retired with much grace to the extremities of it; from whence they immediately faced about, and approached each other, Miller with a heart full of resolution, Buck with a watchful untroubled countenance; Buck regarding principally his own defence; Miller chiefly thoughtful of annoying his opponent. It is not easy to describe the many escapes and imperceptible defences between two men of quick eyes and ready limbs; but Miller's heat laid him open to the rebuke of the calm Buck, by a large cut on the forehead. Much effusion of blood covered his eyes in a moment, and the huzzas of the crowd undoubtedly quickened the anguish. The assembly was divided into parties upon their different ways of fighting; while a poor nymph in one of the galleries apparently suffered for Miller, and burst into a flood of tears. As soon as his wound was wrapped up, he came on again with a little rage, which still disabled him farther. But what brave man can be wounded with more patience and caution? The next was a warm eager onset, which ended in a decisive stroke on the left leg of Miller. The lady in the gal lery, during this second strife, covered her face; and for my part, I could not keep my thoughts from being mostly employed on the consideration of her unhappy circumstances that moment, hearing the clash of swords, and apprehending life or victory concerned her lover in every blow, but not daring to satisfy herself on whom they fell. The wound was exposed to the view of all who could delight in it, and sewed up on the stage. Thus seems to have ended the combat. | The paper which we have been quoting concludes with a cool speculation as to the source of the pleasure which the people take in such exhibitions, whether cruelty or pity, and some remarks respecting the popularity which seemed to be enjoyed by the losing party. In 1725, one Figg entertained the public in a similar manner at an amphitheatre in the Oxford Road, where, on one occasion, Sutton, the champion of Kent, and a female of the same county, fought Stokes and his wife, for forty pounds, to be given to the male or female who gave most cuts with the sword, and twenty pounds for the most blows at quarter-staff, besides the collection in the box. Two years later appeared the following advertisement: In Islington Road, on Monday the 17th of July 1727, will be performed a trial of skill by the following combatants. We Ro. bert Barker and Mary Welsh, from Ireland, having often contaminated our swords with such antagonists as have had the insolence to dispute our skill, do find ourselves once more necessitated to challenge, defy, and invite Mr Stokes and his bold Amazonian virago to meet us on the stage, where we hope to give a satisfaction to the honourable lord of our nation, who has laid a wager of twenty guineas on our heads. They that give the most cuts to have the whole money, and the benefit of the house; and if swords, daggers, quarter-staff, fury, rage, and resolution will prevail, our friends shall not meet with a disappointment. We James and Elizabeth Stokes, of the city of London, having already given an universal approbation by our agility of body, dexterous hands, and courageous hearts, need not perambulate on this occasion, but rather choose to exercise the sword to their sorrow, and corroborate the general opinion of the town, than to follow the custom of our repartee antagonists. This will be the last time of Mrs Stokes performing on the stage.' There will be a door on purpose for the reception of the gentlemen, where coaches may drive up, and the company come in without being crowded. Attendance will be given at three, and the combatants mount at six precisely. They all fight in the same dresses as before." In October 1730, Mr Figg fought his two hundred and seventy-first battle with a Mr Holmes, whose wrist he cut to the bone. It does not appear, however, that these horrible exhibitions were ever attended with a mortal result: such an event would have probably put an end to them. At a somewhat later period, an Irish sword-player named O'Bryan, who had beaten all the combatants at the Bear-Garden, and various individuals in other parts of the kingdom, paid a visit to Edinburgh, where, according to his custom, he challenged the inhabitants to produce an antagonist, under the usual penalty. That a breach of the peace of this monstrous character was then tolerated, or such an exaction submitted to, in a populous and not unenlightened city, may well excite surprise; but if we only reflect on how much custom will reconcile us to, our wonder may in some measure cease. O'Bryan had been in the city for some weeks, daily parading through its streets to proclaim his challenge, when the Duke of Hamilton, then residing in Holyrood House, sent for Donald Bane, the teacher of the broadsword already mentioned, with the view of engaging him to take up the cause of the citizens. When Bane arrived at the palace, the Duke of Argyle happened to be present, and, as an old commander of the veteran swordsman, entered heartily into the project. "Has he a drum ?" said Bane. "Yes," answered Argyle, "and a very clever stout fellow he is, I assure you." "You may " for I make yourself easy as to that," replied Bane, have broken his drum already." This was really the case; for meeting O'Bryan at the foot of the West Bow, where he was in no very courteous terms defying the whole of Scotland, the patriotic blood of the Caledonian had become excited, and he drove his foot through the one end of the drum, and his fist through the other, as a first intimation of his acceptance of the challenge. An agreement, indeed, had already been made between O'Bryan and Bane, to fight on that day week. It was nevertheless thought necessary a reply to the challenge should be published in fair set terms, and in Latin verse; a fact which strikingly proves the interest taken in these sanguinary proceed. ings by persons of the better order.* Donald being now sixty-six years of age, some fears were entertained by his friends for his success in the encounter; and tradition represents his chief asking if he thought he were yauld enough" for O'Bryan. On this the veteran pulled out his claymore and made it whistle in the air over his head, a sufficiently expressive test that This answer was entitled "Donaldi Bani famigerati ad Andrea O'Bryan chartam provocatoriam Responsum," and commeneed as follows: "Ipse ego Donaldus Banus, forma albus et altus, Non huic Andreæ thrasoni occurrere decro,' &c. It might be thus translated into English:-"1, Donald Bane, faircomplexioned and tall, shail not fail to enter the lists with this bully Andrew. With heaven's assistance, and as a friend to my country, I will go to meet him, who, unskilful in the art, dar. ingly challenges me to the combat. In a short time, when we have entered upon the fight, brave men admitted to behold us will perhaps see that the pugilist O'Bryan is, as I believe, not so expert a master of the art of fencing. Whether he have a protection or a pa. tron, my weapon will render him an idle capon." + Yauld-agile, with vigour. of his strength of arm. As he passed along the street, placed himself above them. One was a general; ansome of the bystanders said, "Ah, Donald's failed; I other a lieutenant; a third an ensign; a fourth a doubt he'll no do;" whereupon he leaped up to a police officer; a fifth an army surgeon; a sixth a selamp iron far above the reach of ordinary men, hungcretary; and so on. All this was very well; they by one hand for a moment, and springing down, ex- consoled themselves with the prospect of a snug party claimed ،، She'll do yet. The stage was erected in at the bottom of the table, where they would be the St Anne's yards, at the back of the cavalry green at- further removed from ceremony; but lo! when the tached to the palace; and the conflict, which lasted se- dishes came round, a first was empty; a second converal hours, and was tried with a variety of weapons, tained the sauce without the meat; a third the reterminated in a declaration of victory in favour of the jected offals of the whole company; and at length native combatant, who, at the conclusion, found the they were compelled to make a scanty meal upon the boards covered with gold and silver, thrown there for slice of black bread before them, and a little dirty him by the admiring spectators. broth from the humble tureen, behind whose compas. sionate veil they were happy to hide their confusion; at the same time being more amused than mortified at an adventure into which they now saw they brought themselves by their unassuming frankness. either of them said, as was really the case, that they were in the service of his Britannic majesty's militia, or members of the Associated Volunteers of London, they would never have encountered so unfavourable a reception. it. These facts must be allowed to denote a remarkable change of manners in our island, for, though boxing is still occasionally practised, and sometimes with more fatal effects, it is obvious that a more barbarous and brutalised character is necessary to endure the sight of a fight with edged weapons, than one in which the hands only are employed. A lesson may be taken by persons in authority and by public writers from the history of British gladiatorship. Such exhibitions, it is evident, were regarded a century ago with much the same feelings which are now experienced in reference to boxing. Morality stamped it as an abominable vice, and such every authority and every public writer of the least elevation of character must have esteemed But the existence of the practice tended to avert due reprobation from it, and was the means of its prolongation. In the same way, boxing cannot now be defended for a moment, when considered with a reference to morality. But, nevertheless, the existence of the practice is a kind of defence to it, putting us upon suggesting all sorts of empty reasons for tolerating it such as its tending to keep up a manly and martial spirit in a commercial community, which we have heard seriously urged in its favour. Were it once suppressed, we should wonder that it ever existed, as we wonder at the obsolete amusement of sword-playing-so much are we liable to be affected, in our judgment of an abuse, by the fact of its being or not being. Could we, by any moral argument, more effectually urge the propriety of utterly extinguishing the degrading sports of the ring? RUSSIAN SKETCHES. SOCIETY in Russia differs in its materials from that of all other European countries, and is a strange mix. ture of refinement and barbarism. The population, which amounts to nearly sixty millions—that is, including the unfortunate extinct kingdom of Polandis, according to the best accounts, divided into four classes, each perfectly distinct from the other. First, there is the nobility, consisting of about a hundred and fifty thousand families, or seven hundred and fifty thousand individuals; the second order is composed of the clergy; the third of the freemen, or persons who carry on trade and commerce, capitalists, foreign settlers, and others; and the fourth, which consists entirely of slaves, or bondsmen, of whom there are not fewer than thirty-five millions, or fully more than the half of the population. Had Some of the nobles (continues Clarke) are much richer than the richest of our English peers, and a vast number, as may be supposed, are very poor. To this poverty, and to these riches, are equally joined the most abject meanness and the most detestable profligacy. In sensuality, they are without limits of law, conscience, or honour. In their amusement, always children; in their resentment, women. The toys of infants, the baubles of French fops, constitute the highest object of their wishes. Novelty delights the human race; but no part of it seek for novelty so eagerly as the Russian nobles. Novelty in their debaucheries-novelty in gluttony-novelty in cruelty novelty in whatever they pursue. This is not the case with the lower class, who preserve their habits unaltered from one generation to another. But there are characteristics in which the Russian prince and the Russian peasant are the same: they are all equally barbarous. Visit a Russian, of whatever rank, at his country seat, and you will find him lounging about, uncombed, unwashed, unshaven, half-naked, eating raw turnips, and drinking quass. The raw turnip is handed about in slices, in the first houses, upon a silver salver, with brandy, as a whet before dinner. Their hair is universally in a state not to be described, and their bodies are only divested of vermin when they frequent the bath. Upon those occasions, their heat occasions the vermin to fall off. It is a fact too shirts and pelisses are held over a hot stove, and the notorious to admit dispute, that, from the emperor to the meanest slave, throughout the vast empire of all the Russias, including all its princes, nobles, priests, and peasants, there exists not a single individual in a thousand whose body is destitute of vernin. An English gentleman of Moscow, residing as a banker in the city, assured me, that, passing on horseback through the streets, he has often seen women of the highest quality, sitting in the windows of their palaces, divesting each other of vermin-another trait, in addition to what I have said before, of their resemblance to the Neapolitans. The true manners of the people are not seen in Petersburg, nor even in Moscow, by entering the houses of nobility only. Some of them, and generally In no country is rank so carefully noted. The four those to whom letters of recommendation are obtained, great classes are divided into fourteen gradations, and have travelled, and introduce refinements which their friends and companions readily imitate. The real all who can claim any of the eight highest are conRussian rises at an early hour, and breakfasts on a sidered to be noble. Not to be noble is to be nobody. dram with black bread. His dinner at noon consists Every private gentleman, man of letters, or philoso- of the coarsest and most greasy viands, the scorbutic pher, who wishes to be noticed, must show that he effects of which are counteracted by salted cucumbers, sour cabbage, the juice of his vaccinium, and his necpossesses a qualifying distinction. In many instances tar, quass. Sleep, which renders him unmindful of distinction is obtained by a certain military rank, his abject servitude and barbarous life, he particularly which, for convenience, is assumed by numerous civi- indulges; sleeping always after eating, and going lians. This odious distinction of classes is perhaps early to his bed. The principal articles of diet are most disagreeably noticed at dinner parties, in which the same every where-grease and brandy. A stran ger, dining with their most refined and most accomeach person takes his seat near the top of the table ac cording to his degree of rank, leaving those at the bot-plished princes, may in vain expect to see his knife tom to inferior fare, and no manner of attention from the host. Clarke, in his Travels, gives a droll anecdote illustrative of the regard which is thus paid to rank by the Russian nobility. "Two English gentlemen of considerable property were travelling for amusement in Russia. They were at Nicholaef; and being invited by the chief admiral to dinner, were placed as usual at the head of the table, where they were addressed by the well-known title of Milords Anglois. Tired of this ill-placed distinction, they assured the admiral they were not lords. ، Then pray,' said their host, what rank do you possess ?' The lowest Russian admitted to an admiral's table possesses a certain degree of rank; all who are in the service of the crown are noble by their profession; and they cannot comprehend the title of a mere gentleman, without some specific title annexed. The Englishman replied, however, that they had no other rank than that of English gentlemen. But your titles? You must have some title! No, said they, we have no title but that of English gentlemen. A general silence, and many sagacious looks, followed this last declaration. On the following day they presented themselves again at the hour of dinner, and were taking their station as before. To their surprise they found that each person present, one after the other, * Cunningham's edition of Burns, ii. 30. and fork changed. If he sends them away, they are returned without even being wiped. If he looks behind him, he will see a servant spit in the plate he is to receive, and wipe it with a dirty napkin, to remove the dust. If he ventures (which he should avoid if he is hungry) to inspect the soup in his plate with too inquisitive an eye, he will doubtless discover living victims in distress, which a Russian, if he saw, would swallow with indifference. The horrors of a Russian kitchen are inconceivable; and there is not a bed in the whole empire which an English traveller, aware of its condition, would venture to approach." The chief, if not the only share of intelligence and respectability of character, is to be found among the trading and mercantile ranks; but the number of these individuals is of small amount. In this class there are a number of English, French, Germans, and other foreigners, who give energy to manufactur ing industry, and through whom improvements in the arts are introduced. The emperor, despot as he is, gives liberal encouragement to the settlement of foreign artificers, and promotes the interest of men of science who seek a home in his dominions. The press of Russia is considered more free than it is in France, and a vast number of periodical productions of different descriptions are issued; yet this boon of freedom is of small consideration, as the lower orders are generally ignorant of the art of reading. The language now chiefly spoken by the higher orders is French, and a desire to acquire a knowledge of English is daily increasing. The Russian or Sclavonic tongue is alone spoken by the lower classes, and by others when they have occasion to address their inferiors. We hear that the slavery of the Russian peasantry has been lately modified; but this, if true, is only a form of law. Substantially, the condition of the bondsmen is of the most painful nature. Clarke presents us with the following sketch of their arrangements with their proprietors : "We observed a striking difference between the peasants of the crown and those of individuals. The former are almost all in comparatively easy circumstances. Their abrock or rent is fixed at five roubles a-year, all charges included; and as they are sure that it will never be raised, they are more industrious. The peasants belonging to the nobles have their abrock regulated by their means of getting money; at an average, throughout the empire, of eight or ten roubles. It then becomes, not a rent for land, but a downright tax on their industry. Each male peasant is obliged by law to labour three days in each week for his proprietor. This law takes effect on his arriving at the age of fifteen. If the proprietor chooses to employ him the other days, he may; as, for example, in a manufactory: but he then finds him in food and clothing. Mutual advantage, however, generally relaxes this law; and excepting such as are selected for domestic servants, or, as above, are employed in manufactories, the slave pays a certain abrock or rent to be allowed to work all the week on his own account. The master is bound to furnish him with a house and a certain portion of land. The allotment of land is generally settled by the starosta (elder of the village) and a meeting of the peasants themselves. In the same manner, when a master wants an increase of rent, he sends to the starosta, who convenes the peasants; and by that assembly it is decided what proportion each individual must pay. If a slave exercises any trade which brings him more money than agricultural labour, he pays a higher abrock. If, by journeys to Petersburg, or other cities, he can still earn more, his master permits his absence, but his abrock is raised. The smallest earnings are subject to this oppression. The peasants employed as drivers at the post-houses pay an abrock out of the drink-money they receive, for being permitted to drive; as, other wise, the master might employ them in other less profitable labour on his own account. The aged and infirm are provided with food, and raiment, and lodg. ing, at their owner's expense. Such as prefer casual charity to the miserable pittance they receive from their master, are frequently furnished with passports, and allowed to seek their fortune; but they sometimes pay an abrock even for this permission to beg. The master has the power of correcting his slaves, by blows or confinement; but if he is guilty of any great cruelty, he is amenable to the laws; which are, we are told, executed in this point with impartiality. In one of the towers of the Khitaigorod, at Moscow, there was a Countess Soltik of confined for many years with a most unrelenting severity, which she merited for cruelty to her slaves. Instances of barbarity are, however, by no means rare. At Kostroma, the sister of Mr Kotchetof, the governor, gave me an instance of a nobleman who had nailed (if I understood her right) his servant to a cross. The master was sent to a monastery, and the business hushed up. Domestic servants, and those employed in manufactories, as they are more exposed to cruelty, so they sometimes revenge themselves in a terrible manner. A Mr Hetrof, brother to Mrs Schepotef, who had a great distillery, disappeared suddenly, and was pretty easily guessed to have been thrown into a boiling copper by his slaves. We heard another instance, though not from equally good authority, of a lady, now in Mescow, who had been poisoned three several times by her servants. A slave can on no pretence be sold out of Russia, nor in Russia to any but a person born noble, or, if not noble, having the rank of lieutenantcolonel. This law is however eluded, as plebeians frequently purchase slaves for hire, by making use of the name of some privileged person; and all nobles have the privilege of letting out their slaves. Other nations speak of the indolence of the Russian peasantry-which is remarkable, as no people are more lively, or more disposed to employment. We may assign a cause for their inactivity: it is necessity. Can there exist incitement to labour, when it is certain that a tyrant will bereave industry of all its fruits? The only property a Russian nobleman allows his peasant to possess, is the food he cannot, or will not, eat himself the bark of trees, chaff, and other refuse-quass, water, and fish oil. If the slave has sufficient ingenuity to gain money without his knowledge, it becomes a dangerous possession; and when once discovered, falls instantly into the hands of his lord. A peasant in the village of Celo Molody, near Moscow, who had been fortunate enough to scrape together a little wealth, wished to marry his daughter to a tradesman of the city; and for that purpose, that she should be free, he offered fifteen thousand roubles for her liberty-a most unusual price of freedom, and a much greater sum than persons of his class, situated as he was, will be found to possess. The tyrant took the ransom, and then told the father that both the girl and the money belonged to him; and therefore she must still continue among the number of his slaves. What a picture do these facts afford of the state of Russia! It is thus we be from imitation, or from copying the civilised usages of other nations-a circumstance perhaps redounding more to its praise than otherwise. The strength of Russia lies in an immense army and a well-appointed fleet, in connection with the laws which enforce mili tary servitude. It is an empire of vast extent; but no empire ever yet throve in consequence of territorial magnitude. It possesses an enormous mass of human muscle at the command of its ruler; but what is muscular strength without the means of supporting it long in a state of offensive activity? Laying aside raw militia, and other local forces, the utmost amount of regular force which Russia can bring into the field, is 150,000 men, infantry, cavalry, and artillery. It is indisputable that Russia has no pecuniary resources to support a large army long in active service, and therefore any fears on this score are ridiculous. The great dependence of Russia is upon England. Unless we purchase its tallow, hemp, timber, and other raw commodities, it would be ruined. If the English withdrew their custom-and there would be no inconvenience in doing so in case of necessity-the Russians might shut up shop immediately. The interna! disorganisation which would follow may be more easily conceived than described. RURAL ECONOMY. A CHAPTER SPECIALLY INTENDED FOR THE POPULATION OF RURAL DISTRICTS. hold the subjects of a vast empire, stripped of all they possess, and existing in the most abject servitude victims of tyranny and torture, of sorrow and poverty, of sickness and famine. Traversing the provinces south of Moscow, the land is as the garden of Eden; a fine soil, covered with corn, and apparently smiling in plenty. Enter the cottage of the poor labourer, surrounded by all these riches, and you find him dying of hunger, or pining from bad food, and in want of the common necessaries of life. Extensive pastures covered with cattle, afford no milk to him. In autumn, the harvest yields no bread for his children. The lord claims all the produce. At the end of summer, every road in the southern provinces is filled with caravans, bearing corn and all sorts of provisions, every produce of labour and the land, to supply the lords of Moscow and Petersburg, and the markets of these two capitals, which, like whirlpools, swallow all that comes within their vortex with never-ending voracity. Can there be a more affecting sight than a Russian family, having got in an abundant harvest, in want of the common stores to supply and support them through the rigours of their long and inclement winter? Let us hasten from its contemplation!" The most remarkable qualification of the Russians, is their talent of imitation. "It is (continues the same authority) the height of Russian intellect, the principle of all their operations. They have nothing of their own; but it is not their fault if they have not every thing which others invent. Their surprising powers of imitation exceed all that has been hitherto known. The meanest Russian slave has been found adequate to the accomplishment of the most intricate and most delicate works of mechanism; to copy, with his single hand, what has demanded the joint labours of the best workmen in France or England. Though untutored, they are the best actors in the world. If they were instructed in the art of painting, they would become the finest portrait painters in the world. In proof of this, I saw one example: it was a miniature portrait of the emperor, executed by a poor slave, who had only once seen him, during the visit he made to Moscow. In all that concerned resemblance and minuteness of representation, it was the most astonishing work which perhaps ever appeared. The effect produced was like that of beholding the original through a diminishing lens. The Birmingham trinket manufactory, in which imitations of jewellery and precious metals are wrought with so much cheapness, is surpassed in Moscow, because the workmanship is equally good, and the things themselves are cheaper. But the great source of wonder is in the manner of their execution. At Birmingham they are the work. manship of many persons; in Moscow, of one only; yet the difference between divided and undivided labour in this branch of trade, occasions none in the price of the articles. I saw in Moscow imitations of the Maltese and Venetian gold chains, which would deceive any person, unless he were himself a goldsmith. This is not the case with their cutlery, in which a multiplication of labour is so requisite. They fail, therefore, in hardware; not because they are incapable of imitating the works they import, but because they cannot afford to sell them for the same price. Where a patent, as in the instance of Bramah's locks, has kept up the price of an article in England beyond the level it would otherwise find, the Russians have imitated such works with the greatest perfection, and sold the copy at a lower rate than the original, though equally If a quantity of matter from the stable be valuable. This extraordinary talent for imitation has piled into a heap, and freely exposed to all variebeen shown also in the fine arts. A picture by Die-ties of weather, it soon heats, and emits a constant trici, in the style of Polemberg, was borrowed by one of the Russian nobility from his friend. The nobleman who owned the picture had impressed his seal upon the back of it, and had inscribed verses and mottoes of his own composition. With so many marks, he thought his picture safe any where. But a copy so perfect was finished, both as to the painting and all the circumstances of colour in the canvass, the seal, and the inscriptions, that, when put into the frame of the original, and returned to its owner, the fraud was not discovered. This circumstance was afterwards made known by the confession of the artist employed; and there are now residing in Petersburg and Moscow, foreign artists of the highest respectability and ta lents, who attest its truth. One of them, Signor Camporesi, assured me, that, walking in the suburbs of Moscow, he entered a miserable hut belonging to a cobbler; where, at the further end, in a place contrived to hold pans and kettles, and to dress victuals, he observed a ragged peasant at work. It was a painter in enamel, copying very beautiful pictures which were placed before him. The same person, he added, might have been found the next day drunk in a cellar, or howling beneath the cudgel of his task-master." AGRICULTURE never advances far in any country before it is discovered that the crops have a tendency to extract the riches of the soil, and that the waste must be repaired in some way or other. From this circumstance has arisen the idea of supplying manures or restoratives. Manures have been divided by agricul turists into two classes, each having distinctive characters, and performing different offices in the economy of vegetation. The first description comprehends all animal and vegetable decomposing matter, described in a former article, and which is principally instrumental in feeding the plant, in augmenting its size, and sustaining the vital energy. The second, called the fossil or septic manure, performs a much humbler part, and operates more in assisting the former, than in directly contributing to the support of the vegetable. Under this second class are ranked not only lime, marl, and gypsum, but sand, gravel, and clay-every thing that can alter the texture and quality of the soil, in order that vegetation may have greater liberty to act. The utility of the putrifaction of animal and vegetable substances for purposes of vegetation, has been already adverted to, and it is now to be seen how they should be made available. We have said that putrifaction goes on by the setting at liberty of the elementary properties or gases. Now, it ought to be the object of the agriculturist to allow none of these properties to be dispersed uselessly either in a fluid or volatile state. This is a point on which we urge particular attention, for, according to ordinary practices, there is an immense quantity of valuable manure wasted. stream of vapour. As the gases are escaping, it is constantly diminishing in weight and volume; and by the end of six months, if there have been alternate moisture and warmth, not above a fourth of the original bulk remains to be spread on the field; and this is always a blackish earth, mostly of carbonaceous matter. All the other ingredients, consisting of hydrogen, oxygen, and azote, with part of the carbon in the form of carbonic acid, are partly sunk in the ground, and partly blended with the atmosphere. They are not lost in the general system of the uni verse; but, carried by the waters or winds, they may elsewhere combine with some living vegetable, and perhaps nourish a crop of weeds, but are lost to the farmer or cottager beyond recal. The escape of the vapours of the heap is thus the most wasteful prodigality. Rain also being suffered to fall upon heaps of manure and run off, a double mischief is accomplished. Water is the grand solvent of putrescent matter. By its presence in the field, and under due Other travellers corroborate this statement, and one, Water whose name we at present forget, mentions that he subordination, it sets the gases in operation. possessed a Russian servant, a poor lad, who by merely in passing through the heap gathers and holds in solooking at a piano-forte brought from England, had the lution the results of the decomposition. To suffer this ingenuity to construct an instrument closely resem-liquid, therefore, to run off without any care or trouble, bling the original in the space of a few months. From this happy talent of imitation, the Russians acquire languages in an inconceivably short space of time. Some writers mention that they have known Russians learn English and speak it fluently in a fortnight. They in a similar manner easily acquire a proficiency in playing the most difficult pieces of music. remarkable talent is displayed in no mean degree in all that concerns the military and naval, literary and scientific establishments. Russia is, in truth, great This is most culpable negligence, and a violation of the soundest maxims in rural economy. The stream which escapes contains the very essence of the manure, and should either be scrupulously confined within the limits of the heap, or conveyed to fresh earth, that it may impart its nutritive qualities. Many are possibly aware of these facts, yet few seem to act as if they were so. There are not many pits dug upon a ju dicious plan for the collection and preservation of the manure which from time to time is cast forth from the stable or cowhouse. In general, all descriptions of this material are piled up anywhere and anyhow, in open courtyards or grounds, while the exhalations are equally permitted to fly off into the atmosphere. Hence the principles of fertility are lost, never to be recovered. By due attention to this important particular in rural economy, the peasant may have it in his power to fertilise fields which otherwise he might not have the means to improve. Of the chief manures in use, we may first mention marl. This is a natural compound earth, used with great success in the melioration of soils. It consists of a mixture of clay and lime, sometimes containing a little silica and bitumen. The chief advantage of marl is, that it dilates, cracks, and is reduced to powder, by exposure to moisture and air. It dilates and is otherwise prepared, by being put into heaps, and then spread athwart the soil. Sometimes it is formed into a compost with common manure, in which condition it should be sparingly applied. Marl operates by subdividing the soil, and hastening decomposition; its calcareous particles disorganising all animal or vegetable bodies, by resolving them into their simple elements, in which state they combine with oxygen, and facilitate this union. The best time for marling is autumn. Valuable as marl is, it has perhaps not effected half the benefits in this country which have been accomplished by quicklime. The application of lime has regenerated the lands of Scotland. It has wrought miracles; converting mosses and moors, when drained and otherwise prepared, into excellent arable grounds, yielding grain crops. Lime has no enriching qualities in itself that can promote vegetation; it chiefly operates by reducing the inert vegetable matter in the soil, so as to become the food of growing plants, and is of use as an exciting manure, rendering the soil more prolific by giving a new stimulus to enriching manures. It also acts by improving the mechanical arrangements of the soil. It tends to bind and consolidate a soil that is too light and loose, and attracts moisture to it from the atmosphere; and it opens the pores of a clayey or adhesive soil, and reduces its tenacity. Wherever vegetable matter abounds, either in a state of herbage or sward, or in a more decayed state in the soil, lime, if judiciously applied, in a dry and vowdery form, will bring it into action, to the powerful support of growing plants. But where little vegetable matter prevails, or where it has been already much reduced by previ ous liming, further applications of that substance can do no good, but may be injurious. One of its principal advantages is, that, by its agency, iron pyrites, a combination of iron and sulphur, very common in some soils, and very hostile to vegetation, is decomposed.+ compete with lands in the neighbourhood of large so, thinking all was right, I went, and there's three WEST. Smith. Well, and how did you come on? Jenkins. Yes; having sat so long yesterday with my legs under his mahogany, I could not refuse him. Smith. Well! THE LAIRD OF LOGAN, OR WIT OF THE Scene. JENKINS, an English commercial traveller, Smith. Why! what's ado now? Jenkins. Why, do you know, all the accounts I a " Smith. I can't say, indeed. Jenkins. His bill, as I told you before, is one hundred pounds; well, he had the impudence to ask me to draw on him for one hundred and twenty pounds, and give him the odd twenty, and he would meet the whole when due! Smith. Which you was sheepish enough to do? Jenkins. Nay, Master Smith, I had declined his sheep's head kail, else I don't know what I might have done; but this I did, I blew him up sky high, and told him I would arrest him in half an hour. Smith. Pooh, pooh, man! your lawyer will tell you better than that; but now for "Dreeker and Dreeker ?" Jenkins. Ah! now for "Dreeker and Dreeker" (buttoning his coat to his chin). I have not been to him yet; and I was just taking this extra pint to screw me up to my pitch; it is now out, and I am off, and if he don't come up to the scratch, and fork out the blunt like a man, confound me if I don't give it him hot and heavy; so good bye, Master Smith. Smith. Good bye, Master Jenkins! good luck to ye, my boy; but take care of the sheep's head kail! Jenkins. Oh let me alone for that; I won't be sheep's headed any more. [Exit Jenkins. The meetings of the Farmers' Society of the island of Bute have long been noted for the display of good feeling, and that joyous spirit of conviviality which gives such a zest to our social intercourse. To promote this desirable state of things, the toast, the song, and the merry tale, were never found wanting, till the "roof and rafters" of M'Corkindale's well-frequented howf have actually dirled with the noise of the excitement. On one occasion, the annual dinner of the society was appointed to take place in a large barn, five miles from Rothesay; and to this sojourn the worthy tillers of the ground made their way. The night was spent in the usual agreeable manner, till towards the close, when a few narrow-minded prejudices were beginning to peep out. Every thing of this sort, however, was quickly suppressed, by the tact of a sensible old farmer, who, after craving a bumper, thus expressed himself:-"I'll give you, gentlemen-Our friends in the neighbouring island of Great Britain; and may we never look upon them as strangers, but always remember, that if it had not been for the bit jaw o' water that comes through the Kyles, they would a' hae belonged to Bute as weel as ourselves." in Glasgow, writes from Germany to his employersA commercial traveller from a great dyeing-house "Elberfeldt is a most beautiful valley, and has evidently been intended by Providence for Turkey-red yarn dyeing establishments." Smith. How could you be so stupid? Jenkins. I was as careful as I could be, and I'll tell Ashes are considered to be also beneficial to the soil. you how it happened :-Last journey, you know, was They act by the attraction of moisture from the at- my first trip to Scotland, and I know'd nothing of the mosphere, in consequence of the alkali they contain, folks in ; but in going about, I saw three very and thus accelerate vegetation. The refuse of house- well-filled business-like shops in our line, and took holds, and the sweepings of stables and cowhouses, memorandum of 'em; and in passing along compose the staple manure in most districts, especi-Street, as they call it, who should I meet but Jack ally among the class of cottagers, and require little Bounce, him, you know, as travels in the tray line. or no explanation. The chief thing to be noticed is 'Well, I axed him if he know'd the names that I had the equal distribution of the manure, either in the marked. He said no, but he would take me to a canny drils or on the surface of the land, before covering Scotchman, a sort of a bill-sweater, who know'd every it up. This species of manure should never lie on the body. Well, off we goes together, and he introduces surface long enough to lose any of its strength: the me to this 'ere canny Scotsman, as he called him, and sooner it is ploughed down the better, for every mo- told him I was a stranger come to do business in ment its properties are flying off. Of late, bone-dust, and wanted to have his opinion of some of the people that is, the bones of animals ground to powder re- of the place; so I mentioned my men, and he told me sembling sawdust, has been extensively and most ad- the first was dreek, the second was unco dreek, and the vantageously used as a manure. Bones are chiefly third was dreeker and dreeker; now, I did not under composed of the phosphate and carbonate of lime, stand what he said, but Jack Bounce, who pretends phosphate of magnesia, soda, and cartilage, and these to know all about Scotch, translated it for me when act powerfully on vegetation. Bone manure is best we came out, and gave me to understand that the adapted for light dry soils, and it is also advantage-first was good, the second very good, and the third ous on peat. The quantity allowed is from fifteen to the best of the three; so, after giving Bounce a bottle twenty bushels to the acre. When bone-dust is mixed of wine for his translation, I bundled off to "Dreek" as a compost with farm-yard dung and ashes, it is still with my pattern-cards, and pressed him hard for an more powerful. Bone-dust is generally applied in order, which I got to the amount of eighty pounds. drills, when for turnips, &c., and the produce is heavier I then called on Unco Dreek," and by pressing hin than from any other manure. The use of this valu- very hard, I got him down for one hundred pounds. able manure is working wonders wherever it is used. I then set off to "Dreeker and Dreeker," and by It has the great advantage of being easily carted from pressing him harder and harder, blow me if I did not the place of purchase to the fields, one cart in this sell him two hundred pounds' worth of goods! Well, respect doing the work of thirty carts in the case of the goods are all sent off, and we draws upon 'em in common dung. It is calculated that forty-five bushels our usual way; but just before I left home, all three of bone-dust will go as far in the process of manuring bills came back. From "Dreek" we received a letter as thirty tons of other matter, and that the cost is only enclosing twenty pounds to account. "Unco Dreek" A weaver from Elderslie happening lately to be in one-half. The saving is thus immense. sent an apology; but as for "Dreeker and Dreeker," a public-house in Johnstone, an English tradesman Common sea-salt, sea-weeds, and fish, are likewise deuce take me if he said a single word on the subject! was present, who was boasting to another person that used as manures in different parts of the country ad- Now, I've been to an attorney, or writer as they call he had got quit of his wife by selling her at Smithjacent to the coast; but the advantages derived from 'em here, to see if I can't make the gallows old Scotch-field, and seemed happy at the good bargain he had such are generally transient. Fish and sea-weed can- man as gave us their characters cash up; but do made. The weaver, tickled with the recital, was cunot be ploughed-in too speedily during their fresh know, when I told the case, he said Bounce's transla-rious to know the price he had received for his wife. "Weel, frien', an' how muckle might ye get for her, Rape-cake, like bone-dust, is now likewise tion was all wrong, and that dreek, or driech, as he coming into use, and is found valuable from its olea- calls it, means a slow payer, that uneo driech is very Hech, man! she has been unco little worth, or ye gif it be a fair question ?" "A pot of beer! ginous qualities, and is particularly beneficial for slow, and driecher and driecher means, as we say in hae been vera dry at the time." turnip crops. One of the main advantages of bone- the south, worser and worser. Now, there's a pretty dust and rape-cake is their portableness. Being com- go! Three hundred and sixty pounds, and a bottle paratively small in bulk, they can be transported with of wine, all gone to the pigs, for want of a good translittle trouble or expense from sea-ports into which lator! they are imported, to lands in remote parts of the Smith. It's a hard case, Master Jenkins; but what country, which are thus in some measure enabled to do you mean to do? state. Letters of Agricola, by John Young, Nova Scotia. † Sir John Sinclair's Code of Agriculture. you Jenkins. Why, I have not done much as yet; I called on Dreek yesterday, and he seemed quite happy to see me, and asked me to come and take a bit of dinner with him at four, and matters would be settled; Some time ago, one of the bailies, while visiting the jail of Lanark, found the prisoners at the time to consist of a poacher, who chose to reside there in preference to paying a fine, and a wild Irishman for fireraising, who either was mad or pretended to be so. The first visited was the poacher. "Weel, Jock," says the magistrate, "I hope ye hae naething to com. plain o' yer treatment here ?" "Naething but the twa last nights; and I maun just tell ye, bailie, that noise that Irishman makes. I haena slept for the an' ye dinna fin' means to keep him quiet, I'll stay nae langer in!” One day, two Highland drovers, while travelling to Paisley, were overtaken by one of the steam-carri ages, then plying in that direction The Celts, who had never either seen or heard of carriages being impelled by any other power than horses, stood lost in wonderment for a time. "Pless me, Dougal, did you ever see the like o' that pefore-there is ta coach rin awa frae ta horse? Run, run, Dougal, like a good lad, and frecht him back." During the time Wombwell was exhibiting his extensive and varied collection of live stock to the na tives of Kilmarnock, some of the bird-fanciers of the place had taken a fancy to a lot of Chinese sparrows, which they soon managed to purloin from the very centre of the exhibition, with a dexterity scarcely to be excelled by the most expert family men of the me tropolis. Wombwell, after hearing the circumstance, was lamenting the loss to Big Joe, one of his confiden. tial assistants, and asking his advice. "My advice, master," said Joe, "is to get away from a town as soon as possible, where the incomings will not pay the outgoings; and after what has happened, I should not wonder if such fellows would make off with the elephant's trunk, or pick the kangaroo's pocket of her whole family." A farmer from the neighbourhood of Galston took his wife to see the wonders of the microscope, which happened to be exhibiting in Kilmarnock. The various curiosities seemed to please the good woman very well, till the animalculæ professed to be contained in a drop of water came to be shown off: these seemed to poor Janet not so very pleasant a sight as the others; she sat patiently, however, till the "water tigers," magnified to the size of twelve feet, appeared on the sheet, fighting with their usual ferocity. Janet now rose in great trepidation, and cried ye maun a bairn; but he was sent awa' abroad when he was young, an' I ne'er heard tell o' him sin' syne." "Weel, l'in that same Maister James; and ken that my father learned the black ar i at the college, an' that I happened to anger him by makin' love to a fine young leddy, against his will, an' that, in short, when he taund out that I was still in love wi' her, he turned me into an ass for my disobedience." "Weel, weel, my man, since that is the case, gae awa' hame an' gree wi' your father; tak' my blessing wi' you, an' I will e'en try to get anither ass, whether your father send me as muckle siller as buy anither ane or no; fare ye weel, an' my blessing gang wi' you." Away went the youth, released from his bondage, and soon meeting with his comrades, related, to their joint gratification, his strange adventure with the honest cadger. Suffice it to say, that the ass was sold, the bill paid, and the youths got safely back to Edinburgh. As soon as they got matters arranged they sent a sum to the worthy cadger, sufficient to purchase three asses. On receiving the money, he lost no time in looking out for another ass, and as next week was "Calder fair," he repaired thither with the full intenfair, looking about for an animal to suit his purpose, tion of making a purchase. He was not long in the dry his clothes before any fire, unless the hearth was clean swept, the ribs free from ashes, and the fireirons all clean and in order. It was said once that a gemman who wanted a wife, determined to test the candidates by observing the manner in which they ate cheese. But we would put our sweethearts to a much more fiery ordeal-we would pop in upon them, and look how they kept their fireside; if it was slovenly, even although the coals were piled up in waggon loads, we would shun them, yea, even although they possessed every other accomplishment; for no woman could possibly make a good wife who had not been taught to keep a clean, nice, comfortable, and well-ordered fireside. On entering a room, and observing a well-swept fire. side, we instantly conclude that the mistress is an afbeloved; that her mind is well regulated, her intellect fectionate orderly creature, beloved, and happy in being good, and her education liberal; besides, we are sure that her daughters must be lovely, that her domestics must be well trained, and she herself, and all she pos sesses, the envy of all around her. But turn to the reverse of the picture, and we venture to say that you husband discontented and unhappy, never home until time finding the lady of the house have a red nose, the never see an ill-swept fireside, without at the saine late, but away engaged in some tavern brawl or dirtier hands; and even the very piano covered with dust, and the house in a complete scene of confusion to her husband, "For gudesake, come awa, John."nishment, his own identical old ass! The dumb drunken spree; the servants with dirty faces, and still "Sit still, woman," said John, "and see the show." "See the show!-gude keep us a', man, what wad come o' us if the awfu' like brutes wad break out o' the water ?" Some time ago, a parsimonious Paisley cork, who, in consequence of making too free with the pap-in, happened, when reeling home, to get, by some accident or other, a severe cut across the nose; having to show face to some English buyers next morning, and courtplaster not being at hand, he stuck on his unfortunate proboscis one of his gum tickets, on which was the usual intimation, "warranted three hundred and fifty yards long." In 17- (but I have forgotten the exact date), before the light of divine truth and the light of science had made much progress among the peasantry of this country when our less enlightened forefathers ascribed every phenomenon of nature which they did not understand, to some supernatural agency, either bene. volent or malevolent, as the case might be three young men of family set out from Edinburgh, on a pleasure excursion into the country. After visiting Linlithgow, Falkirk, Stirling, and Glasgow, they took up their quarters at the head inn in Midcalder, on their way back to Auld Reekie. Finding a set of youthful revellers there to their mind, they spent several days and nights in drinking and carousing, never dreaming of the heavy bill they were running up with the "kind landlady." The truth flashed upon them at last; and they discovered, when it was too late, that they had not wherewithal to clear their heavy score. A consultation was held by the trio, and many plans for getting rid of their disagreeable situation were proposed and rejected. At last, one of them, more fertile in expedients than the other two, hit upon the following method, which good fortune seemed to favour, of extricating both himself and his brethren :"Don't you see yon cadger's ass standing at the door over the way ?" said he. "Yes; what of that?" "Come along with me-loose the ass-unburden him of his creels-disengage him from his sunks and branks—put me in his place-equip me with his graith -hang the creels upon me likewise-tie me to the door with his own halter-get some other halter for him-lead him away to the next town-you will get him easily sold-return with the money-pay the bill --and leave me to get out of the halter the best way I can." The plan was instantly put in practice; the youth was soon accoutred in the ass's gear, and away went the other two to sell the ass. In the meantime, out comes the honest cadger from the house, where he had been making some bargain with the gudewife about her hens' eggs; but the moment he beheld (as he supposed) his ass transformed into a fine gentleman, he held up his hands in the utmost wonderment, exclaiming at the same time, "Hae a care o' us! what means a' this o't? Speak -tell me what ye are-are ye a yirthly creature, or the auld thief himsei' ?" "Alas "responded the youth, putting on a sad countenance, "hae ye forgotten your sin ass? Do Je no ken me now?-me! that hae served ye sae faithfu' and sae lang; that hae trudged and toiled through wat and through dry, 'mid cauld and hunger -hooted at by blackguard callants-lashed by yoursel'-an' yet ye dinna ken me! Waes me that ever I becam' your ass! that ever I should, by my ain disobedience, hae cast out wi' my father, an' provoked him to turn me into a stupid creature sic as ye now Dee me !" "Sic as I now see ye!-instead o' an ass, I now see a braw young gentleman." "A braw young gentleman!-Oh, I am thankful to be restored to my ain shape, and that I can now see wi' the een an' speak wi' the tongue o' a man !" "But wha are ye, my braw lad, and wha is your father?" "Oh, did you never hear o' Maister James Sandilands, the third son o' the Earl o' Torphichen ?" "Heard o' him! ay, an' kent him too, when he was when, behold! he saw, with new wonder and astobrute knew him also, and made signs of recognition in the best manner he could. The honest cadger could not contain himself; the tears gushed from his eyes, he looked wistfully in the creature's face, and anxiously cried out, "Aich, what's a' this o't! hae you and your father cuisten out again?" THE GREEN LINNET. Yet seeming still to hover; That cover hun all over. As if it pleased him to disdain A CLEAN FIRESIDE. [The Kilmarnock Annual, a plain little volume of original miscellaneous literature, which lately appeared at the town whose name it bears, presents the following sketch, with the signature of Mr John Reid. We shall probably revert to this pleasant specimen of provincial literature.] THERE is nothing throws so genial a glow over our mind as a well-swept fireside, and there is nothing of household economy productive of so much advantage in the reflection which follows. When we see a clean swept hearth, our heart not only warms towards the mistress of the house, but also towards the domestics; and we begin to look upon the harshness of the world in a more pleasant spirit. What this arises from, we cannot tell; but of a surety we would go almost as far to see a well swept fireside as to chat with a pretty girl. Some people, it is true, treat the idea of going a long way to see a pretty girl as a mere phantasia of the brain, and as never affording half the pleasure necessary to compensate for the cost and fatigue; but we would tell those folks who talk thus, that they have yet to experience one of the most delightful sensa. tions that man can possibly experience. We have travelled in our day many a dozen miles to see the pretty girls, yea, many hundreds, with the sole object of having a chat with some one of them, and we do not regret it. Some of the brightest and most splendid imaginings that we can call forth in our dreams, are gained from the remembrance of some of those scenes; and when we have met, as we have rarely done, one worthy of our choice, at a well-swept fireside, the charm has been doubly enhanced, and we would not give our dreams of well-swept firesides in the company of the ladies, for all the wealth of the mines of Peru. But the fact is, we cannot bear a dirty hearth. stone, and are perfectly certain that when we were ushered into the world, there was a glorious glowing peat fire in the bedroom grate, and a clean swept hearthstone. The man who can sit down quietly and contentedly before a fire, where the hobs, the fender, the tongs, the poker, the shovel, the hearth, &c., are covered with dust, must be a savage of the most savage kind. We can believe it possible for a man to sit for one half of the day under a pelting shower of rain on the banks of a river, at the one end of a line with a run at the other, even if he should not get a solitary nibble, for that is sentimental, and if he catch no fish, he can at least say that he had been fishing, under a dreadful shower of rain; yea, we can conceive it perfectly possible that the man, after sitting the first half of the day in water, will walk home during the other half in the mud, and thereupon proceed to ensconce himself before a glowing peat fire; but we cannot for a moment conceive that the most atrocious vagabond could ever under such circumstances condescend to and discomfort. The man who chides and quarrels with his wife upon any occasion, must be a savage of the most atrocious kind; still we think there is one thing he may be allowed to find fault with, if so unfortunate as to meet with it; and that is, a dirty fireside. The woman who takes a pleasure in seeing her hearthstone well swept, and the hobs and ribs free from white ashes, is sure to make a good wife; but the woman who has not this feeling inherent, ought never to marry. Her husband will lead a miserable life, and die brokenhearted, or he will be driven from his own fireside and take refuge in the tavern; and woe to the married man who does not love his own fireside next best to his wife, and his wife best of every thing: it were better for him that he had never been married. At this present moment we are sitting at the side of one of the nicest firesides in the most beautiful little village in Scotland; and the clear red coals shining out between the jet black ribs of the grate, have sent a glow over our heart, and raised our lately drooping spirits at least fifty per cent. The fact is, the night is very cold, and we have arrived here just one hour before; we came to see an aunt who is a widow, old, childless, and rich; she inhabits this house, which is also tenanted by three female servants, who assist her in doing nothing. The good old lady had just gone to bed when we arrived, and on popping our head into the dining-room, we were horrified to see the grate full of white ashes, and the hearth, hobs, and fire-irons, at least a quarter of an inch covered with the same. What, kind reader, do you think were our thoughts? -an instant flight to the village inn; but our Aunty would not permit this, and an instant order was sent for our appearance in the bedroom, and we were commanded to abandon all thoughts of the village inn. This order, we knew, n:ust be obeyed, and we therefore determined to discuss our supper as quickly as possible, and then to tumble into bed, inwardly resolved not to sit beside such a horrid fireplace. As supper was being laid down, we commenced a voyage of discovery with the poker, among the deserts of white ashes; and having pokered them all out, found there were plenty of warm red coals in the grate; we then ordered a besom, and insisted on the domestics allowing us to sweep in the hearthstone, assuring thein that their education had been lamentably neglected; we made them lift the fire-irons and wipe them clean; then we dusted the hobs and the ribs; then blew the dust out of them; the next duty was to brush the hearth, then the ribs and hobs a second time, blow them, brush the hearth, and then blow the few particles of remaining dust from the hobs and ribs. The domestics were astonished, and scarcely credited us, when we assured them that they were now worth double wages after having received our lesson. But this was not all: Neptune whisked his tail, and danced round the room in perfect joy; and the poker, tongs, and shovel, glistened upon us in the most interesting manner. The conse quence was, that, ere supper was done, we were in such good humour that we determined to sit up and write our paper on the advantages of a well-swept calls up, press so closely upon us, that we have become fireside. But really the delightful imaginings which it too lazy to commit it to paper, and will lay back our head on the easy chair, take a nap, and dream of what can be felt, but never painted. LONDON: Published, with Permission of the Proprietors, by ORR & SMITH, Paternoster Row; and sold by G. BERGER, Holywell Street, Stand; BANCKS & Co., Manchester: WRIGHTSON & WEBB, Birmingham; WILLMER & SMITH, Liverpool; W. E. SOMERSCALE, Leeds; C. N. WRIGHT, Nottingham; M. BINGHAM, Bristol; S. SIMMS, Bath; C. GAIN, Exeter; J. PURDON, Hull; A. WHITTAKER, Sheffield; H. BELLERBY, York; J. TAYLOR, Brighton; GEORGE YOUNG, Dublin; and all other Booksellers and Newsmen in Great Britain and Ireland, Canada, Nova Scotia, and United States of America. Complete sets of the work from its commencement, or numbers to complete sets, may at all times be obtained from the Publishers or their Agents. Printed by Bradbury and Evans (late T. Davison). Whitefriars. Stereotyped by A. Kirkwood, Edinburgh. |