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abode of her childhood, and she felt that in the depths
and fulness of domestic love, there was even more
In one of those fits
power than wealth can bestow.
of musing which occur to every rational mind, a letter
was brought to Caroline; she opened it, and found it
was from Horace, informing her "that the favourite
wish of his heart was now accomplished; Benson was,
after all that had passed, to become his brother, and
that the day was appointed for the marriage to take
place between him and Fanny.

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"My predictions with regard to him," he added, fast fulfilling; he is attaining eminence in his profession. I am commissioned by my parents, as well as the parties, to request that you and Mr Burrell will come on to the nuptials. They are to be private, and without show; but it is pleasant for families to congregate on these occasions. You need have no apprehension about Benson; he views your former engagement with him much in the same light as you do, one most happily set aside." With what anguish was this letter perused!

suffering and disappointment." "I have learnt no-
thing by it," again repeated Caroline. "I think you
have; you have learnt that wealth and fashion can,
in themselves alone, confer no happiness; and that
the only nobility in our land, worth possessing, is de-
rived from talent and virtue."

POPULAR INFORMATION ON SCIENCE.
VITALITY.

THE connection between mind and matter is a subject
of so much interest and importance, that we cannot
be surprised at the attention which has at all times
been paid to it. Hippocrates, the earliest inquirer
into medicine and physiology of whom we have any
remaining writings, found it necessary, in explaining
the functions and operations of the animal frame, to
establish a certain vital principle, which he termed

a period, terminate their being in death. Not one of all these qualities pertains to inorganic bodies; in them we perceive neither growth nor decay, birth, reproduction, nor death. We have thus a strong line drawn between living and inanimate bodies, and the actions which distinguish the former are very correctly termed organic. But though in this term are comprised all the phenomena exhibited in vegetable life, the vital properties of animals are by no means circumscribed within the same limits. Sensation and voluntary motion, or, in other words, the power of feeling, and of moving in accordance with that feeling, are the endowments which elevate the animal as much above the plant, as the latter transcends the stone in the quarry. These actions, peculiar to animal life, are called animal, in contradistinction to the organic; and under one or other of these two classes may be included

There was still, however, a pleasure in the idea of Physis, and to which he ascribed the superintendence every vital action performed by living creatures.

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going in style to the humble nuptials of her sister.
When Mr Burrell entered, she informed him of the
invitation. "Go, and welcome," said he, "but don't
"Shall I travel with two horses or four?"
asked the lady. Oh, four by all means; the stage-
coach is the best way of travelling." "You surely do
not mean to let your wife go in the public stage ?"
"Why not?-it was the way in which you were ac-
customed to travel before we became acquainted."
"Mr Burrell, it would be disgraceful to you to suf-
fer me to travel in that manner.
"Then stay at
home; the carriage and horses, I suppose, you will
allow are mine; I had the carriage built for my own
convenience; I am going a journey next month, and
shall want it. It is much better for you to go in the
style of your family.' "This is intolerable," said
Caroline, with a vehemence that sometimes overcame
her usual tact; 66 to be the wife of a man that is worth
millions, and derive no advantage from his wealth."
"Is it no advantage, madam, to live in a house like
this, to visit in the first circles, and to wear diamonds
when you please?" "None," said she, the truth
forcing its way, "compared to what I relinquished."
"And pray, madam, what did you relinquish ?"
"What you, had you lavished upon me all the wealth,
to which, as your wife, I am entitled, could never
have procured me-self-approbation!"

of all the corporeal actions, acknowledging at the
same time the separate existence of a mind or soul.
This doctrise was founded, no doubt, on the fact
that some of the most important functions of the
body are altogether independent of the power of the
The ancient
mind, though indispensable to life.
Greek attributed to the physis, or principle of vitality,
a certain degree of intelligence, which enabled it to
direct the operations entrusted to its guidance. It is
wonderful how long this theory continued, under va-
rious names, to hold its place in physiological science,
without any attempt to explain its character or pro-
perties. It had "
a local habitation and a name," but
was neither tangible, visible, nor intelligible. This
reproach is in some measure wiped away from modern
philosophy, because there is now before the world a
theory, which, whether true or not true, at least
aseribes the phenomena of life to an agent intelligible
to a considerable extent in its nature and operation.
This is the great power which, under some of its nu-
merous modifications, appears to pervade all matter
and space-the subtle electric fluid.

Under the head of the organic processes are comprehended the functions of nutrition, respiration, circulation, secretion, and excretion. Of all these, it is evident, the circulation of the blood is in some degree the most important, since all the others may be considered as subservient to it, and its cessation for a time, as in fainting, is a temporary death. The action of the heart, then, on which the motion of the blood depends, is one of the most obvious and most unequivocal characteristics of animal life. Admitting this, we will be less surprised at the importance ascribed to it by some physiologists, who have placed the vital principle in the blood itself; a supposition which has met with the ridicule of other writers. "It is as incorrect,” says the late Dr Gordon, "to say that blood enjoys life, as it is to maintain that malt possesses distillation. Blood is the material employed in the process, life the process itself." In the human body, the great importance of the animal processes is very obvious, since through them alone man is connected with external nature; the brain, the material organ of thought, and all the system of nerves, falling under this diviresemblance between some of the phenomena of elecOne of the first persons who pointed out the strong sion. And not only are the animal actions important to us, as the medium through which we are at every instant receiving impressions from the objects around tricity and the operations of the animal frame, was the illustrious anatomist John Hunter. In his time us, for the purpose of supplying the frame with the the knowledge of physiology and anatomy had ad- necessary support and other purposes essential to exvanced so far, that the old physis, or nature, of Hip- which unites the various parts of the body into one istence, but they also must be viewed as the sole bond pocrates, the moving principle of Aristotle, the anima great and harmonious whole. The instant that any or soul of Stahl, &c. were very generally rejected as one of the senses receives an impression from without, ridiculous; but at this point the advancement had with the rapidity of a lightning-flash the nerve atstopped. When Mr Hunter's theory was brought for-tached to the individual sense communicates with the ward, mankind, cautioned by the failure of all his predecessors, were slow in giving admission to it; and

We sometimes from habit, or want of thought, rely too much upon the obtuseness of minds that we estimate lowly. This was the case with Caroline. She in several instances had suffered her disgust or indignation to vent itself in words, of which she did not realise the strength. The undisciplined prepare scorpion whips for themselves. Her ill-disguised contempt and aversion first broke down the common barriers of forbearance; and when her husband became convinced that she had no affection for him, he heartily repaid her aversion. Seenes of accusation and retort followed. Burrell assured her she had full permission to return to her boasted home, and remain there as long as she pleased. Caroline replied, that it was the first wish of her heart; even in the half century which has nearly passed since, but, as his wife, she was entitled to a suitable main- it has been gaining credence only by slow degrees, tenance. It would be painful and useless to detail though numerous corroborating facts have been obthe low altercations that followed, before a paltry pit-served from time to time. Before stating the grounds tance was granted. It may easily be imagined in what manner they parted, and with what sensations she returned to her early home. In one sense she had accomplished all for which she had panted-wealth, fashion, and diamonds; and her present allowance she was at liberty to dignify by the name of pin money. The morning before her departure, she gave orders to a servant to desire her creditors to send in their bills to Mr Burrell the ensuing week. His rage may easily be imagised, when they poured in upon him; but after consulting gentlemen of the law, he concluded to pay

them.

mission.

which led Mr Hunter to the proposition of the electric
theory of life, it will be necessary to state briefly what
the phenomena are which he proposes to explain by
its means.

It cannot be said that life is inseparable from, or
resides in, any particular modification of form or or-
ganisation, for the forms of living bodies are infinite,
remain unchanged long after the animating principle
and in almost all of them, both form and organisation
has left the body possessing them. Neither can it be
maintained for a moment that life consists in sensa-
tions or voluntary motion, because, by disease or by
accident, portions of the human body, nay, the whole
of it sometimes, has been deprived for a long period of
sense and motion, all the involuntary functions which
distinguish the sleep of man from death still remaining
in vigour. One remarkable instance is on record of a
sailor, who, having received a blow on the head in the
island of Minorca, was deprived for seven months of
all sense and motion, and was restored to the posses-
sion of all his faculties by the operation of trepanning,
in London. Since vitality, then, is not inseparably de-

common centre of perception, and an idea of the ex

ternal object is at once attained. With the same won

derful celerity is the will of the being conveyed from
the centre of volition to the most distant part of the
frame, and its commands obeyed. That the brain and
operations, is doubted by none; but how such a trans-
nervous system are the important agents in these
mission of sensations is effected, has been the subject
of endless disputation. If there really is a subtle and
invisible agent passing along the course of the nerves,
and resident to a certain extent in the system, serving
as the universal medium of communication, its im-
portance to life, if it is not the vital energy itself,
cannot be questioned. All muscular motion, includ-
ing the action of the heart and arteries, the sensibi-
three principal theories regarding the nature of this
lity of every organ in the body, and the execution of
the mind's commands, are dependent on it. The
nervous energy are the following:-The first assumes
the existence of a specific power, altogether unique in
its nature, secreted from the blood in the brain, which
evolves it, as occasions require, over the whole body.
This doctrine was derived, as we have mentioned al-
ready, from Hippocrates; but, unfortunately, though
venerable for its antiquity, the theory is incapable of
the slightest proof, and it would be a mere waste of
words to examine it. The second doctrine supposes
that the transmission of nervous power is effected by
means of the vibrations or oscillations of the par-
ticles of the nervous matter itself; while the third
ascribes the action of the nerves to the operation
of electricity. The former of these has the ad-
vantage of not requiring the supposition of any agent;
but it is to be doubted if it has any other merit.
has been made upon an organ of sense, the effect is
continued for some time after the impressing cause
is removed, and that it gradually subsides in a way
This is, how-
analogous to a vibratory motion.
ever, a supposition highly inconsistent with our know-
ledge of the rapid action of the nervous power, and
also with the fact that that power can be transmitted,
notwithstanding the destruction of a portion of the nerve
in action. Many proofs of this have been observed,
and must weigh strongly with every inquirer into this
theory, because any breach of continuity must cer-
tainly put an effectual barrier to the propagation of
the vibratory action. The same argument cannot be
used against the third doctrine, which holds the ner-

Caroline arrived in season to witness the nuptials of her sister. What a contrast to her own! For the first time, she felt, that, if there is a paradise on earth, it is formed by mutual affection. How could she help comparing Benson, in all the grace of youthful intellect and manly beauty, to Burrell! The thought was agony, and, unable to command her tears, she flew to her room. Horace followed her, and begged for adMy dear brother," said she, I return to you an altered creature. I detest the very sound of wealth and fashion, and I perfectly despise my own folly in supposing there could be happiness in either. I only wish now to forget all that has passed, and I hope you will forget it too." No, Caroline, I cannot forget it, nor do I wish you to forget the past. If we rightly remember our errors, they become eventually sources of improvement. An author has ob- pendent on sensation, for this we see may be totally Its supporters maintain, that, when an impression served, that in every one's life there have been thousands of feelings, each of which, if strongly seized upon, and made the subject of reflection, would have shown us what our character was, and what it was likely to become.' In the early aspirations of your mind, you may read your history thus far; do not, therefore, strive to banish wholesome reflection, but convert it to its best purposes, moral discipline." "I am sure," said Caroline, "I have had enough of discipline since I married, and I don't see that I am at all the better for it."

"There is no magical power in discipline that compels us to improve," said Horace; "but it is our own fault if we do not accept improvement from lessons of

suspended for a long time; since neither is it resident in
any particular form of organisation, for living bodies ex-
hibit endless varieties of form; some other characteris-
tic marks must be sought for in drawing the distinction
between animated and inanimate matter. The power
of appropriating or absorbing quantities of foreign
matter as food, and of converting this food into
their own proper substance, is the best characteristic
both of living animals and vegetables. They have
also the property of maintaining a certain tempera-
ture; they derive their existence from a parent; they
can produce an image of themselves, and they all, after

vous energy to depend on electricity, as we know that a slight breach of continuity would not impede the passage of the electric fluid, more particularly when the parts of the body surrounding the divided nerve might act as partial conductors.

The early experiments of Volta and others on the subject of electricity, showed its astonishing effects on the muscles of some animals, and its power in producing actions in them analogous to the phenomena of life. When applied to the human body, its operations were found to be not less wonderful, and suggested without doubt the electric theory of life. It ought, perhaps, to be explained, that controversies have long existed on the subject of the contractile power of the muscles, one party maintaining that it is inherent in the muscular fibre itself, while others believe in its derivation from the nerves. Physiologists in general are now inclined to admit that the intervention of the nervous energy is necessary in all those muscles which are under the power of the will, though it is still doubted whether the involuntary muscles, such as the heart, are dependent on the same stimulus. The probability that they are so, will be explained afterwards. It is through the nerves that the electric fluid has been applied to the muscles of the dead human body; and we shall mention one instance, related by Dr Ure, where the effect produced was fearfully similar to life. The experiment was made on the body of a murderer, who had suffered for his guilt in Glasgow, some years ago. Certain nerves were laid bare, and an instrument of great power was brought to bear on them. At the instant of contact, the corpse started into apparent life, striking a bystander forcibly with one of the arms, as it rese to a sitting position. The face was convulsed in the most terrific manner, surpassing, according to the description, the wildest representations of a Fuseli or a Kean. Some of the gentlemen fainted, others left the room, and all were glad to put an end to the horrible exhibition. The effect produced by the electric fluid on the nerves, and through them on the muscles, of the dead body, may be in some respects compared to the convulsed and contorted appearance often to be observed in persons in whom, from disease or insanity, the balancing power of the mind is unsettled; and, considering the brain as a centre of the nervous energy, the resemblance arises, according to the electrical hypothesis, from the irregular application and action of the power

in both cases.

Besides the property, visible on the simplest trial, of exciting muscular contraction, on which all locomotion depends, some celebrated experiments were made upon the digestive apparatus of animals, which go far to prove an equal influence on that part of the animal machine. Before relating these, it may be necessary to state that electricity and galvanism are held in this paper as merely modifications of the same principle; an opinion now very generally received in science, and indeed almost beyond doubt. The galvanic power was employed in the experiments mentioned, which consisted in the division of the nerves on which the action of the stomach has been thought to depend, thus destroying the nervous connection of the latter with the brain. This was done in two animals, to both of which food was subsequently given. The one animal was left to itself, and on examination, after a

proper period, the food was found undigested. Through the stomach of the other animal a galvanic current was transmitted, and digestion went on as if the nerves had not been at all injured; proving, with as much certainty as the subject admits of, that digestion, as well as locomotion, may be set in action to some extent by the operation of the electro-galvanic power. If we find in those wonderful animals, the torpedo, conger, and others, a nervous system unusually large, it must surely go a great way to impress the belief that their electrical power resides in that system. And not only is this the case, but it is well known that their electricity is never exhausted without the nervous system being reduced to a similar state. The number and magnitude of the nerves in these animals, besides being entirely disproportionate to their size, seem necessary neither for their motion, nor for their subsistence, which would lead us to believe that they are intended for the formation, collection, and management of the electric fluid. The structure and textures of their brain and nerves are different in nothing but magnitude from those of animals not endowed with the same surprising powers; and, to heighten the whole analogy, these powers are subject to the will of the creatures which possess them.

as a troop of uncultivated wretches? I once remonstrated with a German with whom I was intimate, on the frightful crime he was committing by picking his teeth with a fork. "You English," said he, "are the strangest people under the sun. You pay attention to the absurd pieces of finical nonsense, and sometimes forget the essence of good breeding. Look at your countryman opposite there is not his superciliousness of a more insulting nature to the company? Is not the scorn which he expresses for every one around, a crime much more deep against good-breeding than the simple action of putting a fork into one's mouth with nothing upon it ?”

the course of the nerves), are considered as central
points from, and to, which electrical or nervous sensa-
tions proceed, we have an explanation of all the mo-
tions and feelings that are under the power of the will,
but still the action of the heart, and all the other in-
voluntary motions, remain to be accounted for. Here
a portion of the nervous system, long observed and
described by anatomists, but little understood, finds a
distinct use. This is the great sympathetic branch of
the nervous system, from which all the organic actions
of the body are supplied in part with their necessary
exciting power. The numerous ganglia, or knobs, on
the great sympathetic nerve, have been sometimes
termed little brains; but their purpose is confessed, by
the best physiologists, to be still a matter of conjecture.
The utility of such a separate system of nerves for the
service of the involuntary functions of the body, is evi-
Such questions were somewhat difficult to answer;
dent, since for them, to a certain extent, a system se-
parate from that affected by the will, is required. and, upon reflection, I think the German had sense
Thus, upon this point also, the electric hypothesis of on his side. Every nation has its peculiar foibles, and
sensation is not devoid of resources or probability. One of course we have ours. An English baronet, a mem-
of the most ardent supporters of the electric, or, as he ber for a large town, declared in my hearing that the
calls it, the electro-magnetic principle, is Mr Cunning- disgraceful conduct of the high sheriff of his county,
ham of the British navy. This gentleman, who is of
the medical profession, considers the hair as the prin- at whose right hand he sat at a public dinner, had
cipal medium through which electro-magnetism is sup- obliged him to leave the table. Now, this disgraceful
plied to the body, when a partial exhaustion has taken conduct consisted in eating cheese with a knife. Thus,
place. Among other proofs of the activity of the hair peculiar fancies regulate the notions of refined breed-
in this respect, he informs us that the superior hairying in every country, and it is at all times best to re-
structure of man gives him a muscular as well as in-
tellectual superiority over woman, whose silkier hair
and downy covered skin precludes a sufficiency of elec-
tro-magnetism being received or emitted when great
intellectual or muscular efforts are demanded. This
is but one out of numberless conjectures which this
extraordinary writer presents to his readers, and to
which it is needless in this place further to advert.

A FEW DAYS AT HAMBURG.

Or all the towns in Germany, Hamburg is perhaps
the most agreeable to an Englishman, as he here finds
his own language spoken so generally, that he scarcely
feels himself in a foreign country. The drivers of
hackney-carriages, the boatmen on the Elbe, the
waiters at hotels, all have a smattering of English;
and even theatrical representations are repeatedly
The sensation is al-
given in our own dear tongue.
together different from that which is felt at entering
other strange towns, for the moment you disembark
from the London steamer, you are saluted in your own
language. No sooner have you gone through the
formality, at the floating custom-house on the Elbe,
of declaring your name and standing, than you en-
counter a crowd of porters and coachmen.
"A coach,
sir ?" "Where do you want your luggage carried to,
sir ?" meet you from a hundred voices.
Depositing yourself in a coach, and carried to the
Hotel de Russie, you have still nothing but the ver-
nacular. "Do you wish a sitting-room, or merely a bed-
room, sir?" is the question of the Herr Wiedeman, as

he receives you, smoking his yard of clay.

How agreeable this is, will be appreciated by those who have travelled much and far, and have been in situations where the ignorance of a barbarous Sclavonic dialect was attended with the privation of every

necessary convenience.

At the table d'hôte, English divides the conversation with German, and an opportunity is afforded you of enjoying an entertaining meal. The waiters are all attention: "What wine do you take ?" says one, handing you a card with the various qualities and prices. “What would you wish to eat?” asks another, holding before your nose a card of the multifarious viands.

The scene at a German table d'hôte is infinitely amusing and cheering. Every one seems disposed to enjoy the fleeting hour. All dull and freezing formality is laid aside, but a propriety of behaviour and gentle courtesy is observed, which is altogether charming. It speaks the character of the country. The calm and sedate German yet knows well how to enhance the pleasures of life, and, without indulgence in excess, promotes hilarity and good-fellowship. A French or Italian table d'hôte is altogether different. There the noise of tongues is quite deafening; nor is that regard to extreme cleanliness, and the outward signs of comfort, so scrupulously attended to, either by the host or the guests. Whatever may be the opinion of French politeness, I do confess the decorum and quiet suavity of the German appears to me equally entitled to admiration. A person always finds in another country some observances which are revolting to him. It is his notions of propriety only that are offended, net, perhaps, propriety itself. Thus we are taught to consider the picking of teeth with a fork as If the brain, the spinal marrow, and the ganglia a most unpardonable abomination, yet the Germans (knobs situated in certain parts of the body along I do it universally. Are they, therefore, to be set down

"A variety of facts clearly proves the electric fluid to be essentially connected with the human frame; it will dart from long hair when combed in frosty weather; it will inflate a silk stocking when drawn from the leg. In damp and hazy weather, when electricity is carried off from bodies by humidity, our spirits become languid, and our sensibility less acute; the nerves lose their tension and elasticity: and on high mountains spontaneous flashes have darted from the fingers, the body containing more than the surrounding rarified and conducting air; an electric shock has given tone to a flaccid fibre, and restored the languid circulation of a local part to the condition of the rest of the body. Insulated and connected with the conductor, the pulsation is increased, and even the last effort of expiring life is called into action by electricity, when every

other stimulant would fail."-Walker's Lectures.

spect them, and, with as much versatility as possible, to assume the habits, if not the opinions, of the different nations amongst which destiny may throw

you.

A summer evening in Hamburg is delightful. The street upon which the Hotel de Russie is situated, the Jungfernstieg (Young Ladies' Walk), runs along the Alster, a broad sheet of water, round the sides of which is a promenade, with trees on each side. Upon this promenade in an evening appears the entire population.

Bands of music play at the doors of all the cafés which line the water, and upon the Alster itself are numberless boats filled with the young of both sexes, who keep up a perpetual concert of vocal as well as instrumental music. Sometimes you hear a solitary voice, which you recognise for a female's, the beauty of which has silenced the playful throng. Then again a warlike clang meets the ear, and anon a plaintive melody. The wondrous music of the Der Freyschutz now quickens the pulsation, whilst lofty thoughts are engendered, as the Zauberflöte, with its solemn strains, floats along the surface of the water. As you stand upon the bridge over the Alster, having it between you and the town, and contemplate in the twilight the scene before and around you, the mind is struck with its variety and beauty. The water, spreading out before you, is

studded with the little boats of vocalists and musicians. On the land, the thickly crowded promenades present the eye with a moving mass scarce distinguishable, whilst the hum of voices breaks upon the ear in the intervals of the music. In the distance, the brilliantly lighted cafés, some of them upon the very water, with their crowded saloons, have a magical appearance, and recal to the mind the gorgeousness of Bagdad or of Cairo in their golden day. The brilliant lights upon the surface of the water throw into gloom the lofty houses of the street, and space is given to the imagination to roam in its wildest range. You may pass in reverie to the glories of faded cities, and create them

again in pristine splendour.

How happy are these people! thought I, as I broke from the dream of fancy into which I was rapidly falling. With such music-with such a joyous scene before them, misery can have no tale to tell. I turned my eyes over the opposite parapet of the bridge, and looked upon the Alster, which, after being dammed into a narrow channel over which the bridge is thrown, expands again into a broad sheet of water. Immediately below the bridge, is placed across the stream a barrier with a guard-house, to prevent any ingres into the town after the time of shutting the gates. It sometimes happens that water-parties returning from excursions up the Alster, arrive too late, and must land at this guard-house, leaving their boat to take care of itself. Upon this evening a party of young men were thus intercepted. "Who's there?" cried the sentinel, as the splashing of the oar was heard. "Open the gate," said a voice in English, adding the usual courteous imprecation. "Is it past nine?" asked a German in the boat. "Yes, long past nine," replied the sentinel, standing on the platform of his guardhouse. "Take care and don't go near the barrier, for fear of the iron spikes. You must land here." "What's to be done with the boat, then ?" "One of you can stay and guard it all night, if you please; at four in the morning the barrier will be opened." Stay all

night on the water!" cried they in the boat; "we will
force the barrier first." "Force the barrier!" ex-
claimed the sentinel in a sneering tone; "if you go
near it, you'll swamp the boat. Mind I tell you."
"What does the ruffian say ?" asked the voice in
English.
At this moment the sound of a concussion was heard,
and immediately after a loud splash. A body had
fallen into the water. "I told you so," said the sen-
tinel. Somebody overboard!" "It's an English-
man," cried they in the boat; "quick! quick! bring
a light!"

The sentinel brought a glimmering lamp, opening it, and throwing the light upon the group on the water. It cast a twinkling glare upon the boat, but rendered the gloom around more impenetrable. Here, indeed, was a contrast to what I had just beheld! To turn suddenly from the lively scenes of revelry and joy, to those of death and woe, is subject enough of melancholy. But now my sympathies were roused more nearly. The voice of a countryman to be heard in a foreign land; and, ere its accents were yet hushed, to know that he was in his death-struggle! I would have rushed forward, but all approach was barred. A long circuit was requisite to reach the nearest gate of the town, through which the guard-house was to be gained. I had therefore to watch the scene in silence and in agony.

I shouted in English to the drowning man to give token where he was, but all was silent. Not a movement was heard in the water. He must have sunk instantly, and possibly never rose again. The scene was therefore closed. Nothing more could be done, and the party in the boat reluctantly landed. I also turned away, but still kept walking on the banks of the Alster, which are laid out in beautiful shrubberies to the edge of the water. How changed were then my reflections! Sudden death, how fearful is thy warning! Youth cut off in the moment of forgetfulness, how solemn the lesson! For two hours I paced up and down watching if any thing could yet be seen. But I saw nothing, and in a melancholy mood I took my way to the hotel. I learnt next day that the deceased was the son of the widow of an English officer, who had retired to Hamburg upon her pittance from the government, as a cheap place. Her drowned boy was only twenty, and he had been promised an ensigncy in a couple of months.

government, which she had come to Hamburg to en-
joy. This last misfortune had, I was subsequently
told, bereaved her of her senses, and rendered her
mind a perfect wreck. She sank into a morose mad-
ness, and her sensibilities were aroused only when, at
some lucid interval, the recollection of her son came
across her mind. At such times she would weep and
call upon his name, until the excess of her feelings
again chased away reason, and she relapsed into moral
nonentity.

NEW WAY OF EDUCATING YOUNG

LADIES.

ONE of the most agreeable privileges we have felt to
belong to us, in the management of a periodical work
of almost universal circulation, is the power it has con-
ferred of making known to one place the improvements
that are taking place in another, with a view to their
being extended over the empire. We are desirous, in
the present instance, of giving general publicity to a
scheme of education for young ladies, which has lately
been attempted in Edinburgh, and bids fair to prove,
in more respects than one, very highly advantageous.
Hitherto, in the education of young ladies, music

The scheme of female education which we are desirous of introducing to general notice, was originated in Edinburgh in the autumn of 1834. It is exemplified in two institutions, the elder and original of which is denominated "the Scottish Institution for the Education of Young Ladies," and is conducted after the following plan. A large house, in an elegant part of the city, and connected with some of the beautiful ornamented grounds which we had lately occasion to describe, is set apart for the use of the institution, being placed, with a regard to general management, under the care of a respectable and accomplished lady, who has been accustomed to such a charge. The founders and proprietors of the school are a company of teachers, who have associated for the purpose of earrying it on, and are the sole adventurers in the underpreviously in successful professional practice, and whose taking. The whole of these teachers are individuals names, therefore, are in some measure a guarantee for the efficacy of the scheme. The various branches taught are-1, elocution and composition; 2, history and geography; 3, writing, arithmetic, and book-keeping; 4, theory of music, and the piano-forte; 5, singing; 6,drawing and perspective; 7, mathematics, astronomy, and mathematical geography; 8, French language and literature; 9, Italian language and literature; 10, German language and literature; 11, dancing and calisthenics. Lectures are also delivered in the course

"What is become of him? do you see nothing of and one or two similar accomplishments have borne of each season, upon-1, natural philosophy; 2, chehim ?" asked they of each other. Fear and terror had nearly the same disproportion to other and more ne-mistry; 3, botany; 4, geology and mineralogy; 5, seized upon them all. cessary studies, which has been borne by classical li- ancient and modern history. For each of these deterature in the education of young men. No one partments there is at least one teacher. A young lady, condemns classical literature as a branch of liberal entering on the 1st of October, and continuing to the education, nor would any one desire that music were close of the session, at the end of July, is considered as an annual pupil, and pays five guineas quarterly; banished from the range of female accomplishments. attendance for shorter periods is, we believe, no part But a vast proportion of the thinking persons of this of the plan. For this sum the pupil may attend any realm are disposed to allow that these branches of inone or the whole of the teachers and lecturers in the struction have been too exclusively and too indiscriminately cultivated. To a great proportion of the sons of persons in the middle walks of life, classical literature is not of nearly so much use as many other studies too often sacrificed to it; it is only, moreover, a few minds which, in early life, really possess an aptitude to acquire it at all. In like manner, it is only a certain, though perhaps larger relative proportion of young ladies, who are fitted to attain any skill in music; while even those who are decidedly apt, must labour for years before they can communicate much To pay the bereaved mother a visit appeared to me an act of necessary duty. I ascertained the place of pleasure by their performances. Hitherto our views her abode, and directed my steps thither. She lived of education for both men and women, but in a more in one of those beautiful little houses in the Vorstadt, especial degree for the latter, have been miserably lior suburbs, situated in a small garden. The windows mited. "When Lord Chesterfield," says a newspaper of the house were closed, and gave token of the deso-writer, with whose sentiments on this point we entirely lation within. I found the disconsolate mother sitting in her parlour weeping. I related to her how chance had made me the sad spectator of the catastrophe which she mourned, and offered such services as a stranger might render.

"I have need of none," said she. Then rising and bursting into a flood of tears, "Will you see my boy ?" she asked, in an agonising

tone.

She led me up the stairs into an apartment where the dead body lay. It was already in the coffin, but the lid was not yet nailed down. "They have mangled him severely," said she, as she removed the covering from his face, and pointed to a deep gash down his cheek. "Oh, how beautiful he was!" exclaimed the unfortunate mother" the image of his poor father. At least I shall know where my son lies," continued she; my husband fell at New Orleans, and is buried I know not where!" She kissed the clayey lips, and replaced the covering.

66

66

"If you are returning to England," said she, "I will give you a small commission to execute; it is the only favour you can render me. I have been so used to misfortune that I do not need consolation." "I am but shortly arrived from England," said I, "and am proceeding into Prussia; but I can forward any letters you may wish, or get any thing done for you.' "Oh no," replied she; "a distant relative of mine lives in the town-a merchant; he does every thing of that sort for me I require. And now, sir, whether curiosity or a better motive have led you here, I thank you," added she, somewhat haughtily. Madam," observed I," there was little curiosity to gratify: I had merely a wish"- "Well, I know what you are going to say," said she, interrupting me. know my heart is hardened? I have been an outcast from my father's house, and have endured most of the miseries that can beset this weary pilgrimage. I have told you I need no consolation-I wish no spectator of my griefs. I would be alone," added she, looking at me with a sternness almost ferocious. Petrified with amazement, I bowed and retired. "Lock the door," were the last words I heard her utter, as she gave the order to her servant girl.

"Do you

The result of the inquiries I made concerning this strange woman was, that she had made a runaway match with her late husband, and had been in consequence forbidden to approach her father by person or by letter. She had followed her husband into the Peninsula, and had endured much misery at Lisbon during the campaigns. The American war broke out, and her husband was one of the victims of New Orleans. She had suffered severe penury for several years, but at last had obtained a small pension from

concur, " called women children of a larger growth,'
his scorn was misdirected. He should have libelled
the other sex, who have curtailed the female mind of
its fair proportions, by a frivolous and enervating edu-
cation. Nature, in bestowing the same faculties on
both sexes, clearly indicated that they were to be em-
ployed on the same objects. Women require special
training for the duties of a mother, and men for those
of a profession. Beyond this, it is nature's dictate,
that the whole field of intellectual study (with some
small and obvious exceptions) should be open to both.
Each sex has indeed its peculiar aptitudes; but all the
sublime truths of physical science, all the instructive
themes of morals and religion, are within the capacity
of either. Considered as a source of pure enjoyment,
it is unjust and tyrannical to shut out the female sex
from scientific pursuits: Two-thirds of the happiness
of married life ought to lie in companionship; and
does any one doubt that an enlightened man will pre-
fer a companion who can exchange ideas with him on
all the most profound and interesting subjects of cogi-
tation, to one whose thoughts are incapable of rising
above frivolous gossip? Then, as to the maternal re-
lations, whether will a son reap more improvement
from, or feel greater respect for, an intellectual wo-
man, or a mere notable housewife! The married
lady of the Chesterfieldean school certainly occupies
no very elevated moral position. She is kept in her
lord's house partly as a sort of upper domestic to su-
perintend the ménage, partly as a small artist to amuse
the guests with indifferent music, and partly as a holi-
day figure to be covered with finery, and exhibited at
the head of the table. Any knowledge beyond the
common odds-and-ends of fashionable education, pro-
cures for the lady the unenviable distinction of a fe-
male pedant, a bore, or a blue stocking! Luckily the
manners and prejudices in which these barbarous no-
tions originated, are fast disappearing; and changes
are now in progress which will restore women to their
proper rank as intellectual beings, and which will at
the same time render them better wives, better mothers,
more happy in themselves, and more respected."*

*Scotsman, November 4, 1835.

establishment at pleasure. It is perhaps not to be de-
sired that any young person should be instructed in
so many branches at once; but, even supposing that
she attends but one half, the economy and convenience
of the plan are still obvious. The proper time for judg-
ing of the success of the institution is not yet, perhaps,
manifested great anxiety to impress a conviction respect-
arrived. But the teachers, in their first Report, have
ing the adequacy of the pains taken with each individual
pupil. The time expended upon each is necessarily less
than what is given in private teaching; but while, in
the musical department, the Logierian system, to which
stated by the directors, that, in even the most common
numbers are indispensable, is adopted, it is expressly
and familiar branches, such as English, writing, and
the languages, the classes are not more numerous than
those of many popular teachers in town, no more
being admitted than can be efficiently instructed.”
at least two other advantages. As the temper and
Besides the economy of the plan, it seems to possess
disposition of a pupil do not appear to each master at
first in the same light, and as an erroneous opinion may
be hastily formed, which a little mutual communication
among the masters may remove, the combination of
so many teachers under one roof is obviously most ad-
vantageous. By attending, moreover, every requisite
master upon one spot, much inconvenience and loss
of time are spared to the pupil. It is thus also possible
for the lady superintendant so to mix recreation with
study, that no risk of pursuing the latter to a danger-

ous extent is incurred.

66

According to a Report published by the directors after a year's experience, "Every endeavour has been made, in the scientific department, to render the various studies interesting and profitable. It has been thought a stretch of enterprise and liberality, in some public schools for young gentlemen, to have lectures on all these subjects delivered by one teacher, and public commendation has been lavishly bestowed on the undertaking; but, in this institution, four subjects were treated individually by lecturers who have long In these courses, the extensive apparatus and specibeen zealously devoted to their respective branches. mens which belong to these lecturers were made available. The explanations were accompanied by a great variety of experiments and practical illustrations, and, in some of the classes, an examination followed the lecture. In the chemical class, the ladies answered many questions, wrote exercises, and practised, under Dr Reid's superintendence, many useful experiments. In botany, the lectures were illustrated by drawings, and by a great variety of plants; and in geology, specimens were regularly inspected after the lecture. To afford every facility on this and other subjects, a library and museum are already in a state of considerable forwardness. In natural philosophy, the lectures were illustrated by a great variety of experiments, and were also followed by examinations. Connected with the scientific department, the class for mathematics is especially session (by about forty ladies); and this branch, hiworthy of notice. It was well attended during the therto reckoned beyond the range of a lady's education, was, according to the report of Mr Lees, studied with the most complete success.

education being taught in the Scottish Institution, an From the circumstance of the highest branches of idea has gone abroad, that it is chiefly intended for what is called a finishing school, and that great benefit can be derived only by those ladies who are already considerably advanced in their education. That such ladies will derive benefit from their attendance, there is no doubt; but that the institution is chiefly intended

for them, is erroneous. On the contrary, if parents wish their daughters to receive a full and complete course of instruction, and to leave the institution perfectly educated in all the various branches, they are advised to send them when young.

This institution not only recommends those branches which are yet but partially admitted to be desirable for ladies, but by its provisions encourages the study of them. The payment of one fee induces many to attend to subjects which they would otherwise have neglected. Had a separate charge been made for every branch, several classes would have been little attended, and this would probably have been the case with those branches, the introduction of which has been reckoned of so great importance.

Founded on this new and comprehensive plan, the progress of the institution has been watched with much solicitude; and the support which it has received is such as to justify the hope that it will be eminently successful. Though opened only in November 1834, at a period when most pupils had made their engagements for the ensuing season, about one hundred pupils have passed through it this session, many of whom came from distant parts of the kingdom.

Inquiry may naturally be made, whether the system of emulation is to be pursued in the management of the various classes. In the classes for languages, and in the ordinary branches attended by the junior pupils, it is reckoned indispensable. It is also proposed that pupils who have gone through a regular course of instruction, and whose progress shall have been certified by all the teachers and lecturers, shall receive a certificate or diploma from the institution. Monthly reports of the progress and conduct of the pupils will be drawn out by the teachers, and forwarded by the lady superintendant to those parents and guardians who may wish to receive them. And whilst parents are admitted at any time to visit the establishment, they are especially invited to attend during the last week of each quarter, when a recapitulation of the lessons will take place in all the classes, in order to give them an opportunity of judging of the progress of the pupils.

An improvement in national education, then, is evidently introduced by this institution, as it offers an extensive and liberal course of instruction to those whose example and influence in society are universally acknowledged. The education of women does not influence the tastes and opinions of present society alone -it affects those of succeeding generations. According to the system of education hitherto pursued, few females have had opportunities of enlightening their minds on many of the most common appearances of nature; and if a child, in its natural curiosity and eagerness, asks a solution of any little difficulty, he is often discouraged in his research by an unsatisfactory answer. But if the mind of the mother were initiated in the study of those subjects which render the works of the universe around her intelligible, she could point out to her children, not merely their external beauty, but that wise and more hidden arrangement, which expands the flower, and variegates the rainbow, and works in a thousand common objects-and make them, in more than a poetical sense, to find

Tongues in the trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in every thing.'

Thus would an early habit of reflection be imparted, and the sympathies and associations of youth blended with subjects, of which the rudiments are always acquired with difficulty in later years."

ciples of the science, and to fix them better in the memory. The novelty of the thing; the sight of so many happy young females, whose faces were beaming with beauty, health, and vivacity, so employed, gave no small degree of interest to the spectacle. We could not help feeling that it was one of the 'signs' which prognosticate, that the coming age will not be exactly the 'double' of the present."

THE EGGERS OF LABRADOR. [A third volume of that most delightful work on natural history, the Ornithological Biography of North America, by the indefatigable Audubon, has just appeared. Among a number of interesting papers which it offers for perusal, is the following, on a class of characters never before heard of in this country.]

THE distinctive appellation of Eggers is given to certain persons who follow, principally or exclusively, the avocation of procuring the eggs of wild birds, with the view of disposing of them at some distant port. Their great object is to plunder every nest, whenever they can find it, no matter where, and at whatever risk. They are the pest of the feathered tribes, and their brutal propensity to destroy the poor creatures after they have robbed them, is abundantly gratified whenever an opportunity presents itself.

Much had been said to me respecting these destructive pirates before I visited the coast of Labrador, but I could not entirely credit all their cruelties until I had actually witnessed their proceedings, which were such as to inspire no small degree of horror. But you shall judge for yourself.

See yon shallop shyly sailing along; she sneaks like a thief, wishing as it were to shun the very light of heaven. Under the lee of every rocky isle some one at the tiller steers her course. Were his trade an honest one, he would not think of hiding his back behind the terrific rocks that seem to have been placed there as a resort to the myriads of birds that annually visit this desolate region of the earth, for the purpose of rearing their young, at a distance from all disturbers of their peace. How unlike the open, the bold, the honest mariner, whose face needs no mask, who scorns to skulk under any circumstances! The vessel herself is a shabby thing.-her sails are patched with stolen pieces of better canvass, the owners of which have probably been stranded on some inhospitable coast, and have been plundered, perhaps murdered, by the wretches before us. Look at her again! Her sides are neither painted, nor even pitched; no-they are daubed over, plastered and patched with stripes of seal-skin, laid along the seams. Her deck has never been washed or sanded; her hold—for no cabin has she-though at present empty, sends forth an odour pestilential as that of a charnel-house. The crew, eight in number, lie sleeping at the foot of their tottering mast, regardless of the repairs needed in every part of her rigging. But see! she scuds along, and as I suspect her crew to be bent on the commission of some evil deed, let us follow her to the first harbour.

There rides the filthy thing! The afternoon is half over. Her crew have thrown their boat overboard; they enter and seat themselves, each with a rusty gun. One of them sculls the skiff towards an island for a century past the breeding place of myriads of guillemots, which are now to be laid under contribution. At the approach of the vile thieves, clouds of birds rise from the rock and fill the air around, wheeling and screaming over their enemies. Yet thousands remain in an erect posture, each covering its single egg, the hope of both parents. The reports of several muskets, loaded with heavy shot, are now heard; while several dead and wounded birds fall heavily on the rock or into the water. Instantly all the sitting birds rise and fly off affrighted to their companions above, and hover in dismay over their assassins, who walk forward exultingly, and with their shouts mingling oaths and execrations. Look at them! See how they crush the chick within its shell, how they trample on every egg in their way with their huge and clumsy boots! Onward they go, and when they leave the isle, not an egg that they can find is left entire. The dead birds they collect and carry to their boat. Now they have regained their filthy shallop; they strip the birds by a single jerk of their feathery apparel, while the flesh is yet warm, and throw them on some coals, where in a short time they are broiled. The rum is produced when the guillemots are fit for eating; and after stuffing themselves with this oily fare, and entumble on the deck of their crazed craft, where they joying the pleasure of beastly intoxication, over they pass the short hours of night in turbid slumber.

In conclusion, we shall present the account given by the newspaper already quoted, of a visit paid by its enlightened editor to the chemical class: it affords matter for pleasing, and also for serious reflection. "We found forty or fifty young ladies performing chemical experiments at three long tables. Fifty jets of gas, issuing through the tables, served them in lieu of furnaces. Near each jet was a common wine glass, an assortment of broad and narrow slips of window glass, bits of white paper, and, at regular intervals, a few bottles containing acids, alkalies, infusions of vegetable blue, or other chemical substances. The lecture was just concluded, and the experiments had a reference to the subjects' discussed in it. The nature of Prussian blue, for instance, and the process for making it, was described in a very few words. Presently each of the pupils placed a small quantity of one substance on a slip of paper, then put another upon it, mixed the two with a glass rod, and the blue was forthvegetable infusion were shown in another experiment: coming. The effects of acids and alkalies upon the the method of taking casts in plaster of Paris (shillings and half-crowns were employed); the mode of crys- The sun now rises above the snow-clad summit of tallising some salt, whose name we forget; and vari- the eastern mount. "Sweet is the breath of morn" ous other chemical processes were illustrated by expe- even in this desolate land. The gay bunting erects riments, which were performed by every one of the his white crest, and gives utterance to the joy he feels young ladies present. After each experiment, questions in the presence of his brooding mate. The willow were put by the teacher as to the nature of the sub-grous on the rock crows his challenge aloud. Each stances used, and the change ensuing; and they were floweret, chilled by the night air, expands its pure answered by the fifty voices simultaneously. This practical chemistry lasted half an hour. The ladies seem to be generally from fifteen to eighteen years of age: some were probably about twelve, and others about twenty. Though young, however, they were neither timorous nor awkward, but went through the manipulations with an alacrity and zest, which showed that there was much of pleasure, and nothing of taskwork, in the exercise. The object, of course, is not to qualify ladies for the business of the laboratory, but to give them clearer conceptions of the facts and prin

petals; the gentle breeze shakes from the blades of grass the heavy dewdrops. On the Guillemot Isle the birds have again settled, and now renew their loves. Startled by the light of day, one of the Eggers springs on his feet and rouses his companions, who stare around them for a while, endeavouring to recollect their senses. Mark them, as with clumsy fingers they clear their drowsy eyes! Slowly they rise on their feet. See how the filthy lubbers stretch out their arms and yawn; you shrink back, for verily "that throat might frighten a shark."

But the master, soon recollecting that so many eggs are worth a dollar or a crown, casts his eye towards the rock, marks the day in his memory, and gives orders to depart. The light breeze enables them to reach another harbour a few miles distant, one which, like the last, lies concealed from the ocean by some other rocky isle. Arrived there, they re-act the scene of yesterday, crushing every egg they can find. For a week each night is passed in drunkenness and brawls, until, having reached the last breeding place on the coast, they return, touch at every isle in succession, shoot as many birds as they need, collect the fresh eggs, and lay in a cargo. At every step each ruffian picks up an egg so beautiful that any man with a feeling heart would pause to consider the motive which could induce him to carry it off. But nothing of this sort occurs to the Egger, who gathers and gathers, until he has swept the rock bare. The dollars alone chink in his sordid mind, and he assiduously plies the trade which no man would ply who had the talents and industry to procure subsistence by honourable

means.

With a bark nearly half filled with fresh eggs they proceed to the principal rock, that on which they first landed. But what is their surprise when they find others there helping themselves as industriously as they can! In boiling rage they charge their guns, and ply their oars. Landing on the rock, they run up to the Eggers, who, like themselves, are desperadoes. The first question is a discharge of musketry, the answer another. Now, man to man, they fight like tigers. One is carried to his boat with a fractured skull, another limps with a shot in his leg, and a third feels how many of his teeth have been driven through the hole in his cheek. At last, however, the quarrel is settled; the booty is to be equally divided; and now see them all drinking together. Oaths and curses and filthy jokes are all that you hear; but see, stuffed with food, and reeling with drink, down they drop one by one; groans and execrations from the wounded mingle with the snorings of the heavy sleepers. There let the brutes lie.

Again it is dawn, but no one stirs. The sun is high; one by one they open their heavy eyes, stretch their limbs, yawn, and raise themselves from the deck. But see, here comes a goodly company. A hundred honest fishermen, who for months past have fed on salt meat, have felt a desire to procure some eggs. Gallantly their boats advance, impelled by the regular pull of their long oars. Each buoyant bark displays the flag of its nation. No weapons do they bring, nor any thing that can be used as such, save their oars and fists. Cleanly clad in Sunday attire, they arrive at the desired spot, and at once prepare to ascend the rock. The Eggers, now numbering a dozen, all armed with guns and bludgeons, bid defiance to the fishermen. A few angry words pass between the parties. One of the Eggers, still under the influence of drink, pulls his trigger, and an unfortunate sailor is seen to reel in agony. Three loud cheers fill the air. All at once rush on the malefactors; a horrid fight ensues, the result of which is, that every Egger is left on the rock beaten and bruised. Too frequently the fishermen man their boats, row to the shallops, and break every egg in the hold.

The Eggers of Labrador not only rob the birds in this cruel manner, but also the fishermen, whenever they can find an opportunity; and the quarrels they excite are numberless. While we were on the coast, none of our party ever ventured on any of the islands which these wretches call their own, without being well provided with the means of defence. On one occasion, when I was present, we found two Eggers at their work of destruction. I spoke to them respecting my visit, and offered them premiums for rare birds and some of their eggs; but although they made fair promises, not one of the gang ever came near me.

These people gather all the eider down they can bird that comes in their way. The eggs of gulls, guilfind; yet so inconsiderate are they, that they kill every lemots, and ducks, are searched for with care; and numbers for the sake of their feathers. So constant the puffins and some other birds they massacre in vast and persevering are their depredations, that these species, which, according to the accounts of the few settlers I saw in the country, were exceedingly abundant twenty years ago, have abandoned their ancient breeding places, and removed much farther north in search nor was it until late in July that I succeeded, after of peaceful security. Scarcely, in fact, could I procure a young guillemot before the Eggers had left the coast; the birds had laid three or four eggs each, instead of one, and when nature having been exhausted, and the season nearly spent, thousands of these birds left the which they had visited it. This war of extermination country without having accomplished the purpose for will be the first to repent the entire disappearance of cannot last many years more. The Eggers themselves the myriads of birds that made the coast of Labrador their summer residence; and unless they follow the Persecuted tribes to the northward, they must renounce

their trade.

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ODDS AND ENDS.

gantly with embellishments; and as in the last page
there usually appears the word finis, so it is with man;
his life also has a terminating point. After fretting his
little span, he drops into the grave, which is the earthly

finis of his course.

IMPORTATION OF ENGLISH HORSES INTO FRANCE.

steal a horse!" "Yes-you must steal a horse. You will then be arrested, convicted, and placed in a situation where your diet and regimen will be such, that in a short time your health will be perfectly re

stored."

MAGNANIMITY AND GRATITUDE OF A LION. Prince, a tame lion on board his Majesty's ship Ariadne, had a keeper to whom he was much attached; the keeper got drunk one day, and, as the captain never forgave the crime, the keeper was ordered to be flogged; ENCOURAGEMENT FOR SCHOOL MASTERS.-Net long the grating was rigged on the main deck opposite-Lawrence, in his book on the Horse, mentions that ago, an advertisement appeared in a newspaper, for a Prince's den, a large barred-up place, the pillars very an official French account of the importation of horses gentleman to undertake to teach the classical lanstrong, and cased with iron. When the keeper began into that country, states the annual number of Eng-guages, writing, and arithmetic, for which a salary of to strip, Prince rose gloomily from his couch, and got lish horses imported to be from fifteen to twenty thirty pounds would be allowed! In the same paper there was an advertisement for a footman, the wages as near to his friend as possible; on beholding his bare thousand. back, he walked hastily round the den; and when he MONUMENTS. It is by no means a good sign of a not to exceed thirty pounds, with a livery!! saw the boatswain inflict the first lash, his eyes sparkled country to have a great number of fine public build- SINGULAR INSTANCE OF CANINE SAGACITY.-The with fire, and his sides resounded with the strong and ings, obelisks, monuments, and statues. The practice following case of canine sagacity was lately mentioned quick beating of his tail; at last, when the blood began of erecting such things seems to have been carried to the in the Greenock Intelligencer newspaper:-" In the to flow from the unfortunate man's back, and the greatest length, generally for some bad or some silly course of last summer, it chanced that the sheep on clotted "cats" jerked their gory knots close to the purpose. In Egypt, Greece, and Rome, where archi- | the farm of a friend of ours, on the water of Stinchar, lion's den, his fury became tremendous; he roared with tectural grandeur was greatest among all the nations of were, like those of his neighbours, partially affected a voice of thunder, shook the strong bars of his pri- antiquity, the public buildings and monuments were with that common disease, maggots in the skin, to son as if they had been osiers, and, finding his efforts principally indicative of the supremacy of superstition cure which distemper it is necessary to cut off the to break loose unavailing, he rolled and shrieked in a and warlike propensities. Pericles, the Grecian repub- | wool over the part affected, and apply a small quanmanner the most terrific that it is possible to con- lican statesman, adorned Athens with splendid erec-tity of tobacco juice, or some other liquid. For this ceive. The captain, fearing he might break loose, ortions; but while he in this manner pleased the populace, purpose, the shepherd set off to the hill one morning, dered the marines to load and present at Prince; this he procured the passing of a law, declaring that no per- accompanied by his faithful canine assistant, Ladie. threat redoubled his rage, and at last the captain de- son should be a citizen whose father and mother had Arrived among the flock, the shepherd pointed out a sired the keeper to be cast off, and go in to his friend. not been Athenian citizens, by which 5000 individuals diseased animal; and making the accustomed signal It is impossible to describe the joy evinced by the lion; were doomed to be sold as slaves. This infamous act for the dog to capture it, 'poor Mailie' was speedily he licked with care the mangled and bleeding back of is slurred over by historians, but the ruins of the build- sprawling on her back, and gently held down by the the cruelly-treated seaman, caressed him with his ings which Pericles erected serve as themes for sound- dog till the arrival of her keeper, who proceeded to paws, which he folded around the keeper as if to defying his praise throughout all time. It was much the clip off a portion of her wool, and apply the healing any one renewing a similar treatment; and it was only same with Bonaparte. He exhausted the resources balsam. During the operation, Ladie continued to after several hours that Prince would allow the keeper of France, but he made up for this by gilding the dome gaze on the operator with close attention, and the sheep to quit his protection and return among those who had of the Hotel of the Invalids, improving the appearance having been released, he was directed to capture in so ill-used him.-Martin's History of the British Co- of the Thuilleries, and erecting a column in the Place succession other two or three of the flock, which underVendome. The French are essentially a monumentwent similar treatment. The sagacious animal had building nation; an obelisk appears to please them now become initiated into the mysteries of his master's under almost any circumstances. The English, on the vocation, for off he set unbidden through the flock, other hand, are desirous of seeing capital sunk on ob- and picked out with unerring precision those sheep jects more directly useful; they prefer embellishing and which were affected with maggots in their skin, and improving their towns with gas lamps, water pipes, held them down until the arrival of his master, who common sewers, clean streets, good foot pavements, was thus, by the extraordinary instinct of Ladie, saved and having comfortable houses to live in, to the bara world of trouble, and the operation of clipping and ren spectacle of columns, pillars, and pediments in pub- smearing most materially facilitated. Strange as this lic places. How ungratifying is the reflection that the notice may appear, it is perfectly true; and should fine arts should have been, and are, so often abused, any of our sheep-breeding readers be desirous to ob by being made subservient to purposes and tastes ob- tain a colley of Ladie's noble line, we will, if desired, structive of social and national improvement, or cal- cheerfully direct him to the hospitable abode of Ladie's culated to perpetuate the recollection of transactions owner, which is within a Sabbath day's journey of Ard Stinchar." originating in the most savage propensities of our nature!

bonies.

GEOLOGICAL CHANGES IN GREAT BRITAIN.-That the face of the globe has successively undergone total changes at different remote epochs, is now a fact beyond all dispute; as also, that, long anterior to the creation of man, this world was inhabited by races of animals, to which no parallels are now to be found; and those animals themselves only made their appear. ance after the lapse of ages, during which no warmblooded creatures had an existence. It has been further remarked by zoologists, that the animals which first appeared in these latitudes, were analogous to such as now inhabit tropical regions exclusively; and that it was only at a period immediately before the creation of the human race, that species similar to those of the existing era began to appear in northern AN INCURABLE DISEASE.-A gentleman one day latitudes. Similar peculiarities have been also found A NARROW ESCAPE FROM DEATH.-General Put- walking along the streets of a crowded city, had his to mark the vegetation of corresponding periods. It nam, a distinguished soldier in the French and Eng- attention attracted to a beggar, who besought his comwould hardly be credited, by persons unacquainted lish wars in Canada, about the middle of last century, passion, and whose whole aspect betokened misery and with the evidence upon which such facts repose, that, was on one occasion on the point of suffering a horrible want. The gentleman's heart was touched. He paused, in the most dreary and desolate northern regions of death at the hands of the Indians, who had made him and after bestowing an alms, inquired, with sympa the present day, there once flourished groves of tropi- prisoner. The savages tied him to a tree in order to thising speech, what was the cause of the beggar's cal plants of Coniferæ, like the Northfolk Island and burn him alive, and had already set fire to a circle of misfortunes, and if he laboured under any complaint. Araucarian pines, of bananas, tree ferns, huge cacti, | combustibles around him, when he was rescued by the "Yes," replied the party addressed, "I have for years and palms; that the marshes were filled with rush-interposition of their leader, Molong, a famous French laboured under a disease which I fear will at last carry Jike plants, fifteen or twenty feet high : the coverts | partisan officer, and sent in safety to Montreal. Put me to my grave." "Pray, what disease may it be?" with ferns like the undergrowth of a West Indian nam afterwards served in the cause of the Americans said the gentleman. Ah, sir, it is of so dreadful a island; and the vegetation, thus inconceivably rich in the war of the revolution, and lived to see his counnature that I cannot show it to you on the public and luxuriant, grew amidst an atmosphere that would try-for he was American born-enjoying the inde-street; but if you will be so good as step aside, I will have been fatal to the animal world. Yet nothing can pendence of which he had been so able a champion. exhibit it, provided you promise not to speak of it to well be more certain, than that such a description is any one. WEST INDIAN FOUR O'CLOCK.-One of the most forthwith both adjourned into a private corner. Agreed," replied the gentleman, and far from being overcharged.-Lindley and Hutton's remarkable flowering plants in Jamaica is the jalapa "Now," said the beggar, opening his clothes, "do mirabilis, called the four o'clock flower, or the West you behold the disease which is preying upon me?" Indian four o'clock. It has obtained this popular "No, I can see nothing-you are only shamming illname from keeping its petals closed during the hottest ness. Alas, sir," answered the beggar," you are hours of the day, and only opening them in the after-short-sighted; do not you perceive that the disease noon, when the air is cool.

Fossil Flora.

WEARING STOCKINGS.-Two centuries ago, not one person in a thousand wore wove stockings; one century ago, not one person in five hundred wore them; now, not one person in a thousand is without them; yet, William Lea, the inventor of the stocking-frame, could get no person to patronise his invention, and he died

of a broken heart.

CAUSES FOR THE THRIVING OF TOWNS.-Some towns thrive by being a seat of manufactures, others by being the resort of courtiers, the affluent, and the fashionable; Cologne is equally fortunate from another cause it exists by its possession of the parings of St Anastasius's beard.

BUILDING A PYRAMID.-The great Pyramid of Egypt, whose base extends over eleven acres, and which rises to a height of 481 feet, required 100,000 men for twenty years to build it; while a steamengine, with a consumption of only about 700 chaldrons | of coal, would have lifted every stone of it into its place.

NATURE OF LABOUR.-Labour is the price which has been paid for all things; money is only the representative of labour; it was not by gold or silver, but by labour, that all the wealth, all the refinements, all the means of comfort in the world, were originally purchased.

SLOW RECEPTION OF IMPROVEMENTS.-On a moderate calculation, twenty years elapse before any improvement in science or art obtains notice in encyclopædias, and at least half a century before they are recognised as established by universities-particularly if they happen to disturb any set system.

COMPARISON OF MAN TO A BOOK.-Man may be compared to a book; his birth is the title-page, his baptism the epistle dedicatory, his childhood the argument or contents, his life and pursuits the subject matter, and his crimes and follies the errata; as for the size and appearance of the work, some volumes are in folio, some in quarto, and some in duodecimo; and while some are plainly bound, others are done ele

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A FINE SAYING.-The following is a fine saying of Madden, in his book on the West Indies: "Human nature is pretty much the same in all countries; and, as far as my experience goes, in the various parts of the globe, complexion has as little to do with its yearnings, its failings, or its finest traits, as clime or creed."

SHADING THE EYES.-Some people cover their eyes with green or other shades when any thing is the matter with them. This is wrong. It is now ascertained by the best oculists that shades injure the sight instead of strengthening it, and that from these creating heat and inflammation in the parts affected. If the eye be injured, and light insupportable, the best way is to tie a cool linen handkerchief over it. We have heard it stated as a curious fact, that when the English army returned from Egypt, those soldiers were least affected with ophthalmia-a disease in the eyes-who had worn no snouts to their hats. The eyes evidently require to be played upon by a free circulation of air, and therefore broad-brimmed hats may be said to be any thing but protectors to the organs of vision, for the heat radiates from the ground more than from the sun overhead. It is worthy of notice, that none of the natives of hot climates wear head coverings with snouts or brims; and we should think that they were good judges in these matters.

A DOCTOR'S ADVICE TO A PATIENT.-A man of

property (says an American author) who had for years

been abusing his stomach, at last found his health in
a rapid decline. Nature could endure it no longer.
He went to consult the celebrated Dr Spring of Wa-
tertown, Massachusetts. He stated the symptoms of
his case so clearly, that the learned physician could
not mistake the nature of the disease. "I can cure
you, sir," said he, "if you will follow my advice."
The patient promised most implicitly to do so. "Now,"
says the doctor, " you must steal a horse." "What!

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which afflicts me, and is eating into my vitals, is laziness?—it is a disease which has grown upon me from my birth, and is now altogether beyond the possibility of cure.'

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WRITTEN IN THE SAND ON THE BEACH
AT CUMBRAES, 1814.
Next when ocean's rising wave
O'er these sands shall curling lave,
It will, unconscious, sweep away
All we have writ in idle play;
Then ebbing, leave a lovely plain
For merry hands to mar again!
Oh would that time's all-sweeping tide
O'er our past sorrows thus could glide,
Softly leave the harrowed mind,
And leave no rugged trace behind.
But no!-The lines by sorrow trac'd
Are not thus easily effac'd!
More like the letters on the rock,
They time and tide alike can mock;

While those impress'd by joy's bright hand,
Are like the letters in the sand!

LONDON: Published, with Permission of the Proprietors, by Ona & SMITH, Paternoster Row; and sold by G. BERGER, Holywell Street, Strand; BANCKS & Co., Manchester; WRIGHTSON & WRBB, 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, Dublín; 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 Publishers or their Agents.

Stereotyped by A. Kirkwood, Edinburgh.
Printed by Bradbury and Evans (late T. Davison). Whitefriars.

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