souls, showing an increase of 770,497 souls since the great census of 1816. These are distributed amongst 608,280 families, occupying 468,457 houses in 4,055 parishes and 1,220 municipal communities. The population is almost equally divided between the inhabitants of the towns and of the open country; the former class a little preponderate, and stand in the proportion of 1,585,715 to 1,538,953.

COOKED FOOD FOR Cows.-Mr. James S. Huber lately stated before the Philadelphia County Farmer's Club that he In had proved by actual experiment, in feeding 12 cows 180 days upon cooked food, that he made a net gain of 32 dollars. place of 20 lb. of hay per day, formerly fed raw, he now feeds 12 lb., cut and steamed. With this he mixes 4 quarts of shipstuff, Indian corn meal, and oilcake meal, in about equal portions. This, with the hay, weighs about 46 lb. when cooked, having gained about 31 lb. by that process. He says it is not only more economical, but more palateable to the cattle; they eat it without waste and keep in better condition. His steaming apparatus cost 25 dollars, (about £5), which he more than saved in six months' feeding. He considers, however, the greatest gain is in the health of the animals.

TAXATION.-National revenue as by Parliamentary Statement, 1842. Customs Excise

Miscellaneous

Post office

Land-tax on lands and tenements.

France

Russia

Austria

England

£23,515,374 12 03 14,602,847 5 9 11,420,402 9 45 1,495,540 9 03 1,214,430 0 0

£52,248,594 16 3

1,214,430

51,034,164

POPULATION OF THE UNITED KINGDOM.-The growth of the population throughout the United Kingdom is principally in the manufacturing and the maritime, not in the agricultural districts. There is a close but not inseparable connexion between numbers and strength. The people of Great Britain are neither infirm nor impoverished, yet the effective portion of the population seems at first sight very small. Of 21,185,000, the males, at the soldier's age, in 1851, amounted to 3,193,496. Infancy and age, with all the ills that flesh is heir to, affect the national strength. Great Britain contained, in 1851, under 1 year of age, 578,543; under 15, 7,458,080; under 20, 9,558,114; between 20 and 40, 6,555,954; 40 and 60, 3,526,342; 60 and 80, 1,414,798; 80 and 100, 129,483; above 100,319.

LIGHTNING CONDUCTORS.-All other circumstances being equal, lightning directs itself, generally speaking, to the most elevated portion of edifices.

All other circumstances being equal, lightning directs itself, by preference, to metals. When, therefore, a metallic mass occupies the most elevated point of a house, we may feel pretty nearly certain that lightning, if it falls, will strike that point.

Lightning, which has entered a metallic mass, does mischief to the surrounding masses at the moment when it quits the metal, and at the vicinity of the point or points at which it issues from it. A house, therefore, may be rendered safe from its highest point to its foundation, if the metallic parts of the roof are prolonged without interruption to the ground.

MINT OF HUMOUR.

9

Now,

POT LUCK.

An Englishman invited once

A German friend to dine;

On plain "pot luck," for such his phrase,
And drink some good port wine.

"Mein Herr" repaired at proper time,
With stomach for the treat;
The viands on the table placed,
Von Schlemmer took his seat.

Soup, turkey, beef, by turns were served, "Mein Herr," declined each one; Fowls, turtle, sauce, they follow'd next, Von Schlemmer tasted none !

His host at length, by kindness urged,
Press'd him to take some duck;

"Ach! nein!" with groans, Von Schlemmer said, "I vait for de pot luck."

At Loughborough fair, a countryman in search of a cow was looking about him in a state of incertitude, when What are you wanting, my He written in his face, and civilly said, Ephraim Jenkinson came up to him, seeing "Moses Primrose" Moses replied that "he wanted a k'yow." "How much money have wanted a cow, and "a good un." good man?" you?" asked Ephraim, in a tone so benevolent, that Moses would not have been surprised by the offer of a few sovereigns to help him to a suitable animal. Ephraim, however, made no such offer; but, if he proposed not to make a sacrifice in money, he was ready to make a sacrifice in kind or kine. The wealth of the Midland Primrose was bounded by £13, which, when Jenkinson heard, made him slightly hesitate; but bent on befriending his protegé, he said, "Well, you may have your choice of these cows Moses then found that he was talking with for your money." the owner of the cattle before them, and, being a knowing hand The £13 among live stock, he singled out a real "good un.' changed hands; Ephraim walked away; Moses was following his example, with the k'yow." It was much easier, however to walk off unobserved with £13 in gold than with several stones of "Holloa!" cried a third party, "what d'ye Moses explained he had bought want with that 'ere k'yow? beef on four legs. the cow of its owner; gin him the money;" and was taking "Yeouw let that k'yow stand," was the home his purchase. reply; "ye've gin the money to the wrong man; the k'yow's

4s. 4d.

ditto.

Four ditto

The amount to be sent in stamps, to the Office, 9, Johnson's Court, Fleet Street, London.

G. FRAZER (Forfar).-Whatever you buy or sell, make a clear bargain, and never rely on the oft repeated assurance, "We shan't disagree about trifles."

J. Sandford (Manchester). We are bad enough but there is no country in the world, says a contemporary, where the people are so addicted to the medicine eating propensity as the United States. It has grown to be a perfect mania-a disease of Itself. The fact is, Nature never designed the human body to be such a receptacle of medicine. If men would but study the laws of nature, diet properly instead of excessively, be regular in their habits, instead of regular in their doses, use common sense and cold water freely, and the doctor as little as possible, they would live longer, suffer less and pay little for the privilege.

ARTIST.-So far as we are aware it is true, and further, it appears from a work on the Flora of the Colosseum of Rome, that no less than 420 species of plants are found growing upon this gigantic ruin. In allusion to these botanical treasures, and the anclent history of the spot, the Athenæum finely says-"It seems a strange mutation that one of the most innocent and poetical of the sciences should now choose the Colosseum as its favourite haunt-a place that was at one time the charnel house of the world. Here the swarth Egyptian and the Briton with his blue-dyed skin, the agile Moor and the crisphaired Nubian struggled and died amid the shouts of Rome, uproarious on its holidays; here dying men watched for the upward or downward thumbs, and died cursing the Roman and his gods. Sometimes at the same moment there were writhing together in the great circus horsemen, footmen, Thracians, Samnites, men with nets and tridents, square shields, and round bucklers, with bands of enraged lions, fleet ostriches, and swift cameleopards, Christian martyrs and Pagan felons, professional gladiators of the Suburra, and naked barbarians from the Rhine. Here a thousand stags bore their forests of antlers, or a thousand wild boars grunted and churned their foam. Here the blue and the green factions, the Thrax and the Mirmillo brawled and shouted, while amid the showers of broken benches and quick missiles Nero himself set the imperial example of breaking a prætor's head. Here by torch-light men bled for Domitian's pleasure; or Jews, their robes still black with the smoke of the temple of Zion, passed in solemn procession to their death."

P. D.-It was Euclid and not Dr. Johnson who first said there was no royal road to learning. He opened a school of mathematics at Alexandria, in the reign of the first Ptolemy, and was once asked by that sovereign whether he could not explain his art in a more compendious way; to which Euclid made answer, that there was no royal road to geometry. Upon this Dr. Johnson has observed: "Other things may be seized by might, or purchased with money; but knowledge is to be gained only by study; and study to be prosecuted only in retirement."

A YOUNG MAN.-It is only by a man's habitual manners that his general character is to be judged. We have heard of rules for determining who are gentlemen, and who not, such as clean hands, and especially finger nails, clean shirt, &c. But such mechanical rules indicate want of deeper discernment, which can see clean and pure soul hands through even dirty body hands, and make allowances for exceptional circumstances. But the true gentleman will never neglect an opportunity of making his outward man correspond to his inward feelings.

G. P.-A few tea-spoonfuls of warm treacle taken occasionally, and particularly at bed-time or when the cough is troublesome, will be found beneficial, especially for infants and children.

I fancied one day, when the weather was fine, As I through shady lanes and the woodlands

did stray,

'Midst the wild brier, roses, and eglantine, That I saw sixteen birds, and I heard some

one say

There's the bird that is given to mischief and fun: (1.)

The bird that's bereaved of a very dear friend; (2.)

The bird that can crawl, though unable to run; (3.)

And the bird for which misers and robbers contend; (4.)

The musical bird, one of ancient renown; (5.) The bird that in summer time only appears : (6.)

The bird that alights on Her Majesty's crown; (7.)

And the bird a confectioner daily reveres; (8.) The bird we make use of when pouring with rain; (9.)

The bird that was sent to the Czar in the east ; (10.)

The bird that resembles a valuable grain; (11.) And the bird which of life deprives many a beast; (12.)

The birds cats inveigle and slaughter by night; (13.)

The bird oft desired to right-about-face; (14.) The bird we employ in an office to write; (15.) And the bird which produces cloth, linen, and lace; (16.)

G. M. F. G.

Solutions to the above will be given in our next.

Solutions to the pastime of our last number, page 224.

50. In-Fancy. 52. Tar-Tar.

54. Chat-Ham.

51. Free-Mason. 53. Inter-View.

55. Ill. Bill. Dill. Fill. Gl. Hill. Kill. Mill. Nill. Pill. Rill. Sill. Till. Will.

A. G.-A few drops of any perfumed oil will secure libraries from the consuming effects of mouldiness and damp. Russian leather, which is perfumed with the tar of the birch tree, never moulds; and merchants suffer large bales of this article to lie in the London Docks in the most careless manner, knowing that it cannot sustain any injury from damp.

A MOTHER. -The following simple remedies for burns and scalds have obtained a very popular reputation, and are valuable not only as giving more or less relief, but as being generally at hand, or to be readily procured in every dwelling. They are, wheat flour, which may be thickly sprinkled over the injured parts with a common kitchen dredger, till a perfect crust is formedan excellent application. Finely scraped chalk or magnesia, applied in the same way. These act both by excluding the atmospheric air, and absorbing the fluid secreted by the vessels of the inflamed surface. Another application reported to be very efficacious in allaying the pain is a piece of lint wetted with a saturated solution of carbonate of soda. A poultice of grated raw turnip or potato, applied cold, is quickly productive of ease in slight burns, but requires renewing often enough to keep up the sensation of coldness.

A CORRESPONDENT sends the following copy of a message recently sent by telegraph:-"ToThird Epistle of John, 13 and 14 verses. Signed, By referring to the text it will be seen that there is quite a respectable letter contained in the verses designated, viz. :-"I had many things to write, but I will not with ink and pen write to thee. But trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face to face. Peace be to thee. Our friends salute thee. Greet thy friends by

name."

ROBERT. The distinction is similar to that made by Dr. Johnson. Before dinner men meet with great inequality of understanding, and those who are conscious of their inferiority have the modesty not to talk; when they have drunk wine every man feels happy, and loses that modesty, and grows impudent and vociferous, but he is not improved; he is only not sensible of his defects.

JULIA. It is a very prevalent but a very weas species of pride, and many persons have a contemptible fear of being seen to carry any bundle, however small, having the absurd idea that there is a social degradation in the act. This arises from a low sort of pride. There is a pride that is higher; that arises from a consciousness of there being something in the individual not to be affected by such accidents-worth the weight of character.

The latter pride was exhibited by the son of Jerome Bonaparte (now his Imperial Highness Prince Napoleon). While he was in a college, he was one day carrying to his room a broom he had purchased, when he met a friend, who, noticing the broom with surprise, exclaimed "Why did you not have it sent home?" "I am not ashamed to carry home anything that belongs to me," was the sensible reply.

No. 16.]

[ONE PENNY.

R

DORRINGTON AINSLIE.

BY JOHN SHERER.

CHAPTER XXXI.-POETICAL CRITICISM.

EFRESHMENTS had been placed upon the table, and all had taken their positions. Adela sat between her father and Lord Watchford, and Dorrington nearly fronted her on the opposite side of the table; she therefore had an opportunity of observing well the features of the rivals for her affections. If she, however, had had only her own heart to consult in these, there was no one who could share them

VOL. I.

with Dorrington. There, he, already stood, without a rival; but of this, he of course was not aware, although he knew he was estimated at an immeasurable distance beneath Lord Watchford in the eyes of her father. Whatever disadvantages lay to him, however, on that side, he valued very little, believing in the strength of the female will in all affairs of the heart, and the ultimate triumph which, almost invariably, crowns them in these matters, provided no undue influences It was some time before the conversation took any decided are brought to bear upon them in the pursuit of their object. turn, and Dorrington prudently concealed the adventures in

which he had that morning been engaged, and which he thought, might not, in the eyes of the present company, be viewed in a light that might redound to his credit. At length, however, the Magistrate fell upon his favourite theme -the elder poets; and Milton was the first who came within the scope of his criticism.

"That poet," said he, "is, of all our poets, the highest in sublimity. There is nothing can equal his pictures of the fallen angels in their march over hell and in their council of Pandemonium."

“Do you think, sir, he is superiaw to Shakspeaw?" asked Lord Watchford, with such an air of consummate affectation, that it certainly required not only his title, but his long line of ancestry to shield him from ridicule.

"Not, perhaps, as a whole," returned the Magistrate, "but in individual passages, he far transcends anything to be found in Shakspeare."

"Granting the sublimity of Milton," observed Dorrington, "in certain scenes and passages in the Paradise Lost, I think we must still regard even that work as deficient of interest. The first six books, in my opinion, are far superior to the last."

"Yes, they are. Perhaps, it would have been better for the fame of Milton had he confined his subject to within the compass of six books, as, I think, he might have done," replied the Magistrate.

"I think he might too," observed Lord Watchford, "but is not the Divine Comedy of Dante superiaw to the Pawadise Lost of the otha?"

66

66

"O no; although there is a resemblance in the themes, there is a great dissimilarity in the treatment of their details," said the Magistrate. In Dante we have a minuteness and particularity which do not appear in the blind bard of England, about whom there is a deep mysteriousness which leads us into the regions of the vast and sublime. Both poems treat of the beings of another world; therefore mystery ought to belong to them. Indeed, it is a necessity to their judicious treatment. They ought always to have a dim picturesqueness about their descriptions, the grandeur of whose outlines the mind can only trace by degrees until it reaches the sublimity of the whole, through the shadowy darkness of the interposing veil. This is as we find it in the Paradise Lost; but not as it is in the Divine Comedy. This is clear and vividly picturesque. That is dim, mysterious, and sublime. The spirits of Milton are different from the spirits of any other writer; whilst his fiends are the most wonderful conceptions that ever emanated from a human mind. Where is there a suffering Satan like his? The character of Milton himself, was distinguished by severe loftiness of thought. There was nothing low in his mental constitution. With Dante it was different. Intensity of feeling was his characteristic; there is no work in the world so deeply sorrowful as the Divine Comedy."

"Aw! I always thought Milton was a man of low pwinciples. He was a republican, was he not?" said Lord Watchford."

"Yes, yes; he was, perhaps, wrong; indeed he was, no doubt, wrong in his politics," hastily returned the Magistrate, whose enthusiastic admiration of the poet had made him forget the politician; "but he purified his Paradise from all republicanism."

"It is said that all poets have a touch of madness in them; Do you think Milton exhibits any of that quality?" modestly asked Dorrington.

"That is a question, in his case, very difficult to be answered," returned the Magistrate, "my own opinion is that he does not. He has none of the vehemence or the fervour with which our ideas of frenzy are associated. His imagination, too, sustains itself in such an even, yet majestic flight, that nothing interrupts the glorious splendour of its course."

"That is not the case with Shakspeaw," observed Lord Watchford.

"O, no, and therein lies his madness. Indeed it is he

who expresses himself in reference to the erratic flights of the poet's pen, "As imagination bodies forth The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing, A local habitation and a name."

These are the results of this frenzy; fine no doubt, but still a frenzy," said the Magistrate.

The extent of the Magistrate's reading on these subjects, and the frequency with which he refreshed his memory upon all that related to Milton enabled him to shine when the conversation accidentally turned upon the compositions of that great poet. Indeed, his celebrated poem had, to him, "many a time and oft" been a mine of comfort. He drew from it the power of supporting the infirmity of his own nature, which the dark crime of his existence had entailed upon his solitude. He saw in the calm endurance of the fallen archangel a spirit which no adversity could subdue, no calamity overwhelm; and he extracted comfort from its contemplation and strengthened himself by so frequently dwelling upon that tremendous creation of the genius of Milton, How different were his tastes, in this respect, from those of his daughter. The Paradise Lost she might admire; but she could not reconcile the conduct of the fallen angels with her ideas of duty and submission. Great they might be; but it was in iniquity. A mysterious gloom settled upon all their proceedings with which the placid gentleness of her nature had no sympathy. Consequently she shared none of the kind of admiration with which her father was so plentifully supplied regarding the great Epic of which we have as a nation reason to be proud. She, however, was not without her poetical predilections. For example, she delighted in the dreamy descriptive pages of the exhaustless Spenser. She loved Shakspeare, and could even find a place in her bosom for some of the effusions of Dryden and Pope. The Rape of the Lock was, with her, an especial favourite; whilst the Castle of Indolence was appreciated as one of the choicest gems in the English language.

We have chosen thus to indicate the poetical likings and dislikings of Adela, rather than lead her into a conversation upon matters in which the state of her present feelings permitted her to take very little interest. What she had seen of Lord Watchford, and all that she knew of him, contrasted, in her mind, unfavourably with all she knew of Dorrington. Nor could she conceal from herself the idea that it was not entirely on her own personal account that the peer sought her hand. She believed that it was rather the coffers and the lands of her father upon which his mind was set, than upon any qualities of which she was possessed. His character was too light, frivolous, and ostentatious, to impress her with the belief that his admiration of her own humble attainments could be sincere, and however high he stood in the opinion of her father, she knew too well what were the principles upon which he acted in reference to matrimonial alliances, to allow him to have any undue weight with her in forming her estimate of Lord Watchford. Her position, therefore, was painful to a degree, and hence the silence with which she listened to the conversation which had, so far, taken place upon the poet of her father's admiration. She now felt however, the necessity of saying something, but there is in the minor morals of life, perhaps, nothing more difficult to do, than to say anything well, under her circumstances and position. She felt this, and, as if all the modesty of her nature had then concentrated itself in her heart, she could not venture to speak lest what she might say would be ill said and very little to the purpose. At that moment, however a circumstance occurred that relieved her embarrassment.

The circumstance alluded to was the announcement that a deputation of two gentlemen had called to solicit an inter- | view with the Magistrate.

“A deputation," repeated the Magistrate with some surprise." "Yes, sir."

"Show them into the library, and I shall be with them in a few minutes," ordered Mr. Ilbert with a sufficient air of magisterial dignity, and, excusing himself to his company for a few moments, he almost immediately proceeded to that receptacle of his literary stores.

The duty of entertaining the guests now devolved upon Adela, and it was remarkable with what ease the opportune interruption enabled her to shake off her embarrassment and enter into conversation.

You have observed," she said to Lord Watchford, "that my father is pretty familiar with Milton's great work; whilst he has said little of any of the other poets, which, in my opinion, are much more natural than he is."

"Aw; yes, I have observed," returned the peer, "but I dare say Mr. Ilbert is as familiaw with other poets although our conversation has not yet turned upon them. May I ask what poet is your favouwite, Miss Ilbert?" asked Lord Watchford.

"O!" returned Adela, "I have so many favourites, that I do not think I can select one to place above the rest. It is, I think, according to the mood we are in, that we are influenced by poetry."

66

Aw,-indeed; why, I think so too," replied his Lordship. "But as the great object, or, at least, one of the great objects of poetry is to inspire us with pleasurable feelings, I should think that the best poem, that did this the most generally."

"Aw;-yes; I should think so too," said his Lordship. "The first part of the Castle of Indolence, for example, realises my idea of perfect poetry," said Adela.

66

Nay, that is a term too strongly applied," continued Miss Ilbert, but what is your opinion of it?"

"Eh; aw; well; it is vewy good," returned the peer. "Although of the same stanza of Spenser, it is much superior, in my opinion, to any thing we have in the Faery Queen."

"Do you know, that now that I recollect, I think so too," said his Lordship.

"Spenser, however, is a great favourite of mine," continued Adela.

"Yes, he is vewy good."

"But he cannot be placed on the throne of poetical excellence, I think," said Adela.

"Indeed, I think so too," coincided the peer. "Why do you think so?" asked Adela. "Eh, why, aw; because he is so lengthy in his remarks," said Lord Watchford.

"In his remarks," repeated Adela, with a slight emphasis on the last word, from the impropriety of its application to such a subject.

"Yes, aw; the book is altogetha too long," returned his Lordship.

"The poem may be too long to please some tastes," replied Adela, "but I think it is not on account of its length that its excellence is detracted from. It is, in the excessive wildness of its machinery."

"Yes," interposed Dorrington, "and in the continual recurrence of its allegory and personification, which are carried to a wearisome extent."

Of Dorrington's remark, his Lordship took no notice; but continued to agree with Adela in all that she said; which, instead of exalting him, reduced him more and more to the mean standard which she had already formed of his sincerity in a matter of far more importance to her future destiny if that was ever to be united to his.

CHAPTER XXXII.

MEETING OF THE TOXOPHOLITES.

When the Magistrate returned to his company, it was evident that the deputation which he had received and dis

missed, had given him the liveliest gratification. A smile illumined his hard features and relieved, for a brief space, an aspect which was usually marked by an expression of seve. rity, if not actually clouded with gloom. The happy circumstance excited the curiosity of his daughter, who was so little accustomed to see a smile on her father's countenance that she herself, in part, participated of his pleasure before she was made acquainted with its cause.

"What has been the business of this deputation?" eagerly inquired Adela, who, at the same moment, stepped to the window that overlooked the lawn, and there beheld a couple of persons whom she very well knew, just entering beneath the shadowy arches of the avenue.

"Oh, I see," she continued, "Mr. Otterwell the Naturalist and Squire Dashaway the Farmer, have composed this deputation. Well what has it been about? I augur pleasure from their visit, at all events."

"And so you may, Adela," returned her father, "for Otterwell and Dashaway are seldom engaged in any other business. If the one would look more after his barns and his beeves; and the other less after what he is pleased to call, in his phraseology, the dumb inhabitants of the soil,' his character would, perhaps, appear somewhat brighter than it does in the eyes of the better portion of the community amongst whom he has chosen to take up his residence."

"Come, come, father," returned Adela, playfully, "I will hear nothing said against my friends Otterwell and Dashaway; knowing, as I do, that they are both good men and true, notwithstanding the peculiarities with which each of their characters is dashed."

"Aw, they have both got vewy singulaw names, I think,” remarked Lord Watchford.

"Indeed, and that they have," agreed the Magistrate, "and it never struck me before, how much their names are indicative of their peculiar tastes as exhibited in their pursuits."

"It is a somewhat singular coincidence, but it has frequently been remarked before," observed Adela.

"Indeed! I have never heard it," said the Magistrate, and then explained to his guests that Mr. Otterwell, like the animal that bore the first part of his name, was continually to be seen hunting by the side of streams, or in the fields; indeed, anywhere that he thought might supply him with some animal specimen to adorn a museum "which I understand he has fitted up in his house, and which contains some of almost every species of living thing that is to be found in this district of country for miles round. Mr. Dashaway, again, is one of the most daring huntsmen in these parts; and, I verily believe, would just as soon break his neck as shy at anything that came in his way when engaged in the

chase."

"Such being the description of the gentlemen who composed the deputation to my Father, we are now duly prepared to know the character of their business; so, father, be pleased to inform us what has been the nature of the matter which they have been deputed to lay before you?" said Adela, with a species of mock majesty, which, although quite foreign to her character, she was enabled to assume, on the present occasion, from the excitement with which she was stimulated.

"Well, my dear," said her father, pleased with the manner in which she acted, and which, he thought, had sprung from the many severe lessons he had given her to forget her modesty, and assume a demeanour more consonant with the fortune she would possess, and the natural advantages with which nature had endowed her-"Well, my dear, since you are so eager to know it, you shall hear it. The object of these gentlemen was to solicit a favour which I have granted, and which I would not have so readily done, had it not been on account of that visit which you, my lord,"-looking at Watchford "have honoured me with for a few days. Perhaps some preliminary explanation is necessary.""O, no, papa," cried Adela, "I am dying to hear it." "O, but I must first explain."

66

Very well. Do go on."