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relatively north, it is natural to conclude that indivi-languages, is indeed very great, and probably in a
duals in the south will consider that Edinburgh pos- greater proportion than in any other town in the
sesses a cold and disagreeable climate. There could world. There is also a variety of permanent and day
not, however, be a greater misapprehension. Edin-boarding schools and lecturing institutions for young
burgh is situated in the fifty-sixth degree of north la- ladies, at which various scientific branches are intro-
titude, and its climate differs little from that, we duced. The inhabitants likewise support several in-
shall say, of places on the sea-coast near the mouth stitutions at which popular lectures are delivered on
of the Thames. Lying higher and nearer the sea subjects of an instructive and entertaining nature.
than London, it is more airy, and is perfectly free Education of all kinds is well known to be exceedingly
from damp. During the greater part of the year, the cheap in Scotland. In Edinburgh it is higher priced
winds blow generally from the west, and are not un- than in the provinces; still it is low in comparison
pleasant, and always salubrious. Sometimes the wind with what is charged elsewhere. The education of a
blows from the east, and in such cases occasion- boy, for instance, at one of the best schools, where he
ally brings fogs from the sea, but these do not last is taught English, Latin, writing, arithmetic, and
long. The temperature of the air is variable, yet the mathematics, will cost less than two pounds a quarter,
variations are not peculiar, and by no means extreme. Latin alone being seldom more than fifteen or twenty
Having almost daily examined a thermometer for the shillings a quarter. Advantages such as those now
last three years, we can speak with some degree of mentioned, along with the number of libraries and
certainty on this point. The thermometer placed in literary associations, are the means of attracting not
the shade, in the open air, with a northern exposure, a few families to the Scottish metropolis, and thereby
ranges betwixt one or two degrees below the freezing increasing the number of respectable inhabitants.
point, to 40° in winter, to 60° and 70° and 78° in sum- The nature of Edinburgh society may be described
mer. With the exception of the hot weather in sum- in a very few words. The inhabitants consist of
mer and the cold days of winter, the range is from landed gentry; judges in the courts; barristers or
about 45° to 55°, and by far the greater part of the advocates (many of whom live as private gentlemen
year the latter degree of temperature prevails. The on patrimonial incomes); writers to the signet, or
truth is, the winters at Edinburgh are not cold attornies; other professional persons, shopkeepers,
enough. It is desirable that they were more keen. and the various classes of tradesmen-the whole form-
They are frequently far colder in Paris and in Lon- ing a description of society, in various grades, which,
don. Ice is seen only for a day or so at a time on the in point of refinement and respectability, will bear a
pools, and snow rarely falls or lies to above an inch comparison with that of any town in the empire; and
or two in depth. Edinburgh may be stated to pos- though aristocratic in tone, and in some measure re-
sess a greater airiness and freshness-less closeness served in manner, fully alive to feelings of kindliness
and uniformity in the summer warmth-than Lon- and hospitality towards strangers.
don, and that constitutes the chief, if not the only,
difference of climate.

In comparison with London and its extensive su-
burbs, Edinburgh is a mere village. It is little more
than a mile and a half in length and breadth, within
which dimensions there are extensive open grounds,
and it numbers only about 130,000 inhabitants. Ne-
vertheless, it combines the qualities of a capital along
with the advantage of its country atmosphere. Its
situation is perhaps the most romantic of any city in
the world; being built upon and among a congeries
of hills, and presenting on all sides the most agreeable
scenery of land and water. One of the grand attrac-
tions of this seat of population, is the number and va-
riety of its rides, walks, and places of natural beauty,
fit for the resort of those whose main object is to pass
life agreeably.
The sea-shore is within a mile's dis-
tance on the one hand, and on the other, at the easy
expense of a quarter of an hour's walk, you may, if
you please, enjoy all the solitude of a Highland glen.
Here lies the Firth of Forth, with its steamers ready
to convey you to some of the most charming spots in
the kingdom-there is spread out the country dotted
with noble mansions, thriving villages, and all the
attributes of rural wealth. The difficulty in London
is to get into the country; in Edinburgh it is difficult
to keep within the town. At the centre of the city,
in the vale betwixt the ancient and modern streets,
and overhung by the precipitous and sublime cliffs of
the Castle, there are extensive gardens disposed in an
exquisite style of art, and offering a pleasing series of
shady and flowery walks. In another extensive va-
cancy between the line of Queen Street and Heriot
Row, there is a series of equally beautiful gardens,
only more broken into detail; not to speak of the or-
namented squares and places in all parts of the city.
Indeed, from the peculiarities of the ground on which
Edinburgh is built, and the judgment that has been
displayed in laying out the streets, there is probably
no capital city in the world that has so many breath-
ing spaces, as they may be called-so much of country
mixed up with town. Another peculiarity may be
remarked-it is impossible to walk through it in any
direction above a hundred yards without commanding
extensive views into the country; in some instances,
for thirty and forty miles.

One of the leading qualities of Edinburgh, inde-
pendently of the amenities of its social state, which
induce the residence of persons of property and fa-
milies on settled incomes, is the comparatively small
expense at which a certain style of living may be
maintained. An elegant mansion, carriage, horses,
footmen, and servants, may be enjoyed at less than
half the expense they would be in London-that is to
say, mingling in the same kind of society in both
places. The chief objects of extravagance in Edin-
burgh are houses. A sort of mania prevails respect-
ing fine mansions, as far as external appearance is
concerned-the architectural design of the outside of
the house, as well as its situation in a particular street,
square, or place, being a matter of first-rate import-
ance, and on which many doubtless expend a too large
portion of their income. In our definition of prices of
commodities, it is therefore to be premised, that, in
Edinburgh, house-rent is high, if the best, or, pro-
perly speaking, the fashionable situations are coveted.
Houses of the better class vary in rent from L.60 to
L.120 per annum. Good flats, or sections of houses,
entering by common stairs, as in Paris, and contain-
ing five or six apartments, with kitchen and other
conveniences, are let at from L.18 to L.35. In all
parts of the environs, where many of the most respect-
able classes reside, commodious houses, with flower
plots and small gardens, are to be had at rents vary.
ing from L.30 to L.60. The greater part of the
middle and all the lower classes of Edinburgh reside
in flats, or up stairs, one house piled upon another, a
plan having both conveniences and inconveniences.
Whatever be the rents of the houses, they are not ex-
travagantly enhanced by local rates, comparing them
with those of London. Within what is called the
ancient and extended royalty, the rates are higher
than elsewhere. A residence in that quarter, however,
may be easily avoided, by taking a house in any part
of the environs, or parish of St Cuthbert's, which has
very extensive limits. In this district, the whole of
the local rates do not amount to above ten per cent.

on the rental, which includes a police tax for watching,
lighting, and cleaning the streets, and poor rates-
the latter may be reckoned at only 7d. or 8d. a pound
for the whole year. Compare this with the extent of
rates in and about London, where they amount in
general to at least a third of the rated rental, or up-
wards of thirty-three per cent. We have at this mo-
ment lying before us the receipts for money paid
during one year for poor rates and police on a house
rented at L.30, in the parish of Lambeth, and the
gross amount of the four quarterly payments is
L.5, 10s. 4d. This, with an old church rate, a new
church rate, a burial-ground rate, a lighting rate, and
statute duty, makes a total charge of L.8, 2s. 5d.-a
sum which bears no comparison with the light local
taxations in any part of Scotland.

While the attractions of natural scenery in and about Edinburgh tend to the out-of-door amusement of the residents, there is no lack of public entertainments at the proper seasons for their enjoyment. The town possesses a number of museums of an interesting character; has several public exhibitions of works belonging to the fine arts; musical entertainments frequently occur; and there is a winter and summer theatre conducted with a highly respectable degree of enterprise and good taste. But it is less for such in. stitutions than its educational establishments that Edinburgh is remarkable. Its university has been To come now to a comparison of prices of articles distinguished as a school of medicine and for other of domestic consumption. Good beef in London costs branches of knowledge for upwards of a century. In 10d. a pound, inferior 7d.; in Edinburgh, the best is the present day, it is rivalled by a body of lecturers, 6d., and the inferior 4d. In London, mutton, ac. many of whom are, or have been, celebrated in their cording to its quality, is 6d., 7d., 8d., and 10d.; in several departments of science. Hence, no place is Edinburgh, the very best is not more than 6d. Veal probably so well provided with physicians and sur- in London sells at 11d. and Is.; in Edinburgh, the geons, possessing the highest reputation for their skill price is from 6d. to 8d. Pork in London is from 8d. a circumstance worthy of being held in view by to ls.; in Edinburgh, it is only 6d. Fowls in Lonpersona in a feeble state of health, or liable to com- don cost from 5s. to 7s. a pair; in Edinburgh, they plaints affecting their constitutions. Besides the chief may be had, though not so good as those in the south, school under the management of the civic authorities, at from 2s. to 3s. In London, rabbits are Is. a-piece; at which the classics are taught, and another on a in Edinburgh, 6d. In London, ducks are 2s. each; similar principle, which prepares scholars for the in Edinburgh, 1s. to 1s. 2d. In London, turkeys are English universities, there are many well-conducted usually sold at the rate of 1s. a pound; in Edinburgh, academies under the charge of intelligent and re- at half that rate. In London, butter is from 1s. to 2s. spectable teachers. The number of private teachers a pound, and eggs 8d. to 2s. a dozen; in Edinburgh, of the elementary branches of education, as well as butter is from 10d. to 1s. 2d. a pound, and eggs 6d. to mathematics, music, drawing, and modern European | Is. Id. a dozen. Game and vegetables of all kinds

are one-half cheaper in Edinburgh than in London. In London, Newcastle coal costs about 33s. a ton; in Edinburgh, the same can be had for 18s.: but few burn English coal, as excellent native coal is to be had at 8s. 6d. a ton, which answers the same purpose. Speaking of the price of fish in London, neither during gluts nor scarcities, but on something like an average scale, we should be justified in saying that it is from six to twelve times dearer in London than in Edinburgh. Even this does not give a proper idea of relative value; for while the fish exhibited in the Edinburgh market is hard and fresh-" caller" is the word-and only a few hours out of the sea, that sold in the shops of the London fishmongers is in a great measure the reverse. Very fine large fresh haddocks may often be had in Edinburgh for a penny and twopence a-piece, cods 6d. and 1s. a-piece, and oysters at from 6d. to 9d. for 120. It is by this remarkable cheapness of fish that the prices of butcher-meat are kept down, and by which hundreds of families are enabled to live comfortably and genteelly on limited incomes.

Altogether, it may be calculated that the expense of living in and about Edinburgh is from a third to a half of what would be the outlay in any part of the English metropolis or its suburbs. It would be needless to say more. The circumstances which we have, in a spirit of impartiality and candour, laid before our readers, may be safely left to work their way in the minds of that increasing class of individuals who are desirous of seeking out an economical haven of rest, wherein to spend the remainder of their days in personal comfort and cheerful social converse.

THE THUGS.

THE disposition to destroy life is well known to be one which not only acts independently in the human character, but is liable to be awakened and called into activity by a great number of other sentiments, such as the extreme thirst for gain, offended self-love, panic terror, and even a strong sense of justice, philanthropy, and other of the superior sentiments of our nature. We are now about to introduce to the notice of our readers a remarkable tribe, who, from generation to generation, carry on murder as a regular trade, partly under the influence of the love of gold, but chiefly in obedience to sentiments of a higher, though equally abused character.

The Thugs are a Hindoo race who infest the roads in India, for the purpose of robbing travellers. The states of Bhopaul, Oude, Gwalior, and Bundelkund, and the Company's possessions in the Doab, are their chief residence; and the thoroughfares which they chiefly haunt, are those of the Deccan, Scindias, and Holkar's country, down to the sea and the Delhi country. Ostensibly, they are simple cultivators of the ground; but for eight months of the year, they move in gangs along the roads, under various dis guises and pretexts, murdering and robbing every danger to themselves. They must have practised this party whom they think they can overpower without trade at least since the days of Akbar the Great, in the sixteenth century, as that sovereign on one occasion executed five hundred of them in one province. Indeed, the profession has not only become hereditary, and of old standing, but is invested with all those inveterate characteristics which attend what is called

caste in India. The young are regularly brought up fied by their natural character than others, none are to it, and, though some are of course better qualiknown to show so much repugnance to it, as to aban don it for any more legitimate means of living.

Though the Thugs are indifferently of the Mahomedan and Hindoo religions, they unite in the grand superstitions which chiefly prompt and support their minds in their abominable courses. They put an im. plicit confidence in omens. The partridge, the shama, the deer, the jackall, and other animals, are supposed by them to foretell good or bad luck, according as they appear or are heard on the right or left hand. Leav ing their homes in bands at the end of the rainy season, they direct their steps to their high priest or goroo, generally an old Thug (no matter whether Hindoo or Mussulman) who has retired from the trade, and lives upon the contributions of his descendants or disciples, who look up to him with great reverence for advice and instruction, and bend to his decision in all cases of doubt or dispute. On this old man they confer presents. He then consecrates a kodalee or pickaxe, which they carry with them on all occasions, and to which they ascribe many virtues, one of which is, that it can prevent the spirits of the murdered from rising from their graves which are dug with it. On this occasion, young Thugs who have passed through a kind of noviciate, and acquired the necessary ardour and hardness of heart, are presented by the priest with the romal or handkerchief-the instrument employed in strangling their victims-which, establishing them in the highest grade of the profession, and insuring a larger proportion of the booty, is regarded as an object of the highest ambition. The priest then tells the young Thug how many of his family have signalised themselves by the use of the

romal, how much his friends expect from his courage | and conduct, and implores the Goddess Bowanee, whom the Thugs of all religions regard as the arbitress of their destinies, to vouchsafe her support to his laudable ambition and endeavours to distinguish himself in her service. When we reflect on the base character of the Hindoo priesthood, among which it is a maxim that untruth and false-swearing are virtuous and meritorious deeds when they tend to their own advantage, we shall not wonder that any should be found to employ their influence, and that of their re- | ligion, in urging human beings to signalise themselves by acts of murder.

Having performed their various superstitious rites, the Thugs proceed to rendezvous at some place previously appointed, where the gangs make their final | arrangements for the season, one of the most important of which is to fix on their private signals. They then break into parties of from twenty to a hundred and fifty, and begin to patrole the roads, usually ap. pearing as a collection of travellers, who have combined for mutual protection against marauders. One of their customs is, never to shave or eat pawn till they have killed their first traveller. There is seldom any display of courage among the Thugs. All their murders are effected in a cunning and insidious manner, so as to avoid danger. Some of the younger members, who are not considered as having sufficient hard-breastedness, as they call it, even to witness a murder, are employed as scouts to ascertain the approach of travellers, their strength, their weapons, the direction in which they are going, and the valuables which they carry. If they conceive themselves to be a match for the party, one or two of the most smooth-spoken among them are sent to join it, and make way, perhaps, for a junction between it and the larger body of Thugs. If they succeed in lulling the suspicions of the party, they will proceed in company for a considerable way, till, coming to a convenient place, they propose a grand repast, the expense of which they are ready to bear. After dinner, two or three will play the guitar, while the rest sit round, smoking and talking. At length the private signal is given; each traveller is caught round the neck by a handkerchief, which the wretch who threw it twists as hard as he can, while two of his companions hold the hands of the victim. If any struggle takes place, a kick throws the unhappy tra veller on the ground, where the work of death is completed. They then select the most secret place in the neighbourhood for the interment of the bodies, sometimes a thick mango grove, and not unfrequently the beds of rivulets. Parties of two, four, and nearly as high as twenty, are thus disposed of. As treasure is often carried from place to place in India, the Thugs sometimes secure an immense booty. An instance of their obtaining seven thousand pounds in gold and jewels occurred a few years ago. They display the greatest cautiousness in the selection of their victims, and in every circumstance of their atrocious trade. The government runners are seldom attacked by them, because their fate could not fail to become a subject of inquiry. For the same reason, and from a dread of resistance, they rarely make up to Europeans. In 1823, a formidable gang deliberated about attacking two British officers, who were passing by dawk, and finally negatived the proposal, for these reasons; 1st, because such gentlemen seldom carry valuables with them in dawk trips; 2d, because they always carry pistols; 3d, because their destruction would become matter of publicity. The leading maxim of the Thugs is that dead men tell no tales, and for this reason murder invariably precedes robbery. On one occasion, a risaldar, a woman, and fourteen other persons, were murdered by a party, at Chapara, on their way from Hydrabad: before the murder was completed, four poor travellers came up, and these, though presenting no temptation in the way of booty, were strangled also, in order to prevent discovery. Two of the poor men were going one way, and two another, and the two couples did not reach the spot at the same time. "When the first two came up," said an informer in evidence, "we made them sit down: when we had mur. dered the risaldar and his companions, and when the second two came to the top of the pass, at the foot of which we were, our people persuaded them we had had a dispute, and induced them to descend, which at first they were very unwilling to do. When the leaders came up from the work they were engaged in, they insisted on strangling these four poor men, who submitted in silence to their doom."

At the end of the season, or upon having acquired a considerable booty, the Thug goes home to his wife and family, to enjoy his ill-gotten gains. He is careful to take a portion of his wealth to the temple of Bowanee, whose priests, in return, promise him immunity and success in his trade, and, if he should fall in the exercise of his vocation, all the delights of paradise. These priests are said not only to connive at the horrible trade of the Thugs, but on many occasions to give them information respecting travellers, and to suggest particular lines of road as most favourable for their purpose.

Within the last few years, since the conclusion of the Mahratta war in India, the attention of the supreme government has been directed to the practices of the Thugs, many of whom have consequently been apprehended and executed. One named Dirgpaul, who, from his great daring and success, acquired among his companions the title of Subuhdar, was seized in 1832, and an account of him is thus given by a gen

tleman who was present at his execution :-"His | ancestors have been Thugs for many generations, and his brother Luchman is still one of their leaders. Of a great variety of murders detailed in evidence, I select a few as specimens. The first affair at which Dirgpaul figures is in the year 1817, at the murder of a pundit at Selodha, a village north-west of Saugor one march. The body of the pundit, with those of some others in the same grave, was disinterred by Captain Sleeman. He was next concerned in the murder of fourteen shopkeepers at Seronge, and got 2000 rupees, equivalent to about L.180 sterling. The day after, seventeen Rohillas, marching through this part of the country, fell in with the gang, and were likewise strangled by Dirgpaul and his party. In 1821, he was concerned in the murder of four police guards, at a place called Bhanpore; the bodies were buried in a rivulet. The following day, a native officer of Holkar's army, with four troopers, came up, and they also were strangled, and the bodies buried under mango trees. Four days subsequent to these murders, they fell in with a Nawaub, whose name was Amber Khan, and his wife, and ten soldiers, all of whom were murdered by this gang. Just as they had completed their work, eleven cowhattees, or carriers of Ganges water, came up, who, suspecting what they had been about, let out a hint of the kind. The consequence was, that the gang of Thugs fell on them also, and the whole party were strangled. Their bodies were buried in some empty houses close by; and the bones of these twenty-three unfortunate victims have lately been dug up by Captain Sleeman's people, and an inquest held on them by the native local authorities. In 1823, he was a principal in the murder of eleven men, one woman, and one girl, in all thirteen, on their way from Poona towards Indore. The gang of Thugs amounted to one hundred and fifty. Dirgpaul was the man who cajoled the party, and persuaded them to march in company with them. The booty on this occasion was 1000 rupees. After halting a day at this place of murder, they were joined by more treasure-bearers, travelling with four ponies. In a sequestered spot, at mid-day, the whole were murdered, and the bodies thrown into the jungle. The treasure found on them amounted to 25,000 rupees (L.2400). The last act recorded of Dirgpaul was the murder of a native officer of rank, in the service of the queen of Oodipore, called Loll Singh, of his wife, a female servant, and six men followers. The Thugs mustered two hundred and fifty strong, fifty of whom were under the command of Dirgpaul, who was the principal man in concerting the murders, with another notorious leader. The subahdar Loll Singh rode a mare, and his wife was nursing an infant boy. The Thugs kept in company with the travellers for some days, and, by one of the leaders riding a horse whose tail was docked, they persuaded the subahdar that they were sepoys, and that the rider got the horse from his European officer. Having intoxicated him with opium and stramonium, the Thugs fell on him and his companions a little after dusk, and the whole were killed, with the exception of the infant, whom Dirgpaul kept and adopted. This child was brought in with the prisoner, and is now being educated at the Saugor Government School, at the expense of government. This man had a singular leer on his countenance: when he was under trial for his life, and, subsequently, when sentence of death was being passed on him, it did not forsake him; and, with his little wooden spindle twisting cotton, he affected a carelessness, at once unnatural and indecent. He was executed, with twenty-nine others, on the morning of the 30th June 1832; and although his courage was great, his caution was also conspicuous. Six carts conveyed them to the place of execution, which was outside the town of Saugor, about a mile and a half from the jail. The gibbets were erected temporarily, and formed three sides of a square. The posts supporting the cross-poles were fixed into stone walls, about five feet high, and, from the edge of one stone wall to the other, a beam was placed for the wretched men to stand on after ascending the ladders. The nooses were all ready, hanging from the crossbeams, and each man as he landed on the platform selected his rope. Considering it an everlasting disgrace to their names to die by the hands of the common hangman, the condemned Thugs no sooner take hold of the halter, than they push their heads into the noose, and, with loud shouts and cheers, adjust the knot behind the ear, jump off, and launch themselves into eternity! The beam against which the ladders are resting, is the platform on which they stand, and which is withdrawn; but the men are all off swinging before this can be done. Dirgpaul waited to see nearly all his companions off, and I well remember the last look he took of them before he swung himself from the fatal beam."

The character of this extraordinary race is full of what our habits of thinking would incline us to consider as inconsistencies. With all their superstitious veneration for the priesthood, and though some of them are themselves Brahmins, they make no scruple to kill persons of that sacred order. Though so remorseless in general that they will destroy even those who have preserved them from prison and death, they are capable of manifesting some of the most amiable feelings. They will, as in the case of Dirgpaul, preserve and cherish a helpless child; they will lament the death of a friend or relation with the bitterest grief, and do any thing, even to the surrender of them

selves to justice, to extricate their wives and children from imprisonment. Feringia, the Jemadar of the Thugs, when in confinement, avowed that he would have "surrendered himself after the Bhilsah affair, if he had met the party of Nujeebs who had charge of his family; and he more than once burst into a flood of tears, on an allusion being made to his relations who were condemned in the Bhilsah trial, and hanged at Jubbalpore." If we reflect, however, upon the circumstances under which this trade is carried on, and the motives which animate its professors, we shall be less surprised at these exemplifications of human kindness. The following of this mode of life is evidently not the result of an original disposition to murder: the Thugs are no collection of lovers of blood from all India, but a localised race, each of whom, whatever be his original tendencies, is forced by a kind of destiny of blood to adopt the business of slaughter. Superstition has evidently supplied the pristine impulse to the awful trade, and still helps greatly to maintain it in vigour. Taught by all that he holds sacred to regard murder and robbery as honourable and advantageous in this world, and still more so with a view to the next, the Thug must proceed to his dreadful work with a mind quite at peace with itself. When, in addition to the sanction obtained from the objects of worship, the young Thug has the authority and recommendation of his parents for the trade he is destined to, he can hardly fail to engage in it with heartiness, or at least without compunction. Man is also, as we may remark in various spheres of life, capable of assuming a professional character, considerably different and apart from his domestic one. Regarding murder as his profession, the Thug practises it as a matter of course, all the time retaining his better feelings for display in the appropriate situations and circumstances. It is at least certain that all those who have inquired into this species of crime, speak of a peculiar callosity being manifested by its votaries when upon the road, and which they do not display either in the bosoms of their families, or when they fall into the hands of justice. The young are said to have this callosity in a comparatively slight degree. They require to be brought on from the performance of menial offices about the camp, to aiding in the dispatch of victims-next to practising on the old and feebletill finally, by the joint operation of superstitious zeal, and the glory which man will derive from the basest of accomplishments, they are able to attack individuals in the full vigour of health. It is evident, from all these facts, that the Thugs practise murder without that sense of evil-doing which, by hardening the heart, makes it the more ripe for evil-doing-that, on the contrary, it is practised as a kind of virtue, and accordingly in full compatibility with the best of the human sentiments, so far as that race of people are endowed with them.

The cause

THE DRY-ROT. DRY-ROT is a most destructive and infectious disease in timber, by which its substance is gradually decayed and reduced to a state of powder, so that, all strength of the material being gone, the most fatal consequences, both as regards houses and ships, ensue. of this alarming decay in timber has been the subject of much investigation; but on the whole, little is generally known regarding either its origin or progress. It is most insidious in its advances, for the process of decomposition is often rapidly going on while the surface of the planks remains whole and unchanged. Ac cording to the best authorities on the subject, dry-rot appears to be commonly the result of improper seasoning, or of the natural juices of the tree not being thoroughly dried up by free exposure to currents of the atmosphere. It also arises from the timber being placed in contact with something damp, by which the rot is propagated from plank to plank, as if by infection.

The following is the account given of the origin and nature of this disease in timber, by Mr Charles Waterton, in the Architectural Magazine for August 1835:

"Dry-rot is a misnomer. This disease in timber ought to be designated a decomposition of wood by its own internal juices, which have become vitiated for want of a free circulation of air. If you rear a piece of timber, newly cut down, in an upright position in the open air, it will last for ages. Put another piece of the same tree into a ship, or into a house, where there is no access to the fresh air, and ere long it will be decomposed. But should you have painted the piece of wood which you placed in an upright position, it will not last long; because, the paint having stopped up its pores, the incarcerated juices have become vitiated, and have caused the wood to rot. Nine times in ten, wood is painted too soon. The upright unpainted posts, in the houses of our ancestors, though exposed to the heats of summer and the blasts of winter, have lasted for centuries; because the pores of the wood were not closed by any external application of tar or paint, and thus the juices had an opportunity of drying up gradually.

In 1827, on making some alterations in a passage, I put down and painted a new plinth, made of the best, and apparently well-seasoned, foreign deal. The

stone wall was faced with wood and laths; and the plaster was so well worked to the plinth, that it might be said to have been air-tight. In about four months, a yellow fungus was perceived to ooze out betwixt the bottom of the plinth and the flags; and on taking up the plinth, both it and the laths, and the ends of the upright pieces of wood to which the laths had been nailed, were found in as complete a state of decomposition as though they had been buried in a hotbed. Part of these materials exhibited the appearance of what is usually called dry-rot, and part was still moist, with fungus on it, sending forth a very disagreeable odour. A new plinth was immediately put down, and holes, one and a half inches in diameter, at every yard, were bored through it. This admitted a free circulation of air; and to this day the wood is as sound and good as the day on which it was first put down. The same year, I reared up, in the end of a neglected and notoriously damp barn, a lot of newly felled larch poles; and I placed another lot of larch poles against the wall on the outside of the same barn. These are now good and well seasoned: those within became tainted, the first year, with what is called dryrot, and were used for firewood.

If, then, you admit a free circulation of air to the timber which is used in a house (no difficult matter), and abstain from painting that timber till it be perfectly seasoned, you will never suffer from what is called dry-rot. And if the naval architect, by means of air-holes in the gunwale of a vessel (which might be closed in bad weather), could admit a free circulation of air to the timbers, and if he could also abstain from painting, or doing with turpentine, &c., the outer parts of the vessel, till the wood had become sufficiently seasoned, he would not have to complain of dry-rot. I am of opinion, that, if a vessel were to make three or four voyages before it is painted, or done with turpentine, &c., its outer wood would suffer much less from the influence of the weather than it usually suffers from its own internal juices, which cannot get vent, on account of artificial applications to the pores. But still the timber would be subject to the depredation of the insect. To prevent this effectually, Mr Kyan's process must absolutely be adopted; and it must also be adopted to secure wood from what is called dry-rot, in places where a free circulation of air cannot be introduced. I consider Mr Kyan's process perfectly unexceptionable. The long arrows which the Indians use in Guiana are very subject to be eaten by the worm. In 1812, I applied the solution of corrosive sublimate to a large quantity of these At this hour they are perfectly sound, and show no appearance that the worm has ever tried to feed upon them."

arrows.

subside. The first of these chances was one of very improbable occurrence, for this part of the country is but thinly inhabited the high road did not lie along the river side, and the shore, for three or four hundred yards from the channel of the river, was over. flowed to the depth of probably three or four feet; and, besides, it was difficult to see in what way human aid could extricate me: no boat could reach the island; and if a rope or cord could be thrown as far, it was extremely improbable that I should catch it, as it was impossible for me to stir from the tree upon which I was seated; and as to any likelihood of the water subsiding, there was no appearance of it; it was at all events impossible that this could happen before nightfall.

seat.

till 1803, when the sum expended, on the above account, exceeded L.96,000 more. She was under repairs again in 1814-15-16, when she cost for the same more than L.47,000, making the total of the expense for the replacement of her timbers only, within fifteen years, above L. 143,000; the original cost of a ship of this class being estimated, in the time of war, at less than L.95,000.-The destruction by dry-rot in public and private buildings does not require us to have recourse for proof to the wholesale havoc it has committed on the palaces, churches, institutions, and whole streets, of the metropolis. Judging from the statements of the whole of the operation of this pest in the United Kingdom, the subject cannot be deemed otherwise than of 'fully sufficient importance,' to use the words of Professor Farrady, in a lecture he delivered In this dreadful and perilous situation, evening on the efficacy of Kyan's preventive, 'to justify in- passed away; no one appeared, and the river still quiry into any process which professes to effect these continued to rise. The sky lowered and looked changes, and to confer so much consequent benefit on threatening; the torrent rushed by, darker and more mankind. The object is not, as in some instances, impetuous, every few moments reminding me, by the the ready destruction of life and property, but it con-wrecks which it bore along with it, of the frailty of sists of a benefit connected with more social and plea- the tenure by which I held my existence. The shores sant feelings, and touching the permanent and mutual on both sides were changed into wide lakes; and the interests of mankind."" red sun went angrily down over a waste of red waters. Night at length closed in-and a dreadful night it was. Sometimes I fancied the tree was loosening ADVENTURE ON THE ADIGE. from its roots, and sloped more over the water; some[From "Solitary Walks through many Lands," by Derwent times I imagined the whole island was swept away, Conway.] and that I was sailing down the torrent. I found THOSE of my readers who have walked on the banks that my mind occasionally wandered, and I had the of the Adige, below Rovigo, will know that about a precaution to take out of my pocket a silk handkerleague and a half from that town, there are one or two chief, which I tore in several strips, and, tying them islands in the midst of the channel, between which together, bound myself round the middle to a pretty and the shore the water is not more than a foot deep; thick branch which supported my back; this, I and those who have never stirred from home have thought, might prevent me from falling if giddiness probably heard that the Adige is extremely subject to seized me, or momentary sleep should overtake me. violent inundations, equally remarkable for the sud- During the night, many strange fancies came over denness of their rise and fall, owing to its mountainous me, besides that very frequent one of supposing the origin and short course. island sailing down the torrent. Sometimes I fancied On the evening of one of the last days of May, II was whirling round and round; at other times I arrived opposite to one of these islands. The water thought the torrent was flowing backward; now and was as pure as crystal, gently flowing over a fine then I fancied I saw huge black bodies carried towards pebbly channel; the island, which might be about me upon the surface, and I shrunk back to avoid conforty yards from the shore upon which I stood, though tact with them; at other times I imagined something more than double that distance on the other side, was rose out of the water beneath, and attempted to drag me inviting from its extreme greenness, and from a pro- down; often I felt convinced I heard screams mingle fusion of hyacinths upon one side; a flower to which with the rushing torrent, and once, all sound seemed I am extremely partial. Three or four trees also entirely to cease, and I could have ventured almost to grew upon its edge, the trunks inclining over the wa- descend, so certain I felt that the channel was dry; ter, and with but few branches. After a day's walk, once or twice I dropped asleep for a moment, but alnothing is more agreeable than wading in a stream; most instantly awoke with so violent a start, that if and as I had sufficient time to spare, I resolved upon I had not been fastened, I must have fallen from my reaching the island. This was soon accomplished; I found the depth nowhere exceed two feet, and the To this it ought to be added, that the seasoning of island, when I reached it, as agreeable as I had fancied timber by applying artificial heat is extremely dan- it to be; and having culled a large bouquet, I lay gerous. The heat causes the juices to ferment and down upon the hyacinth bank, and gave myself up to fructify, and the rot forthwith commences; and after those pleasant recollections of home and past scenes, it is once begun, nothing can cure the malady, but the which the fragrance of this flower brought along with speedy excision of the decayed part. The most re- it. I had lain, I think, about a quarter of an hour, markable fact connected with the dry-rot is the ap- entirely forgetful of time and place-a busy actor in pearance of fungi or mushrooms. The question arises, scenes far removed by both-when my attention was whence the germs or seeds of this class of vegetables slightly roused by a distant sound, which I supposed how do they get into the heart of the timber? The at first to be thunder, a good deal having been heard only way of accounting for the introduction of the to the northward in the course of the day; and when germs of fungi, is by supposing that they are taken it continued, and grew louder, I still supposed it was up and incorporated in the growth of the tree, for, in one of those prolonged peals which are so frequent to their earliest stage, they are so minute and impalpable the south of the Alps. Soon, however, the sound as to be invisible to the naked eye. The germinating changed, and seemed like the sea; and, as it became principle of these seeds, therefore, not being destroyed, still louder, I started up in some alarm-and what a moisture and heat readily urge their growth, and sight met my eye! At the distance of a few hundred consequently they are in due time developed on the yards, I saw a mountain of dark waters rushing tosurface of the rotting timber. When one reflects on wards me with inconceivable velocity, like a perpenthe great destruction of shipping, and the danger dicular wall, and now roaring louder than the loudest which many houses are in, from dry-rot, it certainly thunder. Not a moment was to be lost; the level of seems strange that so very little has hitherto been done the island would be instantly covered, and to gain the by way of preventive, although preventives of a spe-shore was impossible for we cannot run through wacific nature are known to exist. "Very few persons ter with the swiftness with which we pass over dry (says a writer in the Liverpool Magazine) have any ground. I instantly made for the largest of the trees, tolerable conception of the quantity of timber required and had gained an elevation of about ten feet above for the construction of the larger classes of vessels, the island, when the flood reached it. As it came and, consequently, of the loss that arises from the nearer, its power appeared resistless; it seemed as if spread of dry-rot, which, when once commenced, can it would sweep the island from its foundations; and rarely if ever be eradicated. A first-rate ship of war I entertained not a ray of hope that the trunk upon demands nearly 6000 loads; a quantity sufficient to which I was seated would escape the force of the torcover a road fifty feet wide with timber, one foot in rent. It came, and the tree remained firm-it covered depth, for more than a mile and a furlong in length. the island and all its vegetation in an instant; and I Hence it is not surprising, that, according to the opi- saw it rush beneath me, bearing along with it the innion of the best judges, the annual destruction of tim-signia of its power and fury-huge branches and roots, ber in the royal navy alone should not be under 50,000 fragments of bridges, implements of household use, loads, amounting, at L.8 per load, the price usually and dead animals. paid for the best selected timber, to L.40,000 per annum, independent of workmanship; and if to this be added the destruction of the government workshops and other erections on shore, it is no extravagant arithmetic to say, that in the public expenditure of this nation, certainly not less than a million and a half have been annually sacrificed, from the delayed adoption of Kyan's preventive. Of particular instances of this destruction, it may be sufficient to state, that the Queen Charlotte, of 120 guns, within one year after she had been launched, was found to be rotten from the water line upwards, and in many places below it; and, having been built of various sorts of timber, proved to be covered with as many different species of boletus (or fungi). The Spencer cost, for repairs of hull, masts, and yards, nearly L.125,000; the Tremendous more than L.135,000; and the Victory, Nelson's ship, in the very first year, 1800, was repaired at Chatham, and her repairs did not terminate

The night gradually wore away; it was warm and dry, so that I suffered no inconvenience from cold. I became nearly satisfied of the stability of the trunk, which was my only refuge; and although deliverance was uncertain, at all events distant, I made up my mind to endure as long as I could; and thus I passed the night, under a starless sky, and the dark flood roaring beneath me. Before morning broke, I felt assured that the waters had begun to subside; the noise, I thought, was less; I fancied I saw shrubs appear above water on the island, and trees upon the shore assume their usual appearance; and, with the first dawn of day, I joyfully perceived that I had not been mistaken; the flood had fallen at least three feet; and before sunrise, the greater part of the island was left dry. Never did criminal, reprieved upon the scaffold, shake off his bonds with more joy than I did mine that bound me to the tree. I crept down the trunk, which still hung over the torrent, and stepped about knee-deep on the island; I then waded to the part which was dry, and lay down, exhausted with the night's watching, and aching with the position in which I had been obliged to remain.

The water now continued to fall perceptibly every moment; soon the island was entirely dry, and the inundation on shore had subsided into the natural channel; but still the torrent was too strong and deep to attempt a passage, especially, weakened as I was by the occurrences of the last twelve hours, and by the want of food. I had no certainty as to the hour, for I had not of course remembered to wind up my watch the evening before; judging from the height of the sun, however, the water had so much diminished before noon, that in two or three hours more I might attempt to gain the shore. About three in the afternoon I accordingly entered the stream; I found it then nowhere deeper than four feet, and with a little struggling and buffeting, succeeded in gaining the bank, which I once thought I should never have trodden more. The bunch of hyacinths, which I had not forgotten to bring from the island, I still held in my hand. I have dried a few of them, and kept them ever since; never do I smell this flower, as I walk through the woods or the fields, that I do not experience in part the sensations I felt when I lifted my head and saw the impetuous flood rushing towards me; and, however dreadful a reality may be, the recollection of it is not unmixed with pleasure. I often open the leaves where lie these withered hyacinths, and I cannot say, that when I look upon them, I ever think they have been dearly purchased.

As regarded myself, the first and immediate dan-
ger of destruction was over; but a moment's reflec-
tion-one glance around me, showed that I had but
small cause for congratulation. Betwixt the island
and the shore, a torrent, that no human strength
could withstand, rolled impetuously on; and, although
not fifty yards over, it would have been as impracti-
cable an attempt to pass it, as if its breadth had been
as many leagues. The first rush had left the tree un-
loosened, yet a second might carry it away; and the
flood was still rising almost every moment I could
perceive the distance betwixt me and the water dimi-
nish; and, indeed, I was not more than four feet
above its surface. I had only two grounds of hope-
the most languid, however, that ever was called by
the name-it was possible that some person might see
my situation from the shore before nightfall, and
bring others to my assistance; and it was possible,
also, that the river might rise no higher, and speedily in the trough.”—Jesse's Gleanings, third series.

NATURAL CRITICISM.-A countryman was shown Gainsborough's celebrated picture of the pigs. "To be sure," said he, "they be deadly like pigs; but there is one fault-nobody ever saw three pigs feeding together, but what one on 'um had a foot

THE MONKEY AND CROW.

IN the jungles about the neighbourhood of Tillicherry, in India, there is a large species of monkey, frequently tamed by the natives; and at a village a short distance from this celebrated seaport, we had an evidence of the remarkable sagacity of this animal. A few yards from the house of the person to whom it belonged, a thick pole, at least thirty feet high, had been fixed into the earth, round which was an iron ring, and to this was attached a strong chain of considerable length, fastened to a collar round the monkey's neck. The ring being loose, it easily slid up the pole, when he ascended or descended. He was in the habit of taking his station upon the top of the bamboo, where he seemed perched as if to enjoy the beauties of the prospect around him; this was really striking. The crows, which in India are very abundant and singularly audacious, taking advantage of his elevated sition, had been in the daily habit of robbing him of his food, which was placed every morning and evening at the foot of the pole. To this he had vainly expressed his dislike, by chattering, and other indications of his displeasure equally ineffectual; nothing that he could do was of any avail to scare away these unwelcome intruders upon his repasts. He tried various modes to banish them, but they continued their periodical depredations. Finding that he was perfectly unheeded, he adopted a plan of retribution as effectual as it was ingenious.

po

thinking that none but a shereef would have dared in
so open a manner to violate the joys of hospitality;
that, therefore, he had killed him without allowing a
light to be brought, lest personal affection should in-
terfere with justice; but when he saw who it was, he
determination to have justice administered, he had not
returned sincere thanks to Almighty God, that in his
killed his own son.-P. B. Lord's Algiers and Barbary.

REASONS FOR WRITING A BOOK.-The reason
which is given by Howitt for composing his Book
of the Seasons is excellent: "It ought to be the
leading resolve (says he), the great living and actu-
ating desire of every man who has arrived at the
maturity of his powers, of every man especially who
has received the blessing of a good education, to do
something which shall tend to the prosperity of his
country and of his species-something beyond the
mere routine of those duties which belong to the life
of every good citizen, and which yet may be achieved
without the neglect of those duties, or without forsak-
ing that sphere in which Nature and Providence have
cast his lot; something, however small, which shall
advance, or at least aim to advance, the refinement
This is the only
and moral elevation of his race.
mode by which we can discharge, greatly and fully,
that debt of blessings which we receive from God, our
parents, and the community in which we live; for
mere thankfulness at heart, unseconded by deeds of
beneficence and the virtuous exercise of an enlighten-
ed intellect, pays nothing, but leaves unsatisfied the
ing after the enjoyment and the diffusion of happiness
which fills every healthful bosom.-Such a desire, I
do not hesitate to confess, has long haunted me; has
mingled itself with my cogitations, and, however tri-
vial may appear the result, has been a principal cause
of my putting together this work."" And to our
naturalists (he continues), what do we not owe!-
Every one of them who assists to turn the attention
of our youth to subjects which must lead them out to
the country, be he but the merest plodder, the merest
arranger of other men's knowledge, the merest cata-
loguer of names, does a good service: but such men as
Gilbert White, Bewick, Evelyn, and others, who ex-
plore with enthusiastic and indefatigable delight every
natural haunt, and cast around their labours the beam-
ing halo of genius, attracting thousands to the objects
of their admiration, must be classed amongst the
greatest benefactors of the human race."

which will fall to his lot, he must be acquainted with at least the elements of the following kinds of knowledge (1) the Surface of the Earth (Geography); (2) the Structure of the Earth (Geology); (3) the Vegetable Productions of the Earth (Botany); (4) the Animal Creatures of the Earth (Zoology); (5) the Phenomena of the Atmosphere (Meteorology); (6) the Composition of the Substances of the Material World, and the changes which are produced by the action of these substances upon each other (Chemistry); (7) the Mechanical Powers and Relations of the Material World (Natural Philosophy); (8) the Science of Measurement (Geometry); (9) the Relation of our Globe to the other component parts of the vast System of Creation (Astronomy); (10) the Physical, Moral, and Intellectual Nature of Man, with reference to the preservation of health, and the attainment of happiness; (11) the Production and Distribution of National Wealth (Political Economy); (12) the History of Nations and Countries, Ancient and Modern, especially those in which the Pupil is most interested of their Literature, Eminent Men, Resources, &c.

The volumes necessary for the developement of these views will probably be about thirty in number; of which a few will be addressed to Parents and Teachers, books for the school and lecture-room; but, externally, the whole will be uniform, and calculated to be eventually bound up in about a third part of the number of volumes stated. As it is not, in the meantime, possible for nearly the whole of the people to acquire a complete intellectual education under masters, the volumes referring to that department will be calculated as much as possible for the use of uninstructed persons of all kinds, and in all circumstances. In order, likewise, that the works may be suitable for the education of youth of every sect and country-in order that there may be no obstacle within themselves to a circulation as universal as the Editors trust their principles are correct-no provision can be made in the series for religious and political education, for which, however, local and peculiar means every where exist.

One morning, when his tormentors had been particularly troublesome, he appeared as if seriously in-highest claims of our nature; and that natural long-while the rest will assume the ordinary appearance of disposed: he closed his eyes, drooped his head, and exhibited various other symptoms of severe suffering. No sooner were his ordinary rations placed at the foot of the bamboo, than the crows, watching their opportunity, descended in great numbers, and, according to their usual practice, began to demolish his provisions. The monkey now began to slide down the pole by slow degrees, as if the effort were painful to him, and as if so overcome by indisposition that his remaining strength was scarcely equal to such exertion. When he reached the ground, he rolled about for some time, seeming in great agony, until he found himself close by the vessel employed to contain his food, which the crows had by this time well nigh devoured. There was still, however, some remaining, which a solitary bird, emboldened by the apparent indisposition of the monkey, advanced to seize. The wily creature was at this time lying in a state of apparent insensibility at the foot of the pole, and close by the pan. The moment the crow stretched out its head, and ere it could secure a mouthful of the interdicted food, the watchful avenger seized the depredator by the neck with the rapidity of thought, and secured it from doing further mischief. He now began to chatter and grin with every expression of gratified triumph, while the crows flew around, cawing in boisterous chime, as if deprecating the chastisement about to be inflicted upon their captive companion. The monkey continued for a while to chatter and grin in triumphant mockery of their distress; he then deliberately placed the captive crow between his knees, and began to pluck it with the most humorous gravity. When he had completely stripped it, except the large feathers in the pinions and tail, he flung it into the air as high as his strength would permit, and, after flapping its wings for a few seconds, it fell on the ground with a stunning shock. The other crows, which had been fortunate enough to escape a similar castigation, now surrounded it, and immediately pecked it to death. The expression of joy on the animal's countenance was altogether indescribable; and he had no sooner seen this ample retribution dealt to the purloiner of his repast, than he ascended the bamboo to enjoy a quiet repose. The next time his food was brought, not a single crow ap proached it; and I dare say that, thenceforward, he was never again molested by those voracious intruders. -Oriental Annual, 1836.

on

CHAMBERS'S EDUCATIONAL COURSE. THE success which has attended the efforts of Messrs CHAMBERS in the business of Popular Instruction, has induced them to undertake the duty of supplying a series of Treatises and School Books, constructed according to the most advanced views of Education, both as a Science and an Art, and answering in its parts and ultimate general effect to the demands of the age. For this task they conceive themselves to possess considerable advantages, in the means they command for the preparation and diffusion of Popular Literature, their known independence on sects and parties of every kind, and the assurance which they hope has already been given and accepted, of the moral purity of their intentions.

Their COURSE will, as far as possible, embody the code and materials of a complete Elementary Education, Physical, Moral, and Intellectual, according to the following views :

[Physical Education.] In order that man may possess a vigorous frame of body and its concomitant sound health, without which every species of moral and intellectual excellence is cramped and frustrated, he must be subjected from the moment of birth to such processes of management, and afterwards trained to such habits in food, exercise, cleanliness, and exposure to air, as have been ascertained to conduce to strength and health.

[Moral Education.] For the sake of himself and society, he must be habituated, from the dawn of consciousness and feeling, to the moderate activity and regulation of the inferior sentiments of his nature, and gradually to the due exercise of the higher sentiments justice, kindness, and truth, towards his fellowbeings, and veneration towards the objects of his religious faith. In time, as his intellectual faculties develope themselves, he ought to be instructed in the theory, and impressed with the higher sanctions, of that morality in which he has been previously trained and exercised.

The prices of books of instruction having hitherto been found a great obstacle to the extension of education, especially among the humbler orders, Messrs CHAMBERS have exerted themselves to produce those portions of their Course which will take the character of Text or School Books, at rates forming the smallest possible advance upon the cost of the materials. Each treatise being complete in itself, the Editors conceive themselves at liberty to mention, that their prosecuting the task to its conclusion will depend upon the leisure which other duties may leave to them, and the degree of encouragement which may be extended to their design by the public. As examples, almost at the extremes of the series, there are now published, a treatise on "INFANT EDUCATION, BETWEEN TWO AND SIX YEARS OF AGE; forming a complete Directory for instituting and managing the seminaries called Infant Schools, and also for the guidance of private individuals who have the charge of children at that period of life;" and a "HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE.” This volume belongs to that department of the Course which is designed to communicate to young persons the rudiments of useful knowledge. It will be suitable to the more advanced classes in English academies, and serve as a text-book for those lectures on English literature, which are now given in so many institutions for mechanics and others. From its pages, an active teacher in any part of the country may easily form a series of such lectures, little else being necessary than to add to the specimens of progressive literature from the numerous sources at his command. It is further presumed, that such a work cannot fail to be useful to many besides young persons at school -to all, in short, whose minds have been awakened to a desire of knowledge; guiding them to the stores of English literature, and distinguishing for them those works which are most worthy of their attention.

EASTERN JUSTICE.-The following anecdote, though
rather illustrative of Moorish than Arab justice, merits
insertion, from the stern moral feeling which it dis-
plays:While the Emperor Seedy ben Muhammed,
his
way for the reduction of the Berber tribes, was
lying encamped on the edge of the desert, an Arab
sheikh found that his tent was visited nightly by some
person of high rank, whom he traced home to the
emperor's own quarters. Convinced of the grievous
injury done him, yet afraid to avenge himself on one
whom he believed to be a shereef or prince, he went
boldly to the emperor, and made his complaint. The
emperor, grieved to hear of such a gross breach of
hospitality, ordered that the Arab should come secretly
and inform him the next time the person was in his
This was accordingly done the following night
at midnight, when the emperor immediately arose,
repaired to the tent, and finding the guilty person
there, so that there could be no doubt of his crime,
struck him through with his lance. The body was
then, by his order, taken outside the tent, and lights for the ready acquisition of knowledge, and the per-
[Intellectual Education.] That he may be qualified
brought, when it was discovered to be that of an officer
of the imperial guard. No sooner had the emperor formance of the duties and labours of life, he must be
seen the face, than he prostrated himself on the ground, instructed in (I) Reading, at least in his own tongue,
and continued for some time in fervent prayer. The (2) Writing, (3) Arithmetic, and (4) Grammar, Ety-
courtiers, who were all now assembled to witness the mology, and Composition. That he may enter life
extraordinary occurrence, could not conceal their sur-
prise or curiosity to know the cause of his majesty's he is a part, and that society of which he is a member, lishers or their Agents.
with a mind informed respecting that creation of which
devotion; none, however, dared to ask, until the ein-
peror told them that he had gone alone to the tent, | and qualified as well as may be to perform the part

tent.

Other works are in a state of active preparation. LONDON: Published, with Permission of the Proprietors, by Ons & SMITH, Paternoster Row; and sold by G. BRROR, Holywell Street, Strand; 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 num-
bers to complete sets, may at all times be obtained from the Pub-
Stereotyped by A. Kirkwood, Edinburgh.
Printed by Bradbury and Evans (late T. Davison), Whitefriars.

[graphic]

CONDUCTED BY WILLIAM CHAMBERS, AUTHOR OF "THE BOOK OF SCOTLAND," &c., AND BY ROBERT CHAMBERS, AUTHOR OF "TRADITIONS OF EDINBURGH," "PICTURE OF SCOTLAND," &c.

No. 199.

WANTS.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1835.

SIR RICHARD STEELE was once reproached by the enthusiastic but disinterested Whiston, for having, in the House of Commons, given some votes contrary to his formerly professed opinions: his answer was, "Mr Whiston, you can walk on foot, but I cannot." A coach had become so essential to Steele, that, rather than want it, he would abandon some of his most cherished principles, and subject himself to the most odious of imputations. We may inquire if the purchase was worthy of its price.

*

PRICE THREE HALFPENCE.

those exertions, by which not only are their wants which, from coming broadly before the world, are the
most liberally supplied, but a wealth accumulated, subject of frequent censure, or have what may be
such as has enabled them to baffle almost a hostile called a bad repute, and console themselves by large
world. It is an unfavourable sign of a nation when gratification of others which are not so apt to lead to
it is easily contented. If, in foreign travel, you ar- reproof. Having, in common with the great bulk of
rive in a country where the inhabitants seem to enjoy mankind, no moral guide besides the voice of publie
themselves over a few dates, a bit of macaroni, or a opinion, they see no sin in any thing to which that
handful of garlic and onions, you may be assured that voice seldom adverts, but would be truly shocked by
that country is by no means in a good way. Its ex- the imputation of any indulgence which is commonly
ports and its imports will be alike trifling, and it would so called. This notion respecting indulgences is most
make but a poor appearance in the front of an invad-unphilosophical. There is, in reality, no want, which,
ing enemy.
in a certain extent and manner of indulgence, is not
legitimate and laudable, nor any object in nature,
which has not its proper application to our wants.
True virtue consists in the regulation of the desires,
not in their forcible suppression; and true wisdom in
the moderate appropriation and use of all the objects
of nature.

The same doctrine may be extended, with some
restrictions, to individuals. He who has few wants,
and is indifferent to the luxuries which he sees others
enjoying, will, if perfectly sincere, and not animated
by other motives, hardly ever do any thing great.
Ordinary merit will, under such circumstances, keep
an ordinary level, if it do not sink somewhat beneath But, while we have to deplore, alike in nations
it, while talents will be possessed in vain, or employed and in individuals, a too great indifference to comforts
upon matters unworthy of them. Upon a review of and luxuries, as apt to be allied to a character from
those whom I have known to forfeit opportunities of which no good can be expected, we have equally to
advancement, or fall into habits and spheres of life deprecate all excess, whether in the number or the
much beneath what appeared originally designed for quality of our wants. Let us not be indifferent to the
them, I am disposed to think, that, while many good things of the world; but neither let us place too
were shipwrecked by extravagance and profligacy, much of our happiness upon the indulgence of our de-
there were not a few whose ruin was owing to some- sires. He who errs in the one way may reasonably
thing like the reverse, a too feeble developement of be expected to come to nothing; but equally probable
those desires, to gratify which the most of men are is it that he who errs in the other way, will from good
daily toiling. Such men are said to want ambition-fall into great evil. Gluttony, drunkenness, avarice,
to have no spirit; when the simple truth is, that they
are in the condition of those nations, which spend age
after age without sensible improvement of any kind,
each generation being contented, like its fathers, with
dates, garlic, and macaroni.

It would be vain to deny that human wants are, in great part, the source of all that affluence and efficacy for which nations pride themselves. The poets and moralists of the last century declaimed against luxury as the bane of a people, and fondly wished for a return of the time when men were content with pulse, and little of that. But such moralisings, like all others which call for something beyond what human nature is disposed to grant, passed over the national mind like water shed from the glossy wing of the wild-duck, leaving no trace of its having ever been there. In reality, the tribes which live upon very simple fare, and care for no elegance either in their houses or their attire, are usually found at a very low point in both the scale of intellect and the scale of morality. Their contentment is only another word for nerveless indolence, and they are, of all others, the greatest rebels against the divine will, which certainly is that man shall use his faculties exercise the whole of them actively, harmoniously, and moderately for the improvement of his condition; many of these faculties being neither more nor less than wants. The difference, indeed, between the present state of the Turks and the British has a more express relation to the difference between their respective wants, than may be easily believed. The English have perhaps of all nations the greatest and most numerous wants-probably double what the French have, and ten times more than what animate many remoter nations. They are proverbially a grumbling people-dissatisfied in the midst of the most enviable enjoyments alike wealthy and discontented beyond all precedent. But this peculiarity of character, however absurd it may appear, is perhaps that which has prompted them together to suppress their desires, or so mingle mortifi

*The same idea prevailed among ancient nations in the midst

of their highest luxury, and their prevalence in the earlier ages of our own history is proved by those sumptuary laws, by which the legislature so vainly, and it may be added so unjustly, endeavoured to prevent the various ranks of men from enjoying the fruits of their industry or of their patrimonial possessions. "There is hardly," says Mr Macculloch, "a single article among those that are now reckoned most indispensable to existence, or a single improvement of any sort, which has not been denounced at its introduction as an useless superfluity, or as being in some way injurious. sable than shirts; but there are instances on record of individuals being put in the pillory for presuming to wear so expensive and unnecessary a luxury! Chimneys were not commonly used in England till the middle of the sixteenth century; and, in the introductory discourse to Hollinshed's Chronicles, published in 1577, there is a bitter complaint of the multitude of chimneys lately erected, of the exchange of straw pallets for mattrasses or flockbeds, and of wooden platters for earthen ware and pewter. In another place, he laments that nothing but oak is used for build

Few articles of clothing are at present considered more indispen

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ing, instead of willow as heretofore; adding that formerly our

houses indeed were of willow, but our men were of oak; but now

that our houses are of oak, our men are not only of willow, but some altogether of straw, which is a sore alteration.'"

"Refinement on the pleasures and conveniences of life, has no natural tendency," says David Hume, "to beget venality and corruption. The value which all men put upon any particular pleasure depends on comparison and experience; nor is a porter less greedy of money, which he spends on bacon and brandy, than a courtier who purchases champagne and ortolans. Riches are valuable at all times, and to all men, because they always pur

chase pleasures such as men are accustomed to and desire; nor can any thing restrain and regulate the love of money but a sense of honour and virtue, which, if it be not nearly equal at all times, will generally abound most in ages of knowledge aad refinement."

and ostentatious living, are but a few of the vices constituted by inordinate desires; and every one of them may lead to, or be exaggerated into, crime. Nor is it alone in these well-defined forms that inordinate wants may be manifested. There are thousands of ways in which they may beset us, and be productive of grievous error. The want or presumed necessity of riding in a coach, which caused Sir Richard Steele to pledge away his conscience, is but a specimen of the particular shapes which our desires will take.

Though this doctrine is fully acknowledged by the political economists, it may be somewhat startling to a considerable portion of society. The consequences of excessive desires are so conspicuously fatal, and the advantages and high morality of a restraining of them within moderate bounds are so obvious, that they be- The natural and invariable results of an excess of come in all shapes a subject of dread, and are apt to wants above the means of legitimately gratifying them, be condemned in the lump. There are many people, are either a load of debt, cramping the liberty and dewho, from conscientious motives, either struggle alto-stroying the dignity of the individual, or a stooping to ignoble and immoral means of increasing income. The independent man is he who has no wants which he cannot gratify without the least risk of being taken into bondage or tempted to dishonour: a man ten times richer, but with twenty times more wants, is in reality twice as poor. Of the lamentable moral sacrifices frequently occasioned by a disproportion between wants and the means of gratifying them, no more striking instance could be desired than that made by Steele for the sake of an equipage: it happens that the same man, who, though he knew well what was good, could not always practise it, has given in his writings as eloquent an illustration of the misery produced by debt-a misery from which his own prodigality scarcely ever suffered him to be free. "I am astonished," says this amiable but inconsistent character, "that men can be so insensible of the danger of running into debt. One would think it impossible [that] a man who is given to contract debts, should not know that his creditor has, from that moment in which he transgresses payment, so much as that demand comes to in his debtor's honour, liberty, and fortune. One would think he did not know that his creditor can say the worst thing imaginable of him, to wit, 'That he is unjust,' without defamation; and can seize his person without being guilty of an assault. Yet such is the loose and abandoned turn of some men's minds, that they can live under these constant apprehensions, and still go on to increase the cause of

cation with indulgence as to assure themselves that
they are doing no harm. The grumbling of the English
is perhaps in some measure designed as a kind of con-
trolling or damping power, to prevent the heart from
being too voluptuously happy; while their northern
neighbours, or at least such of them as preserve rural
and primitive manners, often show, by the grieving
solemnity with which they sit down to a meal, as if
they feared to acknowledge their gratification. There
is a hypocritical species of luxury, which may be ob-
served in many circles where open and candid indul-
gences are denounced. The pleasure of entertaining
an affectionate and respectful party of friends is de-
nied; a plainness in house and clothing is assumed;
and unlimited abuse is launched at all who, in any
way, can be presumed to lay themselves open to the
charge of profusion. But, beneath all this puritanism,
every kind of solacement that makes no show, is de-
murely indulged in. Gluttony and even drunkenness
are perhaps practised. Or at least no comfort of any
kind is wanted. So that fully more gratification, and
of a far more sordid and selfish kind, is appropriated,
than falls to the lot of those who are the objects of their
vituperation. The error of these individuals does not
so much arise from that obliquity which, according to
Butler, compounds for the beloved by condemning the
detested sin, as from the general dread entertained
respecting indulgences. They suppress the desires

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